Shadow Light by Sarah Delena White

Author:Sarah Delena White [White, Sarah Delena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

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They were chased out by many curses from the lord and his citizens, but a company of four and twenty followed after them. They turned northward, and saw for the first time the great snowcapped mountains. One peak rose higher than the others, and its slopes were black as night though the sun’s light was dawning, for Coroc had claimed it as his territory. Their path was marked by the largest river, which flowed down from a spring on that very peak. The land between the city and the mountains was barren and cold, with no place to take shelter from the fiends.

Another company followed at a distance, warriors and lords from the lands who had come to see the fate of those who fought Coroc. Aeric and Layla paid them little mind, for the journey held too many dangers for them to worry over what transpired behind them.

Layla saw the peril their company would face and heard again the threats and accusations in her mind. Her heart was saddened, and for the first time she wondered if she had made a poor choice in leaving her tower. Perhaps she should have left the cities alone and let them blame her, for at least then their lives would have some semblance of peace. Perhaps then they would not have turned against Aeric so easily.

But as she pondered, one from their company, an orphan girl of no more than twelve years, came to her.

“Do you truly hide the moon in your cloak?” the girl asked, her eyes bright.

“I do not hide it,” Layla said, and she took the moon from her robes and placed it in the girl’s hands.

The girl gazed on it in wonder, and she looked to Layla with awe in her eyes. Others gathered near and passed the moon between them. Layla sent forth the stars to dance among them, and her heart was cheered again when she saw how her lights brought them joy. For Layla felt the truth of Aeric’s words—that though the world had not yet changed, she had, and her lonely tower would no longer be a haven to her. Her path led only onward, to the great mountain and whatever lay within the darkness.

The road grew steeper and narrower as they traveled onward. Where trees and vines had once shaded their path, now brambles put out spindly branches that scratched their skin and grabbed at the edges of their cloaks. Then even the brambles died away. Icy wind howled about them without ceasing, and ice stung their skin and caught in their lungs with each breath. The frozen ground was covered in snow that reached their ankles, then their knees, but still they trod onward, keeping the shadowy peak always in their sights.

At every turn, Aeric and Layla gave occasion for those of their company to leave the quest and return to safer lands, but those with them were determined that a slim hope of victory was better than endless days filled with fear.

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