The Shadow Beasts: The Sunclaire Chronicles

by Eleanor M. Byrne

  His womanly advisor looked at him intensely. People had always made a point to mention to her how handsome and strong a person he was, though cruel and harsh. His heart had been hardened with rage. If that passion for revenge was his true power, was that enough to fuel the power that a future king of the kingdom needed? Maybe he basically was driven by hatred. Just pure evil.

  “This is our big moment.” The prince spoke softly. “We finally get to bring down that cursed family. Let this be a lesson to all the Houses and tribes. They dare not oppose me.”

  Emily opened up her eyes wearily. Faint sunlight shone through the thin curtains. For a moment, she forgot where she was. She remembered being carried into a room and put onto a bed.

  She groaned and sat up in bed, sending up aching protests from her body. As her head lifted from the safety of the pillows, the pain came in waves.

  Emily clenched her teeth and forced herself to stand up on unsteady legs. Through her dizziness, she looked around the room.

  The room was small and dingy-looking. The windows were narrow and the door’s paint was peeling. The weak rays from the windows lit up motes of floating dust. The snug room gave off a sense of warmth.

  Knock Knock

  Emily walked over to the door and opened it. Someone brushed past Emily and entered the room. Emily whirled around ready to shout at the person who was intruding.

  “So how are you?” James asked casually. “Feeling any better?” He looked around the room, taking in the details. “So this is the best room in this inn? How pathetic!”

  Emily hobbled back to the bed and sat down, sinking into the mattress. She looked at him carefully up and down. He had changed since a few days ago. James' hair had been cut and his clothes were different. He wore light brown cargo pants and a clean white undershirt with a brown leather vest over it.

  “Why do you look so different?” Emily muttered softly. “Why change clothes?”

  James smiled grimly. “We have to change clothes. The materials here are different from your dimension.” He walked to the windows and said quietly, “We must keep hidden and safe from the House of Shadows.” He looked outside.

  Emily looked down at her wrinkled clothes. Her shirt was torn with streaks of blood, green grass, and dried mud. When she fell in the forest, her pants must have gotten ripped at the knee. She guessed that she looked like a mess to James. Her hair must be dirty and messy. Feeling her hair, she felt so many knots and laughed as she gazed down at herself. She looked like a beggar on the streets. Later she would ask Wind Blade if she had a brush with her. At that moment, she did not feel pretty.

  “Who or what is this royal family? And why are they chasing you?” she asked.

  James sighed and shook his head wearily. “I knew you were going to ask. Okay. So, on this Earth there are kingdoms. The one we are in currently is the Sunclaire Kingdom. The Kingdom is ruled by the House of Shadows. They are the precious monarchs of this land.” James' voice was filled with bitterness.

  “There are other noble families,” he continued. “But not all are as powerful. Some are smaller and weaker while others function at levels much higher up. Some of these families have House names. Back in the woods, we faced a family whose House’s name is The House of Soul Sealers. They have a power, a power of infusing souls into inanimate objects.” He stopped for a moment and considered his words. “The souls make the object come... alive. They become large,” he murmured, “ and just about impossible to vanquish.”

  “And you...what House are you from?” Emily asked. She saw the tension that James’s body held and the hollowness that he felt as he spoke. He was in danger of giving up. He looked beaten.

  Quickly, James looked over at her with glazed eyes that could cut through rock. “I am the heir of the House of Scarlet Embers. I am the last of the main household. All my people were killed. All were under suspicion of treason and murder.” He laughed bitterly. “Only I managed to escape. Stupidly, I thought they would not go after me. I was a child, around nine at the time. My parents had been the ones who committed the crimes. I did not. I believed that they would let me live my life in peace.” He shook his head. “ What an idiot I was. But I was nine!”

  James looked over at Emily. “I wasn’t even in this world. But... it appears the Prince is bent on revenge.”

  Emily looked past him. All of this had not made much sense.

  “Um...James?” she asked, her voice low. “What was that power I seemed to, almost, create?” She thought a moment. “I mean, it seemed like I was the one who had power back there in the forest…”

  Suddenly she heard from behind her, “You do have power, Emily. That was the power of your House.”

  The voice spoke out from near the closed door. Emily stifled a shriek. She twirled around, ready to see Jonathan with his horrid wolf close by. Instead, she saw the women she had known all her life as her aunt. There stood Wind Blade.

  Wind Blade’s mouth twitched at the look on Emily’s face. James was unmoving.

  “Emily.” His voice was tight. “You are from a House, not from this Kingdom. Your House was just thought to be a legend. But it is real.”

  Just then Wind Blade spoke up. “It was said your House had the ability to control the power of life itself. I was a servant, a protector, for your family.”

  “And that has been my role, too, ” James added.

