The Saurians slowed.
‘We are here,’ said Ata.
The party paused, and Issa looked around. The swamp seemed the same as it had the whole journey. A Saurian dressed in a short white robe with a hood walked ahead of the others. Issa realised he held a short staff, not a spear, topped with a shard of white crystal.
A smaller Saurian dressed similarly came to stand beside him, perhaps female. The smaller one spoke to the other in Saurian, her voice low and hissing, then they both held up their hands and were still.
‘Priests of Staryx, their Snake God of whom Hallanstaryx is emissary,’ whispered Thanon. ‘They are both priests and wizards to us.’
Earth Magic moved, and the white crystal flashed. The whole swamp rippled as if an invisible wall of water just in front of them had been touched. It reminded her of the liquid black entrance to the Star Portal.
The ripples deepened and the swamp beyond it changed. The trees were larger, and lights of all lights sparkled amongst the leaves—lights like those she had seen in her strange dreams after being poisoned. Though it was dark she was certain there was green grass and no swamp. The two robed Saurians stepped forwards and vanished into the rippling wall. Issa blinked. She must have made a noise for Thanon chuckled.
‘They’ve entered, then. I can see this wondrous place in the Flow,’ he said softly.
‘Where is here?’ asked Issa. She looked into the Flow but all she could see was swirling golden-white light.
‘It’s where all Saurians come to bury their dead. No matter how far away they are, they all bring their dead here. It’s more deeply sacred than we can fathom, for the Saurians know they are a dying race.’
Issa inhaled sharply. ‘Surely something can be done.’
‘Their lands border Baelthrom’s and the sickness spreads to them as their life-force is drained. Few now are able to conceive, which is why they treated Eritara with so much respect bordering on awe. They almost worshipped her when she was pregnant. It’s also why they allowed her to be brought here. You will see.’ Thanon led her forwards and she realised he must be looking into the Flow to see where they were going.
She closed her eyes as they moved into the shimmering wall. Passing through the watery veil was just like passing into the Star Portal, a period of intense cold moved through and between every particle of her body, and then a warm rush of pure air greeted her the other side.
Thiashar followed closely and Ehka ruffled his feathers whilst still perching on her shoulder.
Issa stood blinking, taking everything in. The place was silent save for a gentle breeze rustling the leaves and carrying the scent of sweet flowers. The ground beneath her feet was firm not sodden, and the grass rich green and thick. Ancient hazel, oak and chestnut towered above them and the night sky was filled with stars but no moons. The Blaze of Eight was just dipping into the trees beyond.
The area was deceptively large and there were indeed lights within the trees, but they were not fairies as she had first suspected. They filled the place with beautiful diffuse light. To say it was serene was not quite right. Holy, Issa thought. She stepped closer to a silvery yellow light and saw it was contained within an exquisite, thin glass vial very much like the baubles they hung on trees for the Mid-Winter Celebrations.
‘They are souls,’ whispered Thiashar, inspecting it with her.
‘Saurian souls?’ asked Issa, the notion shocking.
‘Yes. They know their souls are trapped on Maioria when they die, so they bring them here,’ said Thanon.
‘Because Zanufey cannot reach them.’ Issa pursed her lips.
‘Trapped, but safe from Oblivion.’ Thanon squeezed her hand.
‘Only for now,’ said Issa. ‘When the Dark Rift is gone, we’ll all be free.’
She peered at a silvery light. A Saurian face formed within and looked right back at her making her jump. Unnerved, she stepped away and glanced at the other trees, every one was covered in soul lights, thousands of them gleaming like the stars above. Tears blurred her vision and she wiped them away.
The Saurians had moved on ahead. Humbled, she led Thanon after them.
Not one of the lizard-folk had uttered a word since they’d entered, all walked bowed in reverence. Was her mother here, somewhere? Just as she was about to ask her father, the Saurians paused and formed a circle around a simple stone statue. Being taller than she, she had to peer around them to see.
