Song of Shadow

by Natalya Capello

  So? I lost my own parents when I was a child. I didn’t become an assassin, Vandermere thought back.

  Ah, but I assume you had someone who cared for you?

  My uncle.

  From what has been said, I doubt this girl has had that.

  Vandermere’s fingers twitched. We’ll see. Hopefully, we’ll find out tonight.

  And if it is true, do you think you can forgive her?

  I wouldn’t say that.

  You need to let this go. I have, and I was the one who was killed.

  Vandermere didn’t have a response for that.

  After several minutes, Wes trotted back down the stairs, sat in front of his clothes, and began licking one of his paws.

  “Well?” Tanila asked with a hiss.

  Wes stared at her for a few moments before turning his back to her with a sigh. His fur shortened as he began to grow larger and soon a naked Wes stood in the shadows. Tanila rolled her eyes and looked away while Vandermere picked up Wes’s clothes and held them out to him. Wes took them and pulled on his pants.

  “I think we picked a good time,” he said softly as he slipped on his shoes. “The upstairs hall is empty and the guards seem to be on the opposite side of the church.”

  “We should hurry, lest they make their way to this hall,” Vandermere said.

  Wes pulled his shirt over his head and turned to Tanila with a grin. “Lead the way.”

  Tanila led them up the stairs and through a narrow stone hall to another stairwell, which they took back down into a small room. She crept to the left wall and ran her hand along the corner. A crease appeared in the wall and it swung inward leading into a storeroom. In the center, a set of stone steps led down into nothingness.

  “It goes to the catacombs,” Tanila said. “Stick close to me. It’s a bit of a maze down there.”

  They descended into a roughly hewn, stone room with a narrow hall leading off into darkness. Vandermere had expected the air to be damp, but a musty dryness filled the air, leaving an itch in his lungs. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and coughed.

  Tanila pulled a folded piece of paper from a pocket in her pants and opened up a map. She held her lantern up to it and scanned it for several minutes before nodding to herself.

  “This way.” She set off down the only hall available.

  “Obviously,” Wes muttered but followed behind.

  The sounds of dirt scraping against stone from their footfalls filled the halls as Tanila led them through a small maze of twists and turns. They passed several rooms with deep recesses in the walls. Finally, she stopped at a brass door that glittered in her lantern light. It seemed too new and shiny compared to the rest of the catacombs.

  Using her skeleton key, she unlocked the door with a metal click.

  “Even this one?” Wes asked.

  “Of course. I paid a lot of money for the enchantments on it.” She swung the door open and sauntered inside.

  Vandermere stepped in and scanned the room. Six stone tables with a strange series of metal tubes filled up most of the space. Two females lay upon them with their eyes closed.

  Vandermere’s brow furrowed and he inched closer to them. Something seemed off about these females. They were as tall as a sidhe, but their features seemed more rounded. He gasped as his hand brushed against one of the empty tables and a vision overtook him.

  A young sidhe girl with black hair lays on the table with her eyes closed. Her chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm.

  Vaana.

  A shadowy robed figure leans over the girl and slips a needle attached to a small tube into her arm. Chanting in a strange language fills the air as the figure moves away from the table. A gold liquid races through the tube and into Vaana’s arm. Symbols light up along the edges of the table.

  Vandermere jerked his hand away from the table with a gasp. Tanila turned from a shelf full of scrolls that she’d been scanning and raised an eyebrow.

  Wes took a couple of steps from the doorway. “You all right?”

  “Vaana was here. They did something to her…some sort of ritual…experiment…combination of the two.”

  Tanila’s face lit up, then she turned back to the shelf and started digging through the scrolls with more fervor. “They had to have recorded it. There has to be some sort of proof.”

  “Wait.” Wes raised his and turned back to the door.

  He crept closer and leaned his head out, staring down the hall. Vandermere sucked in his breath and listened. Was that the sound of voices off in the distance? Wes met his gaze and nodded. Vandermere strode across the room and grabbed Tanila’s arm.

