Ilryth puts his back to me and I position myself on him. Without another word or thought of hesitation, we charge off once more into the vast and dangerous depths.
CHAPTER20
We speed through the darkness,past the second circle of stone arches where he sprouted another anamnesis and we caught our breath, but only briefly.
The song I’m singing has now become second nature. The notes flow from me without thought. At first, I thought deeply about trying to ensure I continued to pronounce every word and sound correctly, but I’ve since let that go. Now they’re muddled, running over each other.
Memories continue slipping through my fingers. My ties to this world weaken as I strengthen the power of those mysterious, old gods within me. What I sacrificed in the amphitheater before was nothing like this. Vaguely, behind all the words and song and magic, I wonder if I will forget everything…Will there come a time where I don’t even know my name?
The idea is so horrifying it almost makes my mind gutter. My song stop. If that is the cost of my family’s safety, here and now, but also protecting them from an old god’s rage seeping into my world, then of course I’ll pay it.
We reach a final ring of stones. This one is different from the others. It has a taller archway that faces a wall of living shadow. Carved into the stone are musical markings of the old gods. With their ancient language fresh in my mind, I hear whispers of mysterious melodies in the back of my mind—as if the shadow itself is the singer.
“What is this place?” I ask as Ilryth lights the basin with his spear, sprouting another anamnesis.
“It’s the gate of souls. The one spot in the Fade that allows passage through. When the Elf King erected the Fade, this was left in accordance with the bargains made between the old gods and his forefather. This is the final push back to the Natural World, but it won’t be an easy one.” He glances over his shoulder, back at me. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
We plunge into the living night that is the Fade.
It’s oppressive, clouding my lungs, even though they can’t breathe. It stings my eyes and burns like hot smoke. For a moment, it feels as if I am being ripped apart. But it passes quickly.
In the distance is a faint light, like a keyhole, that grows large enough for us to swim through. We emerge into a choppy, gray sea.
The sea floor is barren. No shipwrecks. No rocks. No coral. Just smooth sand and the occasional skeleton of some primordial beast whose frame I can’t recognize.
Torrential currents try to rip me from Ilryth. I clutch tighter to his shoulders, hanging on to him with all my might.
Among the unbroken sand is another altar that was once used to sprout an anamnesis, not too far from the archway we emerged through. However, we do not stop. The pillar has been toppled, basin shattered. If I hadn’t seen those small outposts not long ago, I wouldn’t have even been able to tell what it had once been intended as. Magic has forgotten this place—my home.
Though, it doesn’t feel like home. Even back in my world, this place is strange and terrifying.
I am in the depths of the Gray Passage.
It feels as oppressive and dangerous down here as it does atop the waves. Sharks and other ominous shadows swirl through the darkness. In the distance, I see a monster twice the length and girth of my ship. Lights dance on its side, three flashes. It writhes and an overwhelming sense of being watched overtakes me. I see its maw open—a silhouette on a deep blue-gray background. Sickles of sharp teeth are hidden within, sending a chill down my spine.
In a blink, it’s gone.
“Ilryth, did you see that?” I whisper, keeping my focus on just him. I don’t know what senses those beasts might have.
“I did,” he says just as softly.
“Was it—”
“An emissary of Lord Krokan? Yes.”
I fight a shudder. My training is overtaking me. Years of practicing to look calm and in control when terror wants to grip me by the throat.
“What other monsters are here?”
“Some that are no doubt worse than our imagining… It is a rare breed of creature indeed that will feed off the carcasses of the living and the souls of the dead.” Ilryth slows, shifting. He reaches up, taking my hand, turning in the water. His fingers trail up my arm as he swims underneath me, continuing to pull me along. I’m briefly enamored with the grace of his movements. The elegance of how we change positioning is breathtaking…almost intimate, seeing him beneath me. Ilryth drags his fingers down the markings on my arm. “How are you feeling? You seem all right.”
“I feel fine. Other than slightly unnerved.” I’m grateful I don’t have to speak my words, otherwise they might not have been as strong as I wanted.
“Yes, we should move quickly.” He twirls back around, propelling himself back and into me. The heat of his body is even more apparent and I pull myself slightly closer to him. Ilryth is my only waypoint in this dangerous and unknown sea. He holds out his spear, using its light to guide us. “Now, keep singing.”
It doesn’t take long until we are weaving back through an underwater mountain range. Though, like everything else beneath the surface of the sea, these mountains are unlike any I’ve seen before. More like flat-topped columns and sinking valleys. As if the floor of the ocean has fallen out even farther beneath us. I dread to think what might be lurking in those depths, well beyond my realm of sight.
