Cursed Song
Page 16
The Queen flicked her tail in thought. “Travain cost me my beloved daughter. I would give anything to have my vengeance. However, what you ask of me is beyond my power. I cannot save this world, Leader. You are correct though, that I see each of you as my beloved daughter’s legacy. So I will offer you this. Bring your Band and join us here beneath the sea where I can protect you.”
“How?” Ruyne asked, narrowing his eyes. “My Band yet lives. Only the dead are brought to your court.”
The Queen gestured to the sirens and mermen that swam around them. “The villagers that come to the sea after your performances join my people as mermen and sirens. The Song magic changes them. Once their time has ended they join the Dusksingers in eternity. I will grant you the same boon. You and your Band may join my people and swim beneath the sea with me until you pass to the next existence and rejoin your loved ones as intended.”
Ruyne stared at her, then he and Silver both paused to watch the others swimming around them. He shuddered. “To abandon all that we know to join your kingdom is a lot to ask of us, Queen.”
“It is the only way, Leader. I cannot save the world above. I can only protect you here in my kingdom. If you refuse you will all surely perish. You do not have to die a terrible death before you join the others. Live and love here, with me, until it is truly your time,” the Queen said sternly.
“I cannot speak for my Band for something this important. I must go back and ask them,” Ruyne whispered, as he bowed his head. “Please understand, great Queen. I will not force any fate upon them.”
“I understand, Ruyne. That is why you are a good Leader for your people,” the Queen said.
Ruyne turned and started back up the stairs, lost in thought. Silver fell in behind him, but the look on the Queen’s face sent a shiver through him. Were those unshed tears in those iridescent eyes? What did she know that they did not? Dread filled Silver and he scurried to catch up to Ruyne. He grabbed Ruyne’s hand, hurrying up the stairs and tugging Ruyne along. “Hurry, Ruyne.”
“What is it?” Ruyne asked, startled out of his thoughts, as Silver broke into a run. “Silver!”
Silver just shook his head. How did he put into words the panic that had filled him now? “Something’s wrong. We have to hurry,” Silver insisted as he flung himself back onto the boat. As soon as Ruyne crossed over onto the deck, the sea collapsed behind them and the waves started to churn again.
“Take us back! Hurry!” Silver bolted up to Earling, who was already standing at the wheel.
“Aye,” Earling said, but even the flamboyant pirate seemed to know something they did not. The morose tone of his voice didn’t suit him, and he would not look at either of them, just stared at the land as it approached.
Chapter 33
Ruyne
Ruyne jumped from the ship as soon as he could, landing at a run on the dock. He heard Silver follow, but he did not stop to look back. He ran as hard as he could up the path to where they had left the Band. When he got there he stopped short, the blood-stained beach grass waving in the wind was the only sound. Horse and bard alike lay strewn about, slaughtered, their blood fresh and draining into the sand. Some had clearly tried to flee. Others, like Bronze, lay amid a pile of the corpses of their enemies. When Ruyne saw Bronze’s body, he turned and grabbed Silver as he came up the path and turned him around. “No, Silver. No.”
Tears were already streaming down Silver’s face as he beat on Ruyne’s chest. “Let me go! I can’t feel them. Where are their Songs? Why can’t I feel them?”
Ruyne pulled him closer, burying Silver’s face against his chest. “They’re gone, Silver. It’s too late.”
Silver’s strangled cry was echoed at the edge of the camp by another scream. A young girl’s scream.
“Daddy!” Truyna screeched at the top of her lungs.
“Truyna?” Ruyne pulled away from Silver and started to run. Silver tried to follow, but Ruyne heard him sink to the sand, sobbing. He prayed that the Song would protect Silver as he bolted to where Truyna’s voice had come from. “Truyna!”
“Daddy, help!” Truyna screamed again, between sobs.
Ruyne came to a stop at the edge of the camp, as he saw Truyna struggled, biting and kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs, as Valentra tried to haul her toward a waiting horse. Ruyne clenched his fists as he threw every bit of his Leader magic into his voice. “Valentra!” he called, more of a command for her to stop.
Valentra froze in place and stared at him. Then she narrowed her eyes, as she shook free of his influence. “No, she is mine. You should have let me have her the first time!” When Truyna tried to sing, Valentra clamped her hand over the little girl’s mouth. “No, you don’t. Wave goodbye to Daddy, we’re leaving.”
“No, you’re not,” Ruyne whispered as he closed his eyes. He focused his Song magic, drawing on any little remnant left of his Band. “Join me one last time, help me save her,” he whispered to the wind. As he raised his voice to sing the wind howled around him in response. The wind whipped around Valentra and tore Truyna from her hands, blowing the little girl toward Ruyne before it whipped around and slammed Valentra to the ground. Truyna started to run toward Ruyne as fast as she could, still sobbing.
Valentra summoned the magic of her Song as she sang in response, using her magic to whip Truyna back toward her.
Ruyne’s voice died as he realized if he continuedm they would rip the child apart fighting over her. Instead, he walked derminedly toward Valentra. “Let her go, Valentra.”
