Page 22 of Wraithwound

Trust was hard to come by in these lands, and making friends was a risky endeavor. Children were taught it wasn’t a risk worth taking often, especially when information about your neighbors was highly sought after and, if it led to the capture of a person who’d been infected, was handsomely rewarded. Most of the people who’d been alive when the city fell stuck to the friends they’d made in childhood, having established that trust early on before the darkness suffocated the ability for human connection. For those born after, they were taught to guard personal information at all costs.

Lena stared at her pack, her belongings neatly tucked inside, and reached for her mother’s cloak, the emerald broach dark in the faint light. Her grandfather had given it to her mother when she’d graduated from the Schola of Healing. It was meant to symbolize her growth, resilience, and connectedness to her community, the vibrant green a symbol of what healers sought to preserve above anything else: life. The thought of all the lives she was currently putting in danger broke through her defenses, derailing her train of thought.

The stone in the broach had come from a necklace that belonged to her grandmother. Apparently, she’d come to own it under mysterious circumstances, ones even her grandfather had never been made privy to.

Lena hadn’t ever known her grandmother, having been born years after she passed. She’d always loved the stories she’d been told about her. Lena couldn’t identify with any of the traits her grandmother was known for. Cunning, witty, and with a fierce heart. Her grandmother would have been disappointed to learn that her granddaughter didn’t inherit any part of her.

Lena was lost. She had been for a long while, and the only light on her path had been extinguished. Lena shook off the heaviness settling atop her and shifted her focus once again, thinking about her promise to Henry. She had just finished pulling on her cloak and gloves when she heard the front door open downstairs.

Chapter

Eighteen

Crowds of revelers swept them towards the city square, drunk on cheap ale and the freedom of relaxed restrictions that could only be found this one night of the year. And yet, the scent of sweat and nervous anticipation still hung in the cool air. Lena clung to Ahgrie as they pushed their way through, trying to shield her broken ribs while maintaining her footing on the uneven cobble stones. It was the perfect night to meet with the Healer’s Organization as most of the city’s prying eyes and ears would be trained on the ceremony while everyone else was busy celebrating.

Lena caught a glimpse of the spot where the Goddess’s fountain used to flow in the square. That was before the Commander’s men had taken sledgehammers to the glimmering, white stone at the High Priest’s behest. She had betrayed them, the High Priest had decreed when they made it illegal for Enora’s residents to worship at Quintessa’s fountain shrines. Stolen pieces of the fountain fetched a high price on the black market, but anyone caught selling the stone was sentenced to death. Only a discolored sheet of rock lay where the base used to be, now cordoned off from anyone who might consider kneeling before it.

She and Ahgrie were making their way across one of the city streets, pushing against the rush of bodies when Ahgrie dragged Lena into a busy tavern. Worn wooden tables were scattered throughout the sea of bodies, and raucous laughter filled the space, the noise rising above the clink of glasses and excited chatter for the Moon Bathing ceremony. At midnight, establishments would clear, Enora’s citizens eager to catch a glimpse of the ceremony performed on the balcony of the Moon Temple.

Two maidens would be presented to the Goddess, one to the light of the moon, the other in shadow that represented the dark side, standing exposed on opposing balconies at the top of the holy tower. The ritual was meant to be seen as an offering of devotion and sacrifice to convince Lunis to bless the water.

Mysterious winged creatures called the Aurynn would snatch the maidens off the balcony, flying them into the sky to surrender their spirit. The creatures arrived in Eteris after the Goddess disappeared, claiming to have been sent by the moon herself. So many were desperate for magic to return to Eteris that they were welcomed enthusiastically.

Every year, the maidens worked for the honor of being selected, having been reassured the ceremony was symbolic, not literal. The reward was acceptance to a secret haven promising abundance and safety. Despite it all, something about the ceremony made Lena uneasy. It was likely the part about the maidens having to expose themselves completely before the citizens of Enora to represent the surrender of their spirit. Or perhaps it was that the strange creatures only communicated with the High Priest, refusing to divulge anything else about themselves or the supposed Goddess they claimed to serve.

Ahgrie tugged on Lena’s hand as she began ascending a set of hidden stairs at the back of the tavern. The cheerful glow of the flames in the oversized hearth didn’t reach the staircase, which helped them make their way up undetected.

The floorboards creaked slightly as they went, Lena’s heart pounding faster with each step. Ahgrie slid her hand along the wall, using it to guide their way through the darkness. Lena’s eyes adjusted quickly, noting the details of the narrow hallway that led them toward a door at the end of the landing.

Ahgrie knocked several times, a rhythmic and staccato sequence that punctuated the stillness. The door creaked open slowly, revealing several worn and weary faces, backlit by the glow of a small fire burning in the hearth. Ahgrie motioned for Lena to step inside as the door swung shut behind them.

Chapter

Nineteen

Lena stood in a large guest suite. The bed in the corner was dressed in worn red bedding. It may have once been a fine set, but only a layer of dust lay upon it now. A stained wooden writing desk was shoved next to the bed with a small lamp askew atop it.

Lena looked into the worn faces of those sitting in a half circle in front of the fire. A large man in a winged armchair stared intently at her, his small black eyes and greying beard reflecting more than just the light of the fire. On his left sat a smaller woman, who reclined slightly in her chair, seemingly uninterested in Lena, unlike the other two women in the room.

She glanced at the glass of water in front of the large man. He had been served water first, which said enough about his status among the group. It was a custom from long ago, but despite the Goddess’s disappearance, it still held weight in some circles.

“Lena, this is Benneck, from Eydon. Next to him is Suhalia from Duskit, Edith from Sunsur, and finally Nora from Bledrock,” Ahgrie said.

Lena nodded at the group from her spot at the door.

Reading her hesitation, Ahgrie said, “They know. It’s all right. Come sit.”

Ahgrie set her things down at the foot of an empty chair and went over to a sideboard concealed in shadow.

Reaching for a steaming kettle on a trivet, she turned to Lena, “Tea?”

“Yes. Please,” Lena said as she made her way over to the remaining empty chair.

Benneck spoke first: “We are so sorry to hear about the attack on Virdeen, and for what happened to Henry.”

She swallowed thickly.

“Ahgrie sent word that you were attacked.”