Mel caught up with Austin, breathing down his neck. The shadow’s white eyes turned to them. It cocked its head in interest. They ran past Lenera with her outstretched hand, but disregarded her warning. Her face contorted, and she whipped around to where they were headed, toward the shadow.
Mel’s breath was high in her lungs, her legs protesting against the wet sand and her heart beating furiously. Mira’s father sat on the ground, cradling his arm, weeping softly. They reached him and as they did; the shadow puffed into smoke. Its form shifted in the wind and traveled away from them toward the east.
Mel reached out toward the dark substance, trailing her fingers through a wispy fog, but connecting with nothing. The shadow was gone in a matter of seconds, and Mel couldn’t help but feel like she’d failed. She’d failed Mira who’d been killed by this creature and she’d failed Mira’s father who’d been hurt by it.
Austin sheathed his sword. There was no use in running after something that traveled by the speed of wind. They’d never catch up. An eerie feeling lingered in Mel’s bones. Why would a shadow ever run? She wasn’t sure they could kill it. She wasn’t sure anyone could.
Ice could anchor it, slow it down, keep it in place. But it wasn’t like it could pierce its heart or dim the lights in its eyes. No one knew what happened to a shadow when it died.
Gabs bent down toward the man and lifted his arm. He was reluctant to give it to her at first, but then he let her examine his wound. Mel crouched beside Gabs and saw dark veins snaking up his forearm. It was like the shadow was inside his bloodstream and it made Mel shiver.
His face scrunched up in pain, and Mel wanted to do something to ease his burden. But she didn’t know what. Gabs rubbed at the wound with her thumb and a stream of blood rolled down his arm. A trail of smoke oozed off the red liquid and mixed into the air. The man cried out in pain.
Gabs and Mel shared a worried glance. What was that?
Austin walked away from them toward Lenera and the semicircle of people. They were breaking up now, lifting their bodies away from the cold earth and drifting aimlessly around the ritual site. Mel followed behind Austin, leaving Mira’s father alone with Gabriella. She couldn’t help him, anyway. She didn’t know what could.
“What happened here?” Austin asked, pointing at Lenera.
She shook her head with disappointment gleaming in her eyes.
“Are you really void worshipers, then?” Mel asked.
Lenera’s gaze rested on Mel and she seemed to be regarding her like a child who’d disobeyed their parent. “You had no right following us. You had no right breaking up our connection. The circle must be closed. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Mel shook her head. “What does that even mean?”
Lenera lifted her chin, stretching her lips into a thin line and said nothing.
“Tell us. You have nothing left to hide behind. We saw you summoning that shadow. We heard you call the void in the night. Who are you?”
Luthel found his way to stand at Lenera’s side. He put a hand on her shoulder and Lenera flinched away from him. A disgusted look on her old face.
Luthel sighed. “We are what your people would call void worshipers. But we don’t call ourselves that. We worship the void, true, but perhaps not in the way you think. It’s a relationship with a powerful source, one that will threaten to kill us if we don’t follow. It’s not a decision that our people made lightly and, as you may know, many of the people who once lived in these lands chose to leave instead of living in symbiosis with the void.”
“But don’t get me wrong.” Luthel held out a hand toward Mel and Austin. “We are not ashamed of our circumstances. We are proud to be people of the wastes. We are proud of our god. Look at how powerful the void is. It’s dominating these lands and now crumbling the walls of Aldrion. Soon it will take over the valley and we will be rewarded. Because we are the chosen people.”
A chill traveled down Mel’s spine, and her mouth went dry. She didn’t know what to say to this or even how to react. Instead, she asked what came to her. “What happened to Mira?”
Lenera sneered, turning her face to Austin. “Living in symbiosis with a god demands sacrifice. The void shows us the way when we turn sixteen. It’s on this most special of days that our lives are determined. Our stars are examined by the one who sees all and our destiny is revealed.”
Mel swallowed hard, feeling the sand shift beneath her feet. “What kind of destiny is this?”
“To stay in the village as a servant or to receive a higher calling to become one with the void,” Lenera said.
“You mean a shadow? To become a shadow?” Mel’s voice broke at the last word and her hands trembled at her sides. A higher calling. Wasn’t that what she’d received from the dragon cult?
Lenera didn’t answer her. Instead, she stared at Austin with a defiant glare. Austin was staring back at her, looking like he wanted to drive his sword into her ribcage.
