A Flame in the Shadow

I heard the hush of the wind change, the way the

the procession always came. No ho

her like a cape. Her face was ageless and beautiful in a way that hurt to look at. Her eye

her voice laced with honey and

before I could grab him.

t. Even the flames o

?" she questioned,

not leave her." He said

o him. But all I felt was dread. Sariyah didn't

n't see her move. I only felt the way the world shifted

ind a new shadow stepped out of the dark. He looked at me with silver eyes

anger said. "Th

r. Just... crack. A fine, jagged fault through the center of everything I had e

iant, trembling, mine. The next he

into the mist. She just looked at me with those blank eyes like she had l

anding in the square, surrounded by stunned faces and unspoken

the offering. Cowards in crimson robes, whispering prayers to the dark queen as if their hands weren't soa

he next time I opened them I was no longer alone. A shadow stepped forward from the edge of the

d short to his scalp. His eyes glinting like polished steel. His coat was long bl

cold and ancient seeming inevitable. His felt like a t

uld defy her and live?' Hi

d my voice raw and barely able

ow. "Orion St.James

empty now except for the ashes she left b

k for compan

m not off

n't leave. He let the silence stret

bastion was willing to risk it all for?

n't a

ntally and physically. Then once he is

im," I snapped.

It will be more ent

ling in my stomach, rising into

g something behind my eyes. "Because I felt the ripple. Someth

you talk

ing to swallow." He said. "The kind tha

because something was

epped back into one without thinking. The wind shifted. A strange press

line of the sigil. A sharp heat lanced through my body. I gasped, falling

loded. There was no sound, just light and heat and shadow surging together in a violent dance. The s

her, fire and shadow, latching from my

The sigil burned out. I collapsed into the ash, p

t his hand. "You idiot. Do you

ghed, the taste of ion in my

on fire. "Binding magic. Ancient. Blood-forge

instantly it wasn't my own. I could feel his heart beatin

ture like me gets bound to a flame-born girl who do

r rising. "I don't

what you have done. If you think you escaped the mon