Prince of Blood and Shadow
I. Chapter 15

Sylvis looked with horror as the scene unfolded. His feet stood firm in the snow. The heat from beyond the Ravenmoon wards reached him, shielding him from the winter cold. After Lord Varen had blindsided him, he escaped to Stonefog where Lord Caelan had instructed him to go should he fail. They gave him as many fast-healing tonics as they could spare to help his wounds and regain his strength. Even if their enemies somehow survived this, they wouldn’t have the strength to face him. They’d barely overcome him outside the inn.

Where had the redcaps come from? And what he couldn’t believe were maenads. The wild women dressed in Ivy vines he’d only ever seen in stories. They didn’t seem to notice him; the maenads had sprung out after he’d spotted a horned headed boy in wild faun skin lurking in the shadows. The boy stretched and yawned, as if someone had just woken him from a deep sleep. Once he spotted Sylvis, he laughed and faded away in a flurry of ivy leaves.

Caelan said he was bringing an army out of Dusk Haven to siege the manor. Was this his doing? Now they were to ally with the vermin to achieve their own ends? The King would never stoop so low as to even associate with those pests. “Vayne kidnapped Keira,” Inias had said, but why? There was no way he was that obsessed. She’d gone to look for her brother, but no one knew how she’d escaped. Some believed that someone had scrubbed her room before the guards could investigate.

He wasn’t about to run into that bloodbath, even with his spear. He kept his spear held in front of him, ready for whatever came towards him. It was then he saw the lights forming and saw two figures emerging from the lush forest. Inias and Keira were alive. He lifted his spear, ready to strike them as they came through, but hesitated. If Caelan would use redcaps to achieve his goals, then Vayne may have kidnapped Keira to cover it up. With a long sigh, he pulled his spear back, as they approached, and planted it the ground next to him.“Sylvis, we don’t have time,” Inias huffed as they exited the barrier. The three of them looked exhausted and Inias had his hand clutching what he assumed was a wound on his back. “We’ll kick your ass later, I promise.”

Sylvis raised a brow at him and shook his head. He turned to Keira and narrowed his eyes. “Vayne kidnapped you? You swear it?” He pushed his dark blonde hair out of his face and watched her. She nodded her head and looked to the now retreating redcaps, avoiding the bone dead winter wood beyond the breached wards.

“There you are!” an elated voice called as a figure emerged from the lush forest. His long jet-black hair and crystal blue eyes gave him away. “Never knew you were such a ladies’ man, Inias,” Caelan pulled a large staff from within his cloak as he spoke with the same sickly sweet tone as his son. “Where were they when your father died?” The weapon was half the man’s height who stood over the four of them, black as his hair, and at the tip sat a red crystal in the shape of a spiraling flame.

“Same lame fireworks? Guess it runs in the family.” Inias taunted him and drew his sword through his heavy breaths. Keira still had her daggers ready and even Styx was ready to stand his ground. They were in no shape to fight, not with Caelan. If Inias had summoned those wild women, then it was Caelan who led the redcaps. “Are those goblins yours?! Why?” Sylvis demanded, placing a ready hand on his spear. “Have you ever heard the expression’ two ducks, one arrow?” Caelan looked to Sylvis with a smile. “The redcaps won’t survive this. We’ve delivered a significant blow to the Ravenmoons and now we’ve caught them. So, three ducks, in fact.”

Sylvis shook his head and gripped his spear tight. “Not like this,” he said, and vanished from where he stood. It was only when Caelan summoned up a wall of fire to protect himself from a barrage of red lightning that the others saw him. “Go!” He looked at the trio as Caelan pushed forward against the assault. “Traitor!” Lord Rouan growled as his fire grew larger, forming into the shape of a dragon.

Styx was the first to run away, followed by Keira. While Caelan was distracted, Inias wanted to run his sword through his back. Growling, he turned and ran with his friends into the snowy wood. Blood dripped from his wound over the snow and left a trail for anyone to follow. “Keira!” He called out to his friend ahead of him, who turned around huffing. “We can’t stop!” Where were they even going? Everyone in Stonefog would be on the lookout for them.

“Please tell me you have a tonic?” Inias limped towards the two and leaned against a tree. “I have one…” Keira pulled a small vial with a blue liquid inside. “I guess we can buy more in Eventide.” She slipped it to him, and he gulped it. The wound in his back burned and stung as the tonic got to work healing him. He bit his scarf and groaned into it as it closed. “Eventide?” he asked as the pain subsided.

“Dad said Crescent Arcana was a syndicate,” Keira explained, stuffing the empty vial back into her satchel back. “Eventide is full of shady groups. If we look around there, we’re bound to replace something out. It’s a start at least.”

“And there’s bound to be an inn on the way,” Inias pushed himself off the tree and began walking. Keira and Styx fell into step beside him. Eventide was a big place run by merchant clans and it would give them a break from the Hallow’s warriors hunting them. “How did you summon Bacchus?” Keira asked, now that they were alone. The forest was silent, likely because of the redcaps that had come through on their way to assault the manor.

“He’s a wine god, or he was,” Inias explained. It was a long shot, but one that had paid off and allowed them to escape. “It was the statue, the way it looked at me. When it saw the wine, I knew.” This time his gamble had paid off. Varen would be fine, just a little lightheaded for a few hours. There was no way the redcaps had breached the manor in that chaos. “I’ll be paying close attention to Mr. Bacchus!” Keira smiled, happy to be out of there.