“Do you have any connection with the dragons? Or the dragon cult in the valley?” Mel asked.
Luthel frowned. “No, the dragons haven’t been seen in a long time. But we have stories of them, terrible ones. Cautionary tales, like the tale of Terrimon. We all know the dangers that lurk beyond the wall. What hides behind the mountains in the valley.”
“What about the black dragon? The one that attacked Aldrion?”
Luthel shook his head. “We don’t know what that was. A dragon perhaps, at least in form. It came from the east, maybe more are hiding in Krazaa behind the city walls. We do not know.”
Mel looked around her at the people of the village standing close by, but drifting like loose debris in an ocean of sand. They were hovering around, waiting for something, maybe for this discussion to be over, so they could go home to their tents and rest. She wondered how many nights they went out here and how often one of their own was sacrificed.
“What will happen to Mira’s father?” Austin asked.
“Nothing,” Luthel said. “He will remain in the village with us. He is not one with a higher calling. He will live out his life serving the void. Leading a quiet life, moving with the village like the rest of us.”
“But his arm. It’s tainted.” Mel said.
“It’s the mark of the shadow,” Lenera said. “He will wear the mark proudly. It will stop hurting in a matter of days. Become one with him and it will grant him strength. The void takes with one hand but with the other, it gives. Everything that is sacrificed is given back to us. We live with the void, not in its grip.”
Mel shook her head. To her, it didn’t sound like it. It sounded like they were living in terror of the awful things the void would do if they didn’t comply. How could they say they were proud? How could they keep sacrificing their own to the darkness?
“And what will happen now that the circle isn’t closed?” Austin asked, gesturing around at the people still drifting around them like empty souls.
Lenera shook her head. “The circle will be closed. The void demands it and we welcome it. The shadow will come back and we will close the circle.”
“What does that mean?” Austin asked.
“It means you are no longer allowed in our village,” Lenera said. “We took you in and welcomed you into our safety, but that trust is now broken. You have marked yourselves as our enemies and if you do not leave at once, we will force you out. The wastes will no longer be a safe place for you. The void knows. It has seen it all. It will destroy you and feast on your flesh.”
Mel took a step back, feeling the hostility seep into her bones. The people stopped moving around and turned toward them. Mel swallowed and sensed they were telling her the truth this time. They would kill her, Gabs, and Austin if they didn’t leave soon.
Mel’s eyes caught with Luthel’s and then with Hanon’s as he joined his father’s side. They looked apologetic, but ultimately they wouldn’t do anything to help Mel now. She’d crossed the line, and she was being driven out of their village.
Gabs joined Mel and Austin, leaving Mira’s father alone, still seated on the ground. He didn’t look at them. In fact, he seemed to be the only one who wasn’t concerned with their presence here. He seemed to be enveloped in his own mind, experiencing a separate reality from theirs.
Austin grabbed Mel’s hand and nodded to Gabs. Together they walked out of the circle in a tense silence that seemed to stretch even when they were far away from the people of the wastes. There was nothing to say. They’d chosen to walk away. To not fight the village.
It was the safest choice, one that would leave them alive until tomorrow, at least. But something in Lenera’s voice, when she’d told them they’d marked themselves as enemies, kept Mel from enjoying their freedom. She was sure the void would come for them now. Sure it would send shadows to hunt them.
They didn’t find their way back to their tent. It was too far out and the darkness left them wandering around blindly in the wastes. After a while, Gabs decided they should wait until the sun came up. Wait until it was safer to travel through the wet desert.
When the sun showed its warm face on the horizon, Mel, Gabs and Austin made their way toward where they’d stored their gear and supplies. It was early in the morning when they found the place and set up the tent behind the rock, a small cover from the otherwise unyielding wasteland.
Mel was tired, more than she’d been in a long while. It was an exhaustion of the mind as well as the body. One that reminded her of what had happened to Mira and how Luthel and Hanon had shown her their backs. She felt betrayed even though she didn’t know if she’d really been the betrayer or if they had.
Austin and Mel crawled into the tent and snuggled up close to each other. His hand rested on her stomach as she fell asleep, pressed against him. In the not so far away distance, she heard Gabriella closing the tent and laying her body to rest an inch away from them.
In Mel’s mind, voices appeared as if they were her own. They bore different notes with them, singing songs that were long forgotten. She heard the dragons speaking to her, in the voices from the people of the wastes, followed by a sensation of a worm slithering around somewhere in the back of her skull.
