A Kingdom of Shadow

by Clara Johnson

  I was down to one dagger and with more blood flowing out of my wound, I became dizzy. Despite applying pressure to the wound, I started coughing. My throat burned as I spitted out more blood. At this rate, I’d die before the inferniwulves could get at me. No, I couldn’t die like this.

  The inferniwulf backed up a few steps before rushing towards me. I waited until it was close. Just a little closer.

  It opened its jaws and I jumped, shifting all my weight to the side. The inferniwulf bashed its head into the steel gate, breaking off the top hinges. It had barely turned to me before I stabbed my dagger into its eye, digging it deeper, making sure it died.

  It opened its jaws ready to bite into me. It jumped. I shifted all my weight to the side. The inferniwulf bashed its head into the steel gate, breaking it off the top hinges. I stabbed my remaining dagger straight into its glowing eye. I dug the dagger deeper, making sure it would kill it. It fell to its side.

  Eight down.

  I fell to my knees, coughing up more blood, wheezing as I tried to breathe. I couldn’t hold it back any more and I was unsure if it was my injury or my condition that caused this. After several minutes, I rested my breathing and looked behind me, the woman and her children were safe.

  “Ellyn!” a voice screamed.

  I whirled around to see the inferniwulf I’d left on the ground recovering from its stab wound. It was growling at me. Trying to pull the dagger embedded in the inferniwulf beside me, my vision blurred as I reached for its handle.

  The inferniwulf moved towards me as I felt something pull my body away from its path. The inferniwulf dug its fangs into my savior’s leg as he screamed in pain. The dagger on his hip was pressed against my head. I unsheathed it and brought it down into the inferniwulf’s head, killing it instantly.

  My savior fell onto his side. When I saw his face, my heart skipped a beat.

  Jonas.

  “Oh, Goddess! Jonas!” I screamed.

  I went to him, trying to find something to wrap around his leg. The woman I’d saved brought me a scarf. I used to make a tourniquet above the wound as Jonas groaned in pain, his breathing rapid.

  I placed my hand on his cheek.

  “It’s all right, I’m here. Jonas. Stay with me!”

  The bodies of the inferniwulves slowly incinerated into ash as I laid Jonas’s body out in the open. His face started to sweat and his hands clammy. It was as if a sickness had taken a hold of him.

  He screamed when I moved his leg to straighten it out and instinctively tried to move it away from me. I ripped his pants to examine the wound embedded in his skin. The bite marks went deep and blood poured form it.

  I turned to the woman behind me.

  “Please, do you have any rags? I have to try to stop this blood.”

  The woman nodded and told her children to take off their scarfs as well. She tore off her headpiece covering her hair and she rushed to my side.

  Together, we cleaned off as much of the blood as we could then bound his wound with the makeshift bandage. She placed one of the rags on my injured side to help stop the bleeding. I groaned as the pressure sent a surge of pain throughout my side.

  “I can’t leave my children. You will have to find help. I’ll stay here with him,” she said.

  I nodded and stood to leave before she grabbed my hand causing me to face her.

  “Thank you. My children are safe because of you.” She smiled as her eyes watered.

  “Just take care of him until I get back. I’ll make sure all of us get out of here in one piece.”

  After grabbing my bow, I left the stables and ran back to the gates as fast as I could. My injury was slowing me down, and my chest felt like it was on fire causing the urge to cough again. I had to get Jonas help and I did my best to ignore it.

  Why had he done that? Why had he pulled me away when he could’ve just killed it when it reached me?

  What were you thinking Jonas?

  At the gate, the last two inferniwulves were being finished off by the five remaining guards still on their feet. Despite our victory, there were too many injured to even think about celebrating. The thought of how many who hadn’t survived made me want to break down. Once the last of the inferniwulves were dead, one of the guards ordered the others to split up and make sure they hadn’t missed any and tend to the wounded.

  The archers came down a side stairwell to help.

