Brigid sat next to Danu and listened as she told her story and how she had come to be in Dayargain. The rain still fell about the city bathed in smoke and light from the Dawn Isles. It was comforting to have the sound of the pelting rain around her. It helped still her nerves for the strangeness of what she had been told.

‘You are a fey then?’ said Brigid taking it in.

‘That is what you call us,’ said Danu confirming again. It had not been the first time that Brigid had repeated the words since the start of the telling. In many ways Brigid was simply trying to make sense of it. Perhaps if she said it enough it would feel less unbelievable. Although in the space of a day the unbelievable in her life had become quite common place.

‘Is that ok Brigid? You don’t… hate me, do you?’ said Danu with apprehension.

‘Hate you?’ exclaimed Brigid. ‘How could I hate you for simply telling me what you are?’ she added confused.

‘Don’t your people hunt us and lock us in cages… don’t they take our wings to make… well… do you not hate us?’ said Danu looking to her feet as she swung them from the immense root jutting from the stones.

‘No… no we don’t do that sort of thing… at least not that I’ve heard. Many of us this side of the continent thought you were only silly tales for the younglings to play about with,’ she said.

‘Well that’s good then,’ said Danu unsure of what else to say. The words had sounded strange as she said them, ridiculous even that people could believe such things. These were just the nightmarish tales used to keep her people from ever venturing beyond the forest. To keep them controlled and managed. She knew this now, though it was not something easily forgotten after years of believing.

‘You did an incredible thing Danu. I should say the whole city will thank you for it and cheer your name when all of this is over,’ said Brigid. She meant it too. Danu felt her cheeks flush with warmth at that.

‘Me? I… don’t think I want all that. You did just as much and you’re from here,’ she added deflecting from the attention.

‘You did more in this fight than most, whilst I just became a burden or a distraction at best,’ said Brigid solemnly.

‘No you were more than that Brigid. You’re so much braver than I’ve ever felt, and you never let anyone stand over you or tell you what to do… I wish I could be more like that,’ she said looking at the strong face of Brigid.

‘Thank you, Danu. You know… I’ve never really had any friends that are girls. I hope you’ll stay here when all is said and done,’ said Brigid looking at her hopefully.

‘Oh… It might be nice to stay for a while, I suppose,’ she said. Brigid frowned and looked at her with something of regret for having shared her desire to be friends.

‘You… suppose?’ she said pointedly.

‘I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m glad we could be friends. I’ve not ever really had any. I just thought that when things were done, I’d just go home to be with the Green Kin,’ she said.

‘Really? You’d leave us after all we’ve been through together? Isn’t this your chance to see the world?’ asked Brigid surprised. She had always thought Danu odd but certainly not the type to turn about and go back the way she came.

‘I only came here because Cernunnos told me to. I’ve done what I needed to. What other reason do I have for staying?’ said Danu looking at Brigid.

‘Well I had hoped we would be reason enough for you. Besides I think you’ve probably earned the right to choose your own path from here,’ said Brigid.

‘What would you do if you were me?’ asked Danu.

‘I… I don’t suppose I know either. I’m not sure I really know who I am Danu. I’ve felt more like a silly little girl these past weeks than I have ever before,’ said Brigid looking down into the courtyard when Brinn and Rhett’Sa had gathered all the Daybreakers beneath the branches of the tree. Brinn was sternly telling Rhett’Sa off for not moving quickly enough and heeding her words. The huge frame of the man curled inwards as he bent to listen to the dwarf. Brigid giggled a little before she could think to stop herself.

‘I suppose this is all I’ve ever really known Danu,’ she said finally.

‘What if we go together then Brigid? What if we go figure out who we’re meant to be together. Noone said we have to do that alone,’ said Danu.

‘I’d like that Danu… and no… I suppose they didn’t say that did they,’ she said smiling.

‘You there! Mind yourself,’ called Brinn as she noticed a figure standing at the broken gates to the courtyard. Brigid and Danu followed her line of sight and saw him too. There was a man standing in the shadows cast by the great tree and the Dawn Isles. It was difficult to make out his features from here although it seemed he wore a black robe.

‘Danu ready yourself. I don’t think this is quite over yet,’ said Brigid standing to attention.

‘What do you mean?’ said Danu confused.

‘Are you alright? Rhett’Sa go help the fellow inside the gates,’ said Brinn not receiving an answer from the dark robed figure.