  “We have to go.” He pulled her from the shelf.

  “Not until I get my proof.” Tanila yanked her arm from him.

  He grabbed her again. “It will be of no use to you if we are caught. We’ll have to find something else.”

  Tanila’s lips pressed into a thin line and she gazed at the shelf one last time before following them out of the room.

  “What about the females?” Tanila’s breath came out in a huff.

  “No time.” Wes turned his head to let his voice carry as he ran. “We’d be caught for sure trying to carry them around.”

  They scampered down the hall in the opposite direction they had come with the sounds of voices and footfalls growing closer.

  30

  Vandermere leaned against the rough wall of the catacomb and panted as Tanila scanned the map with narrowed eyes. Sweat beaded his brow and his ribs ached with each breath.

  “Are you sure you can read that thing?” Wes asked.

  Her glare was visible even in the dim lantern light. “You didn’t have a problem following me up until now.”

  “I’m just hoping you can lead us out as well as you led us in,” Wes muttered.

  “Well, I intended to leave the way we came, but there are complications.” Her gaze slid from him to the hall behind them.

  The voices had faded a while ago. However, they’d rushed through a maze of so many twists and turns that Vandermere wasn’t sure Tanila knew where they were at the moment. He rubbed his eyes. He could try to force a vision, but for what purpose? Did he really want to risk losing himself to the Shadow for the chance he could see a way out?

  Tanila bit her lip as she continued to study the map. Vandermere turned and stared down the hall ahead of them. Were those a set of double doors at the end? He walked to the end of the hall and stared up at the entrance. A four-pointed star surrounded by flames was embossed on the brass doors with the crease running through the center. Why was the symbol of the Elemental Order of Fire emblazoned here? As far as he knew, Kirkwall wasn’t dedicated to a particular element.

  “I don’t remember going through those,” Wes said from behind him.

  Vandermere half turned. “We didn’t. Tanila, do you see anything like this on your map?”

  She joined them with the sound of rustling paper. “There’s many doors on here, but I don’t see any emblems on the map.”

  He moved around to peer at the map over her shoulder. Most of the tunnels were straight passages with little curving or winding, much like they’d been traveling through. He narrowed his eyes as he found a straight part of the wall that looked similar to where they were standing. There were two doors marked on the map.

  He placed his hand on the doors. “Think this could be it?”

  “Maybe, it looks like it leads to old tunneling.” Her finger trailed along a hall past the doors to where it intersected with a group of tunnels. “Though that part of the map seems unfinished.”

  “Old tunnels could lead to the city,” Wes said. “It’s a way out that would ensure we don’t get caught.”

  “It’s in the early hours of the morning,” Tanila said. “How many could possibly be awake?”

  “Depends on how long we’ve been down here, and how long it will take us to get out,” Vandermere said. “We could arrive back in the upper floors as most are rising.”

>   Wes looked to the doors. “This may be a better option.”

  “And if there isn’t a way out?” Tanila asked.

  “We can wait until nightfall and have Wes scout the temple,” Vandermere said. “However, I’d rather not risk the temple tonight. We’ve already almost been caught.”

  “Fine,” Tanila said. “Lead the way.”

  Vandermere pushed the door open. A wave of hot dry air hit his face from the hall beyond, stealing his breath for a moment. He took a step back, wiping the perspiration that beaded his face with his sleeve.

  He glanced at Wes and Tanila. “Do either of you know if this church was connected to the Path of Fire?”

  “It shouldn’t be,” Tanila said. “All my research indicates that all the Paths are practiced here equally.”

  “I wonder what else they are hiding down here,” Vandermere said.

  “We may find out.” Tanila pushed past him and stepped into the tunnel.

  She raised her lantern, revealing a hall similar to the one they had just come through. Vandermere glanced behind, took a deep breath, and joined her. Wes brought up the rear and shut the doors behind him.

  He gave Vandermere a quick smile. “Wouldn’t want anyone coming to investigate why the doors were open.”

  Vandermere nodded. “Alright, Tanila, let’s at least go until the map ends.”

