Warmth filled Emily's body, cradling her with a gentle rocking motion. It was a moment before she remembered where she was and that the rocking motion was that of the ship on the waves. Opening her eyes, she saw that someone had drawn back the curtains over the portholes and warm sunlight was spilling in.

It was completely deserted in the cabin, a rare event even in the middle of the day. Rubbing her eyes, she tried to focus on what she had seen when she had been able to look through Lewis' eyes. Other than what he had told her about the bunker on the hillside, she hadn't been able to find any markers beyond that to give her a clue as to where he was.

Hopefully, Clara might be able to shed some light on things if she knew Arcadia. Almost at the thought of her, the door to the cabin opened, and Clara stepped in. 'You're awake,' she said, surprised. 'That's good; we're getting close to the dock that serves the village. You look like you've seen a ghost.'

'That connection I had with Lewis happened again. Tristan wants something from him—a crux. They're torturing him,' Emily said, trying to hold back the tears. She had seen what the chains at the tower had done to him, but this time she imagined it being far worse.

Clara sat down beside her on the bunk, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. 'Do you know where he is? It won't be long, and we'll get him out of there safe and sound,' she said reassuringly.

'They didn't go to Arcadia, at least not as far as he's aware. He said his memory is very fuzzy around that time, but he remembers them taking him into a bunker on a hillside,' she said. Clara's face dropped notably at the mention of the bunker. 'You know it?'

'The Prison of Shadows, also known as The Shadow's Asylum,' she sighed. 'Any scary story told between the children in the village always started or ended there. It was abandoned after the war, but before that, it was where Arcadia held all the precursors they took prisoner. Supposedly, if you get too close, you can still hear their tortured screams.'

'People have avoided it for decades; no one even knows if there were any prisoners still held there after it was abandoned. I imagine they're all long dead by now, but still, it's a terrifying thought. When Tristan took it over, he dispensed with the majority of the guards, afraid they would rebel against him, and created these creatures from shadow to guard it. That's where it gets its name from.'

'There were shadows starting to seep under the door when he told me to leave. I don't quite know how the connection works, but the last thing I saw, I think it was starting to take a humanoid shape,' Emily said.

'That sounds about right for The Prison of Shadows.' Clara exhaled, deep in thought.

'Do you know where it is and how to get in?' Emily asked.

Clara nodded. 'Roughly. If we can speak to Ikore, the sage in the village, he might be able to help us.'

'Is it safe to go into the village? People are going to notice a big group of outsiders traipsing around,' Emily said. Until now, they had only been planning to use the dock nearby as a place to land and set off from.

'I imagine we'd be in and out before anyone has a chance to send word to Tristan.'

'Clara! Where are you? We're coming into the port,' Thomas called, appearing in the doorway, a look of relief crossing his face when he saw Emily sitting up.

'She had that connection with Lewis again; it sounds like they're holding him in The Prison of Shadows, outside of the city,' Clara said, getting to her feet.

'I thought that place was just a myth,' he said, running a hand through his hair. 'This just got far more difficult than anticipated.'

'How different can it be from breaking into the palace or wherever we were expecting them to hold Lewis?' Emily asked.

'The echoing screams of long-dead precursors aren't the only reason people used to tell scary stories about the place,' Clara said. 'There are stories about all sorts of monsters being held there, some that aren't even from this world.'

'Almost all of it is deep below ground; it's supposed to be a labyrinth of catacombs. There are people who have tried to escape from there during the war but have never been able to find a way out. They went mad because it all looked the same, and they were going around in circles for days. The tunnels run for miles. Whether it's true or not, some thought there was a tunnel that linked it to the palace in Arcadia, Thomas said.

'Is there any good news?' Emily asked. 'They're probably torturing him as we speak. Tristan wants to take a crux from him.'

'A crux isn't something you can just take from someone; that person would die in the process. Even if Tristan did get it, there's nothing he would be able to do with it unless…' he trailed off.

'Unless what, Thomas?' Emily said slowly.

