darkness and th

d to move, but his arms were chained above his head, iron cuffs biting into his wrists, and his legs were shackled to the s

lickering mana lamps that cast more shadows than light, the distant sound of dripping water that echoed through the corri

ed. The library. The book. Valerius and his cronies. The sha

fa

ess swallowing him whole. The voice that had called to him from the depths, anc

be dead. No one survived a fall int

re aw

aw a figure huddled in the corner of the cell. A girl. She was small, wiry, with dark hair cropped short and eyes that gleamed like chips of flin

Kaelen asked, h

She was shackled too, though her chains were shorter, allowing her to sit rather than

ked. "You'r

w I'm a prisoner. Same as you. Though I have to say, yo

hed a d

d that echoed through the cell like breaking glass. "You touched a dragon? And you

Kaelen m

er this time. "I'm Lyra. Lyr

. Kaele

ng it. "I've heard of you. The Null who survived the Sun-Drake.

lenched. "Famous f

d there was something in her gaze-something sharp and

's bones until he couldn't feel his fingers or his toes. The chains cut into his wrists, and his shoulders s

ht and never came back. She talked about the slums where she had grown up, the orphans who banded together for

aelen asked, his vo

at her sides. "Null children. They take them from the slums, from the orphanages, from the workhouses. They tell everyone they're be

lood ran c

hings. Whispers. Stories that would make your blood freeze. They say the Emper

the academy. The violet light pulsing within i

tear,"

ed toward him. "W

ve the academy. I tried to tell the guards, but

a real smile this time, warm and fierce and full of so

oo

believed me." Lyra's voice dropped to a whisper. "But you do. You

p of cloth. He thought of the old man's words. *You're not empty. You

to realize t

ds came

He tensed, expecting the worst, expecting to be dragged from his cell and beaten or hanged or worse. But the guards wa

cut through the silence. "No, please! I did

a glimpse of a small figure being dragged from the cell next door. A boy. No older than ten. His face was streak

"Please, I'll be good! I'l

nt. They dragged him down the corridor, past Kaelen's cell,

eaming

eart pounded in his chest. His hands shook. The mark on his pa

ered. "They took him, and

hollow. "They never s

o they t

ard stories. Stories about a place beneath the palace. A place where Null children are sacrificed

k in the sky. The violet l

o stop the

rs, Kaelen. We're chained to a wall in a dungeon beneath the m

if we

you propose

could feel something stirring inside him-something dark and powerful and utterly terrifying. The sa

e said. "But I'm

came sooner th

nce. She was dragged into the cell across from Kaelen's, her wrists bound with mana-suppressing cuffs, her face bruised and bl

ered. "Think they can overthrow the Emp

e sacrifices will stop

ined her to the wall and left, their footsteps echo

. Then Lyra's voice cut through

finding Lyra's through the bars. "

s." Lyra paused.

a. Seraph

h caught. "The

ed to him, sharp and a

youngest Grand Marshal in the Em

iscovered the truth about the sacrifices. About w

rt pounded.

ldren to an entity called the Abyssal Monarch. It's a void creature that lives beyond the sky. It feeds on mana, and the Emperor feeds it children in exchange for po

elt sick

narch keeps him alive, but only as long as he keeps feeding it. And the on

r. "That's why they disappear. T

evidence-a ledger, records, proof of every child who was sa

he had carried. "Someone else knew," he said. "An old s

widened. "Aldric?

nt quarters. He told me I was dif

ed-a sharp, incredulous sound. "Inverte

oes tha

the one the prophecy spoke of. The one who will bond with the last Aetheri

t pounded. "T

ho is not empty, but different. This child will find a dragon that was erased from history. A dragon whose flam

e Abyss roared. And somewhere deep in his chest, s

t out of here

But the cuffs-they suppress ma

ities," Lyra said.

," Kaelen sai

et his. "Then we n

an was

es, the timing of their shifts, the exact moment when the dungeon was left unguarded. She had also, t

he whispered. "For exactly five minutes,

un? We're in the middle of the aca

erce. "We get to the armory. We arm ourselves. We

nsane," L

's the only ch

cloth. He could feel the dragon in the Abyss, calling to him, waiting for him

o it,"

at him. "You

ways se

ing to get

. "But I'd rather die fighti

hen she sighed. "Fine. But if we die

ea

ight

o unlock her cuffs, then Kaelen's, then Lyra's. They crept through the corri

n door. Seraphina pushe

r beyond wa

perial guards, his golden hair gleaming in

ink it would be th

blood r

ng that might have been hatred or triumph or both. "You're not

ried to summon the shadows, but the cuffs-even unlo

dor, past Valerius, past the gu

depths of the acade

ell. A different cell.

is mind racing. He had failed. He had failed Lyra

m was still pulsing. St

rkness, a voi

ou're inverted. And

closed

wa