Darkstorm (The Rhenwars Saga Book 1)
Page 28
Finding that note had filled her with a dizzying thrill of anticipation. Her stomach had en in knots all day; she hadn’t been able to concentrate on the simplest task. She had walked around feeling giddy, catching herself daydreaming at the worst possible moments. She couldn’t help it, even though she knew that it was no way for someone of her station to behave. She was, after all, the most powerful Grand Master in all of Aerysius.
She was also a woman in love.
Lightning strobed the sky, followed immediately by a peal of thunder that shook the air. Meiran was almost running now. The wind was at her back, pushing her forward with icy fingers that pressed her cloak against the curve of her back and rippled it out before her. Her lustrous dark hair spilled out like a fan before her face, whipping at her skin.
She reached the end of the cloister and burst through a massive iron-shod door, stepping gingerly across the threshold. It was not more stone, or even cold marble, that greeted her feet. Instead, Meiran found herself standing on a narrow dirt path within a warm and verdant forest.
There were many greenhouses in Aerysius. Most were used to grow food crops, some for herbs or even flowers. But the enormous structure she found herself within was the duplicate of a northern rainforest. A complete miniature environment filled with ponds and rivers, vegetation and animals.
It was not dark within. Soft magelight glowed from behind stands of trees, filtered up from the ground, filling the forest with a silvery glow. High overhead rain beat distantly on the shutters that had been drawn over the glass rooftop to protect it from the storm.
As she moved deeper into the forest, it became almost impossible to tell that the environment was artificial. The air was warm and heavy with humidity. It had a deep, earthy scent that was at once tranquil and comforting. Overhead, a bird called down from the canopy, the cry answered by another in the distance.
The path wound around through the trees to the shore of a small lake. Meiran followed the trail around the shoreline to the far side. A small meadow confronted her, aglow with silver magelight that moved like mist over the dark blades of grass. As she stepped out onto the spongy lawn, Meiran stopped with a sharp intake of breath.
He was there, at the far end of the meadow. Standing with his back to her.
Heart pounding, she crossed the meadow in quick, soft strides. She was so excited; it was hard not to giggle as she dashed through the swirling tendrils of magelight on the grass. When she reached him, she put out her hand and laid it on the soft fabric of his shoulder, her touch almost hesitant. Slowly, he turned toward her.
As his eyes fell upon her, she recoiled her hand in shock.
“Were you expecting someone else?” uttered a cold, malicious voice.
An intense feeling of horror overwhelmed her as Meiran shook her head in confused disbelief. She turned, wanting to run away, but froze instead. The lantern slipped from her limp fingers.
Twin shadows were moving toward her over the grass of the meadow. Not shadows; something much, much worse. As they neared, the dark forms coalesced into shapes that were vaguely human but utterly featureless, like demonic silhouettes.
Meiran tried to scream, but her throat constricted instead. An intense pang of dread spasmed her stomach. The feeling of dread intensified, became choking, immaculate terror. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
A shadowy hand rose toward her, dark fingers groping upward to touch her face.
Instinctively, she reached within. Even as she did, she knew the attempt was pointless. There was only silence inside. The constant rhythm of the magic field was absent, as if it had never existed at all. She was powerless against this enemy.
When the chill shadow of the necrator touched her, Meiran collapsed.
To be continued…