Verity's POV

The neutral territory stretched before us—rolling hills and dense forests that should have felt safe and should have been a buffer between the Darklands and civilization.

But safety was an illusion.

We'd barely made it a mile before the ground began to tremble.

I turned, still leaning heavily on Caleb's arm, and watched in horror as Veyran's rogue army poured out of the Darklands like a flood of shadow and corruption. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. They walked across the ...