“I am the Lord Atramen, and this is my domain!”

Alecyn froze at the sound of the voice. It was deep and resonant and came from all around. Her breathing slowed, and her heart calmed. Suddenly, their race across the city, pursued by creatures from nightmares, seemed silly. Why was she running? Was this her enemy? Of course not. It could not be.

“I speak to the human who is running from my servants. You do not know what you are doing. Your companion is not as she appears. She has stolen from me and done worse. She does not mean you well.”

Alecyn nodded slowly. It made perfect sense. She was dimly aware of Madeleine tugging at her arm and pointing.

“The water gate, it is just down that passage. It is unguarded.”

“If you run, my servants will pursue you, and I cannot guarantee your safety when they overtake you. Please…”

The tone was heartbreaking, and Alecyn took several steps back the way she had come.

“I merely seek to discover how this world may be freed from a great darkness threatening it. Ask your companion in which direction she will take you. Ask her about the Black Isle and the sorcerer who awaits her there.”

“Please, lady! He works a spell over you. They are coming! We must run!”

Alecyn looked blankly at Madeleine. Her words were muted as though herded through water.

“You inadvertently destroyed my Veil. It was how I hid this city from the covetous gaze of the Sorcerer of the Black Isle. You have great power; your potential is limitless. But only with me to teach you. Come to the Palace.”

“He will steal your voice and make you like me. He lies!”

Madeleine’s words faded to a buzz. Alecyn shook free of her and retraced her steps, walking back towards the palace. That voice could not be wrong. Of course, she needed to go to the palace. It was clear, and Madeleine’s attempts to distract her were so transparent. The voice continued, but she was unsure if it was in her head or still resounding from the walls, the ground, and the air around her. It wrapped her in a warm blanket, taking away her worries. She felt a hand in her pocket, and then a tiny black object was held in front of her face. For a moment, she stared blankly. She had no name for the shape. It was a foreign object. Then, a spark of recognition and, with it, memory. A gift unwrapped excitedly. Christmas! Her first smartphone.

She grabbed the phone from Madeleine, clinging to its warm plastic shape like a drowning swimmer on a raft. Her mind railed at the control the voice had exerted over it. She remembered Lake Wales, home. Madeleine was clinging to her hand, pulling her in the opposite direction, utter panic painting her tortured face.

“I am all right, Madeleine.” She stared at the phone in her hand, every mark and scratch familiar. “What just happened?”

“This is a talisman for you?” Madeleine asked. “An object of power?”

“No, it is…” Alecyn thought for a moment. “Perhaps it is that.”

“I could feel it. It resonated. I knew it was something that had known your touch many times, taken on your aura. It was the only way to break the spell.”

A terrible scream echoed over the rooftops—a sound of rage and pain from the blackest depths.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Shriekers!” Madeleine screamed. “He has sent out the Shriekers. They will hunt us. We must go. We are almost out of the city. We have a chance to hide in the wilds.”

Alecyn clutched the phone to her chest, a remnant of home in this frightening place.

“First, tell me what he meant. About the Black Isle, the sorcerer.”

“The Black Isle lies far west of here, Satan’s Kingdom. It is the domain of the great sorcerer.”

“And you were taking me to him?”

“No, lady. Never. I will guide you to Welcome. I was an apprentice there to a great sorcerer. He will help you.”

“He will get me home?”

Madeleine was looking increasingly frantic. She nodded.

“I do not trust you, Madeleine.” Alecyn took the flute from her pocket again, and Madeleine shrank from her.

“You do not need to trust me, lady. Just follow me. I oppose Atramen, and he fears you.”

“But why?!” Alecyn felt frustrated and anger rising. It was always the same when she did not understand something. She remembered the woman she had been treating the day before, back home in Lake Wales, whose symptoms were defying diagnosis. At first, there was frustration at her inability to help, then cold, precise determination that the puzzle would not beat her. She fought now to overcome the rising fury clouding her judgment.

“It is the prophecy of the True Voice, and I will tell you all about it, but it is not safe to stand here for too long. Even if the Mutes do not find us, the stormbird is still out there.”

" What is a stormbird?”

"The giant eagle that appeared from nowhere carrying two men."

Madeleine had saved them again. Alecyn may not understand her motivation, but Madeleine had saved her life twice now. And Eevee…

“Where’s Eevee?!” Alecyn realized with a sudden, heart-stopping panic that she was not following as she had been throughout their flight. When was the last time she had seen her? It had been just before the stormbird attack. Her stomach clenched as she looked around her in desperation. They stood in a narrow alleyway flanked by tall buildings with multiple small circular windows. Bright, pastel-colored paint still clung to the brick here and there. Water trickled and collected among the uneven cobblestones. Alecyn called out to Eevee, beginning to run back up the alleyway, fighting Madeleine’s attempts to hold onto her and pull her in the opposite direction. She wrenched herself free.

“I am going back for her!”

“You cannot! Your familiar could be anywhere, and your calling to her will only attract the Mutes.”

“I do not care. I am finding a way home and taking her back with me. I will not leave her here to starve or be found by one of those monsters. She is the only friend I have in this world.”

Alecyn ran up the alleyway, calling to Eevee as she did until she reached the point where it crossed a wider street. She did not hear the ticking growl until it was too late. Suddenly, a Mute was before her. It dropped as though from the sky, landing in a crouch and straightening to its full height, arms outstretched. Without thought, Alecyn put the flute to her lips. She played the first thing that came into her head: Waterfalls. It was a tune she had composed herself one summer evening in Lake Wales, sitting on her house's veranda watching the sun settle over the lake. She did not know what she was doing but could not deny that her music had power. She wanted this creature to be away. She needed to find Eevee. She wanted to go home.

The Mute was gone. The ruined city was gone. Alecyn felt a rushing sensation as though caught in a whirlwind. The world blurred around her, twisting, racing away, and towards her at the same time. Then, it was still. She and Madeleine stood in a clearing, surrounded by trees, beneath which shadows clung thickly to the ground. Hills loomed beyond the trees, draped in their forest blanket. Mist roamed the upper slopes, and the trees all around them moaned and sighed in the breeze.

Alecyn fell to her knees, exhaustion clawing at her. Madeleine was by her side.

“You did too much. I will teach you what I can, though my powers are small. You can kill yourself trying to do what you just did.”

“I did not know what I was doing,” Alecyn muttered thickly.

“You required an escape, and you changed the world around you to provide it. I have heard of this skill. It is said that Atramen has this ability. But you have drawn on the magic in your world to do it. This does not seem right. It will change you. It is a major source of power but using it will make you like Atramen. It would be best if you learned to draw on your energy alone. Argent was his place; his essence was all over it. By drawing on it, it is like drinking poison.”

Alecyn vomited. It sounded like radiation sickness, being contaminated by the energy of your environment. Her head whirled: magic, Eevee, Lake Wales, Madeleine, magic, home…