Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

When we finally reached the edge of the Delfora, there were two ships docked, engines running, still hot from their journey. We might not have seen Tsuma and the others in our crossing, but thankfully, it didn’t appear that we were that far behind them.

Stepping down the ramp toward the black sands, it was near impossible for us to talk now over the roar of the world beneath us. As my boots hit the Delfora, I jumped a foot at the buzz of power racing like an electrical current below. Before anyone else had a chance to reach me, I was already running. The spell was about to explode, and if we didn’t get to the valley of the dead, we would not reach it before being completely engulfed.

Fighting the spell would weaken us, giving Tsuma and the others the time they needed to use the power moon, which… I looked up quickly to see that a fissure was finally visible in the orb. This was it, the culmination as everything prepared to hit at once.

The others fell in behind me, powering across the black sands. A glance back told me that Darin and the others, who had just docked, were only a few paces ahead of the surging energy. It was going to be touch and go for all of us, and with that in mind, I faced the valley and ran as fast as my power allowed.

The buzz and roar grew under our feet, black sands flying up and covering us as we closed in on the valley. The two compacted sand cliffs rose before us, and seeing our destination spurred me on faster. Just a few more miles and we’d be there.

Ahead, I finally saw Tsuma and the others, at least two dozen of them, also racing for the entrance. We all knew that if you weren’t in that valley when the power storm hit and the moon split, you wouldn’t be making it past the planes.

Risking another glance behind, I almost lost my balance and face-planted. The sands that we’d just crossed had lifted from the deeps and onto the Delfora, forming a massive sand wave. Darin and his Guardians were barely staying ahead of the raging storm cell, but they hadn’t fallen yet.

‘Move, Lale,” Reece shouted, wrapping an arm around me as he went past, yanking me along the path. Shadow, on my other side, reached out and hauled me along, too, both holding me until my feet got back underneath me, moving without help.

We’d made it into the Delfora just in time; a sand wave of that size would have crushed us and our ships into dust. It could still crush us now if we didn’t move our asses. Some of us might be able to put ourselves back together, but not in time to save the worlds.

“The power moon,” Reece shouted again, and as my gaze lifted briefly, I caught the moment the red moon fissured down the center, splitting into two equally powerful orbs. Everything shuddered around us, and Tsuma, who’d been waiting centuries for this event, finally crossed into the valley ahead of us, disappearing from sight.

When we got within touching distance of the valley, the two massive cliffs blocked some of that intense energy from the moon. As we entered the valley, an icy shock of ancient power jabbed into mine. That touch was a warning, and normally if we’d ignored that warning, we’d be thrown back out into the Delfora. But on this particular moon, the other powers overwhelmed it and we made it through.

Shadow and the others fell back in the valley, more affected by its struggling wards. Reece didn’t feel a thing, his connection to the Delfora giving both of us an advantage, and without waiting, we pushed forward, knowing Tsuma had to be stopped. The securities were already falling, and she had a head start. Time was running out.

The further we moved through this valley, the darker it grew above us until only slivers of red light illuminated in long arcs across our path. That didn’t mean the power from those moons was any less, but it did block some of the impact.

At some point the roaring of the sands behind us eased, and Reece and I looked back to find that the wave had stopped surging forward, caught on the cliffs, unable to move into the valley at more than a trickle. Thankfully, all our allies, including Darin and the Guardians had made it through. And now we had a shot.

Unfurling my wings, I prepared to fly high and see where Tsuma and the others had ended up. Any information about what we were up against could help, and a bird’s-eye view was an advantage. As I flapped hard, my feet left the sands, but I got no more than about five feet into the air when I hit a barrier.

The valley’s securities were still strong enough to fight me from above, leaving only our narrow path to traverse. Frustrated, I landed and resumed my sprint, understanding that there was to be no shortcut here.

“We’re not making any ground on her,” I cursed as I tried to move faster, but I was already maxed out.

“She’s pumped up on the spell’s power,” Reece bit out, not sounding remotely out of breath, despite our pace. “It’s giving her unnatural abilities.”

Explained why she’d been able to get here as quickly as we did and stay undetected along her journey. “That’s okay, she won’t get to use it for long,” I said, palming my blades, ready for whatever we came up against.

The path started to curve, winding and growing narrower. At this point there was no option but to move single file, and I followed Reece, his broad shoulders almost scraping the sides at some sections. In the small glimpses I caught from around him, I was certain we were near the end of the valley.

“Something is in the sands ahead,” Reece called back, and I ducked lower to see what he meant. It almost looked as if debris was littering the path…

It was only when the black sands crunched under my boot that I could see exactly what was rising from the sands: bones. The ones that should have been buried deep in this land, fueling its security and increasing the power that ran here.

‘The ritual is underway,” Reece sounded pissed, “and if we don’t hurry, she’ll succeed and the sands will wash us all away.’

We were already moving at super speeds, but we found the strength to go faster, the crunching louder as more bones filled the path. It killed me to know that the dead were being ripped from their resting place and disrespected, especially when one was my sister, but there was nothing I could do to fix it right now. If we didn’t move our asses, we would be joining them in their eternal rest, and that was unacceptable.

Reece rounded one final corner, and the path opened wide for the first time in minutes, spanning out farther than it had at any other point. This was the last of the valley, the junction before the resting place of the gods. The source of the cold, biting energy.

This was our final chance to stop Tsuma before the ancients rose and destroyed us all.