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Outside it was cold and foggy, the morning light beginning to peek through the cloudy sky. When she saw Pan saddled and bridled, Rain hurried to his side and rubbed his nose, leaning in close to appreciate her old friend. When she saw the other two were already mounting their horses, she hurriedly strapped the saddlebags to Pan’s back and hopped on, following behind Whiskey. Shea brought up the rear. Rain pulled up her cloak’s hood as they went down the stone roads of Fairfield, away from the Mourning Lady. There weren’t many people in the streets this early in the morning, and the few they passed eyed them suspiciously. Whiskey led them past the fresh smell of bakeries preparing for the day and the smoke of smithies starting their fires, out of town and onto the northern road.
The sun broke through the fog shortly, and soon they were traveling with the bright sunlight at their backs. A chill lingered in the air, though, and the sun didn’t give much heat. Around noon, Whiskey suggested they briefly stop and water the horses, and he took out apples, cheese, and fresh bread for them to eat. Shea took care of the horses and then sat down to join them.
“How long have you been with the Knights, Shea?” Whiskey asked, taking a bite of bread and cheese. “You’re quite young.”
Shea took a bite of an apple and swallowed. “I joined young, about ten years ago, after my parents passed away. My father was one of the Knights himself. Died on a mission. With the Knights, I studied things I never dreamed existed. My favorite topic was always the Great Darkness that happened a hundred years ago.”
“The Great Darkness?” Rain asked.
Shea’s eyes lit up, clearly happy to talk about the subject. He gestured with his dried meat as he talked. “They say an entire race went extinct and unleashed a wave of unspeakable monsters, about a hundred years ago. The details of it, though, are shrouded in mystery.”
“What race was it?”
“No one knows. But it happened at about the same time they walled off the Pass of Hearn, supposedly to protect us from the monsters. We have very few stories about the peoples across the Fangs after that. They say that after the Great Darkness, people stopped believing in magic, elves, dwarves, and the like.”
Whiskey sat very silently, looking at Shea with his eyes far away as he finished his bread and cheese.
“Forgive me, but it’s so strange hearing you talk of these things as if they’re true. My whole life, these things were just fables you tell the children.”
“Somewhere over those mountains lies a whole world waiting to be discovered.” He looked northeast, toward the mountains. “I’ve always wanted to travel past Highgate, but as a lieutenant, I’m charged with guarding just the lands south of them, Graemar. Only the higher ranks can go past the Fangs.”
“If you two are finished eating, we should be on our way,” Whiskey said.
They both nodded, looking at each other with all the glee of children. But as Rain readied Pan for riding again, she felt the paper from her dream shift positions under her collar, reminding her that she had to find time with Whiskey alone. She worried what the presence of the note could mean.
***
That evening, the dark sky dotted with stars and the moon shining and full, Rain, Whiskey, and Shea sat around a small crackling fire. Whiskey said they were deep enough into the woods that it would be hard to see the smoke. The night was cold, as autumn nights tended to be, and a slight wind whipped around them. Rain hugged her knees to keep the chill away. Close to the fire, she rubbed her hands together, urging the warmth to seep into her numbed fingers.
One of the logs in the fire crackled and fell near her. She tried lifting it with one hand, but it barely moved. She remembered what Whiskey had told her when she was shooting arrows the day before, and on a whim she imagined the log moving with ease.
Her hand began to glow red.
“Rain!” Whiskey exclaimed. “What are you doing?” He stood up and looked over the small fire’s flames at her hands, and she quickly hid them under her cloak. The light disappeared. Despite how quick she was, she thought he might have seen.
Shea, who was sitting close enough that he could have seen, looked at her, surprised. “What was that?”
“I’m…” she started, but realized she had no idea how to explain herself.
Whiskey stood up quickly and drew the long dagger at his hip, pointing it at Shea. Teeth gritted, face deadly serious, he said, “If you tell anyone what you saw here, I will kill you.”
Rain had never seen Whiskey be so threatening, and shrank from him just as much as Shea.
The lieutenant held up his hands protectively. “Wait a minute. Lower your weapon. I should explain myself.”
Whiskey frowned uncertainly, lowering his dagger slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I’m…” he paused, thinking. “You gave Rain that aegis, right?” He took off his own and held it out to Whiskey. “I was hoping you would be able to tell me more about mine.”