‘Brinn no!’ cried Brigid from atop the stairs. Brinn turned to her giving her a confused look. Brigid saw it then. The shadows about the man seemed to shift and undulate. He began to take steps forward and as he did the areas around him grew darker and spread deeper and farther than should have been natural. The darkness began to leech into tendrils seeking out any that came too close. Rhett’Sa grunted in a rumbling voice and charged headlong at the figure only to be tossed aside by the shadows. He hit the ground like bounders in a landslide.

‘What in the Stone Father’s britches,’ said Brinn swearing.

Blink heard fighting breaking out ahead. He had thought that all the fighting was over, that he had missed his chance. The thought of swinging his sword and rending flesh filled him with new purpose. He ran on panting as he passed through the streets, death on all sides, and more of those horrible creatures lay burned and motionless. He ignored them, there was something worth fighting ahead. Perhaps it was the robed man, the one that rode the dragon. Blink licked his lips hoping to taste the metallic heat of the robed man’s blood as he tore at his throat. This isn’t me. It isn’t us. We don’t get excited about killing someone or…hurting them like that, came the voice. It had become more insistent as he moved through the streets.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

‘Leave me be voice! We hunt and that is all the matters,’ Blink barked as he ran. He could feel the voice inside shrink away slightly, though it was still there somewhere in a corner of his mind. He ran faster searching again for the sounds of fighting. He could hear them, the cries of fear and pain as whoever was fighting fell to a superior force. He must get there, he must join the fray of battle, he must rip and tear and gnash. These were the thoughts that drove Blink forward in the strange light of the city. As Blink came to the broken gates at the entry to the courtyard he saw the great tree and spire that loomed overhead, he could hear the fighting close at hand. Moving inside the gates he saw that the shadows moved and shifted like roiling snakes. There were guards in chain and plate fighting the darkness with swords and arrows. There were even some that attacked with fire and ice as magic sprang from their hands. At the centre of the darkness Blink saw the man he had come for. Blink roar and charged forward. He turned and regarded Blink with surprise yet regained his composure quickly. With waves of his hands the shadows moved at Blink with alarming speed. Blink relished the attack, he welcomed it, it would not hold him back. As each black serpent of shadow came to strike, he sliced it through with his sword, never missing a moment as he danced about with Brandúlf’s Hackle.

‘You would stand against me? I that will end this suffering?’ came the hollow voice of the man before Blink.

‘I have come for your head,’ barked Blink enraged. He would not stop his assault and yet still black shadowy tentacles came. He moved through each step and slash anticipating the attacks as they came.

‘I have no more time for your foolish attempts. I am he who stills the passing of the sun. I am he who would reach beyond time and shatter the fabric of all things. I am a god, and you will bow before me,’ he said with the hollowness of his voice booming within the courtyard.

‘You will be he who is in pieces soon!’ snapped back Blink as he dodged another blackened tentacle and landed with a crouching stance. The man ceased his movements, and the tentacles withdrew. They stared at one another, the air between them becoming thick with the tension of expectation.

‘Blink! What do you think you’re doing?’ cried a girl with from atop the stairs by the tremendous tree. There was something familiar about her though Blink could not place it.

‘He must die!’ Blink growled back at her.

‘Where are the others?’ she cried as she drew symbols in the air that sprung fire as she spoke. The others? There are no others, and I don’t know who this girl is, said the voice inside him. Blink growled deeply and pushed it away.

‘Be quiet! We fight. We kill. We die!’ he called to her. He then heard a scream from her as one of the shadowy whips of darkness grabbed at her leg and wrenched her into the air. She’s hurt! We have to help Brigid, came the voice from inside. Blink paused and looked to the girl. She cried out in pain as the skin around her leg burned and steamed with rot. It was just a moment of hesitation but long enough for a similar tendril of darkness to stab at Blink hitting his sword arm. He hissed with pain as the flesh beneath decayed and peeled. Go to her. Help Brigid! Pleaded the voice inside.

‘No! There is only the fight!’ Blink barked at himself.

‘Brigid I’m coming,’ came a sweet high-pitched voice. There was another there, above with wings upon her back. As she spoke her form twisted and changed becoming a large silky panther. It raged against the tendrils attempting to free her but was soon swept up in another of the searing dark tentacles. Soon others came running to help them. A young man with a spear in hand. He was beaten and tossed aside. He stood and refused to back down but was soon overwhelmed and restrained. More and more they fell or found themselves bound by the darkness. With each scream of pain the tentacles that attacked at Blink grew more pronounced and furious. They threatened to overwhelm him. He slashed and moved as best he could but began to slow as he felt the decaying burns on his side and leg. He breathed heavily feeling the surge of fury and wrath inside him. It was hard to think, hard to hear anything at all. The voice inside was drowned out by the heavy thuds of his heart bursting in his ears. He should have been afraid, but he felt only an intoxicating thrill of life on the edge of death all around. He smiled a toothy fanged smile.

