The foul magic of this place nearly knocks me off my feet when I get closer. Taking another step forward feels like entering another reality—the night colors around me change and distort; the sounds are muted, as if a thick membrane wraps this place, protecting it from the outside world. Yet the hyacinth scent lingers, luring me into an obvious trap with its gentle, seductive fingers.
My steps echo down a surprisingly well-preserved atrium. The checkered tiles are nearly intact, and the silvery paint of the murals reflects my light spell. There is a pile of debris to my left—so odd and out of place. Tiny rocks still cascade down the heap.
Someone was here recently.
A loud rumble followed by an avalanche of rocks crushes me, and the floor cracks. I instantly summon a magical shield to protect myself from the tons of stone burying me. Shrouded by dust and utter darkness, the last thing I hear before the tiles beneath my feet collapse and the chasm swallows me is a hateful: “Die, you Fae bastard.”
Talysse
The Keeper
“T
alysse, wake up!”
A rough shake forces my eyes open. The first thing I see is the moon hanging low in the sky like a ripe fruit.
Gale’s face slowly drifts into focus. His dark brows are locked with worry, and loose curls stick to his sweaty brow. He looks exhausted.
My muscles ache, but I’m alive. How, in the name of the Elders, did I survive this? The memory of the fall and the blackness choking my senses hits me, and I nearly vomit.
“What—what happened?” I mumble, wiggling my fingers and toes. Nothing is broken. “How did I make it here? Alive?”
Gale’s almond-shaped eyes lock onto mine as if considering something. “Thank the Elders, the drop was not too deep. And you landed...on me. All I did was carry you to safety. Can you walk?” he says after a brief hesitation.
Nothing comes for free in this dark, cursed world, yet there is no sign of calculation or ill intent on his handsome face.
“We need to get moving. They’ll catch up at any moment.”
No need to ask who they are.
He slings an arm around my waist and pulls me up. We’re on an empty alley leading to the white mansion glowing with old magic like a beacon in the night.
Questions and doubts about my miraculous salvation crowd my mind, but I know that we need to get going. And it seems we both agree on the direction.
The mansion looks nearly intact from the outside but groans under the centuries, its walls cracked, and ceilings sagging from the inside. It is the smell that alerts me that something is not right. Dust motes dance in the beams of moonlight that drip through the broken windows. The air is thick with the stench of rot and decay, laced with malevolent magic.
The entrance opens up to a wide hall framed with balconies. The checkered floor tiles are adorned with mosaics of unseen wildlife and plants. What’s disturbing are the dark stains on them—some old, some still crimson-colored. Blood had been spilled here. The walls behind the tattered tapestries are covered with writings by a shaky hand, repeating the same sentences over and over again.
the eagle flies
the wolf’s keen cry
And the words dawn and moon scribbled chaotically by fingers that seemed to have forgotten how to write.
“Look at these words! I can recognize the words wolf, eagle, moon…moon’s embrace? And this looks like dawn,” he remarks, studying them up close. “Written in blood, no less. Why would someone so obsessively write this on the walls?”
“It looks as if a mind consumed by madness was holding on to the single thought that still keeps it human…”
“No sign of any magical artifacts here, Talysse. Maybe we can find some stairs leading down?” Gale muses, peeking behind a pile of rotting furniture. An old chair slips and causes an avalanche of rubble, and I wince when the sound reverberates down the desolated corridors.
“I don’t like this place,” I say, poking with the tip of my boot a pile of something that looks like tree branches. When I take a closer look, my breath hitches. “Bones, Gale! There are human bones on the floor.” He joins me and probes the pile with a chair leg. Elders above! This is a disturbing number of bones, skulls, ragged clothing and even some chainmail.
“I don’t like this place too, Talysse,” Gale echoes and raises the chair leg like a weapon.
“Eagle, wolf, moon’s embrace.” My finger follows the scribbles. “Does this make any sense to you? And who wrote this? The whole city was swarmed by Shadowfeeders and Tainted Ones centuries ago!”
“Dawn…” I tap at another word. “Dawn’s first light…you are right. It doesn’t make any sense.”
