“Murderer,” screamed Rowan “Animal,” his voice was raw, almost unrecognisable “Savage. Bastard,” Rowan’s anger scared him, visions of his father dying bloodied and alone flashed through his mind. He could see the helpless look on his father’s dying face, then his cold, lifeless eyes.
“Impressive,” Rakmar commended “But useless.”
The shadow grabbed Rowan’s blade with his gauntlet and crushed it as if it was made of sand. The giant bent down, so they were face to face.
“We both know, you’re not strong enough to kill me, boy.”
Rowan knew it was true. Admitting that to himself snapped him out of his rage. Sorrow swallowed him like the lake that surrounded them. He felt the panic and terrified sadness creeping its way around his heart, strangling it.
“It’s over,” Rakmar put the tip of his blade to the young boy’s chest “You’ll be with your father soon.”
What remained of Rowan’s broken weapon fell from his quivering hands.
The blade ripped through the skin and went deep. Rakmar roared out in agony as Shaya twisted the Krarg dagger in the God’s neck.
“No,” she screamed and held onto the shadow’s shoulder as he stood up. He dropped his mighty sword, reached back and grabbed Shaya by her ponytail. He picked her up and launched her across the island. She landed inches from the water with a painful thud. She felt the skin scrape off her knees and elbows. Quickly she looked down, Jinx was still in her jacket pocket, her wing split again, and her arm was bent at an odd angle.
Rowan went for a sword that lay next to one of the dead Krarg. With the back of his gauntlet covered fist, the fallen God cracked the prince in the face, sending him tumbling backwards.
As Rakmar tore the dagger from his neck, the wound shone with a flash of pale yellow light. The light quickly disappeared, replaced with thick black blood oozing from the deep hole.
“How did you?” stammered Rakmar as he clasped his hand over the bleeding wound. He stumbled and dropped to one knee.
“Impossible,” the blood was running through his fingers. Quickly he summoned another sword from the darkness and swung it threateningly.
“No more,” he said furiously as he walked over to where Rowan knelt holding the fresh wound on his forehead. “Die.”
Shaya saw it in slow motion, her vision still hazy. She watched helplessly as the fallen God raised his giant sword above his head with both hands. Rowan lay below him, unable to see what was about to happen. Then Shaya went blind.
A pure, brilliant flash of white exploded next to Rakmar. Visionless he staggered backwards. Shaya blinked repeatedly, and through a concussed fog, she saw something swoop down and grab the prince. The winged creature flew up and disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Before she could say anything, she felt a firm grip around her waist. She looked down and saw talons wrapped around her. Suddenly her stomach flipped as she was lifted into the air.
Below Rakmar rubbed his eyes and looked around astonished. She wished she could see his face, she’d have loved to see the bewildered confusion on the face of a God. Before he even thought to look up, they were out above the lake gliding through low clouds.
“Are you alright?” asked a voice.
Shaya craned her neck upwards. Through bleary eyes, she saw a Volanti looking down at her, with his kind bird-like face, and orange eyes.
“Myana sent us. We’ve been looking for you for two days,” the Volanti shouted over the wind. “We saw flashing lights over the lake, by the time we got there we saw-,” he trailed off for a moment “What was that thing?”
“The end,” muttered Shaya.
The Volanti didn’t hear her and asked her to repeat it. Shaya instead looked to her right. The second Volanti held an unconscious Rowan in his talons. She prayed he was alright. He was bleeding, his clothes ripped to shreds and bloodied, just like her own. She watched him silently until eventually, she lost consciousness. The last thing she remembered before the silent void took hold, was the rolling green fields and black rivers that stretched out below.
