The Shadow Princess drew her arms over her thighs, wings whispering. She paused and gave an uncomfortable but determined sigh. “You exist because I let you. Did you see what I did to Worry? Her eye will never heal now.”
Annoyance rolled her eyes and gave a twitch of her wings.
Courage appeared beside Annoyance, a scarlet hand resting on the sharp crest of her jutting hips. Her thin smile held a victorious confidence, head raised up as if she possessed a concealed intelligence. What is she hiding? “I sense his approach. He should be here in minutes. I am surprised no one else can detect his presence.”
“I do, though you don’t seem to care what I think or know,” Larissa murmured.
The Shadow Princess put her attention on her heart, feeling it swell with euphoria, the telltale sign that there was another blessed with the Shadow God’s touch. “Yes. I feel it. Well done, Courage.” What more do you know?
“Thank you.” Courage bowed and muttered, “Not much else.”
“What did you say?” The Shadow Princess stifled a gasp. Could they read her thoughts? A derisive smile cut across Courage’s mouth. They can hear my thoughts, of course they can. How can I be so stupid?
“Wait. Shouldn’t we summon the horde? What if he wants to hurt us?” Worry kneeled at the bottom of the throne, cautiously raising her head to glance at the Shadow Princess. The place where her eye had once been wept with thick rivulets of puss and blood, pattering onto the immaculate stonework.
“That… may be a wise idea,” she conceded. “Summon them.” She gestured to Courage. Courage gave a stiff nod, rising to her full height and eyes briefly flashing.
Greyson snarled, shuffling his feet. His enormous tongue flopped from his back-mouth, spilling down the steps between his legs with a trail of saliva. She glanced at his crotch, a ruined stub of flesh above his fruits where she had once taken him. It was a shame she was built with barbs within her sex. She would’ve enjoyed having him again. He enjoyed her too, she knew. Since his transformation, he’d changed, always glancing at her sidelong. He might have even loved her.
Courage frowned at Greyson in disgust. Annoyance shook her head at him. Worry licked her lips in what might have been lustful anticipation. It surprised the Shadow Princess to see that reaction from Worry. Was she perhaps changing? Paranoia started pacing around the dais. “The horde should’ve been here by now. Where are they?” Her voice trembled.
A new duplicate appeared, one she didn’t recognize. She hunched over the throne’s armrest, drawing low to whisper into her ear. “Courage wants him for herself. She wants to take him from you.” She was Jealousy, she realized.
The Shadow Princess raised her chin, appraising Courage who had started picking at her talons. Courage seemed to have felt her gaze, eyes flicking up to regard her with suspicion. “Who is that? What is she telling you? Send her off, she’s no use to us.”
“I’m no one.” Jealousy shrugged, a sly grin forming on her lips. She leaned back to whisper again. “Are you sure about the others? They’re more attractive than you are. Maybe you should make them ugly, like Worry. Then Greyson won’t look at them. Then he’ll only see you.”
Hundreds of Shadow snakes poured into the chamber from the main doorway, fanning out in every direction. Some climbed the room’s support pillars and twisted their bodies to hang down from the heights. Others wound their way onto chandeliers, while others formed masses of ten or so snakes so large they rivaled the weight of men. Torches toppled, banners fell, and paintings crashed from the walls. Debris clattered as it shifted under the weight of their countless bodies.
“He’s here! Finally! He kept us waiting for too long, the disrespect.” Anger growled at her back. Her snakes hissed in unison, thousands of whispers reverberating from the walls. Gray mouths yawned open and snakes rose up to show their poisoned fangs, dripping with dark saliva. A few snakes dueled among themselves in a reflection of her duplicates.
“Good. Go away, all of you,” the Shadow Princess commanded, and the duplicates vanished as if never there. Greyson and Larissa exchanged wary glances as if she wouldn’t notice. Did the princeling know she could feel his every thought if she wanted to, his every emotion? She owned him.
The thumping of a cane on tiled floors came from the hallway, eventually materializing into the shape of Terar. He froze at the chamber’s entrance for a moment, ruined face bared for all to see. She almost preferred the ugly bastard with his mask. He hunched over with the vitality of an elder and she wondered how he’d managed to survive for so long. She’d never met him, of course, but she possessed Asebor’s memories of him. He was an enigma with powers even the Shadow hadn’t fully understood.
