Song of Shadow

by Natalya Capello

  “Hmm,” Amara said. “Venerable, but it will probably get him killed. You should have him return to his people.”

  Lorelei flashed her a frown. “Are you suggesting I command him to do so?”

  “It’s what your people do,” Amara said. “And if it saves his life…”

  Lorelei gritted her teeth and sped up. She liked Wes, even considered him a friend. It seemed wrong to force him to leave when he didn’t want to. During their talk, she’d let Wes and Vandermere move farther ahead. They’d paused at a large opening and were staring back at her and Amara.

  “The cavern is just ahead,” Wes said in a low voice as Lorelei and Amara joined them. “The drake will most likely be in a tunnel to our right.”

  “It is hard to see inside,” Vandermere said. “You need to stay alert.”

  “So,” Wes said, gripping the glass bottle, “who is going to play distraction?”

  “You were already burned.” Lorelei glanced at Vandermere. “And I’m good as a distraction. I’ll do it.”

  “You’re recovering from your wounds,” Amara said. “I’m fast enough to avoid its fire. I’ll do it.”

  Wes nodded with a smirk. “Let the shapeshifters handle it.”

  Amara shook her head with a silent chuckle and took the lead. She and Wes crept into the room along the side of the wall. Lorelei let them get far enough for the mist in the room to obscure them before stepping inside. She slunk down, keeping their shadowy figure in view.

  They paused, as if conferring, before Amara’s figure stepped away from the wall and crept towards the middle of the room. The scrape of her boots against the stone echoed through the cave.

  A roar reverberated off the walls, coming from Lorelei’s left. A bright orange light flared up, illuminating a tunnel in the mist, and the drake rushed out. Lorelei’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Vandermere had said it was large, but she hadn’t fully understood the size of it.

  It stopped at the entrance of its tunnel, nostrils flaring as it scanned the room with its one good eye. Its sight landed on Amara and it roared again. Its maw opened and a flame erupted from its mouth.

  Amara leapt to the side, clearing the flame’s reach. “Now, Wes!”

  The bottle flew into view and disappeared into the flames. The sound of breaking glass and a sizzling hiss rose over the crackling. A bright pink cloud swelled from the flames and surrounded the drake. Its fire breath died with a quick snort from the creature. It shook its head, batting at its snout as it teetered from side to side. With a huff, the creature collapsed on the ground.

  Lorelei gripped Murgleis and took several cautious steps forward. Vandermere grabbed her arm and pulled her back, but even from this distance she could see the drake’s sides heaved in deep, slow breaths. It was sleeping.

  Wes moved up beside them and whispered, “Woohoo.”

  “Great,” Amara said softly. “Now, let’s get out of here. Which way?”

  Vandermere’s hold tightened on Lorelei’s arm as he stared at a tunnel near the one from which the drake had emerged. “Do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” Lorelei tilted her head.

  Was that a female voice calling? She couldn’t quite make out what it was saying.

  “I heard it before…” Vandermere stared with his forehead creased. “Before the drake attacked.”

  “It’s probably a trap,” Wes said. “Like the drake.”

  “Or something the drake was guarding. I need to see.” Vandermere’s eyes glazed over.

  “You can’t be serious,” Wes said. “Vaana’s not going to be down that way and we are wasting time.”

  Vandermere’s gaze locked on Lorelei. “We need to see her.”

  “See who?” Lorelei asked.

  “The Fire,” Vandermere said. “We need to see her…for the truth.”

  She reached out to touch his arm and he gripped her hand in his. He was speaking to her and she sensed no menace from him. He wasn’t in one of his episodes of madness, but he was speaking so strange.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Amara stared down the hall with a narrow-eyed gaze. “I can’t get a feel for what he’s speaking of. It could be a trap…or something bound.”

  “Which could also be a trap,” Wes said. “I’m not going down there. It’s just crazy.”

  “Fine, I’ll go alone.” Vandermere marched toward the tunnel.

  Lorelei pressed her lips together and looked between Wes and Vandermere. “Wes, go on ahead with Amara. Leave us some sort of marks so we can catch up.”

  Wes’s eyebrows rose. “You are seriously going to let him do this? He’s crazy.”

