Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Seven

A elia

With the thrashing of bodies racing through the forest and the mad pounding of my heart, I barely had time to contemplate what Ruhl had just called me. Duskling ? What in the realms was that?

The damp earth squelched beneath my boots as we treaded deeper into the shadow-drenched Feywood Forest. Now was not the time to consider my new nickname. We had until sunrise to locate a sacred relic and avoid all the nasties lurking under the cover of the woods. After my last experience in Mysthallia, I was anxious to be far from the dreaded poisonous trees and wicked creatures.

Ruhl moved silently beside me, his presence a constant reminder of the uneasy temporary alliance between us. I swung my head to the right to peer at the Shadow prince sprinting beside me. “Do you have any idea where the relics might be?”

His lips twisted into a frown. “No, why would I?”

“You seemed to have led your team through the gauntlet in record time, so I thought perhaps you had some sort of special insight.”

“If I did, what would I need you for?” Again, that wicked grin.

I considered telling him the truth, that this knowledge he relied upon didn’t exist, but instead, I ground my teeth, deciding that letting him think I was valuable would do much more to ensure my safety. “Just because I’m familiar with the forest, doesn’t mean I can find these sacred relics.”

“I’m aware of that.” He began to slow, and I thanked Raysa, because there was no way in the realms I could keep up this break-neck pace for much longer. He wound through the thick copse of darkwoods and pressed his back to a tree, yanking my arm so I halted right beside him. A dozen initiates raced past us, oblivious that we had stopped. The whirlwind of shadows curving to his form began to peel away, tendrils of darkness stretching between the colossal trunks. “Which is why I’ll have my shadows do the work for us.”

Not for the first time, I was so damned jealous of the Shadow Fae abilities. As powerful as rais could be, it never seemed quite as sentient as those whispers of night. Or perhaps, I simply hadn’t mastered them yet.

He still leaned against the tree, something predatorial about his stance. Though he seemed at ease, I could feel the buzz of nox skimming over my skin.

I took a step away, anxious to escape that invasive yet seductive energy. “What do we do now?”

“Wait until they find something and lead us straight to the relic.”

I suddenly felt extremely useless. And if I wanted Ruhl to believe he needed me to win this trial, I had to prove myself valuable. “While you just sit there, I’ll scan the forest with my illumination sight.”

He released a bored sigh. “Fine, do what you’d like, but please, try not to get eaten by any of the beasties. Reign is doing his best to convince me you mean nothing to him, but I fear he’d rip my head off if anything happened to you under my watch.”

I froze mid-step and whirled around to face him. “He’s not lying,” I ground out. “There is nothing of substance between us.”

“Then why can I hear your heartbeat quicken at the mere mention of his name?”

Heat raced up my neck, only elevating my pulse. “It’s lust; that is what you’re sensing.”

A sinful grin melted across his face, and he pushed off the trunk and swaggered closer. “Well, then, if it’s only lust, then I am more than willing to scratch that itch.” A gasp escaped my clenched lips as a faint shadow slithered off his form and curled around my neck. “My brother isn’t the only one who can command shadows to do his bidding. I’d wager I could have you writhing in pleasure without so much as laying a finger on you.”

Oh, goddess . I swallowed hard and squirmed free of the shadow’s icy touch. “That would be highly inappropriate,” I hissed. Not to mention the fact that Reign would literally murder him once he found out. And still, I couldn’t deny the allure of the suggestion. What was wrong with me?

Reign was my cuoré, despite his insistence on breaking our bond. I knew how hurt he was when I refused to run away with him, and I was fully aware that severing our tie was his misguided way of protecting himself. And me. But I still loved him, in spite of everything. So why, then, did I feel even an inkling of temptation?

The crunch of leaves underfoot jerked me from the completely inappropriate musings. Stars, Aelia, focus ! Ruhl’s head whipped over his shoulder, his entire body tensing. Nox surged from his pores, swirling with my rais , and energy budded in my core.

“What was that?” I whispered.

“I’m not certain, but whatever it is, it’s coming.”

A deep rumble reverberated through the earth, and my hands shot out to steady myself. The trees trembled and shook, and I watched in awe as their roots sprang up from the hard-packed dirt and began to move, walking on them like legs, much like Melisara’s tree had done in Mysthallia. The dense copse literally parted right before us, revealing a clearing bathed in a ghostly silver glow from where the moon peered through the thick canopy. There, in the ancient grove, a creature coalesced through the darkness.

I hissed out a curse.

A hulking beast cloaked in shadows, with eyes like molten gold that glowed with anger emerged into the moonlit clearing. Its multiple limbs, each tipped with deadly claws, scraped against the ground, setting my nerves on edge.

