by S A Edwards
“Shh,” he whispered. “I think I heard something.”
A light breath on the air brought shivers to my spine. No, not a breath. A breeze rustling the leaves.
The light of the fire flickered, and then died, filling the clearing with a strong scent of smoke. My breath turned cold.
Insatiable fear clenched me like a vice, drawn to the surface by some new magic.
Flames sprang to my hand, the shadows sharper and more menacing than before. My free hand gripped Lallana’s shoulder.
“Go, Charlie, Lallana.” The words barely escaped my lips. “I’ll follow. Go. Run. Now.”
13
Charlie obeyed my command to flee, racing from the clearing with Lallana and me close behind. Uprising roots and weeds grappled at my feet. Shadows loomed under the light of my flames, reaching for us with curling fingers.
My hand brushed a branch, and it caught fire.
“Clara,” Lallana called. “Diminish your flames!”
Pain stabbed at my side. “The Seekers are drawn to us, even in the dark. The light won’t slow them down.”
“We can use the moons.”
Silver light slivered through the cracks in the thick canopy, barely lighting up the area, yet my new sight remained strong, so I made the fire die.
The trees broke without warning, and a small field burst into view with a hill rising on my left. Crops as high as my chest stood a few steps from me. Unharvested lemon-corn hung from the stalks.
I staggered to a halt. Vulnerability pressed down on me. Moonlight flooded the space, stretching our shadows across the grass.
Charlie paused, his eyes wide.
Lallana clung to my arm.
From the blackness atop the hill, a cloaked silhouette shifted, staff in hand.
I gasped, heart jolting, and shoved Charlie. “Move! It’s …” The hill stood empty.
Lallana’s grip tightened. “Clara?”
“But I saw …” My sweaty hands stuck to my tunic, and my head prickled.
Leaves crackled beneath footsteps. Branches snapped, resounding around us. The air shuddered.
“Where’s it coming from?” Lallana whispered.
Charlie twisted, brow drawn down. “I can’t tell.”
“Just go,” I said. “Run. We can’t see him yet.”
“But I can see you.” The words cut into my mind, to my very soul.
Shivers tore through my body, freezing me in place. Memories of the Beasts on the overhang, immobilised in seconds by the Seeker stabbed at my thoughts.
“Clara!” Panic screamed from Charlie’s throat. He tugged on my arm. “Move.”
I pushed Lallana ahead and sprinted into the crops, inhaling the citrusy aroma of blossoming lemon-corn. The blades whipped my face, irritating my skin. Reaching the edge of the field, we plunged into the forest once more.
Unlevel ground and half-hidden holes restricted our flight, threatening to trip me.
Charlie raced in front, gaining distance like a path was cut before him. The tree canopy hid the moons’ light, casting the ground in blackness.
“How are you moving so fast?” I muttered. Thorns scratched my leg, tearing my trousers. The cut stung, and a slight smell of blood joined the musky atmosphere.
Lallana tripped. I caught her arm. A deep ache tore through my shoulder, pulling me off balance, and air hissed through my teeth.
A wide trail led into the darkness to my right.
“This way!” Leaping over a thick root, I raced to the trail and glanced back to ensure Charlie and Lallana followed.
Charlie cut across the tangled brush and leapt on to the path.
Tiny stones covered the ground and crunched beneath our feet. It was foolish to stay on the trail, but the Seeker could sense us anyway. We couldn’t risk the unpredictable terrain of the forest.
Ahead, a torch protruded from the ground at the edge of the path, orange light pooling on the stones. Another lay ahead of that. And another. More burned on the opposite side.
I faltered in my flight at the sight of the strange path. It was too convenient. Too easy for the Seeker to follow. But we had nowhere else to run.
I pressed on.
The path turned and narrowed. The trees grew thick and so close together it became impossible to stray from the path, and the sense of becoming trapped tugged on my nerves.
Despite the warmth of the torches, cold coursed through me, and a new fear emerged. Uncontrollable shivers shook my body.
