The Legacy (The Darkness Within Saga Book 1)

by JD Franx

  “A, Assani...” Yrlissa stammered, shocked. “Those are Whispers. Actual living whispers. I can’t believe it.”

  “Lissa?” Ember asked, fear sneaking into her voice. “What is a Whisper?”

  “They are the purest guardians of the Kuhnee’Larre. The keepers of this enchanted forest—the lands personality come alive...” she answered in awe.

  “But you said meeting them would be bad. What do we do?” Ember asked, looking to Yrlissa for instructions.

  “It’s too late to run, Yrlissa,” said Max, as he stepped up to the front of the cave with the others, drawing his swords in preparation for more fighting.

  “Then I guess we see what they want,” Yrlissa said.

  As the Whispers floated closer they could finally see that they were young women, all exceptionally beautiful. Wearing nothing but long white robes, tattered at the sleeves and bottom, they seemed harmless, but every nerve in Ember’s body told her different. The voice was also female, light, and airy. “Begone, lizards” the first said, slapping the largest wyvern on the rump. “There will be no meal for you here tonight.” The words echoed numerous times, each one running into the word after it. Every wyvern bolted at the sound of her voice and all vanished in a matter of seconds.

  The three Whispers glided on currents of air that didn’t seem to exist as they approached the front of the cave and stopped less than ten feet away. Though they could all hear the strange woman with no trouble, her voice carried like the soft echo of a mountain valley’s whispering winds.

  “You are right, Daughter of the Dyr. We are happy that the Qua have granted you forgiveness. It means you do not die know,” the lead Whisper said, as she floated up to within five feet of the cave entrance.

  The first Whisper was the only one to speak. “I am called Aella. Why have you brought strangers into our home, young Elvehn of the Dyr?” Almost afraid to look away, Ember peeked at Yrlissa quickly. Nervousness and a touch of fear riddled her very being.

  “I... I apologize, Aella,” Yrlissa said. “I’m not so young. My many years have brought us here to seek help. We only mean to pass through your home so that we can speak with the Queen of these lands. We have not harmed the Kuhnee’Larre, and we mean no disrespect.” Yrlissa was clearly trying to remain calm as she looked at the others. Placing her finger on her lips, it was obvious she meant for them to remain silent. By pushing her hand towards the ground, palm down, she signalled them to make no aggressive moves.

  Aella took a close look at Yrlissa, as if checking for signs of deceit. “Your age is not relevant to appearance, that is not typical of the Dyr.” The Whisper cocked her head to the side, as if out of curiosity. “Ah, but we understand now. We see the mark. Surely, you are aware that the Fer Skala are not known for helping anyone, young or very, very old, daughter of the black mist,” she said, then looked at Saleece and added, “Not directly anyway.”

  Yrlissa had no choice but to persist. “We have brought her a gift with the hope that she would help us. We must see her. It is a matter of life and death.”

  Again, the whisper inspected Yrlissa up and down before continuing. “It is always a matter of life and death, young one. Would you be here otherwise? The only gift the Queen will accept is magic of old. A binding gem, full. What could be so important that creatures of magic like you and the others of your group would risk everything trying to take one from those that walk in both life and death? Do not lie, Dyrannai wizard. The gem around your neck pulses with power, it is what attracted the beasts.”

  Yrlissa looked at Ember and smiled before turning back to the Whisper. “The life of my friend’s mate is worth it, and some of us paid a dear price to gain what was needed,” she said, as she looked at both Max and Saleece. “All that matters is that a very dear friend of ours was taken and we had hoped Queen WhiteScale could help us locate him,” Yrlissa explained. Only the truth would help persuade the Whisper to let them continue through their forest.

  Aella laughed, a strange combination of a whispered echo and the giddy laughter of a shy child. It made everyone’s skin crawl, especially Ember’s. “Why would you seek the council of the mighty Behemoth’s kin, when you have the means to find him already travelling with you?” Stunned into total silence, Yrlissa was at a loss for what the Whisper had meant.