Ruhl tensed beside me, a storm of shadows rising. "A Lurker, one of ours,” he murmured, gravely, his voice low. “Ready yourself, duskling."

I nodded, though my distrust for Ruhl clawed at me as fiercely as the Lurker might. What better way to get rid of me than to allow that monster to kill me? The creature charged, a blur of shadow and fury. Ruhl acted first, extending his hand as dark tendrils of shadow sprouted from his fingertips like wicked vines. They raced forward, hissing and spitting, aiming to entangle the beast. But the Lurker was swift. It dodged the onslaught with a guttural snarl that raised the fine hairs on my arms.

Summoning my rais , my thoughts whirled back to my Lightweaver’s Craft class. I focused, feeling the familiar warm surge of energy pooling in my palms. Light gathered, swirling into brilliant strands that I wove into a blinding net of radiance. With a sharp thrust of my hands, I cast it towards the creature. The light ensnared it, and the Lurker howled its fury as it thrashed against the luminous bonds.

“Now, Aelia! Trap it!” Ruhl shouted over the shrill screams, his own shadows creeping up to reinforce the bonds I had created.

I hesitated, my instincts screaming to flee now rather than trust Ruhl. Yet, with the creature fighting fiercely and the powerful nox skimming my rais , I knew our combined powers were necessary. Steeling myself, I channeled more light, enhancing the net into an unbreakable cage of brilliance. The creature’s howls diminished under the intensity of the light, and its form began to dissipate as the shadows that composed its body melted away.

Ruhl watched, his expression unreadable in the dim light.

We remained silent for a long moment, until the Lurker vanished and nothing but torn shreds of light remained of the net.

"Not bad," he finally conceded with a grudging nod. His shadows receded like the tide, slipping back into his tense form a moment later.

I kept my guard up, still wary of Ruhl’s true intentions, but at least I’d proven myself. “Let’s move on,” I grumbled, already turning away from the now-quiet clearing. “We need to find that relic before something else finds us.”

As the hours passed, Ruhl’s scowl grew more murderous. His shadow minions had scoured the forest, returning empty-handed each time. My illumination sight had done no better, unable to discern any traces of energy patterns or hidden magical sources.

Still, I kept moving because it was better than remaining in one place for too long and attracting the attention of some other fearsome Fae beast. Ruhl trudged on behind me, his footfalls growing heavier with each step. It said something of our maturing relationship that I’d allowed my back to him, completely exposed.

Not that I trusted him exactly, but he’d had multiple opportunities to abandon me or worse, and he had yet to act upon any of them.

Judging by the shards of pale blue light that snuck through the curtain of foliage overhead, the moon must have been high in the night sky by now. I was exhausted from the endless march through the forest, and I was also fairly certain we were moving in circles. If Ruhl hadn’t figured out I knew nothing about these woods yet, he wasn’t half as smart as Reign claimed.

“Are you purposely trying to get us more lost?” Ruhl’s voice echoed from behind me, farther back than it should have been.

I spun around and found him seated on the damp earth a few yards back. He held a twig between his fingers, snapping it into smaller and smaller pieces, then tossing the shrapnel into the dirt.

“Of course not,” I hissed as I marched toward him.

He swung his head at a giant darkwood and pointed at the deep charcoal bark. Three light slashes had been carved across the trunk. “We passed this tree hours ago,” he grumbled. “Three times, to be exact.”

Curses. Perhaps Ruhl was smarter than I’d given him credit for.

I slumped down onto the ground beside the tree and leaned my weary bones against the wide trunk. “Maybe we just need to take a little rest.” Leaning my head against the rough bark, my weary eyelids drooped, but I couldn’t quite relax enough to let them close. Allowing myself to be that vulnerable in the presence of the prince would be foolish. To keep the exhaustion at bay, I blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Don’t you find it odd that we haven’t encountered any of our teammates?”

Ruhl was now sprawled across the forest floor, staring up into the canopy of dark green. Clearly, he didn’t feel the least bit intimidated by me if he was able to relax like that. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire forest was cast in illusions. There could be another pair just on the other side of that wall of shrubbery for all we know.” He shrugged and a swirl of darkness peeled off his form, twirling between his fingertips.

It certainly was a possibility, but I should have been able to pick up on something with my illumination sight. This entire forest was so damned disorienting.

“ Estellira …” The unearthly hiss sent goosebumps rippling down my exposed arms. “ Estellira , come to me.”

I shot up to my feet, my head whipping back and forth amid the encroaching darkness. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Ruhl barely tipped his head up.

“ Estellira , leave him, my darling. It’s me, your mother, and I must tell you something.” The voice sweetened, a timbre I was certain I’d never heard before and yet recognized all the same. All the air siphoned from my lungs.

“Mother?”