Chapter 6

Nikolai winced as he pulled his coat over his arms, the movement tugging at his still healing chest wound. He was grateful not to be a fox anymore, but at what cost? His brother was dead, not that there was any love lost between them. And now the very thing that had been his and Zoya's salvation was the world's doom. They never could have imagined the Darkling would have done something like this.

Tolya and Tamar tried gathering up the broken shards of the crystal and mirror. Nikolai didn't know if they could be repaired or if their magic had been irreparably shattered, but they couldn't just give up. This was on them and they had to find a way to fix it.

He went over and placed a hand on Alina's shoulder. "Come with us," he said gently.

She looked up with wet eyes but didn't say anything as she got to her feet. "Where?"

Nikolai pursed his mouth. "We could go back to Baghra's," he suggested. "She might know if these can be fixed—or at the least how to stop the Darkling."

"Who?" Alina asked.

"Maybe you know of the Black Witch?" Tamar said.

Alina's eyes widened.

"She helped us before," Nikolai quickly put in. "She's the one who told us about the enchanted objects and eclipse. Though she didn't tell us the Sun Summoner was a person."

"She's evil," Alina protested.

"More like misunderstood. Besides, there's no one else with knowledge of magic."

Alina chewed at her bottom lip. "Do you think she can help get Mal back?"

"We'll certainly ask," Nikolai promised. Alina had helped restore him and Zoya, and now he would do everything he could to help her and the man she loved.

He pulled out his lucky compass, now that they couldn't navigate by the sun's position. It was slow-going, not just because of the pervading dimness but also because Nikolai was struggling with pain and exhaustion. Tolya stepped in to give him a bracing shoulder, and Zoya stayed glued to his other side. They walked with hands clasped, savoring the ability to have human contact again. The eclipse remained high in the sky with no signs of lessening.

"The Shadow Forest is going to be even more treacherous passing through now," Zoya commented.

"True," Tamar said. "But this time we have the Sun Summoner."

"Can you still summon?" Zoya asked.

They stopped, which Nikolai was silently grateful for, and he took the opportunity to sit on a rock as Alina spun sunlight in her hands. In this land of shadow, the light blazed all the brighter.

"Well, that's good at least," Zoya said.

"Maybe you can undo the eclipse with the broken pieces," Tolya suggested.

Alina looked doubtful, but they nevertheless set the shattered remains of each object on the ground and Alina knelt in front of them. She summoned light again and swirled it over the shards. But nothing happened. They didn't even glow like they had when they were intact. Alina's shoulders sagged in disappointment, even though none of them had really expected that to work.

"We'll find a way," Nikolai insisted.

They gathered up the pieces and continued on their way. It soon became clear that without the sun's path across the sky, there was no telling of time. It seemed there would be no night anymore, either, leastwise not the traditional kind. Only a night within an endless, frozen day. Which meant they had to decide when to stop and rest based on their own personal needs rather than visibility. Nikolai tried to push through his failing strength, but he couldn't hide it from Zoya or the twins, and they called for rest stops when they thought he needed it. And he did, though he didn't admit it.

With "days" no longer holding any meaning, it was impossible to tell how long it took them to traverse back down to the Shadow Forest. How long Mal was a demon enslaved to the Darkling. Nikolai understood Alina's anxiety and pain far too well, and that there was little comfort to offer while she was separated from him.

"That's the village the trapper I spoke to is from," Tamar spoke up as a small settlement came into view. They were close.

They skirted the edge of the village, curious for news that might have come since the eclipse's inception. Sure enough, there was a mounted rider, looking freshly arrived with mud-stained breeches and saddle.

"The king and Prince Vasily are dead," he announced. "The Darkling has taken the throne and proclaimed himself the Starless Saint."

Horrified murmurs rippled through the gathered villagers, along with some hushed comments of awe at the Darkling's power. The twins were quick to usher Nikolai away at that.

"You're the rightful king now," Tamar told him.

