Page 154 of The King is Dead
When I urged my mare to his side, he didn’t look away from it, but spoke quietly so only I would hear him.
“It looks like fog.”
“Yes, it does.”
“What is it?”
“We don’t know. Except that it has protected us for as long as our people have kept records,” I said with a shrug.
He turned to look at me. “Would it truly attack me and Gall if we rode in alone?”
“Yes,” I said blandly. “At least… to my knowledge. In a century only a couple handfuls of people have entered and survived without a Shadekin guide.” I met his eyes. “Most arrived in our city so badly injured, or mentally unstable we were never able to determine how they’d done it.” I glared over my shoulder at the old Neph behind us. “You need to talk to Hever and find out how he got them through. He won’t tell me,” I muttered.
Melek grunted. “I already asked. He said it was little more than a trick of focus—but he was vague, and we were interrupted.”
I shook my head. “The Shadows have destroyed our enemies since the dawn of time. He didn’t get four Nephilim through there with atrick of focus.”
Melek nodded. “I’ll keep asking.” Then he looked back at the mists. “You’re certain there’s no risk when we outnumber and outweigh you?”
“Utterly,” I said, and meant it. “Alone, you’d be slaughtered. But remain within sight of one of us and it’s nothing but fog. The mists can be a little cloying, perhaps. But they won’t touch you. For the next two days we’reyourguards,” I said with a small smile.
Melek was still frowning into the fog when Gall nudged his horse closer. “Is it dark inside?”
“Yes, but your lanterns will work. Light travels well inside. If you were alone that would be a problem because light seems to attract the Shadows’ presence.”
“Presence?” Gall asked, swallowing audibly.
“The power of the Shadows,” I said carefully. “We don’t understand how it works any more than we understandhowwe came to be able to walk the Shadows. Yet, we know we can—and we know the Shadows of Shade protect us fiercely.”
“The… the power. It kills people?”
“It does,” I said grimly. “Generally slowly, and with a great deal of pain.”
Gall turned to look at me, wide-eyed. “But not you? Not the Fetch?”
I shook my head. “It will not harm anyone with Shadekin blood. And only incredibly rarely will it allow others through,” I added reluctantly with a glance over my shoulder at the other Neph.
Jann looked a little pale whenever he spoke about their nights in the Shadows. But they’d lived and made it to the other side, apparently uninjured, or close to it. I would keep pushing Melek to find out what Hever had done to get them through.
Gall was sweating. I reached for his arm and squeezed. “You don’t have to be afraid, Gall. The Shadows will listen to me. They’ll listen toanyShadekin who passes through the fog. And as long as you can see me or Diadre, you’ll be safe.”
Gall took a deep breath and nodded.
I looked at Melek who was still staring at the roiling fog, but he must have felt my eyes on him, because he suddenly heeled his stallion forward.
“Let’s go,” he muttered. The other Neph hurried their mounts forward so we all rode into the mists knee-to-knee. The horses picked up on the Neph’s nerves, dancing and snorting. But they were all skilled riders, and soon the sunlight was fading, obscured by the Shadows.
Only Gall looked back as we slipped into the fog, his forehead pinched into lines and his eyes worried. But I smiled at him andpatted his arm again. I prayed that we’d soon be able to bring him back to be near Istral. But this time, an acknowledged heir.
58. Raise the Alarm
~ MELEK ~
The Shadows of Shade made my skin crawl. After a full day within the fog, I was growing claustrophobic, thankful for the spears at my back again because they steadied me for a fight.
But how did one fight a swirling, ever-moving fog?
Yilan reassured me the uneasy feeling wasn’t the power of the Shadows, but rather a common reaction in the mind. It would pass.
