He flew to the edge of the basin and dragged his ivory talons across a boulder until all traces of the Shadow were scraped away.
It was early and Keriya was still asleep, so Thorion flew to the stream next. He landed at the edge of the featherpines and hunched on a rock like a broken gargoyle, staring into a pool where the water eddied in a slow, stagnant circle.
At least I’m able to hide it, he thought ruefully, dipping his blunted nails in the lukewarm liquid. Then he rose with a start. His reflection glared up at him, bronze-scaled and purple-eyed . . . purple, except for thin, dark veins snaking across them like spiderwebs.
Thorion stamped his feet in the water with a thunderous growl, splashing away the image. His stomach clenched with impotent fury. How had the Shadow spread so qu
