Read Online Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) by Kristen Pham - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kristen Pham
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how
some days your grief is a weight that you’re struggling to hold up so it
doesn’t crush you. Can’t you understand that I feel the same way? If the weight
I’m carrying gets any heavier, I’m going to fall apart.”
It took all her
self-control not to push him further, but at last, she nodded. “I’ll wait,” she
said, and Henry released a breath of relief. “Let’s go to The Horseshoe and see
if we can sniff out what’s wrong.”
Their walk was
quiet, so they heard the shouting long before they reached their destination. A
crowd had gathered around the fountain in the center of The Horseshoe. Valerie
saw Gideon and pulled him aside.
“What is it?” she
asked.
Gideon was pale,
which frightened Valerie. Her mentor wasn’t easily shaken. He gestured to the
fountain, and Valerie squinted. It had been dry for weeks because of the
drought, but now it ran with a thick black liquid that looked like oil. It was
spilling over the sides, running in dark rivulets along the ground. It left a
dark, inky stain on everything it touched.
“I do not know how
they managed this,” Gideon said, finding his voice. “The Fractus were observed
at every moment while they were in Plymouth, and I saw nothing other than
platforms transporting large boxes.”
“It must have been a
distraction. The whole time, they were doing something below,” Valerie
murmured, but she wasn’t surprised. She knew that there would be a price to pay
for their ten days of peace, and now they’d begun paying it.
“I had Knights I
trusted on the ground, hiding, but they saw nothing amiss,” Gideon said.
“Until we know what
this stuff is, let’s get people out of here,” Henry said.
Gideon nodded, and
he, Valerie, and Henry gently urged people to go home. People were reluctant to
leave the spectacle, but eventually, they returned to their daily tasks, giving
the black liquid a wide berth. Henry was kneeling by a puddle, staring at it
intently.
“I don’t know what
this is,” he said as he reached out to touch it.
Valerie snatched his
hand back. “It could work like the Fractus’s black weapons. Or be related to
that new power we saw in the Fractus from Elsinore.”
“I don’t think so,”
Henry said, but he backed away.
“The flow is being
stemmed,” Gideon said, and Valerie saw that the fountain’s output was now just
a trickle.
But the
once-beautiful work of art was stained with black, and the edges were eroded.
“I think the Fractus
want to make sure that if they can’t get back inside, then neither can we,”
Valerie said.
“Of course,” Gideon agreed.
“Why didn’t I see it before? But I still cannot fathom how it was achieved.”
“This is only the
first horrible thing we know of that the Fractus accomplished over the past ten
days,” Henry said.
Valerie’s gut
twisted at his words. “I want soldiers tasked with finding a way into Plymouth
so we can see what the Fractus are up to down there.”
“I’ll put a team on
it,” Gideon said.
Every
one of her instincts screamed that something dark was going on under her feet.
This was only the first shot across the bow. Something worse was coming.
Valerie spent the
day with Dulcea at The Society of Imaginary Friends going through tactics to
attract new recruits to the Fist. On her way out, she saw Cyrus leaving the
Weapons Guild.
She opened her mouth
to speak, to apologize somehow for the pain she’d caused him.
“Don’t. Even talking
about it could kill me right now.”
“Do you want me to
go?” Valerie asked, her voice small.
“Yes, but what I
want doesn’t matter right now. We have too much to discuss in terms of next
steps for the weapons we use against the Fractus who have the ability to cast
darkness.”
Valerie nodded, a
little ashamed at how relieved she was that she didn’t have to face Cyrus’s
pain right now. He led her into the Weapons Guild to the little lab where he worked
on his weapons of light. It was abandoned except for
some days your grief is a weight that you’re struggling to hold up so it
doesn’t crush you. Can’t you understand that I feel the same way? If the weight
I’m carrying gets any heavier, I’m going to fall apart.”
It took all her
self-control not to push him further, but at last, she nodded. “I’ll wait,” she
said, and Henry released a breath of relief. “Let’s go to The Horseshoe and see
if we can sniff out what’s wrong.”
Their walk was
quiet, so they heard the shouting long before they reached their destination. A
crowd had gathered around the fountain in the center of The Horseshoe. Valerie
saw Gideon and pulled him aside.
“What is it?” she
asked.
Gideon was pale,
which frightened Valerie. Her mentor wasn’t easily shaken. He gestured to the
fountain, and Valerie squinted. It had been dry for weeks because of the
drought, but now it ran with a thick black liquid that looked like oil. It was
spilling over the sides, running in dark rivulets along the ground. It left a
dark, inky stain on everything it touched.
“I do not know how
they managed this,” Gideon said, finding his voice. “The Fractus were observed
at every moment while they were in Plymouth, and I saw nothing other than
platforms transporting large boxes.”
“It must have been a
distraction. The whole time, they were doing something below,” Valerie
murmured, but she wasn’t surprised. She knew that there would be a price to pay
for their ten days of peace, and now they’d begun paying it.
“I had Knights I
trusted on the ground, hiding, but they saw nothing amiss,” Gideon said.
“Until we know what
this stuff is, let’s get people out of here,” Henry said.
Gideon nodded, and
he, Valerie, and Henry gently urged people to go home. People were reluctant to
leave the spectacle, but eventually, they returned to their daily tasks, giving
the black liquid a wide berth. Henry was kneeling by a puddle, staring at it
intently.
“I don’t know what
this is,” he said as he reached out to touch it.
Valerie snatched his
hand back. “It could work like the Fractus’s black weapons. Or be related to
that new power we saw in the Fractus from Elsinore.”
“I don’t think so,”
Henry said, but he backed away.
“The flow is being
stemmed,” Gideon said, and Valerie saw that the fountain’s output was now just
a trickle.
But the
once-beautiful work of art was stained with black, and the edges were eroded.
“I think the Fractus
want to make sure that if they can’t get back inside, then neither can we,”
Valerie said.
“Of course,” Gideon agreed.
“Why didn’t I see it before? But I still cannot fathom how it was achieved.”
“This is only the
first horrible thing we know of that the Fractus accomplished over the past ten
days,” Henry said.
Valerie’s gut
twisted at his words. “I want soldiers tasked with finding a way into Plymouth
so we can see what the Fractus are up to down there.”
“I’ll put a team on
it,” Gideon said.
Every
one of her instincts screamed that something dark was going on under her feet.
This was only the first shot across the bow. Something worse was coming.
Valerie spent the
day with Dulcea at The Society of Imaginary Friends going through tactics to
attract new recruits to the Fist. On her way out, she saw Cyrus leaving the
Weapons Guild.
She opened her mouth
to speak, to apologize somehow for the pain she’d caused him.
“Don’t. Even talking
about it could kill me right now.”
“Do you want me to
go?” Valerie asked, her voice small.
“Yes, but what I
want doesn’t matter right now. We have too much to discuss in terms of next
steps for the weapons we use against the Fractus who have the ability to cast
darkness.”
Valerie nodded, a
little ashamed at how relieved she was that she didn’t have to face Cyrus’s
pain right now. He led her into the Weapons Guild to the little lab where he worked
on his weapons of light. It was abandoned except for
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