Whiskey looked at Shea and judged his intent, then slowly sheathed his dagger and took the aegis, sitting back down. He ran his fingers over the stone for a minute. “It is the same,” he said, surprised. He handed it back. “Who are you, really? A true Knight wouldn’t dare carry something of such magic.”
“So it does have magical qualities? I always wondered. It does comfort me to hold it, even after all these years after my father’s passing.” He secured it around his neck again. “My mother was an herb seller, but behind the shop, she would see patients. She was secretly a healer.”
“You mean a doctor?” Rain asked, not sure what he meant.
“She used the herbs to heal, but she dabbled in elemental magic as well. She fixed broken bones and illnesses much more quickly than would naturally occur, even with the best medicine.”
“But you said your father was a Knight,” Whiskey said. “Why would he allow such a thing?”
“He loved my mother. She showed him how magic could be used for good. He helped her hide it, even though it went against what he was taught. I grew up learning that magic was not all evil.”
“Why on earth would you join the Knights, then, if you believed such things?”
Shea looked at the ground, fingering the aegis. “When my father died, the Knights told my mother and me that he passed away on a mission, killed by something evil. We weren’t allowed to see the body, since it was so mangled.” He shook his head. “My mother was devastated. She already had trouble dealing with him being gone so often on missions. But when I came home one day to find she had killed herself, I knew it wasn’t true. She loved life, and me, and she wholeheartedly believed in helping people with magic. She would never leave them all behind. Someone had to have killed her.
“The Knights were then eager to take me in as a new recruit, telling me of all the gallant deeds my father had done, and how well I would follow in his footsteps. I never allowed myself to fully believe in the evil of magic like the Knights taught. I knew there was a good side to it, but I was too afraid to voice my opinions, in case I would die like my parents. Ever since, I’ve tried my best to investigate their deaths. The only clue I ended up with was this aegis, and I’ve finally been able to leave the city on missions and try to find out more.”
Shea looked up at Whiskey intently. “You know about this aegis. Its properties. Maybe you could help me.”
“How do I know you’re not lying about all this?” Whiskey asked.
“I give you my word that I won’t tell my captain about any magic you two may practice. You don’t have to help me until after we get to Highgate and see him, and I prove my trust to you. I do have to get back to him, or my superiors will think something’s wrong, and come looking for me.”
“Why should I help you?”
Rain frowned at Whiskey’s response, but stayed silent. Shea’s story seemed genuine enough to her, and if all he wanted was to know a little bit about an aegis, it seemed to her that he deserved the help after ten years of waiting.
“The roads are indeed dangerous these days, and I’m trained in dealing with craetons and any other beings of evil intent that we may come across. I can also tell you whatever you might want to know about Brygern, or other events the Knights are investigating.”
“You really want to know about this aegis, don’t you?” Whiskey said. “Telling me inside information about the Knights could get you executed just as much as telling them about your true beliefs would.”
“If I can help you in my position as a Knight, I trust you won’t expose me. I feel like you’re the people I’ve been waiting all these years to meet.”
Whiskey thought for a moment. Rain met his gaze. “I want an explanation as much as he does,” she said.
“You can stay with us, for now,” Whiskey said, turning back to Shea. “If you breathe a word of anything you hear to anyone, you’re as good as dead.”
The lieutenant nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”
“I don’t know much myself,” Rain said. “All I know,” she looked at Whiskey, “is that I did magic. Can’t you tell me more about it?”
Whiskey stared into the fire. “I suppose it’s time to tell you about things,” he said quietly. He took a quick glance at Shea before continuing. “But please, don’t practice it right now. It’s not safe. The Wingmaster’s raven could be watching us. We don’t want you recognized.”
Rain nodded. “Fine. But stop avoiding my questions. Tell me what’s going on. I have a right to know.” At this point, she didn’t care if Shea heard everything. She believed his story, but if he was a traitor, she felt she could kill him as well as Whiskey threatened to.
“Your magic. You have it because you are… not human. You’re a moon elf.”
Rain realized the note from her dream mentioned them. “What? I’m a moon elf? But my parents aren’t elves. They look less like elves than I do.” The mental wall holding back her emotions cracked. “They looked less like elves,” she corrected.
“Celena and Fergus weren’t your birth parents. Your real parents were moon elves, too.”
She stared at him, her eyes blurry. At their names, the wall had cracked beyond repair, and the flood of emotions she’d held in check for so long started flooding through. “I—I’m sorry, I have to be alone…” She stood up and wiped her eyes, heading into the woods, walking faster and faster, embarrassed to let the wall of emotions fall apart in front of them.
