And how long before I’d lose my mind in it? We all craved a semblance of such shadowed silence, but I doubted we could take much of it. Our whole lives are spent in the midst of sounds—our voices, nature, traffic, the wind and the foaming seas, the people we surrounded ourselves with, gunshots and fireworks, music and laughter… how long before we’d go crazy in the absence of it all?
“Do you see it, Tristan?” Valaine asked. I didn’t answer right away, my mind still stuck on the whole insanity idea. “Tristan?”
“Yes, sorry. See what?” I was having trouble tearing myself away from that odd train of thought. Then again, it didn’t need to be odd. After all my brushes with death, it was only natural that I’d start asking myself such things, especially since I was getting a taste of such intense and unrelenting stillness.
“The golden thread.”
Looking around, I finally noticed it. A slim little thing, barely a silken string, almost invisible but for its golden reflexes. “It’s weak,” I said.
“It’s distant,” Valaine replied. “Let’s follow it…”
Reaching out, I felt the thread’s delicate texture tickling my skin, though I could see no skin to speak of. I held on, moving in its direction, flowing with it across the vast and empty sea. Soon the darkness dissolved into a rich canvas of colors and shapes.
“Tristan, this is from a very long time ago,” she concluded, her breath wavering. “I can feel it. Like a forgotten dream that’s finally coming back.”
I found myself in the middle of a narrow street paved with rounded pieces of stone. It stretched and snaked up a coast, the ocean raging to my left, its waves crashing and pummeling the tall and rocky shore. The salty breeze was strong, and I could taste it on the tip of my tongue. Glancing down, I realized I wasn’t really here. I was merely a viewer in someone else’s memory. Valaine. There she was—walking up the street, her face obscured by a dark green velvet hood, the cape flowing behind her.
This was a different version of the Unending. Young-looking, though given the setting, she was close to ten thousand years, for sure. The fear in her black eyes was all too familiar. She constantly glanced over her shoulder, worried someone might be following her.
“Valaine, is that you?” I asked.
“Yes. You can see me?” Her voice persisted around me.
“It’s strange. I used to witness it all through your past eyes, but now I seem to be on the outside,” I said.
“You’re getting it easy, then. I’m inside her. I have no choice but to go where she leads me. Here’s the funny thing. I know her name. I know it in my heart. I remember it!”
“Who is she?” I asked, staying close to the Aeternae woman in the dark green cape as she made her way up the street. Ahead, a city rose with sturdy rock towers and conical roofs. The clouds gathered overhead like puffs of charcoal dust, and the wind intensified, making the woman’s cape dance around her. The air felt cold. The salty taste lingered in my mouth.
“Eliana,” Valaine said, the woman’s lips moving as she spoke. I doubted Eliana was even aware that we were here watching her. That Valaine was inside her, using her to communicate with me. “Her name is Eliana.”
What an odd moment this was. I couldn’t look away.
“How do you know?” I wondered aloud.
“I just do. I’m bound to her on a deeper level. Or maybe I’m just more alert, more aware of everything this time around. Her name echoes inside me. I’m Eliana.”
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“This is Roano,” Valaine replied. “I recognize it. Kalla described it to me before. The westernmost city on the western coast.”
It was a big place. Imposing, too, with suspended bridges over large houses and squares. Most of its buildings were tall, each yearning to reach the heavens, all of them competing to get there first. There were four watchtowers—magnificent things—robust columns with fires burning at the top. They looked to the north, the south, the east, and the west.
As we entered the city of Roano, I realized this wasn’t a pleasant visit at all. No, we were walking into a living hell, the city’s streets littered with Black Fever infested bodies. Corpses had been piled up in the squares and set ablaze, the meat melting off the bones as rolls of black smoke rose and spread out. Screams of agony rippled from nearby. Mothers crying. Husbands cursing their fate. Children begging for their parents to come back… but there was no coming back from the Black Fever death.