Something was wrong.
We took another turn, the path barely wide enough for two to walk side-by-side, and then paused.
Where the trail widened ahead, a wall of darkness stretched as high as the tallest trees, impossible to see through even with the torchlight.
“What is it?” I panted. I crept forward, and my neck prickled. The surface rippled when my hand touched it but held me back like rock.
“We’re trapped,” Lallana squeaked. Her gaze flitted back the way we had come, her long hair ruffled.
Charlie rubbed his arms against the cold, the firelight glinting in his eyes.
“The Seeker will not come here.”
My breath caught in my throat at the new words, and I searched, but no one stood in sight. A shadow flickered in the corner of my eye.
“Who said that?” My voice wavered, betraying my feigned confidence.
“I did.” The voice echoed in my mind, touching my emotions, dipping into the furthest corners. My skin crawled.
Charlie shook his head, and Lallana’s green eyes grew brighter under the lamps, her lips pressed tightly together.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Zantos. Keeper of the Gates.”
A Keeper. My fingers turned numb. “Which Gates, light or dark?”
“Which do you think?”
The wall drew my gaze, like something directed me to it, like he was seeing through my eyes. “You’re in my head.”
I sensed his smile. A shadow shifted, black eyes emerging in the darkness.
“Did you open the arch at my village?” I asked.
He laughed, the sound resounding in the recesses of my mind. “I did not.”
Every instinct screamed at me to flee, but I stood my ground, pressed on by my curiosity. “You’re the Dark Keeper.”
“Good guess.” His words hissed in my ear. A cool breeze slithered down my neck.
“So, that black cloud is a dark Gate?” I asked.
“Right again.”
“Clara,” Charlie whispered. “We should go back.”
“The Seeker is waiting.” Black eyes emerged before me, disappearing again in an instant.
“Why won’t he follow us here?” I asked.
“This is the Forbidden Pass.”
Lallana shuddered. “Charlie’s right. We can’t go through there.”
I surveyed the trees on either side of us, their trunks winding together like a wall. There was no other way.
Unseen, icy fingers slid down my arm.
I shivered and retreated.
Charlie slipped his hand in mine, and I clung to his warmth. “Why is it forbidden?” I asked. “What’s in there?”
“Why don’t you find out?” Zantos’ silky voice made me recoil.
I ran my fingers through my hair, the torture of my indecision threatening to crush me. A Seeker behind or an unknown danger ahead.
“Clara,” Charlie muttered. “I’ve heard of this. No one ever comes out once they go in.”
“Why? What happens?”
“I don’t know, but …”
I squeezed his hand, determined to hide my anxiety. “Think of the Cursed. People fear them, even call them the Cursed, but it’s just a rumour. They’re only the Beasts. Mage. There’s no real danger to them, so perhaps there’s none here, either.”
His gaze hardened. “The Beasts are dangerous. Just because they won’t hurt us doesn’t mean …”
Lallana didn’t look at me, her attention on the Gate.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” I said. “We’ll be okay if we stick together.”
Charlie swallowed, his gaze flitting to Lallana.
She nodded.
“We wish to pass,” I said.
Satisfaction flooded my mind, dark and unfamiliar.
The wall shuddered and changed, coiling like smoke, pulsing and writhing.
“Be warned: do not stray from the path, or it will be near impossible to return.”
14
Charlie and Lallana’s warm hands gripped mine when we passed through the walled Gate. A slight chill slipped across my skin. My vision obscured momentarily, and then trees moved into view on the other side, lining a narrow, bare path.
The wall shuddered and became as still as stone.
“Come on,” I whispered, the empty sound lost among the darkness.
The moons shone over the land yet touched nothing beyond the treeline.
My vision appeared blurred, not as sharp as in recent days. The scent of dirt and sweet maple ceased, and my senses dulled.
Leaves rustled in a breeze, and my brown hair flicked against my face. Our footsteps crunched on the stone, amplified in the narrow space.
