Shattered by Shadows: The Innocence Cycle, Book 1

by J D Abbas

  “It is, or so Dalgo thought.”

  The young man inhaled sharply, his lips drawn in a tight line. “It’s a d-deep wound. Was he sure it was b-best not to stitch it?”

  “I think he was trying to spare me further distress.”

  “B-but to leave it open may mean the t-tissue won’t heal properly.” He studied Elena intently before continuing. “W-would you trust m-me to stitch it for you? I-I have good skills. I-I’m well trained,” he was quick to add. “It seems to m-me a wiser choice.” He stopped. “B-but it’s your choice.”

  “Will it bleed less?”

  “Y-yes. And I b-believe it will heal b-better.”

  “Will it take long?”

  “I-it won’t be quick. It w-will require many stitches.”

  “Braiden...?” She couldn’t finish, hoping he would understand the unspoken.

  “If-if it becomes too d-difficult for you, I’ll stop. I-I have no desire to hurt or humiliate you. I want only to h-help, and, in this, I have the skill to d-do so.” His look was surprisingly direct for such a timid, young man.

  “All right.” She tried to smile. “I’ll trust you the best I’m able.” Then her mind drifted back to what they’d talked about in the corridor. “But you still haven’t answered my question from before.”

  “Wh-what question is th-that?”

  “Why don’t I remember you holding me and singing?”

  “Y-you wish m-me to explain your own m-mind to you?” He smiled, avoiding the question.

  “Perhaps. I’m not sure I know my own mind sometimes.” She paused. “Did I appear small like Celdorn said I was last night?”

  “Y-yes.” Braiden focused on the wound.

  Elena was quiet as blurred images tumbled at the edges of her mind. “This is frightening, Braiden. Sometimes I fear I’m going mad.”

  He glanced up. “Y-you seem s-sane enough t-to me.”

  “Now, but how sane did I look when I was curled up in the corner of the room?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “I suppose I can’t really expect you to answer that,” she huffed in frustration. If she couldn’t trust her own mind, what did she have left? How would she survive?

  “I d-don’t understand it, Elena, but I don’t think you’re m-mad, just...overwhelmed.” He refocused. “I’m g-going to sprinkle the medicine on your wound n-now, then I’ll leave briefly to get m-my instruments. Th-this is going to burn.” When she didn’t flinch, he gazed up at her with surprise. “Y-you really don’t feel much pain. How d-do you do that?”

  “It’s a gift,” she said with a sardonic smile.

  Braiden frowned, laid a blanket over her, and turned to go. “I-I won’t b-be long.” He paused in the doorway, as if feeling her fear tug at him. “I p-promise.”

  Elena nodded and worked to breathe. As soon as Braiden left, it felt as if something—she couldn’t define what—moved closer. Stalked, that was the feeling, like a wildcat followed her every movement, waiting for the right moment to pounce and devour. And here she lay, weaponless, defenseless—

  But not alone, a chorus of voices rang in her head.

  Chapter 19

  The encampment would be illuminated soon. Celdorn shifted restlessly in his hiding place, itching to eliminate this plague from Qabara as soon as possible. As he ruminated on the things Elena had told them, his wrath reignited, making the wait nearly intolerable.

  Earlier, after he’d addressed his men in the Court of Judgment and reminded them of their responsibility to uphold the Oath of Sanctuary, the three companies had set out. His unit had easily found and encircled the encampment, which was precisely where Elena had described. Celdorn was surprised they’d found no guards on the perimeter. After all these years, they must have grown confident that they had nothing to fear. Celdorn kicked at the dirt, fighting a roar.

  Just as his patience had reached its limit, the broad, opal face of the equinox moon, peaked over the distant Belzear Mountains, the signal for his men to proceed.

  He and Elbrion left their Ilqazar to graze and moved toward the camp. Within a short time, they could see the silhouettes of the buildings. The moon, now fully visible, washed the encampment in clear, bluish light.

  Approaching from every direction, the men crouched low once they left the cover of the trees. There were two hundred yards of clearing on each side of the buildings making it difficult to advance unseen. Their Elrodanar cloaks assisted in concealing their movement, and they had the added good fortune of finding no one moving between buildings as they drew near.

  Within fifty yards of the foremost building, Celdorn heard voices coming from within. He saw other Guardians moving around the perimeter. Even in the bright moonlight they would have been invisible to a lesser skilled eye.

  A shrill scream split the night, freezing the entire company in place. The agonized cry, followed by several loud thuds, came from one of the rear buildings. Celdorn forced himself to proceed as planned. His men were well trained and wouldn’t move until he gave the signal. He pressed forward to his destination and waited, giving the others time to get to their designated entry points.

