I was just beginning to wonder if we might be crushed when we finally emerged from the tunnel into a cave. The small stone opening was barely large enough to crouch, so I scrambled out from behind Mavlyn and the faux shadow soldier as fast as I could, until I was sucking in gulps of forest air.
“You okay?” Mavlyn asked, her expression pinched with concern. Clumps of dirt clung to her clothing, and tiny, thread-like roots infested her auburn hair. Einar was in similar shape, and I’m sure I looked no better. “You ran out of there like you were being chased by a murder of harpies.”
“I’m not a fan of small spaces,” I panted, doubling over so I could rest my hands on my knees. I glanced around at the three of them, noting that they were far less perturbed than I was. And the shadow soldier barely even had a hair out of place! “How are the three of you so calm?”
Mavlyn shrugged. “I’m an earth fae. Being down there felt like home.”
“I don’t know about home,” Einar said with a dark scowl as he glanced back at the cave, “but as a soldier, I’m no stranger to being stuck in tight places. I’ve been in much, much worse situations.” His scowl grew thunderous as he jabbed a finger at the faux shadow guard. “I know who you are, so don’t pretend otherwise. What are you doing here,Kiryan?”
“Kiryan?” Mavlyn scrunched her nose as she looked between the two males. “Do the two of you know each other?”
I stared at Kiryan, taking in the shimmer of his green-gold irises. “You were the traveler who bought the everbright potion from my mother’s shop that day.”
Kiryan smiled, the expression softening his brutish features. “Yes indeed.”
“And you were also the elder in the woods who told me to follow the aural lights to Einar.”
“I was.”
“And the male at the air temple?
“Also yes.”
“What the frogs?” Mavlyn scowled. “How could he possibly be all four of those people at once? Does he just have a really good disguise?”
“No,” Einar growled, his golden gaze trained on Kyrian with a death glare. “He’s just really good at hopping from body to body, taking possession of whoever will best serve his needs. A bit like someone else we know, or rather, just met.”
“I sincerely hope you did not just compare me to the Mother of Shadows,” Kyrian said stiffly, drawing himself up to his full height. “Not after everything I’ve done for you and your people.”
“Everything you’ve done!” Einar took a step toward Kyrian, his fingers twitching as though he wanted to wrap his hands around the other male’s throat. The entire forest went preternaturally still, and Einar paused, seeming to remember himself. “I only asked for one boon—that you put me into an enchanted sleep.”
“Which I did,” Kiryan said calmly. “But I did not promise the enchantment would remain unbroken.”
“I’m sorry, but I need you two to slow down a bit.” I raised my hands as Einar opened his mouth, ready to spew more vitriol at our would-be-savior. “How, exactly, did you put Einar into an enchanted sleep? Only the witchlings have the power to cast enchantments, and they’re all dead.”
“Not only the witchlings.” Kiryan smiled. “The Radiants have that power, too.”
Mavlyn looked like she was about to topple over.“Radiants?”she squeaked, her eyes bugging out as she stared at Kiryan. “Are you seriously telling us you’re aRadiant?”
“That is exactly what he is telling you,” Einar said tersely.
“I don’t understand.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off the headache brewing behind my eyes. “I thought Radiants were beings of light?”
“We are, just as Shadows are beings of darkness,” Kiryan said patiently. He ignored Einar’s glowering expression, turning his attention fully toward me. “We cannot exist in corporeal form in this world, so in order to interact with sentient beings, we must inhabit one of you. Unlike Nox, the shadow being who is currently inhabiting your mother’s body, I only possess people temporarily. Doing so for prolonged periods of time can cause mental and spiritual damage, eventually leading to insanity.”
“I assume that’s what was happening to King Aolis,” I murmured, thinking back to the king. He’d seemed like he was tee-tottering on the edge of sanity, sometimes in control of his faculties, while at other times gripped in the throes of madness. My heart sank at the thought—is that what would happen to Mother? “But how was he able to maintain control?”
“King Aolis was much stronger than Gelsyne,” Kiryan said, a note of sadness entering his voice. “So strong, in fact, we chose him as a champion.”
“A champion?” Mavlyn exclaimed. “But King Aolis wielded shadow magic. Aren’t champions supposed to be gifted with radiant magic?”
Kiryan shook his head. “Once every millennium, the Shadows and the Radiants come to a single fae they deem worthy during their coming-of-age ceremony, and offer him or her the boon of shadow or radiant magic. Usually, the fae chooses radiant magic, which is why your stories always depict the champion as a warrior of light, leading their people through golden age after golden age. But some fae choose a darker path, and when King Aolis went through his ritual, he was wracked with grief and anger at the recent loss of his mother to the dragons. Vengeance was the only thought that consumed him, and he felt that shadow magic would allow him to enact a greater revenge against the dragons.
“However,” Kiryan continued, a small smile curling his mouth, “the first time King Aolis used shadow magic, he was so horrified at the results that he sealed it away inside himself and vowed never to use it again. The Shadows were furious at this turn of events, let me tell you. They had been hoping to disrupt the balance of shadow and light in their favor so they could finally gain entry into your world.”
“But if King Aolis was so perturbed by the effects of shadow magic, then why did he use it again?” Mavlyn asked, but I already knew the answer.
“Aolis was in love with Princess Olette,” I said, thinking back to the conversation I’d had with the king at the dining table. “He was betrothed to her before she met my father, and she chose to marry the Dragon Prince instead. That must have driven him off the edge.”