  Their words sliced through her as it hit: her parents were from this world. Did that mean she was from this world as well? Was she even born on the Earth she was raised on? Was she even human?

  But why bother trying to understand. It had to be a dream, some kind of hallucination. That was the only logical explanation.

  Luckily, James broke the silence. “We need to get going now. Here, put these on.” He threw a bundle of clothing at her.

  “You only get six minutes to change. I’ll be waiting outside.” James left the room. Looking about, Emily noticed that Wind Blade had also disappeared; she was like a cat. Emily opened the door and looked down the narrow dark hallway. Wind Blade was truly gone. Emily dressed and looked at her outfit, marveling at it. This was not something people would wear back home. The thought of her home world tugged at her heart.

  With six minutes to get changed, she put on short cargo pants with a belt to keep it from sagging. She wore a tight armored shirt covered by a brown tunic-like shirt. Why did she have to wear all these boyish clothes? Not that it mattered, she thought of herself as a tomboy, but this made her look like she was in a street gang.

  James was back at the door. “Good that the clothes fit.” His eyes scanned her up and down. “You look pretty tough.”

  “Why do I have to wear these clothes!?” Emily snapped. “Why the baggy clothes?” Emily did not like this at all. She shook her leg to show him how to loose it was.

  “So you can move around easily.” James rolled his eyes at Emily’s outburst. “Come on already, we need to get going.”

  “I want to get something to eat first, though.”

  James nodded. “Deal.”

  Both of them walked and passed opened doorways to many rooms. From one, a shape moved out and a dark form coalesced behind them. It seemed to watch as the two-young people walked down the stairs. At last, a target had come into view. Or, better yet, two targets.

  Emily, Wind Blade, and James sat in a crowded tavern in a booth towards the back of the room. From the booth, they could see whoever came through the entrance and were well-hidden from anyone who might come looking for them. The music in the tavern was lively and a few people were dancing on a small wooden stage. Within the cramped walls, every corner was jammed with tables and chairs. At all of the tables, clumps of people gathered, drinking instead of eating. The tavern had a pleasant smell in spite of the condition of the diners.

  “Here's what you ordered. An order of lamb, little lady.”

  The server placed a steaming plate of cooked lamb in front of her. The aroma was spicy and enticing and it was hard not
to dig in straight away. But it was polite to wait until the rest of the group to be given their food as well. Her aunt had drilled that into her head since she was little.

  The server was friendly and tried to engage them in a chat. “So, you guys are travelers? We get a lot of those around here.”

  Wind Blade and James exchanged a look.

  “Yes, this is my son and my niece. I decided to take them on a trip.” Lowering her voice she whispered to the young man. “Her parents are going through a rough patch so I offered to watch their daughter until they figure things out.”

  The woman gave Emily a sympathetic smile. “Well, the rest of your order will be coming out very soon.” Winking at them, she pushed through the groups of people, headed back to the kitchen.

  “So my parents are having trouble? Nice one,” muttered Emily. James and Wind Blade continued eating.

  “Can you explain this place to me? The kingdom and such? I need to know what we are up against.”

  “As I mentioned before, this is the Sunclaire Kingdom which is ruled by the House of Shadows. The main household is the royal family and they control this kingdom.” James paused as the waiter came by to give both of them their plates, hot with food from the kitchen. “There are other kingdoms and they are ruled by other royal families. But the Sunclaire Kingdom is one of the strongest out there.”

  They paused to dig into the food in front of them.

  Emily put down her fork and suddenly said, “The book that I have been reading...does that have anything to do with this? The author, Tallheard, knew about this place. Has he been here?”

  “Yeah. Tallheard. That author is actually from this kingdom, but he chooses to live in your world.”

  Emily looked down at the plate of food which she had almost finished. A thought came to her. Why didn’t the bad men also go after Tallheard as well? He was also from this world. He had left. Shouldn’t he also be punished as well?

  Emily tried to explain what she was thinking. James stopped her.

  “No, Emily. The thing is , well, he didn’t do anything wrong. He found a way to leave, that’s all.”

  It was as if Wind Blade could read her mind. “Others who have been charged with a crime and then leave will be hunted down. There is no record of him breaking the law, so they won’t go after him. They don’t like him writing about the world but there is nothing they can do. And no one in the other dimension would even believe him if he claimed his book was based on actual facts.” She smiled. “Think about it. They would think that he was crazy. It’s that simple.”

  Wind Blade continued, “And they are after you, James, because of your parent’s actions. And, dear girl, you are also from this world.”

  The bells on the door jingled as new customers entered. Emily tried to understand what Wind Blade was saying. No, that couldn’t be.

  She saw Wind Blade eyes look over at the door. Emily glanced behind her and saw two men identically dressed in some type of uniform.

  Leaning over to whisper, Wind Blade intoned, “It isn’t safe here anymore. We need to leave now.”

