Wystwood

33. Forge a wedding ring

They were charging through Wysthaven, boots pounding on the last of the sun-swept cobblestones, when the blast echoed down the alleyway. It rang so clearly through the city that Ada feared they would not be able to hear the chains that marked a Hound's approach. But as the sky above was swamped with navy clouds, Ada began to worry that a greater threat lurked to their south. 

Indigo smoke billowed into the sky from the outskirts of the city. It came first in dusky pillars, before eclipsing into darker curls that edged across the roof slates. Ada was about to let out a cry as the evening became blotted and hazy, but when she turned to Solen, she found the woman's face crumpled in relief. They slowed at the end of a blind alleyway, huddling into a corner as they wheezed through tightened throats.

"What the hell is that?" choked Ada, hands flying above her head at the churning fog.

Solen huffed a laugh. "It's our saving grace. The Stone Circle must be testing their alchemy. Unlikely an attack, probably just a threat against the Lady."

The Stone Circle— the magical outlaws Raeph had cursed out as radicals. Whatever power lay beneath their skins, it seemed they were using it in ways Min could perhaps only dream of. Ada shuddered as their cloud drew a shroud across the setting sun.

"What is it?" Ada asked.

Solen gazed up into the fog, a smile curling the corners of her mouth. "Can't you see? It's the sky."

Ada frowned; if anything the clouds were smudging out the sky and replacing it with a roiling mass of serpentine smoke. But when she tilted her head up, staring into its thickness with blinking eyes, she found that flecks of silver were beginning to appear. One by one, they flickered into life, scattered through the smoke, some sinking in deep while others rose to a twinkling surface. A night sky was forming above the city, as if moulded by someone in love with the moon and lusting for starlight.

On the other side of the alley's wall, heavy boot soles slammed against the pavement, and the clattering of chains broke the city's hush. Even with the wall between them, Ada and Solen pressed into the shadows until the Hounds had passed.

Solen's breath was a whisper across Ada's cheek when she said, "They should be preoccupied with the Stones for now. Let's go, before the smoke fades."

The dark cloud already seemed to be curling in on itself, lost edges wisping, as if shying away from true night. The pseudo-stars winked off in its wake, fizzling out like answered wishes.

They retraced their steps from the alleyway, Solen peering around a protruding stone basin before sliding into a side-street. Ada flinched at the faraway rattle of chains, but Solen kept her eyes resolutely ahead, even as they hastened down a road much wider than any they had chanced before.

"Where are we?" Ada murmured, glancing at every shadow draped across the cobblestones, as though a figure might materialise from their depths.

"Home." Solen darted left and pattered down a set of steps before sounding a low knock on an oaken door.

Ada reeled back, her hood almost slipping across her hair as she stared at the building stacked up before them. With its wide windows and lacquered doorposts, the house could have been exchanged with any from the inner city. But what set it apart was the grand sign mounted above its entrance, painted a deep violet and peeling around its edges. Copper stars dappled the dark purple, each with five points that looked almost cartoonish compared to the Stone Circle's pearlescent perfections. They surrounded a single word, varnished onto the sign in golden lettering to match the sculpted stars: BONNEVILLE.

There was a clatter, a creak, and then the whining of wood against wood. The door lurched open, swirling out spells of dust as though the locks did not often meet the air. A shadow lurked within the doorframe, gathering the darkness from the street into a figure of obsidian fury.