  She glanced at the paper and traveled ahead. Vandermere followed, side by side with Wes. They stopped where the bricks of the hall gave way to a hewn tunnel.

  Tanila looks at the map and then looked back at them. With the nod, she turned right. In the dark of the tunnels, Vandermere lost sense of time. The tunnel went on endlessly. At last, it opened into a cavernous room. The air stood in a thick, white haze, obscuring the farthest wall. Vandermere’s boots sank into the loose dirt as he stepped inside.

  “This isn’t on the map,” Tanila said. “We reached the end a few turns ago.”

  “And you didn’t say anything?” Wes asked with a huff.

  “I was keeping track of what turn’s we’d made,” Tanila said.

  “It might be a good idea to write them down.” Vandermere said. “In case we need to go back.”

  Tanila nodded and pulled out a small pen from a pouch on her belt. As she scribbled on the map, Vandermere moved along the right side of the room while Wes inspected the left. Vandermere paused about three fourths of the way in. Two tunnels stood ahead, close to each other. The second had a wider mouth than the first and a faint orange glow seemed to brighten and dim from it. An uneasy feeling filled the pit of his stomach.

  “Help…I…trapped…”

  Vandermere started at the voice that drifted from the tunnel without the light. It sounded almost feminine and like fire at the same time.

  “Release…”

  He took a step forward. What had the Order trapped down here? Perhaps it had been the Path of Fire that had done so, thus their symbol. It could be another god, or a spirit. He frowned. It could also be a Sluagh.

  “What are you doing?” Tanila called.

  Vandermere turned her direction. “There’s something here.”

  “A way out?” Wes appeared through the haze in the center of the room. “There’s another tunnel over here.”

  “No,” Vandermere said. “I think they bound something here.”

  Wes’s gaze moved past him and his eyes grew wide as an intense heat suffused Vandermere’s back.

  “Look out!” Wes shouted.

  Vandermere turned to look. An icy sensation crawled up his spine, despite the heat that filled the room.

  A reptile creature emerged from the tunnel, so large that its sides scraped against the edges of the opening. Two eyes glowed like orange fire, dimming and brightening with each breath it took. The light reflected off dark, red scales along its muscular four-legged body.

  Vandermere stared up at it as it towered over them. Now he knew what had been giving off the light.

  “Great Empress.” Tanila’s face paled. “They have a fire drake down here.”

  The drake snorted and two tiny flames erupted from its snout. With a rumbling growl, it opened its maw and emitted a ball of flames that flew in the air towards Vandermere. Vandermere leapt to the side, but the flames caught his clothes. He hit the dirt and rolled, snuffing the flames.

  The drake charged towards him. Tanila pulled out a pistol and fired at the creature. The booming echo filled the hall and the shot went wide, hitting the wall behind the drake.

  The drake veered towards Tanila and snapped its large jaws at her, catching her in the side. Her screams burst through the cave.

  Vandermere rolled to a crouching position, hopped to his feet, and drew his sword. A loud growl sounded to Vandermere’s right. Before he could react, a large gray wolf leapt onto the back of the drake, clamping its jaw around the back of the creature’s neck. Vandermere glanced towards the middle of the cavern in search of Wes and found a pile of clothes. The wolf had to be him.

  The drake released Tanila and reared its head up with a roar, shaking side to side to dislodge the wolf. Wes’s claws scraped against its scales as he lost his footing and went flying off. He landed a few feet away with a soft yelp.

  Vandermere lunged forward and buried the point of his sword into the rear flank of the drake. The creature gave him a baleful look and snapped its teeth.

  “Wes, get Tanila and escape. I’ll hold it off!” Vandermere shouted.

  He straightened his shoulders and raised his sword. A multitude of regrets rose to his mind. He would never be able to find a cure for his House’s madness. He would never reclaim his parents’ house from his uncle. He would never see Lorelei again. Strange that was the one that stuck out the most. Still, if he was going to die here, at least it would be defending others.

