Page 47 of In Darkness Forged

For the first few moments, she struggled to breathe. From the pain in her chest, it seemed likely her ribs had been broken by the fall.

But after a few more shallow, panting breaths, the pain eased somewhat, so she tried to move.

Even the tiniest motion hurt. Aislin opened her eyes cautiously, wondering whether she’d fallen off an unseen cliff, but… there was nothing to see.

The world had gone utterly dark. Feeling around frantically, Aislin encountered only stone beneath her hands—rough, unbroken stone and unrelenting darkness.

A fresh surge of panic rose in her chest, choking her with its intensity. Had she been blinded by a blow to her head?

But no. There was something there—a light, high above her. It was only a faint glow, like moonlight breaking through a tiny tear in the darkness, but it made her situation grimly clear.

She’d fallen through an unseen hole into an entirely different world—one made of darkness and stone. Somehow, she’d accidentally found a way into the Darkspring Caves.

But now she was alone, with no magic, no light, no food or water, and no companions. And unless she could find a way to climb up to that tiny sliver of moonlight, she also had no way out.

She would simply have to find one.

Filled with the urgency of her need to escape, Aislin sat up. Or at least, she tried, but there was not enough room. Her head met stone, and the crack it made against her skull was the last thing she remembered before succumbing to the darkness.

CHAPTER13

Tal’s first odd thought was one of gratitude. The human hadn’t questioned him, hadn’t stopped to complain that she could be helpful. When he told her to go, she ran, as if she knew her presence would be more of a distraction than a help.

His second thought was to wonder why she would be a distraction forhim. If she’d stayed, the truld would have focused on her as easy meat and made his own job simpler.

And his third thought was composed chiefly of swearing, as the truld caught him with the edge of a backhand swing. He’d sent the human away, yet he wasstillnot focused on the fight.

Even for Tal, a truld was worthy of respect. Thankfully, they were solitary creatures, but night elves still typically confronted them in groups of five or more. Their incredible strength made them difficult to bring down, and their hides were tough enough that even the sharpest blades required a great deal of force to punch through to the vital organs beneath.

But not Tal’s. He had only to focus and rely on Cuan to keep the creature at bay.

As he had done with the renders, Tal opened his mind until he could sense the silver inlays along his blades. This time, however, he flooded them with power, sending his magic pulsing along their edges until they grew bright enough to make him wince.

Shadows fled. The truld howled and flung up an arm to shield its eyes. Cuan leaped and fastened his jaws around the truld’s throat, while Tal darted behind it, his glowing blades slicing deep across the back of his opponent’s legs.

The truld bellowed and crumpled to the ground, unable to stand with the tendons behind its knees sliced through. Cuan released it and darted away as Tal planted one foot and leaped up, his second foot landing in the center of the truld’s spine. One more step, and then he buried his blades in the back of his opponent’s neck, severing its spine and nearly separating its head from its shoulders. The creature crashed to the ground, face down, limbs twitching, and Tal took a moment to embrace the fierce exultation of victory.

Thiswas always where he felt most alive—this moment when power and practice converged in harmony and made him feel whole.

Every bit of his magic—both of the night and the day—had somehow been dedicated to the dance of battle. He could not shift, but the razor edge between life and death still sang to him, and for years, he had believed himself all but invulnerable. No one had beaten him with a blade since he was seven years old, when he had first learned what his magic could do. It guided his hands, directed his steps, and even whispered in his ears of what his opponent would do next.

But then, even with all of his power and magic, Lani had been taken away in a single instant. There was no armor, no skill, no magical gift that could have protected his heart from that kind of blow.

And yet, the blades still sang, and the lure of battle still called. He could no more have denied it than he could have denied his love for his sister, even though, for the rest of his life, he knew that any victory would have a bitter edge.

He would never win a fight without remembering that single loss.

Loss…

He needed to find Aislin. He’d told her to run, and she’d obeyed, but God of Shadows only knew where she’d gotten to, or what other monsters might happen upon her while she waited alone in the dark.

“Cuan.” The wolf tilted his head, golden eyes intent. “Find her.”

The dreadwolf did not hesitate. He turned to the moonlit mountainside, scented the air, and took off.

Tal hesitated only for as long as it took to clean his blades and retrieve his pack from the ground where he’d flung it. Then he was off, running up the slope in Cuan’s wake.

She wouldn’t have gone far. The battle had been swift, and wherever she’d gotten to, she couldn’t hide from Cuan’s nose.