Chapter Fifteen
Volanti Peaks
The noise woke her. A quiet shuffling sound somewhere off in the distance, through the fog. Shaya didn’t open her eyes, but she could tell wherever she was, it was bright. Through her heavy eyelids, she could feel the light, it was warm and comforting. She moved slightly, and something soft and smooth slid over her. Back home, she’d never had silk bed sheets, but if she had, Shaya thought they’d feel like this. All she wanted to do was drift off back to sleep. She had been dreaming, only fragments of it remained. Something about home. She had been on the farm; the sun had risen early and hot. It had been a typical morning, feeding the animals, milking the cows, cutting the grass as it had gotten far too long; Kopi was getting lost in the tall greenery. She remembered the peaceful feeling she had felt as she listened to the birds sing from the trees.
Shaya shifted again, and a dull throb made her wince. With the stab of pain, everything came back to her, Rakmar’s hideously scarred face, watching her with those soulless black eyes, his sneering grin.
Shaya’s eyes fluttered open, the brightness of the room stung and was almost blinding. Feeling groggy, she wanted to raise her hand to shield her eyes from the harsh light, but her arms wouldn’t listen. Suddenly she realised her mouth was dry as if she had been eating sand. After a moment, her tired eyes adjusted. She was in a large bed, easily twice the size of the one she had back home. Shakily she willed her hand to move and ran it across the bed linen.
It is silk. The thought made her smile.
The sheets were a lovely creamy colour, the tall bedposts was a deep brown wood, polished to a mirror sheen. The walls looked like cave walls, all grey but smoothed down. She tried to lift her head, but a voice spoke out.
“Oh, my girl you're awake,” said the soft female voice. Shaya recognised it, but she couldn’t quite place it “You keep that pretty little head down child, you’ve been in the wars, my dear.”
“Who?” Shaya’s voice didn’t sound like hers, it sounded hoarse and distant like she had thrown her voice to the other side of the room “Who’s there”?
“I thought you would have recognised my voice by now my girl,” Myana’s feathery face appeared above her, peering down with a concerned look on her bird-like features.
“Myana,” Shaya said with a sigh of relief.
Myana smiled and picked up a wooden mug, she held Shaya’s head softly and told the girl to drink. The first few gulps of the slightly warm water were like pouring shards of glass down her parched throat. After the feeling passed, she couldn’t help but chug the whole lot. She had never been so thirsty.
“I’ll get you some more,” Myana said as she poured more water from a large glass jug, into the mug. Two mug fulls later, Shaya had had enough.
“Myana, you sent those Volanti to find us?”
“I asked my parents to send out the scouts yes.”
Shaya didn’t care how much it hurt, how much her arms ached, and her ribs screamed, she practically pounced on Myana and gave her the biggest hug of the old Volanti’s life.
“Thank you,” Shaya could feel tears forming in her eyes “Thank you. You saved us.”
“I merely asked for the scouts to-,”
Shaya grabbed Mayna’s fluffy cheeks, looked deep into her brown eyes and spoke quietly, but precisely so she would understand the importance of what she had done.
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be alive.”
“It’s no bother my girl, I’m just glad you're safe. Now get back into bed, you should be resting.”
“We,” Shaya muttered, her mind still playing catch up. “Where’s Rowan?” she exclaimed, suddenly alarmed.
“The prince is fine, don’t fret. He woke up yesterday.”
“Yesterday? How long have we been here”?
“Oh, three days my dear. You were both in quite a state when you arrived.”
“Where are we?”
&nb
sp; “Oh, you’re in Volanti Peaks my dear, home of us bird people.”
Shaya smiled faintly. She had always wanted to visit the famous peaks, but not like this. The young girl looked down, she could see more bandages than she could her own skin. Her shoulder was wrapped tightly, as was one of her hands. She lifted the white robe she was wearing and saw that she had a large bandage wrapped around her stomach, that curled its way up over her chest. Pulling back the bed covers she had white dressings stuck to her legs, with another bandage around her knees.
“Our healer looked you over when you got here,” said Myana seeing Shaya’s shocked expression. “Very bad bruising mostly, a handful of cuts and bad scratches. He was here this morning, said you’re healing very well. A few more days and you’ll be right as rain.”
Shaya rubbed her chest, her ribs were throbbing.
“How’s Rowan?”
“I told you the young prince is fine, healing well like you.”