  Wes sprung to his feet and bounded over to Tanila, shifting from wolf to phooka form in the air. He landed with a grunt, scooped her up, and sprinted towards his clothing.

  The drake glanced at Wes and Tanila. Vandermere jabbed the sword in its flank and the creature let out a low growl. It slammed its tail into Vandermere, catching him in his midriff. The air rushed from his lungs and he was knocked off his feet toward the center of the room. Pain flared as the burns on his arms and shoulders scraped against the stone.

  Wes moved up beside Vandermere with a pistol in his hand. He raised it at the drake, now turned in their direction, and fired. Wes’s bullet didn’t miss. It stuck the creature in its right eye.

  The drake let out a high-pitched screech and reared his head from side to side. It lowered its head on the ground and pawed at the wounded side of its face.

  “Come on,” Wes said, panting. “We should run.”

  Vandermere rose to his feet and nodded, following Wes to where he’d lain Tanila next to his clothes. Blood dripped from her into the cavern floor. Vandermere lifted Tanila up while Wes grabbed his clothes.

  “Is there a way out not past that creature?” Vandermere asked.

  Wes pointed to a tunnel ahead of them. “Hopefully it leads out.”

  Vandermere hurried behind Wes’s naked form towards the tunnel. He spared one glance behind him as he reached the entrance. The drake’s nostrils flared as it inhaled. Its head snapped their direction and it let out a growl.

  “Run,” Vandermere said in a low voice.

  They took off down the tunnel. The hairs rose up on the back of Vandermere’s neck as he focused his attention for the sounds of the creature pursuing them. Its roars and the scraping of stone grew fainter the further they ran. They came to a turn where the tunnel narrowed enough for one person to travel comfortably. The drake would have no chance of fitting through.

  Vandermere staggered a few more feet and set Tanila down as Wes pulled on his clothing. She’d passed out sometime in their run. Her tan skin had taken on a pallor and her clothes around the wound were soaked dark blue with blood. There wasn’t as much as he expected given the size of the drake’s maw. He knelt beside her and
gripped his knees as his hands began to tremble. He needed to stay calm. Tanila needed someone with a clear head if she was going to survive.

  Gritting his teeth, he slid her blouse to the side. A row of puncture marks as wide as his fingers lined her shoulder, breast, and side in a semicircle. The edges of the wounds were charred, as if the drake’s teeth had cauterized upon biting her.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Wes leaned over him to inspect her.

  Vandermere shook his head. “I don’t know. Ironically enough, I wish Vaana were here.”

  Wes shrugged. “She does have her uses.”

  “We need to get her to a healer.”

  Wes snorted. “Another irony. The best healers in the city are the ones above us…and they would wonder how she got injured.”

  “Where else can we take her?” Vandermere asked.

  Wes scratched the back of his neck. “We could take her to the Twisted Root Tavern…There’s a girl I know there that could patch her up. No magic, but she’ll look after her.”

  Vandermere pulled his shirt off and ripped it in two. He wrapped the strips around Tanila’s chest and abdomen. Once he was finished, he gently lifted her as he stood.

  “Find us a way out then,” Vandermere said.

  With Wes leading the way, they traversed more of the tunnel. Vandermere had lost track of the time they had spent below the church. Weariness pricked behind his eyes like burning needles, but he pushed on.

  Please let this be a way out, he prayed to whatever gods were listening.

  Wes stopped at a large hole in the right wall and peeked his head through. His shoulders straightened and he looked back at Vandermere with a grin.

  “Looks like sewers,” he said. “These should connect with the rest of the city.”

  Vandermere raised his gaze to the ceiling with a soft groan. The god that answered appeared to have a cruel sense of humor.

  He tilted his head at Tanila. “This isn’t going to be good for her with the wet and the filth. Find us a way out as soon as possible.”

  “Wait here,” Wes said. “I’ll scout it out.”

  Wes’s form shrank and his face elongated with fur and whiskers sprouting. In a few seconds, a small rat emerged from Wes’s clothing and scurried through the hole.