  With a glare at Wes, Vandermere disappeared down the tunnel.

  “Sometimes,” Lorelei said. “But he’s also a prophet. Besides, he’s had my back. I’m not leaving him alone.”

  Amara frowned. “I don’t like this. We shouldn’t be splitting up.”

  “Then wait here with Wes,” Lorelei said. “If we run into something bad, I’ll sing.”

  “And if you can’t?”

  “Then wait for twenty minutes. If we don’t come back, come after us.”

  Wes shook his head. “This is stupid.”

  “Maybe,” Lorelei said. “But it’s not much different than things we’ve done already.”

  With that, she took off into the tunnel after Vandermere. She wasn’t about to let him wander off alone into a possible trap.

  I dislike this, Murgleis’ voice rang through Lorelei’s mind. I sense something powerful and it is not your Vaana.

  We know it’s not Vaana, Lorelei shot back as she rushed through the tunnel.

  What other god do they have trapped down here?

  That gave Lorelei a pause. You think it is a god?

  Murgleis was silent for a moment. I do not know. It is not Sluagh.

  Vandermere’s back disappeared around a corner. From the edges, bright firelight flickered, beckoning. Lorelei quickened her steps and sent a silent prayer to the Empress.

  Please don’t let it be a bigger drake…or something worse.

  She rounded the corner and let out a gasp. She and Vandermere stood at the entrance of a small stone room. Bricks carved with intricate sigils had been laid with care to create the walls. A stone bed was pushed to one side of the room, along with a table.

  A female paced the center of the room as much as her chains would allow her as they were attached to the ground between the center of the room and the bed. Her face was hidden in a deep hood but her robes clung to her figure. Two fiery wings sprung from her back and her hands were wreathed in flame. She turned and looked at them, tilting her head.

  Lorelei’s breath caught in her throat.

  “You came.” Even the female’s voice held a smoky, burning quality. “I was beginning to lose hope that anyone would answer my call.”

  I dislike this… Murgleis repeated. She is…holy…more holy than anything else in this church.

  The female’s gaze fell on the sword and bowed her head. “Murgleis, Light of Lament. I mean no ill will toward you, nor am I capable of harming you in these chains.”

  “Who are you?” Lorelei asked.

  “I am Hesiah, the Apostle of Fire,” the female said.

  Lorelei’s eyebrows lifted as a bubble of disbelieving laughter rose from her chest. “What? But Evangeline is the Apostle…”

  “A puppet put in place by the Pretender. She bound me here when I ascended to Hesiah.” She held up her hands. “These chains funnel my Aether to the false Apostle so miracles can be performed under the Pretender’s bidding.”

  “I barely understood any of that.” Lorelei glanced at Vandermere who just stared at Hesiah with wide eyes. “What do you mean ascending? And who is this Pretender?”

  “Hesiah is the name of the great Elemental Dragon of Fire. As an Apostle, I have reached the pinnacle of my faith and have taken her name.”

  “And the Pretender?”

  Vandermere let out a l
ow groan. “The Vampire Queen...the lost goddess. She has been pulling the strings.”

  Hesiah nodded. “Your prophet sees correctly. The Mother of Vampires has wormed her way in the Order under the guise of the Voice of Wisdom.”

  A cold sweat broke over Lorelei’s body despite the heat Hesiah generated. The room seemed to grow smaller as her chest tightened. It couldn’t be true.

  “This has to be some sort of joke,” Lorelei choked out. “How could the Empress allow such a thing? The Voice is her conduit to the faerie…She would know!”

  Hesiah shook her head. “I fear the Empress has been lost to us since she disappeared from Threshold.”

  “She didn’t disappear.” Lorelei jerked her head in Vandermere’s direction. “She ascended…back to her celestial realm.”

  Vandermere shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. “It seems things are more dire than even my visions let on.”

  Lorelei swallowed. It felt as if tiny needles were pricking the corners of her eyes. This was too much. She had to focus on their task, their reason for coming here.

  “We have to find Vaana.” Lorelei clutched at Vandermere’s sleeve. “She’s somewhere in this church, right?”

  “The girl the false Apostle has been seeking?” Hesiah asked. “She is with her now, but they are not in this church.”