Eliana kept moving, maintaining a low profile as she snuck through the side streets. She knew where she was going. She’d been here before, but never under such dire circumstances. The city of Roano was dying, its Aeternae sickened and fading away with each minute that passed. The stench of death persisted, replacing the breeze and filling my nostrils with a sickening feeling. I stayed close to Eliana.
“She’s scared,” Valaine said through the Aeternae woman.
We rushed through the streets until we reached a higher level of the city. Here, a rounded open space waited, its pavement glazed with dark red blood. A battle was raging. I recognized the Seniors in their white silk garments fighting… Darklings. Purity fought evil. White silk against black velvet. Claws and fangs against claws and fangs. Part of the same species, yet fundamentally different.
Kemi and Mira were leading the charge against the Darklings, moving like shadows through the expanding brawl. Eliana stayed back, hidden behind a stack of caskets, some of which had been broken. The blood had already spilled from them, coagulating over the oakwood and turning brown. Aeternae heads littered the entire area, Seniors and Darklings alike. From what I could tell, the Seniors were winning, pushing back against the Darklings, unwilling to let them take what they wanted.
“What is this?” I asked.
“I think I remember reading about this,” Valaine said. “It’s considered forgotten history now. This was what led the Seniors into exile. The Battle of Roano.”
“What do you know about it?”
“The Seniors fought the Darklings here. It was violent and bloody. Innocent Aeternae were killed in the process, which is why the empire agreed to have them retire on the island. Well, islands, as it turns out,” Valaine replied.
“I wonder what made the Darklings come out into the open like this. Roano is clearly affected by Black Fever,” I said.
“Today, the city dies. It’s why the Battle of Roano remains somewhat obscure. The Black Fever hit it hard. On top of that, the Seniors fought the Darklings here. The remaining Aeternae civilians didn’t stand a chance. Roano has been abandoned ever since.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” I said quietly. Eliana moved away from the battle and kept to the side streets, going farther north toward the watchtower. “I can see the Seniors are trying to limit their violence to that particular area. Where’s the collateral damage?”
“Maybe we’re still early in the story, so to speak. Maybe the worst has yet to happen.”
Eliana took me away from the violence, but I looked back and saw Mira and Kemi running toward us. They shouted her name, their faces contorted with fear and horror as they tried to catch up.
“What are you doing here?!” Mira cried. “Eliana, no! Get away!”
“It’s not safe!” Kemi growled, picking up the pace.
But Eliana wasn’t having any of it. “I have to stop this!”
She raced up the stairs of the watchtower. The higher we got, the tighter the walls around us. I got dizzy following her up the spiraling steps, but it all took a turn for the worse when we reached the top. A fire burned here, but it wasn’t what Eliana had come for. No, she’d come for the Master of Darkness and the two Whips accompanying him. The Master smiled, while Eliana tried to catch her breath.
“I’m here,” she said. “Be done with it already. My parents are coming.”
My heart sank as I put two and two together. “Mira and Kemi…”
“I’m surprised you made it,” the Master said. He had sharp cheekbones,
his long blond hair making him look almost angelic. Beneath his appearance, he was rotten to the core. “I’m surprised you decided to listen, Eliana. Your stubbornness usually gets the better of you.”
“Too many people are dying. If I’m the cause, then stop me. I will die to save them all,” Eliana declared.
“Oh no. You’re buying into their lies,” I whispered. There was nothing I could do to prevent any of this from happening. This had already taken place two million years ago. There was no way to change the past. All I could do was witness it.
“Eliana, no!” Mira screamed from below. Feet thudded on the stone steps as she tried to get to her daughter before it was too late.
“You are doing the Aeternae a grand favor, Eliana,” the Master said, raising his scythe. “You shall be buried a heroine. Glory shall be yours in death.”
The Whips sneered by his side, their eyes twinkling with excitement. Outside, the city was dying. Blood drenched the streets of Roano. In here, the Darklings were going ahead with their plan, maintaining the cycle that the Spirit Bender had established long ago—an endless stream of lies and suffering from which he had profited the most.
