Winterskin: A Dark Fantasy (Kindred Souls Book 1)

by C. M. Estopare

  Kat nodded, her mind awash as fire gleamed from the corner of her eye. The Sonants made no move against them. The force frozen beneath the rain and explosion of color upon the horizon as the sun gave way to the night.

  Vidonia struck Kat's shoulder before digging her nails into the tendons. “Come on, then. Before your kinsmen make a move they'll regret.”

  “And where do we go?” Kat blinked, her steps uncertain and choppy as they two began to follow the river west.

  “Safrana.” Vidonia snapped, her gaze floating towards the Sonants as the sky bellowed with thunder overhead.

  With an agile flick of her wrist, white lightning struck in a jagged arch. The bolt touching down upon the burning finger of wood at the top of the Labassette's tower before unraveling into a myriad of thin singular bolts.

  Lightning hailed upon the chateau, the bolts narrowly missing a handful of Sonants while striking others. Howls speared through the twilight as Kat froze. The figure standing atop the tower burning black before falling. Sonant Kaiden twirling through the air, a tail of smoke following, before he smacked into the black ground at the tower's foundation. His scream of silence deafening.

  FORTY-SEVEN

  As the moon rose, a new host of wildlife took to the night skies. Cricket chirps echoed from within towering blades of high grass, as creatures hooted hungrily overhead. The thrum of monstrous wings flapping against the light of the moon forced the grass swallowing Kat and Vidonia's ankles to bow and bend. A single piercing caw speared through the night as the two stumbled and twisted through blue tinted plains of dancing grass.

  “We cannot go on forever.” Councilwoman Vidonia whispered as the two plunged through the plains. “I know of a place we can rest, but it is just a clearing. You'll be sleeping in the grass.”

  Kat shrugged, somewhat rolling her eyes. “Lead on, then.”

  ~~~

  Vidonia lead them through the plains, the woman stopping beneath a large oak that cast a crooked black shadow. The shadow reaching over a thin thicket of blue tinted grass infested with chirping crickets.

  The councilwoman was the first to lie down and wish the world goodnight, the woman laying upon her side in the grass before letting her exhaustion take her to sleep. Kat attempted to do the same as she rested her back upon the trunk of the thick, crooked, oak. But as she watched Vidonia breathe easily upon the grass, Kat found herself wondering why the woman was willing to help her and save the south. Wasn't she a northwoman and a councilor to the Rose's Monarchy? Of all the people willing to turn on the north to help the south—Kat would have expected Vidonia to be the absolute last and the most devoted to the cause of the north. Why turn to help Katell? Why turn at all?

  Councilwoman Vidonia had her own agenda in mind, that much was true. She seemed to care more for magic and power than she did for the north or her kinsmen. If Vidonia was truly self-serving, then there had to be an ulterior motive as to why the councilwoman was so willingly taking Kat to meet the creature who could cast the Solomon and bring Kat into her power. There had to be—but what?

  Kat remembered Anais speaking about Vidonia...drinking...her. Now that Anais was no more, did Vidonia plan to trick Kat into allowing her to drink her as well?

  Drinking...Kat shivered at the thought. Was Vidonia some sort of hybrid hetaera? What did the councilwoman plan to do with Kat once they reached the caster of the Solomon? What did Vidonia plan to do beforehand—in Safrana? Was Kat willingly marching towards her own doom?

  She murdered Kaiden. With a flick of her wrist—she murdered him!

  Kat stood, careful to be quiet as she looked to the night sky.

  Bertrand was still out there somewhere—he vanished. Perhaps he could help her—perhaps she could leave this woman to her fate and search for those who would actually help her...

  Without Vidonia, Baate Noir and the Southern Reaches will perish beneath an onslaught of monsters freed by the broken wards of the black forest. Without her...

  Kat fell, plopping upon the ground at her feet.

  Is there no other way to save the south?

  Vidonia would betray her, that much Kat knew, but without Vidonia Baate Noir would be no more.

  And the monsters—the monsters will be free.

  Where was help when she desperately needed it? Where were the Fates and their instruments? She knew that the world was not perfect, but when the balance of power between man and beast was upset—where were the gods to right it? Where were their creators and destroyers? Had the Cataclysm gotten rid of them too? Replaced them with beasts and monsters?

  Maybe Baate Noir was never meant to exist. Maybe monsters were meant to be free...

  At least—that's how the Night Lady had made it seem...

  No matter.

  Kat eyes grew heavy as she rested her hands in her lap. She'd keep her ax close as the inside of her shield prodded her back. A sweet wind rolled through her nostrils as her eyes became heavy slits. A white fog settled upon the ground before she allowed sleep to possess her and passed out.

