The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles 3)

All of these troops were here on my orders, based on something I felt in my gut. The generals had grumbled the entire way.

Rafe had sent Jeb and Orrin with a contingent of soldiers to intercept Dalbretch troops who might be coming and direct them to Sentinel Valley. Might be coming. The words weighed heavily on me. With Draeger recalling thousands of soldiers to Dalbreck, it seemed unlikely that we would get any assistance at all.

Tavish explained that the general had recalled the troops long before he got Rafe’s message. “They may still come.”

May. Might. My anxiety grew. Each day passed like a low beating drum vibrating through me, marking time. Rafe promised that the Marabella forces would show, but we’d had no sign of them either. It could be that Rafe had already lost his grip on his realm.

The weather at least had finally become agreeable. Rafe, Kaden, and I left alone to scout the valley. I didn’t want to hear the grumbles of generals, the pounding of tent stakes, or the calls of soldiers. A quiet voice had drawn me here. I needed quiet as I explored it and listened for any more secrets it might hold for me.

The opening into the valley was narrow, just as Reunaud had described it.

We rode in and dismounted. I sensed it immediately. Even Rafe and Kaden felt it. I saw it in their faces, and in the reverence of their steps. The air held the presence of something timeless, something that could be either crushing or liberating. Something that didn’t care about us, only what was coming. It knew. We looked at the tall green cliffs and the ruins that towered over us. The weight of the centuries pressed in.

We walked together for a time. Rafe looking up at the cliffs, first at one side, then the other, Kaden turning, imagining, studying.

The grass of the valley brushed the tops of our boots.

I looked around in wonder. So this was the last valley Morrighan had led the Remnant through before they reached their new beginning.

“I’m going up top to see what’s there,” Rafe said, pointing at the ruins that looked down on us.

“I’ll check out the other side,” Kaden said, and both left on their horses, searching for trails that led to the summits. I walked ahead, deeper into the valley, listening to the quiet, the breeze, and then a whisper shivered through the grass, rushing toward me, its cool fingers brushing my face, my hands.

It circled my throat, lifted my hair.

This world breathes you in … shares you.

The wind, time, it circles, repeats.…

I felt the breath that was held, and then the slow exhale. I kept walking. The valley grew wider, little by little, like welcoming arms opening up to whatever lay at the other end. I studied the low hills, the rocky crags, the outcrops of boulders, the soft grassy ridges, the face of a valley that studied me too, its eyes turning, its heart beating. Why are you here? My gaze traveled to the valley’s crown—the ruins. I heard Gaudrel speak, as if she walked by my side.

In an age before monsters and demons roamed the earth …

There were cities, large and beautiful, with sparkling towers that touched the sky …

They were spun of magic and light and the dreams of gods …

I felt those dreams now, hovering, waiting, hoping, as if their world could be wakened again. The universe has a long memory. I kept walking and as Captain Reunaud had said, the ruins watched me as I passed. Ten miles of immense valley. Ten miles of towering wreckage. Breathtaking. Powerful. Frightening.

Rafe’s warning hummed in my ears.

Their army will stretch for miles. You can’t speak to them all.

I kept walking.

I would find a way.

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Some of the ruins had tumbled to the valley floor. I passed giant blocks of stone taller than a man, now covered with moss and vine, the earth still trying to erase the fury of a star. Or was it many stars? What had truly happened? Would we ever really know?

But I knew the power and greatness of the Ancients had been unlocked by the Komizar. He would use it against us in a matter of days. We had little chance even with Rafe’s troops. Without them, we had none. My heart beat faster. Had I brought everyone here to die in a distant forgotten valley? The cries of the Ancients whistled past on the wind, and the Holy Text whispered back to me.

A terrible greatness

Rolled across the land …

Devouring man and beast,