Song of Shadow

by Natalya Capello

  “It shall be done, by the Great Flame.”

  “I leave it up to you,” the Voice whispered.

  The room was filled with the crackling of flame.

  Evangeline stared deep into the fire, debating what to do. She could not send a group of monks to retrieve Vaana. Nearon was a dangerous city and the Order’s power was tenuous.

  The Council would love to see that one of the Order’s own had fallen. No, she needed to do this quietly. If Vaana had become an Anathema, she would not return to the Order on her own. Her training would provide an advantage to her as she knew how the Order hunted.

  A smile lit Evangeline’s lips. Who better to send after Vaana, but the very person who trained her?

  Evangeline rose to her feet, crossed the room to the door with its ornate bronze handle, and swung it open.

  The initiate standing outside her door jumped to attention and gave a stiff bow. “Your Grace?”

  “Send for Beth,” Evangeline said. “I have a mission for her.”

  11

  Buildings appeared at the horizon as Lorelei broke through the tree line. From this distance, the city looked almost complete and not ruins. It was an illusion hiding the secrets that had lain buried for centuries.

  Lorelei licked her lips as her stomach fluttered and her chest filled with a light air.

  Vaana and Vandermere came up next to her.

  “How is the swamp considered part of Winderward?” she asked. “I’d always heard that the city actually bled into parts of Nearon.”

  “It does in some places,” Vaana said. “However, the area around Winderward was affected by a spell long ago, such as where the Menhir was located.”

  “The city has a tendency to shift as well,” Vandermere said. “We should be cautious.”

  “It’s said that the laws of reality are different within the city,” Vaana said. “Some sort of magical catastrophe caused it to happen.”

  “The Miasma, right?” Lorelei asked.

  Vaana glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “Supposedly, it took place after the Empress had defeated the Miasma.”

  “But the city was in the grips of the Miasma.” Lorelei’s voice took on an almost trance quality. “The people called to their gods, and in their need to help, the Three in One fell from the heavens.”

  “That’s not in any history I have heard,” Vaana said. “What are the Three in One?”

  Lorelei opened her mouth and then paused for a moment. She didn’t have an answer for Vaana. Where had she heard that name? The story had felt so familiar, like she knew that story from heart, but where had she heard it?

  An echo of screams and cries for mercy filled her head. A flash of white light stuck behind her eyes and dimmed.

  Lorelei blinked and smiled at Vaana. “It must have been a tale I heard somewhere.”

  “The Empress came and saved Winderward from the Miasma, like she did with many cities,” Vaana said.

  “But it’s still like this,” Lorelei said.

  “Magic can be volatile, especially the wrong kind,” Vandermere said. “With the scars of the Miasma, the magic they cast caused the city to twist.”

  “What sort of magic was it?” Lorelei asked.

  “Some say it was a time spell, others say the mage tried to summon a Sluagh.” Vaana moved closer to Lorelei. “Either way, it’s dangerous and Fomorians like to use it as a place to hide.”

  “I’m surprised Nearon allows that so close to their gates.” Lorelei nodded to the large walls of the port city not even an hour’s ride from Winderward.

  “And risk the manpower of going in?” Vandermere snorted. “They prefer to guard the gates from anything that comes out.”

  “As interesting as this history lesson is,” Vaana said, “we’re wasting daylight. Shall we?”

  “You’re right,” Lorelei said as her veins seemed to sing.

  She had to see the city up close. Now.

  With a grin, she rushed towards the city. This was what she’d wanted in life—a way to discover the things lost to the history and bring them to light. The danger didn’t matter. She would overcome it and her name would be known throughout the land for the deeds she did. It could be one of her many escapades people talked about on her quest to find the Shadow Court.

  She stopped and waited for the others to catch up to the gate, or what should have been the gate. Now only small pieces of brass remained. The wall had fallen in many places and lay in piles of broken bricks. The cobblestone of the road had worn away to broken chunks and dust. No one had traveled this path in ages.

  Vaana joined her a few moments afterwards. She stared up at the city with a gleam in her eyes. Her fingers traced along brass hinge still embedded in the stone. Vandermere was the last to join them. He leaned against one of the few remaining parts of the wall, panting, and looked to Vaana.

  “Well, where are we headed?” he asked.

  “We have two choices,” Vaana said. “There should be a temple where this little god was worshipped. There was also supposedly a library.”

  Lorelei stepped through the threshold of the gate.

  Vandermere grabbed her arm before she could take another step and hissed. “What do you think you are doing?”

  Lorelei tilted her head. “I wanted to get a better look at the city. I thought we could see which was closer.”

  His fingers tightened around her arm. “You have no idea how dangerous this place is. Running off will get you killed, or worse.”

  Her lips pressed together as she narrowed her eyes at his hand on her arm. “Let go.”

  He released his grip and looked at the ground, clearing his throat. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t have been so forward.”

  “I’m aware this place is dangerous. You and Vaana have stressed that to the point it’s ingrained in my mind,” she said in a cool voice. “However, we are never going to get anywhere standing at the gates.”

  “She has a point,” Vaana said as she trotted past the two of them.