  Getting up from the table and dropping a few coins on the wooden surface, Wind Blade pulled down the hood of the jacket she was wearing. Emily and James followed suit as they pushed past the chairs. Once outside, Wind Blade ran toward an alleyway motioning them to follow her.

  While Wind Blade peeked into the street from the alley she whispered to Emily and James, “Those were high ranking officers in the Sunclaire army. Usually, they are kept informed of certain situations, and I couldn’t risk any chances.”

  James snorted, stretching his arms casually. “This was a waste of time.”

  Before Emily could say anything, Wind Blade grabbed James and flung him against the wall. A small glittering object was pressed against James’ throat. Emily could see that it was a curved dagger, covered with strange markings.

  “What are you doing?” Emily yelled. She tried to grab Wind Blade’s arm, but the warrior easily shook her away. “James has done nothing wrong!”

  Laughing scornfully, Wind Blade released James. She then leaned against the building wall, her arms crossed, watching Emily with an amused look.

  “The royal family wants James dead. Or should I say Kator instead? That is your real name, right?”

  James hung his head.

  “They are hunting him, Emily, not us. I let him into our home out of respect and because he needed help. And what did he do? He put your life in danger. They know about you now, too. That you are here.”

  Flipping the dagger and catching it, she motioned toward James. “I should kill you, James, right now.”

  In the background, the door of a tavern was slammed heavily. The sound of heavy boots hitting the ground outside the alley threw the three into silence. They were the soldiers from the tavern. Another man joined them from across the street. They could barely hear them as the three moved away.

  “Tell the army to scour the town. That waitress told me that they were in the tavern just moments ago. They can’t be that far away.”

  The voices faded as the men continued away. Wind Blade took Emily by the wrist and glared at James who stood frozen beside her.

  “We need to leave now. We can’t go back to the inn. It's too dangerous. James, you go to a supplies store and get food, clothes, and camping gear. Meet us at the edge of town, at Southside.”

  James nodded and scurried off, lost in the evening light. Wind Blade looked out onto the street before nodding at Emily. The coast was clear for them to take to the streets.

  Chapter 7

  The chilly air was bracing and she could see her breath in front of her. The weight of the backpack was unbearable. Her legs and back cried in pain at every step she took.

  When they started off, the sun had been peeking over the trees. Its warmth greeted them with fresh crisp air. She didn’t mind the walk because the scenery was truly awe-inspiring. The birds in the trees fluttered and chirped all around them and Emily saw a doe and her baby step daintily into a clearing in front of them.

  But, soon, the novelty of the situation wore off with the morning brightness. Now, the sun was slung low on the horizon. The forest loomed around them, dark and ominous.

  “Can we stop?” Emily asked James.

  He grumbled and said, “Alright. It’s getting late and we need to rest.”

  Once she unsnapped a few straps, her gear dropped to the ground with a thud. She sank down to the ground and took off her boots. She rubbed her hands tenderly over her aching toes, wincing slightly. She noticed that James was attempting to build a fire. Near him, Wind Blade was pitching the tents. They had managed to buy two of them in town. Both were small and definitely couldn’t fit two people. Beyond the small clearing, the trees towered into the dark sky over them. The sunlight was weakening, and the moon and stars were hidden by black clouds that threatened rain.

  Emily didn’t know how they managed to leave the town safely. Uniformed guards swarmed near every corner and alleyway, and at every gate stood a soldier. On the walls, posters of James had quickly been hung up. It seemed that everyone was out looking for him. She didn’t know if there was a place in this kingdom where they could hide.

  What made her most anxious was one of the posters that she had seen. There had been one in particular that had a picture that slightly looked like Wind Blade. Just slightly. But still...though it was a crude sketch, you could manage to make the person out.

  So, it appeared they were also looking for Wind Blade, too. This meant that the people, whoever they were, knew that James was definitely not alone. They were way over their heads at this point.

  “Hey, come over to the fire.” James motioned toward the flickering flames that had just barely begun to catch on.“It's pretty warm.”

  Emily sat down and leaned towards the fire. He was right about one thing; it sent waves of warmth through her.

  “Why is the fire so small?” she asked James.

  She stared into the me
ager flames that weaved through the cold air with very little fuel, really, to sustain them. James gave her a look of ‘are you stupid’ and snorted. Emily chose to ignore him.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Wind Blade set up her area of the camp. She had never heard James talk about Wind Blade’s House. Did she even belong to a House? All she knew was that Wind Blade was her protector and she was from the Dark Ridge Tribe. So many questions swirled in her head that she wanted to ask Wind Blade. Emily coughed softly, trying to work up the nerve to talk to her, now so much more than simply her aunt. Actually, she was a cold-blooded assassin bodyguard.