Shade of Destiny (The Foreseeing)

by Shannon M Yarnold

  “You’re alright then?” William asked gruffly, his voice echoed around them, breaking through the unnatural silence. “What happened?”

  The woman smiled and the men beside William took a step back in awe of her beauty, “Oh it was silly I thought I saw a ghost. It is so very dark in these woods and I am so frightfully lost”

  William frowned at the suspicious woman, William had never been a great lover of women, after his wife and daughter had died the only woman he had ever gotten close to was Elina, but his heart beat faster as the stranger ran her eyes over him sinisterly, and he could not decide whether the pulsing was appreciation of her beauty or fear.

  “What’s your name? I’ve never seen you before... ma’am.” William enquired. The effect she was having on the men around him was unnatural, and they did not seem to share William’s wariness. They looked more like ravenous dogs, seeing prey only feet away and finding themselves unable to claim it. He had known these men all his life, they were sensible and placid – a lifetime of Lord Oprend’s rule had seen to that – and it only made this woman’s presence here more suspicious.

  “Oh I’m a traveller looking for an old friend, Elina Fillamenth. I got lost in these woods searching for her,” her voice cracked as though she was about to cry and her hand fluttered to her throat as though terrified. The men beside William moved as though to comfort her, but thought better of it and stood where they were.

  “You still haven’t told us your name, madam,” William asked. His voice was even and expression flat, a stark contrast to the almost fevered features of the men around him. The strange woman looked at William then and her smile vanished, her eyes began to burn the colour of her hair and her lip curled murderously.

  “My name is Aerona, and I am looking for Elina Fillamenth. You will take me to her,” she ordered, her voice hard; it cut through William like a sword and his hand began to throb where Elina had touched it. The men beside William were shaking; it was as though she was attracting them to her, like moths to a flame. He felt a pull towards her but his logic would not accept her lull, she was searching for Elina and he had never seen her before in his long life. On the very night that Lord Oprend called them to arms... he would not be fooled.

  The men around him did not share his determination, a young boy forgot all manners and ran up to the woman and knelt before her. “I can take you to her my Queen, if you follow me.” His smile was strained, matching the men around him.

  Aerona smirked, and William felt it was as though she had full control of everything around her, like the world had stopped to let her speak. Her eyes slowly became grey once more and William frowned; convincing himself it was a trick of light. All of the men gathered around Aerona, touching her arms as though she was made of gold. They turned to walk off in the opposite direction; William went to follow, reluctantly, when he heard a deafening scream echo from Oprend Manor. No-one moved, but continued back towards the town obliviously. William was torn between following the suspicious woman and seeking out who had screamed. He owed no loyalty to Lord Oprend; it was his army had that left his family to die in the fire twenty summers ago... yet his thoughts were broken when a soft hand seemed to stroke his cheek, although he was clearly alone. It sent a shiver down his spine and as he raised his hand to touch his face a voice whispered in his ear. He felt a stranger’s breath tickle his ear, but no one was there.

  “There’s now a young baby in the Oprend Manor, are you really going to ignore that scream?”

  William frowned but the voice was right, the person who had screamed needed his help so he continued cautiously down the path and stopped in front of Oprend Manor. It was a beautiful sight, even if the only time William had come here was to experience Lord Oprend’s fury. The grand stone steps were lined with golden lanterns which flickered as though alive. They cast an unnatural light on the steps as though men were walking up and down them. William took a deep breath, entranced by the haunting beauty, and began walking up the steps, the woods continued around the Manor as though protecting it from the world. He could just make out a beautiful garden and stables to the left of it. When he reached the final step he looked around, there were no guards. The place seemed totally deserted; there was no bustling to be heard from the servants, no horses whinnying, no stable boys mucking out the stable. William walked towards the huge double doors and knocked the golden handles. He waited. Nothing. He pushed the door and found it opened easily.