  I pulled two of them aside.

  “You two. With me. Jonas has been hurt and I need your help,” I said. It was more of an order than a request.

  They nodded and followed me to the stables where the woman was practically holding Jonas down to make him stop moving.

  “Once you know those inferniwulves are dead, I want one of you to get whoever you can find to help the wounded. Is there a doctor in the city?”

  “Yes, my lady. But we aren’t sure of exactly where he is,” one of them said.

  “The doctor left to visit his family two days ago, but his assistant is here. He will be able to help,” the woman said.

  I nodded. “All right. Get him here to help Jonas so I can get him to the palace. He needs to be stabilized before we make the journey.”

  I groaned and examined my own injury. The blood flow had slowed down, but a lot of it was gone. The woman looked at me worryingly and placed her hand on it, helping me apply pressure.

  “There is a doctor at the palace. I’ll take Jonas there so you focus on your injured here and I need a messenger.”

  “A messenger, my lady?” the other questioned.

  “Yes. His Majesty needs to know what happened here so he can send for more help.”

  They nodded and left. I pulled off a blanket I saw hanging on another gate and bundled it to make a pillow. I carefully placed it under his head.

  “Hang in there, Jonas. Help is on the way.”

  CHAPTER 23

  I didn’t think I’d prayed more in my life than in this moment. The assistant helped as much as he could to stabilize Jonas and myself, but he insisted we rush straight to the palace for a more experienced doctor. The woman hugged me before we left in the carriage and thanked me once again for saving her family’s life.

  The ride to the palace was rough to say the least. I did my best to make him comfortable, but every time there was a bump, he groaned loudly. I’d have to sooth him with my voice to settle him down. My injury was also suffering. The assistant bandaged what he could to stop the bleeding until I got to the palace for stitches. But I didn’t care. Jonas was more important right now.

  He started shaking like he was laying on a solid sheet of ice instead of blankets. I covered him with two more and laid down next to him to give him more heat. His wound looked worse even through the bandages. Black trails snaked from the wound to the rest of his leg. His once lightly-tanned skin turned pale.

  When I was bitten, my injury was bad, but I never developed such marks. It confirmed to me that these inferniwulves were different than the ones I’d faced before. It was as if these had poisonous fangs.

  I prayed to the Goddess that he would survive and fight the infection that roamed his body. I couldn’t lose him. Not him too.

  We’d kissed just hours ago. Now it felt like years behind us. The woman I’d saved earlier tried to reassure me that he would survive, but the look in her eyes said something different. She knew what I’d never say myself.

  It was clear that there was much I didn’t understand about the Darkness. For every new thing I learned more about it, there seemed to be another whole level I didn’t know existed. I understood better now why no one wanted to believe it was real.

  Seven men had died today. Eight were injured, and many of them probably wouldn’t survive the trauma and blood loss. The one archer had done as I’d asked and found anyone he could to help the men: the assistant and several others who were a variety of farmers and hunters who had dealt with animal wounds. I’d told the villagers that the da
nger was over, but to keep themselves in their homes until tomorrow so the injured could be taken care of. No one—especially the children—needed to see this.

  In all my nineteen years, I’d never seen such bloodshed and death. And yet . . . somehow, I felt that this was just the beginning.

  My thoughts were scattered. What would Jared think of all this? He knew that a remnant of the Darkness’s inferniwulves were still around. Knew that they weren’t extinct or some fairy tale told to children before bed. What else did he know that he’d failed to tell me? I tried not to think harshly of him because I knew he was doing his best to protect his people.

  But what was he going to tell them now?

  I could only hope he would make the right decision. At this moment, all I could focus on was making sure Jonas survived. Jared and I would need to discuss what happened once I knew Jonas was safe and taken care of. I snuggled closer to his body, trembling as I gripped his shirt.