  “Yrlissa,” Ember began, but the Whisper turned to look at her, choking her words off.

  “Oh, you don’t know,” the Whisper said. “Of course you don’t,” she cooed, a sly smile appearing on her pretty face.

  Raising her hands, Aella looked to the sky and closed her eyes. Foggy white wisps of energy flowed from her hands and raced through the group of travellers. The trailing white wisps circled every member of the group like little comets racing through the ether, up their legs, over their bodies and around their heads before finally shooting through their chests and returning back to her hands. Aella lowered her arms and smiled even wider.

  “You have what you need to find the answers you seek. You are travelling in the company of the last Fae and none of you even know it. You should have at least suspected, Yrlissa Blackmist, Daughter of the Dyr. The years have dulled your instincts as well as your senses,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Blood’s blackest dawns the light’s last, my dear,” one of the other Whispers said, speaking for the first time as she quoted the ages old prophecy everyone believed was about Kael.

  “The light’s last birth in our world, followed on the birth of the blackest,” Aella said, smiling as she raised her arm to chest level and turned her palm up. More soft white magic lifted from her palm and whisked away like a gentle, glimmering comet. It drifted through the air and passed by Yrlissa before it circled around Saleece. Not finding what it was looking for, it moved on, finally coming to a stop at Ember, where it floated around her body and then flickered and danced along her skin as the tuft of magic grew in strength and brightness.

  “She was born to our world and returned to it immediately after the blackest wizard touched our plane’s surface. The Fae made sure their last birth here was to help all the races that remain. The answer you need to find the one lost to you is in the dreamcast magic of the Fae.”

  The Whisper glided up to Ember and floated inches from her face. “You can find him with but the simplest thought. You just need some help, cousin.” Terrified, confused, and unable to move, Ember shook as the Whisper leaned forward and kissed her forehead, leaving a sparkling spot of magic behind.

  The Whisper drifted back to Yrlissa and stared at Giddeon. “Foolish mortal. One can be born into a world at any age.”

  Aella’s words echoed with overlapping whispers, burning into their minds. Unable to tear their eyes from Ember and the incredible secret the Whisper revealed, no one noticed the Whispers had already vanished. Ember trembled with fear, so frightened she couldn’t think straight as she glanced back and forth amongst everyone in the cave. When the Whisper reappeared in front of her, she thought her heart would give out, or that the Whisper would rip it from her chest. Instead, it gently touched the sparkling magic on her forehead, whispering, “My help, young cousin. Always.”

  A bright light snapped behind Ember’s eyes, carrying with it an instant moment of immense pain. The darkness that followed, shrouding her mind, was a welcome relief.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The Fae have controlled the realms of mind and space since the dawn of time. We have used these abilities to help those in need and have done our best to ensure a world free from tyranny and corruption. For many generations we succeeded. With such power comes great responsibility, and we have always obeyed the decree of the Gods in protecting all races. We have broken the most sacred of our own laws by taking up arms and using our magic to defend those who cannot hope to defend themselves.

  Now we have paid the price for our actions.

  My people are few in number but still we protect those whom the Gods have asked us to. A darkness is rising deep within Talohna and we have
done everything we can to put the pieces in place to protect us all. I have abandoned my new-born daughter to a world I know nothing about, and helped suppress her genetic memory and that of another young child who will also play a key role in the battle for Talohna’s future. I hope we have done the right thing. The magic of the Fae was not meant to be used this way. When the laws of magic are bent or broken, someone will always pay the price. We have paid with our near extinction, but who else remains to be seen.

  EVA THORNWING, LAST KNOWN FAE MONARCH.

  EXCERPT FROM A DAMAGED SCROLL

  AGELESS LIBRARY OF THE ARCANE IN

  DRAE’KAHN, DORMASAI.

  DATE AND AGE OF SCROLL UNKNOWN.