She rose from the chair and beckoned for him to enter. “Terar, welcome to Midgaard.” She smiled, despite his making her wait while he meandered through the city streets.
The corner of his scarred lips rose on one side in what might have been a returned smile. “Princess, it is wonderful to see you. You’ve taken the city. Your father would be proud,” he said in a wheedling tone. “You… have accomplished what he never could. Most impressive.”
“What sort of daughter would I be if I could not at least surpass my father?” She leaned forward in her chair, reminding herself that this man was either clever or lucky enough to be the sole survivor of the Wretched, her father’s former generals. “How do you live when all the others have perished, I wonder?” What makes you so special? she wanted to ask, the words corked tight in her throat.
Terar emitted a high-pitched giggle, gesturing with his stump. “I’m not sure that live is the proper word. I survive, Princess. It is my specialty.”
“The last we knew, you were cloistered in the Tigerian Bluffs, supposedly preparing the Bearer of Blackout to lead the Death Spawn against the Tower. Where did you go wrong, Terar? Asebor couldn’t find you, said your soul had left for the Great Beyond.” She narrowed her eyes, her snakes forming a semi-circle of wriggling bodies around him. They were her armor if he tried to assert his power here.
“It is a long story, Princess.” He wiped away a string of spittle rolling down the corner of his lip.
“We have nothing but time,” she replied with a shrug.
“Very well, if you must make me again relive my mistakes, I will,” he drawled. His lips twitched, creases of his eyes pulling tight around his ghoulish skull. “I… lost control. I made a poor decision, Princess. I returned Blackout to the bearer’s hands too early. He was not ready and the sword too powerful. Juzo and the sword both turned on me, and this was the result.” He gestured with his stump, eyes downcast. “Not a point of pride, I’m afraid.”
She could smell his fear scenting the air like roasting garlic. “Go on, I know there is far more to this story, things you hide.” She gestured impatiently. Her eyes caught sight of something strange, a swirling brand she recognized crawling up his arm from elbow to wrist. Where had she seen it before?
Terar hobbled a step forward, and her snakes hissed in protest. “Princess, I-I crawled my way out of the caves and into the sands of the desert, bleeding out my last to die. I waited for death…” His mouth fell open, but no words came, and his lips pressed into a pink line. “None of my spells worked to heal my wounds, the sword’s magic too powerful for me to overcome.”
Then she remembered that brand, a shard of ancient knowledge inherited from the Shadow God. “Prodal,” she growled, leaping to her feet, wings hissing open. “You agreed to his bargain!” She burst out with a shriek of echoing laughter, her expression rapidly shifting to compressed rage. “You are a fool, Terar.”
“Kill him!” Anger roared at her back.
“No honor!” Courage spat.
“Coward!” Disgust screamed.
“No… you misunderstand,” Terar hissed, stepping back as her snakes drew into a tight circle to surround him. “I may be those things, but I survive where the others have perished. Let me help you. Let my knowledge be the hand that leads you to crush the Tower.”
“Careful. He might have spells, tricks to use against us! Please be careful!” Worry fell to her knees, whimpering with hands clasped.
“Get up, stop being so sensational.” The Shadow Princess nudged Worry with her foot.
Terar raised his stump, staff dropping from his hand and clattering to the floor. “I have done nothing of the sort. I assure you that I have remained loyal to the Shadow. I did what I had to do to live, to stay loyal and to build you an army, Princess,” Terar said, tone colored with a pleading note.
“Kill him and be done with it. What are you waiting for?” Annoyance breathed in her ear.
“May I offer a suggestion—” Larissa’s tongue froze from the Shadow Princess’s glare. She mumbled, lowering her head, and licking her lips. “Sorry, Princess.”
“Go to the North, I implore you. I have raised an army of zealots ready to obey your every command. They have no fear, no mercy for their own kin who do not follow the cause. The Purists are yours.” Terar bowed. “I only wish to serve as I’ve served your father.”
“Lies, lies, lies!” Anger shrieked. “Look at his arm! Don’t be a fool! He’s Prodal’s for now and until the end of time. He’s gone, a mere tool.”
