by LJ Swallow
Her breath comes in short bursts as she glances between the door and Galen, sizing up her way out. Perspiration sheens Calla’s face and all colour has left her face. This is genuine terror. What can she see? I watch, mouth parted in shock as she flies out of the door and slams it behind.
"What the fuck?" I ask and drag on the door handle. It won’t budge.
"Leander!" Calla's muffled voice sounds as if she's leaning against the door. "Help me!"
Boots thud up the stairs. "Calla?"
I breathe relief at the sound of Leander’s voice. He can talk some sense into her—providing she doesn’t imagine he’s something sinister too.
"Something happened to them. Their faces. They must have been changed by the Ebon," calls out Calla. “Or they’re shapeshifters. Evil.”
My shoulders drop in relief that she can talk to one of us. He says something in a low voice, and she protests, repeating ‘no’.
"Open the door, Leander!" I shout out. "She's delirious. I don't think the cure worked."
She calls out another protest and somebody's feet scuff against the hallway outside. I try the handle again and the door bursts open. Leander has tight hold of Calla's arm and as soon as I step out, she screams and struggles against him.
"Calm," says Galen, and she laughs at his attempt to use his nature’s magic.
Calla closes her eyes and when she opens them again, hers are the strange ones. I recognise the darkness I wasn't close enough to see when she used shadow magic before. Her irises are edged in purple and green. Galen senses what's happening as I do and steps forward to touch her.
As he does, energy pulses from Calla and a shadowed figure begins to materialise close by.
"Fuck!" I shout. "Leander, stop her."
Her eyes shine brightly, appearing to crackle with energy, and the nearby figure solidifies and grows in size. A shadow minion. I'm arrested. I haven't seen a creature like this since the Ebon took my family.
"How do I stop her?" Leander snaps. "You’re the one with the right skills, lightbringer."
I shake my head and prepare to channel what I need. I’m new to my role, not fully trained to wield my power, and the Light has failed me recently. I don't know what strength I'll have against this daughter of shadow. I hold my hands upwards, almost in prayer and focus on conjuring Light. But there's little in this place—shadows tinge the people and buildings left behind by the Ebon.
Shadow that powers Calla further.
Galen takes Calla by the shoulders and stares into her eyes speaking in Elvish. She screams again and the sound sends a haunting memory through. I've not heard the banshee wail for many years, and I stop my attempt to summon the Light as I cover my ears. The scream continues, filling the air around and shadows emerge from her mouth, swirling around her head and obliterating her face.
I’ve never seen such horror. We should never have taken Calla from her hometown, but left her to her fate instead.
I don't care that Calla says she cannot control this power, because one day she'll be able to, and the world will be in danger. If she manifests magic this powerful accidentally, imagine what could happen if Calla learns to control what she can do.
But the alternative to us taking her was and is worse. Leander and Galen have hissed this at me in the times Calla was too far away to hear, when I shared my opinion. If we leave her to be found by the Ebon and taken to their queen, her true role may be discovered. We’re unaware what this role is, but she can’t fall into the Ebon queen’s hands.
Calla may not realise, but she will be a prisoner when she arrives at the stronghold. Until she can be trusted, the Order of Lux will not allow Calla to wander the stronghold on her own. Mara has a decision to make: will she allow Calla to train or keep her captive?
Right now, the chance anybody can trust her is far away.
The shadow energy fills the room, and even Galen can't cope with this. His magic is weaker here, in a town surrounded by shadow and decay there's little of nature's positive energy to draw on. Somehow, Leander manages to keep hold of Calla. Brightness flickers around my hands, but the shadows snuff the Light out again.
Calla's wail brings the overweight innkeeper running upstairs with a barmaid behind him, who peeks around his broad frame.
"What's going on up here?" he growls. "We heard—" He stops, dead in his tracks and looks on in horror.
The young girl behind him screams. “Shadows. We can’t have more shadows here. Who is she?"
"Our friend is possessed," I lie. "Something in your town must have tainted her."
