He nudged her shoulder lightly with his own. “We’ll find them.”
She didn’t answer right away. But when she glanced at him again, his face was turned forward, jaw tense, eyes watching the horizon.
TWELVE
CASSIAN
The land grew hungrier the farther south they walked.
Cassian felt it in his bones. The earth beneath their boots had turned from moss-soft to cracked, blackened shale. Trees here were skeletal things, branches clawing at the gray sky like they’d been trying to crawl away before somethingcaughtthem.
Even the wind stank—like rust and old fire.
It was two days’ march from the Sablewing ruins to the edge of the Deadrun Marshes, and every step felt like they were walking into a trap with its mouth already open.
No one spoke much. Even Brann had gone quiet. But the silence was loud. Uneasy. Especially after what Malrik said.
Seven pieces.
Before they could even think about getting the first one, they needed ablood key.
Cassian watched Seraphine from the corner of his eye as they hiked over a ridge. Her expression hadn’t changed since they left the ruins—stone cold, eyes sharp, like she’d shoved whatever feeling she had back into the vault where all the Drakar heirs kept their humanity.
She walked like she was made of war.
But he could see it—just under the surface. The strain. The hesitation. And he knew something else was coming.
Sure enough, when they set up camp that night under the twisted shadow of a dead wyrm tree, Seraphine stood and faced them, arms crossed, cloak whipping around her in the rising wind.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Lira grunted. Alek just kept sharpening his blade. Brann looked up like a kid waiting for bad news.
Cassian stayed quiet, but he was already on alert.
Seraphine looked at them one by one. “To make the blood key… we have to kill something ancient.”
Brann paled. “Ancient how?”
Seraphine’s voice didn’t waver. “Old magic. Pre-Veil. Wild. Half-flesh, half-memory. They’re called Eidolichs.”
Cassian had heard the name before. Once. In a forgotten book with too many wards etched into its cover.
“You’re serious?” he asked.
“They don’t live. Theypersist.”
Brann swallowed. “You want us to fight one?”
“No,” Seraphine said. “I wantmeto fight it. With Cassian. The rest of you will stay outside the boundary circle.”
Lira stood. “With all due respect?—”
“No.” Seraphine’s tone turned iron. “If you step inside, it won’t just take your body. It’llrewriteyour past. You won’t even remember who you were.”
That shut them up.
Cassian stepped closer. “How do we kill it?”