  Lorelei glanced at Hesiah. “How do you know that?”

  “I catch glimpses through the eyes of the false Apostle.” Hesiah raised her head to stare up at the ceiling. “She is taking the girl, your Vaana, to the Pretender.”

  Fear shot through Lorelei. Daan had attacked them with the intention of taking Vaana. It all made sense now, why the Order had been bent on chasing them. They’d experimented on Vaana to give her the ability to house gods or more powerful spirits to bring to Daan.

  “Daan plans on draining the Aether of the gods, doesn’t she?” Lorelei asked.

  “Most likely,” Vandermere said in a grim voice. “They were her siblings, after all.”

  “Wait, what?” Lorelei turned to Vandermere.

  He let out a sigh. “In the Menhir, I had a vision.”

  “I remember,” Lorelei’s voice took an annoyed edge. He was choosing now to tell her?

  “I saw Daan’s creation…her battle with her siblings, and her defeat by the hands of her sister, the Empress.”

  Now even Hesiah focused on him. “What do you mean by this?”

  “The Empress is supposed to be an incarnation of the One True Goddess,” Lorelei said.

  “But you know there are many goddesses…or were. Daan was one and the Empress was her sister. Though she was more…” Vandermere rubbed his forehead. “I don’t understand all I saw…and now isn’t the time to explain it.”

  “Fair enough.” Lorelei turned back to Hesiah. “We can try to free you?”

  Hesiah shook her head. “I’m afraid you won’t succeed. As long as the false Apostle lives, I am bound here.”

  Lorelei took a step back and bit her lip. “But…”

  Vandermere rested his hand on her shoulder. “We have to deal with the false Apostle first.”

  “Do you know where she is?” Lorelei asked Hesiah.

  Hesiah bowed her head and closed her eyes. “She is traveling the Damerel at this moment.”

  Vandermere frowned. “That’s upriver, on one of the branches. If she plans on returning to the Empire, that is a roundabout way to do so.”

  “She wishes to avoid the Legate…I’m sorry, I cannot ascertain why,” Hesiah said.

  Lorelei let out a sigh. “It’s fine. At least we know which direction to head to. We may be able to catch up if Wes is fast—"

  Her words were cut off by a high-pitched whistle from Wes. Lorelei sent a wide-eyed look at Vandermere.

  “I think that’s our cue that we need to leave.” Lorelei glanced to Hesiah. “We’ll come back for you. We will free you.”

  The burning in Hesiah’s voice died down, taking a sad quality. “Thank you for your thoughts, but I’ve long ago given up hope on such things. I’m glad to see a face aside from my captors.”

  Vandermere took Lorelei’s arm, leading her away. She glanced over her shoulder before picking up her pace. They rushed down the tunnel towards the cavern.

  At the entrance, they stopped short. Wes and Amara stood with their backs to the tunnel and weapons drawn, facing figures across the cave: Zaos Nematona stood in the center with three priests and a golem.

  His gaze landed on Lorelei and Vandermere. “Ah, you again. Well, I hope you enjoyed your little chat with our experiment. I fear you won’t be leaving with her secrets.”

  35

  Lorelei scanned the room with her brows furrowing. “How did you even know we were here?”

  Zaos let out a harsh laugh. “Do you think we wouldn’t have an alarm system set on such a valuable asset?”

  A chill ran through Lorelei followed by a flush of anger. “You did it. You bound the true Apostle of Fire here.”

  “I was called upon to bind a rebellious spirit and was rewarded quite well.” Zaos shrugged.

  “By the Mother of Vampires,” Vandermere said with a low growl.

  “So, what? Is she working with the Black Herons to take the Empire down?” Lorelei stepped forward with her fists clenched. “Did you help Daan steal the place of the Voice of Wisdom?”

  A redcap Fire priest’s incredulous look passed between Zaos and Lorelei as his eyes bulged. “What is she talking about?”

  “She speaks blasphemy, as a heretic would.” Zaos kept his glare on Lorelei. “Wake our guardian so we can arrest these four.”

  “Like Gehenna you will,” Amara hissed.

  She clapped her hands and ripples of force spread from her towards Zaos and the priests. The golem leapt in front of Zaos and spread her arms wide. The wave slammed into her and knocked her back a few steps. The energy of the attack dissipated around her before it could hit the rest of the group.