Eliana exhaled sharply, her eyes wet with tears as she stood tall and proud. The scythe came down, and her head fell off with one swift blow. I gasped, feeling my throat close up. I watched as Mira and Kemi made it to the top and found her still form. The Whips vanished, using death magic to teleport themselves away. The Master, however, stayed to rub it in.
“I told you she’d do it,” he said.
Mira was devastated. Instantly in tears, she knelt before Eliana’s body. Her lips quivered as she struggled to make sense of it all. Kemi was livid, his eyes wide with horror as his gaze bounced between his daughter’s head and the Master.
“You… you killed our daughter,” he managed, shaking like a leaf. His muscles twitched, and I could almost see the rage engulfing him, lava flowing through his swollen veins as he took an attack stance. “You bastard! We were helping her, Endymion! We were helping her remember!”
“She would’ve set us all free.” Mira sobbed, no longer able to stand. “She would’ve ended this. You monster…”
Endymion scoffed, unafraid and anything but repentant. “You don’t understand. Most of us enjoy the idea of living forever. And you don’t get to decide when it is all over. You don’t get to end it. The cycle must continue. The Unending shall be reborn, and next time it’ll be someone else’s child we have to kill. But the Aeternae will live on. Once again we’ve stopped the Black Fever from destroying us all. It’s been a good day.”
“You killed our daughter,” Kemi repeated.
“And like I said, I’ll kill someone else’s son or daughter next time,” Endymion replied. “I will do whatever it takes to maintain our glorious empire, to preserve our species, to put eternity in our hands.”
“It’s not right. It was never right!” Mira croaked, her shoulders slumping.
“You didn’t mind it for the first million years though, did you?” Endymion shot back. “It was only when you got tired that this became an inconvenience. Well, you know what, Mira? I’ll make sure you never die. I’ll keep you all alive until you’re desperate to end it, and even then I will deny you that release. Maybe then you’ll understand why the Darklings’ path is the righteous one, and yours is only based on this infantile delusion that you can actually free the Unending. You can’t, Mira. No one can.”
“That’s a lie!” Kemi snarled. He lunged at Endymion, but the Master slipped to the side, practically gliding across the floor. Kemi nearly threw himself out the window by accident, but Mira was quick to grab him in time. “The Spirit Bender locked her here. There has to be a way out for her!”
Endymion laughed. “If there is, you won’t be the ones to find it. I’m afraid your time in our society has come to an end.”
Mira and Kemi stilled, confused. “What are you talking about?” Mira asked.
“Look outside. See what the Seniors have done,” Endymion said, putting his scythe away and crossing his arms. He didn’t even feel threatened by two of the oldest Aeternae in existence. “I may not have been here when the Unending created our people, but I am certainly here to make sure we live on. For that, I will do anything.”
Beyond the watchtower, carnage was unfolding. The Darklings—many more than I’d originally estimated—flooded the lower streets of Roano, killing everyone in their path. Fleeing Rimians and Naloreans, civilian Aeternae, men, women, and children—no one was spared. The Black Fever was already subsiding now that Eliana was dead. But in its wake, a different kind of devastation came over the city. The Darklings were wiping everyone out, as the Seniors, woefully outnumbered, struggled to stop them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kemi breathed, unable to take his eyes off the streets. Screams of pain and horror erupted, spreading outward and drowning out the thunder of an approaching storm.
“Making sure you and your ilk stay out of our business for good,” Endymion said with a chuckle.
Mira brought a hand to her chest as if to stop the ache that had settled inside. The ache of losing her daughter who just happened to be the Unending reborn. The ache of losing another chance at freeing the Unending. The ache of losing her place within the very empire she had helped build. All at the hands of Endymion and the Darklings.
“You’ve gone too far,” she murmured. “The Lord Supreme will never allow you to operate in the light. We made sure of that long ago.”
