"Abnegem!" Her voice floated across the arid expanse, the limitless horizon eating the sound and never spitting it out. "Wait!"

The spirit bore her lover's features, ones she wouldn't erase from her mind this early. It wasn't even a week since she last saw his smile, and now, she wove around jagged spikes, keeping his back on her periphery. Her breaths mixed with the fog hounding her head and vision with its chilling veil. She grabbed a lance-like rock, using her momentum to swing herself around it. Her feet cleared the edge of the toothed cliff, the mist parting with a flourish enough to show her what lay below.

Nothing.

The earth's pull gripped her ankles and dragged her towards its embrace. Her heart jumped to her throat, a scream lodging deep into the back of her tongue—alive, but not quite whole. She hooked her fingers against the spike's side, her other hand clawing the ground on her way over. A handhold, a ledge, whatever. Her boots scratched against the cliff's ledge, earning no purchase. Her magic flared to the surface. Figure out how to evade the Monarch's senses later.

As a spell was about to leave her mouth, her descent screeched to a stop. She craned her neck to find Valen down on the ground, hand wrapped around her wrist. With ease, he fished her from the edge until she could throw her leg over the gravelly surface.

"What are you doing?" Valen hissed through gritted teeth. Mavyn blew a shaky breath, bracing his arm to pick her body up. The landscape wasn't something she recognized. They were a long way from the Garden of Eden's walls. Where...

"Are you about to use Life Matter?" he pushed on after she staggered up and dusted her trousers. "Do you not know how dangerous that is? You are fortunate to have gone under my father's senses when you dealt with Noclys."

Ah, he noticed that little spell. How much had he known about her tinkering with the magic of the Kathari? "And throwing yourself off the edge?" Valen ranted, throwing his hands in the air. "Are you looking where you're going?"

Mavyn rolled her eyes. "I would, if I could see it," she snapped. "And where were you? Shouldn't you use your precious Death Matter to help me track down Abnegem?" She pointed to the vague direction she saw him last. "He was right there, and I lost him!"

Valen opened his mouth to spout another bout of weak nonsense, but she pushed off him and jogged towards the solid wall of rock rising to a mountain. Its peak disappeared into a mass of inky clouds, and whether this road led to the Underworld's ceiling or not was the least of her concerns.

The chase began anew.

She flanked the corners of her mouth with cupped hands. "Abnegem!" she shouted into the jagged and silhouetted horizon. "I'm here! Come out. Let's go home!"

What would she do if she caught up to him? She and Valen weren't anywhere near working out who could have endangered the Monarch, or if they harbored malicious intent or ill will towards the ruler of the realm enough to want to take his place. Who in her right mind would think the Kathari would fulfill their oath under these circumstances?

The wind generated by her speed drove her hair off her forehead, leaving the strands fluttering like Cathedral spires behind her. The magenta highlights whizzed in and out of her periphery whenever she looked back to check if Valen went after her or if she veered closer to the edge again.

A hint of flowers assaulted her nose. That scent...

It was the same fragrance as the Garden of Eden. Abnegem had been to Paradise.

With renewed vigor, Mavyn clambered between the protruding spikes, tracing Abnegem's probable steps. But if he floated beyond the cliff, she would have no way of predicting where he went. Were spirits capable of moving from place to place in a blink like a Kathari?

She leaped over two spikes conjoined at the base. The smell of flowers strengthened, thickening into a sickly paste at the base of her throat. Ugh. Slowly becoming nasty. But it was Abnegem. Where...?

Her gaze landed on an asymmetrical arch formed from the same, jutting dark gray rocks around her. Beyond it was nothing but darkness. The scent curled in powerful droves, blasting from the perceived void as if inviting her in. She conversed with a creature of midnight and death. She'd be fine.

The shadows were profuse as she pushed through. Why would Abnegem go to a place like this? Was this where he was kept instead of Purgatory? Who would do that?

"Stay where you are," a shaky but familiar voice streaked from the darkness. Mavyn squinted, barely making out a figure flitting in the gloam. Light. What was she to do to get some of it here? Magic would be an option, but Valen was onto her. If he realized she played around with Death Matter he gave her, integrating Living magic to it to see how far she could push known boundaries and conventions, he might remove it from her and leave her on her own.

Mavyn put her hands forward as if taming a spooked beast. "It's me, Abnegem," she said. "I've come to take you home."

Under what power? She tried not to think about that. Valen was under oath to bring him to life at all costs. He'd figure it out. Now, she needed to leash her fiancé until such an opportunity arrived. After this, they could live happily in the countryside, building safe spaces for witches and budding acolytes who couldn't control their magic. She could forget the arduous journey she had to endure with an overbearing Kathari.

He merely has to come to her now, and all of this would be over.

"Home?" the quivering voice replied. What could have been scratches against stone made by backing steps were replaced by faint howls of the wind. "How do you know my name?"

Mavyn exhaled out of her nostrils, bracing her hips. Was he going to make this more difficult than necessary? "We're about to be married, don't you remember?" she prodded. Talking to the dark had never been as silly as this, and she summoned Valen using crude occult materials and an even cruder containment spell. "You died the night before our wedding, but I've come to take you home. I've found a way to get our life back. Your life."

"Frankly, I don't know anyone who sounds like you," Abnegem replied. "I hear Mother's voice sometimes, but that's about it. You—whoever you are—I cannot seem to recall."

Was this how being jilted felt like? She didn't like it. Who would? "You loved me with your heart," she said. "I am the love of your life—you said so yourself. What happened to 'I will know you even if you shroud your face'? You have a promise to keep."

"What about you?" Abnegem fired. "If a spirit cannot remember you, it is not their fault. The memory of the dead is influenced by the ire of the living. Maybe your love has been false. I may have loved you, but it was your ire driving me to oblivion."