“I fear you may be right,” she said slowly, watching as Anger started stalking about the room, fists clenched.
Disgust appeared behind Terar, scenting his neck. He made no effort to brush her away or acknowledge her. “He carries the stink of fear, cowardice, and deception. Anger is right.”
The Shadow Princess gathered her strength like a tornado collecting debris to lay waste to this creature. A thin line of violet light encircled her form, eyes burning bright. Her limbs vibrated with pent-up energy.
“He comes here with Prodal’s brand,” Anger seethed. “What are you waiting for? He wants to control us, to make us his! The arrogance!”
“Wait,” Worry said, rising to her feet. “He did serve Father. Perhaps his loyalties do in fact remain. He came here alone, and he is surrounded by the horde. What could he possibly do? If what he says about the army is true… he might be useful to us.”
The Shadow Princess slitted her eyes at Worry. She was acting strange. Was she trying to deceive her?
“I was ordered to do this, to let them flourish.” Terar gestured in the direction of the dais. “And I complied, compelled by Prodal’s debt. I want you to know I had countless chances to execute the princeling via my Blood Eater, his sister Larissa. Did you know that they spend every night together?” he asked conspiratorially.
She felt then something she’d never felt before. A strange pang for something, for what she couldn’t place. She wanted what the siblings had, a partner, someone to confide in. She glanced at her duplicates, all of their eyes narrowed and leveled at her.
“Princess. I let him live for you and to fulfill Prodal. Prodal must think you’re capable of besting the Tower. But I don’t. I—”
“You dare! You challenge me?” She dropped into a low stance, Shadow flames pleading to be unleashed from her fingertips. Her arms tingled like hundreds of insects squirmed beneath her carapace.
“He’ll help us,” Courage said with a nod.
“If you’d let me finish, yes, I can help you. The Purists are prepared to follow my lead, or yours, to the Tower’s doors,” Terar said.
“Your lead?” She scoffed, a gesture she recently learned. “And you think your petty rabble of mortals is anything but fodder beside the horde?”
Anger stepped in front of her, obscuring her view of Terar. “Kill the traitor! The coward hid in his hole while Mother and Father were slain. If you let him live—”
“If I let him live, you’ll what?” The Shadow Princess shoved Anger aside and sent her staggering down the steps of the dais. “She’s right, you know. Where were you while the Slayer assaulted our home? Where!” she shrieked, tears filling her eyes.
“I-I was dying, lost in some interminable limbo under Prodal’s control,” Terar stammered, lowering his gaze. “I come here in peace, to ally our forces against the Tower, Princess.”
“More lies,” Paranoia whispered in her ear, licking her lips. “He said it himself that Prodal compelled him. If not for him, he would turn against you.”
“No. You’re wrong.” Prodal shook his head, slowly bending down to lift his staff. He tucked it under his armpit and leaned against it.
“Paranoia has a point. We should kill him. He is not needed,” Courage said flatly.
The Shadow Princess grinned. “Fine.”
“What? Wait…” Terar hissed, raising his cobra staff, white spines on the snake’s hood flexing up like porcupine quills.
Her fingertips burned like acid, ribbons of violet fire cutting the air and making a path for Terar. In a blink, he leaped into a portal, materializing between a few snakes gathered up into towers of slithering masses. Her ribbons sliced through a pair of pillars, sending great slabs of marble crashing to the ground and flattening snakes beneath. Terar emerged through the other side of his portal, smashing his staff into the ground at her flank. The masses of snakes around him vaporized into plumes of black dust.
The Shadow Princess doubled over in agony as if a knife had been rammed into her gut. She raised her head with a groan, eyes flaring at all the dead. She was part of them, and they part of her. When they died, she felt their pain.
“You dare!” Terar drawled, staff again crashing into the tiles. A perfect circle of stony spikes punched up through the floor, rippling outward from his form, the circumference ever widening. The Shadow Princess leaped into the air, great wings guided by her flapping arms, and whooshed to the heights of the chamber. Larissa climbed up the wall with uncanny dexterity, fingers and feet smashing into the wood to make her own holds. Greyson followed after her, but in a mighty leap, landed on the top of an enormous iron chandelier. It protested with a groan while he beat fellow Shadow snakes from the rim.
