Ruyne had been quiet and withdrawn, only doing his job as Leader and focusing on the Band staying safe. Silver leaned against their wagon and watched Truyna laugh and play with some of the other children in the camp, as Band members carefully supervised them. He saw Ruyne emerge from Shadow’s wagon
Ruyne noticed Silver and came over, a slight frown on his handsome face. With a resigned sigh, he climbed into the wagon, motioning for Silver to follow him.
Silver obeyed. Once inside, he shut the wagon door behind them and turned to face Ruyne with crossed arms. “What are we going to do, Ruyne?”
Ruyne shrugged as he ran a hand through his long blue hair to untangle it, looking everywhere but at Silver. “We’re going to follow the road out of Autumn’s Embrace. It will lead us to Derry.”
Silver scowled. “Ruyne, Derry told me to stay away from him all those years ago. He said that he would kill us all. We’re already in danger from Valentra and you want to gallop into more?”
“I don’t want any of this, Silver,” Ruyne snapped, his blue eyes flashing. “Do you think I wanted the woman I loved to betray us and nearly kill all of us? Do you think I’m not aware that I’ve struggled as Leader ever since my mother died?”
Silver could feel Ruyne’s Song magic darting around like a terrified rabbit. He tried to use his own to soothe it, as he stepped forward to put his hand on Ruyne’s shoulder. “You are too hard on yourself, Ruyne.”
Ruyne snorted. “You warned me, Silver. You knew she was trouble. I didn’t listen because I lusted for her.”
“We have Truyna because you were with her. That was the whole point. Valentra is gone now. Having Truyna wasn’t a mistake. The Song has blessed her. That proves your choice there was the right one.” Silver said, his voice gentle, soothing. He was still a little angry with Ruyne for not listening but it was unimportant now. They couldn’t change the past. “You can’t help who you fall in love with, Ruyne. I know you loved her. I’m sorry she hurt you, but I’m still here. I will never hurt you or leave you.”
“I know that. That’s why I halved my soul with you,” Ruyne smiled and pulled Silver into his strong arms for an embrace. “When my mother died she warned me that the four of us had to stay together. Nothing has gone right since we lost Derry. We need to go save him. Not only for Shadow’s sake, or Derry’s sake. The entire Band is at stake if we don’t free him. I can feel it in my bones. Shadow is adamant as well. Whatever has taken Derry is poisoning the Band through him somehow, even from this distance.”
“You think it can do that?” Silver asked, pulling back with a frown. The last few years had been wrought with more trouble than any Band they knew of had ever experienced, but blaming it on Derry who was so far away seemed unbelievable.
“I’ve been talking with the Elders. They have sung me remnants of a tale that disturbs me, Silver. I’ve been piecing it together.” Ruyne pulled away and walked over to the table to unroll a scroll. “Our people were cursed by the sea sirens. We all know that. We avoid the sea because the tales say, if we don’t, the sirens will sense our magic and return to take it back by force. But it gets darker than that.” Ruyne furrowed his brows. “I used the Leader’s magic to trace our history, and I’ve seen how we became the Dusksingers. I know who possessed Derry.”
Silver leaned on the table. Written records weren’t a normal thing. They were something Derry’s parents had been trying to introduce because Derry’s father had been a historian before they joined the Band. For Ruyne to be piecing this together on paper caused Silver quite a bit of concern. It wasn’t normal. “Do I dare ask?”
Ruyne leaned with both palms on the table. “The Dusksingers were born from murder. Treachery.”
“Well, yes. We know the sirens cursed us, and we need to stay away from the sea.” Silver frowned at him. This was not new information.
Ruyne closed his eyes and looked almost pained. “It was not the sirens who started this, Silver. It was the mage that founded our people. The father of the Dusksingers. Travain.”
Silver shook his head in disbelief. Their songs and history clearly told the story of Travain, the valiant mage who had fought off the sirens to save his people. “What are you talking about?”
“Lies, Silver. All of it is a big web of lies!” Ruyne growled and shoved the papers off the table in such a rage that Silver jumped away from him, eyes wide. “Travain killed a siren to steal her magic and then got us all cursed by the Queen of the Sirens herself! That’s why we’re Dusksingers. To serve her in eternal recompense for the loss of her child. Do you know what Valentra told me? People would go missing in the towns after we were there. Sometimes we were blamed for it.”