A huff ripped off Mavyn's lips. "Don't invent the mechanics in front of me." She stepped forward, her soles screeching against the debris-filled cavern floor. "You remember me, Abnegem. We must go home. Now—"

The darkness roared, drowning her next words. Abnegem squeaked the same way he did whenever he spotted a rat in the manor's kitchens. "I should go," he said. Something flitted past Mavyn, displacing the strands lining her shoulders. The sticky, flowery scent trailed after him until it ebbed to the pasty darkness.

"Abnegem?" she called. No one answered her. From the void, two rubies blinked to life. A low growl rumbled, the vibrations shaking the entire cavern. Rock groaned when something bulky lumbered within its constraints. A rush of warm air wafted all over her face, carrying the scent of rot. This was what death was supposed to smell like.

The rubies turned a darker shade, like Valen's eyes when he glowered at something he didn't like. Oh, dear Mordelle. It was a beast. A colossal one.

Another roar ripped from the ruby eyes, streaking straight into Mavyn's ears, leaving her head pounding. She edged backwards, her pride taking everything it could to not bolt at the moment. Her fingers flexed beside her, the warm brush of her magic building underneath the veil of Death Matter Valen placed on her. If she could draw on that...

Heavy steps slammed on the ground, each one leaving small tremors on the ground. Her heart dropped to her feet and shattered upon impact. She turned and ran. The eerie light from beyond the jagged arch was welcome because it revealed what in Jobora's name chased her.

Rocky scales glinted against the dull mist, framing the two sets of blood-red eyes with yellow slits. A million teeth lined its tapered jaw, greeting her when the beast opened its mouth to issue another roar. Four legs thundered all over the cavern floor, shaking loose the spikes growing out of the ceiling. Her arms flew over her head as a silent killer darted towards her. She swerved to the side just a stone stake pierced the space she had just been, shattering to a thousand shards upon impact.

Whatever this thing was, magic alone wouldn't handle it.

She made it out of the cavern only to be greeted by the family of pointed rocks jutting from the ground. Oh, that would slow her down. A shriek from behind told her she didn't have much of a choice. With the same pivots she made in chasing Abnegem, she wandered through the messy maze like a drunkard the morning after a festival. The beast slid out of its void, revealing itself completely to her.

It screamed at the rocks on its way and reared its head back. Horns the size of bell towers parted the fog with such force as they went down and crashed over the rocky fences. Crumbly cracks reminded Mavyn of what her bones would sound like if that thing caught her in its jaws. She stumbled across the descending path, gaze whipping around for anything that might help her slay this beast.

She didn't get the chance to. A shadow resembling the general shape of the beast swallowed the ambience. This wasn't Paradise. Far from it. The world slowed, her turning on her heels to savor the last moments of her life, which was a perfect view of the leathery flank of the beast, roiling in and out with its every breath. It wasn't how she imagined she would meet her end. Perhaps she'd see Valen again in a moment. In a court deciding her fate and her final destination.

A weight slammed into her, pushing her to the ground. Familiar moonlit strands flashed in the corner of her vision as her back slammed against the ground. Thank Jobora there weren't any spikes jutting from the spot no matter how small. It would still hurt. The beast's trajectory speared towards her, until a streak of dark green lightning slammed into its side, throwing it off. With a pained shriek, one of its legs caught the jutting rocks as it tumbled off the edge. A long, barbed tail whipped around, breaking more of the pointed spires in its search for a hold. Too late. The earth's pull swallowed it with full force, dragging it way, way down.

It registered how hard Mavyn heaved...and who lay on top of her with their faces inches apart. Valen huffed in almost the same pace as her. The Kathari didn't perspire, but after what they have been through, he might as well have. A stringent crash echoed from the bottom of the cliff, no doubt the beast hitting it. Then, silence coated the entire plain. For a while, nothing mattered but their erratic breaths mixing with each other, and the false safety brought by his arms flanking her head. For a while, nothing mattered but the softness in Valen's gaze as he bore down on her. Was he...worried?

Mavyn shattered the illusion by pushing against him and urging him back as she sat up. "Thank you," she said, for once meaning it. A groan escaped her lips as she pinwheeled her arm in an attempt to stretch her joint. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"What makes you think challenging a Leviathan is worth it?" Valen asked, concern dripping from his demanding tone.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so that's a Leviathan," she said, leaning over in an attempt to check if the beast splattered into a puddle. "Nothing like how the myths portrayed it."

"Mavyn, focus." Valen's voice brought her back to a series of discoveries she made before the unwitting diversion. "What did the spirit say to you?"

A frown crept to her face. She staggered up, dusting her trousers and straightening the lapels of her overcoat. Beside her, Valen's once-pristine attire was decorated with the floor's debris. She pursed her lips before smacking them together. "He claimed he doesn't remember me," she reported. "Is that possible?"

Valen touched his chin with a hooked finger. "Manipulation can only be done by a Kathari or the Saints after they judged a soul for Purgatory."

So, it wasn't because of the ire of the living—whatever that meant. Mavyn wasn't bound to say it aloud though. The only secrets coming out of her mouth would be ones that would benefit her, and no one else. "Then, let's pay your brother a visit." She shouldered past him and aimed to continue their descent.

"Noclys? Why?" Valen's question reminded Mavyn how daft the Kathari could be.

"He's the only one from your family with enough Death Matter to go against the Monarch," Mavyn explained. "And he is the only one we haven't examined yet."

Valen matched her pace. "We can't, I'm afraid."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"The Solstice Conclave," Valen replied, pausing for some dramatic effect Mavyn had no patience for. "It's tomorrow."