“I will not.” Valentra sneered, as she grabbed Truyna again and hauled her toward the horse. “I won’t leave my daughter with the Leader of a dead Band. All your people were slaughtered, and where were you?”
Ruyne saw a flash of metal behind the horse and paused. Valentra threw Truyna up onto the horse’s back, but as she tried to swing into the saddle, Silver dove under the horse’s neck and yanked Valentra away. “Don’t look, Tru!” Silver commanded, yanking on the horse’s rein so the animal would turn away before he pulled Valentra the other direction.
“Silver!” Ruyne called, horrified as the dagger flashed. He broke into a run just as Silver rammed the dagger into Valentra’s chest. She slid down him, her face a mask of shock as she collapsed. Ruyne grabbed the horse’s reins and kept the animal facing away from the scene, as Silver fell to his knees next to Valentra. “Silver?”
“Daddy!” Truyna cried, reaching for Ruyne. He let her slide off into his arms, holding her close and keeping her eyes away from the body of her mother. He walked forward and put a hand on Silver’s shoulder. “Silver, I still need you. Come with us now. The soldiers she hired will miss her soon, and they will come back. We need to get away from here. Now. Grieve once we are safe, please.”
Silver threw the dagger away with a retch and buried his face in his hands.
“Come on, Da,” Truyna mumbled too, confused and scared. “Why won’t you come? Don’t leave me too!”
The child’s plea seemed to break through to him because Silver rose to turn and hug Ruyne and Truyna both, breaking into sobs again.
Ruyne let the horse go, then started walking slowly back toward the sea with his family. “Silver, do you agree with the Queen’s proposal?”
“Yes,” Silver whispered.
Ruyne led them away from the Band he had failed to protect. He would not fail Silver and Truyna. There was only one safe place for them now.
Earling didn’t say a word, just gave them a knowing look, as he ferried them back to the Queen. As Ruyne sang to summon the siren again, his voice broke and he tried to shove away the emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
Truyna wiggled out of his grip and smiled at him. “It’s okay, Daddy. I’ll sing now.” She hurried to the edge of the boat and, as she sang, the waves stilled around them. The siren Queen surged out of the water before them with a look of disbelief on her face.
As Truyna continued to sing, Ruyne felt the shift in her magic. Her Song had never be
en truly like theirs, and he could feel it changing him now. He glanced at Silver and saw the same realization on Silver’s face.
The Siren Queen bent down to pick them up in her hands as Truyna’s magic transformed the three of them. They traded legs for tails as Truyna became a child-siren, and Ruyne and Silver transformed into mermen.
Well done, child,” the Queen said with pride. “I knew my daughter would be reborn to the Dusksingers eventually.”
Ruyne looked himself over then looked at Silver, so overcome with a storm of emotion he couldn’t find his voice. Silver sat there next to him in shock, staring at Truyna.
“We’ll be okay now. I promise,” Truyna said with a happy giggle, as though the transformation had erased all of the memory of the horror they had just witnessed.
“Your Band is not lost, Leader. You did not fail them. You will see them again. For now they are safe,” the Queen reminded Ruyne. “Let go of the pain.”
Ruyne searched for Silver’s hand and Silver leaned against him for support.
“Now, we really must do something about this sunlight before it dries up my sea,” the Queen said as she transferred Truyna to one hand and held her up to the sky. “Sing, my daughter. Sing to bring back the night. Undo what your enemy has wrought.”
Truyna stood up and her pure innocent voice rang out over the sea. As she sang words of hope and joy, the sky started to darken and the sun dove into the sea, leaving only twinkling stars above them in the night sky.
“It was Truyna all along,” Silver whispered to Ruyne, staring at him.
When the Queen returned Truyna to them, Ruyne reached out to hug the little girl. “Good job, Truyna.” Truyna smiled and cuddled into his embrace.
“The world will sort itself out. Until it does, you will be safe beneath the waves, my children. Let us go home,” the Queen declared, then dove beneath the waves with them in her protective grasp.
* * *
THE END
About the Author
Samantha Kroese is the author of nine published Dark Fantasy novels including the best-selling Fading Lights Trilogy. She loves to write dark tales about hope surviving against impossible odds and brings a refreshing perspective to the genre. From a young age, her goal has been to write stories that will shine the light of hope for those living in the abyss. She has been writing fiction for nearly thirty years, ran a fantasy writer’s critique circle for fifteen years, and has edited works for other authors. She has completed writing dozens of fantasy novels and created thousands of detailed characters. She hopes to be able to present most of them to her reading public in due course.
* * *
In addition to writing, she is an avid horse lover and an animal rescue advocate, often speaking out for horse rescue and feral cat causes. She writes from the frozen tundra of Minnesota where she lives with her Arabian stallion, that she is convinced is really a unicorn, and her army of delightful rescued cat minions.
* * *
You can find her online at the following web addresses:
* * *
Author website: https://vnvstables.wixsite.com/authorsnkroese
* * *
If you enjoyed reading this book please remember to leave a review to support the author.
Coming Soon
Stormslinger
World of Fading Lights
Standalone
coming in 2022
* * *
The Chronicler
Prequel to The Darkest Sword
coming in 2022