Erzur huffs impatiently. “Enough of this. How do we stop them?” She demands.
The old witch turns back to the glyphs, translating quickly. “There are no records of it here,” she murmurs, looking defeated. “It says they can’t be killed. They’re eternal.”
“Sadal can be killed,” Thal says coolly, his green eyes cutting towards the dark god. “And he was supposed to be eternal.”
“They aren’t like me,” Sadal hisses. “They don’t have bodies, and even if they did, they would live on when those bodies died.”
“Isn’t this a sight?” Erzur quips, laughing sarcastically. She whirls on Altair. “What a wonderful waste of our time. You gather the strongest Fae on the continent and a ragtag group of witches and march us all across the wastelands – to find nothing.”
“You didn’t have to come,” Altair says. “In fact, I don’t remember inviting you.”
She twists her lips into an ugly scowl. “You should be embarrassed, Altair. You came all this way for nothing. And you’ve trusted the wrong people.” Erzur waves her hand towards me as if to prove a point.
Anger swells in me like a tidal wave and I glower at her. “How dare you?” I snarl, stepping closer to her. Thal doesn’t hold me back and his hand tightens on his sword. “I’ve had quite enough of listening to you bitch about the company Altair keeps and questioning his decisions. You may be a queen, but that can’t make up for your insolence and small-mindedness. You’re a pathetic, angry, and desperate woman.”
By the time I’ve finished, my words were a shout, and my anger is a swollen crescendo. Magic blazes at my fingertips and I have to fight myself from calling on it to attack the woman in front of me. Her lips split into a furious smirk and her hands curl into fists at her side. We face off, tension crackling between us.
“Ladies,” Altair murmurs soothingly.
“Shut up,” we hiss in unison, our eyes never leaving each other.
Erzur cocks her hip arrogantly, looking down her nose at me. “And what are you going to do? Are you going to strike me? Save us all? You’re just weak, mortal filth. An abomination perhaps. You’re just a witch.”
I feel a wicked grin split my lips as my anger grows. Cleo is still behind Erzur, but her eyes are murderous. I feel that same intent inside me, though I fight it back. Just a witch? Just mortal filth? I lift my dagger in the air and Erzur stiffens for an attack. My smile broadens and my eyes gleam. I can feel Sadal feeding off the anger and darkness inside me, but I don’t care. I keep my gaze on Erzur, blade hovering between us.
“You were wrong about one thing, Erzur,” I purr, hand tightening on my blade. “I’m not just a witch. I’m the witch.”
I plunge my dagger towards my exposed forearm and make a clean swipe across my skin. Pain flares for an instant and blood seeps quickly from the wound. There’s movement behind me; Thal and Altair moving in on me. I close my eyes and picture the ether. The world tips drunkenly and I feel their fingertips brush across my skin but then I’m gone.
Chapter 19
Verity
The shadows of the ether are deeper than I remember, swirling around me as if led by some imaginary wind. I clench my hands into fists at my side, trying to quell my fear, but the movement sends a prick of pain up my forearm. Blood still drips from the cut I made to call myself to this realm and I curse internally. I'm certain any scent of my blood will have all the demons nearby hunting me.
Carefully, so I don’t spill any of my blood to the ground, I tear a piece of my cloak and wrap it around my arm. Serus sits at my feet, alert, his ears sloping forwards to catch any sounds of approach. I grit my teeth against the pain of pressing the cloth against my wound and bind it tightly. Serus’s amber eyes flick towards me and his nostrils twitch.
“If we get out of here, I’ll teach you a healing spell so the next time you do something foolish like this you won’t bleed to death,” he quips, fear and anger lacing his other-worldly voice.
“You mean when,” I correct. My skin prickles like I’m being watched and I curl my shoulders instinctively.
“I mean if,” he hisses. I furrow my brows at his sharp tone, but I can admit I made a rash decision. I came here to prove my usefulness to Erzur; to find more about the Shades. But perhaps I shouldn’t have gone alone. I twist my lips into an apologetic frown and Serus flicks his tail, eyeing me. “There are some in this realm who may know of what we seek.”
Without another word, he pads away into the darkness. I chase after him, a candle materializing in my hand, as if the ether knew what I wanted. I hold it tightly and high, letting its beam push away as much of the darkness as I can stand. The ether is silent, even the tapping of my footsteps is absorbed by the strange black fog that blankets it. I catch myself holding my breath more than once.
Serus leads me on and slowly the landscape begins to change. What once had no features and was only fog and darkness, slowly becomes littered with black, dead trees. Their branches reach upwards, and I wonder if there’s even a sky here. I keep well away from the trees, instinct warning me that a single brush against a trunk could spell the end of me. Serus’s hackles are raised as if he’s nervous, but he presses on.
Suddenly, a voice echoes out of the darkness. “Old Friend,” it hums, “Interesting choice of companion, and body.”
Serus stops, his amber eyes settling on a space between two gnarled trees. “Hello, Old
