---

Chapter 16 - As darkness falls

---

Dawn came, and the Silverborn chased it down. 

Skye, like the rest of the group, hadn't slept a second. There'd been too much tension, too much restless energy between them as the demons stalked the shadows around their shallow pool of safety. Even now, mounted on the backs of the horses riding at a solid canter towards Alguarde, everyone was on edge, their movements quick and jerky. 

Yet despite the fatigue numbing her face and dragging her eyelids together, Skye felt energised. She could fall asleep at any moment, only to be pulled back to waking by the magic writhing inside. 

In the sunlight, the forest thrived. The life around her soaked in the morning rays and harnessed that energy to grow and expand, reaching higher and lower in the eternal search for nutrients. Her blood sang to the forest, calling every root and insect, every leaf and bird as the magic inside her pushed her on. 

Everything relayed information, the tiniest pieces of sound or light overlapping to form one never-quite-perfect mosaic. It made it hard to focus on when every species interpreted their surroundings differently, but it was that same process that showed her every angle and edge of the forest around her. 

Somewhere ahead, a small sapling recoiled into its roots as a foot snapped its trunk in two. Skye zoned in on the sensation, relying on the surrounding plants to get a lock on it, sense the things that had brought it down. 

Skye put her trust in Alida and gave her senses to the many. Concentrating, she could sense the group of imps clustered in a thick part of the undergrowth, waiting for the Silverborn to ride past to unleash havoc. With a small gesture for clarity, Skye commanded the plants to constrict around the imps. 

The branches held them tight as the Silverborn thundered by, but Skye didn't release them. Even demons contained nutrients plants could use to survive, and the slow process would mean they couldn't reform into freedom any time soon. 

Another sensation caught Skye's attention from the imps. Light steps, there for barely the briefest of moments before they vanished, only to appear a second later in another nearby location. Skye tracked the movement, eventually pinning it down to the ragged winged girl, Ebony, stalking them through the trees. 

She made attempts to catch her, flinging roots, leaves, branches and anything else the forest offered her at the creature with no success. Attempt after attempt failed, but it didn't stop her from trying as the Silverborn horses ate up the distance and a dreamlike state consumed her. 

Things felt hazy, blurred around her. There was nothing but the mosaic, nothing but the trees and the need to defend herself from those that would do her harm. She didn't need Alguarde's protection, not when the forest was around her. The living, breathing, vibrant organism that defended its own--

A touch on her arm snapped Skye's eyes open. She blinked rapidly, not having realised they were closed to begin with. Astride her, Jesse's horse kept pace with Alida. His face was concerned and his lips formed the words 'you okay?'

Skye nodded and refocused her gaze on the Silverborn ahead. She gripped Alida's reins tighter, trying to re-establish the grip on her mind from the forest trying to take it from her. Focusing on the physical helped, Alida's reins, her mane, the heat coming off her neck as she ran, but the forest was never gone. The mosaic was always the reluctantly necessary background to her thoughts. 

Every time the forest pulled, Skye's will slipped a little further, greased by fatigue. Her vision swam and she swayed in the saddle, only focusing again when a new burst of magic flooded her system, which refreshed the cycle and the call of the many, dragging her in. 

Hours passed.

The landscape changed. The sun shifted across the ground, moving the shadows around them. The forest gave way to open plains with sparse trees with twilight drawing ever closer with every step towards Alguarde's walls rising from the landscape. 

Ebony's presence was physical now. She materialised among them, sometimes going as far to appeared directly in front of them, so close that the nearest Silverborn could have reached out and touched her as they ran by. Her taunts rang in the air, the cracked sanity that strung the words together unnerving Skye more than she cared to admit. 

"Silverborn, Silverborn, run and hide! 

Silverborn, Silverborn, where's your pride?

Shadows come to claim your souls,

But the Silverborn, Silverborn, just ride ride ride!"

Alguarde was there. The darkness was falling. The Silverborn's stride never faltered, never hesitated, grim determination pushing them onward. 

At the head of the pack, Wing burst into a flat out gallop. 

