Wylde Magic | Book 3

Twenty Seven: Death in the Dark

The chilling darkness that swelled at the bottom of the valley shook my nerves. I could hear the footsteps, the breathing, the now hushed advance of the Autumn fae as we waded in. It was thick like a fog, crawling over my skin and taking away my senses as we pressed forward cautiously.

Baeleon was the leading point in our little group. Other clusters of Autumn fae could be heard nearby, but whether they were ahead of us or behind us I couldn't tell anymore. Schula's cold touch never strayed too far, and Eberon's fire occasionally flickered to my other side as he used flashes of it to look around. I never could detect Thain's movements. 

"I can't see anything," Schula hissed.

"This is not a natural darkness, is it?" I asked.

"It could be in the Wyldes," Scula answered. "I just hope we haven't woken up anything too terrible here today."

The implications of that brought a frown to my face as we pressed forward and down the hill. Memories of a great and terrible thing lurking under the icy lake of the Sangolin crater in the Winter lands. What other things slept undisturbed in the Wyldes, long forgotten?

As the slope evened out and we had less difficulties pressing forward, a chill crept into the air. Wet and icy, clinging to the warmth of our bodies as though we were the first warm life it had encountered in an age. 

Baeleon before me paused. I only knew it because a mist had wrapped it's way around him, singing dully as though a bit of starlight had crept through the inky blackness around us to show us our king.

He turned, his eyes ablaze with pale golden light. 

"The enemy is before us," he said. "The scouts report them as strange, and not all of them fae creatures. Watch your way, and take none for capture. I want their blood at my feet."

My eyes widened. 

"Yes, my king," Eberon, Thain, and Schula answered in unison.

"Yes, my king," I echoed. 

Baeleon's fangs flashed in the small light he was somehow wrapped in, still barely visible through the thick darkness but enough that I could follow him forward.

The worst part of all this was that I itched to ignight my flames, shine my light through the darkness and see the face of the enemy ahead. But I had watched Eberon try with his own magic every little while, and I knew it would be futile to fight the darkness.

If only I could see what I was doing, I wouldn't be so terrified.

The first real sound of conflict came from a crackling boom. Some kind of lightning danced from one of the fae beings, but it didn't end there. An eruption of chaotic elements began firing off in the belly of the valley.

"It begins," Schula whispered.

Baeleon roared, charging forward and striking his trident at something I coudln't see. In panic, I tried to light my hands and I might as well not have bothered for all they barely lit a hand's length in front of my face.

"Wren!" Schula snapped, yanking my arm and pulling me to the side just as something landed with a wet thud where I had been standing.

"Move!" Schula called, pulling me with her around and to Baeleon's side. 

My heart pounded against my ribs so hard they ached. I called out to the very air around me, pulling in the magic I could from my surroundings as the witches taught me. I lifted my hands before my face, blazing purple witchfire. 

Whatever made up the blackness in the belly of the valley, it wasn't natural at all. But neither was my fire when I used it as the witches did.

Purple lit up the area around me, and I caught the briefest flash of what was around us, and my mouth opened in a frozen cry.