  Lorelei scanned the dilapidated buildings lining the main road with a thoughtful look on her face. The inside of the city looked as much in ruins as the outside. Large holes were in many of the rooftops. Some walls looked like they would collapse at the slightest touch. If the whole city was this way, how would they find anything that hadn’t already fallen prey to time and destruction?

  “I don’t see anything that looks like a temple or a library,” Lorelei said.

  “These were most likely shops,” Vaana said. “The others should be further in. Maybe closer to the center.”

  Lorelei pointed to the tallest building, or what would have been, if was whole. The top half of the tower was missing, leaving only an angled point.

  “What do you think that was?” she asked.

  “It’s a place to start.” Vaana continued marching down the street.

  Vandermere nodded. “Please be careful. I cannot carry the two of you out of here by myself.”

  Vaana smirked. “If I remember correctly, I was treating your head injury last night.”

  “Only because I had to defend you from Daan.”

  Lorelei shook her head. “Well, we all got beat there. A god had to save us.”

  “One that used my body,” Vaana said.

  Lorelei shrugged. “Maybe you shouldn’t have touched the stones. Either way, we’re here and the city’s not getting any less dusty while we try to one up each other.”

  Vaana pressed her lips together in a thin line and stalked down the street. Every so often, she would stop and peer up at the tower before turning down a smaller side street, and then another. Soon, the gate disappeared behind a maze of turns and buildings.

  “Do you know where you are going?” Lorelei asked.

  “Towards treasure,” Vaana said. “I can hear it.”

  Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Family gift,” Vaana said.

  “So, is this treasure anywhere close to this tower or where we need to go?�
� Vandermere asked.

  “Who knows?” Vaana shrugged. “But I’m sure it will be worth it.”

  “That depends on your definition of worth,” Vandermere muttered.

  A low growl emanated from an alley to Lorelei’s right. A pair of red eyes stared out of the dark at them.

  Vandermere stepped in between Lorelei and the alley with his hand on his sword.

  Another growl sounded from above them. A black monstrous hulk crouched on four legs in the remains of the second floor of a building. Its maw drew back into a snarl as its gaze locked onto Vandermere.

  Lorelei gripped his arm as she drew her sword with her other hand. Four other beasts joined their two pack mates. They must have smelled a fresh meal.

  Lorelei raised her sword. She would make sure it would be the hardest meal they ever fought for.

  Vaana muttered a curse and drew her blade. “Barghests.”

  The barghest on the building lifted its head and let out a keening howl, chilling the blood in Lorelei’s veins. The four on the street rushed towards them with snarls and barks that echoed against the buildings. The one in the alley growled again.

  Lorelei slipped around Vandermere and rushed towards the creature before it could pounce. She jabbed her sword out and it bit into the creature’s shoulder. A rotting stench emanated from its black fur, and she gagged.

  It growled and then shot forward with its jaw snapping. Its fangs sank into Lorelei’s hip. She bit back a scream at the sharp burning that raced along her side. She slammed the pommel on its snout. The barghest yelped, releasing her from its maw. She took a couple of steps back and glanced up at where the other one had been in time to watch it leap from its perch onto Vandermere.

  Lorelei sprinted towards the alley with her heart pounding in her head. She needed to save Vandermere from these things.

  Another barghest appeared from around the corner with its front body crouched down and its lips lifted in a snarl. By the hells of Gehenna, she was trapped. She glanced behind her at the wounded barghest padding closer. The second barghest lunged at her with it fangs bared. She spun to the side and ran her blade across its muzzle. It backed up a few steps, glaring at her with its red eyes—the sign of a Fomorian creature if anything she had read was true.

  Her gaze darted between the creatures to the alley. She could hear Vaana’s and Vandermere’s grunts and the growls of the other barghests, but they’d moved past the alley and beyond her sight. A dark blur in her peripheral was her only warning of the first barghest’s attack. She glanced back to see it leap at her. She hit the ground, rolling into a ball. The creature flew over her and landed next to its companion. Lorelei’s stomach sank. She was even more trapped, separated from Vaana and Vandermere.

  “Lorelei!” Vandermere’s voice echoed from the street.

  “I’m here!” she called. “A little busy, now.”

  The second’s eyes flared red. A heaviness filled Lorelei’s limbs as tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t win this. Why was she even trying? How had she thought that coming to Winderward was a good idea? She was going to die here, a meal to these creatures, and be forgotten by all.

  No.

  She shook her head. What the hell was she thinking? These were just two stupid dogs. Yeah, Fomorian dogs, but dogs nonetheless. She wasn’t going to lose after a few hours in the city.

  She glared at the creatures. Those thoughts, that despair, had to have been a mental trick from the barghests to get her to drop her guard. She had no time to be playing around with these things anymore.

  She backed away from them and drew in a deep breath, letting it settle in her diaphragm. The scream she released sent a wave of force down the alley and slammed into both the barghests. It lifted them in the air and slammed them into the ground. The two buildings shook with the force of her cry and large chunks of rubble began to fall into the alley.

