King Aldren screamed from inside Morvus's body.
"Gareth, help me!"
For one impossible heartbeat, the chamber became completely still.
Gareth had watched King Aldren's corpse carried through High Keep ten years earlier.
He remembered the blood.
The ruined ceremonial armor.
The physicians covering the king's face.
Yet now that same face flickered beneath Morvus's skin like a man drowning beneath black water.
"Uncle?" Edric whispered.
The Black King's Shade convulsed.
Morvus's familiar features returned.
"Ignore him."
Gareth raised his sword.
"You've been wearing Aldren's body."
"Body is such a temporary word."
Edric stepped forward.
"My father is alive?"
Morvus smiled.
"Define alive."
"Answer me!"
"The heart beats."
Black smoke curled around his shoulders.
"The mind dreams."
He touched his temple.
"The soul..."
Morvus laughed.
"That is more complicated."
Edric attacked.
"EDRIC!" Gareth shouted.
Too late.
Edric's sword passed through Morvus's chest.
Black smoke wrapped around the blade and surged toward Edric's arm.
Lucian struck him aside.
The smoke missed.
"Don't touch him!" Lucian shouted.
Edric hit the floor.
"That's my father!"
"Which is precisely why you're not thinking."
Morvus's face shifted again.
King Aldren appeared.
"Edric..."
The prince froze.
Aldren looked exhausted.
"My son."
Edric's sword lowered.
Morvus's face returned.
He laughed.
"Useful, isn't he?"
Edric's grief became fury.
"You bastard."
"Technically, this body is your father."
Gareth moved between them.
"Enough."
He looked toward Toby and Cael.
"You removed the Shade from Mira."
Toby understood.
"You want us to do it again."
"Can you?"
Cael stared at Morvus.
"Maybe."
Morvus's smile disappeared.
"Don't."
Cael looked almost delighted.
"That's the most convincing argument you've made all day."
Azrath pulled against his chains.
"Careful."
Toby turned.
"What happens if we fail?"
"The Black King could enter one of you."
Gareth immediately said, "Then we don't try."
Toby stared at him.
"King Aldren is trapped in there."
"I know."
"He saved your life."
Gareth remembered Aldren promoting a blacksmith's supposed son through ranks that noblemen believed belonged to them by birth.
He remembered the king defending him before the royal council.
He remembered Aldren saying:
A man's blood tells me where he came from. His choices tell me who he is.
Perhaps Aldren had known Gareth's blood all along.
"Yes," Gareth said quietly. "He did."
"Then we can't leave him."
Cael looked at Toby.
"You really do collect impossible rescues."
"You came back for me."
Cael had no answer.
---
Azrath suddenly cried out.
Another chain snapped.
Black scales spread across half his chest.
"The Veil is weakening faster."
Lucian looked toward the walls.
Black mist seeped through every crack now.
"How long?"
"Minutes."
"To what?"
Azrath looked at the twins.
"Until the Shades no longer need hosts to cross."
Morvus smiled.
"Then perhaps we should stop talking."
He raised one hand.
Every remaining corpse in the chamber opened its eyes.
Gareth cursed.
"Protect the twins!"
The dead attacked.
Thane met the first.
Veyron took the second.
Lucian's glowing hands burned Shades out of stolen bodies, but each attack weakened him.
Ysara fought beside Edric despite the poison still leaving her pale.
Mira grabbed a fallen dagger.
Toby saw her.
"No."
She glared at him.
"I am tired of being rescued."
A corpse lunged.
Mira ducked and drove the dagger into its knee.
"I can see that," Toby admitted.
Cael pulled him away before another dead soldier reached them.
"Focus."
Morvus stood beyond the fighting.
Waiting.
Cael understood.
"He wants us to come to him."
"Then we don't."
"Good."
Morvus smiled.
Then turned toward Mira.
Cael's expression changed.
"No."
Black smoke shot across the chamber.
Toby pushed Mira aside.
The smoke struck him.
"Toby!"
He collapsed.
Gareth roared.
Cael dropped beside his brother.
Toby's eyes opened.
Black.
"Get out of him!" Cael screamed.
Toby grabbed Cael's throat.
The strength was impossible.
Cael struggled.
Morvus laughed.
"One twin is enough."
Gareth ran toward them.
Azrath shouted:
"CAEL, DON'T FIGHT HIM!"
Cael gasped beneath Toby's grip.
"What?"
"Call him back!"