“No matter what happens, keep riding! Get... to Alguarde if it’s the... thing you do!” Tayne's shout was little more than broken words, but Skye understood the gist of it. If the Sentinel turned up, keep riding. Get to Alguarde. 

The city was close now. She could almost hear the noise coming from it. Lights were glowing inside the walls; the towers gleamed with a strange, iridescent light. 

Are they the wards? thought Skye, mesmerised as she watched them flicker with a multitude of colours, watching over the land. 

Jesse must have seen the dreamy stare forming on her face, because his hand clapped on her shoulder and nearly knocked her from the saddle. Too excited to notice, his attention grabbing arm jerked towards the city before cupping around his mouth. 

"We're almost there! Hang on!" 

Skye nodded in reply, unable to muster the energy for anything else. Though the forest was behind them and had long since stopped pulling, it was taking every bit of concentration she had to resist falling back into it. 

Even so, she caught glimpses of urgency--shadow rippling, plants disappearing inside a void of inky black, the humanoid figure much heavier than Ebony's light frame settling on to the ground--and the mosaic clicked into place. 

Skye watched the shadows sew themselves together again as the crouched figure stood, hands on his knees before taking a step that crushed a plant.

She gagged, trying to gather enough air to shout a warning.

"He's here," she tried. None of the Silverborn reacted so she tried again, louder this time. "He's here!" 

Jesse's eyes widened. He took up her cry, shouting it to the heavens. The other knights understood immediately. There were no questions and no panic. The only response was to dig their heels in and ask their mounts for everything they had left to give to reach the only place where their only protection from the Master now lay. 

We’re so close, she thought. We have to make it. It can’t end like this. 

Skye knew that if the Master caught them, they were doomed. What none of them knew, and what Tayne would hate her for is her decision that if he did catch them, Skye was going to turn Alida around and buy the knights as much time as she could to get inside. They'd sacrificed enough for her sake. 

She closed her eyes, trusting Alida to hold her steady. 

I need to know where he is. 

The familiar green sparks flickered and spread. She watched the figure from a tree a few metres away. He still hadn’t stood entirely straight. Bent over, he clutched one hand to his head and the other balled into a fist. 

He doesn’t escape unscathed from using his magic either, Skye realised. 

The figure’s lips moved and Ebony appeared from the shadows to join him. Darkness had truly taken the land by now, the sun banished til morning. Purple magic coiled at the Sentinels fingertips, and Ebony's face soured. They began moving forward, the Master leaning slightly on Ebony for support. 

Skye felt herself slipping in the saddle for the thousandth time that night and pulled herself out with the use of Alida's mane. The coarse strands of hair streamed through her fingers, reminding her how Alida, how she herself was alive in a way the forest was not. No plant could ever hope to move like this. 

The Master's voice chased them down.

"One chance!" he shouted. "Come here now, Skye, and I shall spare your Silverborn rescuers until the next shadow cycle. Resist, and I will tear them down with you where they stand." 

He waited, like he expected her to reply. Red flags went up for Skye--he wasn't stupid, so why was he giving them intentional time to get away? 

Ten seconds passed. "So be it!" 

The shadows where he stood coalesced and raced towards the Silverborn. The walls were less than a minute away, the gates still firmly shut though movement at the top gave her hope that they hadn't yet been abandoned. 

Tayne brought the horn to his lips and blew three pure, crystal clear notes that made the shadows recede for the briefest of moments. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed it hadn't done anything to help banish the Sentinel in pursuit, closing the distance quickly.  

A rough sounding reply that was more like an alarm echoed from on the wall. A flurry of movement was followed by a the loud, metal grating of stone on stone--and the gates opened. 

The horses dashed into the city, hooves clattering against the paved floors. The Silverborn only slowed their pace once they crossed through the threshold. More than one crashed into another, the surprise and relief on their faces all too evident. 

Skye looked around for Tayne, trying to locate him among the rest of the Silverborn. She found him standing just within the gate of the city, staring back out at the darkness and nudged Alida to join him. He heard her approach, sparing her a brief glance before returning his gaze. 

“I wonder if the wards will hold him,” he said quietly. “Or if I’ve just killed everyone here.”

Confused, Skye followed his gaze.