With growing unease, I continued on, my hands tight on theirs. No one spoke.
A leaf drifted from a hanging branch and touched the path.
Silence fell.
Leaves continued to sway, yet the quiet set my heart thudding. Not even my tense breath pierced the air.
Whispers flittered from the darkness off the path.
Charlie pulled away from my hand.
“Charlie.” I turned to him, and my stomach lurched at the empty trail.
“Charlie?” Lallana’s voice shook, and her hand tightened on mine, her gaze roaming the area.
The path stretched on ahead and marked the way behind, ending at the Gate. A growing mist gathered between the trees.
“Charlie, where are you?” I called. “What happened? Which way did he go?”
“He was here. Then he just …” She peered at me, eyes glistening, unfocused.
I grabbed her shoulders. “What?”
“Disappeared.” Her gaze froze on something behind me.
Fighting the lump in my throat, I turned.
White fog masked the tree trunks, and a shadow shifted within, moving closer.
A cloaked figure glided on to the stone, revealed by the moonlight, and paused, the hood as black as the Gate, revealing no features beneath.
“A Seeker!” Lallana gasped.
Cold sweat broke out from my pores. Raising my hand, I called on my flames.
Nothing happened.
The Seeker moved forward.
I fled off the path, dragging Lallana alongside me.
Darkness enveloped us at once, impossible to make out root from bush. Whispers penetrated my mind. The air, hot and thick, clamped down on me, tightening my chest. My tunic stuck to my back.
Glancing back, my eyes widened.
The Seeker glided closer, unhindered by the rough terrain.
Lallana pulled me round a trunk and raced on, stumbling again and again.
A hooded shape moved into view ahead, coasting forward with ease.
“Clara!” Lallana screamed.
“This way!” I tugged her to the right. My foot snatched at a root, and I fell, coughing on the dust that sprang to my mouth.
Lallana grasped my arm, her eyes locked behind me.
Clambering to my feet, I pushed on, breathing laboured.
Another Seeker blocked our way, half hidden in the blackness, coming at us fast.
Hopelessness surged. We couldn’t outrun them.
Lallana dropped, her breathing rasped.
I knelt beside her, tears in my eyes, and held her tight. Why wouldn’t my flames work? I couldn’t protect her. Now Charlie was gone, and in a moment, we would be, too. My family.
“Please,” I whimpered. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
Lallana wriggled from my grip, trying to stand.
“What are you –” I grabbed at her, but she shook me away.
“Take me. I’m the one you want. Just let her go!”
“Lallana!”
They moved closer, surrounding us, still advancing.
The whispers grew louder, indistinguishable, just like the Shadow Realm. If I could take Lallana there. If I could do it without hurting her…
The truth punched at me like a Refiner’s blast. “They’re not real!”
Lallana’s panicked gaze turned to me as I pushed to my feet.
“They’re not real,” I gushed. “They’re like the Shadow Realm. There were whispers there, but they couldn’t hurt me. They,” – I pointed at the cloaks – “they’re our fears. They …”
The nearest cloak moved close enough to see clearer. The swoosh of material touched my ears. Something shifted beneath the hood.
I held my breath, pulse pounding, vulnerable, and stepped into him.
His body plumed in a pool of smoke.
The world shivered, and the other cloaks disappeared with it, leaving us alone with the rustling leaves and the fear still clinging to my nerves. Moonlight slipped through cracks in the canopy, just enough to light up the unfamiliar scene.
The forest looked black, ancient. Parts of it had decayed, though the scent didn’t match. Musky, yet sweet, there was something more at work here. The whispers continued, but nothing was revealed.
I turned on Lallana. “How could you do that? They wouldn’t have let me go. If they were real, they’d have taken you!”
“How did you know?” she whispered. Her gaze fixed on the spot the cloak had been. Her white skin and trembling hands softened my irritation.
