Prologue
The caw of a crow
They say that to truly understand the world, you must look beyond good and evil, beyond the battle between life and death.
It is the clash of light and darkness, where shadows become truth-tellers and light becomes a harness for lies. The very same world where love, no matter the kind, is the calibre of power which binds us all as one.
Father once told me that to seek refuge from anxiety you must first seek darkness. It caresses your heart with feather-light comfort and blissful tranquillity.
All of that changed tonight.
Dark and deadly, yet achingly beautiful tendrils of darkness spread across the kingdom, consuming and disintegrating everything in its path. Anything that came in contact with it turned to smoke, becoming one with the dark. The ashes fuelling its power. The Duvessans tried to escape; some took to the skies, yet fleeing was futile. The darkness delighted in the hunt, relishing the game of capturing innocent souls.
It didn't always have to chase; sometimes, if one were to look long enough, frozen in complete terror as if time had stopped, they would eventually become entranced and simply walk into its opening.
Call it suicide commanded by darkness itself.
The darkness burned. It caught onto trees and houses like a burning flame, its smoke almost poisonous. It was deafening, roaring in pleasure and so immensely pleased to finally be free. Released from its prison at last.
Shrill terrified screams and cries surrounded this great expanse of land, making my sensitive, pointed ears ring in immense pain. A swarm of thoughts had rushed through my mind in panic, and unending guilt pressed onto my abdomen.
It was all my fault. I let the darkness out...My fingers trembled each time I echoed it in my mind.
I scanned the area once more, hoping to find any guard from the Legion of Night.
Where was Araysh?I thought in a wild panic. My brother had always wanted to fight alongside them.
He will find me... and once he does, he will help me.
He has to. He always does...
I wheezed, the burning smoke entered my lungs, covering and blanketing my organs with toxins. My body was sickeningly weak and my magic zapped and roamed around uncertain, proving to be unpredictable. With my knees buckling, I fell to the hard stone ground, too dizzy and nauseous to wince.My visionblurred as I glanced down at the ceremonial dress I had worn, once a beautiful crystal blue, now ruined with dark ash, mud as black as coal, fabric torn on the sleeves and my own blood smeared onto parts of my dress.
Beside me, there was an instrument I had been gifted, a beautiful onyx with golden swirls along the edges. I looked at my bloodied and scraped fingers, wondering if I could still somehow use it.
The instrument had such a violent, sweet melody that could effortlessly shift into a sound worthy of light. A sound worthy of darkness... shadows... And even death.
This type of magic had once been the answer. The key in my heart—an enchanting sensation that gripped me together and made my body flow with force and might, wanting to enhance the symphony more. And more.
I will never use such magic again.I vowed to myself through all the screams of dying and torture surrounding me. It was so odd, to not hear the thrum of the music coursing through the land. The evil in the darkness seemed to create a music of its own through all the perishing lives.
A familiar face came into view, steadily walking towards me. His bright cape flowing and turning in the wind of night. Once near, he crouched down to me, and I recognised his glowing eyes and fair hair as he spoke calmly.
"This is your doing, the Kingdom of Duvessa is being slaughtered while you lay here." He looked almost bored as he examined a spec of ash that landed on his golden glove. His piercing eyes flicked to mine—his gaze so cruel it made me shiver. I steadied my vision, afraid that once I truly saw him... that terror might snatch my soul and take it to the underworld.
"What shall everyone think, little girl? The murderer of her kin— " He continued softly and so gently. All while noticing mysharp intake of breaths, how I was panicking and screaming on the inside.
"Your parents would be so incredibly disappointed, little one." They would be disappointed; everyone is dead because of me. I look around and see all the destruction and chaos I've caused.
How could anything possibly be saved?
"You do understand you must pay for your sins?" He caressed my cheek, his tone suddenly very strong and serious. He brushed away the tears I didn't know were there. So close... He was so close I could feel his breath...his hot touch... I couldn't help but tremble.
I mustered up the courage to speak, to say anything, to get out of this ghastly situation.
"I-I didn't mean to, you said my parents would be proud if I— " My hair was roughly yanked closer to his face. I tried to jerk away, my scalp felt as if it was on fire,burning with a stinging sensation.I could smell him now. His scent felt like humidity wrapping around my small frame, feeling sticky and unwelcome.
"I said they would be proud if you could tame the beasts in those prisons and warned you of the difficulty; I said you were not worthy... and I was right. Such pride you had and look at you now," he gritted out, and I let out a strangled cry from the sharp pain of him pulling onto my hair harder.