“What? That’s ridiculous! We didn’t do anything like that. The Bands would never. We were raised to help and be kind.” Silver faltered. He felt lightheaded.
“It’s not us, Silver. It’s the Song. It sends them to the Sea,” Ruyne whispered as he stooped to pick up the scattered papers and seemed to calm again.
Silver rubbed his cheek, not knowing what to say. Ruyne’s temper had been worse ever since Valentra had joined the Band, and sometimes Silver set it off without even knowing how. He understood why this would enrage Ruyne, though. They had been raised on a set of beliefs they now new were false teachings. “So the Siren Queen is using the Song to strengthen the numbers of her people through us to make up for her loss. What did Travain get out of all of this?”
“We hailed him as a hero. He had everything he wanted, beauty, fame.” Ruyne shuffled the papers back into a pile. “He wasn’t satisfied though, Silver. He didn’t die. At least part of him didn’t. That’s what took over Derry.”
“To what end?” Silver sputtered, frustrated. “He lived his life and had all he wanted, why would he have to take Derry?”
“He wants revenge on the Siren Queen. I think he’s building an army to face her.” Ruyne rubbed his head. “I’m sorry, Silver. I know none of this seems real. I don’t want to believe it myself, but my Song can’t lie to me, it showed me the past. All Leaders trace their bloodlines directly back to Travain.”
“Then why did he take Derry? He should have taken you,” Silver pointed out.
Ruyne became still and quiet at that. After a moment’s consideration he looked at Silver. “He couldn’t. The Song protects the Band. He had to take a villager. He is what was hunting Derry when they came to the Band. He is the shadow that killed Derry’s parents. The Song protected Derry while he was with us and his parents knew that.”
“But, Derry was not in the Song’s protection when he got taken. He was outside of it.” Silver scowled. “Did you tell Shadow?”
“Not yet. Only the Elders know, and even they only know parts of it. Do you realize what this could do to the Bands if this information got out?” Ruyne shook his head. “We have to stop him, and we have to do it on our own, Silver. Just our Band.”
Silver folded his arms across his chest. None of this made sense, but he could tell by Ruyne’s fervent tone it was the truth. “Ruyne, how do we keep performing if you know every time we do, some villagers will be sacrificed to the Sirens?”
Ruyne walked to look at the camp out of one of the wagon’s windows. “That’s why only you and I can know, Silver. And I will perform because I must. The Song demands it. Our way of life and our Songs and our performances are important. Maybe when we stop Travain, we can find a way to break the curse as well.”
“I hope you’re right,” Silver muttered. He was getting tired of knowing things he didn’t want to know and having secrets to keep. “So, we’re going to find Derry?”
“Performing on the way. I know Shadow wants to rush, but we don’t know enough about the situation. We’ll find out what we can along the way. Shadow said Derry is only himself on the anniversary of his parents’ deaths. If possible, I would speak to Derry before we attack Travain,” Ruyne explained.
“Shadow won’t like that. You wouldn’t like that if it were me that was trapped,” Silver said wit
h a scowl.
“No. But it’s necessary. I’ll make Shadow understand,” Ruyne said. He opened the door and hopped out before Silver could comment again.
Chapter 22
Ruyne
“Shadow, be reasonable,” Ruyne sighed. He leaned against the wall of Shadow’s wagon and crossed his arms at the glare he earned from his brother. Or the man who had been his brother. Shadow looked so different with his tattoos and the marks from his harsh life he had lived he was nearly unrecognizable. Time had changed Shadow into a different man, but his brother’s temper was still there.
“Reasonable? Would you be reasonable if it were your Song-Bound that was trapped?” Shadow growled at him. Then realization crossed Shadow’s features, and he flopped back into his chair, frowning. “Of course, you would. You’re the Leader. The Band comes first. Duty before love, right?”