  The driver called out to me, telling me we would arrive at the palace in ten minutes. It was ten minutes too long. We needed to get there sooner. Jonas needed clean bandages and medicine. I moved some of his hair out of his face. His eyes opened a little and turned to me.

  “We’re almost there. Just hang on,” I said to him.

  He moaned, his eyes shutting again.

  Please hang on, Jonas. I need you.

  ~ * ~

  When we arrived at the palace, the doctor I’d never met was with two men. It relieved me to know the messenger was prompt in getting here to tell them what happened. They put Jonas on a cloth stretcher to take him to the infirmary. I thanked him as I held Jonas’s hand before it was pulled away from me. Tears threatened to fall, but I held them back. He was in the best hands, and that was all I could ask for. I prayed to the Goddess, thanking her that we’d made it here on time as I followed them to the infirmary on the bottom floor of the palace, holding onto my side. It was light enough to see the ten beds on each side of the room, but took Jonas through a doorway on the other side.

  A woman stepped in front of me. “My lady, you can’t go in there. The doctor is going to operate, and you’ll only get in his way. He’s the best, my lady. Guardsman Rojohn will be fine.”

  It was little comfort.

  It wasn’t long before Mia came through the door. No doubt she also heard the news and came to find me. I’d probably get the anger Jonas was so worried about.

  “Ellyn!” she called.

  I turned to face her, a mix of rage and worry on her face. I wasn’t sure if she was going to hug me or slap me. She shook her head as if she couldn’t decide herself. I closed my eyes, expecting the latter.

  She hugged me instead and squeezed harder than I’d thought her capable of. I hissed when the pressure went to my injury. Before she pulled back, I wrapped my arms around her, holding onto her.

  We separated after a few minutes. She cupped my face with her hands, forcing me to look at her.

  “You had me scared half to death! You could’ve died, Ellyn!” she yelled. Then her anger receded and tears fell from her eyes. She removed her hands from my face.

  “You could have died, Ellyn. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened to you.” She hugged me again then pulled me to sit down with her on a nearby bed. She demanded to know why I was in Mightrun. Why I was moving in my condition. What had happened to Jonas. Her questions came so fast that I couldn’t have gotten a single word in even if I’d tried.

  How could I tell her why I was there? What could I say? Oh, just sightseeing, window shopping, you know and I wanted to find out more about the Darkness and this homeless man who was once was a wheat farmer told me how he lost his family. By the way, how was your day?

  I shook my head. When I didn’t answer, she let out an angry breath. “Tell me the truth. I know you made Silvia take you to Dr. Manely’s clinic the other day.”

  Of course.

  I let out a breath. Nothing I could say or do would get me out of this. I had no other choice than to tell her the truth. Even though it would hurt her and that was the last thing I wanted.

  “I’m . . . dying, Mia,” I muttered.

  Her eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

  “I’m dying. That’s why I’m sick.”

  I told her about my brother and how sick he was the last two years of his life before he died. How he would cough up blood and had little to no strength to get out of bed. He would pass out if he strained his body. I mentioned Marion who tried to help me find a cure for his illness, but nothing she had managed to cure it. All it did was slow its progression. That maybe it bought him more time in the end. Mia was silent as I explained.

  “I have the same illness. It will slowly consume my body and kill me.”

  Pain shot up from my wound, causing me to groan. Mia touched my arm and saw the blood-stained bandage. I continued before she could speak.

  “I went to Mightrun with Jonas because . . . because I only have a month to live and I didn’t want to spend it cooped up in the palace. I just wanted to get out of here for a while. Get my mind off of it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I thought you would’ve just confined me to bed. I can’t spend what little time I have left in bed. I want to spend it with the people I care about most. I just wanted a day with Jonas.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her the whole truth. She didn’t need to know about my research into the Darkness and the inferniwulves. There were more important things now than my vengeance.

  Pain spread throughout my body and I gripped my side. Blood covered my hand.

  “You’re injured. Lay down so I can take a look at it,” she said.