  ~~~

  “Wake up—someone is toying with us. Wake up—,”

  Kat did as she was told, her breath catching in her throat as she patted her thigh for her ax.

  It was gone.

  “Wake up!”

  White clouded her vision. The stream of blue tinted grass she sat upon was now blanketed by a surging froth of white mist. Tugging her bear skin cloak tight around her shoulders, Kat brought her gaze to the sky only to find that that too was cleansed with white.

  Before her, a presence illuminated in gold bloomed into existence.

  It beckoned her with a hand. A feminine creature hidden by a cloak of gold.

  Kat froze. Damn, she hated magic.

  “Don't—merde—what are you doing, girl!”

  “Ignore that shrill creature.” the woman before Kat scoffed, still beckoning her forth with a hand. “I've come to tell you the truth, Katell Maeva. Come closer.”

  Another thing waiting to enshroud me in its lies. Kat took a step back, her foot slamming into something rough.

  “Open your eyes! Whatever you're seeing, it's a—,”

  Vidonia's shrieking voice faded as the gold woman shut her dainty palm. “I am a projection of the one you seek. I've come to warn you, magebane, turn back. The woman you travel with serves power and pride, she cares not for the plight of our world.”

  “And what of Baate Noir and the changing of the leaves? Without her—how will I stop it?”

  The presence cocked its head of golden hair. “You will not.” it responded matter-of-factly, “For it is not your destiny to.”

  “Then what am I to do?!” Kat shouted back, fists clenched at her sides. “Sit and wait until the Southern Reaches go up in flames? Let my kinsmen die?!”

  “You are to let the world continue on as it ought.” the figure commanded, the fog at Kat's feet gradually receding as the night sky became visible once more. “As this age comes to a close...”

  The fog peeled back, the white melting away like snow turning to vapor beneath the bright light of the sun. Kat fell back into the grass, palms catching on rough dirt as she edged away from an explosive burst of hot breath that surged from her front. Heavy wing beats brought up a cloud of dust as her hair whipped past her ears. A hand fell to her shoulder and yanked her up.

  You were supposed to die in those woods, an otherworldly voice hissed upon a breath of hot wind.

  Vidonia pulled and threw Kat behind her as the shrill cry of an injured gryphon speared through the night, golden wings whirling up the stale air as burgundy blood spilled from between gold and white pinions. Its large black eyes were glassy as the creature looked on, its jagged beak shining white beneath the harsh glare of the moon. Sharp claws the size of Kat's arms dug through the moonlit plains as it lowered its upper body, the creature lowering itself into a crouch as it locked eyes with Vidonia.

  Thunderous magic whirled to life in the high sorceress's clenched hands as Kat gasp
ed. In the grass, she found her ax. The weapon carelessly thrown by something or someone.

  Something told Kat that she had done it. In her fog induced stupor, she had disarmed herself.

  This world does not need another magebane.

  Rearing back its head, the gryphon screeched.

  FORTY-EIGHT

  Kat scrambled to her hands and knees, her hair whipping past her face once more as the gryphon roared and beat its wings against the earth.

  “Stay down,” Vidonia growled, the power whirring to life within her hands exploding into two clear orbs of pulsating energy. “you've done enough.”

  The creature charged forward with a screech, its mighty talons ripping up grass and dirt as it rushed forward.

  Rolling to her right, Kat hissed as a talon ripped into the skin of her face. Narrowly missing the gryphon's charge, she clung hard to the handle of her ax as Vidonia uttered a shrill war cry and forced a pulsating orb of power into the gryphon's right hip with an explosion of red gore.

