Shadow Fate (Silver Ones Curse Book 3)

by B. W. Catt

  Woldiniar stepped back from the door as he waited for Halis to open it. This is my chance to sneak in.

  The door opened, and Halis quickly ran out, leaving the door wide ajar. Woldiniar quickly hurried inside and went to the closest corner.

  “That human is beyond horrible.” The man in the red cape spoke. He swung his hand. A burst of wind left his hand, slamming the door shut.

  So he is the one Halis was speaking with. His deep voice seems familiar. Who is he?

  He looked around the room. The woman remained still on the floor. Her dark black hair draped over her face and body. The silver chains clung tight to her skin, pinching it.

  Is she already dead? Or sedated? She doesn’t dare move.

  “Continue!” The man in red yelled out.

  The chains began to glow. The man walked closer, pulling the tube out from beneath his cloak. He walked around here, dripping the contents onto each purple stone. The stones flashed. The chains began to rattle.

  “Do not stop chanting! If you do, I will kill your families!” The man called out. He walked over to a chair and sat down.

  The woman's body began to glow. She screamed as the shadow figure appeared above and lowered itself into her.

  Necromancy. I have never seen it done. But this is body possession. Who are they bringing back to the point of needing a body?! There are not many powerful females I know of that could be brought back successfully.

  She screamed again. This time her voice more strained. Her body began to shake. The chains dug in deeper, causing her skin to rip and bleed.

  The man sitting down smiled. “Bring in the other shadow beasts! She requires more power. Her soul isn’t binding well to the body.”

  A door opened. Two men wearing tan robes and silver gloves pulled in a black beast, its fur made of smoke. They dragged it over to the woman. The man in the red cape stood up and walked over. He grabbed the beast by its neck, the beast snarled. The man let out a laugh. He looked into the beasts glowing eyes and stabbed it repeatedly until it collapsed.

  “Join your brethren, you disgusting beast of old.”

  Woldiniar stepped out of the room. His back was firmly pressed against the wall. His fists balled up at his sides.

  That man. I must kill him. They would never harm humans. They were made by The Flame. They live in caverns in large families, almost like the bears that roam the mountains. He said join his brethren. He had to of killed at least fifteen to ruin a shadow beast group.

  Seventeen

  “Welcome, to my humble abode.” Elin smiled as he walked into his chamber ahead of Sebial.

  Sebial glanced around the room. “This is better than I imagined. The soldiers are treated well here.”

  Elin laughed. “You could say that. The rooms could use some cleaning. I can ignore the cobwebs and dust. But the odor of sweaty men bothers me. Humans do not seem to care about hygiene. Elven guards would be beaten if they reeked like wild animals. Yet, here it seems fine.”

  “It doesn’t bother me. I grew up with Woldiniar. His habits are worse than humans, I suppose. Besides that, I wonder if Denias had luck with whoever was following me?”

  “I am sure he did. He is probably back in his room resting as we speak.”

  “I want my belongings from him. I cannot leave here in the morning wearing a nightgown.”

  “You are right, he does have those things, and he wouldn’t take them to his room. We will give him some more time before searching.”

  Sebial nodded. She sat down on the bed, stretching her arms to the ceiling. She yawned. “Castle life is too much work for me. There is never a time to rest.”

  “You can rest now if you would like?” Elin smiled. His cheeks were slightly red as he stared at her wearing the thin gown.

  “Your eyes tell me you do not wish to rest. How can you think of things like that when everything else is going on?”

  Elin walked over to her. Placing his hand on her arm, he leaned in close, their lips nearly touching. “How could I not?”

  Sebial grinned. She wrapped her free arm around his neck, pulling him the rest of the way. Their lips touched. She let out a soft sigh as they kissed. He rested his hand on the bed as he slowly laid her down. She smiled and looked away.

  “That is all you will be getting for now. What if Denias saw us like this?”

  He took a deep breath. “I would just say ‘she is mine, now leave’ or something demanding like that.”

  Sebial laughed. “And what if Woldiniar saw us? Would you say the same thing?”

  “I would grovel on the floor, begging for his forgiveness.”

