Heart of Farellah: Book 1

by Brindi Quinn

  Both of us?

  Why hadn’t the officers known something so important?! I was agitated, but I didn’t have time to be. I needed to run or form a plan or sing or something!

  Nyte started toward me, and I backed away. His gait was different than normal – heavier.

  “Wake up, Nyte! It’s me!”

  I quickened my steps, but I really had no chance of escaping the agile Elf.

  With an evil shadow cast over his face by a seductively-forward brow, he sprang at me and threw me down, grabbing my wrists in one hand and straddling me. Upon impact, the earthstone fell from my pocket and rolled across the ground.

  Nyte let out a crazed laugh, lowered his face to mine, and then stuck out his tongue and drew it along my jawbone.

  Because I still had those feelings for him, my heart pounded. My heart pounded insanely fast. He was over me, his tongue on my skin, and I was melting, but I was terrified at the same time.

  “It’s me,” I said in a whimper.

  “I know who you ar-” But Nyte stopped mid-sentence.

  The earthstone’s glow was faint, but it’d caught his eye, for he suddenly froze, sat up, and looked away from me.

  And for just a second, his eyes flicked green.

  You’re in there!

  “Oh Nyte,” sang The Mystress, “why are you stopping? Perhaps you need another dose?”

  From under the veil, she started to belt out a song with a voice that was strong and beautiful. The words were familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember where I’d heard them before.

  “. . . Slumber for me quiet,

  Gentle mist allowed in,

  Open up your headsong,

  Fog the morning over . . .”

  Then I recognized it. It was the one Miss Danice used to bewitch her birds into obedience, but there was something different about The Mystress’ version. It was in a different key or something, and it didn’t sound at all peaceful or calming – It was cold. Behind her song wasn’t soul, but cruelty.

  Nyte’s evil grin returned.

  If she could use song, then maybe I too . . . There was a chance I could combat the deadly melody.

  “For here I stay and lie awake . . .”

  Nyte froze again and stared down at me.

  “What’s this?” The Mystress’ laughter was like a chime’s twinkling. “Think a puny song like that will do anything? What, did you make it up? How silly!”

  “. . . and taking with the dying moon . . .”

  Nyte looked down at me, still frozen.

  Nyte, I hope my song reaches you where you are.

  “. . . This waning fear, the dawn will take!”

  I finished the song, not really knowing if it’d work, but hoping against all that it would do at least something.

  Nyte closed his eyes.

  Please! I said a silent prayer. Please, Creator!

  I stared at his closed lids, desperately hoping. They remained shut for only a few seconds, but those few seconds ticked on like an eternity.

  “Nyte?” I whispered.

  When he finally opened them again, they were green. There they were. Those eyes that were so mysterious. That made my heart pound.

  “Miss Havoc?” He blinked again and looked around, confused. When he saw that he was on me, he let out an “Ah!” and jumped up.

  Incredible relief fell over me like rain, soothing the pounding in my veins. My song had cracked the shell and broken him free.

  “Nyte!” I grabbed his outstretched arm.

  “What?!” shrieked The Mystress. “That stupid song worked?” She stomped her foot.

  It had worked, and Nyte wasn’t the only one affected by it either. The others all slowly started to stir, released from their bindings.

  “Ugh! How tragic. A broken pet is of no use to me.” The Mystress turned to the waiting Druelcans. “Kill him and because I’m angry, the rest of her guard too!”

  All at once, the rest of the Druelcans dropped down from the ledge like a cloud of onyx shadow. They stormed the guard.

  Grotts groggily climbed up and swung his hammer around him. Still stiff, he missed most of them, but managed to pummel one.

  Nyte frantically looked around, panicked by his blackout. “What is going on?!” One of the Druelcans lurched at him, but he ducked out of the way.

  I tugged on his arm and yelled, “There’s no time for that now!”

  “Allow me to jog your memory.” Ardette, having recovered from Rend’s binding along with the others, ran up and punched Nyte in the face.