“No, I mean, about what happened to his father.”
“Oh,” Myana’s kind expression fell away, leaving one of worry and sorrow.
“So, it’s true,” Shaya felt her heart sink “The king is dead.”
Myana nodded.
“He’s not taking it well. He’s locked himself away since he woke up and has refused to see anyone. Poor thing.”
Shaya sighed heavily, she felt so sorry for Rowan, she knew he loved his father very much. She could only imagine the hurt. Carefully she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Myana immediately started flailing her arms around in a panic.
“No, no, no, no,” she said, “You get back into bed young lady, you need rest.”
“Myana, I’ve been asleep for three days, I need to get out of bed.”
The Volanti reluctantly agreed and helped the girl out of the warm comfy bed. Finally standing up, her legs felt a little shaky at first, but she soon found her footing. She stretched and felt her bones click and pop. It wasn’t painful, it actually felt quite nice. Shaya looked around the large circular room. There was the bed and a wooden table with four matching stools. On the other side of the room was what looked like a fire pit made of stone, a pile of fresh wood lay ready to be lit. Next to the pit sat three fresh fish and a collection of different coloured beans and other vegetables Shaya didn’t recognise. The floor was a flat, smooth stone, the same as the walls. The ground was cold under Shaya’s bare feet, her toes suddenly missed the warmth of the bed.
Shaya caught a glimpse of a mirror hanging on the wall by the dining table, she suddenly realised she couldn’t remember the last time she saw herself. Wandered over with a slight limp, Shaya held her breath, worried what she might see.
What if I have a hideous scar across my whole face? Or I’m missing lots of teeth? Her anxious mind thought as she instinctively ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth to check.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that, save for a scratch on her cheek and a healing cut on her lip, she looked quite normal. For all she knew, she could have had a broken nose or no nose at all. Her hair was out of its usual braided ponytail. It hung loosely, down past her shoulders. She hadn’t noticed how long her blonde locks had gotten. A pale pink flower sat behind her ear, one of Myana’s no doubt.
Light flooded in from a big circular window cut right out of the rock. Shaya walked towards it, as she did, she heard the door handle squeak. She spun around. The wooden door creaked quietly and stood in the doorway was Elle. She was dressed in grey robes with dark red trimming. Her silvery hair still tied back in a ponytail. Even without her armour, she still had her thick black boots, and her silver and black scabbard strapped to her hip, sword sheaved. When she saw the young girl stood up in the middle of the room, she looked stunned. Her dark eyes widened, and the warrior woman actually smiled.
“Thank the Goddess your awake,” she said with a great sigh.
“Elle?”
“We were getting worried,” Elle walked over and placed her hands on Shaya’s aching shoulders. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Thank you,” Shaya said a little confused. She didn’t remember her being this nice.
“No, thank you. You got the prince to Shale, you did what was asked of you and infinitely more. The prince is safe because of you.”
“We nearly died.”
“You fought a God and lived child. I couldn’t have asked for a better protector for the prince.”
It was odd for the angry and rude warrior she had met, to now be complimenting her but she took it all with a humbled smile.
“You should be resting Shaya,” Elle shot an accusing look at Myana. Clearly, she could still be intimidating when she wanted to be.
“I told her Ellesia, I told her to get back to bed.”
“I’m fine,” Shaya said, maybe a little too loudly “Elle,” she said, worried to ask what was on her mind, “What happened to my uncle?”
Elle hesitated for a moment, and Shaya’s heart skipped and her stomach twisted. That moment of silence seemed to last for hours before Elle finally spoke.
“He’s here. He’s hurt, but he’s alive.”
Shaya suddenly felt relieved and scared at the same time.
“How bad is it?”
“He took a full blast of that demon’s power to the chest. Then the monster burned the castle to the ground. Your uncle lost consciousness on the way here. I dragged him as far as I could” She rubbed her bandaged fingers together “Luckily the Volanti had sent scouts to search for survivors, they found us and brought us here. He was unconscious for four days. When he awoke, the first thing he asked was, Where’s Shaya?”
