by Rowan Bree
You keep to the shadows mostly. It’s where you get in the least trouble. The Order becomes bolder with its magic and begins to call on the Old Ones. Sometimes you hear shrieks and inhuman wails in the night. Young women begin to go missing. You clean the blood off Vale’s robes and scrub it from the floors, but never see what happens to the women.
You do hear things, though. Two men stand in a dark, cave-like room, with one end open to the cliff it was carved from. Torchlight dances on the walls. A faint, female moaning is coming from another part of the room but your view is obscured by the thick red curtains you are hiding behind. They hang from the high ceiling like great waterfalls of blood.
Vale is shirtless, his pale skin nearly transparent and hair damp with sweat. His chest heaves from recent physical exertion.
“The ritual failed again.”
“We’re running out of time.” His companion is fully dressed in a stiff black robe. His face is wrinkled and hardened like the shell of a walnut. “The king’s feast is coming up. I’ll need you in Tyven with the others.”
Vale clenches his fists. “I can do it. I just need a little longer.”
“Doria will run out of women before then. We will have all the time in the world to complete the ritual once the king is ours. Our Order is old. The mages have endured without their masters’ presence in this realm and will continue to do so. Such foolish pride as yours will only hurt us.”
You hear no more of the conversation as you turn away, running down the dark corridor with a desperate sense of urgency to reach the capital to warn them of the coming danger. You can’t let the Order take over Tyven. You need to stop them from killing any more people in the service of their dark gods.
Outside the sky is brilliant with stars. You run until the moon gives way to the first light of dawn, and continue running until you make it nearly to the capital. But Dorian guards find you in the forest and capture you. You find yourself shackled in a convoy heading back to your homeland to be tried for treason.
Your convoy is stopped by a man with brilliant green eyes and a charming grin. He seems to be alone. He stands in the middle of the road blocking the path of the wagons. He tells them to surrender you or face death. The Dorian guards laugh at him, only to find themselves ambushed. You fear for your life, not knowing if these attackers are bandits or worse. The man with the green eyes climbs onto your wagon. He frees you of your chains and tells you he’s fighting the Order just like you.
The prison convoy flees before all their men are slaughtered. You fall off the back of the wagon and hit your head. Before you lose consciousness you feel someone slip something into your pocket. It must be the note you found when you awoke.
You open your eyes. The Old One is watching you closely. You ask him why no one ever told you who you were.
“People are selfish. They serve their own needs and desires without a care for others. Vale was no different.” He cups your face with his hand. “But that world is gone. You are the only one that matters. All now live to serve your will.”
Epilogue.
You tell him the past doesn’t matter.
“Indeed it does not,” he says. “That world is gone, and it is time to look towards the future. All now live to serve your will. What does your heart desire?”
Epilogue.
You tell him the past doesn’t matter.
“Indeed it does not,” he says. “That world is gone, and it is time to look towards the future. All now live to serve your will. What does your heart desire?”
Epilogue.
“Get rid of him,” you say to the demon.
“As you wish,” the demon replies.
Vale screams as a black flame engulfs him. The nobles and Order members stand in shock, unsure of what to do. Then one by one they too are consumed by black flame. The demon drapes his arm over your shoulder as you watch them all burn.
When the flames die down, there is nothing left of them. Not even ash. You ask the demon what happened to them.
“They’ve been sent to my realm. It will be a long eternity for them.” His hand tightens on your shoulder. “But all this fighting has left me excited.”
He takes you right there on top of the broken binding circle, in the empty room that only moments ago contained the most powerful people from all over the kingdom. You scream out in pleasure, knowing there is no one to hear you.
When you finish, the demon gives you a choice—to restore your memories from your life before, or let them fade away forever.
Ask for your memories.
Tell him the past doesn’t matter.
You ask the demon to restore your memories. You close your eyes and can feel them stitching themselves back together. You catch glimpses of dark caves, a wagon wheel, and people in dark robes before you finally remember who you are.
You see your childhood in Doria, a girl from a lowly family playing amongst the rocky caves near your home. You hear chanting and scramble over the rocks to find a circle of men in dark robes. A boy is there too, watching the men with his odd violet eyes.
Vale tells you all about the Order, how the kingdom slaughtered them though they had done nothing wrong. Your parents refuse to talk about the Order, though the members seem nice and often give you food and copper coins whenever you and Vale go to listen to them chant.
As you grow older, the Order becomes more powerful in Doria until they are as common as rain clouds in the overcast city. You come to serve the Order in their citadel in the mountains, watching as Vale rises through their ranks. You never join the Order yourself and Vale never pressures you to. He seems content to have you as a servant, calling you kitten and showing you a condescending sort of kindness while treating others with the utmost severity.