  Imitating the subtle hoot of a barn owl, Celdorn signaled for them to approach the doors. The second would send them inside. He began an eternal count to ten, then gave the second call.

  Celdorn led the men that entered at the front of the building nearest the river. With his back against the wall, he snuck into a corridor with an open doorway on the right and two closed ones on the left, the first just inside the entrance and the other halfway down the hallway.

  He signaled to three of the men to follow him, then he motioned for Elbrion to move toward the first door with his men, and Drahmil, the second.

  Celdorn heard laughter and garbled conversations coming from the room on the right. Shadows flashed on the wall as men passed in front of a lantern. Celdorn crept in through the open doorway, nearly invisible in his Elrodanar cloak, his men close behind. He counted nine men of various races, some seated, some standing in what appeared to be a waiting area. Even as the Guardians slipped into the room, the men seemed unaware of their imminent doom. With the silent slash of knives to throats, the nine would-be patrons lay dead without uttering a single cry.

  ~

  Across the hall, Elbrion opened the first door and slid noiselessly over the threshold. There was no one inside the dark, sparse room, so his men did not follow. The light pulsating from Elbrion’s body glinted off something on the floor. He reached down and found an iron shackle fastened to the simple wooden bedframe. A chill slithered up his spine along with a terror so potent it had lingered in this place for hours, long after the child had been removed. Spinning, nauseated, he grasped for the wall as the specters of someone else’s memory assailed him. He lurched for the door and relief.

  By the time Elbrion stumbled out of the first room, breathing deeply to quell the bile that climbed in his throat, Drahmil and his men had moved into the second door. They found an empty bedchamber as well, but fortunately for them, no lingering specters.

  Elbrion signaled his men to fall behind Drahmil’s and continue through the corridor. The hall they were in intersected with another before ending at the rear door, through which more Guardians had entered. Elbrion saw only two doorways in the second hallway, one on each side of the main corridor. The men divided and moved toward the closed doors. They could hear laughter and movement within. Elbrion waited for Drahmil. He nodded, and they entered the rooms simultaneously.

  The quiet ended.

  The rooms were large, at least twenty feet square, and filled with naked men, women and children engaged in a debauch of sexual frenzy. As Elbrion and the Guardians pushed into the room on the left, they rendered swift and final judgment, targeting first any man or woman misusing a child.

  The children screamed as heads lolled and daggers passed through throats and slashed open torsos, blood spraying. The Guardians were quick to pick up the children and move them toward the doorway, a
s far from the weapon play as possible, ordering them in Borok to close their eyes and wait there. Terrified, the children stayed put, but they did not shut their eyes. They watched as the adults were cut down before them.

  If it had not been for Celdorn’s strict orders that the violators be dispensed quickly and quietly for the sake of the children, the men would no doubt have made the deaths more painful. As it was, a few could not stop themselves from hammering a face or two, unable to contain their justifiable rage.

  In the end, the Guardians spared no women, judging none to be innocent. There were thirty children between the two rooms, ranging in age from those barely able to walk to teenagers, both boys and girls. The Guardians moved them into the hallway where they huddled together, clinging to one another in their mutual terror of the dark giants that surrounded them.

  Elbrion had to set a solid guard on his gifts or be overrun by the debilitating emotion among the children. Even with that, he was finding it difficult to keep his balance. There was a throbbing evil coming at him from every direction. The sensations were similar to what he had experienced the first time he had entered Elena’s mind. He again found himself fighting for his own sanity. He chanted softly and braced himself against a wall.

  When Celdorn joined them, he approached several of the older children. “We won’t hurt you. We’re here to help,” he assured them, dropping to one knee.

  “Who are you?” one of the boys asked in the Lanar tongue.

  “We’re Guardians from Kelach,” Celdorn replied, using the same tongue.

  “Morah!” one of the children whispered, his eyes wide with fear.

  “We came to put an end to those tormenting you and to help you to safety.” Even as Celdorn spoke, the men were removing their cloaks and wrapping the children in them.

  Celdorn glanced at the back of one young man who stood a head taller than the others. Elbrion felt Celdorn’s anger rise as he grabbed the boy’s hunched shoulder and turned him. Stifling a groan, Celdorn released the young man, whose mouth hung agape, fluids dripping from his chin, vacant gaze fixed on the wall. This one would likely never recover from the brutal violations he'd suffered; his mind was gone.