  Sebial laughed. Denias walked into the room. They looked at him, his eyes puffy. Elin stood up and quickly approached. He placed a hand on Denias’ shoulder. “What happened? Why are you upset?”

  Denias brushed Elin’s hand off his shoulder. “Let me in first. I need to sit and think about what just happened.”

  Sebial walked over to the pitcher sitting on the table. She poured a glass of water and handed it to Denias. “Take your time, Denias. Elin and I will wait.”

  “Thank you.” He chugged the water. It spilled down the sides onto his face. He sat the glass down and wiped his face with the back of his arm. Denias stared at the fire burning in the room. His eyes glazed over.

  Sebial and Elin filled with concern as they watched Denias looked lifeless. Neither dared to say a word. The three of them sat there in silence.

  The fire crackled as the wood broke in half. A piece hit the metal guard holding it back from rolling onto the floor. Elin grabbed a poker and tended the fire, pushing the piece to the back. He sat the poker down and grabbed two pieces of wood from the pile. He carefully placed them on top of the others in the fireplace. He looked back at Denias, his eyes less puffy, but his vacant expression remained. Sebial lay at the foot of the bed asleep. Elin sighed.

  He walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket back. He picked her and placed her head on the pillow. She squirmed. Sebial opened her eyes in a panic. Elin made a hushing sound and pointed at Denias. Sebial glanced over. She rubbed her eyes and nodded. She grabbed the blanket to cover herself up.

  Elin went to walk away, but she gently grabbed at his pants. He turned around. She gestured for him to come closer. “Will he talk soon?” She whispered.

  Elin shrugged his shoulders. “I do not know, just rest for now.”

  Sebial smiled and fell back asleep. Elin walked over to the table. He poured himself a glass and sat down across from Denias, whose eyes were still locked onto the fire.

  He took a sip of the water. This has gone on for too long. What did Denias see? Why is he frozen like this? Was there more than one? Did they use some form of magic to erase his memories? Sebial will not appreciate me leaving her with him like this. He glanced over at her. Dread filled his eyes.

  “Denias, I will be leaving Sebial to you. I will find out what has caused you this harm.” Elin stood up and headed for the door. Denias jumped up and grabbed Elin’s arm. His eyes began to swell with tears.

  “Do. Not. Go. I will not. Lose. Another. brother Elin.” Denias spoke in broken words.

  Elin looked at Denias, his eyes filled with fear. His hands shaking as they grip Elin’s arm.

  Elin's eyes were firm. He looked into Denias’ whose eyes were bloodshot and filled with fear. “Denias, I will go if you cannot tell me what happened?”

  Denias shook his head. “It is wrong. I am. Wrong. I will. Never. Forgiven.”

  “Let me go. I will stay if you tell me. I will forgive you. You could never do wrong, Denias. We are family.”

  “No. I did. I wrong. Elin, you will. Kill me. Please. Don’t. go.” Denias spoke with broken words as he struggled through tears.

  Elin yanked his arm free of Denias. He grabbed Denias’ shoulders. “I will not harm you. Now tell me, Denias. I need to know!” Elin’s eyes filled with rage as he was dealing with Denias’ inconsistent behavior.

  Tears poured down his face.
“Elin. I’m sorry. Sanu. I killed. Sanu.” He pulled the knife from his pocket. His hands shaking, and he handed it to Elin. “Sanu. Blood. I killed. Sanu.”

  Elin yanked the knife out of Denias’s hand. He looked at the blood that had begun to congeal on the blade. “He died from the orcs. It was not you who killed him, Denias. There is blood on the knife, you killed someone, but there is no way you killed someone who is dead.”

  Elin placed the knife on the table. “Watch over Sebial, I need to see who you truly killed before the body is found by the maids. Where did you put it?”

  “I never. Moved. Sanu. He is in. hall. I killed. Sanu.” Denias trembled. He held his hands tightly together as he stared at the fire.

  “Enough, Denias. You didn’t kill him. Do not let anyone harm Sebial.”

  Elin raced out of the room and down the halls towards Sebial’s room. The body must be here. I do not think Denias would have led him down a different path.