You keep to the shadows mostly. It’s where you get in the least trouble. The Order becomes bolder with its magic and begins to call on the Old Ones. Sometimes you hear shrieks and inhuman wails in the night. Young women begin to go missing. You clean the blood off Vale’s robes and scrub it from the floors, but never see what happens to the women.
You do hear things, though. Two men stand in a dark, cave-like room, with one end open to the cliff it was carved from. Torchlight dances on the walls. A faint, female moaning is coming from another part of the room but your view is obscured by the thick red curtains you are hiding behind. They hang from the high ceiling like great waterfalls of blood.
Vale is shirtless, his pale skin nearly transparent and hair damp with sweat. His chest heaves from recent physical exertion.
“The ritual failed again.”
“We’re running out of time.” His companion is fully dressed in a stiff black robe. His face is wrinkled and hardened like the shell of a walnut. “The king’s feast is coming up. I’ll need you in Tyven with the others.”
Vale clenches his fists. “I can do it. I just need a little longer.”
“Doria will run out of women before then. We will have all the time in the world to complete the ritual once the king is ours. Our Order is old. The mages have endured without their masters’ presence in this realm and will continue to do so. Such foolish pride as yours will only hurt us.”
You hear no more of the conversation as you turn away, running down the dark corridor with a desperate sense of urgency to reach the capital to warn them of the coming danger. You can’t let the Order take over Tyven. You need to stop them from killing any more people in the service of their dark gods.
Outside the sky is brilliant with stars. You run until the moon gives way to the first light of dawn, and continue running until you make it nearly to the capital. But Dorian guards find you in the forest and capture you. You find yourself shackled in a convoy heading back to your homeland to be tried for treason.
Your convoy is stopped by a man with brilliant green eyes and a charming grin. He seems to be alone. He stands in the middle of the road blocking the path of the wagons. He tells them to surrender you or face death. T
he Dorian guards laugh at him, only to find themselves ambushed. You fear for your life, not knowing if these attackers are bandits or worse. The man with the green eyes climbs onto your wagon. He frees you of your chains and tells you he’s fighting the Order just like you.
The prison convoy flees before all their men are slaughtered. You fall off the back of the wagon and hit your head. Before you lose consciousness you feel someone slip something into your pocket. It must be the note you found when you awoke.
You open your eyes. The demon is watching you closely. You ask him why no one ever told you who you were.
“People are selfish. They serve their own needs and desires without a care for others.” He cups your face with his hand. “But that world is gone. You are the only one that matters. All now live to serve your will.”
Epilogue.
You ask the Old One to restore your memories. You close your eyes and can feel them stitching themselves back together. You catch glimpses of dark caves, a wagon wheel, and people in dark robes before you finally remember who you are.
You see your childhood in Doria, a girl from a lowly family playing amongst the rocky caves near your home. You hear chanting and scramble over the rocks to find a circle of men in dark robes. A boy is there too, watching the men with his odd violet eyes.
Vale tells you all about the Order, how the kingdom slaughtered them though they had done nothing wrong. Your parents refuse to talk about the Order, though the members seem nice and often give you food and copper coins whenever you and Vale go to listen to them chant.
As you grow older, the Order becomes more powerful in Doria until they are as common as rain clouds in the overcast city. You come to serve the Order in their citadel in the mountains, watching as Vale rises through their ranks. You never join the Order yourself and Vale never pressures you to. He seems content to have you as a servant, calling you kitten and showing you a condescending sort of kindness while treating others with the utmost severity.
You keep to the shadows mostly. It’s where you get in the least trouble. The Order becomes bolder with its magic and begins to call on the Old Ones. Sometimes you hear shrieks and inhuman wails in the night. Young women begin to go missing. You clean the blood off Vale’s robes and scrub it from the floors, but never see what happens to the women.
You do hear things, though. Two men stand in a dark, cave-like room, with one end open to the cliff it was carved from. Torchlight dances on the walls. A faint, female moaning is coming from another part of the room but your view is obscured by the thick red curtains you are hiding behind. They hang from the high ceiling like great waterfalls of blood.
Vale is shirtless, his pale skin nearly transparent and hair damp with sweat. His chest heaves from recent physical exertion.
“The ritual failed again.”
“We’re running out of time.” His companion is fully dressed in a stiff black robe. His face is wrinkled and hardened like the shell of a walnut. “The king’s feast is coming up. I’ll need you in Tyven with the others.”
Vale clenches his fists. “I can do it. I just need a little longer.”
“Doria will run out of women before then. We will have all the time in the world to complete the ritual once the king is ours. Our Order is old. The mages have endured without their masters’ presence in this realm and will continue to do so. Such foolish pride as yours will only hurt us.”