The statue was of a coiled snake, head lifted high but bowed and its hood flared though its eyes were closed. The Saurians bowed their heads and closed their eyes, mirroring the statue. Issa wondered if she should be doing the same but was too intrigued not to look. The priest-wizards spoke, lifted their hands, and Saurian magic sparkled. Issa’s eyes widened as the stone snake came to life. It opened its eyes and looked at them through sparkling white orbs.
The male priest spoke. ‘Come forwards, Raven Queen, Daughter of Seer and Bard, Chosen by Zanufey.’
Issa straightened.
‘Don’t be afraid, it’s the only way in,’ her father reassured, making her even more nervous.
Hesitantly, she walked towards the priest and stone snake, and stopped a few feet before it. Everyone stood silent and still and she wondered if something were expected of her. The priest motioned to the living statue and she looked into those shining white eyes. She instantly felt herself relaxing and settling into a meditative state.
Faster than lightning, the stone snake whipped its head forwards. In a blur she saw stone fangs then a sharp pain in the place where the Saurians had bitten her before. The pain took her breath away. She fell back and felt her body stiffening. Time slowed down as she fell, making it so she floated down to the ground, then she sunk right through the earth.
The last thing she saw was Ehka following her, behind him a green light, and behind that a slinking black shadow.
16
Staryx
It was impossible to say how long the nothingness lasted.
Issa opened her eyes moments or maybe hours later, her mind alert and senses sharp. She knelt on the ground with Ehka on her shoulder and Thiashar a flash of green beside him. The shadows by her feet moved oddly, letting her know Maggot had also come along. All here then, she smiled inwardly at her menagerie of companions.
She was in a round stone chamber, some thirty feet or so in diameter, and several arched doorways led out of the room into darkness beyond. The ceiling was low but high enough to stand. Three braziers lit the room and gave it warmth, but they did not flicker. The flames were oddly still—either magical or made of a substance she did not recognise. Everything was starkly real and sharp, and in many respects akin to the Star Portal. Perhaps it was the same, but a sacred place for the Saurians alone.
A soft pale light grew beyond a doorway to the right and she went towards it. She entered into a small round room and in the centre lay a prone figure draped in white and pastel blue fabric atop a thin, fluted stone altar. The light clustered densely around the figure. Issa’s breath caught in her throat as she looked at the serene, pale face of her mother.
Her heart in her throat, she inched forwards and looked down at the woman. Her mother hadn’t aged like her father, she still looked young, beautiful, frozen in time. Her long, dark brown hair was freshly combed and lustrous, and her dark lashes brushed flawless cheeks. There were the faintest lines around her eyes and the shadowing of circles beneath them. Her skin was so white and bloodless, she looked dead. Arla had looked the same when her soul had been trapped in the Ethereal Planes. No, Arla had looked more alive than this!
Issa lifted her hand to touch her mother’s cheek, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. It seemed wrong, sacrilege even. Perhaps she would disturb her and break her slumber.
‘What has happened to you?’ Issa spoke softly but her voice echoed loudly.
‘Like Woetala, she’s in stasis, trapped by the failing life-force of Maioria.’ The low masculine voice made her jump. Her hand went to her
sword as she stared around but there was nothing there.
‘Who are you? How can I free her?’ Issa asked, peering into the glowing air.
‘The only reason she’s alive is because she was brought here. Otherwise her soul would have fallen into Oblivion when the one-from-beyond took her child.’
The light shadowed in places and clustered into a cloud. A smooth round head and a blunt nose formed within the cloud, becoming clearer until a snake-like head appeared. White eyes with long black slits for pupils looked down at her and a dark forked tongue flickered out.
An awesome feeling tinged with fear flooded through her and she felt her legs trembling under the weight of ancient wisdom. She dropped her gaze and took a deep breath. Staryx. Nothing other than a god could make her feel like this. When she next looked up, the snake made of light and shadow hung in the air over the body of her mother.
Issa found her voice. ‘Great Staryx, can I reach her in the Realm of the Dead?’