'I wonder,' he muttered. In a flurry of movement, he crossed the cabin to the bunk he had been sleeping in and pulled out his rucksack, rummaging through it. After a moment, he took out a heavy book with a battered cover. 'I was reading up on some of the ancient history after they went to the temple to try and understand it a little better and what Edmund was trying to achieve.'

'They were trying to resurrect Tristan using his soul, which he had sealed away inside the crown in case someone killed him. When Arden killed him, the crux, essentially the precursor power within him, which is usually tethered to the soul, couldn't move on beyond the veil without that soul. It makes sense now, with the destruction of Arcadia. An untethered crux, one with the power of someone like Tristan, wouldn't be stable; it would tear itself apart. Tristan is trying to take Lewis' crux in an effort to replace his own.'

'Couldn't he just find any precursor and take their crux?' Clara asked.

'Yes, he would probably face much less resistance as well. He could have taken Edmund's, George's, or Edward's. Either he tried to and failed, or he didn't want to. They all have power, probably more than enough for him to do whatever he wants.'

'He's a True Precursor, Lewis,' Olivia said. They had all been so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed her standing in the doorway.

'What does that mean?' Emily asked.

'Lewis is someone very rare. Where we tend to have our specialties, Lewis is able to harness lots of different aspects in a way few others would be able to. If Tristan is able to harness the crux within Lewis, he would be far more dangerous than if he had to rely on another precursor. The only thing about that that goes in our favour is that it's going to be a hell of a lot harder for him to get it,' Olivia said. 'Lewis is strong; we'll get to him before Tristan is able to take the crux from him.'

'He said it might not matter,' Emily said. 'Tristan said if he couldn't take it from him, he could go beyond the veil and reach the baby no matter where we are.'

'How could he know about the baby; surely Lewis wouldn't have told him?' Clara asked.

'Tristan must have gotten inside Lewis' mind. Arden wrote about it: When physical torture failed him, he would raid their minds so that he could psychologically torture them by finding their deepest fears and worst memories,' Thomas said.

'That doesn't take anything away from how strong Lewis is. He won't give up on getting out of there,' Olivia said. 'While it's technically possible for him to pass through the veil, he would need a gateway of some sort into The Fade.'

'There's an archway in the palace. If it were the veil, would it be possible for something to reach through?' Emily asked, recalling the face in the fog and a hand reaching out towards her. She remembered the screams.

Olivia and Thomas fell into stunned silence, exchanging a worried glance. 'The last entry in Arden's journal said that Tristan was planning to go beyond the veil with the intent of killing Ilborh herself, to, for all intents and purposes, make it impossible for souls to pass from this life to the next.'

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

'I don't think it was finished when I saw it. It was covered in scaffolding and partially broken,' Emily said, trying to recall what she had seen, but the memories swam with flashes of her fight with Michael. 'What do we do?'

'Lewis is the best hope we have against Tristan, especially if that deprives him of a powerful crux,' Thomas said. 'Our priority is still to rescue him at all costs, but we don't know exactly where he is or what stands in our way. For all we know, half of the army from Oria is here in Arcadia. The archway is also a good target, though. If we destroy that, even temporarily, we can slow Tristan's plans down a little.'

'I thought you didn't know anything about these sorts of things?' Emily asked, remembering the conversation they had had about the potential war.

'War is something I don't know much about, but right now it's like a game of Guard. The aim is to win in the long run, obviously, but right now we want to try and predict Tristan's moves so that we can disrupt them as much as possible before it becomes a proper war,' Thomas said.

'Lewis tried to teach it to me, but I wasn't very good, so I'll have to trust you on that one,' Emily said.

'We could divide our forces, some of us trying to get into the palace to destroy the archway while the others break into the prison; surely Tristan can't be in two places at once?' Olivia suggested. Emily looked at Thomas to find him looking back at her expectantly.

What she was suggesting made sense, but she didn't want to be the one who made that decision. Just thinking that she might be sending some of them somewhere more dangerous than she could imagine made her feel physically sick. 'Let's do it,' Thomas said to her relief.

'How do we decide who goes in which group?' Emily asked.