"I don't believe that," he scoffs.
"Shit," I mutter beneath my breath. "Galen, deal with him."
All the training in the world, every failed attempt to bring and control Light, and each triumph when I managed to destroy shadow dances through my mind. I need to stop Calla, but can I?
Leander loses his hold on Calla, so I step forward and wrap my arms around her. The shadows assault me, and the screams from Calla continue to ring in my ears. She rips at my arms, trapped between myself and Leander. From the corner of my eye, I spot Galen attempting to calm the shaking barmaid.
"In the room, Leander," I call.
He nods and we pull the screaming hellion through the door. She breaks free from me and Leander, then stands on the bed. Her eyes are pure black and the bright purple and green energy crackles around her. Her connected shadow creature reaches out to Leander and he ducks away.
I slam the door closed. There's only one way to do this. It's too late to hide who she is from the town now two people have seen her, but the sound will bring many more running. We may not get out of here alive. Calla’s unbidden minion grows in size, fuelled by the magic pouring from her body. The creature could wreak havoc. Calla could devastate the town.
I seize Calla again and trap her against the wall. The high-pitched wail is beyond ear-splitting.
“Stop her screaming, Rohan,” urges Leander. “She’ll bring the whole town here.”
Her scream claws at my mind and pulls at the edge of my consciousness. I’m convinced the Light won't join me in my task because I’m not having any effect—the shadows are growing.
She pauses in her screaming and stares at me. This visage isn’t the girl I've vowed to keep safe. The one who I’ve hidden my feelings for from the others.
The one who's broken my heart in this moment because she's too dark for me.
"Lightbringer." She laughs in my face, her tone shallow and mocking.
I shift to pin her harder against the wall with my body. The shadow creature hovers close by as if waiting for a command. The shadow continues to snake from her mouth, swirling into a cloud absorbed by her minion. I have one more option.
"Correct," I whisper and grab her hair. “That’s exactly what I am.”
I place my mouth on Calla's and will her shadows to leave and enter me. She struggles to unwrap her hair from my hand. Her body slackens as mine jerks, a void created in my mind. I grip onto Calla and will more darkness into my body, and the Light I've trained to use cocoons around and absorbs her shadow.
Calla’s body and magic weaken, as my lips remain on hers. We’re pressed together as intimately as when we fought, when I was overwhelmed by the physical desire. But this connection is not the kiss I wanted in that moment. I’ve watched this beautiful girl and ignored how she fills my world with a different light.
This unwanted connection changes me.
Every day spent learning how to bring the Light and return good to the world is for this—to battle shadow at a cost to myself. Each battle I have with Ebon magic pushes holes in the armour of the Light protecting me. I'm tainted and that taint will grow. When the Light within me has gone, I will join the others in the shadow.
In my mind’s eye, I see her. The Ebon Queen. A vision of the beautiful woman who once stood for the Light. The one who corrupted the dragons and turned them against the world. The dragons she killed. She sits on her throne in her self-appointed cour
t, looking me directly in the face and smiling. Few see her face, and I can’t be sure this is reality or my years of picturing how she looks.
The queen has elven features—the large eyes and high cheekbones, height and slenderness. But is she? Because her ears aren’t pointed and body more like a human woman’s curves. Her hair cascades across her shoulders in a colour to match her Ebon followers. Instead of a queenly gown, she wears armour crafted from leather, barely covering her body.
Placing a hand on either side of the tall throne crafted from bones and topped with a huge dragon skull, the queen stands. Ebon runes in green decorate the purple leather chest-piece, which moulds her breasts and stops at her waist. Her shoulders and arms are naked, save for a large silver bracelet wound around her arm like a snake. Dark blue leather, marked with the same Ebon runes, clings to her thighs, and the material meets and matches boots stretching high up her legs.
The queen’s midriff is bare, one of many places on her body exposed to an enemy’s blade. This is her mocking signal to the world: I don’t need armour. I’m just playing your game.
