Page 79 of The Bound Mage
No—no.Turn back—the shadows whimpered, their voices a low moan against his mind.Do not break us?—
“We do,” Loren said, forcing himself to meet her eyes. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, her silver eyes bright even in the gloom. She slipped her hand into his, squeezing tightly. He held on, a hundred useless words on the tip of his tongue. But nothing hecould say here would make any more difference than a blade or a breeze against the shadows.
So instead, he said nothing. And together, they stepped into the heart of the Shadowed Veil.
In just two steps,they were completely alone. The dark, swirling mist closed in around them, blotting out Eloria’s soldiers like they weren’t standing just feet away. His own shadows clung unhappily to his legs, the one around Araya’s neck burrowing into her cloak like it could hide from the darkness all around him.
“What’s the matter with you?” Loren muttered, glaring down at them. “You’re all part of the same magic, aren’t you?”
The shadows only muttered in response, their voices frayed and faint, too scattered for him to catch the words.
Araya took a half-step closer, clinging to his hand as she scanned the darkness around them.
“We’ll need to head to where the shadows are thickest,” she said, her breath misting in front of her face. “If they’re anchored to your father’s remains, that’s where they’ll accumulate.”
“If?” Loren couldn’t help but laugh, as he started to lead them forward. “Ifyou’re wrong, we’re in a lot of trouble,ael’sura.”
“It’s all just theory,” Araya protested, but her lips twitched. “There were seven official retrieval attempts. Many bodies from the edge were successfully recovered. But where the shadows congregate?—”
She gestured vaguely ahead, at where the darkness grew so thick it was almost solid.
“—there’s nothing. No one who attempted to breach it ever returned. So it’s a safe guess?—”
Her voice was soft but steady, threading together the mess of reports and notes she’d spent so many days pouring over with the precision of someone whoneededthings to make sense. Her voice rose, gaining confidence and strength as she filled the strange silence—comforting them both.
But then Araya yelped, something turning under her foot with a wetcrunch. She slipped, almost falling into the thick mud under their feet before Loren hauled her back upright. She leaned against him, whatever words she might have said cut off in a hushed gasp as they both realized what she had stepped on.
Bones.
Loren stared down at the remnants of a ribcage, crushed and half-buried in the cold, muddy soil. The mist shifted, revealing a spine, twisted at an unnatural angle. A human skull still wearing a blackened steel helmet—bits and pieces of rotted leather armor still clung to some of the fae remains, too tattered to make out any identifying details.
There were so many. It shouldn’t have surprised him. Not after what they’d shown him. But seeing it…Loren shuddered. No one, human or fae, had escaped that night.
They picked their way forward as carefully as they could, both of them flinching whenever a hidden bone crunched underfoot. Soon, it was impossible to avoid them—every step accompanied by a sickeningsnap. Loren’s shadows fluttered around his feet, growing more and more agitated as they pushed deeper into the thickening darkness.
What are you doing here, shadow prince?
Loren stumbled, his knee sinking into the soft ground as the Veil’s voice vibrated in his bones, crushing the air from his lungs. Black spots danced at the edges of his vision as the full force of its attention landed on him, pressure building behind his eyes like lightning trying to claw its way out.
“Loren?” Araya dropped to her knees beside him, her hands warm on his chilled skin. “Are you?—”
“Keep going,” he ground out. This was the plan. Even on the boat, they’d only turned their attention to her when she confronted them directly. If she just kept moving, she could make it. She could retrieve his father’s remains and save his people, succeeding where he had failed.
But only if she kept moving.
She hesitated, her brow creasing. “But?—”
“They’re more interested in me than you.” He gasped in a sharp breath, fighting for air. “This was the plan,ael’sura. Just…don’t stop.”
She hesitated, her grip on his hand tightening like she might refuse. But then she straightened, pushing forward alone. His shadows howled as she vanished into the dark mist, the rising tide of their voices splitting his eardrums.
Foolish. Stupid prince,they cried out, their voices thin and faint as the Veil closed in around them.You need her.You need her. You need her. You need?—
Have you come to die, shadow prince?
Loren groaned, mud squelching under his palms as he dug his fingers into the dirt. The deeper, many-layered voice of the Shadowed Veil spoke over his shadows, pressing into his mind from all directions.
