جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

~ SYLARI ~ The next three days blurred together in a haze of exhaustion and progress. Every morning, Varek came to take me and led me down to the chamber with the glowing pit. Every morning, the Primarch was already there waiting. And every morning, she pushed me harder than the day before. The first day had been about finding the center and pulling a thread. The second day was about holding that thread for longer periods, keeping the connection open without letting it flood out. By the third day, I could maintain a steady flow of power for almost ten minutes before my concentration slipped. "You're improving faster than I expected," the Primarch said on the afternoon of the third day. We were standing at the edge of the pit again, my hands wrapped in faint silver light that I had been holding for the past eight minutes. "Most carriers took weeks to reach this point." "Maybe I'm just that talented." The words came out strained. Holding the power steady was harder than it looked,

~ SYLARI ~ The flight was nothing as I expected. When Varek led us to a platform near the top of the mountain, I had been picturing some type of vehicle or maybe large birds like the messenger hawks Lirael had mentioned. What I got instead were actual dragons. Two of them, crouched on the stone platform, their scales gleaming copper and bronze in the fading sunlight. They were massive, easily the size of small houses, with wings folded against their bodies and eyes that glowed the same gold as the Drakari who rode them. "You're joking," I said. Varek looked at me with an expression that suggested he had never joked about anything in his entire life. "The Primarch arranged the fastest transport available. These are it." "Only two?" Lirael asked, frowning. "Dragons capable of long-distance flight are rare. These two volunteered when they heard who they'd be carrying." Varek's gold eyes flicked to me briefly. "The Primordial's presence... interests them." Eron walked pa

~ SYLARI ~ The vaelth's name was Theron. He told me that while Kaelith's healers drew blood from his arm, filling a small crystal vial with dark liquid that looked almost black in the torchlight. He sat perfectly still during the process, his red eyes never leaving my face. "You're not what I expected," he said. "What did you expect?" "Something less... human." He tilted his head, studying me the way I had seen predators study prey. "The stories say the Primordial's carriers become monsters. Creatures of pure hunger with no will of their own. But you still have fear in your eyes. Still have doubt." "Is that a bad thing?" "It means you haven't given up yet. That's either very good or very foolish. I haven't decided which." The healer finished and stepped back, holding the vial carefully. Kaelith took it from her and held it up to the light. The blood inside seemed to move on its own, swirling slowly like something alive. "We have everything we need now," he said. "The ritual

~ KAELITH ~ The pain didn't stop when the ritual ended. It dulled, shifted from that sharp tearing sensation to something heavier, a deep ache that settled into my bones and refused to leave. I kept my head bowed and focused on breathing, on not showing how much it had cost me to anchor that seal. Three hundred years of carefully constructed control, and one human girl had shattered it in a matter of weeks. I could hear Eron helping her sit up, his voice soft and concerned in a way that made my jaw tighten. The Daevari had been watching her since before she was born, bound by duty and prophecy and whatever else his extinct people had saddled him with. But lately, the way he looked at her had nothing to do with duty. I recognized the signs because I saw them in myself. Pathetic. You bought her at auction like a piece of furniture, and now you're jealous of a shadow creature who might have to kill her. My hands were still shaking against my knees. The backlash from the ritual ha

~ SYLARI ~ The rest of the day passed in a blur of preparation and barely controlled chaos. I spent most of it with Lirael, helping where I could, which wasn't much. The fae soldiers knew what they were doing and didn't need some shiftless wolf girl getting in their way. But I carried supplies, relayed messages, and tried to make myself useful instead of just sitting around waiting for the world to end. By evening, the walls were reinforced, the archers were in position, and massive cauldrons of oil sat ready to be heated and poured on anyone stupid enough to try climbing our gates. The palace had become a fortress, every entrance barricaded, every window shuttered, every corridor mapped for retreat routes if the outer defenses fell. I found myself on the eastern wall as the sun started to set, looking out at the distant tree line where my father's army would appear. The view was peaceful, rolling hills covered in late autumn grass, a river winding through the valley below. Hard