Shannon, unfortunately, wasn’t surprised.
It was only a matter of time, he reminded himself darkly. Remember, you don’t have the luxury of a normal life anymore.
The danger the Casulls brought to their surroundings was precisely why they had left their home and chosen a life of wandering. They were aware of the risk involved with spending a substantial time in one place, but all the traveling had exhausted them.
And as much as Shannon hated to recognize it, he’d become overconfident and let his guard down.
Shannon took a deep breath. You do that again, he warned himself, and you’ll pay for it.
“Falk should be okay,” Safir said as he reached into his pocket. “But the boy left you this.”
Pacifica leaned forward as if to say something, but Shannon shot her a look. She must have seen something sinister in his eyes, because she shrank back.
Safir handed Shannon a small piece of paper. On it was written a message in careful handwriting:
To Guardian Shannon Casull,
I’m waiting for you at Arwen Canyon.
Come alone, or else.
Christopher Armalite
Shannon didn’t look up. “Where’s Arwen Canyon?”
“Leave town from the North Gate and walk northeast for about half a Glock. It’s the Valley of Glass—the place is so dangerous that it’s forbidden to the public.” Safir licked his lips nervously. “The citizen’s patrol is rounding up all the young men in town. As soon as everything’s ready, they’ll head for—”
“That’s not a good idea.”
In stark contrast to Safir’s voice, Shannon didn’t sound the least bit tense. His words were painfully calm.
“Wh-what? Why not?”
“Sending a large group will only put Winia at risk. Besides, it’s not the kind of location that a crowd will be effective in. He’s already thought of that—that’s why he’s luring me there.”
On top of that, Shannon knew that mere numbers meant nothing to a trained specialist like Chris. The boy was a tactician: an expert in unusual combat conditions. Tacticians rarely operated in groups, and their training had taught them to set traps, snipe, and use land features to their advantage. A citizen’s patrol lacking any special training could be wiped out before ever seeing a target.
Shannon shoved the letter into his pocket. “I’m going alone.”
Safir wrung his hands. “But—”
“Please.” Shannon fixed his black eyes on Safir. “I swear I’ll bring Winia back safely.”
Safir’s argument died in his throat. He kept his gaze locked with Shannon’s for a moment, then, finally, he averted his eyes and sighed.
“Fine,” he grudgingly consented. “I’ll tell the citizen’s patrol to stay put.”
Shannon bowed lower than he had in a very long time. “Thank you,” he murmured.
The wind was cold on her cheeks.
Winia creased her brow as she felt sharp gravel pressing up against her chin. She was outdoors somewhere, on something hard and uncomfortable. She tentatively raised her heavy eyelids, then blinked a few times as she tried to adjust to the darkness.
A black wall spread as far as she could see. The wall’s vast surface was smooth like glass, and was covered with innumerous cracks that spread across it like a net.
The random crisscross of lines created a complex pattern, cutting the reflection of the moon and stars into thousands of narrow fragments. The effect was staggering.
Where… am I? Winia wondered. She shifted her head slightly and scraped her chin against the gravel. She was at the base of an area enclosed by two giant walls, with barely enough space between them for two-way wagon traffic.
Arwen Canyon, the Valley of Glass. It was what everyone called the mysterious ravine located northeast of Taurus.
The canyon’s peculiar land formations could be found all over the Dustovin Continent, but how and when the glass-like rock features had come into existence was a mystery. Legend had it that they were remnants from the Battle of Creation fought between Mauser and the Devil.
At that moment, two things simultaneously occurred to Winia: her hands and feet were tied and she had been kidnapped in the middle of town. Despite the panic that quickly rose in her heart, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about how weak she was. The boy hadn’t hit her hard enough to knock her unconscious, and the twine that bound her wasn’t even that strong. Unfortunately, being around Shannon had made her painfully aware of her lack of physical strength.
Maybe I should start…working out or something, she thought as she wrestled with her bonds.
“So you’re finally awake.”
Winia froze. She swallowed once to raise her courage, before slowly turning her head.
The boy from earlier sat behind her, his back against the wall. He raised his eyebrows at her and smiled slightly.
He was eerie, to be sure. “Who are you?” she asked evenly. She was proud of how calm she managed to sound.
“Christopher Armalite.” He crossed his legs in front of him. “But you can call me Chris.”
“Are you an assassin?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. But don’t worry—I’m not after you. As long as the Guardians don’t try anything stupid, you’ll be home before you know it.”
“Then you’re… !” Before she knew it, Winia was shouting. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn’t a good idea to do anything that might excite a killer, but the words still came tumbling from her mouth. “You can’t… no! Leave Pacifica alone! Why are you after her, anyway?!”
Chris smiled again, although this time his action was tainted by sarcasm. “Then I guess nobody told you,” he surmised.
Winia paused. “Told me what?”
Chris sighed and crossed his arms behind his head. “Once upon a time,” he recited, “a queen gave birth to a twin boy and girl. They were the long-awaited heirs, blah blah blah, but the whole kingdom went into a panic because of one nasty little prophecy.” He leveled icy calm eyes at her. “Sound familiar now?”
Winia’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Every citizen in the kingdom knew that story, despite the fact that no one was supposed to.
Of the twin children born to the queen, kill the female. In sixteen years she will bring forth the Day of Destiny and destroy the world.
“Th-the Oracle of Saint Grendel,” Winia breathed. She knew it only as a folk tale—nobody, including those who repeated the story, associated any sort of truth to it. The legend of the princess who had been secretly slaughtered at her father’s orders without ever having been given a name was just that—a legend.
Shock gripped Winia’s heart. The Scrapped Princess… Pacifica wasn’t the Scrapped Princess, was she?
“The prophecy was fourteen years ago.” The boy smiled again, but Winia almost sensed pain behind it. “One day, by sheer chance, the palace learned that the girl they thought they’d slaughtered was still somehow alive. The royal family panicked, thinking that some grudge-bearing doom princess was going to waltz up to the palace and murder her parents before destroying the world.”
Chris shrugged. “Still, none of the higher-ups could agree on what to do. Mauser Church leaders thought assassination was a top priority, but the palace and its intelligence wanted her executed in order to maintain their authority. Then there were certain forces within the military that wanted to use the princess as leverage in their power struggle with the royal family.” Chris laughed. “So now everyone’s too busy keeping everyone else in check to do much. It’s pretty sad, actually.”
Winia’s blood curdled. A call for death from both the palace and the heads of the kingdom’s official religion was more serious than anything she’d ever heard of before. And the accuracy of the Grendel prophecies was supposed to be absolute.
But then that would mean… the boy had been sent by the royal military, if not the Church or palace itself.
And that there really was a Scrapped Princess who could destroy the world.
The image of Pacifica’s face flashed across Winia’s mind.
“It… it’s not true,” she breathed. “It can’t be.”
Pacifica, the girl who was making new friends when she wasn’t acting like a spoiled brat at home. Pacifica, who had reached out to Winia and never let go. Young Pacifica. Normal Pacifica.
She was going to destroy the world?
“It…it’s not true,” Winia whimpered. “It’s not…”
Chris watched Winia whine, his lips still curled in a smile.
Shannon pulled a suit of armor from the carriage parked behind the Big Bear Inn. He hefted each piece to test its weight.