  “Ardette! Is this really the time?” I shot him a frenzied glare. “Aren’t there other people to fight right now?”

  “Argh!” Nyte wobbled a bit from the blow. “What did you do to . . . to . . . oh.” He rubbed his cheek. “What?” He shook his head. “I did what!?” His eyes widened, and a look of terror passed over his bronze face.

  Ardette smiled brightly and through his teeth said, “I’ll jog it again if you’d like.”

  “Oh,” – I looked at Nyte’s startled expression – “you really did jog his memory, didn’t you?”

  “My, my, I guess I’ll have to wait to kill your boy until after we stop all of these other bastards from killing him!”

  Nyte grabbed my elbow. “Aura, I did not know! I am so-”

  “Nytie, look out!” Kantú yelled from some corner of the cavern. Several of the Druelcans were swarming to him. Rend hit two of them with a red flash, but missed the third. Luckily, Scardo had recovered as well, and took out the remaining one with a piercing arrow to the chest.

  “Protect the Pure Heart, Elf!” he yelled.

  Nyte nodded and then whisked me into his arms. Then he started to sprint, dodging two Daems that tried to cut him off.

  “What’s the matter, Nyte? Don’t you love me anymore?” said The Mystress, voice pouty. She was still on the ledge. “Where do you think you’re going with my sacrifice?” She readied her hands again and shot out another blast of red light. It hit Nyte in the back of the head.

  He fell on top of me, and we both crashed to the ground.

  “Nyte! Are you bound?” I rolled out from underneath him.

  He shook his head and opened his mouth to say something, but a Druelcan appeared out of nowhere and pounced on top of him, pinning him down.

  “Gotcha, maggot!” said the Daem.

  Get away from him!

  Nyte hit the sneering man in the jaw, but he was still weak from the light blast, and the Daem overpowered him. While I looked on in alarm, the Daem slipped a short blade out of his sleeve and held it over Nyte’s heart.

  “No!” I grabbed the Daem’s shoulders, but he swung his head back and hit me in the lip. I staggered back, the bitter taste of blood filling my mouth.

  “Aura, get back!” yelled Nyte, still throwing punches that were nowhere near their usual force and speed. He landed an elbow in the Daem’s eye, and for a moment, it looked like he’d gain the upper-hand, but another light blast from above left him dazed.

  Again I grabbed onto the Druelcan’s back, but his shoulders flickered to shadow, and I only stumbled forward. The blade glinted as though mocking my failed attempt. Then, before I could try again, the Daem plunged the blade down, stabbing the still-dazed Elf in the chest.

  Dread washed over me.

  What have you done?!

  He ripped the knife back out and turned to me, his burgundy-red eyes cold. Scardo’s arrow came too late, erupting the man of shadow only after blood started to trickle from Nyte’s wound.

  “Ah! No!” I leaned over Nyte. It had happened so fast. “No . . .” My voice quivered.

  “I am so sorry, Aura. When I felt my death, the last thing I wanted was for you to see.”

  His eyes were half-closed. I was losing him as he slipped into the Mistlands. Blood bubbled softly from his chest. I pressed my hand to the wound, but it was no use, the blood stained my hands and continued to flow.

  “Nyte, there’s something important that I have to te
ll you, so you need to stay with me! Come on, open your eyes!” I searched the room for help, but they were all still battling the other men.

  “Miss Havoc . . . Aura . . . I . . . I . . .”

  But Nyte’s hand fell limp in mine. I looked into his forest eyes, but the twinkle of his spirit was gone.

  He was gone. The person most important to me was dead.

  Chapter 22: The Tears

  Nyte was dead.

  The fighting still waged, but it didn’t matter because he was dead. His blood was all over my hands. I looked down at them.

  “No!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  I won’t accept things this way!

  With all that I was, I resisted the circumstances, and at that moment, the cavern flooded with blue light – a beautiful glow that was like the moment just before dusk. It blinded the cavern, blocking out The Mystress, the fighting, and even Nyte’s limp body.

  Startled, I looked around for the source. It was coming from somewhere near me.