Terar’s waving spikes pierced through Shadow snakes, rent bodies into halves and lopped heads free. A second later, the spikes traversed the entirety of the floor, laying ruin to all in its path. Hundreds of surviving Shadow snakes hissed their sufferings, the chamber bathed in a sea of violet blood and ashen bodies. Thousands of tiles were uprooted from the wooden scaffolding, rising up from the mess of debris to hover on the air. Terar raised his chin with a mangled grimace. “You asked why I live, and now, you will learn, my pathetic child. I am the strongest of the Shadow blessed. There is indeed a great reason why I live!”
Greyson swung from chandelier to chandelier like a monkey of the Far Islands, working his way toward Terar.
“You said you had an army for me, to repay your debt. This is how you do it?” the princess screamed, tears hot in her eyes. The pain of the dead reached her then, all-encompassing and crippling. The world flashed in whites and golds. She fell from the heights in an uncontrolled spiral, the hard edge of the dais coming up to greet her face. She tried to turn too late and closed her eyes. A wet crunch stabbed her ears and pounded in her skull.
Her hand gripped the edge of the dais, unsure if seconds or minutes had passed. She spied Larissa, a figure of blurring limbs and growls lunging for Terar with the ferocity of a wolf to prey. Terar managed to get his staff up in time to ward off a clumsy kick followed by attempts at raking his eyes with clawed hands. Larissa grabbed his staff with both hands, trying to yank it from his grip. Terar uttered a series of incomprehensible words behind a cage of teeth. Larissa was lifted off her feet with a shout of surprise. She was hurtled into the ceiling, cracking the plaster, and sending dust and bits of wood raining to the floor.
The Shadow Princess blinked away a wave of violet blood clouding her eyes, hearing the thump of Larissa’s limp form striking the ground. Her thoughts were coming slow, hand raising to touch her head to find it stoved in at the side so deep she could set her fingers into it up to the last knuckle. She gently patted the wound, finding its shape curious. It should’ve been enough to kill me, she thought d
imly. She pulled her talons away, coated in bright blood. She licked a finger as chaotic sounds reached her ears, drawing her eyes to Greyson swinging from the chandeliers.
Terar raised his staff at her, pointing with the cobra’s head when Greyson thumped down at his back. Greyson twisted about, the giant mouth on his back yawning open, demon’s eyes twinkling with ravenous glee. His giant mouth snapped like a bear trap around Terar’s backside. Terar shouted in horror, eyes rolling to find Greyson, head thrown back as his enormous jaws sliced through the majority of Terar’s ass, his bite so deep one of Terar’s legs sheared off with a great mass of flesh. The tiles and debris hovering on the air clattered to the ground. In an instant, Greyson regained his bite, latching around Terar’s ruined body. Blood exploded onto the floor while Greyson growled and shook like a dog, smashing Terar’s limp body against the floor producing hundreds of cracks as his bones were shattered. Greyson continued to shake his backside to and fro, spraying blood from Terar’s body and slashing the walls with red streaks.
The Shadow Princess gripped the dais with a wet hand, rising to her feet as the scene shifted in and out of focus. Larissa stirred on the floor, rising to her hands and knees. Greyson continued his shaking, repeatedly smashing Terar’s flopping head into a pillar.
“G-g-Greyson,” she stuttered, her words not working. “You… go to the North with la-la-lar-Larissa. Take the Purists, bring them here. Prepare for war… back soon. Think I’m dying, death.” She collapsed, and the world turned sideways “Dying. Death. Ending. Dead,” she murmured. She closed her eyes, then opened them sometime later at the sound of scuffling feet. Greyson and Larissa crouched over her, exchanging questioning glances. “I will return, children,” she said, breathing her last of this body.
The Shadow Princess floated in a warm bath, denuded of her carapace armor. Her skin was ivory, unmarred, and silky smooth, motionless snakes of hair fanning out over the crystalline water. She knew this place, she realized with a start, limbs twitching and disturbing the water. Waves of violet light crested on the surface as if the agitation caused it to glow. Above and below her was nothing but an endless sheet of blissful white. She blinked up at it, trying to remember where she was and how she knew this place. She tried to move again, producing no more than a tremble in her limbs.
The Shadow Age (The Age of Dawn Book 7) Page 26