Slowing down, she found a thick tree and stopped, resting her back against it. A sob escaped, and a few tears ran down her face. She had suspected her parents weren’t her true birth parents. They’d never told her much at all about their pasts, or even her birth. Now she knew the truth, but they weren’t around to explain things. They would never be. She hugged her knees and let herself go, tears running like a waterfall down her face, sobs wracking her body. For the first time, the warmth of the aegis did nothing for her.
***
Rain cried herself dry and rested her head on her knees. “I feel so alone,” she whispered.
“That’s right, lovely. You’re all alone.”
She looked around and stood up quickly, searching the dark woods for the voice. A figure moved silently towards her, and when it was close enough, she recognized his face.
“Damien!” she exclaimed. But he wasn’t the stableman she knew. He wore dark black robes with a red raven emblazoned on his right breast. “Have you been following us?” she said in surprise.
He leered at her. “It wasn’t too difficult.” He spoke a few words in a strange language. She backed up against the tree, too surprised to think what to do. His eyes began to grow dark.
Damien frowned. “Strange. You seem to be resisting. No matter.” Rain looked down to double check her aegis wasn’t visible. When she looked up, his eyes had become dark voids, sucking in any moonlight around them.
“Well, hello,” he said in a voice that wasn’t his. He held out his hand. “A pleasure to meet the last moon elf to escape me.” Rain didn’t shake his hand, and he lowered it. “Don’t you want to shake hands? You’re meeting the great Myrna herself.” The voice cackled, sending a shiver up her spine.
“You’re Myrna?” Rain’s mouth felt dry.
“Not this body. My real body is much more beautiful. More womanly.” Damien’s mouth started to grin, and then frowned. “Why aren’t you frozen in fear? He’s such an idiot. I have to do everything myself.” Myrna started to chant similar words to the ones Damien spoke earlier. The voice stopped abruptly as Damien looked past Rain into the woods behind her. His eyes widened and then lightened to their normal state. “Another time,” he muttered in his own voice, and silently slipped away behind the trees.
Rain turned around to see Whiskey, deep concern on his face. “Are you alright? I thought I’d check on you.” He peered into the woods. “Was someone else here? I thought I heard talking.”
“Damien. I think he works for Myrna. There was a red raven on his robes…” She hugged Whiskey tightly. “I’m okay. If not for the aegis, and you showing up, I’m not sure what would have happened.”
“I’m sorry I had to dump all that information on you at once. I should have been gentler about it.”
Rain shook her head and pulled away. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve known somehow that Celena and Fergus weren’t my real parents. It was just hard to hear it out loud, and be reminded of what happened.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
She felt a weight in her stomach, a heavy tiredness from crying. “I’ll be fine. I just need time.” Or, at least she hoped that was all she needed. Right now she just felt numb.
“Let’s go back to the fire, shall we? And you can tell me all about Damien.”
“Wait,” she said. She pulled the note from her dream out from under her collar. “I have something to show you, and I don’t know if Shea should know about it.” Whiskey took the note, looking it over. “I had a dream last night, and this was in it. When I woke up, I still had it with me.”
“Was there anything else odd about the dream?” Whiskey asked, still looking at the note.
“Other than the Wingmaster, there was a shadow-thing. Red eyes.”
Whiskey looked up. “A shadow with red eyes? This is sounding like the work of a dreamwalker.” He gave the note back. “Even though I had my doubts about Shea, I think we can trust him. I talked to him a bit while you were gone, and I can tell his story is true. Let’s continue this back at camp, where it’s easier to tell who’s listening in.”
Rain nodded her agreement, but was still uneasy.
***
A short couple of minutes later, they came back to the campsite. Shea was adding another log to the fire, and it sparked and fizzled. He looked up at Rain’s tearstained face.
“Are you alright?” he asked, concerned.
“She encountered Damien, our stableman,” Whiskey said as the two of them sat down. “Apparently he works with the Wingmasters now.”
“It’s amazing to me how much I wasn’t taught as a Knight,” Shea said. He faced Rain and said, “He told me about the Wingmaster at your inn. I had no idea that kind of magic was possible.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about Shea knowing details of her parents’ death, but there were more important things to worry about. “I have something to show you,” she said, handing Shea the bloodstained note. “This came from my dream. It was in it, and then I woke up with it in my hand.”
