Page 254 of Of Masks and Fury

“Alright,” Trew said, and while I could tell he didn’t like it, we had no other choice.

We ran, the wasteland growing worse with every step. The ground didn’t just crack, it gaped open, revealing nothing but darkness beneath. We had to leap over gaps that continued to widen. Thick corruption shimmered in the air. I could taste metal and rot on my tongue.

Spindly, leafless trees gave way to formations of twisted stone that looked like reaching hands frozen mid-grasp. Silence pressed down on us, broken only by the sound of our footsteps and labored breathing.

Pherin growled low in her throat, her head swiveling constantly. Something was wrong, a thing beyond even the obvious wrongness of this cursed place.

Another Skathe patrol appeared, at least ten of them this time. When they saw us, they spread in a wide formation.

We didn’t slow. Trew’s magic erupted in a wave of force that scattered the front line. Our companions tore into them with fangs and claws and flames. I severed control threads while Addie used her flickering connection to the veil itself to disorient the creatures, making them stumble as reality wavered around them.

Blood and ash. Screams and roars. We killed them all and kept running.

Pools of something that wasn’t quite water or solid bubbled and hissed around us. Luminescent light flickered in the distance.

Then I saw the breach.

It dominated the horizon like a wound torn in the fabric of existence itself, a ragged tear that throbbed with sickly light. I caught glimpses of a nightmare realm beyond. Shapes moved in thatother place. Skathes, thousands of them, pressing against the barrier between the two worlds.

“Fates,” Lexie breathed.

The breach was easily the length of a dragon across, its edges writhing and stretching even as we watched. The tear was growing, fed by whatever ritual the controllers had begun.

When we crested the final ridge, and lay on the ground to study the area ahead, the full scope of what we faced became clear.

A massive ritual circle carved into the corrupted ground and filled with something that glowed like blood lit from within surrounded the breach. Lord Alfred stood at the circle’s western edge, wearing ceremonial robes of deep crimson. Magic crackled around his raised hands, feeding into the circle’s pattern.

Someone lay bound at the center, on a slab of dark gray stone.

His companion lay bound on a similar stone, also surrounded by a cage that would keep it from escaping even if it shifted.

Addie made a sound like a wounded animal. Nim bristled beside her, eager to shift back into his dragon form and charge.

Even from this distance, I could see how badly they’d hurt him. Blood matted his hair and cuts covered his body, looking ritualistic rather than random. But his chest rose and fell. He was still alive.

“Hold Nim back,” Trew said quietly, his hand on my sister’s shoulder. “We need to see everything first.”

The second controller stood opposite Alfred, her arms raised to match his position. A cloak hid her form, but power radiated from her in waves that made my veil-sight scream warnings.

Hundreds of Skathes swayed around them.

“This is impossible,” Derren said flatly.

“No.” Using veil-sight, I examined the ritual’s structure, finding so many weak points it made my heart stutter. “It’s just going to be really, really difficult.”

The ritual circle connected to the breach through threads of corrupted magic. I could see how it worked, and I whispered my plan to our friends. “Fenmark’s death and the draining of his power will be used to tear the veil open permanently. The bloodfire magic generated from the sacrifice will provide the power source, fed bywhatever sacrifices Alfred and the woman have already made. I can see weak points in the pattern. At least, I hope that’s what they are. I’ve never worked with anything this complex before.”

My hands quivered as I studied the corruption threading through the magical structure. “If I’m wrong about the weak points, if I’ve misread the weave…” I swallowed hard. “We’ll all die and the breach will tear reality apart.”

Addie sucked in a breath. “If we hit those points simultaneously while the others interrupt the ritual…”

“My plan is terrible,” I said. “And it’ll probably kill us, but it also might work.”

“My favorite kind of plan,” Trew said with a grim smile.

“The circle is designed like a web.” I gestured to at the patterns I could see with my veil-sight. “Alfred and the woman are anchor points, but the pattern has three weak points. If we break their concentration and hit all three simultaneously, the whole structure should collapse inward. Miss one or lose even a second on timing, and the backlash kills us all."

“Even better,” Derren said dryly. “I’m in.”