The Shadow Canyons

Kael

The river that ran uphill ended in a wound.

Stone split the earth like a scar, opening into a canyon whose depths swallowed light.

The air hummed with something old—older than the Moon, older than names.

Selene’s second clue had said: Find the road where shadows burn.

We’d found it.

It didn’t look like a road. It looked like a dare.

Lumi whistled low. “Looks cozy.”

“Stay close,” I said.

“Define close. I don’t want to accidentally walk into your royal aura and combust.”

Varyn muttered, “You already do that every ten minutes.”

She grinned. “Then I’m consistent.”

I should’ve been afraid. Instead, I smiled—tired, unwilling, grateful.

We led the horses in single file. The path narrowed, edges crumbling under boots.

The sun above dimmed too fast, swallowed by walls of obsidian rock.

At the first turn, the light vanished completely.

I lit a torch. It hissed.

The flame burned black.

Lira murmured a prayer. “Fire shouldn’t do that.”

“No,” I said. “It shouldn’t.”

The canyon breathed back.