  Amara’s head jerked back and her hands fell to her sides as her mouth dropped open.

  Zaos smiled. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? We developed her to deal with upstart spirits like you.”

  “She can’t handle all of us,” Lorelei said and drew Murgleis.

  Wes pulled his pistol and let off a shot as Vandermere drew his sword. The explosion of the pistol rebounded off the walls. One of the two priests in the back, both of the Earth path, raised his hand. A wall of dirt rose from the ground. The bullet hit the wall and the entire thing collapsed back into the earth.

  The Fire priest sprinted towards the sleeping drake. Vandermere dashed to the side to intercept him. The other Earth priest shifted his hands in a rising motion as he chanted. Several small rocks lifted into the air.

  Lorelei drew in a deep breath and let out a few notes of her song. She concentrated on the air, attempting to snatch it from the lungs of Zaos and the Earth priests. Zaos raised two fingers up towards the ceiling and rotated them in a circle.

  Lorelei’s song died with a gurgling choke as the air rebelled and snatched the breath from her lungs, instead. She clutched her throat as a sharp ache formed in her chest. So, this was how it felt.

  Zaos smirked at her. “Your lot caught me by surprise before, but not now.”

  Amara’s hand rested on Lorelei’s should and she whispered a chant in her ear. The weight in Lorelei’s chest lightened and she gasped, sucking a lungful of precious air.

  “Thanks,” Lorelei said between pants.

  Amara nodded. “You’re going to have to take out that golem. Let me deal with Zaos.”

  “I’m on the golem,” Lorelei said. “I think the one I saw at the tower fell quickly to Murgleis’s blows.”

  Does this mean I’ll be taking control again? Murgleis asked.

  Lorelei sent a scowl to the blade. No. But I could use some guidance.

  Very well.

  “Wes, we could use some cover fire.” Lorelei called back before rushing forward.

  Another shot ech
oed through the cavern in response. She ducked as rocks flew at her and leapt forward, landing near the golem. Amara rushed Zaos and the priests. Lorelei yanked Murgleis out. It whooshed through the air as she spun and aimed a blow at the side of the golem. It sliced through the pale flesh and a dark liquid spurted out.

  The golem thrust her hands out and her palms hit Lorelei in the chest. She went flying back and few feet and landed on her knees with a shaking jar that traveled through her bones. Her lungs squeezed and, for a moment, she couldn’t find air. She glanced up in time to see an assault of rocks raining down on her. She covered her head with her arms, brought her knees up, and rolled so the stones bombarded her back. Each hit sent a sharp jolt through her. She gulped in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut. How long did she need to endure this?

  Let me take control, Murgleis murmured. They would be no issue against me.

  Not after what happened a few days ago. The cost is too great. Vandermere and Amara would never forgive me. Besides, I think Zaos may have a few tricks to stop you.

  He’s busy with Amara.

  I have my friends to help me. We will get through this.

  Wes’s shot rang through the air as if to reinforce her words. One of the Earth priests circled out and the stony assault ended.

  Lorelei pulled her head from her arms and scanned the fight. Amara was locked in a battle of magics against Zaos and the golem. Her hands were raised as she fended off a blast on black energy from Zaos. One of the Earth priests lay on the ground, unmoving. Another flung a series of stones at Wes. Vandermere darted forward to stab the Fire priest with his sword. The priest ducked to the side and blocked Vandermere’s blow with a flaming blade.

  Lorelei sucked in a soft breath and stood. Amara needed her help the most. She charged forward and slashed at the golem just as she was going to step in the way of an attack from Amara. The sword sliced through the golem’s upraised arm, severing the wrist.

  A beam of light erupted from Amara’s hand and slammed into the Zaos’s chest. He stumbled back several steps with a grunt. Amara sent a triumphant grin in Lorelei’s direction.

  It died with the roar of the drake.

  A cold weight filled Lorelei’s chest. Despite Vandermere’s efforts, the Fire priest had managed to awaken it. Amara’s gaze darted from Lorelei to Zaos. With a nod, she darted to Lorelei, grabbed her, and tossed her towards Wes.