“Maybe. But in time, the people will see that our way is the best. Eventually, a leader who suits our needs will come to the throne. And until then, you and all the Seniors will be gone, tucked away from civilization with only yourselves for company. Rest assured, Mira, that I have other ways to make you all miserable, and I’m just getting started.”
“The Lord Supreme will never believe we did that!” Kemi snarled, pointing out the window.
Endymion threw his head back, laughing. I’d seen this sort of dramatic demeanor before. “Endymion… sounds like a Visentis, if you ask me,” I mumbled, mostly to myself.
“He is a Visentis. Petra’s distant uncle, to be precise,” Valaine said. She was still here with me, though she’d lost Eliana’s vessel. I felt an inkling of gratitude that I hadn’t been the only one to witness this. The truth about what had happened in Roano.
“Something tells me he will,” Endymion replied. “I’ve made sure to get the right messages through to him. In fact, I imagine there’s a convoy of gold guards headed for Roano as we speak. It’s over, Kemi. It’s over. We’ve won once again. We’ll keep on winning—and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.”
“You son of a bitch,” Kemi hissed, moving to attack Endymion again, but Mira pulled him back and glared at the Master.
“It’s no use, my love. He’s got Atlas’s scythe. You know what that thing can do,” she said quietly. Endymion took a step forward, giving Eliana a brief glance.
“She saved her people. She died with that thought in mind. I hope that will give you both some much-needed comfort.”
“The only comfort I need is the one that will come after someone tears your heart out,” Mira replied, baring her sharp fangs. “It’s not over, Endymion. It will never be over. Not while I still have a breath in my body. You just killed my daughter. Don’t think for one second that you’ll get away with it. Do what you will, but I will find my way back to you, and I will kill you. That eternity you long for… it will never be yours.”
Everything around us darkened. The colors faded. The stone bricks turned to powder, blown off into the nothingness. I found myself at the heart of a pitch-black void again—only this time I wasn’t alone. The city of Roano was gone. The history had already unfolded. But there was someone here with me.
She sat down, her legs crossed and her back turned. Her ink-black hair flowed freely, white silk neatly wrapped around her body. Moving closer, I began to recognize the creature that stood before me. I reme
mbered the graceful lines of her hips. Her delicate shoulders and long, slender arms.
It was Valaine, but not just Valaine. She looked at me, and I knew those black eyes. I recognized the pain and the longing that shimmered in those round irises. The full, red lips. The rosy cheeks. It was Valaine, but it was also Eliana. The image of her shifted, and Eliana became someone else—an Aeternae man whose face I’d seen reflected on a surface somewhere in our past sessions. I’d found the core of Valaine, the sum of all the personas the Unending had been born into.
Some of them I didn’t know, while others felt familiar. I caught a glimpse of Valaine again, too. She kept changing, the images of her dancing before me like a kaleidoscope of past lives. Each of them looked at me. Each of them smiled and reached out. Each of them had been close to ten thousand years when they’d met their end at the hands of Darklings.
“You’re the one who’s going to set me free,” a strange voice said, the lips of the Unending’s past vessels moving all at once.
I was dazzled and speechless, trying to make sense of this vision. I had no control over it. Heck, I couldn’t even focus, the people multiplying and spreading before me like cards on a table. Eliana, Valaine, and everyone else she’d been since the Spirit Bender had first locked her in. I could only see it through.
“You’re the one who’s going to bring me back, Tristan. I can feel it,” the voice added, making my whole being hum with a mixture of curiosity and anxious worry.
It dawned on me then that it wasn’t Valaine saying this. Not anymore.
It was the Unending. She was finally making contact.
I’d found her.
Esme
I was in a dream, but it wasn’t the good kind.
It was a nightmare, and I was powerless to stop it. Darkness surrounded me. It blinded me, but it didn’t deafen me. I could hear everything. The screams of people fleeing from its path. The cries for help. The low hum of death approaching, filling the tunnel.
A Shade of Vampire 84: A Memory of Time Page 5