Page 22 of Shattered Crown
When consciousness fully returned,Thorne found himself in a grove unlike any he'd known. Smaller than the Eldergrove, but vibrant with carefully tended magic. Ancient trees formed a perfect circle, their branches interweaving overhead to create a living dome. Crystals embedded in the bark pulsed with soft light, and the air hummed with healing energy.
He lay on a bed of moss that seemed to breathe beneath him, responding to his weakened state by offering what comfort it could. Silas pressed against his side, their bodies aligned from shoulder to ankle, sharing warmth and energy.
“Welcome back,” Silas murmured, relief evident in his voice.
“How long?” Thorne's voice came out as a rasp.
“Hours. You scared the shit out of me.” Silas's attempt at lightness couldn't hide the tremor in his words.
Elena approached with a bowl of something that steamed with more than heat. “Drink this. It will help restore your connection.” Her face was drawn with exhaustion, dark shadows beneath her eyes speaking of recent trauma.
As Thorne sipped the concoction, its warmth spreading through him like liquid sunlight, Elena gestured to their surroundings. “What you're seeing is just the heart of what once was,” she said softly. “This protected grove is all that remains of the Moonshade sanctuary.”
She moved to a stone shelf carved into an ancient oak. She returned with several objects that made the grove's air crackle with anticipation: a silver mirror that seemed to hold shadows, a carved bone flute, and a leather-bound tome.
“What are those?” Silas asked, curiosity overcoming caution.
“The Binding Stones,” Elena explained. “Artifacts my family has protected since Lysander's exile. They were meant to strengthen alliances between guardians and humans, but...” Her expression darkened. “The shadow entity wants them destroyed. They contain power it cannot corrupt.”
“What power?” Thorne asked, drawn despite his weariness.
“The power to create bonds that resist shadow magic,” Elena explained, her voice carrying the weight of inherited knowledge. “My ancestor Lysander and his guardian lover developed them together during their years of exile.” She traced a finger along the mirror's edge, where ancient runes shifted beneath her touch.
Silas leaned closer, studying the runes with fascination. “These markings—they're similar to what I found in my father's restricted archives, but... different somehow.”
“Because these weren't meant to control magic, but to harmonize with it,” Elena replied. “The last I saw of my family, my mother was teaching me the final techniques—the same ones her mother taught her, passed down through seven generations of Ashworth women who refused to forget.”
Thorne pushed himself up on one elbow, wincing slightly. “Seven generations of secret knowledge. No wonder the shadow entity targeted your sanctuary first.”
Elena gestured to the scarred trees at the edge of the grove, where the magic looked raw and recently wounded. “We once had a thriving settlement here—homes built into living trees, training grounds where children learned both human and guardian magic, libraries of knowledge thought lost to the outside world.”
“How many lived here?” Kai asked, joining them with Eliar close behind.
“Nearly a hundred,” Elena answered, her voice tight. “The Moonshade Forest was our haven, our inheritance from Lysander.”
Her eyes held distance, remembering. “We were the keepers of what others tried to erase. Every daughter learned the truth: that Lysander chose love over crown, exile over betrayal.”
“And Sebastian knew this?” Thorne questioned, his form stabilizing as the healing broth took effect.
Elena nodded grimly. “Mother fought to give me time to escape with the Binding Stones. I haven't... I don't know if she survived.”
Silas reached out, briefly touching her hand in a gesture of understanding. The shared Ashworth blood between them seemed to pulse with recognition.
Elena straightened, drawing strength from purpose. “When guardians and humans choose to connect deeply enough, as you two have, the shadow entity loses its grip. It feeds on division, on the space between worlds. These bonds eliminate that space entirely.”
“Show us,” Silas interjected, his scholarly curiosity overriding exhaustion. “If these artifacts can defend against the shadow, we need to understand how they work.”
She carefully unwrapped the mirror, its surface shifting like liquid mercury. “It works by creating resonance between willing partners—human and guardian magic harmonizing to strengthen each other.”
“This mirror is all I managed to save from our library. The grimoires, the historical records, the genealogies tracing Lysander's line—all gone.” Elena's voice cracked slightly before she steadied herself. “Generations of careful documentation, reduced to ash.”
Across the grove, Eliar sat with Kai, their heads close together in quiet conversation. The Forgotten Guardian's usual stoic demeanor had melted away, replaced by gentle concern as he tended to a cut on Kai's arm. Their fingers intertwined naturally, speaking of a bond as deep as any guardian magic.
“The shadow entity grows stronger,” Thorne noted, feeling the distant pull of the Eldergrove through his haze of exhaustion. “Without these defenses, what's stopping it?”
“That's why you're here,” Elena said directly. “The entity is targeting magical beings—turning nature spirits, corrupting ancient powers, destroying what it can't control. The Moonshade Forest was just the beginning.”
* * *