'Clara, you know the city better than anyone, but you're probably the only one who would be able to help us find the bunker,' Thomas said thoughtfully. 'I think you should come with me and Emily to try and find Lewis. Arthur's been to Arcadia before, and he knows what the palace looks like; he should be able to lead the others there. We'll divide up what Robyn has been able to create but if it's half as destructive as what I think from the list she showed me, then she'll be best tackling the archway.'

'There's Ikore,' Clara suggested. 'He's the sage from the village; he would know the city well enough to help them get to the palace. If we're quick, we could get him while everyone else is unloading the ship.'

Thomas hesitated visibly. Ever since Edmund had fled with the crown and he had chased down Captain Riley and Commander General Sulyard, he had been wary of having discussions with anyone beyond a handful of people. Emily was just as wary of trusting anyone. 'We could use the extra help,' she sighed. 'We'll go and be back as quickly as we can. You and Olivia update everyone on the plan and decide who's going where.'

They parted ways as the others disembarked the ship, the Cimant warriors helping to lift the crates of alchemical tools and weapons. Robyn had been able to make quite an array of supplies, with Clara assisting and learning while they had been gathering their forces. Now, the two of them raced towards the village along the muddy cart track.

'What was it like growing up here?' Emily asked, taking in the ramshackle array of houses that had been built with no sense of layout. In a way, it reminded her a little of Whitecliff, where she and Lewis had spent the weeks after they had fled Tristan for the second time before Edmund tracked them down. What she wouldn't give to wake up somewhere peaceful like that every day again.

'It was alright; there wasn't a lot to do, really. That's why the ruins of Arcadia tended to have such a pull on the children that they were banned from going anywhere near there,' she said. 'I could never go back to living somewhere like this after seeing Oria and some of the other cities and towns; they're so vibrant and lively compared to this.'

'If it's quiet, it might benefit us right now; the less people who are aware we're here, the better, I think,' Emily said. Emily found herself wondering which one of these houses had belonged to their mother as they walked between them. It was eerily quiet, with no one in sight and a hint of wood smoke in the late morning air.

When she had awoken on the ship, it had been warm sunshine, but it was as if the ruins of Arcadia had sucked the brightness out of the day. There was a nip in the air as the breeze blew in off the sea, and clouds had begun to build overhead. 'I've never seen it so quiet,' Clara muttered.

Before Emily could reply, there was a creak from a door up ahead of them, and an eye peered through the doorway before it snapped shut again. 'Why are they hiding?' she asked.

'I don't know. This is Ikore's house,' she said, stopping outside a stone bungalow with a wonky, wooden front door. Everything about it was a mismatch; the windows didn't fit quite right, the stonework was higgledy-piggledy, and at some point, it looked as though someone had given up on tiling the roof, leaving the rest as thatch. A small trail of smoke drifted from the wonky chimney. 'He's a little... strange. Completely harmless, but just so you know.'

'Thanks,' Emily muttered, letting Clara knock on the door ahead of her.

There was no response, although Emily was sure she heard movement inside. Clara knocked again. 'Ikore, it's okay; it's me, Clara,' she called.

Whispers drifted to Emily's ears, although she couldn't make out what they were saying before she heard movement again. The door creaked open, an eye appearing in the gap and a dark room beyond. 'It's really you!'

The door swung wide open, seeming to suck the daylight in and illuminate the place. In filthy clothes, looking and smelling worse for wear, was Edward. An exhausted smile crossed his lips when he saw Emily standing beside her. He gestured the pair of them inside quickly, peeking outside before he shut the door again.

In the hearth, a fire burned tentatively, its dull glow illuminating the room. Sitting in front of it with a bowl in one hand and propped up at an odd angle was Captain Caldwell. 'You have no idea how happy I am to see the pair of you,' Edward said, ushering them over to the chairs by the fire. 'Good to see you up and about again as well, Emily.'

'What happened? Lewis said that Tristan had killed everyone else except for him and George,' Emily said, eyeing the dark mark on Captain Caldwell's abdomen that was visible through his shirt.

