Page 11 of Sword & Shadow
Moving for the passage, Evylin could feel her magic working to clear her vision rapidly. “Stay close,” she warned Deckard and Ethenn. “The more of those Shades we bring down, the more difficult it will be to keep sight of each other.”
Deckard strode forward with purpose, his every move primed for attack. “We’ll be right behind you,” he assured her.
His promise did little to assuage her concern, but Evylin pressed into the opening. The cave matched the descriptions she’d read in her novels. The passages were winding and narrow; the ceiling soared in some places and dropped low in others. They had to crouch, walk single file, and turn to the side to slip through some sections. In others, they had plenty of room to spread out.
As they traversed the difficult terrain, at each step of the way, they had to fight Shades. True to their promises, Auden and Ilain utilized their lesser forms of magic, which helped everyone grow more comfortable in the darkness. But it also meant their attacks weren’t as strong as they might’ve otherwise been.
Auden struck out with invisible forces of Time magic, manipulating the Shades as they ran for them. He’d reverse their timeline, throwing them back on their tracks, or locking them in time, their forms freezing altogether.
Ilain brandished her Elemental magic with a flourish. As always, her magic carried a more dramatic, embellished flair. Wind sliced like a blade under her command. She drew pillars from the rock with Terrae magic, piercing into the Shades. And, more rarely, she summoned spiraling spears of water that disappeared in a spray of droplets after hitting their marks.
As the Mages worked their magic, Evylin channeled her own. Able to sink into her Warrior urges, she moved as Hewitt taught her. She cut through the Shades with precision and speed,returning them to vapor. Her whole body came alive, jubilant in the fight. Arrows sailed past her, theirhissthrough the air tingling acutely across her skin.
It felt so good to fight again.
For a moment, Evylin forgot anything but action. The world outside was gone, and their mission itself was forgotten. She was alive with the fight, and nothing else mattered.
Another wave of Shades joined the fray, the halls clouding with the shadows of their death knell. It was almost impossible to see anything but the Shades before her and Auden ahead of her. They continued forward, shifting into one of the narrower paths. She knew she wouldn’t have the arm span to swing her sword in the passage, so she took her first opportunity to sheath it in exchange for two knives.
Twisting through the corridor, Evylin sliced down the Shades in her path. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back from the long exertion of their fight, but her Warrior magic compensated readily for whatever exhaustion sheshouldhave felt.
More Shades poured into the passage, and Evylin could hear the rest of the troop fighting as Deckard called from behind, “They’ve surrounded us.” On instinct, Evylin began to turn back to help.
“Evylin!” Auden cried just before she heard a crash and a groan. She whirled around again to find him grappling with half a dozen Shades.
Evylin’s body sprang into action before her mind caught up with what she was doing. She sent a throwing dagger flying toward one Shade. It connected, and a shadow burst out. She leaped around a pile of ragged rocks, kicking back another Shade. She landed as Hewitt taught her, rolling to her feet on the other side of Auden before she struck out at another Shade.However, she wasn’t fast enough to take them all down, and the horde pressed in.
As the other Night Shades struggled with Auden, one of them managed to grab the Night Relic. It wrested it over his neck even as Auden fought back desperately. The Shade yanked the necklace free and retreated toward the Chamber.
Auden cried out, but Evylin was already on the move. She jumped, kicking off the side of the passageway and flipping over the Shade to land in its path. Her feet hit the stone, and she thrust her knife up, straight into the Shade’s chest. It dissipated into shadow, and the Relic dropped.
Evylin reached out to catch the necklace. Cool metal hit her palm, a sharp spike of energy radiating across her skin:peace and terror.
In a flash of amethyst, the Relic beamed brighter in her hand. A vibration worked through her fingers as, in a split second, the necklace transformed into an elegant, angular sword in her grip. Violet light radiated off the dark purple blade, its grip and hilt formed of purple leather and metal. Lighter than any blade she’d ever held, she knew without having to swing it that it was already perfectly balanced to her.
Despite the shock that thrummed through her chest, Evylin heard the fight raging around her. She sprang back into action with her knife still in her dominant hand. Readily, she took down the remaining Shades that harried Auden before falling back to aid the rest of their troop. Somehow, she found that wielding this magical blade made everything easier, even using it with her nondominant hand. No feint or attack failed her as she tore through the Shades.
Shadow curled through the air, tendrils spiraling into nothing as she brought down the last Shade. Their team paused in the narrow passage, now freed from their attackers. Another wave would come, but they had a moment to breathe. And as Evylindrew in a full inhale, she noticed those who could see were staring straight at her.
“By Allore’s might,” Auden muttered, awe filling his tone. “It’s true.”
Ethenn gaped from the back as Ilain’s gaze twinkled merrily in the darkness. And Deckard—he stared at her with something between fascination and confusion in his expression.
“Is that—?” Ilain asked.
“The Night Relic,” Auden confirmed.
Ilain began to laugh ecstatically, and Deckard’s brow furrowed.
Before anyone could ask for clarification, Auden hurried down the path without giving them time to consider the transformation. “Come on,” he ordered. “We’re nearly there.”
Warrior senses thrumming, Evylin took off after him. In mid-stride, she slid her knife into her belt, switching the Night sword to her right hand. The Shades returned swiftly, another, larger horde attempting to block their path.
With her new weapon, the fight was even easier for Evylin. Nothing could stop her. No opponent or maneuver was too difficult. She spun and ducked, avoiding each Shade’s attack. The world seemed to slow around her as though she were moving at twice her normal speed, or like the Shades were moving through water.
In the midst of the fight, she realized almost absentmindedly that with her newfound weapon and the Calders’ magic, neither Deckard nor Ethenn had to do much more than guide Thom and Rafferty onward.
They entered a vaulted cavern, a giant rock spire spurting from the center of the room. Amethyst gemstones glittered overhead, lighting the space. Seven other passages branched off the circular cavern.