His mouth thinned. The right meant little with nothing to challenge the Darkling's power. He also worried about the fate of his mother. It was difficult to say whether Kirigan would have killed her as well or simply imprisoned her. She wasn't much of a threat to anyone's rule, having always deferred to her husband's or eldest son's whims. She hadn't even spoken up against Vasily having Nikolai cursed, for she hadn't exactly approved of Zoya in the first place. And she knew for Vasily, the young woman would have been just a conquest, not a future queen. As long as Vasily didn't try to kill Nikolai, she would stay out of their sibling rivalry.

But he couldn't spare the energy thinking about her now; they had their own dire situation to see to.

Returning to the Shadow Forest was no less intimidating than the first time, even more so with it being nearly pitch black beneath the branches that had allowed so little daylight to suffuse through when the sun blazed bright. Nikolai felt a prickle of unease down his spine, but as a human he retained enough rational thought not to hesitate before venturing beneath the dark canopy.

Alina summoned a ball of light to illuminate their path. Remembering the threats from their first visit, the rest of them were stiffly on guard, weapons drawn and held at the ready. The shadows seemed to move around them, but unlike the first time, they didn't attack, but rather bent away from the Sun Summoner's light.

They reached the hut without incident, only to find crows pecking at a decomposing corpse out front. Tamar covered her mouth and nose as she stepped closer. The carrion birds cawed and flapped their wings angrily but didn't flee.

"It's Baghra," Tamar said.

Nikolai's heart sank. "The Darkling must have done this," he said. "That's probably how he found out we were searching for the enchanted objects."

Yet another life destroyed because of him and Zoya.

"Now what?" Alina asked, voice tight with despair.

Nikolai glanced at the others; he didn't know.

"Let's use the shelter while we have it," Zoya eventually answered.

It felt disrespectful, entering Baghra's hut without her permission. They lit candles so Alina could release the ball of light and take some rest. The twins foraged for what food was still around. Most of the fruit and vegetables were rotted, but there was some cured meat that was edible, albeit rather tough to chew on. They would not risk hunting in this forest.

None of them spoke as they puttered around, poking through the old witch's things. Nikolai couldn't believe he almost missed the curse to be able to tell time by.

"We should bury her," he said, breaking the somber silence.

Tolya found a shovel and they headed back outside. Alina summoned light again to at least keep the living shadows at bay while Nikolai and Tolya dug a shallow grave, then pushed Baghra's remains into it. Tamar and Zoya gathered the largest rocks they could find to mount a small marker. It was all they could do, but Nikolai felt they owed Baghra that much.

Then they returned to the hut to sit and rest and just…wait. None of them knew what to do now. Baghra was the only magic user they knew of, and without her help, what could they do to stop the Darkling?

"There's no hope, is there?" Alina murmured.

Nikolai wanted to reassure her, but any attempt would feel hollow.

Tolya stood up and went to a stack of old tomes on a shelf. "Maybe there's something here," he said, pulling out a book and opening to the first page.

Nikolai got up to grab a second, and soon all of them were scanning the pages of what turned out to be magic-related texts.

"Here's something," Tolya spoke up sometime later. "Morozova's Amplifiers," he read. "They're creatures of power that a summoner can use to increase power."

"How?" Zoya asked.

He pursed his mouth as he silently skimmed the page. "A summoner has to absorb the essence of the creature…they have to kill it."

They all glanced at Alina at that. She looked nervous but gave a staunch nod.

"All right, where do we find them?"

"That's less clear," Tolya replied. "There are three: the Stag, Sea Whip, and Firebird. I remember reading about a mythical Stag in some ancient works. I'll have to do more research, so I suggest we look for the Sea Whip first, since we know it's at sea."

"The sea?" Alina repeated dubiously. "How are we supposed to search an ocean? We don't even have a ship."

"We have friends we can call on for a vessel," Tamar put in.

"And I'll find more sources to try narrowing down a location," Tolya added.

"It sounds like our only option," Nikolai concluded. "Should we leave now or rest a little more?" There was no nightfall to be concerned with anymore.

"How's your wound?" Zoya asked, giving him that look that reminded him of the tiger.

So he didn't put up a protest and instead removed his shirt so she could check his injury. He couldn't help but wince as the movement tugged on it.

"Maybe Baghra has some healing herbs we can take," Tamar said.