Shaya’s lips quivered as she smiled “Can I see him?”
“I’ve just checked on him, he’s sleeping. As soon as he wakes, I’ll let you know.”
“Can I see him?” Shaya repeated, this time with the implication that she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Elle nodded, understanding what it meant to the young girl “Of course.”
Shaya got dressed in the Volanti robes Myana had brought. They were a dark cream colour with deep purple decoration around the collar and cuffs. On the chest was the Volanti symbol, shapes that formed the face of a bird, with large eyes, long eyebrows and a pointed beak. She tied her own belt around her waist and slipped on her newly cleaned boots. Myana gave her a beige coat with a fluffy hood and told her to wrap up warm. Shaya obliged and followed Elle out of the house as Myana started cooking the fish and vegetables for tea.
As soon as she stepped outside, the cool breeze hit her. The mid-day sun was high in the cloudless blue sky, but the wind was cold. She blinked against the bright light as something crunched under her boots. Shaya looked down to see snow. Looking around she saw the sun reflecting off piles of pure white that covered almost everything. She was on a broad cobbled path that had been built into the side of the mountains. Her gaze followed the cliffs upwards. She saw more trails above her, they almost looked as if they were floating in mid-air. Dozens of circular holes covered the mountainside, cut into the rock to make windows. She ran over to the edge of the path, enjoying the crunching sound beneath her feet and leaned over the chest-high wall. Peering down she saw more streets winding around the mountains. She was so high up, she could barely make out the ground far below. Volanti flew in all directions. From one pathway, they’d leap into the air and glide effortlessly to the path above. Shaya looked up to see one Volanti dive off the street above her. She plummeted down at breakneck speed, whooshing passed Shaya. At the last moment, she opened her wings and glided to a smooth landing and went inside a nearby house.
The Volanti’s homes were carved out of the mountains. As the young girl walked behind Elle down the snowy footpath, she saw door after door, window after window, with bird people coming and going. She never expected the Volanti Peaks to be so vast, so bustling, so full of life. Some of the Volanti citizens looked at her and smiled or bowed their heads slightly. Shaya returned the gesture, awkwardly bending down,
trying not to slip in the snow.
The more she walked, the looser her limbs felt, the aching almost slipped away as her mind tried to process this new world she had entered. Within a few minutes, she knew she was in love with the place. As busy as it was, it somehow felt peaceful. Everyone knew each other, old friends stopped in the street to catch up, couples laughed at their private jokes, groups of tiny Volanti children took turns attempting to fly as their parents watched with proud smiles. The young girl watched as the little flightless children jumped into the air flapping their wings as hard as they could, just to drop back to the floor on their behinds. It was odd, she was only thirteen, but she already missed being a child. When she only had to worry about things like how long would it take her uncle to find her when she was hiding in the barn giggling to herself?
Shaya looked out towards the distant horizon and pondered how far home was. She wondered if she squinted hard enough, would she be able to make out her little farm, nestled snuggly in Evergreen Meadow? Far below she could make out a small stable, smoke puffing out of the stone chimney. A tall windmill sat atop a lofty hill off to the west, its blades turning slowly in the breeze. Off in the distance to the south-east, she thought she could make out the very edge of Lake Coral glistening in the sun. It must have been a hard flight for their rescuers to travel all that way. She scanned the seemingly endless vista and smiled. It felt as if she could see the entirety of Celease from up on the peaks. It was beautiful.
“We’re here,” Elle said, suddenly snapping Shaya out of her trance. They were stood in front of a wooden door to a Volanti home. Hanging from the wall was a small sign with a green painting of a potion. Elle knocked softly on the door using the brass claw-shaped door knocker.
“You can go in,” she said as she turned and began to walk away.
“Thank you,” Shaya called after her.
Elle stopped for a moment and nodded without turning around, then continued walking further down the cobbled trail.
The Shattered Moon (A Divine Legacy Book 1) Page 24