You hear no more of the conversation as you turn away, running down the dark corridor with a desperate sense of urgency to reach the capital to warn them of the coming danger. You can’t let the Order take over Tyven. You need to stop them from killing any more people in the service of their dark gods.
Outside the sky is brilliant with stars. You run until the moon gives way to the first light of dawn, and continue running until you make it nearly to the capital. But Dorian guards find you in the forest and capture you. You find yourself shackled in a convoy heading back to your homeland to be tried for treason.
Your convoy is stopped by a man with brilliant green eyes and a charming grin. He seems to be alone. He stands in the middle of the road blocking the path of the wagons. He tells them to surrender you or face death. The Dorian guards laugh at him, only to find themselves ambushed. You fear for your life, not knowing if these attackers are bandits or worse. The man with the green eyes climbs onto your wagon. He frees you of your chains and tells you he’s fighting the Order just like you.
The prison convoy flees before all their men are slaughtered. You fall off the back of the wagon and hit your head. Before you lose consciousness you feel someone slip something into your pocket. It must be the note you found when you awoke.
You open your eyes. The Old One is watching you closely. You ask him why no one ever told you who you were.
“People are selfish. They serve their own needs and desires without a care for others. Vale was no different.” He cups your face with his hand. “But that world is gone. You are the only one that matters. All now live to serve your will.”
Epilogue.
You ask the demon to restore your memories. You close your eyes and can feel them stitching themselves back together. You catch glimpses of dark caves, a wagon wheel, and people in dark robes before you finally remember who you are.
You see your childhood in Doria, a girl from a lowly family playing amongst the rocky caves near your home. You hear chanting and scramble over the rocks to find a circle of men in dark robes. A boy is there too, watching the men with his odd violet eyes.
Vale tells you all about the Order, how the kingdom slaughtered them though they had done nothing wrong. Your parents refuse to talk about the Order, though the members seem nice and often give you food and copper coins whenever you and Vale go to listen to them chant.
As you grow older, the Order becomes more powerful in Doria until they are as common as rain clouds in the overcast city. You come to serve the Order in their citadel in the mountains, watching as Vale rises through their ranks. You never join the Order yourself and Vale never pressures you to. He seems content to have you as a servant, calling you kitten and showing you a condescending sort of kindness while treating others with the utmost severity.
You keep to the shadows mostly. It’s where you get in the least trouble. The Order becomes bolder with its magic and begins to call on the Old Ones. Sometimes you hear shrieks and inhuman wails in the night. Young women begin to go missing. You clean the blood off Vale’s robes and scrub it from the floors, but never see what happens to the women.
You do hear things, though. Two men stand in a dark, cave-like room, with one end open to the cliff it was carved from. Torchlight dances on the walls. A faint, female moaning is coming from another part of the room but your view is obscured by the thick red curtains you are hiding behind. They hang from the high ceiling like great waterfalls of blood.
Vale is shirtless, his pale skin nearly transparent and hair damp with sweat. His chest heaves from recent physical exertion.
“The ritual failed again.”
“We’re running out of time.” His companion is fully dressed in a stiff black robe. His face is wrinkled and hardened like the shell of a walnut. “The king’s feast is coming up. I’ll need you in Tyven with the others.”
Vale clenches his fists. “I can do it. I just need a little longer.”
“Doria will run out of women before then. We will have all the time in the world to complete the ritual once the king is ours. Our Order is old. The mages have endured without their masters’ presence in this realm and will continue to do so. Such foolish pride as yours will only hurt us.”
You hear no more of the conversation as you turn away, running down the dark corridor with a desperate sense of urgency to reach the capital to warn them of the coming danger. You can’t let the Order take over Tyven. You need to stop them from killing any more people in the service of their dark gods.
Outside the sky is brilliant with stars. You run until t
he moon gives way to the first light of dawn, and continue running until you make it nearly to the capital. But Dorian guards find you in the forest and capture you. You find yourself shackled in a convoy heading back to your homeland to be tried for treason.
Your convoy is stopped by a man with brilliant green eyes and a charming grin. He seems to be alone. He stands in the middle of the road blocking the path of the wagons. He tells them to surrender you or face death. The Dorian guards laugh at him, only to find themselves ambushed. You fear for your life, not knowing if these attackers are bandits or worse. The man with the green eyes climbs onto your wagon. He frees you of your chains and tells you he’s fighting the Order just like you.
The prison convoy flees before all their men are slaughtered. You fall off the back of the wagon and hit your head. Before you lose consciousness you feel someone slip something into your pocket. It must be the note you found when you awoke.
You open your eyes. The demon is watching you closely. You ask him why no one ever told you who you were.
“People are selfish. They serve their own needs and desires without a care for others.” He cups your face with his hand. “But that world is gone. You are the only one that matters. All now live to serve your will.”
Epilogue.