They did end up taking some more time to rest as the twins rifled through the last of Baghra's things to bulk out what supplies they'd need for the journey to the coast, and Zoya cleaned and treated Nikolai's wound again. He couldn't stop making physical contact with her—brushing his fingers against hers, bumping their knees together. She pressed her forehead to his and they breathed each other in.

At last, they packed up the items, including Morozova's journals, and set off westward for the sea. When they arrived in Os Kervo a few days later, the normally bustling trade city was mostly shuttered. Someone in sack cloth stood in the middle of the street loudly proclaiming the end of days, while a church they passed was busy hanging monuments to honor the new Starless Saint.

They first sought out an inn with rooms available, and once they were settled there, Tamar and Tolya left to send word to the Volkvolny, the ship they used to crew with. Alina stayed in their room, which left Nikolai and Zoya with their first moment of privacy in ages.

They immediately fell into a passionate embrace, savoring every contact, every tender touch they had been denied for so long. The world was shrouded in darkness, but in that dinky room, they were a universe unto themselves.

Afterward, when they were lying beneath the sheets with Zoya's head on his chest and his arm around her, Nikolai whispered mournfully,

"I should have let you go."

She tilted her head up at him with a frown.

"Not to be with Vasily, of course," he quickly amended. "But if you had left me, my brother would have given up his torment and none of this would have happened. You would have been free to find someone else."

"I am not in the habit of letting other people tell me what to do."

His lips quirked with a faint smile. "I know; I love that about you."

Zoya propped herself up on her elbow to meet his eye. "I am also not in the habit of giving up."

"When did you become an optimist?" he said cheekily.

She snorted. "I'm not. I'm just too stubborn to let the likes of Vasily or the Darkling win."

He tilted his head forward to kiss her, and then she snuggled back down against him.

"We're really in for it now," he murmured. "I didn't think a more impossible task than breaking the curse could be set before us."

Zoya hummed her agreement. "It's not our fault, you know," she said after a moment. "The Darkling has always desired power. If anything, we merely hastened the execution of his plan by finding the enchanted objects first."

Nikolai didn't respond. He still felt some measure of guilt and responsibility for what happened, though he saw the reason in what she said. "It is still my duty to fix it," he said quietly.

She tightened her arms around him. "I know. And we will die trying if we must."

He pressed his lips into her dark hair. "If this is to end, I am glad to hold you one last time."

They stayed in that embrace for a long time, with no sunrise to draw them from bed. The eclipse would wait.

They spent several days in Os Kervo. Tolya was constantly gone, tracking down sources to research the Sea Whip, Stag, and Firebird. The rest of them lay low. Daily proclamations were made by an emissary of the Darkling, spouting the same praise and honor to the Starless Saint. While life certainly couldn't continue as usual, not everything could come to a complete stop lest people start dying off.

But food was hard to come by and expensive now. Without the sun, crops weren't growing as abundantly as needed. There would be a famine within months. Nikolai had half a mind to ask the Darkling's emissary what his plan for that was.

One day-afternoon-evening when they were roaming the streets, Alina stopped over someone's garden. Canting her head curiously, she then stretched out her hand and summoned forth light, which she pushed into the small, wrinkled vegetables. Nikolai watched in amazement as the produce swelled to life, becoming plump and juicy before their eyes. Alina drew back with an elated smile; the ability to do something, anything, in the midst of such desolation, was a miracle at this point.

"Sun Saint," someone gasped, and Nikolai noticed a group of people were gathering, drawn by the brilliant illumination that would have stood out like a beacon in the darkness.

"Magic," another uttered fearfully.

"Look at the food! Over here, we have more over here! Sun Saint, please!"

Alina shifted nervously as the crowd became more stirred.

Nikolai hopped up onto a crate and raised a hand. "Citizens of Ravka," he projected. "I am Nikolai Lantsov, heir to the throne of Ravka."

Murmured exclamations rippled through the throng.

"Yes, a Sun Summoner has come in Ravka's time of greatest need. Together, she and I are working to end the eclipse and restore this country."

That earned cheers, but many still looked uncertain.

"The Starless Saint is a god!" someone shouted back. "He commands the heavens!"

"He is not a god," Tamar snapped. "And he did not summon the eclipse on his own."

Several suspicious looks were thrown Alina's way then.