  Elin stopped and hid along the curtains on the wall. Who are they?

  He watched as he saw three black figures surrounding the body on the ground.

  “We can save him. Take him to master. He will bring him back.” One of the voices spoke to the other two.

  “Yes, sir.” The other two responded in unison. They picked up the body and held it between them.

  “I will clean this mess. You two hurry before his soul leaves the body. We no longer have the strength to return souls.”

  “Sir.” They spoke together again. They quickly dragged the body down the hall.

  Elin grit his teeth. Who are they? How can they bring a dead one back without necromancy? He seems to be in charge of them. He shook his head. No, he has someone above him.

  The figure began to chant in an unknown tongue. The ground flashed a bright red. He stopped chanting and disappeared.

  Elin blinked a few times, trying to see where the figure went. Was that sorcery? I must warn Denias to avoid the mages. They are not what they seem.

  Elin returned to his room. Denias hadn’t moved, and Sebial remained asleep. He walked over to Denias.

  “Denias, that body was taken. There were others there saying he was not dead. I do not know who he is, but I know it cannot be Sanu.” Elin rested his hand on Denias’ shoulder. Denias looked up at him with a vacant stare. “Denias, Sanu is dead. I watched him,” Elin took a deep breath. “I watched him fall. I need you to snap out of it. We are guards of the realm.”

  Denias didn’t respond. Elin smacked him across the face. “Wake up, Denias! I cannot stand to see you like this. You know as well as I do that there is magic to fool our eyes. That person fooled you!”

  Denias rubbed his face. He looked down over to the fire. “Elin, we have been guards for a long time. We have seen magic like that. I know that wasn’t that.”

  Elin smacked Denias again. His face began to swell from the repeated smacks. Denias didn’t move. His gaze remained on the fire. Elin swallowed. He raised his hand to smack Denias again.

  “Elin, enough. Let us leave him here. He is no good to us like this.” Sebial grabbed Elin’s hand before he could swing again. He looked down at her.

  “When did you wake up?” His voice firm and filled with anger.

  “I have been listening for a while. Let us go and see for ourselves. We will leave Denias here. If those people are using magic and are still in the castle, then we should be able to sense them.” Sebial walked over to her bag. “I will get dressed.”

  “Sebial, they want you. I cannot take you to investigate.”

  “Oh, so leaving me here without protection is better then?” Sebial pointed at Denias.

  Elin sighed and looked away. “You can change over there.”

  Sebial walked behind the small partition and quickly changed. “I am ready.”

  Sebial walked out from behind the partition and over to Denias. “I swear we will fix this. You have become a good friend to me. I will not allow these people to hurt us like this.”

  “Shall we?” Elin stood at the door. His hand tightly gripping the pommel of his sword.

  Sebial nodded.

  Eighteen

  How long will that little bug take? I feel the magic beginning to grow from that room. Woldiniar glared down the empty corridor. He sighed.

  I did say if he took too long, I wouldn’t hesitate to enter. But something just feels off. There is no way that woman he mentioned was human. I may not know a lot about necromancy, but I know humans can easily return from the dead. They must be returning someone stronger.

  He tapped his finger on his chin as he thought about everything. The noises in the room slowly became silent. Woldiniar let out a long sigh. He leaned his head further back while staring at the door handle.

  Maybe they are done? Or perhaps that was just phase one.

  He took a deep breath and stood up. Woldiniar undid his spell, allowing himself to be visible. His body tensed as he reached for the door. Before his hand could touch the door, he heard a laugh come from behind him. Woldiniar quickly turned around to see Mathious approaching. His gaze filled with anger while he carried an amused grin.

  “Now, how did you make your way here, Woldiniar?” Mathious said cheerily.

  Woldiniar glared at him. “I was following a birdie, of course. I heard it enter this room. If you listen, you might hear it scream from time to time.” Woldiniar forced a smile while pointing to the door behind him.

  “A bird?” Mathious asked with an amused smile, his eyes locked onto Woldiniar’s. “I will be sure to tell the guards that a bird made its way into the forbidden area of the castle.”