  But then I realized. It wasn’t coming from somewhere near me.

  It was coming from . . . me. I was glowing.

  What’s happening?

  Then something inside of me wiggled, and somehow I knew without a doubt what it was. It was my song, writhing; trying to get loose.

  It’s time.

  In an action of pure instinct, I threw my arms back and released it. It wasn’t that I was pushing it out; rather, I was releasing the chains that held it in place. I hadn’t even realized they were there until just then. Invisible chains, locking the song in place until the perfect moment when it was needed most.

  I RELEASE YOU!

  The song rose out of my chest in a brilliant blue orb, only growing brighter upon escaping the restrictions of my body.

  The cavern erupted with my voice, but it wasn’t in any language I’d ever heard. It sounded ancient. I felt my lips. They were moving on their own as the song passed through them.

  This is my song.

  But even though it was mine, I couldn’t understand it. A wind, greater than that of any other ariando I’d cast before, blew around me, billowing my clothes and whipping my silver hair that now glowed blue with the light.

  My voice surged with ancient, mystic power. What were these words that escaped me? How’d I know them? But even as my mind raced, my voice was steady. I let it overtake me and lost sense of time.

  At last, the song came to an end, and my voice trailed off with one last foreign syllable, “. . . AEL . . .”

  Everything was silent within the blue. What was I to do now? I didn’t know what sort of song mine was or what power it contained. I held the song and waited.

  Then a booming voice like quaking earth resounded in my head:

  “This song given to you from the Creator is one of HEALING; the dearest song of all. With you, beloved daughter, I am well pleased.”

  “Healing?” But even as I uttered the word, I knew it was true. I could feel it in my lips. They tingled with blue healing power.

  Some instinct told me what to do. Some instinct told me what I was made for. This was my purpose.

  I bent down and kissed Nyte’s chest where the blade had pierced. As I did, the entirety of blue glow in the room condensed into one stream that flooded into his body. Before my eyes, the blood flowed back in, and the flesh closed. It felt so right, but . . .

  How is it possible?

  The light was gone.

  The room was silent; the fight was over. I looked over and saw the guard members all staring at me with mouths agape. They still clung to their weapons, though no enemies remained.

  “W-what was that, Aura?” Kantú’s voice quivered from somewhere behind Grotts.

  “I don’t . . . I’m not . . .” I tried to answer, but I had no answer to give.

  Then Nyte opened his eyes.

  At first I thought it was a cruel trick of my imagination.

  “Aura?” His voice was weak, but it was there; I wasn’t imagining it.

  “Nyte!? But how? You were dead!” I was overcome with joy and confusion. Somehow, someway, my song had done this!

  A song of healing. But such things were impossible. Healing was impossible. Songstresses had eternally been wrestling with the issue, so how could it have worked? How had my song done the impossible? I couldn’t believe it, but there he was, grinning back at me with dancing eyes that were deeper than the deepest forest.

  “I was just entering the mist,” he said, pushing himself up, “when I heard you singing. I followed your voice, and it led me back to my body. How did you . . . ?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t know. It was a miracle.

  Ardette was the first to approach us. “This is your power?” he asked, amazed and outstretching an arm toward me.

  “I knew it, Ardette. I knew she was not-” Nyte started to say something, but The Mystress, who was still on the ledge, shrieked, cutting him off.

  “How did you do that?” she cried. “Did you cheat?”

  She threw out several light blasts, but this time, the guard was ready. They dodged them, skillfully rolling out of the way of the treacherous orbs. Grotts pulled Kantú behind a boulder with him. Rend and Scardo dashed about and shot counter attacks at the ledge.

  “Aura!” Nyte pulled me out of the way of an incoming blast.

  “How annoying!” The Mystress stomped her foot again. “Oh, boys!” she sang.

  From behind her came another swarm of Druelcans.

  “They just keep coming!” I yelled.

  “I don’t care about the others. Just get her!” The Mystress sent the soldiers after me.

  One of them tried to jump at me from the ledge, but Ardette pushed me out of the way. Rend caught me and threw me back to Nyte.

