Page 79 of Cursed By the Dawn

I shook my head, furious. “That wasfive years ago. Your horses are now bones upon the forest floor. They didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“It was all I could manage. It was my final glimpse of clarity before Raelion overtook me again.”

“Is that what this is, then? A reunion? A chance for you to absolve yourself of your sins?”

“I came to warn you,” he snapped. “Raelion isn’t finished. He’s preparing something that could unravel what’s left of this world. The Revel of Dawn at Istralla—”

Before he could finish, a ripple of dark, reddish energy surged through the air. Mithras stumbled, clutching at his chest.

I took a step back, wary. “Mithras?”

His form convulsed, bloody shadows coiling around him like living things. His faint golden aura dimmed, consumed by the darkness seeping into him. When he looked at me again, his eyes were no longer his own.

They were black pits streaked with crimson, burning with malevolent intent.

“You think you can escape me, little shadow?”

The voice that poured from Mithras’s lips was not his own. It was Raelion’s.

I begged my shadow magic to rise to the surface, but it wouldn’t come. I cursed, gripping my blade tight as I dropped into a defensive stance.

“Raelion,” I spat.

“Still so angry. But anger won’t save you.” He laughed, low and guttural, as though my defiance amused him. “It hasn’t saved the Weavers from my chains.”

I struck hard with my blade, but he shoved it aside as if it were a tree branch.

“You’re still strong,” Raelion mused, tilting Mithras’s head as though examining me. “Stronger than I expected. But strength alone won’t protect you from me, either.”

He stepped closer; I fought the urge to retreat.

“You were made for this,” he continued, his voice insidious. “Born to wield the Corruption others fear. You and Erebus think of yourselves as the queen and king of shadow, but you are nothing without me. Join me, Esmer. Embrace your destiny.”

“Never,” I snarled. “You are a disease upon our kingdom. A weed we will soon uproot.”

Raelion’s expression darkened, his smile twisting into something more sinister. “What righteous disobedience. It will make breaking you all the sweeter.”

Chains of shimmering light erupted from him.

They lashed out like serpents, ensnaring my arms and legs with thousands of fanged barbs. Wherever they coiled, wherever they cut, dark, smoking blood oozed from my skin. The gashes burned. Maker, theyburned. My bones were on fire, boiling under my clothes. I thrashed wildly, desperate to break free, but the chains held firm, their grip unrelenting. They tightened further with cruel precision, wringing a scream from my throat.

“You’ll see,” Raelion purred, his voice a repulsive caress. “You’ll see the truth soon enough.”

Raelion’s power, a hideous mix of his own poisonous darkness and Mithras’s light, crawled over my body. When the chains reached my neck, they seared my skin with the chill of frostbite and the blister of fire. A paradox of pain. I screamed again, writhing against the tendrils as they slid toward my mouth.

Deep within me, my shadows snarled.

The shadow magic I had wielded for so long now finally roared to life, a torrent of raw energy that obliterated Raelion’s tendrils all at once.He staggered back, his form flickering as the dreamscape began to collapse around us.

“This is not over,” he warned, even as his body dissolved into smoke. “I will find you again, Esmer. And when I do, you will writhe at my feet and beg me to be your god.”

The ground crumbled beneath me and I fell, spiraling into darkness.

“Wake up and bear my mark,” Raelion thundered. “Wake up and declare your new allegiance for all to see.”

Ascream ripped me from my sleep.

For a heartbeat, I lay frozen. Listening. My palms were clammy, my back chilled with cold sweat.