“They couldn’t make the climb,” he said, glancing to the left. “They’re up at the Citadel with what seems like the entire Sinn population of Fyrio. We travelled here overnight.”
“Sinn?” I turned in the direction he was staring, realising that the solid wall of darkness behind me was actually the hulking mass of a sharp cliff face. I couldn’t see very far, but the thundering of the waterfall was enough to convince me of where we stood.
We were outside the Vilwood.
“Listen.” I grabbed Sig, seeing the masters begin to move toward me. “The Darkness left Calder. He’s here somewhere.”
“What—” he began, cutting himself off as Vidrol stepped into my personal space.
He gingerly took hold of my wrist, a look of distaste beaming down at us as he removed my hand from Sig’s arm.
“Leave,” he muttered, turning his back on Sig.
Sig gave me a long, searching look before stepping away, retreating back to the fire. I noticed Christian extracting himself from another Vold to approach him.
Vidrol hooked a finger into the gold material tied about my waist, tugging on it until it loosened. He looped it over my neck as I felt four other bodies surround me, cutting off the glow from the firelight. It slid over me, fitting precisely to my form. It was like a tunic made of sashes. It crossed over my chest and back in a diamond shape, the bottom of the diamond stretching all the way to my navel, the sash connecting there to fall between my thighs. The material sat high over my hips, another sash dropping to tickle the backs of my thighs. Vidrol tugged me forwards, leaning over me to tie two of the sashes behind my shoulders. They fell about me in a resemblance of a cape. I looked down at myself, the colour bright even through the dim firelight trying to sneak through the tight gaps left by their hulking shadows.
A hand landed on my hip, spinning me around. I stared up into eyes as dark as the blackness that had stolen over the world.
Fjor muttered a word and I jumped back as the golden sashes suddenly flared with light. Our little circle became illuminated, showing the tension in their expressions.
“What is it?” I asked, the feeling that something wasn’t right finally spurning me to question them.
They weren’t exactly being nice to me, but they were taking care of me—in their own, cruel way. They had seemed troubled ever since I woke up, lost in their own thoughts, barely speaking.
“The Darkness has realised that we’re helping you,” Fjor answered. “Truly helping you.”
I quirked a brow, feeling his eyes crawl over the golden sashes wrapping my body.
“There will be repercussions for that,” Fjor whispered, his finger tracing down one of the sashes. He tugged it, his eyes capturing mine again. “Serious repercussions.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask how it mattered, but the answer was obvious. The masters, united, might actually be able to stand a chance against the Darkness. I chewed on my lip—an anxious habit I seemed to be developing. I wasn’t sure if they were trying to tell me that the Darkness was about to forcibly draw them into the fight, or if the repercussions they mentioned would fall on me. Or worse … the rest of the world.
I wanted to ask, but a scratchy voice stopped me, two words stirring against the side of my head and making my blood freeze.
“It’s time.”
I turned to Vale. He held out a small bronze timepiece.
“What’s this for?” I asked, turning it around. It was an hour past dawn.
“You have exactly three days,” he answered. “Think of it as a test within a test. Prove to us how much you’re willing to sacrifice to save this world.”
“How is that proving anything?” I asked, as the sky suddenly filled with bright, blinding light.
There was a heavy crack of thunder, and a thick bolt of lightning that fissured across the expanse of the Vilwood, briefly illuminating the towering, mist-cloaked canopy. I jumped almost out of my skin, my hand slapping to my chest, where my heart beat loudly back at me.
“You should never have allowed it to taste you.” Vidrol was the one who answered me, and I found myself whipping back around to face him. “It has joined this battle, Tempest. The Vilwood isn’t normal—it’s the first thing the Darkness infected when it spilled into this world. It’s in the soil, in the air, in everything that grows.”
“I’m going in to battle the Darkness.” My tone was as numb as I felt.
Another crack of lightning briefly lit up the sky, causing the people gathered around the fire to stir with panic. I felt betrayed, which was stupid. The masters had never been on my side. They had always been playing a game.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?” I growled the question, spinning to face Vale again.
He had known the Darkness would return. He had known exactly when the storm above us would stir in the sky. He had orchestrated everything, setting up the ideal game board for them to play on.
“Because you would have stopped him,” Vale replied, his voice growing rougher, his eyes narrowing.
“Who?” My voice shook, my heart already knowing the answer.
“Calder.” Vale smiled, one of those cruel twists of the mouth that terrified me. “He waits for you in the Vilwood, but the Darkness will lead him down the wrong path—to a place it’s impossible to return from. You have exactly enough time to get through the Vilwood without deviating. Three days. No cheating. Prove to us that you’ll do anything, that we haven’t made a mistake in keeping you alive. And Tempest …” He loomed over me, his face lowering to mine, something horrible shining out of his eyes. “Give me your ring.”
My cheek burned instantly, but I tried to resist it. Tears burned behind my lids as I squeezed my eyes closed. My hands were already moving, even as the plea formed on my lips. But I wouldn’t speak it. I slipped the ring off and threw it on the ground, hating the hot tears that slipped down my cheeks as I picked up my backpack and shoved through their circle.
I grabbed the two sashes falling down my back, wrapping them around the lower half of my face and tying them off behind my head.
It’s in the soil, in the air, in everything that grows.
“I’m going in there with you,” a voice declared to my right, and I let go of a watery laugh behind my mask.
“You’ll die, Sig.”
“I don’t care. I don’t like what’s happening. The looks on their faces.” He jerked his head over my shoulder, back toward the masters. “This lightning. I don’t like any of it. I’m going with you.”
“So am I.” Christian stepped up on my other side, his usually friendly expression tight and fierce.
I shook my head, gripping the straps of my backpack.
“The Darkness lives in there. I’m the only one who can sense it. Anyone else who steps in there will die and I don’t want to be responsible for that.”
I squeezed Sig’s arm and then stepped away. I refused to look back. I refused to speak to anyone else. I left the circle of light, but the golden material wrapping my body cast a soft glow around me, showing my immediate surroundings, a few steps at a time.
“I’m coming for you,” I muttered, stepping past the first tree, everything wiped from my mind but a single, burning objective.