Page 53 of Crowned By the Shadow
We moved as one, Thorn and I supporting Van and Volker while Ronan guarded our rear. I couldn’t see where we were going, but I trusted Wyn completely. Her hand found mine in the darkness, pulling us forward with surprising strength.
Behind us, Eldric’s roar of rage shook the very stone beneath our feet. “Find them!” he commanded his shadow soldiers. “Bring me the Eclipse Child and the Twilight Mage alive! Kill the others if you must!”
We ran blindly through the darkness, following Wyn’s lead. I could feel the corruption pulsing around us, trying to penetrate the shield of shadows she had created, but it couldn’t breach her defense.
“Left here,” she called softly. “There’s a passage the shadows showed me.”
We turned, stumbling into a narrow tunnel that sloped sharply downward. The darkness lifted slightly, enough to see the outlines of those around me.
“Where are we going?” Ronan asked, his voice tight with tension.
“Down,” Wyn replied. “Then up. The shadows know paths Eldric has forgotten.”
We descended deeper into the mountain; the air growing colder and damper with each step. Volker’s breathing was labored, and I could feel him weakening as we progressed.
“Hold on,” I whispered to him. “Just a little farther.”
“I’m alright,” he managed, though his face was gray with pain. “Just get us out of here.”
The tunnel eventually leveled out, opening into a vast cavern. Crystals embedded in the ceiling cast faint blue light across a subterranean lake, its surface mirror-smooth and black as night.
“We need to cross,” Wyn said, pointing to the far shore where another tunnel entrance was visible. “That leads to the outside.”
“How?” Van asked, eyeing the water with suspicion. “I don’t fancy a swim in whatever that is.”
Wyn approached the shore, kneeling to touch the water’s surface. It rippled beneath her fingers, but not like normal water, the ripples seemed to move in all directions at once, defying physics.
“It’s not water,” she whispered. “It’s shadow given form. I can guide us across.”
She stood, extending her hands over the lake. Shadows gathered around her, stretching out across the surface. They solidified, forming a narrow bridge that extended to the far shore.
“Quickly,” she urged. “I can’t hold it for long.”
Thorn went first, testing the bridge with cautious steps before helping Van and Volker across. Ronan followed, then me, with Wyn bringing up the rear. The bridge felt solid beneath my feet, but bone-chillingly cold in a way that seeped through my boots and into my skin.
We were halfway across when the cavern entrance behind us exploded inward. Eldric stood framed in the jagged opening, his corrupted form silhouetted against the dust and debris. Shadow soldiers poured in around him, their weapons drawn.
“There!” he bellowed, pointing toward us. “Take them!”
“Run!” Wyn shouted, her concentration wavering. The bridge beneath our feet trembled, beginning to dissolve back into shadow.
We abandoned caution, racing for the far shore as the bridge disintegrated behind us. Van and Volker stumbled, nearlyfalling, but Thorn and Ronan caught them, half-carrying them the rest of the way.
I reached the shore just as the last section of the bridge collapsed, turning to see Wyn still several feet from safety, the shadow path vanishing beneath her feet.
“Wyn!” I screamed, reaching for her with both hands.
She leapt, shadows gathering around her feet to give her one final push. Our fingers connected, and I pulled with all my strength, dragging her onto solid ground as the last of the bridge disappeared into the dark water.
“Go!” she gasped, scrambling to her feet. “Into the tunnel!”
We fled as Eldric’s roar of frustration echoed across the cavern. The tunnel beyond was narrow and winding, climbing steeply upward through the heart of the mountain. We moved as quickly as Van and Volker’s condition allowed, the sounds of pursuit growing fainter behind us.
“Almost there,” Wyn encouraged, her new senses guiding us through the darkness. “I can feel fresh air ahead.”
After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, the tunnel widened, opening onto a narrow ledge on the mountainside. Night had fallen, the twin moons casting silver light across the landscape below.
“We made it,” Ronan breathed, helping Volker lean against the rock face.