‘To reach this one you would have to go so far you could not return. Your mother is dead to Maioria, we only keep her soul alive in stasis until a time when Zanufey can reach her or we all fall into Oblivion. All our souls are waiting, as you know.’
A sob shook Issa, it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She bent over the body of her mother and hugged her cold, lifeless form.
‘Your father tried everything to reach her,’ the snake god spoke softly in a long, hissing whisper. ‘He drained his own life force just trying to reach her. But the one-from-beyond who took her child, also took the life of Eritara.’
‘Lona,’ Issa growled. Everything began to fall into place, possibly aided by Staryx’s presence. Lona hoped to raise and control another Raven Queen. ‘Where did she take my sister?’
‘Into the Dark Rift.’ Staryx hissed and swayed his head. ‘Do not think you can save her. Save yourself and end this war, Raven Queen. When you do, your mother’s soul will be free to find the light.’
Issa wiped the tears from her face. Grief mixing with furious rage made her whole body tremble. She looked back down at her mother. The snake god was right, Eritara wasn’t here, this was just her shell. She gently stroked her pale cheek with the back of her hand. Cold. Empty.
‘I’ll find your daughter,’ Issa whispered.
‘Do not,’ warned the snake god. ‘Your sister is her no longer. Changed. Run from her or do that which few siblings can do—destroy her.’
‘Kill my sister?’ The thought was heart-stopping. She’d only just learned she had a sister and now she was told she had to destroy her. ‘She can be helped in some way. It’s not over for her—’
‘It is,’ the shimmering snake cut her off with quiet words. ‘All the while she lives, she’s a threat to you and so to all Maioria. This is what those-from-beyond understand deeply. Should she survive and become more powerful than you through the powers of the Dark Rift, then the third Raven Queen has arisen, and you have fallen.’
Issa’s mind was a whir. She remembered the prophecies, the talk of a terrible warrior bringing death, and the emotionless woman in her dreams who scared even herself. There always seemed to be two Raven Queens spoken about, one the saviour and one bringing death and war. Was this what her sister would be if she failed?
Oh, how clever Lona is! To learn the prophecies and find my sister, travelling through time and dimensions to bring her to power. Her parents and Fraya had done such a good job of hiding her, Issa, that Lona and the Yurgha could not even find her. They had hunted, though. Had it not been for you, my beautiful Ehka… She reached up and stroked the bird on her shoulder.
She brought her attention back to the chamber and focused on her mother’s lifeless face.
‘Mother,’ she whispered, imagining the life they might have shared together—a family together, complete. ‘I may not be able to bring you back, but I can set you free.’
Anger and resolve straightened her back. The battles against Baelthrom’s hordes were merely skirmishes, they were not battles against Baelthrom himself or the Dark Rift. I have to go to him, I have to face him, and I have to pitch my power against his. This I’ve always known, always dreaded.
The commanders and officers of all the armies on Venosia’s soil were far more adept at war than she ever could be. She could advise them, she could relay to them all she had witnessed on her scouting mission, but she could not lead the war. She had to let them do that. And I must do what must be done!
She looked up at the ethereal snake, he watched her without blinking. His eyes began to glow golden as she felt him read her thoughts.
‘Coming here has given you what you needed; strength, resolve, direction. Go now, Raven Queen, and do what you have to do.’
The sky above the swamp blushed pink with the dawn.
Toads had stilled their incessant night warbling, and in the brief moments between night and day, everything fell silent.
Issa took hold of her father’s hands as they stood beside his house. They were cold, and she tried to warm them as she spoke. ‘The final battles have begun against Baelthrom and all his horde. If you see them come, you run. You go to Hallanstaryx.’
Ekem stepped forwards. ‘There will always be a place in Hallanstaryx for a musicman, even one whose arts are sleeping.’ He held his brightly feathered spear like a staff. Ata emerged from the reeds, lizard eyes darting left and right, knife lowered but always ready.
‘I wish with all the world that I could come with you,’ sighed Thanon. ‘My long-lost daughter who has come to me now, only to leave again so soon.’