"How?"
"Memory!"
Cael stared into his brother's black eyes.
He had known Toby for less than a day.
What memory could they possibly share?
Then he remembered.
The forest.
Toby standing before him.
You're uglier than I expected.
Cael laughed despite the hand crushing his throat.
Toby's black eyes narrowed.
"You're smaller than I expected," Cael choked out.
The grip loosened.
"Toby."
No response.
"You're still ugly."
A flicker.
Brown appeared inside the black.
Cael smiled.
"There you are."
Toby gasped.
The Shade surged inside him.
Cael grabbed his hand.
Their crests touched.
Golden fire exploded.
The Shade ripped free.
Toby collapsed.
Cael caught him.
The black form screamed above them.
Together the twins raised their hands.
The Shade burned away.
Morvus stopped smiling.
Toby opened his eyes.
Brown.
Gareth reached them.
"You all right?"
Toby coughed.
"I've had better mornings."
"It's night."
"Then I've lost track."
Gareth pulled him into a fierce embrace.
Toby froze.
Then hugged him back.
Cael watched.
Gareth reached out and dragged him into the embrace too.
Cael protested.
"What are you doing?"
"Fatherhood."
"This is terrible."
"Get used to it."
For perhaps three seconds, they were simply a family.
Then Azrath shouted:
"NOW!"
Morvus was distracted.
His black smoke had thinned.
Toby looked at Cael.
Both understood.
They ran.
Morvus turned too late.
"No!"
Toby grabbed his left arm.
Cael seized the right.
Their crests ignited.
Morvus screamed.
Not one voice.
Two.
The Black King.
And Aldren.
Black smoke erupted from every part of the Regent's body.
Toby saw memories.
Aldren lying wounded during the massacre.
Morvus—the real Morvus—kneeling beside him.
"Your Majesty."
Aldren gasped.
"Help..."
Morvus leaned closer.
Then stabbed him.
Aldren stared in disbelief.
The real Lord Morvus whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Behind him stood a man made of shadow.
The Black King.
It entered Morvus first.
Then used Morvus to drag Aldren beneath High Keep.
The memory shifted.
A ritual.
Morvus screaming as the Shade abandoned his body.
Aldren chained to stone.
The Shade entering the king.
Morvus collapsing.
Dead.
Toby understood.
The Regent everyone had seen for ten years was not Morvus.
It was Aldren's stolen body wearing Morvus's face.
"Pull!" Cael screamed.
The twins pulled their hands apart.
Golden fire tore through the illusion.
Morvus's face vanished.
King Aldren appeared.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
Black smoke exploded from his mouth.
Edric screamed.
"Father!"
The Shade resisted.
It formed arms.
Claws.
A crown.
Toby felt it pulling him inward.
Cael screamed.
"We need more power!"
Gareth's mark ignited.
He understood.
The bridge.
He placed both hands on his sons' shoulders.
His golden flame joined theirs.
The chamber became white.
The Black King shrieked.
Then separated.
Completely.
Aldren collapsed.
Edric caught him.
The Shade towered above them.
No body.
No stolen face.
Only darkness wearing a crown.
For the first time in three thousand years, the Black King stood exposed.
Azrath looked at him.
"Hello, brother."
Everyone froze.
Toby stared at Azrath.
"Brother?"
The Black King turned.
Its featureless face slowly formed.
Not Morvus.
Not Aldren.
The original face from the ancient vision.
The first king.
Azrath whispered his name.
"Malachar."
The Black King laughed.
"Still sentimental."
Cael looked between them.
"You were brothers?"
"Not by blood," Azrath said.
"By choice."
Malachar's shadow-face smiled.
"Until he chose his children over his king."
"You wanted Aeron and Lyra as weapons."
"I wanted to save our people."
"You wanted power."
"I wanted order."
"You opened the Veil."
Malachar's smile disappeared.
"Together."
Azrath went silent.
Toby felt another lie collapsing.
"You helped him?"
Azrath closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Gareth stared.
"You said the twins opened it."
"They did."
"Because you allowed them."
Azrath's voice broke.
"I believed Malachar."
The Black King laughed.
"There. At last."
Toby understood the deeper truth.
Azrath had not been an innocent victim.
He had helped create the catastrophe.
His children had paid for his mistake.
Then Malachar had turned that guilt into three thousand years of imprisonment.
---
Aldren coughed.
Edric dropped beside him.
"Father?"
The old king opened his eyes.
