Chapter 35

  Zaidna

  The Empire of Judath

  The City of Marin

  Kirin grabbed hold of Javan’s old rope swing and took a flying leap, soaring through the clearing in a wide circle. The crisp wind rushed through her body, infusing her nose and lungs with the smell of leaves and bark. As she swung around and around, all of Javan’s old toys became nothing more than strings of color blazing across the silver-white trees.

  She could scarcely believe she had ever been frightened of the Goddess Forest. Javan had described it as a sanctuary, where he could escape from all his troubles, and it truly was. This was their special place. She didn’t belong in the temple, especially sealed up in the cold, empty chamber at the top of its spire. She was meant to be here.

  As Kirin lazily slowed her swinging and jumped down from the knotted rope, she heard a twig snap from beyond the ringed clearing. “I’m here!” she called to Javan, but there was no reply.

  The canopy grew dark. It was twilight, and all the trees reflected a gloomy purple.

  “Javan?” Kirin called. “Are you there?” Again, she was met with silence. She began to feel uneasy. It was getting late, and she knew she shouldn’t be here out past dark. She turned to leave, but stopped when she saw tiny black flames begin to wriggle out from the ring of trees. They slithered slowly at first, but picked up speed, finally rushing toward her so fast that she instinctively jumped back just as they combined to swirl up into the air, coalescing into a perfect, vibrating sphere. The sphere hovered just inches from her nose, and it was strangely familiar. It was at once both black and dark purple, with tiny, smoky tendrils spanning the whole of it. Before she realized it, she was reaching out to touch it.

  But this time, just as her fingers were about to brush its indistinct surface, something in her mind forced her to stop. She tried to pull her hand away from the shadow, but her muscles were frozen in place. Undeterred, she grabbed hold of her wrist and forcibly yanked her hand backwards, causing her to stumble before catching her balance. She turned and started to leave the clearing, but quickly realized that the shadow was following her.

  She increased her pace, trying to outdistance the floating globe, but it gained speed to match. She broke into a run, driven by fear, but no matter how fast she ran, she could hear the shadow moving even faster, ripping through the leaves and boughs behind her like a condensed tornado.

  Kirin decided she needed to do something drastic. As she approached a particularly dense thicket, she took a sharp turn to the right, diving for cover. She crawled on her belly through the fronds of several bushes, finally finding and pressing herself into the hollow of a tree. She closed her eyes, wishing herself to be invisible. She heard the shadow stop a short distance away, snorting as it sniffed the air before darting off into the deepening darkness.

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  When Kirin couldn’t hear the shadow anymore above her slowing heartbeat, she pushed herself up and tiptoed through a break in the trees, finding herself in another clearing, one much different than Javan’s. It was much larger, surrounded by a perfect circle of straight, thick trees, and directly in its center stood a canopied bed of moss. Intrigued, she slowly approached the bed, the white grass crunching beneath her feet.

  When she reached the bed, she parted the silvery curtains, not sure what to expect. Inside lay a still figure. Kirin squinted to make out the body’s features in the dark. It was Xinthi! Kirin stood paralyzed. Xinthi’s once perfect, white hair was matted to her scalp by congealed blood, and her open eyes were wide and unblinking, set in a mass of severed flesh. Kirin started to close the curtains, thinking that she’d rather face the shadow than this, but Xinthi turned her head and sat up, causing Kirin to fall back with a shriek.

  “You are a liar, Kirin,” Xinthi drawled, once again shrouded by the curtains.

  Kirin scrambled to get away from the bed, but her feet were starting to get cut on the broken glass now littering the clearing.

  “You are a liar and should have died with us today.” Xinthi emerged slowly from the bed. As she did so, the clouds overhead parted to reveal the moon, which fully illuminated the ground.

  Kirin sobbed as she saw the whole clearing fill with the bodies of torn and broken candidates, their blood spreading across the ground to meet her. “I’m sorry!” she screamed. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to die!” She tried to avoid the blood, grabbing wildly at anything that would help her flee, but instead fell into a man’s arms. Was Javan here to save her?

  “It is time to come with me,” the man intoned in a low voice.

  “What?” Kirin pushed herself away. The globe of shadow that had been following her through the forest had found its way into his hand, where it purred threateningly at her. He held it out to her, but she turned her head away. “You can’t make me touch it!” she shouted.

  The shadow maker’s outstretched hand twitched, and for an instant the whole clearing flashed to nothing. “You resist?” he asked, seemingly surprised.

  “I know this is a dream,” Kirin quavered. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  “Look at me, Kirin,” the shadow maker commanded.

  Kirin refused.

  “Look at me and I will tell you.”

  This time she dared to look.

  He leaned toward her, his narrowed, pitiless eyes bright with interest. “I give you nightmares for your benefit,” he whispered, his smile both gentle and horribly cruel. “I would much rather that you and every other witness die than end up spending an eternity bound to him.” With that he straightened himself and offered his shadow.

  A soft sob sputtered from Kirin’s throat as she felt her will deflate. What use was there in fighting? She could never get away from him. Slowly, she stepped forward, extending her hand to the humming globe. She touched it, felt its sting, and fell flat.

  “How interesting,” the shadow maker mused as he leaned into her fading vision.

  Kirin jumped awake, her heart in her throat. She instantly regretted her sudden movement, wincing as she reached back to feel the dozens of stinging welts across her shoulders and back. They were like swollen leeches that had crawled under her skin.

  Even without the hundred lashings, this had been the worst day of her life. But she deserved what she had gotten. She shouldn’t have lied to the Nassé. Kirin had been stupid to hope that the nightmares would go away after all of this. Instead, they had gotten worse.

  Kirin buried her head in her hands. So many of her classmates were dead. It hurt too much to cry but she couldn’t help herself. How could she return to the temple after what she’d seen? Maybe it would be better if she never went back.