Page 30 of Fate's Wicked Oath

“Rebellion?” she repeated with an air of false amusement. “Sounds exciting. Do tell.”

“I could perhaps arrange a deal for you,” he continued, ignoring her act. “A shorter sentence, in exchange for information.”

Mariana snorted dismissively.

Faren was about to press when she halted abruptly, gripping the pommel of her sword with one hand and Faren’s elbow with her other. His touch magic immediately homed in on the contact through his shirt, and he twisted his arm free.

Through the mist, about sixty yards down the slope ahead of them, a dark shape darted through the tall grass.

The creature was heading perpendicular to their path, seemingly oblivious to their presence. It was just as Orna had described: a wolf, but utterly corrupted. Faren had learned all about abominations in briefings. He had seen drawings of both the Morta and examples of animals that had fallen victim to their bite. Yet no reports or renditions had quite captured the horror such monsters invoked in the flesh.

Faren adjusted his stance, his body tensing with the promise of a fight. He reached behind his back, his fingers curling around the hilt of his sword, Mercy. He was about to draw the weapon when Mariana shook her head at him, then jerked her chin in the direction of the monster.

Sundown was still a few hours off, but with the darkness of the clouds and the heaviness of the mist, the land before them had a twilight hue. The creature prowled through the grass like a shadow, a ghost, unreal and terrible. Faren’s grip tightened on his weapon, and he sensed the first prickling of his Oath magic’s flame, his intention sparking along the blade, making it crackle inside its scabbard.

“No,” Mariana whispered.

The creature lifted its muzzle to the sky andwailed.The sound sent a chill down Faren’s spine. He glanced at Mariana again, wondering why she had yet to draw her weapon. Was it not their duty to—

Just then, a chorus of howls filled the air, seeming to come from all directions. More creatures appeared in the valley below, yipping and snapping at each other. The glow of their red eyes pierced the gloom. Faren counted five, maybe six—he’d never fought an abomination firsthand, but this seemed like too many for he and Mariana to take on their own.

Suddenly, the Valiant’s factions made a lot more sense.

Faren watched, horrified as the creatures nipped and snarled at each other, wrestling in the wet grass. The sound of snapping teeth and guttural growls filled the air, a vicious and mournful cacophony. Then they were loping away, disappearing into the fog.

Mariana sighed with displeasure. Then she started walking in the direction of the pack of cursed wolves.

Faren had known all along that he was here to investigate a town for being overrun with abominations, but the reality of that was only just now setting in. And with the weather hastening the descending dusk, he wasn’t sure this was the best way to go about the mission.Hismission.

“We should camp for the night,” Faren whispered, following Mariana down the hill. “Or perhaps retreat to the homestead and wait for the fog to clear. Set out in proper daylight.”

Mariana pressed her lips into a grim line. “Better to move in the cover of darkness.”

“For them? Or us?”

“Both.”

“But—”

“I am the guide,” she said. “I know it pains you to acknowledge my competence, but you’re just going to have to trust that when it comes to abominations, I know what I’m doing.”

“I don’t doubt your skill,” Faren said honestly, “but I am your superior. I say we—”

“Let’s get one thing straight, shall we?” Mariana interrupted in a forceful whisper. “You might outrank me, but here in the wilds,Iam the authority. For the sake of your safety and mine, while we are in close proximity to monsters, my word is law.” Her pace was purposeful. “You will follow my instructions without questions. In fact, you will not speak at all—unless it is to say, ‘Yes, Mariana.’ Understood?”

Faren wanted to protest, but he was growing weary of the constant animosity, and it seemed inadvisable to continue to raise his voice in a place where abominations lurked. If Mariana took his silence as agreement, so be it. He said nothing and remained in step with her, this dark knight leading him down what felt like a road to ruin.

Silence closed in around them, both insulating and isolating. Eventually, Faren could not discern how much time had passed since they’d witnessed the wolves. The land felt liminal, his sense of direction upended by the fog.

Then, dark shapes formed up ahead. Cottages with broken windows. A lone bell tower. The abandoned town wasbackdropped by the Western Wood, the pines poking upward like black teeth in an open maw.

They had reached Yar-on-Gray.

12

Nooks and Crannies

Faren