"Edric..."
His real voice.
Edric began crying.
"You know me?"
Aldren touched his son's face.
"I never forgot."
Gareth knelt beside him.
Aldren looked at Gareth.
Then smiled weakly.
"Lucian's boy."
"You knew."
"From the day you entered my guard."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Morvus was watching every royal bloodline."
Gareth looked toward Malachar.
"Not Morvus."
Aldren's eyes filled with hatred.
"No."
He tried to sit.
"The real Morvus died saving me."
Toby frowned.
"The memory showed him stabbing you."
"He stabbed the Shade."
Aldren coughed.
"Not me."
Another false interpretation.
Another truth hidden inside evidence.
"Morvus discovered Malachar years before the massacre," Aldren continued. "He pretended loyalty to lure him into the ritual chamber."
"But Malachar killed him."
"Yes."
Aldren looked toward the shadow.
"And stole his name."
Edric held his father tighter.
"We'll get you out."
Aldren's expression became sorrowful.
"No."
"Father—"
"My body has been bound to Malachar too long."
The black veins beneath Aldren's skin remained.
"Separating us didn't undo everything."
Toby stepped forward.
"We can help."
Aldren smiled.
"You already did."
Then his eyes shifted toward the third gate.
"But you have something more important to do."
The chamber shook violently.
Every remaining chain around Azrath cracked.
Malachar spread his shadow arms.
"The Veil opens."
Azrath screamed.
His human form expanded.
Bones broke.
Black wings erupted from his back.
Scales covered his body.
The dragon was returning.
"Azrath!" Toby shouted.
His golden eyes remained human.
"Choose!"
"Free you?" Cael asked.
"Or kill me."
Toby looked at Malachar.
"What about him?"
Azrath roared.
"If I die, he remains!"
Cael understood.
"If we free you, you take him back."
"Yes!"
Malachar moved.
Lucian attacked.
Golden fire struck shadow.
For one second, the Black King recoiled.
"DO IT!" Lucian shouted.
Toby and Cael ran toward Azrath.
Kingsbane fragments flew into their hands.
The pieces joined.
A black blade formed between them.
Not complete.
One section remained missing.
"The third fragment!" Cael shouted.
Azrath looked toward Aldren.
Everyone turned.
Aldren reached beneath his torn clothing.
Embedded in his chest was a piece of black metal.
The final fragment.
Edric stared.
"No."
Aldren smiled sadly.
"Malachar kept it inside me so nobody could reforge the blade."
Toby approached.
"Removing it could kill you."
Aldren looked at him.
"Then make it count."
Edric grabbed Toby's wrist.
"No."
"Edric," Aldren whispered.
"No."
"My son."
"I just got you back."
Aldren touched his face.
"And that is more than I expected after ten years."
Edric broke.
For the first time, Toby saw the Crown Prince not as a legend, prisoner, or heir.
Only a son.
Aldren looked toward Gareth.
"Do it."
Gareth hesitated.
Then placed his hand around the fragment.
"I'm sorry."
"So am I."
Gareth pulled.
Aldren screamed.
The black metal came free.
Blood poured from the wound.
Edric caught him.
The fragment flew toward Kingsbane.
The blade became whole.
The chamber erupted in white fire.
Cael grabbed the hilt.
Toby placed his hand over his brother's.
Together.
Azrath lowered his enormous head.
"Choose."
Malachar screamed:
"KILL HIM!"
Lucian shouted:
"FREE HIM!"
Gareth said nothing.
This choice belonged to his sons.
Toby looked at Cael.
Cael looked back.
For the first time, neither argued.
They both knew.
Kingsbane rose.
Malachar rushed toward them.
The twins swung.
But not at Azrath.
At his chains.
The blade struck.
Every chain shattered.
Silence.
Then Azrath stood.
Free.
Malachar stopped.
"No."
Azrath's enormous wings spread.
The mountain shook.
"No!"
For the first time in three thousand years, the Black King tried to flee.
Azrath opened his jaws.
Golden fire filled the chamber.
Malachar screamed as the flames surrounded him.
"You cannot destroy me!"
Azrath's voice shook the earth.
"I don't need to."
The Veil opened behind him.
Not darkness.
An endless storm of stars and shadow.
Malachar was dragged backward.
He clawed at the stone.
At bodies.
At anything.
His shadow fingers caught Lucian.
"Gareth!" Lucian shouted.
Gareth grabbed his father.
