cascade | kotlc

21. Swallowing Darkness

The darkness was suffocating as they stood silently in the massive crystal hallways of Havenfield, positioned just before the stairwell leading to Sophie's bedroom. None of them had told Sophie about what they were planning tonight. They didn't want her to worry.

June gripped the thin rope in her hands. The Black Swan had been kind enough to provide them with rope specifically made from the Armorgate. Surprisingly, King Dimitar had agreed, and even sent them quite a large shipment. It was great; the rope was incredibly flexible, and the ends were weighted slightly. It would make for a great weapon and trapper alike.

"Something feels wrong," Tam shadow-whispered, his voice chilly in the night air. The windows adjacent and opposite were left open, in case they needed June's gusting. Today was a new moon, and only the faint glimmer of the stars shone through, illuminating tiny spotlights around the ground.

"There's something different about the darkness. I wish I could tell you what it is, but I don't know." His brows furrowed as he stretched out his hands in grasping motions, as if he was drawing something towards himself. "It's resisting me. It's... stronger. And almost fluid, but solid at the same time. But definitely not gaseous. I... don't know."

"We'll be fine," she murmured back, drawing Glistensteel and commanding it to shrink into a small dagger. A larger sword would be much too noticeable under the shine of the stars, what with the light reflecting off the silvery blade.

Tam's brow only puckered closer as sweat dribbled down his jawline. His eyes were clouded over by something misty before they vanished just as suddenly, leaving pure black pupils. Starlight refracted off his iris and the shadow disappeared, the murky white sclera pale and shimmery.

"I can't feel it anymore," he finally said, wiping off his forehead and leaning against the windowsill for support. "It was just gone. I told it to move, and it just... went. Somehow. I don't understand."

Footsteps echoed down the hall.

"Shush," June quietly snapped at Tam, and he took her hand and melted them into the shadows, their soft breathing submerged by the whooshing of the wind. The footsteps came closer, and they passed up a flight of stairs, the clinking of heels against crystal much too recognizable and just as scary.

They could only hold themselves against the wall, still as statues, and up the footsteps went, before they stepped onto the second floor, heading toward the stairs to Sophie's bedroom.

June crouched down, preparing to pounce, holding the rope tautly in her hands and winding it around her wrists.

Tenebrosity swallowed her, completely masking her existence, and the person turned a corner. June launched herself at the figure, her rope swinging behind her waist and wrapping around-

"June?" Linh asked, shock decorating her sweet features. The swirling wind calmed and June blinked, her dagger an inch away from stabbing into Linh's arm.

"What are you doing here?" she whisper-hissed back, and Tam dropped his barrier of shadows, gawking at his twin sister and seemingly unaware of his body as he stumbled over his feet.

"Linh," he began, before his mouth closed and his lips tightened.

"I was talking with Keefe," Linh muttered, her eyes sweeping the hallway. "He found something. But-"

"You shouldn't be here," Tam blurted out. "Get out. Go back to where you were, or somewhere. Go to Tiergan's. You need to get out."

She folded her arms, crossing them before her chest, water droplets liquifying around her and dancing over her hair. "Not until you tell me what you're doing in Havenfield."