Ruyne took a deep breath and tried not to let his brother’s words sting. “Of course, I would do everything I could to get Silver back. I am not disagreeing with you, Shadow. You were right all along. We should have helped Derry. I can’t change what happened. We’re going to get Derry back. I promise you. But to do that, we need to talk to Derry. You said he told you he’s only himself one day of the year. If we take this path, we will end up there a few days before. We can assess the situation, then I will speak to Derry. I want to speak to Derry himself before we rush into this. Remember, he told Silver to keep us all away because he would kill us. You don’t want the evil creature that has possessed Derry to kill you, do you?”
Shadow closed his eyes and didn’t respond. His tense posture betrayed his anger lurked just below the surface.
Ruyne took a deep breath and walked over to kneel before his brother, resting a comforting hand on Shadow’s shoulder, as he tried his best to use their bond through the Song magic to send calmness and hope to his brother. “We will save Derry, Shadow. I love him as a brother. As much as I care for you. I swear it. Trust me. You have searched and sacrificed for so long. Please don’t rush this. Let us help you. You can’t do it alone; you know that. That has been our problem all along. We got separated and followed our own paths. Our strength has always been with each other. Use this time to grow strong again, Shadow.”
“It drives me mad, Ruyne, to think that Derry is trapped inside his own body, all alone and lost,” Shadow whispered.
“I cannot even imagine your pain, Shadow. But I am here to help you bear it. So is Silver. Derry is our brother. We will not abandon him again, or you,” Ruyne said gently then pulled his brother into a hug. “I thought I’d lost you, Shadow.”
Shadow returned the embrace before pushed Ruyne back. “You should know better. I’m too stubborn to return to the sea so soon. I will not rest until I have saved Derry.”
Ruyne chuckled in spite of himself, then stood up and pulled Shadow to his feet. “Come, Shadow. Return to us. We have missed you. The towns have missed you.”
“I haven’t sung much since I left,” Shadow admitted, as he and Ruyne stepped out of the wagon.
As soon as their feet hit the ground, Silver came running up to them, wide-eyed and breathless. Ruyne stiffened immediately and grabbed Silver’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s my father. He was working on fixing one of the wagons then he just fell over. He’s ill,” Silver managed to gasp.
Ruyne wasted no time asking more, as he broke into a run toward Bronze’s wagon with Silver and Shadow right behind him. The worried Band members parted to give him a path, and Ruyne leaped up into the wagon.
Bronze lay prone on the bed. His normal bronze-toned skin was pale as Silver’s and covered in strange blue-green bruises. Lapis stood at his side, but the Band’s healer waved for the rest of them to stay at a distance.
“What is it?” Ruyne demanded of the healer.
The woman shook her head when all gazes turned to her. “I cannot say, Leader. His Song is wrong. It is like a poison in his magic.”
Ruyne glanced at Silver, and by his lover’s horrified expression, he could tell that he and Silver had come to the same conclusion. This had to be the work of Derry’s corrupted magic. Somehow, Travain knew that Shadow had reached them. Was this a magical attack to destroy them? A warning? The fact that Bronze was the first to fall, made it seem strategic.
“Do what you can to counteract it,” Ruyne commanded to the healer, then he stalked back to the door. “Shadow, Silver, with me.”
Silver gave his mother a tortured look but followed Ruyne. Shadow fell in step with a grim look on his face. They retreated into Ruyne’s wagon with them then shut the door behind them. “It has to be Travain. Derry is still bound to this Band somehow, and Travain is using that bond.”
“Why do you have me in here then? I’m the most likely source. Derry’s bound to me,” Shadow pointed out, as he crossed his arms.
“Exactly,” Ruyne nodded, grim. “If Travain is using Derry’s Song-Binding to you to reach us that means you can also reach Derry through it.”
“I’m no wizard, Ruyne,” Shadow said, frustrated.
“No, but you did have the strongest Song of all of us besides Ruyne,” Silver added, his brows furrowed.
“I have an idea,” Ruyne muttered. He gave Silver a quick hug. “Go to your father, my love. Come and tell us if there’s any change. You cannot be here for what I’m about to show Shadow.”
Silver gave him a bewildered look, but he obediently left the wagon.
Ruyne went to the cupboard and got a large bowl. The he got a pitcher of water and filled the bowl with it. “What I’m going to show you is a secret of the Leaders, Shadow. You cannot tell anyone else.”