Toby grabbed Gareth.
Cael grabbed Toby.
A chain of living hands.
Malachar pulled.
The Veil pulled harder.
Azrath roared.
"LET HIM GO!"
Lucian looked at Gareth.
Something changed in his face.
Peace.
"No."
Gareth understood.
"Don't."
Lucian smiled.
"I already lost thirty-nine years."
"Father."
It was the first time Gareth had called him that.
Lucian's eyes filled with tears.
"Say it again."
"Father!"
Lucian released Gareth's hand.
"NO!"
Malachar and Lucian were dragged together toward the Veil.
Lucian wrapped both arms around the Black King.
"You buried me once."
He smiled.
"My turn."
They disappeared.
The Veil slammed shut.
Silence.
Gareth remained on his knees.
His hand still reached toward empty air.
Toby touched his shoulder.
"Father..."
Gareth closed his eyes.
He had found his father and lost him in less than an hour.
Then Azrath collapsed.
His dragon form began dissolving into golden light.
Toby ran toward him.
"What's happening?"
Azrath's human face briefly appeared within the light.
"The pact is broken."
"Are you dying?"
Azrath smiled.
"Finally."
Cael shook his head.
"We freed you."
"You did."
"Then live."
Azrath looked toward the twins.
"I have lived too long."
His body continued dissolving.
"The Veil is closed. Malachar is gone."
Toby's eyes filled.
"What happens to the marks?"
"They belong to you now."
"And Kingsbane?"
"Never let a king have it."
Cael almost smiled.
"That shouldn't be difficult."
Azrath looked toward Gareth.
"Protect them."
Gareth nodded.
"With my life."
"No."
Azrath smiled.
"Protect them with your trust."
Then he vanished.
Golden light filled the chamber.
The Sovereign Crests on Toby, Cael, and Gareth went dark.
For the first time, Toby's arm looked ordinary.
Almost.
---
Dawn reached High Keep several hours later.
The surviving soldiers emerged into the courtyard.
No Shades remained.
No voices whispered beneath the stone.
The gates were open.
The nightmare seemed finished.
King Aldren had survived the removal of the Kingsbane fragment, though barely.
Edric remained beside him.
Ysara was recovering.
Mira had refused to leave Toby's side.
Cael stood beneath the morning sky as if he had never seen daylight before.
Perhaps he had never truly appreciated it.
Toby joined him.
"What happens now?"
Cael looked toward High Keep.
"I don't know."
Toby smiled.
"Good."
Cael glanced at him.
"Why is that good?"
"Because maybe nobody planned it for us."
Cael considered that.
Then smiled.
Gareth approached.
"We need to talk."
Cael groaned.
"Fatherhood again?"
"Unfortunately."
Toby laughed.
For one moment, everything felt possible.
Then a soldier shouted from the gate.
"Sir Gareth!"
They turned.
A rider was approaching.
Alone.
The horse was exhausted.
The rider wore the robes of Saint Orlan's monastery.
He nearly fell from the saddle.
Gareth caught him.
"What happened?"
The monk looked terrified.
"I came as quickly as I could."
"From Saint Orlan's?"
"Yes."
Gareth's expression changed.
Seraphine.
"Did you see Lady Seraphine?"
The monk stared at him.
"Lady Seraphine?"
"The woman hiding at your monastery."
"No woman was hiding there."
Silence.
Ysara approached.
"That's impossible."
The monk shook his head.
"Our monastery has been abandoned for nine years."
Everyone froze.
Gareth looked at Ysara.
"You said you saw Seraphine there three days ago."
Ysara's face went white.
"I did."
"No," the monk whispered.
"You couldn't have."
He reached into his robe.
"I was sent because workers entered the old monastery crypt yesterday."
He handed Gareth a small object.
A silver pendant.
Two wings surrounding a green stone.
Gareth's pendant.
The one Ysara claimed Seraphine had given her three days earlier.
Gareth stared.
"Where did you find this?"
The monk swallowed.
"Inside a sealed grave."
Toby stepped closer.
"Whose grave?"
The monk looked at him.
Then at Cael.
His voice trembled.
"The inscription says Lady Seraphine Vale."
Gareth stopped breathing.
"That's wrong."
The monk continued.
"The grave had never been opened."
"Then the pendant—"
"Was around the skeleton's neck."
Silence consumed the courtyard.
Toby looked toward Ysara.
"You said our mother was alive."
"I saw her."