He looked at her curiously. “Are you sure you didn’t write it in your sleep? Or that someone came into your room and put it there?”
“Yes. The stains on it are exactly the same. It would be near impossible to replicate it.” She shivered thinking about how the bloodstains got there.
“He says it was a dreamwalker.” Rain gestured at Whiskey.
“I haven’t heard of them, either,” Shea said, handing back the note. “What are they?”
Whiskey smiled. “These things aren’t in the Libraries of Eastcastle because the Knights are too afraid to investigate them.” Shea frowned, but stayed quiet. “Dreamwalkers are typically harnessed by Demonmasters, studiers of a certain branch of spirit magic. It’s likely that Myrna has employed a few of them. If Damien’s been following us, and wore the same robes as the Wingmaster, it’s possible he was the one who had the dreamwalker enter your dream.” He looked down at the paper. “When a dreamwalker tampers with your dreams, the lines between dreaming and reality thin. This paper was in your dream, and then it was in your hand. This can be very dangerous. If you’re hurt in your dream, you wake up with the same wound.” He handed the slip of paper to Shea so he could look it over.
“Damien did say he’d been following us,” Rain said. “At one point, his eyes went dark, and he seemed to be possessed. I think it was Myrna herself who spoke to me.”
“Do you know who this ‘Dar’Quath’ is, then?” Shea asked Whiskey, handing the note back to Rain.
“No,” Whiskey said. “But it’s time I tell you what I know about Myrna.” He was silent for a moment, and Rain almost thought he’d forgotten to speak. Then he began.
“Myrna was a moon elf, but she was born without innate magic, which is fairly rare. When this happens, moon elves usually leave their kind and study elemental magic with the other elves, away from home. Elemental magic is possible to learn even if you have no magical abilities. But Myrna resented having to leave her kind, and felt elemental magic wasn’t powerful enough for her, and so delved into spirit magic. Doing such things was against the elven laws, since the magic was so dark and difficult to control, but she kept it hidden from the others. Soon, though, they found out she had murdered someone with the magic, and the leaders of the moon elves considered putting her to death. Crimes like that are unheard of among the elves. They are peaceful by nature. In retaliation, banished the moon elves to an alternate world. No one knows if she knew things would go that far. It was what people referred to as the ‘Great Darkness.’”
“The Great Darkness?” Shea asked, excited. “But that was a hundred years ago. How old are you?”
“And how did I escape? I’m only twenty,” Rain said.
He smiled at Shea and ignored his question. “We found you in the forest. Your parents had escaped the banishment for some eighty years, and then had you. They hid you from Myrna and her followers. I don’t know what happened to your parents. They were probably killed. But after we found you, the Council took you in, and I was appointed to watch over you. Until today, when I began telling you about magic and the raven saw us, Myrna likely had no idea you existed.” He looked mournful.
“Whiskey, it wasn’t your fault. It sounds like Myrna would have found me eventually.” She stared into the fire. “Did my parents know all this? I mean, Celena and Fergus?”
“They knew enough to keep you safe. I was traveling to find a good home for you and met them. They weren’t able to have a child of their own, so they agreed to take you in.”
Rain stared at the note. “So if my birth parents are dead, then I’m the last one of my kind in this world?”
“Apart from Myrna, yes.” He pointed at the note she held. “You need to learn how to use your magic, to protect yourself.”
“How do I do that if I’m the last one with magic? Who could teach me?”
“I know a few things about innate magic, since I’ve worked with the moon elves and studied them even before they were banished. That was one of the reasons I was the one chosen to take care of you. I knew the most about your kind. Once we’re out of harm’s way, I’ll start teaching you.”
Rain smiled despite the gravity of what he was telling her. She could do magic.
“Incredible,” Shea said, looking from Rain to Whiskey. “I can’t believe it. A moon elf and a man who’s more than a hundred years old. What would Mr. Patal say now?” He grinned. “I’m sorry, but my scholarly urges take over sometimes.”
She smiled back. “Hard to believe you don’t know everything?” Her yawn took away from the bite of the comment.
Shea gave Rain a tired look, well aware of her prejudices.
“I’ll take first watch,” Whiskey said. “You two sleep.”
Rain pulled her blankets around her as she laid down, trying to find a comfortable spot to lie in. Finding out about her past only raised more questions, it seemed. She took her aegis in hand, hoping it would help clear her mind, and let its warmth and that of the fire soothe her to sleep.