  Losing control of its leg, the right side of the massive beast's body plummeted to the ground with a slam. Vidonia froze—hand squarely within the gryphon's right hip—as the creature's useless haunch pinned her to the ground and held.

  Vidonia roared, her breath labored and pained.

  Kat clung to the ax in her hand before pushing herself up into a crouch. She bit her lip as the injured gryphon thrashed its head of white feathers from side to side, the creature calling out to the night as it tried to bring its useless right hip from the ground.

  Its bloodied wings beat lamely, the beast pawing at the ground as it lifted its head and cried out once more.

  All at once, it noticed the woman pinned beneath it.

  Kat charged—screaming for the beast's attention—as Vidonia forced her body to turn beneath the beast's massive weight. Hissing as she moved, she roared in frustration as Kat dug the head of her ax into the gryphon's belly.

  The creature screeched in exasperation then, its jagged beak ripping open to its breaking point.

  “Over here!” Vidonia screamed, fingers raking at air as she fought to breathe. “Pull me out—you won't—you won't kill it that way!”

  Clasping the high sorceress's hands, Kat yanked as the woman roared in ear splitting agony. The gryphon matched her screams, anxiously beating its massive wings against the ground until it brought itself from its blood soaked spot upon the plains and into the air.

  Vidonia wreathed upon the ground, her hand to her chest, as she coughed. Black blood spurting like a dying fountain from the side of her lips.

  “You—,” she coughed, staring at the hovering gryphon as it flew in a lopsided circle. “—you called it. Injured it.” Kat's eyes went wide as she brought her hands to Vidonia's armpits and dragged her through the grass. Away from the gryphon's lopsided path. “Then threw your weapon. Wanted to—to sacrifice yourself.”

  Dropping her beneath the shadow of the oak tree behind them, Kat shook her head. “Something woke me and told me that I...” should have died in those woods. Vidonia stood, every movement visibly painful as her face twisted and her lips scowled. “It told me that I'm...not destined to save the south.”

  Vidonia cursed.

  Spreading its black talons before itself, the gryphon flew towards the two as its wings locked up. The creature falling.

  “Stay where you are.” Vidonia coughed as Kat readied to run.

  Letting go of her side, Vidonia wheezed as she moved her hands before her chest, her fingers pointing towards her heart as she moved her palms backwards. Over and over she repeated this movement, murmuring foreign words as her eyes locked with the gryphon's. Raw power surged as Kat felt the air suddenly grow cool around them. Kat's jaw dropped as Vidonia's eyes became large pools of black, her skin suddenly dropping all color. A sickening gray overtaking the pink tone of her skin as a pulsating red grew from her chest and enveloped her hands.

  The gryphon spread its talons. Opened it's jagged yellow beak.

  As Vidonia spread her palms before herself and roared.

  A thunderous boom shook the ground, the sudden jolt bringing Kat to her knees as the gryphon squawked overhead. Gargantuan wings flapped wildly as the massive beast collided with Vidonia in a hail of blood and gold pinions.

  FORTY-NINE

  Catching herself with outstretched hands clutching the grass, Kat heaved as the gryphon sprawled upon the patch of grass beside her breathed its last. Kat heard Vidonia hiss beneath the bloodied carcass's golden chest. Hanging her head, Kat closed her eyes as she wondered how she'd gather the strength to free the councilwoman from her prison of feathers and meat.

  Fortunately, she wouldn't have to think hard.

  A bubbling cloud of dark mist came to life before her. Lifting up her head, Kat sat back upon her haunches and watched as the councilwoman materialized before her in a breath of chilling wind.

  The smoke—the materialization—it was all too familiar to Kat.

  “You're a hetaera.” Kat breathed, the hair upon the back of her neck rising. “Anais said that you...drink people—this is what she meant, isn't it?”

  Brushing invisible dust from the fabric of her torn gown, the councilwoman scoffed as her black eyes lightened into their normal olive tint.

  “Hetaera?” she barked, rolling her eyes. “Anais knew little—and you, even less. I took its life, saving you.” she spat, throwing a hand towards the gryphon's immobile carcass. “Is that not what matters?”

  Kat bit her lip. “I can't trust you if you won't tell me the truth.”