Mel caught up with Austin, breathing down his neck. The shadow’s white eyes turned to them. It cocked its head in interest. They ran past Lenera with her outstretched hand, but disregarded her warning. Her face contorted, and she whipped around to where they were headed, toward the shadow.
Mel’s breath was high in her lungs, her legs protesting against the wet sand and her heart beating furiously. Mira’s father sat on the ground, cradling his arm, weeping softly. They reached him and as they did; the shadow puffed into smoke. Its form shifted in the wind and traveled away from them toward the east.
Mel reached out toward the dark substance, trailing her fingers through a wispy fog, but connecting with nothing. The shadow was gone in a matter of seconds, and Mel couldn’t help but feel like she’d failed. She’d failed Mira who’d been killed by this creature and she’d failed Mira’s father who’d been hurt by it.
Austin sheathed his sword. There was no use in running after something that traveled by the speed of wind. They’d never catch up. An eerie feeling lingered in Mel’s bones. Why would a shadow ever run? She wasn’t sure they could kill it. She wasn’t sure anyone could.
Ice could anchor it, slow it down, keep it in place. But it wasn’t like it could pierce its heart or dim the lights in its eyes. No one knew what happened to a shadow when it died.
Gabs bent down toward the man and lifted his arm. He was reluctant to give it to her at first, but then he let her examine his wound. Mel crouched beside Gabs and saw dark veins snaking up his forearm. It was like the shadow was inside his bloodstream and it made Mel shiver.
His face scrunched up in pain, and Mel wanted to do something to ease his burden. But she didn’t know what. Gabs rubbed at the wound with her thumb and a stream of blood rolled down his arm. A trail of smoke oozed off the red liquid and mixed into the air. The man cried out in pain.
Gabs and Mel shared a worried glance. What was that?
Austin walked away from them toward Lenera and the semicircle of people. They were breaking up now, lifting their bodies away from the cold earth and drifting aimlessly around the ritual site. Mel followed behind Austin, leaving Mira’s father alone with Gabriella. She couldn’t help him, anyway. She didn’t know what could.
“What happened here?” Austin asked, pointing at Lenera.
She shook her head with disappointment gleaming in her eyes.
“Are you really void worshipers, then?” Mel asked.
Lenera’s gaze rested on Mel and she seemed to be regarding her like a child who’d disobeyed their parent. “You had no right following us. You had no right breaking up our connection. The circle must be closed. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Mel shook her head. “What does that even mean?”
Lenera lifted her chin, stretching her lips into a thin line and said nothing.
“Tell us. You have nothing left to hide behind. We saw you summoning that shadow. We heard you call the void in the night. Who are you?”
Luthel found his way to stand at Lenera’s side. He put a hand on her shoulder and Lenera flinched away from him. A disgusted look on her old face.
Luthel sighed. “We are what your people would call void worshipers. But we don’t call ourselves that. We worship the void, true, but perhaps not in the way you think. It’s a relationship with a powerful source, one that will threaten to kill us if we don’t follow. It’s not a decision that our people made lightly and, as you may know, many of the people who once lived in these lands chose to leave instead of living in symbiosis with the void.”
“But don’t get me wrong.” Luthel held out a hand toward Mel and Austin. “We are not ashamed of our circumstances. We are proud to be people of the wastes. We are proud of our god. Look at how powerful the void is. It’s dominating these lands and now crumbling the walls of Aldrion. Soon it will take over the valley and we will be rewarded. Because we are the chosen people.”
A chill traveled down Mel’s spine, and her mouth went dry. She didn’t know what to say to this or even how to react. Instead, she asked what came to her. “What happened to Mira?”
Lenera sneered, turning her face to Austin. “Living in symbiosis with a god demands sacrifice. The void shows us the way when we turn sixteen. It’s on this most special of days that our lives are determined. Our stars are examined by the one who sees all and our destiny is revealed.”
Mel swallowed hard, feeling the sand shift beneath her feet. “What kind of destiny is this?”
“To stay in the village as a servant or to receive a higher calling to become one with the void,” Lenera said.
“You mean a shadow? To become a shadow?” Mel’s voice broke at the last word and her hands trembled at her sides. A higher calling. Wasn’t that what she’d received from the dragon cult?
Lenera didn’t answer her. Instead, she stared at Austin with a defiant glare. Austin was staring back at her, looking like he wanted to drive his sword into her ribcage.