  “Hello?” he shouted, “Lord Oprend?” The silence seemed to envelop him. He looked around, too confused to take in the marble staircase, the gold plated banister, the tapestries and the diamond chandelier hanging above him. The Manor was cold, unnaturally so. William felt as though he was being watched, but nothing stirred in the semi darkness. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a door was open, he walked towards it and pushed it open. The only light was from five candles on the table; in the flickering glow William could see there was someone at the head of the table.

  Even in the darkness William could see it was Lord Oprend. His frame unmistakable, pot bellied, balding and a symbol of pain and suffering, “Lord? Where is everyone?” He asked hesitantly.

  Lord Oprend was motionless, his eyes glazed over. Hesitantly William looked around and noticed large black shapes on the floor. The army all snored gently, seemingly fallen where they had stood. William cautiously approached Lord Oprend, avoiding the bodies of the soldiers, and fighting back the urge to kick them all, and placed a hand on the Lord’s shoulder. William could feel the cold through his clothes; Lord Oprend’s body seemed literally frozen.

  William let go and scoped the room once more before he spotted Lady Oprend in the corner of the room, almost invisible in the shadows. She was clutching a baby in her arms, her face frozen in a scream. William shuddered and walked over to them, placing a hand on the baby’s head. She was motionless but still warm; he quickly lifted her from her mother’s arms and held her gently, hoping his body heat would help her regain consciousness.

  Suddenly there was a crash from the other side of the door. William froze; his heart was beating so fast he could have sworn he heard it. The sound of footsteps coming down the marble staircase resounded around the room. William looked around him, there were no weapons. He picked up a candle from the table, holding the girl with the other arm and walked towards the door, the golden light pouring onto the wood. He peered through the crack; there was someone on the other side, pacing, dragging something heavy as they walked. William squinted and saw that it was a mace, a metal spiked head forced onto a long metal shaft; it was so sharp it scratched the marble floor as the person paced back and forth. William’s mind raced; there was nothing he could defend himself and the baby with, the mace could smash his skull to pieces with one swing.

  “What do we have here?”

  William froze, dropping the candle to the ground. Someone was behind him. He had not seen another person in the room, both the Lord and Lady were frozen solid and the army slept on, obliviously. William slowly turned around and was faced with the most terrifying sight he had ever seen. Something that had once been human, its face was decaying, skin hung from its cheeks exposing its yellow, broken teeth. Clumps of hair grew on its decomposing scalp and the remains of clothes clung to its skeletal frame. The creature stepped forward and stood on the flickering candle, extinguishing the flame, wisps of smoke circled in the air and the space between William and the creature was thrown into darkness.

  “MALICE!” The thing screamed; its voice shrill. William shivered as it cut right through his heart, like the sound of someone’s last cry for help. The creature outside stopped pacing and slowly walked towards the door. William recoiled at the sight of it; it too was like the creature standing near him, its face black and decaying. The second creature sneered.

  “Looks like we got a Liver, Odium,” Malice said sardonically. He was swinging the mace around, hitting it against one hand in an unconcealed, threatening manner. The spikes went through his f
lesh, but it did not bleed.

  “That we have Malice,” the first creature, Odium, agreed, slinging his own mace over one shoulder, “Aerona said there would be no others.”

  Malice shrugged and licked his lips, flakes of skin floating to the floor.

  “What to do with him?” Odium pondered, his eyes darted around the room, swivelling in his sockets. Malice spat on his mace and rubbed it clean with his forearm; the skin came away from his bone and fell to the floor.

  “I say we kill him and get it over with, we’re not allowed to touch that cretin over there.” Odium indicated to Lord Oprend with his thumb.

  “I don’t know Odium; we rarely get Livers which Aerona ain’t given us. She didn’t mention anything about him, means we can kill him how we want.” Malice looked at William, and noticed the baby in his arms, “Oh and that pretty thing too, a shame really, but orders are orders, no survivors... no more than a snack anyway.”