  “You've trusted me this far.” the councilwoman snapped, crossing her arms. “Or, are you suddenly regretting freeing me from that tower?”

  Kat couldn't bring herself to tell the councilwoman the truth—that figure wrapped in gold had shaken her confidence. Was the councilwoman truly as selfish as the figure warned? Could she be leading Kat towards something entirely different? Could the Solomon spell help the councilwoman instead of Kat? Was Kat truly not destined to save the south?

  Should she allow the world to continue on as it ought?

  Perhaps the black forest's beast are meant to be free.

  Where did the gryphon come from? The figure encased in gold?

  Where was Vidonia truly taking her?

  Kat looked to the councilwoman for answers, but knew she'd receive none. She'd have to continue on. Turning back now would be fruitless. The councilwoman had killed Kaiden, and news of this would spread quickly. Southerners would mislabel her as a traitor if she returned with nothing. If she did not fix the forest, she'd have no home to return to. She would have to turn to northerners for help—or worse.

  Perhaps Vidonia would drink her life, and that would be that. Or, perhaps the woman's heart wasn't as black as she believed it to be.

  Kat would never know—or, at least, not yet.

  After a prolonged silence, Vidonia held out a hand. Kat took it, the woman's skin pallid and lifeless as Kat felt it. Grasped it tightly.

  “The Archon sent the gryphon.” the councilwoman told her, eyes dead-set. “If we can get into the city sooner rather than later, it will make it that much harder for him to send more...mythic creatures. Does this quench your thirst for the truth?” she grunted as she pulled Kat up. “Will you trust me, now?”

  Kat ran a hand through her hair. What choice do I have but to trust you? “Who is the Archon? Why did he send this beast after us?”

  Vidonia smirked, head cocked. “He is a coward who believed me to be dead, and now wishes death upon me because we've encroached upon his territory. He is the realm's puppetmaster.” she finished with an anxious twist of her wrist. “If we don't move, more will come. If we stay here in the open, we might not be so lucky next time.”

  Kat nodded, wrinkling her nose. She avoided speaking as worries overshadowed her curiosity. Was the Archon right about Councilwoman Vidonia? And if so, was that truly a bad thing?

  ~~~

  A two citadels rose upon the bri
ghtening horizon with the sharp spearhead of a dark castle reaching up through the westernmost citadel's heart to pierce the clouds hovering overhead.

  Raging rivers gushed, breaking through the long stretch of grassy plains as Kat and Vidonia ventured closer towards the metropolis. Eventually, a gray river broke off into two branches before them. One branch careening off of a sharp precipice, the water falling into a crashing sea ramming itself up against a tall cliff; the other leading into the citadels gleaming like jades upon the blooming horizon.

  Vidonia began following the branch of the river that lead off the cliff, her black skirts trailing through the grass like a shadow. The woman stopped at the cliff face, her body a black silhouette as she stood frozen. Her eyes scanning the fathomless horizon as it gleamed across the sea below.

  “We're almost there.” Kat murmured, standing a good distance behind her, but close enough to be heard. “Shouldn't we continue?”

  Vidonia seemed to hesitate before she swiftly nodded. Her head turning to give Kat a sidelong glare before she brought her face to the sea and took her gaze down.

  “Councilwoman Vidonia?”

  She began to laugh, the sound a low rumbling chuckle as she brought a hand to her mouth. “What she wouldn't give to meet you.” Vidonia giggled, throwing back her head. “So close, yet so far! Frustrating, isn't it?”

  Kat had the oddest feeling Vidonia wasn't speaking to her—not entirely, at least.

  “Here I am! Standing upon a precipice—needing but to simply jump and she'd finally get her way! Power,” she growled, lifting her hands only to lower them, clenching her hands into fists. “it is what we all crave. Even you, as holy as you claim to be—even you crave it!” Throwing her gaze over her shoulder suddenly, Vidonia gestured for Kat to move away. Move back, she mouthed as she batted her hand towards her, Move back!

  Kat didn't budge.

  “Perhaps.” a voice boomed back, the deep thrum of its bass shaking the cliff. “What have you come to offer, now?”