“The Shadow Realm,” I said. “Shades communicate with the dead. I can hear their whispers and see them, but they can’t hurt me. We can’t touch. And,” – I peered at her – “the gift is controlled by fear. It made sense.”
Her eyes met mine.
“It was a hunch,” I added. “But Lallana, don’t ever do that again.”
Her expression hardened. “I’m not sorry. If there was a chance of you escaping –”
“There wasn’t. There never will be. Not while they’re hunting.”
“Wait.” Her brows drew down. “If they weren’t real … then where’s Charlie?”
15
My breath caught in my throat at the mention of Charlie. I searched for the path in the decaying forest. Fear of the cloaks still clung to my mind, and my neck prickled in the stifling atmosphere.
Lallana leaned against a trunk, her breathing heavy. Sweat beaded on her forehead, glistening in a stream of silver light from above. Too much worry and fear for one so young to endure.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded, eyes closed. “It feels different here. I can’t … I don’t feel right.”
My gaze swept the area. I knew the feeling. I flexed my fingers, itching for my flames, but didn’t succeed in calling them to me. I gritted my teeth. “Why won’t they work?”
“What?”
“My flames. They won’t come.”
Her jaw tightened. “This is one of those places, isn’t it? Where gifts are suppressed.”
Must be. I sighed and took her elbow. “Come on.”
She staggered on the uneven ground, gripping me for balance.
A ribbon of gold snaked past the trees ahead. We had travelled further than I thought. “I see the path.”
The whispers fell silent.
A deep, guttural growl cut the air.
A huge black figure towered in the distance behind us, barely fitting between the thick trunks. Sharp white teeth glinted. Ginormous yellow eyes glowed, black slits for pupils.
Lallana shifted. “No whispers.”
I nodded. “Run.”
The creature bounded forward before we fled, caught for a moment in a ray of moonlight.
I gasped.
Covered in a mountain of razor-s
harp, black fur, it terrified me far more than the Beasts.
Hidden holes and ancient weeds clutched at my feet, slowing my progress. The ground shuddered, the breath of the creature sharp and deep.
I tripped, and my heart jolted at the snap of teeth inches from my head.
Lallana yanked me sideways, winding between the trees toward the path.
The creature snapped again, head caught between two trees. It whipped back, bark crumbling, and shoved round them.
“Go! Go!” I yelled. Pain stabbed at my side. I needed my flames.
The monster leapt.
I dived for the path, losing my grip on Lallana. Stones scratched my arms and shoulder. Dust curled up. Rolling to my back, I braced for the pain.
At the edge of the path, the creature roared, clawing at the air. Its teeth snapped, fur bristling, as it tore forward and staggered back over and over, beating against an invisible wall.
I grasped my shoulder, pain shooting across the unhealed wound from my run-in with the Beasts.
Lallana crouched beside me, eyes wide. “It can’t pass. The path is protected.”
“But …”
It slashed a few more times, fury slicing through its snarls, and then retreated into the shadows.
I inhaled deeply and peered back up the trail at a crouching figure. “Charlie!”
A long way from us, he knelt on the ground, head down. His body shook, and his sobs reached me before I got to him.
Lallana reached for his shoulder just as I did.
Whispers flooded the area, and I stared at the second Charlie that appeared before us, overshadowing him.
“What –”
Charlie’s eyes shifted to mine, and he jerked back. “Stay away!”
“It’s okay.”
“Don’t.” He held up a hand. Tears spilled down his cheeks. “I’ll hurt you.”
Lallana’s hand leapt to her mouth.
His doppelganger spoke, “You know what you must do.”
Charlie’s lip trembled, and his eyes flitted to the treeline. “I have to leave.”
“No,” I snapped.
“I can’t hurt you. I don’t want to …”
I crouched. “Where has this come from?”
He closed his eyes and pulled away.
“Listen to me, Charlie. You have never harmed me before. You are the sweetest, kindest child. My brother. What could you possibly do?”