Page 47 of Shadows of Light
Even with our safety measures in place, and a way to control the Reaver, I couldn’t help feeling as if we’d done something horribly wrong.
Lexi’s heartraced as beads of sweat broke out across her forehead.How do I control the Reaver?
She yearned to scream this question at the parchment, this immortal in the past, and Carleah. The woman had seen the future; she’d known only one arach would survive, but she hadn’t devised a way to ensure the last arach had access toalltheir powers and could help the Reaver?
This arach writer had called the dark fae dimwitted, but they were so arrogant they didn’t realize how stupidtheywere.
They’d established a way to control the Reaver and help Cole, and she had no idea what it was. Glancing around the room, her heart sank as she recalled the countless shredded things here.
Maybe theyhadwritten it all down, and the Lord destroyed it. There was also no way of knowing how much he might have taken from this room, thrown out the windows, burnt, or demolished in other ways.
Allthe answers could have been here, and now they could all be gone. There was a chance they could still uncover them, but those chances dwindled with every passing piece of useless writing they pieced together... until thisone.
Lexi finally focused on the parchment again.
And now war has broken out between the arachs in Dragonia. I never could have imagined a day such as this coming to our realms, but Carleah really did see it.
She knew, and she prepared for it. I have no idea if she foresaw our downfall would come from the arach turning on each other, and I cannot ask her as the war has already claimed her life.
Before the war started, we were the only two arach left from that long ago time when we set something in motion that we could not undo. Now, I am the only one still standing, but that won’t last.
And for that, I am almost grateful, as whispers from the battlefield have reached me. Amongst the ruins of bodies and land, a new prophecy has risen.
I have no idea who issued it first, but it started with the peasants, amid those who knew naught of what we did.
They never could have known of our secret, but they speak of the Shadow Reaver on the battlefield, and a new prophecy revolves around its rise...
As the writing continued, the letters became shakier, and the pen dug into the parchment hard enough to leave holes in some spots.
They whisper of the Reaver and say that when the last light blooms, the Shadow Reaver shall rise. When the last light falls, the Shadow Reaver will destroy us all.
How can they know what we’ve done? How? And so many of them know as the prophecy has raced across the land and is whispered everywhere.
Lexi could almost feel the panic oozing from the pages as she read.
No one else knows what we did with the fae trials, but I know what that prophecy means. Oh, I know.
All I can do now is hope that whatever lies beyond this life has mercy on our souls for what we’ve done and that the final arach, the last light, is strong enough to destroy what we’ve set up to unleash upon the realms.
There is a way to control the Reaver or destroy it. To tame the shadows, the last arach must—
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
Lexi couldn’t breathe asshe read the final line. Her vision blurred, and her hands shook as the blood drained from her face when she saw only the ripped parchment and the missing piece.
“Where’s the rest?” she whispered in a choked voice that sounded like a bullfrog was speaking from her throat.
Brokk looked helplessly at her and then around the rest of the room. Hundreds of remnants of paper remained to be sorted and matched; it could still be there. Ithadto be there!
There was a way to save Cole, and she had no idea what it was! When she first learned of her arach heritage, not getting her shield into place was frustrating and scary, but this made that look like a walk in the park.
“What does it say?” her dad asked.
Not trusting herself to read it to him, she handed the parchment back to Brokk. He stared at her for a few seconds before shifting his attention back to the words.
He started to read out loud but stopped when a sound in the hall alerted them to Orin’s arrival before he stepped into the doorway. Unable to look anywhere else, Lexi kept her attention focused on Orin.
He was the only one in this room who wouldn’t look at her with pity once Brokk finished reading. And she couldn’t handle sympathy right now.
