Chapter 143: [143] Let Me Show You What Kind of Star I Am
The silence following the execution was absolute. The wind died. All that remained was the sound of Ashley’s ragged breathing and the faint crackle of unstable golden energy convulsing around her.
Xavier stared at the frozen statues that had been his companions moments before. Gareth’s weathered face, caught mid-shout. Dalen’s outstretched hand, reaching for a weapon he’d never grasp. Marta’s crossbow, suspended in ice halfway through its fall.
He’d chosen this path. He’d led them here.
These weren’t faceless enemies or marks from his past life—these were people who’d trusted him. Who’d followed his lead into this nightmare.
"Xavier." Naomi’s voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. "Look."
She was pointing at the Bonemarch Knight’s throne. Behind the massive seat of black ice, reality seemed... wrong. The air shimmered like heat distortion, but cold. Shadows moved independently of their sources, writhing and coiling into patterns that felt like they were trying to unwrite his vision.
"It’s a tear," Naomi whispered, her purple eyes wide with recognition. "A dimensional breach. I can feel it calling to my Essentia."
The Knight’s burning gaze shifted between them. Around the plaza’s perimeter, armored skeletons clicked and rattled as they adjusted their grips on corroded weapons.
"Can you get us through?" Xavier kept his voice low, his hand tightening on his dagger’s grip.
"Maybe. Shadow stepping through dimensional rifts isn’t exactly covered in the textbooks." Naomi’s voice carried forced bravado, but he could see her hands shaking. "I need time to establish a connection. Five minutes, minimum."
Five minutes. Against a creature that had just executed an entire caravan with a thought.
Xavier looked down at Ashley. The golden fractures across her skin were spreading, and he could see her teeth were chattering despite the searing heat radiating from her body. Whatever psychic feedback she was experiencing from her failed protection attempts, it was killing her slowly.