Chapter 21: A Thorn in the Veil.
Scars That Just Wouldn't Fade
It had been two months since the Crimson Veil fell.
Lyra had spent that time piecing stuff back together from the ruins. Small groups of soldiers, rogue mages, and old families that everyone thought were gone. Just broken, bitter people, drawn by rumors to the woman they were calling the Ash Queen.
But she wasn't wearing a crown.
Not yet, anyway.
Lyra didn't want the title, but the people needed it.
The council room at Ashvale, or what was left of it, had torchlight flickering all over it. The walls were burned from the last fight, and the floor was cracked, but at least it was in one piece.
Voren Duskbane was kneeling in front of her, holding a bloody rag.
Another village hit last night, he said, looking grim. Same deal. Ground split open, animals messed up, nobody made it out. Whatever it is...it's after the marked ones.
Lyra frowned. She knew who he meant by marked.
The ones with the blood of the old gods in them. People like her.
People like Kaelen.
Where was it? she asked.
Varrow's Hollow. Three nights away.
Lyra closed her eyes, feeling that old pain come back. Every time she thought she was over it, something brought it all back.
We leave when it's light out, she said.
Whispers at Night
Later that night, Lyra couldn't sleep, so she stood by the Mourning Tree where Kaelen was buried.
The wind was blowing through the branches, sounding like an old song.
A voice, not really there, popped into her head.
It's watching, little storm. Waiting.
She turned around.
Nobody was there.
Just the dark.
The Hollow Throne. She'd heard dying men whisper about it, seen it in burned books. A place that was around before the gods, a throne made of destroyed worlds, meant for something awful.
And someone wanted her to find it.
Or stop it.
She wasn't sure which.
But when the Veil broke, it left something behind.
And now it was hunting her people.
The Annoying Visitor
At midnight, someone showed up at the gates of Ashvale.
They had a cloak, a hood, and you couldn't see their face.
The guards pulled out their swords.
I have news from the Veil, the stranger said in a raspy voice. And a warning.
Lyra was called over.
She looked into the figure's shadowed eyes. She noticed old power in their eyes when no one else could've.
Who are you? she snapped.
He pulled back his hood.
His face was pale and scarred. A face she remembered.
It was Avelar.
The backstabber. Kaelen's cousin. The guy who stuck a knife in his back.
Lyra reached for her sword, but Avelar held up a shaky hand.
I'm not here to fight, he rasped. You should've killed me when you had the chance. I would've done the same. But...we don't have any time.
She growled. You lost the right to say 'we' when you sold your soul.
I screwed up, he said. And I've paid for it. Whatever Aeris was...it's not gone. The Nameless King was just a distraction. The Hollow Throne is waiting for its real heir.
And you think I'm going to believe you?
He met her eyes.
No. But listen to this. He stepped forward, pulled out a blade, and cut his palm open.
The blood that came out was black as ink.
I've seen what's on the other side of the Veil. And if you don't stop it, we're all dead.
The First Darkening
As dawn came, the sky went dark again.
Another crack in the Veil showed up, bigger this time, jagged, with mist coming out of it like black water.
Lyra stared at it, feeling cold inside.
The war wasn't over.
It had never stopped.
This was just the beginning.
And the thing on the other side had seen her.
The storm-born.
The last of Lyric's blood.
And it was coming.
For her.