"He used magical artifacts to assist him," Nikolai quickly put in. "His magic is great, yes, but his power comes from the fear he fosters. And I will not bow to him."

"Why haven't you ended the eclipse already?" another person asked, which elicited an echoing chorus.

"As I said, we are working on it," Nikolai raised his voice to be heard. "The Darkling destroyed the enchanted artifacts, but there are other sources of power we are searching for. We will return the sun!"

That got him another round of cheers.

"In the meantime, take heart and be strong in the hope of the Sun Summoner," he went on. "We will do all we can to see Ravka restored."

With that, he hopped down from the crate and ushered Alina away from the crowd. Fortunately, rousing speeches such as that tended to leave people in thought so they didn't follow, and they all made it back to the inn.

"That was dangerous," Zoya warned.

"We'll be at sea soon," Nikolai replied.

"And when we return?"

He grimaced. Yes, unfortunately, secrecy was no longer on their side. But it was worth it, to give people hope.

"I don't know enough about using my power," Alina spoke up. "I need to practice more if I'm going to eventually go up against the Darkling in a real fight. And these people need food."

"All right," Nikolai agreed. "But try to do it in secret, if you can. Tamar, go with her?"

She nodded, and Nikolai knew she'd be a good bodyguard. And so they passed the time again idly, save for Tolya's research and Alina sneaking out under the guise of a cloak with Tamar to restore some crops.

Then the Volkvolny finally arrived and their group went aboard the sailing ship.

"Captain," Tamar greeted.

Privyet nodded to her and Tolya. "I take it your shore leave is ended?" He nodded to Nikolai next. "It's good to see you, though these are dark times. Literally."

"And that is the reason we're here," Nikolai said. "We need your help."

"Oh?"

"We need to find the Sea Whip," Tolya explained. "It is the first of three power sources we'll need if we're going to have any hope of stopping the Darkling and restoring the sun."

Privyet arched a skeptical brow. "And how exactly do you lot intend to do that?"

They all looked at Alina, who summoned a small ball of light between her palms, careful to keep it as concealed as possible from the docks.

The captain's eyes widened in amazement. "That certainly stands a chance, doesn't it?" he said. "But the Sea Whip is a myth."

"No more so than the things we've encountered thus far," Nikolai replied. "Please, will you help us?"

Privyet shook his head with a resigned sigh. "And here I thought you'd come to return my crew members." He pursed his mouth in consideration. "All right. This darkness extends as far as we've been able to sail; we'll help you find the Sea Whip. I don't suppose you have a place to start?"

Tolya nodded and pulled out a notebook. "As a matter of fact, I do." He pointed at a map he'd sketched in the book. "This cluster of islands here."

"Ships don't go near those," Privyet said. "The waters are treacherous."

"The waters, or something else."

The captain huffed. "Very well, then." He turned and called out orders to set sail, and within minutes, they were veering away from port and out into open waters.

Alina had drifted over to the bow, gazing out at the waves rippling red under a dark rust sky. Nikolai made his way over to her.

"You'll have to kill the Sea Whip to absorb its power, according to the journal," he said. "Can you do that?"

"I have no choice," she said staunchly, but then faltered. "I've never killed anything before," she admitted. "Mal always did the hunting." She looked away, but Nikolai caught sight of the tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She gave herself a sharp shake. "I will do this," she said with resolve. "I will do whatever it takes to save Mal and undo this."

"The eclipse isn't your fault." Nikolai's tone dropped. "If anything, it's ours for dragging you into this."

"You thought you were looking for three objects, not a person," she recounted. "I don't blame you. And if it were me and Mal…I would have done the same."

Nikolai tentatively reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Her breath hitched. "What do you think the Darkling is doing with him? Do you think Mal is suffering?"

Nikolai thought about his time as a fox. He had been fully aware in that form. Part of him hoped that wasn't the case with Mal, and yet if he did retain his human mind, then there was more of him left to save.

He didn't say any of that to Alina, though, merely gave her shoulder a squeeze and renewed his promise, "We'll do everything we can to get him back."

She nodded, then raised her hands to resume practicing her sun summoning now that they were away from the crowded city, her light the only beacon in the midst of a black ocean.