Her words come into my mind as if she whispered them in my ear. "My daughter of shadow. You found her."
I'm jerked away from my vision by Leander's hand on my shoulder and him calling my name. I stumble backwards and almost drop Calla. My vision turns black, and the image of the Ebon Queen is lost. Leander catches Calla before she hits the floor and lifts her in both arms. Her hair falls back towards the floor, body limp against him. He bites on his lip, face pale as he looks down at her soft features. She's nothing like the wailing banshee she was moments ago; her vulnerability has returned.
"I will watch what the pair from the inn do," says Galen, breaking from his staring at Calla. He lifts his dark cloak hood and opens the door before shifting into the dark, an elven skill I wish I had sometimes.
I rub a palm across my mouth as Leander lays Calla on the bed. "Are you okay?" he asks me.
"Shaky. What the fuck happened to her?"
"I don't know, but I have my suspicions about the hosts and the questions they were asking us." Leander sits beside her and the mattress springs squeak. He lays a hand on her forehead. "She feels normal. Her breathing is too."
I swallow. "But she isn’t normal, is she, Leander?"
He drags both hands down his face and looks to the window. "No. We knew that." He turns back to me. "But we will teach her how to control this. She can help us end the Ebon Queen's reign."
I walk to the window and don't voice the words in my head: if Calla doesn't end us first.
18
CALLA
I wake on the rough bed, convinced I had a dream where the world turned into one filled with the dark clouds and pain. Someone screamed so loudly my ears rang, but I could control the person screaming. I saw the same shadowy figure as the night Thomas attacked me.
A strange cold fills my veins. I don't think that was a dream. I sit bolt upright. Which means that I didn't imagine that Leander held me and Rohan kissed me. No, not a kiss. Men can weaken a girl's knees, and I always imagined Rohan would, but instead of taking my breath away, I felt as if he'd sucked my energy.
Rohan sits in the corner of the room, resting his cheek on his knees, which are drawn up beneath his chin. As I move, the sound rouses him and he pokes something on the floor with his foot. A figure on the floor shifts and Leander sits too. He runs a hand through his hair and looks between us bleary eyed.
"What happened?" I ask Rohan.
He nods at Leander and looks away.
"Something took over, and you revealed your shadow," Leander says in a soft voice.
Panic rises. "What did I do? Did I hurt someone?" I rack my brain for more of what I'm now certain are memories. All I can remember is the men holding me and Rohan's mouth on mine. How I fought him but wanted to yield—how something inside screamed as loudly as I did, reaching out.
"No," says Leander and places a hand on my arm. "You didn’t hurt anybody."
I rub my eyes in confusion. Rohan places his head on his knees again.
"Are you okay, Rohan? Did I hurt you?"
He looks up and shakes his head before looking to Leander. "Galen hasn't returned. I'm worried."
My dress has been folded over the end of the bed, still torn and dirty and I seize hold. "I'll dress, we can find him."
I sense there's more to talk about, but that now isn't the time to discuss what I did. Darkness still shrouds outside and the moon is higher in the sky than before.
The door creaks open and Rohan springs to his feet, hand on his sword. A figure emerges from the gloom, and Galen slides into the room, shaking his hood from his face.
"We need to leave," he says.
"Where have you been?" demands Leander. "It's been over an hour."
Galen straightens. "Hidden in the night. Watching. Listening. As always.”
I tremble. "What's happening?"
Galen sits on the edge of the bed and his hand closes over mine. "We made a mistake coming here."
"Someone saw your shitstorm," puts in Rohan. "The town knows we have a shadowmancer in our company.”
"And the Ebon will soon. The mayor is sending word to them.” Galen's worried face silences me. He's not someone who rushes or lets panic replace common sense with urgency. “Nerissa put something in her drink. They wanted to be sure who Calla was before handing her over to the Ebon.”
“What?” growls Rohan. “Don’t they know who they’re up against here? Betraying bastards.” He stands and grabs his sword hilt.
