The moment the shadows rushed at them, the torches lining the throne hall guttered and went out, leaving only slivers of pale daylight spilling through the tall windows. The temperature plummeted, a cold that gnawed at the bone and made the boy’s breath puff in white mist.
The Regent’s laughter rang hollow in the dark. It wasn’t loud, but it slid across the stone walls like a blade’s edge. The shadows twisted around his body, stretching into clawed arms that lashed toward Kael.
Kael planted his foot on the first step of the dais. His chains, alive with a faint silver glow, flared outward like wings of iron. They clashed against the shadows mid-air with a ringing clang that sounded too heavy for mere metal. Sparks leapt from the collision, brief flickers of light in the suffocating dark.