The Master was still coming. He maintained the reckless speed as though he fully expected to come sailing right into the city. Skye's hand moved to her shoulder unbidden as it started to throb. 

“Close the gates!” bellowed someone. 

Tayne snorted. “Like that’s going to help. The wards are the only things that’ll save our sorry hides now.”

Skye remained silent, watching, wondering what she could do if the Master actually made it into the city. The swirling shadows around him ripped up trees, shrubs and anything else that got in his way with ease. A door, no matter how thick was not going to stop him. 

He got within a hundred metres of Alguarde before light blossomed from the towers. Sparks of red, green and silver lit the air. Some fell on the Silverborn, others on oblivious civilians who squealed in delight. Several green ones attracted to Skye, settling on her hair and shoulders. They felt like the forest, snapping her attention to holding herself together, but the tug at her mind never came. 

He will not pass. My wards hold strong. 

Skye believed it. The magic bloomed around her, rejuvenating her tired limbs. It was of Sentinel origin, she realised. A powerful one.  The forest played no part in it.

Look at him. 

Skye found her eyes drawn to the Master, unable to look away. The sparks coalesced around him, buzzing with energy. 

You must learn to fight the corruption, little one, but now is not your time. Learn to control the forest, let it guide and fill you. It is your greatest weakness and your greatest asset against him.

The voice faded away into silence, leaving Skye alone. It hadn’t been Kiarae, she was sure of that. But there’d been something about it that resounded with Skye’s own sense of self, a perfect match for whatever the deities had made soul out of.

The air tingled. The sparks froze, hovered, and all at once charged towards Blackboots in a mass of light. 

They impacted with a solid clash. Purple sparks coated in black joined the fray. The following eruption of light and sound was spectacular, but it felt wrong. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her waist. 

They shouldn’t be fighting... Not like this. 

She buried her head in her hands, trying to brush the magic off her. She didn't want to be covered in the stuff that, in barely four days, had taken her prisoner in her own mind more times than she wanted to recall. 

A minute later, Tayne placed a hand on her arm. “They held. Look.”

Skye peeked out between weary fingers. The Master stood encased in a sphere of purple-black magic that flickered with its own evil light. The sparks disappeared, leaving no trace behind. The wardstones around Alguarde still glowed, alerted by the presence of nearby corruption, ready to strike. Blackboots stood unmoving, completely alone except for his magic.

As Skye lifted her head from her hands, comforted by Tayne’s touch, a nagging thought crossed her mind. 

Why did he wait until tonight to Shadowstep? Why delay his pursuit?  The man didn’t seem stupid enough to let his victim escape so easily. She searched for his figure in the darkness. 

He stood alone in the twilight-lit landscape. There was barely enough light to see by, Skye could just make him out. He shook violently, though with anger or laughter she did not know. Although it should have been impossible at this distance, she knew he was looking at her. 

She glared back at him, trying to convey her own outright hatred for him. A vague sensation told her he knew exactly what she was doing. Not only that, but he found it amusing. 

Whether sensing her discomfort or out of need, Tayne broke the silence. “We need to go.” 

“Go where?” Skye asked.

He took a deep breath before replying. “To see the King. And, unfortunately, the Advisor survived.” Tayne shook his head. He sighed and nudged Wing around to face the inner city. “Explaining why the Master is at Alguarde’s doorstep is not going to be fun. I won’t make you come, but the deities know it'd be a lot easier to explain if we turned up with an elf, let alone a Sentinel that’s on Alguarde’s side.”

Instead of reacting to his words, Skye nodded. This was not the place to bring it up. 

Noticing the way he slumped in his saddle, she placed her palm on the bare skin of his arm. The ward sparks had banished her fatigue. Being inside the city fortified her mind from the forest. With a slight resentment, she felt the familiar ache of wounds inflicted during her captivity. They still hadn’t been healed, then. 

The teal streaks in her hair lit up, and the magic rushed down her fingertips. She still wasn’t entirely sure how the magic worked, but willing it somewhere with her mind seemed to work. Tayne looked at her curiously and she smiled.  

“You’re going to need it.”

*+*+*+*