  I did as she commanded and pulled up my shirt for her. She undid the bandage and examined the wound.

  “You’ll need stitches.”

  I looked at the three distinct lines across my side. They were very deep, which meant this was going to hurt like hell.

  Mia made quick work of the cleaning process, applying some type of liquid that burned like she’d taken a fireplace poker to my skin. “It isn’t infected, but definitely need stitches or it won’t heal properly.”

  I groaned.

  She left but returned a moment later with a clear bottle filled with a brown liquid.

  “Here, I want you to drink this. It tastes awful, but it will help. I need you to be as still as you can while I stitch you up.”

  I took the bottle without hesitation and downed it. It tasted viler than I’d expected—like alcohol, but it wasn’t as pleasant as champagne I’d had at the ball.

  It did help me relax, though, putting me in a daze in which her needle was a little more than a pinch on my skin. Before I knew it, she’d cut the final thread and pulled down my shirt.

  I thanked her and tried to let my body relax. I was exhausted.

  “If you had told me earlier, I would’ve understood you know,” she muttered.

  I said nothing. It was hard to believe she would’ve understood. She treated me like a child—a daughter—but in a way, she was another mother to me. She worried and cared for me as if I was her own.

  “I never told you how I came here to the palace, have I?”

  I shook my head, immediately regretting it when the pain hit me again.

  “I was married once. To a nice man named Walter. He was a soldier in the army. We were childhood friends for many years before he asked me to marry him. I was so happy. We had a small wedding, with family and a few friends. I was pregnant within a year and I gave birth to a beautiful little girl.”

  I could imagine Mia with a little girl, but she spoke as if this had happened an eternity ago. I suspected she had a painful past, but I never expected her to tell me. So, why was she telling me now?

  “I named her Alysa after my grandmother. Walter told me she was the spitting image of me, but I knew better. She would grow strong like her father and just as stubborn.” She laughed quietly.

  “Walter was s
ent on a mission to hunt some pirates that threatened to destroy our shipments of fruits to the other kingdoms so that it would hurt the trade agreements. It didn’t work, but they managed to sabotage one ship, killing everyone on board.”

  She swallowed and cleared her throat.

  “Walter and his men were ambushed. The attackers were killed, but my husband died, stabbed in the back by a blade right through his heart. He died instantly.”

  I reached for her hand, and she gave it to me.

  “I was so devastated when I lost him. I would have to raise our child alone. How did you explain to a three-year old that their father was never coming back? They offered us compensation for as long as I required it so that I could stay home with Alysa. It was never much, but just enough to get by. I grew most of our food and used the money to buy clothing for her. That little girl, she was much stronger than I was. She understood that I was lost without her father. She always tried to work the garden for me or do the housework by herself. She was kind as well as beautiful.”

  Tears streamed down her face. I squeezed her hand slightly.

  “One day, she got very sick. She developed a fever and couldn’t eat. All the medicine I got from the doctor didn’t help her much. He wasn’t sure what she had and there were no signs of a bite or markings to indicate an infection. She fought for over a year before the Goddess took her into her arms. I lost the only family I had left that day.”

  She wiped her tears, sniffing.

  “She wanted to go outside every day. She said she wanted to smell the flowers and work on the garden for me, but I wouldn’t let her. I told her to stay in bed. I just wanted her to get better, but no matter how hard I tried, she kept getting weaker by the day. I’d instead bring her a vase of fresh flowers every day to cheer her up.”

  “When she passed, I had no purpose to move on until His Majesty showed up at my door. He offered me a job at his palace. I’d live there to be the headmistress to the other girls for as long as I wished. Anything I required would be taken care of. I didn’t know what else to do but accept. He gave me the job to give me a purpose. When I came here, everything was very disorganized and downright chaos. Within a week, I had everything in tip-top shape. I helped the servant girls through their duties and became a mother to all of them in a way.”