  Odium grinned and lifted his mace up, William closed his eyes, his heart was pounding so fast he wondered how it could possibly still be beating. There was a whoosh of air and the crash of wood splintering beside William’s head and he opened his eyes. Odium was inches from his face, the mace in the wall next to William’s head, the smell of rotting flesh wafted from the creature’s mouth and William suppressed the urge to gag.

  “Don’t scare him too much Odium, makes the meat tough,” Malice said loftily picking at the dirt from under his nail, which subsequently also fell to the floor.

  “Shut up Malice, I found him I’ll kill him how I want,” Odium snapped pulling the mace from the wall with apparent ease. William’s mind raced, there was no way he would escape this, but the baby, he had to find a way to get her out of the Manor. These creatures would not make a trade, a life for a life; they would kill both of them for the sake of it he was sure.

  A loud yell brought William back to reality and he realised Odium and Malice had begun to fight. They couldn’t decide the most painful way to kill him. William knew it was now or never, if they caught him sneaking away death would be quick, no arguments about how to kill him, he had to disable them. With an energy he never knew he had he kicked Odium in the stomach and shouldered Malice out of the way and ran out of the door and kept on running, out of the double doors, down the steps, on the beaten path and didn’t stop running until he had reached the square.

  The night air was thick with fear, something was happening in the town. The windows in the cottages were black, like closed eyes, and the night offered no more than a silver haze of light. The lanterns had blown out. Everything was silent; William tried not to breathe for he feared it would give away his position. He looked around for any sign of life, in the opposite direction from Oprend Manor lay Lumber Forest, above the roofs of the cottages in the distance. The trees were silhouetted against the night sky. A winding path up a small hill led to the forest and William knew that was where he was needed. He moved the baby around in his arms, it was still sleeping, a deep unnatural sleep, and ran over to his tavern, unlocking the door, fumbling with the key.

  The tavern was pitch black; he dashed over to the bar and set the baby – in an empty box, first lining it with his jacket – behind it. Using the cloth he had put over the glasses as a blanket. Above her on the wall was a sword, he gently eased it off of its hooks and raced out of the tavern, locking it as he went. William had no idea what he wound find the moment he stepped from the square, keeping the baby with him would only put it in danger, though leaving it in his tavern seemed no less risky. He stood by the door for a moment, torn between keeping the infant with him and leaving it. If more of those things appeared could he really defend them both? No, it tore at his heart and he questioned his logic with every fibre of his being, but it was safer to leave the child in the tavern. He was no warrior, he could fight if need be but he had no chance against those creatures or whatever else waited for him in the shadows.

  A dog whined a street away and Williams head snapped round in the direction of the noise.

  “Eat it! It is there on a platter what more do you want?” An angry voice yelled, in the same direction as the dog. William winced, it was more of them.

  “Shut it Crass,” another voice shouted back, “it’s not exactly a feast, Malice and Odium are lucky, they get to eat that Elina woman when Aerona is finished with her.”

  William froze; it took a few minutes for what the creature had said to sink in; he had completely forgotten about Elina and her baby, Wynn.

  “Where are they anyway?” Crass asked. The voice was becoming louder, as though they were walking in William’s direction.

  “Yeah they should have been here. If Aerona had chosen me there would be no foul ups.” The second voice was also becoming louder. They were going to turn around the corner any moment and find William standing in the middle of the square, sword in hand, mouth open in fear.

  “You, you couldn’t even kill that dog properly, you’re pathetic Spite, Aerona only lets you tag along because you were the first one she turned. A reminder of how never to –” the voice was cut short as a scuffle broke out and the sound of windows breaking echoed around the streets.

  William couldn’t move, he was completely paralysed by fear, there were hardly any places to hide in the square, and even if he found one he knew that it would be any minute before they stopped fighting and found him. A breeze whipped up and his clothes flapped in the wind as his eyes darted around for any form of hiding place. In the last cottage before the forest, a candle burned. It had not been there before; William took a chance and ran towards the light. The front door was open; he ran through it just as the creatures stopped fighting and turned the corner.