Shadow looked skeptical, but he nodded as he moved closer.
Ruyne rested both palms on the table, one on either side of the bowl, and bowed his head, eyes closed. He let his consciousness drift deep down within him to find the Song magic that thrummed though his being. Please, let this work, he prayed as he opened his eyes again. The magic had confirmed what he thought. He could feel a faint thread within the magic of the Song. Derry’s thread. They had all thought it gone. It was just well-hidden. He grabbed Shadow by the shoulders and positioned his brother in front of the water. Then he took a pouch of powder from around his neck and sprinkled it into the water. “Hear me, ancient Song. I invoke the power of the Leader and grant it to my brother Shadow so that he might use this ritual to reach that which is lost.”
Shadow jerked in place at the invocation, as the Song magic filled him. His eyes widened as his Song surged through him once more, powered by the Leader’s magic. “What am I supposed to do?” His voice wavered, uncertain.
“Reach Derry. Sing, Shadow. Sing a song powerful enough to break Travain’s hold and drive him back. Appeal to Derry, strengthen him to fight. Use your bond to your beloved to let the Song flow through him once more. Restore what he’s lost,” Ruyne instructed.
Shadow stared at him. Then he slowly turned back to the bowl of water and placed his hands on either side of it, closing his eyes. He started to sing, his deep baritone voice shaky and breaking at first. But as his emotions started to fuel the words of loss and love, the Song magic took over, and his voice grew louder and more powerful.
Ruyne stepped back and stood by the wall. As Shadow sang, the Song manifested as colorful strands wisping out of the water like smoke until it filled the entire wagon around them. The raw emotion that gripped Shadow and filled his voice shook the wagon with its power. Then as the last note faded, the colorful smoke got sucked back into the bowl and the water dissipated with a loud sucking noise. Ruyne darted forward to support his brother when Shadow’s knees buckled under the strength of the magic.
“It worked. I reached Derry,” Shadow whispered, a smile on his face even as the color faded from his skin, and he fell limp in Ruyne’s arms.
Ruyne picked up his now unconscious brother and walked over to lay him on the bed. Shadow seemed so much lighter than Ruyne expected. He turned just in time to see Silv
er to throw open the door.
“They’re gone. Father is better,” Silver said, his voice incredulous.
“For now, Silver. For now,” Ruyne said, still grim. He glanced at Shadow’s prone form, then he walked to the door. “We have to move the Band. We can’t wait. The first blow has been struck.”
Silver looked from Ruyne to Shadow’s still form then paled. “You attacked Travain?”
“We bolstered Derry. I suppose Travain will be less than pleased. Come, Silver. We must make haste,” Ruyne said, as he dropped down from the wagon to give the command for the Band to pack up to move.
Chapter 23
Shadow
Shadow dreamt of fields of flowers. Chasing Derry forever and never getting close enough to touch him. He started awake to find Ruyne sitting next to the bed with a concerned look.
“I was afraid you were lost in the Song,” Ruyne said as he reached over to grasp Shadow’s hand and helped him sit up. Then a warm bowl of soup found its way into Shadow’s hands. “Eat, it’s been a few days, and you were not quite yourself when you returned to us to begin with.”
Shadow slowly spooned the warm soup into his mouth. It was delicious, and he was hungry. “I dreamed about Derry.”
“I am not surprised. You said you reached him before you fell unconscious,” Ruyne said gently. “Bronze’s illness disappeared. But while you slept, others have fallen to it. Travain can use his bond to us to attack us through the Song’s magic somehow. I’ve been trying to figure out ways to block it, but I can only deflect it for a short time so far.”
Shadow paused in his eating to check his own skin for sores, then he looked at his brother, bewildered. “Why wouldn’t this monster attack me first? I’m the only thing between him and Derry being lost forever.”
“Derry is protecting you, I think. With all his might. His love for you has always been his strength.” Ruyne frowned as the wagon rattled, the wheels hitting a bump in the road. “We’ve been traveling for days but we’ll have to stop to perform tonight. The Song won’t be strong enough to protect us from Travain’s attacks if we don’t.”
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