Galen curls a hand over and shakes his head at Rohan’s action. “Yes, Rohan, but we don’t know what we’re up against. This is the conversation I heard: the Ebon passed through here today and demanded to know if any strangers had too. The Relinquished were promised supplies to ease the hunger if we were found.”
“Fuck,” mutter Leander. “They planned to discover who we were all along and the bastards pretended not to know anything.”
"I don't remember anything," I say as my stomach plummets into my feet. “What did I do?”
“You feared for your safety and that unleashed the shadow magic."
"Fear of what? I was in a room with Rohan and you, Galen. Nothing threatened me."
"The drug in your drink must have caused hallucinations. You thought we were evil creatures," says Rohan gruffly. "Galen. Continue."
"We need to leave. Now." He picks the pack up from the floor and throws it at Leander and Rohan. The hour is late and the curfew in place, but we need to find a way to leave this town." Galen unfolds his cloak from his shoulder and holds it out to me. "Here, wear this. Cover your face.”
I take the cloak and with shaking hands pull it around my shoulders. I dip my head and pull up the hood. I’m tired and confused, and the memory of his words comes with Galen’s warm scent that surrounds me the same way the fur-lined cloak does. I don’t understand what’s happening to me, and the one man I thought I had figured out is a bigger enigma than I realised.
No more is spoken as we leave the small room. The upstairs is quiet, and we creep along the hallway. A door opens at the bottom of the stairs into the tavern itself and voices and laughter spill out and up the stairs. Leander places an arm across my chest to hold me back, and I listen to the blood whooshing in my ears in fear and confusion.
The door closes and the raucous voices quiet again.
Rohan gestures at a different nearby staircase and we pad down, footsteps quiet.
The air outside stifles worse than in the bedroom and perspiration grows across my brow, from fear also. The men's quiet alarm continues to panic me but I trust them.
What choice do I have?
Leander takes my hand and squeezes, his dark eyes glinting beneath the hood. Rohan remains wrapped in his cloak too, and only when I round the corner do I realise how exposed Galen is. He has no cloak, elven features visible. This is a town filled with humans—corrupt ones—and he stands out.
He beckons us al
ong a route he mapped out while in the tavern, and we creep into some stables. He strokes the horse's mane and rests his forehead against his muzzle. Another horse nearby rears its head, skittish thanks to our arrival. Leander walks straight over and seizes the horses’ bridles.
"We ride now. Two horses. Galen and Rohan take that one." He points at the brown horse Galen touches. "I'll take Calla."
My head spins as the need for sleep drops away, and my senses are sharpened by adrenaline. The warm, wet scent of damp hay and dung from the stables; the stench from the nearby docks where the still water stagnates.
"I don't understand," I finally manage to stammer out. "What's happening? Are the Ebon here?"
"Not yet," says Galen. "We have time, but I’m unsure how much."
"We're half a day’s ride from the stronghold." Leander clambers onto his tall, black stallion and holds his arms out towards me. "The Ebon are coming. We need to leave and outrun them."
As he hauls me onto the horse and I sit astride the saddle, in front of Leander, I'm caught by surprise at how fast the beast takes off from his resting place. The horse moves swiftly and the muggy air passes my ears and drags my hair backwards as we gallop through the town. I'd look back at the others, but we're moving too fast. Stealth may be a better idea, and one I'd use if I were in charge of this situation, so their speed and panic worries me.
I cling to Leander's arm as we gallop to the town's edge. He pulls his horse to a stop, holds his hand up and looks to Galen who pulls his horse to a halt beside him. "Is there somewhere we can get through the town and out of here without being seen?"
Galen shakes his head. "No. The town is walled, as we saw when we arrived, and more guards are posted. The ocean reaches the docks at the edge of town. If we're careful we can take the horses along there unnoticed, until we reach the settlement’s edge.”
Rohan gestures forward. "Let's keep going, then."
I hide my face further beneath the hood at every sound I hear, not wanting to see anybody. Shrouded by the hood, my senses are blocked and I can retreat.