Azriel POV

Word still hadn't come through from any of my sources, and the new High Lord of Spring remained unfound. We could only keep this a secret for so long, but we were working every hour to make sure we were prepared for the hell the other courts might unleash when they find out.

"Do you think we should seal the Spring courts borders until the High Lord is found?" Cassian asked Rhys.

"It'd just make the other courts more curious." Rhys replied.

"It's common knowledge at this point that we killed Tamlin," I continued, "and the High Lords are demanding to know who the heir is. If we don't act fast, we might have to prepare for another war, of a different kind."

Silence fell as we considered this. There would be no physical fighting, the loss of forces from the war against Hybern could see to that. However, the fragile new relationships between the courts could shatter, leaving us with a once again divided island.

"Well, what the hell can we do to find them. They won't be found if they don't want to be found, and who's to say that they even know what this rush of power is?" Cassian said.

I remained silent, letting Rhys decide on how to answer this.

"We don't, but automatically, you feel a pull towards your court. So they probably know, but they could be ignoring it." Rhys replied.

"So essentially," I cut in, "all we've done in this meeting is come up with a whole bunch of theories that lead nowhere. So, I say we leave it there, because I have no more information, and without information, we'll be running around in circles."

Rhys and Cassian murmured their agreement, and I stood up. I had something to sort out.

The shadows bent and stretched at my will, something basic and simple to do. It required almost no concentration, it was one of the first things I learned to do. I imagined a wall blocking off all light, and the darkest shadow I could create suddenly wrapped itself around me, blocking me from the light, and the light from me.

For the past few months, ever since that day in the spring court, and had been working to try and understand what had happened when I killed Tamlin. All I could really remember was my power grabbing onto Tamlin like a leech, and that my shadows had been entwined with blue light.

After a bit of thinking, I understood that my siphons had mixed with the shadows, something I had never seen happen before.

I'd been trying to recreate it, but to no avail. I do remember feeling a lot of pain, and I've tried injuring myself to help it happen, but it didn't work. So, I've just been doing basic tricks with the shadows, hoping that I might unlock the key to what happened.

I lay back, spreading my wings out wide, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my face and wings. I shut my eyes, and rested my hands behind my head. The sun was slowly warming the earth, since it was only just past mid morning, because Cassian had insisted we meet at the crack of dawn.

I was still really tired, because I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, or the night before, staying up late to see if I could manipulate the shadows to wrap around the siphon power. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

The cold wind bit at my wings, and my breath turned to steam before my eyes. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I whipped around, snow slamming into my face, blinding me. I hastily wiped it from my eyes, and blinked when I saw who stood in front of me.

His face leered, golden hair back to full glory, and eyes full of malice. Tamlin stared at me, his mouth twisting into a snarl. An overwhelming emotion rose, and I lashed out at him with my power, striking him with shadows and siphon. They merged, and he jerked and bucked, until at last he grew still. Once that was done, I fought to regain control, and willed the power to disappear. I succeeded, and all that was left was a pile of ash.

I snapped awake, not allowing myself an extra moment to be trapped in the dream. I thrust my hand out, willing shadows and siphons to merge. I failed, and leaned back in disappointment.

How did I do it the dream? I thought to myself. I remember feeling an emotion, one that triggered the merge of siphons and shadows, but I still didn't know what.

I willed it, demanded it. I didn't hope for it, didn't ask for it, I ordered it and took it. I realised. I tried again, this time demanding that it worked. When it still didn't, I sighed, irritated.

I narrowed my eyes at the nearest shadow, and let some of my irritation brush against where the magic was kept in my soul, and again attempted to merge the shadows and siphons. This time, they merged for a brief second, before dissipating. I focused harder, willing it to appear, and the shadows became tinged with blue, before flickering out.

I turned away, only to realise that they had flickered back, stronger than before. Triumph rose in me, and the merged powers flared the strongest they had been before, and steadied.

My gaze fell on a small bush near me, and I directed the power over there. After a few seconds, they disappeared, leaving only a pile of ash.

A thrill went through me as I realised how powerful this was. I stood from where I had been crouched on the ground, and shook out my wings. I glanced at the sun, and realised it was going down.

I shot off the ground, and flew back to Velaris, satisfied I had solved the mystery of that power.

Thanks for reading! I know this was a shorter chapter than usual, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

-CrystalShadowStar