to glow. Fiery sparks lit her skin, filling the space around her with glitter, as though the air held diamond dust, as though she were a star that had fallen from the sky, as though she were a god stone in her own right, one made of gold instead of deep, deep shadow. He couldn’t say how long he remained limp on the ground, eyes wide as he watched her, stilled by a strange mix of awe and terror, unable to look away or speak or move or act.
Then it stopped.
Her body fell, as though the string that had been holding it aloft had suddenly snapped.
Xander jumped to his feet.
The cries of a thousand ravens stopped him cold. Every bird in the sacred nest leapt from the trees at once, a black cloud flooding the cage, the flapping of their wings an ominous roar as they searched for a way to get through the bars that had held them for their entire lives. There was no way out, no escape for those ebony feathers casting shadows in the sun.
The ground lurched violently beneath him.
Xander joined his brethren in the sky as the nest shook, the swish of leaves and the groan of the earth joining the rustle of a thousand wings. Fissures snaked up tree trunks. Branches cracked and fell. Solid dirt crumbled, filling the air with dust, and the god stone quivered where it hung, suspended. At the center of it all, Lyana remained unaffected in an odd mix of peace and pain. The ground beneath her trembled, sending her body this way and that as her eyes remained closed and her wings limp.
When the ground fell still, the priest knelt beside her. A hand emerged from his robes to gently brush her cheek, and a victorious smile curved his lips, elation glowing in his eyes. That was when Xander noticed the muddy boots, the robes that were far too small, and the sun-kissed face.
He dove.
“What did you do to her?” Xander shouted as he crashed into the priest, grabbing a fistful of the man's clothes, pumping his wings and using his weight to keep him flat against the floor. “What did you do?”
The man offered a smile made of razor blades, sharp enough to cut. “I did nothing, raven prince. This is her destiny.”
“Who are you?” Xander pressed his forearm to the man’s throat, making him choke on a sound eerily close to laughter. “Where did you come from?”
“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, truly I did,” the man said with a sigh, as though he were the one pinning Xander to the ground. “But I can’t leave any witnesses.”
Xander frowned, confused.
Then he gasped.
A sensation like nothing he’d ever felt in his life passed through him, as though a ghost had reached into his chest and latched on to his soul, closing a fist around his heart, stealing the breath from his lungs. A bond was severed, disconnecting his mind from his body. The priest pushed and Xander flew back, wings useless as a wave of pressure sent him stumbling over the ground, off balance, legs and arms no longer responding. His mind screamed to fight. He tried to beat his wings and kick with his legs, but it was useless, like running into a stone wall armed with nothing but the feeble hope of toppling it.
The priest stood, eyes focused and bursting with gold sparks of lightning, then took a step toward Xander.
When the man looked toward the ground, Xander dropped to his knees. When he widened his eyes, Xander’s spine curled and his arms snaked behind his back, as if tied with invisible string. His wings arched above his head, as if in the middle of a rapid descent. Phantom fingers lifted his chin. The white feathers pinned to his chest suddenly felt like a target on a practice field. His heart pounded, thumping against his ribs, because he knew without a doubt this stranger wasn’t interested in playing games.
Another man stepped out from the shadows of the grove, then a woman. They stood to either side of the leader, paying him no attention, focusing on the princess by their feet, who was still lying lifeless against the ground.
Lyana!
No sound crossed Xander's lips, even as everything within him ached to fight, his voice trying to scratch and thrash and crawl its way out.
I’ll save us! I’ll figure this out!
But he couldn’t.
And he wouldn’t.
Because he didn’t even know what this was, didn’t even know what he