Page 78 of Crown of Darkness
Monsters, all the history books say.
But there are no monsters here.
“This way,” says the voice. “Let me show you what we are.”
Rune stones appear. A Hallow. But the rocks remain mere sandstone, unblemished by any mark or rune. They simply exist, surrounding a smooth plane of rock that looks like it’s been polished for centuries.
Otherkin kneel there, singing and weaving back and forth in some sort of… prayer?
The Mother of Night appears, walking among them in a gown of shimmering black that look like she’s stolen a piece of the night sky and woven it into some sort of material. Little black horns poke through the glistening strands of her dark hair. She’s always looked ageless to me, but something about her tells me she’s younger in this moment.
As she passes the otherkin, she ruffles her hand through their hair and smiles at the children, and perhaps it’s the smile that undoes me.
This is wrong. This is all wrong.
“Why am I here?” I demand, tugging my hand from the one that curls around mine.
Instantly the forest disappears.
I’m standing on the icy-cold island in the middle of the Mother of Night’s prison world.
“Because we wished to show you the truth,” says the male voice at my side.
The truth?
“I want to go back! What have you done to me? What have you done to Eris?”
“She is but sleeping,” says the voice.
“You could end her sleep.”The Mother of Night appears, walking up the rocky shore. “You could wake her with but a single word.”
“And does that word have anything to do with ‘yes’?” I demand. “Yes, I will free you from your prison world. Yes, I will free you all. Because if that is to be the price of… of Eris’s waking, then you do not know me. And you do not know her. Because if Eris were here to tell me what to do, I know what she’d say. No price is worth the risk of seeing you and your kind free.”
There’s a long moment of silence. “We are not monsters, Iskvien.”
But I’ve had enough.
“You pulled me into this dream, didn’t you? And you did something to Eris. It was you who plunged all those guards into sleep. It wasn’t Maren, after all.”
All of this, just to push me into a place I don’t want to be.
The Mother exchanges a glance with the creature beside me. “Maren wielded the Dreamthief’s Mirror, and with it his power. It took your friend. But she did not realize that the second she wielded the Mirror, the Dreamthief was granted access to you. We can help you and your friend, Princess.”
I’ve played this game before. “You’re lying.”
“We’re not lying.”
I glare at the Mother of Night. “I will find your crown and I will give it to you by the end of the year. And then you will rot in this prison world, because I will not be your pawn. I will not be yourleanabh an dàn! You can all rot!”
I turn and lunge for the forest I first found myself in. The one with bare branches that hook toward the sky and snow underfoot. The baby is screaming now, the sound cutting right through me.
I’ve been trapped in these dreams for months.
“You’re just trying to scare me!” I shout.
And I turn and run the other way as the baby’s cries echo louder.
And then Thiago is there, his eyes flashing with green fire as he grabs me by the upper arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were theleanabh an dàn? Why didn’t you trust me to love you?”