  “I could have sworn I heard footsteps,” one of the creatures remarked, “running.”

  William was pressed against the back of the door. The hallway in front of him was in darkness, he could just make out the walls and floor from the light of the moon shining through the windowpane on the door. The creatures continued to bicker amongst themselves, walking down the beaten path towards Oprend Manor. William let out a sigh of relief; slowly he felt his heart slow down. Looking around William saw the cottage he was in was the one opposite his tavern, Widow Mason’s. It was unusual for Widow Mason to leave her door open; William brushed himself off and walked cautiously down the hall, poking his head into every room. They were all pitch black. The last door on the right of the corridor was shut; he put his head to the wood and heard the sound of muffled voices. Straining he could just make out what the people inside were saying.

  “What brings you to Woodstone mistress?” A man was asking, his voice quavered as though utterly terrified.

  “Business. Where will I find Elina Fillamenth?” The woman sighed, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. William held his breath, wondering if the man would betray Elina to the woman.

  “Her home, in the middle of Lumber Forest, I thought you would have Moved yourself there,” the man replied. William was not surprised that he had revealed Elina’s location, even though Elina was the kindest person alive it seemed some still wished her harm.

  “Do not talk of Moving as though you understand it, carrying myself vast distances with magic is not foolproof. Elina has placed a protective spell around her and her little brat, therefore if I want to find her I must go to her in person, the knowledge of her location exact in my mind.”

  The woman’s voice was a question, but no answer came. A long silence stretched and was followed suddenly by the sound of metal clashing and a thump. No cry floated through the air but William was sure that the man was dead. He scrambled away as footsteps walked towards the door but before he could run a strong arm had grabbed him around the neck. He dropped his heavy iron sword to the floor with a clatter.

  “Who are you?” Aerona asked him, her grip tightening.

  “W-William,” William stuttered, he made the mistake of glancing behind the woman and saw a decapitated man sprawled on the floor. Blood soaked in
to the wooden floor, he could not see the head anywhere in the room.

  Aerona’s eyes flashed red again, drawing William’s gaze back to her. “I remember you, the nosey old man. You didn’t fall for my Charms.”

  William’s face paled as the grip tightened, his eyes darted again to the room which Aerona had left, evidence of how easily this woman killed people who displeased her but Aerona shook him and forced William to look at her. She stared into his eyes and for a moment he felt as though she was inside him, looking at his deepest regrets and fears. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever experienced, she clawed at him and he could not escape her gaze. She saw everything and he was powerless to stop her. Agonising, raw, ripping pain tore through him like a razor. With all his will he moaned and managed to close his eyes.

  “You’re strong,” Aerona whispered, “but all fall eventually. You fear I will find Elina and her daughter, which means you care about them, and you know where they will be. That crowd were useless really, only a few could tell me where Elina lived and even fewer knew any exact location, and I had to kill most of them for wasting my time; they will serve me well, but you, you will be most useful alive.”

  William felt his life ebbing away as her hold on his neck grew tighter, his limbs had gone numb. Aerona sneered as William began to stop struggling; eventually she dropped him to the ground just as his heart was failing. He gulped at the air, tears spilling from his eyes. He stared at Aerona, the long black robe, the pale skin which it swathed, the long red hair which seemed to writhe like flames, the grey eyes which watched him suffer.

  “Are you quite done?” Aerona snapped at him, “I’m in a hurry.”

  William slowly stood up; afraid his knees would buckle under his weight. The floor seemed to dance beneath him. The walls quavered as his eyes focused again. Aerona grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the cottage into the square. He saw a massacre before him. Bodies were piled high, a mess of limbs and gore. There was no pattern to the way the corpses lay; it was as though they had all dropped to the ground atop of each other in the same instant. The air stank of blood and William vomited violently, his stomach turning as he recognised the faces; men, woman and children, all ages and genders viewed him with cold, dead eyes. Yet it was not the corpses that made William retch, it was the... the things that surrounded them.