'Bastard led us to the temple after we got separated from Lewis and then stabbed us in the back,' Captain Caldwell muttered darkly.

'There was nothing I could do to save David and Louise. I just about saved this one,' Edward said. 'We've been tracking where they were taking Lewis for weeks.'

'Edmund?' Emily asked.

'Dead. Tristan killed him,' Captain Caldwell said. 'Good riddance.'

'He hesitated before he finished whatever ritual they were doing,' Edward supplied when Emily glanced in his direction. 'He drained the power he had in him to use himself.'

'Where's Ikore?' Clara asked, looking around the room.

'He went into the ruins a couple of days ago and hasn't been back since,' Edward said. 'How did you find us?'

'Completely by accident,' Emily admitted. 'We're not alone; we've got backup down by the docks; they're unloading the ship right now. We've come to rescue Lewis.'

'He's not here, not in the city anyway. They took him into a bunker in the hills. We only came here to try and recover our strength and get word back to the castle that Lewis had been captured.'

'I know; they're holding him at The Prison of Shadows,' Clara said. 'Do we wait for Ikore to get back?'

'That sounds like a fun place,' Captain Caldwell sighed. 'We shouldn't wait any longer. I might not be a hundred percent but there are things going on down in that city; the longer we wait, the harder it's going to be.'

'What sort of things?' Emily asked.

'There are people, sort of,' Edward said. 'I couldn't get too close, but there are dozens of them taking things to the palace. They aren't quite humans, though. Well, they were before they died. It looks like someone has managed to reanimate them and control them.'

'How is that even possible?' Clara demanded. 'Even if it is, it's just wrong!'

'Tristan was known for dealing with the darker side of precursor powers. Torturing people in horrific ways and calling on evil creatures to do his bidding,' Edward said. 'A large portion of his army was made up of the reanimated corpses of the enemies he had slain. When he was killed, they all just turned to dust—at least that's how the historical texts tell it.'

'We should get back to the docks,' Emily said. 'Come with us, the crew can take care of you while we try and find Lewis, Captain Caldwell.'

He looked at her for a long moment. 'I know you are to marry Lewis, and that would make you Queen, but, respectfully, bollocks to that. I'm going with you and there is nothing you can say to stop me.' He lifted his shirt to reveal the black wound on his abdomen that looked like a heavy bruise. 'George put a stalagmite through me; I plan on putting my sword through him the second I get the opportunity. The only difference is that I'll make sure he's dead.'

Emily wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so she just nodded. A part of her would be glad to see the back of George, not only for everything he had done since Sebastian had died but for the years he had spent harassing and torturing her before that. She had never discussed it with anyone, not even Lewis or Sebastian; just the thought of it made her skin crawl.

'We'll get you down to the docks and see if there's anything anyone can do to help with your injuries. Robyn's been mixing up all sorts of things, so she might have something with her,' Emily said.

'I know she's a friend of Lewis, but what's she doing here?' Captain Caldwell asked.

'It turns out that Lewis' grandfather was an alchemist, and he had secretly been teaching Robyn some of his creations before he was kidnapped and killed by Edmund. You've missed a lot while you've been gone; we'll fill you in on the way to the docks,' Emily said.

'An alchemist? Fascinating; they're very few and far between, especially these days!' Edward said excitedly. 'Are her talents liquid-based or does she specialise in the conversion of materials into different elements.'

'She can make something capable of blowing a hole in a stone wall,' Emily said. 'I don't know what that falls under, though.'

'Liquid-based concoctions,' Clara said quickly. 'She's been teaching me a few things while we were preparing.'

'Brilliant, I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain on a few things while we walk?' Edward asked, leaving Captain Caldwell and Emily to glance at each other.

'Sure,' Clara said hesitantly.

'He was like this all the time we were travelling on the leyline,' Captain Caldwell muttered in her ear as he passed. Edward was far too engrossed in his conversation with a somewhat flustered Clara to notice. She nodded, rolling her eyes, allowing him to lead the way out of Ikore's house and back in the direction of the docks.