Nessus ran on through the streets with Ra’Handa in their arms and Innais by their side. They were soaked through with the rain and their foot falls created sprays as they stepped in pools of water and blood. Nessus tried not look at the dead that lined the streets of the city, both commoners, nobles, guards, and golgeists piled amongst them. All were equal in death and an inevitable ending. Though they would be reborn anew perhaps Blink was right. The lives they had lived in this existence still mattered, they still deserved to go on. You deserve to live also my vidar. I am always with you, and I want you to know joy in this world and form. Hannaka can wait. Do not end it all here, spoke Wrennal as they moved through the streets. Nessus wanted to be with them again more than anything. At least that had been true until others had made their way into their heart.

‘Innais do you see and hear that?’ they asked through heavy breaths.

‘Yes. The fight for this world is well underway and we are late,’ she said with stern coolness about her. She did not breath heavily at all and seemed to glide with every footfall. Nessus felt their strength failing after such a drudge and every muscle in their body throbbed desperately for rest.

‘Do not falter. We are almost there,’ she said commanding Nessus on. They slowed yet kept pace as best they could. Soon they came to the gates of The Paragon’s Spire, screams of pain, and sounds of fighting diminishing. As they rounded and entered, the scene before them was one of chaos and defeat. Nessus saw Brigid and Danu, bound by undulating whips of darkness that seared at their skin. Around them were the fallen forms of Daybreakers, the Watchdogs, Brinn and Rhett’Sa. Blink stood doubled over facing Arawn’Vyr. He was hurt and looking at the monstrous being of power. Nessus could see that Blink had, had little effect on Arawn’Vyr.

‘You have done enough Arawn’Vyr. Have you not had your fill of suffering, death, and pain?’ said Innais. He gave her only a glace with the corner of his eye but kept a close watch on Blink.

‘Be gone! He is mine. I will feast on his innards for what he has taken!’ said Blink with a bellowing roar. It reverberated across the courtyard and the rain steamed from his body.

‘Boy you have given too much of yourself over to Brandúlf! Wake you fool!’ said Innais scolding him. He only gnashed at her in response and charged headlong at Arawn’Vyr yet again. He seemed to gain more vigour and enthusiasm with each thrust of the sword.

‘Innais you must help him reach this monster,’ said Nessus placing Ra’Handa down by the gates. She glared at Nessus and they in that moment remembered to what they had spoken, she was a Numinian after all and would not take well to pleas and commands. A pause echoed between them in that moment and Nessus quailed slightly. They then saw that she began to be surrounded by the flows of The Torrent, power surging through and about her. Soon she was bathed in mist and light that grew form and shape. The conjured mist coalesced into shapes and then the likeness of Jadissa. There were many of them all about the courtyard, some entwined in the black whips of Arawn’Vyr others laying lifeless on the ground, more still standing staring at him. In that briefest of moments the shadowed whips stopped still and Arawn’Vyr whirled about at each of the conjured spirit like memories. The distraction was enough for Blink to reach him and drive the sword of bone into the chest of Arawn’Vyr. The world seemed to stand still for that moment as they looked on with fervent anticipation. Nessus realised they held their breath and let it be free taking in air in a gasp as the thick black shadows about Arawn’Vyr dissipated into smoke. Those that had been bound by them fell to the stone floors.

‘Boy I am beyond death now that I have taken in the power of Kolkiaravis… not even the maw of The Toothless One could compel me to The Torrent,’ said Arawn’Vyr emotionless. He made no motion to attack or even remove the sword. Blink looked at the monster that refused to accept death, he snarled and barked at him. He let go of the blade and slashed with clawed hands at Arawn’Vyr. They sliced at his dark robes doing nothing to harm him. He just stood and watched as Blink grew more frustrated and enraged. Nessus thought he seemed more a rabid animal than a man now. Whatever kindness, gentleness, and hope that had been Blink seemed gone.

‘Blink you must stop. Come back to us!’ cried Nessus in futility. Blink looked at them with yellowed eyes and a vicious scowl.

‘Innais what can we do?’ said Nessus. She gave no indication of having heard and stared at Arawn’Vyr, bone white sword piercing him through.