SWNOVELS Chapter Skyshade: GRIM
She hadn’t broken the curse on the maze; that was clear when his own power died before reaching the dreks. Instead, she herself had broken through it, somehow.
He had tried to claw his way through the creatures, stabbing them with his sword, but their skin was nearly impenetrable, and whenever one fell, it was replaced.
Oro battled next to him, roaring as the dreks tore him apart with their talons, but he did not falter, and neither did Grim.
There was a great crash and growl behind them. Isla’s leopard had followed them. He ran toward the maze, toward her, as if he could feel something neither of them could see.
With his great size and might, he broke through the dreks, and Grim and Oro followed. With every turn, the leopard crashed into the hedges, cutting them in half, but the creature did not slow. He could smell her, and they followed.
Grim was powerless to portal. He was powerless to turn all the hedges to ash. All he could do was run as fast as he ever had in his life, next to his enemy, whose devastation he could see was as sharp as his own.
She had told him about the prophecy. She had trusted him. The pain twisted in his gut like a sword, because he only had himself to blame.
Now, for the only time in his long life, he was grateful for the king’s presence. If he could help save her, then he would bow before him if he had to, he would do anything. He would do anything for her, and he was just at the beginning of proving it.
The leopard arrived first, and its roar shook him to his very core.
A streak of lightning cracked the sky in half, landing right in the middle of the maze. The force of it sent them all flying back. The land began to shake. All the windows in the palace behind them shattered. Grim was on his feet in an instant. He didn’t slow. He didn’t care at all about the palace. All he cared about was her, and—
He reached the center and sank to his knees. Where the coffin had once stood, just a charred circle and a burnt white feather remained.
Lark had gone through the portal to the otherworld.
And so had Isla.