Lia waited patiently as I fell silent in my retelling, rubbing my knee with small, reassuring circles. Val knelt down beside her and dipped her head to meet my eyes. “What happened, Lux?”
I closed my eyes and shuddered as I saw the king’s fate repeated over and over in my mind. “I tortured him. I burned him alive, right on his throne.” My voice fell to a quavering whisper. “He’s dead. Him, and his councilor, Gullen.”
The room fell silent under the weight of my confession. I fought with all of my remaining strength to stop myself from being sick as the memory continued to torment me. A heavy, gauntleted hand grasped my shoulder, and I looked up to find Val staring at me intently. “Good,” she stated, forcing me to hold her gaze. “As long as Virram Yorrell lived, the country of Kaldan was in danger.”
“No,” I muttered, shaking my head. “If you had seen what I did, you wouldn’t say—”
“I would,” she interrupted. “I will not speak to your methods, for I do not understand them, nor do I know the full extent of your intentions. I do not know the exact fate that befell Virram tonight, but it does not matter; what you have done has benefitted every citizen that suffered beneath him. Without your intervention, Serathids would have overrun Kaldan, and Virram would have ruled over the remains. No matter what you believe, that is the truth.”
“Val’s right, Lux: it’s done.” Lia added. She pulled me into another tight hug. “All I care about is you. You’re back, and you’re safe. That’s all that matters right now.” I felt a gentle probe of golden mana at the back of my mind. If you want to talk about what happened, I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready. You’re not alone. Please, don’t forget that.
I nodded into her shoulder, too overwhelmed by the night’s events to process their assurances. My sole focus fell onto the amber aura that enveloped me and the comfort it provided. I felt my body begin to slowly relax as I accepted her comfort, and the visions that tormented me faded away until my mind was completely blank. “Thank you,” I said quietly. I looked past her to Val and gave her a small nod. “Both of you.”
With my self-torment quelled, the only feeling left within me was exhaustion, and I slumped back with a long yawn. “So,” I started, looking around the room, “how long was I gone?”
“Less than an hour, I believe,” Val answered. “Lia was insistent that, if we waited here, you would return to us. We have thoroughly investigated the Shadebinder’s chambers in your absence.”
“Oh. Good,” I said, awkwardly pushing myself to my feet with Lia’s assistance. “Did you find anything else that might be helpful?” Val and Lia shared a furtive glance, each waiting for the other to answer first. “What is it?”
“I continued to read the journal once we had finished our sweep of the surrounding rooms,” Val explained hesitantly. “It is...not good news. We can wait until you are—”
“Val, I’m fine,” I cut her off, only partially lying. “Tell me what you found out.”
“The artifact you destroyed here in Shadowmine was only one in a set of four. If the journal entries are to be believed, the current Shadebinder, Horace Odwell, has already delivered a second artifact to an undisclosed location in Doram as of six weeks ago.”
I rubbed my eyes and let out a tired sigh. “So the Serathid invasion isn’t over, after all.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” she replied. “According to his notes, the artifact was activated with ‘minimal complications.’ The only consequence of the activation was the appearance of a small bit of blood—no Serathids or other unknown creatures.”
“Maybe each of the artifacts does a different thing,” Lia suggested. “Or, maybe it being in a different place makes it do something different?” She shrugged her shoulders and motioned to the large tome on the desk behind us. “I don’t think they know any more about it than we do, based on the notes.”
“So it either does the same thing as the one here, or something different. At this point, I’m not sure which is worse.” I chuckled and shook my head. “Does the journal say anything about where Horace is now?”
“Only where he will be,” Val answered. “He has left in search of additional information on the sect of Shadebinders that existed at the founding of Kaldan. When he has found what he is looking for, he intends to enter the eastern forest to activate a third artifact there. The last is intended for Lybesa, though Odwell has delayed its activation until the Mountain Gate is more easily traversable.”
I walked to the rack of journals beside me as Val explained her findings. Scanning the ordered spines, I found the matching designation from the nameplate of the shattered display case in the adjacent room and plucked it from the shelf. I slipped the small journal into a pouch on my belt as I turned back to my companions. “Sounds like we have some traveling to do.” I rejoined the group and put my arm around Lia’s shoulders, resting my weight heavily on her back. “For now, I’d settle for getting out of this place and seeing the sky again.”
“Where will you go now?” Val asked. The question was innocuous enough, but I could feel a second, more pivotal question in the trepidation of her voice and the slight raise of her eyebrows: What about me?
“To bed,” I answered with a laugh. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but a lot happened tonight. I’m not making any more decisions until after I’ve had some sleep.”
“Of course,” she answered quickly.
