Page 86 of Shadows of Light
He’d daydreamed about opening a portal out of the Gloaming and into the Valley so he could explore and conquer it. Throughout much of his childhood, he was certain that he would come to the Valley as soon as he came into all his dark fae powers.
Then, he read a story about a lycanknownto have survived. The man wrote of a creature so horrific its red eyes lit the night and its fangs sliced through flesh as easily as a warm knife through butter. He was the last to bring the rare, coveted, crudue vine from this valley.
He spoke of endless whispers, monsters that hunted day and night, and moving forests. There was never a moment of peace in the Valley.
The man was so haunted by what he witnessed here that it drove him mad. His pack had to destroy him to ensure the safety of its other members.
As the lycan’s story unfolded, Brokk felt his eagerness to explore the valley dwindling more as the hair on his nape rose. His room’s shadows became monstrous as they shifted and swayed around him.
He couldn’t run to his father and explain why he was frightened. The dark fae didn’t fear shadows; the dark faewerethe shadows.
So instead, he threw out the story of the lycan, crawled under his bed, and slept on the floor for the next two weeks. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of his life.
A dark fae who feared the shadows was an embarrassment. He’d considered himself a coward and never told another living soul about it.
Eventually, he talked himself into not being a weakling and returned to bed, but the Valley stopped being as appealing afterward. And soon after, women became a much more fun pastime than reading.
He’d forgotten about the Valley until Kaylia mentioned it. The second she did, he knew he had to be the one to come here.
Since this was the last place crudue vine was knownto exist, it had taken time to convince Cole of that, but his brother would go to the merfolk while they started here. If the merfolk couldn’t help them, Cole would split up the ones with him and meet him and Kaylia here with more enforcements.
Looking down at the vast, doomed land stretching endlessly below them, Brokk questioned if they’d ever find anything here. There wassomuch of it, and it seemed endless, but if the lycan had succeeded, so could they.
Somehow, it was only fitting that he was here now. It was as if his life had come full circle, and he couldn’t help feeling like this was where he was meant to be.
He didn’t quite understand why he felt that way, but he hoped it didn’t mean his life was soon coming to an end. Even if it did mean that, he wouldn’t turn back. They had to save Lexi and the realms because they would all fall if they failed.
Without Lexi, nothing was holding Cole back, and he’d taken far too many shadows into himself again to keep them controlled for long.
He looked to Kaylia and the others. “Are you ready?”
“Damn right,” a dwarf said as she tapped her battle-ax on the fertile earth.
Most of the others didn’t look as enthusiastic. They’d all volunteered to come here, and their faces remained stoic, but alarm shone in some of their eyes. He suspected they would be the first to fall.
With a sigh, Brokk started down the hill and into the land where many other immortals were lost.
CHAPTERSIXTY-SIX
Over the next three days,Orin made his way rapidly through as many outer realms as he could before having to take a break from opening portals. Many of the realms he encountered were barren and useless, but some held immortals who were mostly content to stay as far from the civilized realms as possible.
He understood their desire.
He would be content to live amongst the outer realms, free of the burden of responsibilities and birth. Alas, as long as he had brothers, it could never be. They kept screwing up and requiring his help.
The others had all broken into groups to search for the vine, but he insisted on going alone. It was how he worked best, and he didn’t need anyone else with him, slowing him down or screwing shit up. They didn’t have time for that.
Varo and Brokk weren’t happy with his decision, but Brokk had gone to Doomed Valley, and Varo remained with Cole. Orin doubted Varo’s calming presence would have much effect on the Reaver now, but they needed all the help they could get to keep Cole from killing them.
If it took too much time to find the vine, Cole might lose control of the shadows even with Lexi still alive in her strange, stone-like state.
When the last light falls….
At first, they’d all taken that to mean Lexi’s death, but it could bethis. Orin rubbed his throat again as he recalled how Amaris’s head exploded.
Cole hadn’t applied that much pressure, or it hadn’tlookedlike he did. His muscles barely flexed when he squished her head like a bug.
And the rebellion that followed was a pathetic attempt, as only about a hundred immortals entered Dragonia. The dragons alone could have taken them out easily enough, but Cole had helped destroy at least half the army.