  FOREST OF WHISPERS, VER KARMOT

  Ember had no idea how long the glaring light had consumed her consciousness, but as it slowly receded, she realized she had regained control of her thoughts, if not her waking mind. Her head felt as though a wall had shattered inside the deepest, darkest corner of her brain. Though she couldn’t remember everything, she somehow felt that the Whisper, Aella, had been telling the truth. Try as she might, she could only drag bits and pieces of information from that far off corner beyond the broken wall.

  A thrill of excitement raced through her stomach as she realized that she could feel Kael’s essence, his life force, or perhaps even his soul. He was a long way from where they were currently camped. It was difficult and it made her head hurt, but the more she concentrated on his presence, the stronger she could sense him. It was a feeling so familiar, it felt as if she had known it her whole life. It was the vibrant energy of Kael’s life.

  He was alive.

  Focused and concentrating harder, it felt like hours had passed with nothing happening, but finally, as if through a fog, she could see a vibrant image that could only be of Kael. One of the many talks she had with Yrlissa leapt to the front of her mind, and she realized what she was seeing: Kael’s aura. The thrill of being so close to him made her focus slip, causing the connection to him to waver. As she reasserted her will, something pushed her towards him at a greater speed, until Kael was there, but far below the earth under her feet. As she took in her surroundings, she realized she was standing atop a mountain peak with a fierce wind pushing against her body, but no cold seeped in. Far off to her left, she could see the ruins where Saleece nearly lost her life to the WraithLord months earlier.

  She shifted her attention back to Kael’s aura, and with an urge of desire, fell through the rock and stone like an ethereal being. When she came to a stop, Kael was ten feet in front of her. A gasp slipped from her lips, her heart broke at what she saw. It had been months since she last laid eyes on the man she loved more than life, and the sight of what he had endured in that time brought tears to her eyes. Choking them back, she instead focused on the staggering changes.

  A thin beard, matted with dried blood, grime, and vermin covered his face, and his mangled and knotted hair had grown to his shoulders. The worst was his body, covered in welts and bruising of all colours, both fresh and partially healed. But they couldn’t hide the dozens of scars, none of which she’d seen on his body before they were brought to Talohna.

  The biggest noticeable difference was the black flower tattooed over his heart. Elegant, but cruel, it was shaped like a rose with drooping petals resembling a tulip. It had branching vines that stretched out from the flower, across his chest and onto his shoulders, where the vines turned and spread down both of his arms. More vines seemed to grow upwards into the sides of his neck, and every vine was covered in vicious-looking, barbed black thorns. Yrlissa’s words jumped to the front of her mind, “This world thrives on magic. In some little way, it has left its mark on you.” It had left a lot more than its mark on Kael.

  As she stared at his broken body, Ember was afraid to think about what he had been through, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn’t take much more. Looking at his surroundings she could tell that his captors were keeping him in very old ruins where a lot of stone carvings were part of the building’s architecture. Though she didn’t know how, she realized the ruins were at least a fifty-day journey from where they were, and it made her sick to her stomach. In coming to the Dragon Isles, they had put themselves farther away from Kael than they had ever been.

  Concentrating harder once again, she willed herself closer to him. At last, she was able to draw Kael right to her, placing him on her lap with the gentlest touch. The chill from his body passed into her. The knowledge in her mind told her that touching him would connect her thoughts with his. She took his hand, sliding her fingers through his. The safest place she could think of to take him was their home back in Sam’s Bay. With a bit of effort she shifted the magic of the Dreamwalk and took them both to an accurate replica of their home, to the swing they shared so often on their front porch. With Kael lying in her lap, she gently touched his head and forced his dreams to come to her, aching for him to open his eyes.

  Waiting with her breath held, his eyes popped open, locking with her own. She smiled as tears welled up in her eyes. “Hi, baby,” she began, but he exploded off the swinging bench.