  “Take her from here! Keep her safe!”

  Keep me safe? Had I heard that right? The day had been a string of unexpected and puzzling occurrences, but Rend’s order was the one that made me most question my sanity. Had she actually, finally seen that I wasn’t an evil destructress?

  “Go!” she yelled, glaring at him.

  He nodded.

  “No! We can’t leave them!” I cried. “I can help, let me sing!” But Nyte wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me along.

  Rend readied her hands and shot a blast at the ceiling above The Mystress. As the cavern’s ceiling cracked, a large chunk of rock fell, nearly hitting veiled woman, who responded with a wild shriek. Rend blasted again, and another rock fell, separating Nyte and me from the others.

  “I’ll leave this to you then, boys!” sang The Mystress. “Don’t disappoint me!”

  The tunnel darkened, losing its light source. I looked up, and The Mystress was gone. She’d escaped through some tunnel connected to the ledge.

  More men in cloaks filled the now dark space, but the guard fought back. Another blast of Rend’s red light exploded the wall, dropping more rock and opening a thin crack into another space.

  “Over there!” Nyte pulled on my arm, trying to lead me to the opening.

  “I’m not leaving them!”

  “They are after you! If we leave, they will follow!”

  It was true; the Druelcans were now ignoring the attacks from the guard and focusing all of their attention on getting to me. If I could lead them away . . .

  This time I didn’t resist when he pulled me.

  Be safe, everyone!

  It was hard to see – Rend’s occasional blasts and Grotts’ glowing crescents now the only thing lighting the cavern. We took off around a large boulder, dodging the mirrors that slid off the walls. More crashed with each blast that shook them.

  “Do you see them?” I asked.

  “The mirrors?”

  “Yeah. Good, you see them too.”

  He wrinkled his forehead, puzzled by my question, but he wasn’t able to contemplate long, for just then a sudden myriad of arrows flew at us from the Druelcans, who rounded the boulder and stampeded towards us, crying out foreign
war-cries. Nyte swept me into his arms and nimbly leaped between them. It seemed he had his full strength back.

  Still carrying me, he jumped through the crack. It led to another open tunnel.

  “Hey! Git back here, ya Druelcan cronies!” Grotts’ voice was faint, but fierce. The guard was trying to lure the Druelcans away from us.

  “No! This way! I’m this way!”

  Nyte looked down at me, disapproving, but I couldn’t let the others be endangered any longer. They’d already fought so much. Done so much for me. I had to lead the attackers away before the whole place caved in on them.

  Beyond the cavern of mirrors there were more winding tunnels. As Nyte carried me through them, I thought of a plan. I didn’t know if it would work, but I’d try whatever I could. Cracks in the ceiling allowed a little moonlight to enter the tunnels.

  Were we under that pile of crystals?

  We continued on, and eventually the ground turned from dirt to cobble. The Druelcans’ footsteps echoed down the tunnels, reminding us of their persistent pursuit.

  When I saw that there was a fork ahead, I knew it was time to put my plan into action.

  I opened my lungs and started to sing.

  “What are you doing, Miss Havoc? Do you wish to get us killed?” Nyte looked behind him, panicked.

  Just trust me!

  I ignored his frantic protests and instead continued to rush through the lightsong before pushing the orb away from me like I had that time in Cana with the hammer.

  “Go this way!” I pointed to the right path and pushed my light down the left.

  Would it work as a decoy?

  It has to!

  I looked back over Nyte’s shoulder, still trying to push my song far away from me, and another thought occurred to me. I wondered if I could also throw my voice.

  I focused my energy on the now distant orb and started the lightsong again. Hauntingly, though my mouth moved, the words echoed down the other hall. I closed my eyes and kept singing.

  We continued running long after the footsteps faded, always following the overrun cobble path. I concentrated as hard as I could, not even noticing that the path had led us outside until I brushed past a brittle branch. I opened my eyes, and we were in a thick forest of crystal trees that were also spotted with regular trees. There was no sign of the Druelcans.