  He stepped closer to Woldiniar, his hand slowly reaching for the handle of his sword beneath his red and gold cape. Woldiniar watched his hand slide out of view. Woldiniar grinned. “I see you have more intentions there.”

  Mathious laughed. “What made you think such a thing, Woldiniar?” his hand tightly gripped the handle.

  Woldiniar stepped towards him. His hands remained relaxed at his sides. “Let us see if the commander of the kings' army has the guts to harm someone who has been working to undo the spell of his people?”

  Mathious scuffed. His smile vanished. “I do not care about such things. Those people will never be free, and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. As long as Denias makes it to where we can travel with this immortal life, I am fine. More than fine. I have many things I wish to accomplish.”

  “Like sacrificing a woman?”

  “You do not know what you are speaking of. That is something I have nothing to do with. But you will not intervene. I wish for them to continue this.”

  “And why is that? I would love to be enlightened before I take matters into my own hands.” Woldiniar spoke through gritted teeth.

  Mathious pulled his sword from its sheath, pointing it at Woldiniar. “The king you know is a liar. He is the one doing those things behind that door. He and I both have a mutual friend. One we would have done anything for.” Mathious sounds unamused as he continued to approach Woldiniar. “Yet, the king has decided to stray from that and wishes to hold the power for himself. I will stop him but not until he is done doing certain things. You will not stop me.” The tip of his blade inches from Woldiniar’s chest.

  “You are a young fool Mathious. You think a blade will stop me?” Woldiniar scuffed, his smile wide. His lips began to purse as he took in a deep breath.

  Mathious pushed the tip of the blade against Woldiniar’s shirt. “I know of your powers. Do not even think of whistling warlock.”

  Woldiniar paused and smiled. He let out a small whistle. Black smoke wrapped around Mathious’s blade. It began to melt, the metal dripped onto the floor. Mathious dropped what was left of his sword before it could melt onto his hand. He stepped back while glaring at a smiling Woldiniar. He placed his palms together and began to chant. Woldiniar raised an eyebrow watching with amusement.

  “So, you know magic? How interesting. Let us see what you can do, young one.” Woldiniar l
eaned against the wall. Crossing his arms with an amused look.

  Mathious ignored him and continued to chant. Woldiniar let out a yawn. “This is boring. It takes you so long to just conjure one spell. I think I am done here. I will deal with you later.” Woldiniar flicked his fingers, white smoke enveloped Mathious, his body went stiff. “We will finish this later. For now, you just wait there.”

  He turned to the door. “I guess Raqee is taking his sweet time. Time to have some fun. Hopefully, the ones within can give me a little more fight. I am angry, and that little human was boring.”

  He pushed the door open. His eyes slowly trailed to each one within the room. He mouthed a number as he counted. Everyone in the room froze and stared at him. “Twenty-three! Ok, I’m done counting. Who is first?” Woldiniar looked around the room smiling. “Hmm, that bug and I will need to have a chat about his counting abilities.” Woldiniar shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, more fun in the end for me!”

  Nineteen

  Sebial and Elin quickly ran down the long hall heading for a secret passage Elin had found earlier. They stopped in front of a large painting of dwarves fighting orcs. Blood covered the ground within the painting. Sebial stared intently at the details. Her eyes flickered blue as she sensed strong magic coming from behind her in the courtyard. “Elin, I feel Woldiniar. He is using a lot of magic.”

  Elin nodded. “I feel the presence of many magic users from below. Shall we?”

  “Yes, but to where?”

  “There.” Elin pointed at the painting. “It opens in the middle of the battlefield to reveal a stairwell.”

  He stepped in front of the painting. He pushed two different figures on the painting. The painting began to slide away along the wall. Sebial’s eyes widened in amazement. “How did you know where to push?”

  “I took notes from some others who have used this recently. I haven’t went far down yet. There are many guards. But I do know it was designed by the dwarves. The walls are carved using purple ore, a great ore loved and worshipped by the dwarves. That ore was the cause of the war and the reason we won the war. It is cursed. Humans cannot withstand its power.”