  “Oh, not again. No, no, no,” he screamed. “Please, just leave me alone. Concentrate, Kael,” he said, holding his head in his hands and bending over at the waist. “It’s not real, not real. I don’t care how many times I have to watch her die,” he yelled. “I still won’t kill them. I won’t… Never!” He screamed a second time, looking up and around, like a cornered animal. At what, Ember didn’t know, but his fevered eyes were wild with terror.

  The outburst quickly passed, his energy fleeting. She guessed the months of abuse had worn him down both physically and emotionally; her heart ached to help him. Approaching him again, she tried to be careful, but her touch triggered another panic attack and he retreated to the corner of the porch where he curled into an unresponsive ball. She looked at the sky as tears streamed down her cheeks and fell from her chin.

  “God in Heaven, what have they done to him? He’s not even there any more,” she cried. The helplessness made worse as the heightened emotions of the dream-state settled in. “Please,” she begged to whomever had brought her here. “I just want to go back. No more. Please, please take me away…”

  She closed her mind back to herself, letting go of Kael. The brightness returned, getting stronger until she bolted awake screaming beside the campfire. “Please no! Kael!”

  Yrlissa was there right beside Ember when she woke and without hesitating, she put her arms around her to try and comfort her.

  “Shhh, mai nahlla. We’re here, it’s all right. Breathe, just breathe.” Yrlissa’s soothing tone calmed Ember’s pounding heart as she began to cry, this time in the physical world.

  “Oh god, Lissa, I saw him. I really saw him. The way he is now. He’s been tortured. So many, so bad… and… and I think his mind is gone. It wasn’t even him, Lissa. He was like a wild animal. He yelled at me to stop doing that to him. He’s gone. His mind is gone. Why would they do that? I’m so scared for him. I couldn’t even tell him that I love him,” Ember sobbed, as she rambled on.

  “It’s all right. We’ll get him back,” Yrlissa said, holding her tight like a caring mother, slowly trickling magic into her body to calm her. “We’ll find him. We know who you are now and we can help you with trying to find him. Your people, Ember, could do amazing things with their magic. When we find him, you can help him, maybe you can even learn how to heal his mind.” Ember nodded, the tears stopping, but her body still shook, making Yrlissa hold her tighter. “Ia nay, mai nahlla. I’m so sorry for everything you’ve had to go through since you arrived here. My heart aches for you.”

  When Yrlissa had managed to calm Ember down a little, Giddeon sat down beside the two young women and offered Ember a cup of tea.

  “Ember?” he asked.

  She looked at him with sore and swollen red eyes, the stress of the dreamcast spell showing. “Yes, Giddeon.”

  “If you don’t want t
o talk to me, then you tell me and I’ll stop all right?”

  Ember rubbed her grainy eyes as Yrlissa handed her a damp cloth. She wiped her face, immediately feeling more awake. “It’s okay, Giddeon. I’m pretty sure I know where he is. It felt like he was underground, but I don’t know how to get down there. I saw the old buildings from up top, on the surface, you understand? The ruins are on a mountain peninsula. There’s a huge mountain on the tip of the land. I could see the ruins where we couldn’t kill that WraithLord far to the northwest.”

  “You mean where me, Saleece, and Kasik got hurt?” Max asked.

  Giddeon looked at her as if he knew, and Saleece asked, “Southeast of HellisKor, Ember?”

  Ember nodded and then laid back to rest. She was sleeping in seconds as Yrlissa nodded to father and daughter, letting them know she had spelled Ember to sleep so she could get some rest. Max sat down at Ember’s side to watch over her.

  It took but a minute for Giddeon to understand. “Yrlissa. She must mean Tazammor Mountain. Kael must be somewhere inside the old Dwarven prison.”

  “Arkum Zul?” Saleece winced. “There’s no way into that mountain. You know that better than anyone. That mountain range is riddled with the Mahala, it can’t be done.”

  Yrlissa shook her head with disgust. “Never, can’t and no way seem to be your favourite words lately. Thank the gods some of us think positively,” she said. “There is a way in and I know how to find it.”