  Lorelei ducked into the corner and covered her head with her arms. Her voice never did quite what she wanted. After a few seconds, the sounds of falling rock stopped. She peered through her arms at the end of the alley. The front of the alley was now filled with chunks of rock, towering over her to what would have been the next stories of the buildings she stood between. The majority had fallen on the barghests, crushing them. However, it also blocked her way back to Vandermere and Vaana.

  She rushed to the pile of rubble. “Vandermere! Can you hear me?”

  The sounds of battle came from the other side, along with his strained voice. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, but I can’t get through from here. I’ll have to find another way around.”

  “Wait!” Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a growling bark.

  She needed to find another way to them. She backed towards the other end of the alley. A dim light shone in the distance. If the alley came out to another street, she could backtrack through the street to them. She ran past the fallen rocks and pieces of refuge that littered the ground towards the light ahead of her. Her pulse sped up as did her pace. She barely registered the stone beneath her giving way to moss and mud. She gasped as she broke through the alley.

  Before her lay the murky pools of the swamp with the weeping willows standing on sparse patches of mud. Lorelei turned back towards what should have been the alley. Her heart sank into her stomach.

  She was surrounded by the marsh with no building, no city in sight.

  12

  She gripped her hair with both hands and let out a short scream.

  This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. How was she back in this damned marsh?

  This had to be what Vandermere had meant when he’d said the city shifted. She’d assumed, well, she hadn’t really known what to think. Maybe that a building would disappear, not the whole city! How was she ever going to get out of here?

  Her eyes narrowed as she peered into the distance. A hill rose up just out of the horizon. It seemed to be the only thing visible, aside from the marsh and willows.

  She let out a sigh. At least she could climb the hill and try to get a better view of the land. Perhaps she could see the city, though if the land changed on a whim like before, she may never find Vandermere and Vaana again. She might be better off looking for a way back to Nearon.

  She trudged her way through the sloshing marsh with the perfume of lilies clinging to the inside of her nose until she almost wanted to gag on the sweet scent.

  The sound of a sob echoed from in front of her, causing her to start.

  As the hill had grown closer, Lorelei could make out several figures standing atop it. Far too many to be her companions. Maybe these people were there waiting for them. She stopped at the base and took a deep breath.

  These people could also be dangerous, a group of Fomorians, even. Still, she wasn’t going to find out unless she climbed.

  Her hands dug into the black gritty dirt as she gripped the stones buried in the hill. She gasped when her gaze landed on one of the stones. It was jagged, like a part had been broken off, but the remaining portion had something written on it.

  Died 5th year of Emerald.

  Beloved Wife.

  These were gravestones.

  Lorelei gulped and continued her ascent. She’d heard of Mourner’s Hill before the hob in Nearon had mentioned it. It was supposedly a cursed place where those who traveled to it were never seen again. If the unease growing in the pit of Lorelei’s stomach was any indication, she had found it.

  “Well,” Lorelei muttered, “I’m already halfway there and it’s not like I have anywhere else to go.”

  She exhaled and pulled herself up the rest of the hill. As she stopped to catch her breath, she took stock of what was at the top of the hill. A group of nearly two dozen faeries stood in a circle around a large altar. They were from different races: sidhe, hob, phooka, red cab, pixie. Even the deathly ankou.

  Floating just above the alter was a curved sword with its point down. Intricate green writing ran along the blade in a language Lorelei d
idn’t know. Green jewels decorated the pommel.

  Lorelei’s heart sped up for a second. Could those be emerald? If so, that would solve a lot of her problems. Emerald granted wishes.

  A green light emanated from the sword and surrounded the faerie. Their gazes stared off in the direction of the sword, and tears streamed down their cheeks. Some must have been on the hill for a while, from the look of their emaciated faces. An occasional sob escaped the slack lips of one of a pixie as she stood on a small rock.

  Lorelei circled the group, trying to keep herself out of the light as she searched the faces for Vaana or Vandermere. No one seemed to notice her. As she drew closer something echoed in the back of her head. Some sort of slow music, that held a melancholy air. She blinked as her eyes began to water. Why was chest feeling so heavy?

  She bit the inside of her cheek. “Hello? Can any of you hear me?”

  “They cannot hear anything but the song of the Lord of Lament.” A figure stepped out of the crowd and turned in Lorelei’s direction. “They are caught in its mourning song.”

  The figure, an ankou, pulled her hood back to reveal a pasty face with sunken cheekbones and deep shadows for eyes. Of course, this was how all ankou looked. They walked with death and showed it.

  Lorelei raised an eyebrow and pointed to the sword. “I take it that’s the Lord of Lament?”

  The girl nodded, one single, slow head bob.

  “Why aren’t you affected?”

  “My will is stronger than theirs,” the girl said. “But I fear that it isn’t strong enough to claim the Lord.”

  “What happens to them if they remain here?” Lorelei asked.

  “They will die,” the girl said, “and the Lord will claim their souls.”

  A coldness crept through Lorelei’s stomach. These people didn’t deserve to have their soul claimed by some entity.

  “So to stop it, all I need is to claim the sword?” Lorelei strode forward. “No problem.”

  “You will be lost in his song,” the girl said.