Crowntide by Alex Aster - 84

Thanks to the portaling device, there were now legions of Skyling, Starling, and even Moonling forces keeping the creatures at bay on Lightlark. Cleo had helped without question. She had wanted to be nearby, in the hope that Isla would soon return.

Their help had lessened the weight on Oro’s shoulders. But as if in defiance of his hope, the creatures were now attacking in greater forces. He had been battling them for hours all through the night and morning.

It was a good distraction from what he had been trying hard not to think about. When he finally went to bed well into the morning, though, he realized he couldn’t escape it.

The silver pool was waiting for him in his mind, as if called by his noblest and most treacherous thoughts.

“Hiding from the truth,” the woman said, her voice echoing. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

He ground his teeth together. “You don’t know me.”

“No. But you know yourself.”

“Is the prophecy about me?” he asked.

“It’s hard to know, until it’s done,” she said. “The future is split, just as you are.”

He swallowed the urge to roll his eyes. Her answer was as vague and unhelpful as he expected.

“But there is a constant in every path. Every possibility. Even now.”

The silver pool began to ripple. And in its metallic waters, something rose up until it breached the surface.

A blade longer than a dagger but not quite a sword. It had an intricate handle in the shape of a heart.

“What is this?” he asked, reaching for the hilt. Before he could lock his fingers around it, the blade disappeared back into the waters.

“A famed weapon that can kill anyone and anything. It’s been hidden for millennia. Kept from those who would use it for ill will.” Her silver eyes pierced him, wide and unwavering. “This,” she said, “is the key to peace or ruin. You must find it to even have a chance at defeating Cronan.”

“Where is it?” Oro asked.

“It’s not just in another world,” she said. “It was hidden in a pocket of time.”

The Threads of Time must have been used. He frowned. “I don’t have the time threads anymore. There’s no way I can find it.”

“You, perhaps, are the only one who can,” she said.

With that, she disappeared.