“Do you have any connection with the dragons? Or the dragon cult in the valley?” Mel asked.
Luthel frowned. “No, the dragons haven’t been seen in a long time. But we have stories of them, terrible ones. Cautionary tales, like the tale of Terrimon. We all know the dangers that lurk beyond the wall. What hides behind the mountains in the valley.”
“What about the black dragon? The one that attacked Aldrion?”
Luthel shook his head. “We don’t know what that was. A dragon perhaps, at least in form. It came from the east, maybe more are hiding in Krazaa behind the city walls. We do not know.”
Mel looked around her at the people of the village standing close by, but drifting like loose debris in an ocean of sand. They were hovering around, waiting for something, maybe for this discussion to be over, so they could go home to their tents and rest. She wondered how many nights they went out here and how often one of their own was sacrificed.
“What will happen to Mira’s father?” Austin asked.
“Nothing,” Luthel said. “He will remain in the village with us. He is not one with a higher calling. He will live out his life serving the void. Leading a quiet life, moving with the village like the rest of us.”
“But his arm. It’s tainted.” Mel said.
“It’s the mark of the shadow,” Lenera said. “He will wear the mark proudly. It will stop hurting in a matter of days. Become one with him and it will grant him strength. The void takes with one hand but with the other, it gives. Everything that is sacrificed is given back to us. We live with the void, not in its grip.”
Mel shook her head. To her, it didn’t sound like it. It sounded like they were living in terror of the awful things the void would do if they didn’t comply. How could they say they were proud? How could they keep sacrificing their own to the darkness?
“And what will happen now that the circle isn’t closed?” Austin asked, gesturing around at the people still drifting around them like empty souls.
Lenera shook her head. “The circle will be closed. The void demands it and we welcome it. The shadow will come back and we will close the circle.”
“What does that mean?” Austin asked.
“It means you are no longer allowed in our village,” Lenera said. “We took you in and welcomed you into our safety, but that trust is now broken. You have marked yourselves as our enemies and if you do not leave at once, we will force you out. The wastes will no longer be a safe place for you. The void knows. It has seen it all. It will destroy you and feast on your flesh.”
Mel took a step back, feeling the hostility seep into her bones. The people stopped moving around and turned toward them. Mel swallowed and sensed they were telling her the truth this time. They would kill her, Gabs, and Austin if they didn’t leave soon.
Mel’s eyes caught with Luthel’s and then with Hanon’s as he joined his father’s side. They looked apologetic, but ultimately they wouldn’t do anything to help Mel now. She’d crossed the line, and she was being driven out of their village.
Gabs joined Mel and Austin, leaving Mira’s father alone, still seated on the ground. He didn’t look at them. In fact, he seemed to be the only one who wasn’t concerned with their presence here. He seemed to be enveloped in his own mind, experiencing a separate reality from theirs.
Austin grabbed Mel’s hand and nodded to Gabs. Together they walked out of the circle in a tense silence that seemed to stretch even when they were far away from the people of the wastes. There was nothing to say. They’d chosen to walk away. To not fight the village.
It was the safest choice, one that would leave them alive until tomorrow, at least. But something in Lenera’s voice, when she’d told them they’d marked themselves as enemies, kept Mel from enjoying their freedom. She was sure the void would come for them now. Sure it would send shadows to hunt them.
They didn’t find their way back to their tent. It was too far out and the darkness left them wandering around blindly in the wastes. After a while, Gabs decided they should wait until the sun came up. Wait until it was safer to travel through the wet desert.
When the sun showed its warm face on the horizon, Mel, Gabs and Austin made their way toward where they’d stored their gear and supplies. It was early in the morning when they found the place and set up the tent behind the rock, a small cover from the otherwise unyielding wasteland.
Mel was tired, more than she’d been in a long while. It was an exhaustion of the mind as well as the body. One that reminded her of what had happened to Mira and how Luthel and Hanon had shown her their backs. She felt betrayed even though she didn’t know if she’d really been the betrayer or if they had.
Austin and Mel crawled into the tent and snuggled up close to each other. His hand rested on her stomach as she fell asleep, pressed against him. In the not so far away distance, she heard Gabriella closing the tent and laying her body to rest an inch away from them.
In Mel’s mind, voices appeared as if they were her own. They bore different notes with them, singing songs that were long forgotten. She heard the dragons speaking to her, in the voices from the people of the wastes, followed by a sensation of a worm slithering around somewhere in the back of her skull.
