Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(21)

Okay then. Only slightly terrifying. Especially considering we were apparently walking across a blanket of these mists and another blanket covered us from above. It reminded me of the disembodied voice that I’d heard when I sent that wall of darkness from Earth. If the mists didn’t have a presence like that of Inky and Midnight, then what had that voice been?

Maybe Shadow didn’t truly know what the mists were capable of? A fact that might spell our downfall.

Before I could get too worked up, Angel appeared at our side, having found the way through the dark path, all without touching Shadow. I had zero idea how she’d followed, but once again, her kickass power was impressive. To say the very least.

“What part of the realm are we in right now?” I asked them.

We’d arrived on a rocky outcrop, facing what looked like a mass of water. I noted that it was a bright green compared to Earth’s bluer oceans—possibly due to the minty vibe of the sky here—and there was no sign of waves or disturbance across the waterline.

The glassy, unbroken surface was almost eerie. And the weather here was very moderate, so I wondered if they had seasons such as we did back home. I’d thought so from Midnight’s vision, but there was no sign of any particular season where we stood.

“The Shadow Realm is smaller than Earth,” Shadow said, standing beside me as we stared out into the unnatural water. “It has three main landmasses and five outlier islands. The islands themselves are about the size of the current United Kingdom. I’ve brought us to the mainland: The Concordes. This is where the five families of royals exist, all with their own territory.”

Midnight had told me some of this, but I didn’t clue Shadow in on this knowledge. I wanted to know everything about this world that had, until this point, been completely off limits to me.

Shadow waved his hand to Inky, and when the mist swirled in front of us, I choked on my next breath as it turned into a map. The synapses inside were a roughly sketched, basic outline of the world. There was one large landmass in the center—The Concordes, clearly—with five much smaller islands scattered below it. The top right and top left corner had other landmasses, and I figured these were the other two of the three lands that made up this world.

“The Concordes,” Shadow pointed to the largest land as expected, “and we’re currently in the kingdom of Fraple. It’s the easternmost territory, which borders on Trinity. That is where my family resides.”

Trinity was the largest of the five kingdoms, situated near the center. It seemed to run from the top to the bottom of The Concordes, following a… trench maybe? It was hard to tell in the monochromatic Inky map, but it was clearly some sort of divide.

“The other royal territories aren’t of any concern,” Shadow added. “We won’t cross them on our journey. So for now, we just have to worry about Fraple and Trinity.”

I nodded. “What are the five outliers?”

Shadow crossed his arms. “They’re the lands that reject the royal way, trying to exist on their own without creatures or mist influence.” He pointed to each on the map. “Rodan, Green Isle, Dety, Samsan Grove, and the Isle of Rechest.”

I nodded. “The royals don’t try to force them back under their control?”

Angel laughed drily while keeping a vigilant watch on our backs, as if an attack were forthcoming. “They tried, but the beings there resisted, and eventually, the royals grew bored. The outliers have no true power without creatures, so the royals let them be.”

Shadow nodded. “Yes, but much could have changed in thousands of years. I put nothing past my sister.”

“Especially without the Supreme Being,” Angel added. “Who should have ruled them all and kept the balance in this world.”

Without Shadow.

He laughed, a dry, sardonic chuckle. “I was supposed to be crowned on my twenty-second year here, but that was the day I was betrayed.”

Twenty-two. That number had been significant to the Shadow Realm, and that was no doubt the reason he’d incorporated it into shifter law as well.

Finally had my answer.

“So if you could rule them all,” I asked, trying to understand, “then would all of The Concordes have been your home?”

“I would have ruled from Trinity. The largest land with the lava chasm, giving me direct access to the mists.”

Access to the mists sounded like access to the power. And it seemed I also had my answer about that divide I’d seen. The lava chasm.

“What are the two lands up top?”

Shadow reached out and ran his hand over Inky, disrupting the map in the same instant. “One is a land of birth, the other of death.”

I paused, waiting for more information, but he was apparently done. I had a weird, ominous feeling about what those two lands were, and I recalled Midnight’s story about the place where the two mists joined. The Grey Lands? Was that in one of those two?

At least I had the basic idea of how the realm was setup, and hopefully during our adventures, I’d learn even more.

“So, we’re walking to Trinity?” I asked.

Shadow nodded, turning away from the view to face into the land. A land we would soon be journeying across. “We must keep our power usage to a minimum. For my attack to be the most effective, I need as much surprise on my side as possible. Until I know for sure I’ve been found out, it’s stealth mode only.”