Reign Shadowfell's Arc

Chapter 2 of 29

The reeds gave way to trees, and Reign followed the imp deeper into the forest. He heard the patrol before he saw them — boots on wet leaves, two voices calling his name. The caretakers had sent men after him. If they dragged him back to Nightshade now, the imp would vanish and every answer with it. Reign dropped behind a trunk and reached for the knife at his belt. The imp only grinned. It raised one small hand and snapped its fingers. The air around Reign went cold and thin, as if a sheet had been pulled over him. Two guards pushed through the brush a stone's throw away. One looked straight at Reign and did not see him. The other turned in a slow circle, hand on his sword, and cursed. They shouted for each other, though they stood close enough to touch. Then they broke and ran the way they had come, back toward the gates. The imp doubled over laughing. "Their faces," it wheezed. "Every time." It straightened and wiped its eyes. "We move now. They'll come back, and they'll bring more than two." Reign sheathed the knife. His hands were shaking, and he did not know if it was fear or something else. "What do I call you," he said. The imp looked up at him. "Lux." They walked. The trees grew closer together and the light thinned to green. Lux kept a pace that made Reign work to follow. After what he judged to be two hours, the ground began to rise, and the trees pulled back from a wall of black stone. A cave mouth opened in the rock, low and wide, breathing cold air. Lux stopped at the edge and turned. "They're inside," he said. "The ones who sent me." Reign looked at the dark, then back the way they had come. The patrol was somewhere behind him with more men now, and the only door left was the one in front of him. He stepped past the imp and into the cave.