There was so much Issa wanted to say, the few days they’d spent together were not nearly enough. All she could do was pull him into an embrace. He returned the hug, and there was strength in his arms he’d not had a couple of days ago.
‘I’ll come back to you, I promise. And when I do this will all be over, and Mother will be free,’ said Issa.
Her father nodded. ‘Find your sister. Bring her back to us.’
Issa bit her lip. She had only told him in part what had happened in Eritara’s chamber. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that her sister had been taken and corrupted by a fallen race from another world. Maybe she would when this was all over. And if she failed? Well, then it wouldn’t matter anyway.
‘Promise me you’ll play your music, the life-magic of Maioria needs your voice, your power,’ said Issa. She smiled when he nodded, though he couldn’t see it.
‘Too long have I been silent, lost in sorrow. Since you returned to me, the light has come back into my life. Zanufey is with us through you, I can feel her.’ He fumbled inside his worn jacket and pulled out something shining. ‘I kept this next to my heart wanting to keep her close, but now it is for you. I think it will help you.’
Issa stared at the ring he pressed into her hand, silver leaves wrapped around a green stone. The ring had an earthy power that she recognised instantly. Witch magic… and something else. She lifted the ring and stared hard at it. The green gem felt so familiar, but it cannot be!
‘Green crystal from the Murk…’ she said in shock.
Thanon shrugged. ‘I know little about it, only that it belonged to Belledyn, Eritara’s mother, your grandmother. Now, it’s yours.’
She knew so little about her grandparents, if anything at all, and now there wasn’t time to ask the questions that filled her mind. Blinking back tears, she slipped her mother’s ring onto a finger on the opposite hand to Asaph’s flame ring. ‘There’s so little I know about my family, we have years upon years of catching up to do.’
‘There will be time, when you return. I’m not going anywhere.’ Thanon squeezed her hands.
Issa looked up at him with a question she longed to ask. ‘Was my grandfather a wizard? Someone wondered once, and I didn’t know.’
Thanon broke into a grin, the widest she’d seen. ‘He was. My father was a man of great ability, but he chose solitude rather than rising in the arts to become a Master Wizard. Much like I choose solitud
e now, I guess. His gift passed on to me in the form of music. Perhaps you too can learn a bard’s arts.
Issa blushed. ‘The last time I tried to sing, next door’s dog joined in.’
Her father laughed. ‘Like anything, it takes time and practise. When we’re together again, I’ll teach you.’
Overwhelmed, Issa pulled him into another embrace. ‘When we’re together again,’ she echoed. ‘I’ll come for you, I promise.’
‘I’ll be here, waiting,’ Thanon reassured her. ‘Go now and do what you need to do.’
It took an enormous amount of will to let go of her father’s arm. She left him standing next to his hovel in the growing light of dawn and followed Ata and Ekem through the muddy water. Her father stood straighter and stronger than when she’d first met him, but soon he was lost in the swaying reeds.
Thiashar had disappeared sometime in the night after they had returned to Thanon’s house. Ehka flew high in the sky checking for danger, and the odd movement of shadows at the base of the reeds suggested Maggot was still with her.
When they had lost sight of Thanon, Ekem held out a blindfold. ‘It is either this or poison,’ he said.
There was no swaying a Saurian, and the thought of being bitten again made her bow her head and let him put it on. She had agreed to it earlier. No human could be allowed to see where Hallanstaryx was for the safety of the Saurians. Despite feeling indignant, she let them lift and tie her onto the back of a Saurian and awkwardly she clung on as they bounded through the swamp.
Hours passed as she bounced uncomfortably on the Saurian’s back. Eventually, they slowed and stopped and set her down. She found her legs could not support her and she sunk onto the damp grass. Pulling her blindfold off she looked around, seeing the same swamp stretching out in all directions for miles around.
Silently they passed her a waterskin and a swamp apple. She drank the water and tucked the apple into her pocket.
‘West is Diredrull and the enemy,’ said Ekem pointing. ‘Here we rest.’
War of the Raven Queen: The Goddess Prophecies Fantasy Series Book 6 Page 18