  Celdorn pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes before turning to the other children. “Are there any other rooms in this building?” He glanced up and down the corridors.

  No one answered.

  A little girl, whose head came only to Celdorn’s thigh, tugged on his pant leg. She looked up at him with huge eyes and pointed to the end of the hall.

  “No,” one of the boys whispered as he tried to pull her back.

  A blast of fear struck Elbrion, and the hallway spun.

  “It’s all right,” Celdorn told the boy as he picked up the tiny girl. “Can you show me?” He carried her to the end of the corridor where there was only a blank stone wall.

  She placed her chubby hands in the middle of the wall and moved them sideways.

  “Is it hidden?” Celdorn asked.

  She nodded.

  Drahmil stepped forward, putting his hands where the girl had indicated and pushed to the left. The wall moved.

  Elbrion bent over, holding his head, as silent screams rushed out of the opening and engulfed him; a paralyzing fear twisted in his belly and his light faltered. He sang louder.

  Behind the false wall, stairs descended into darkness.

  “Is there anyone down there?” Celdorn asked the girl.

  Her eyes grew so wide the whites shone. She nodded vigorously.

  Another girl stepped toward Celdorn. “Don’t go down there.” She leaned toward him and whispered, “The death monster lives there.” A second blast of terror rocked Elbrion.

  Celdorn put his hand on her head. “Not anymore,” he assured her, setting the first girl down.

  Elbrion doubted that Celdorn was sensing any of the things he was, or he would not have sounded so cavalier. Elbrion wondered what awaited them in the depths below. An unexpected shudder ran through him, and he steeled his internal wards.

  Celdorn chose half a dozen men to stay with the children, and, at Elbrion’s suggestion, they moved them into the empty bedroom near the front entrance where they could be easily protected.

  After grabbing several lanterns, he and the rest of the men followed Celdorn into the waiting shadows.

  Chapter 20

  A hand patted Elena’s arm. “I’m f-finished.”

  She blinked and shook her head.

  “Are-are you all r-right?”

  “Yes…” Truthfully, she didn’t know if she was or not. She felt like she’d just stepped out of a thick fog into a thinner but still confusing mist. She had no sense of her body at all.

  Braiden was washing his hands. “I-it took quite a f-few stitches, but I think i-it will heal well.”

  Her leg. He’d stitched her leg. Her stomach relaxed.

  “The m-men in charge of the k-keep are waiting in Celdorn’s chamber. They brought a noon meal. D-do you want to come with me?” But after turning and studying her more closely, he said, “Or-or would you r-rather rest here awhile?” He looked worried

  “I’d rather stay here, if that’s all right. I’m tired.”

  Braiden put his hand on hers. “You d-did well. Thank you f-for trusting me.”

  Elena gave him a weak smile. It may have seemed like trust, but it was necessity that drove her. She had to do everything in her power to regain strength as quickly as possible.

  When he was at the door, ready to leave, a sudden panic gripped her. “Braiden?” She couldn’t keep the desperation out of her voice. Her cheeks went warm.

  He stopped. “Y-yes?”

  She couldn’t find words. He waited patiently, allowing her time to struggle.

  “How...how many men are in this keep?”

  “N-normally, a little over two hundred, not c-counting those in training; right now, about eighty, I b-believe.” He frowned. “D-does that frighten you?”

  She nodded.

  “They w-won’t harm you, Elena. They’re under the-the Oath of S-sanctuary.”

  “But they’re men.”

  “M-men who have t-taken a vow.” He moved toward her.

  “But men, nonetheless—men, whose appetites are stronger than their wills or their promises.”

  Braiden sighed, his eyes sad. “N-not these men, Elena. Th-they’re different from the m-men you knew. They’re g-good men, noble, k-kindhearted.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Kindhearted warriors?”

  “G-guardians,” he corrected. “They’re n-not as incompatible as you m-might think. They—we t-train as Guardians to protect and uphold the g-good.”

  “Not all Guardians are good.” She knew from experience.

  “Sadly, that’s true. B-but you’re well-guarded here. There are m-men at the foot of each stairway and-and on this floor.”

  “Can you protect me from them?”

  “I-I won’t let you b-be harmed,” he assured her. “D-do you want to come with m-me and lie on Celdorn’s b-bed or sit by the fireside while I m-meet with the men?” His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head. “Are you afraid of b-being alone?”

  Her chin shot up and her eyes flashed, but the bravado was short-lived as the thought of Braiden turning and walking away made her chest quiver.

  Braiden lowered his eyes. “There’s n-no shame in being afraid, b-but I can only h-help as much as you’re honest with m-me.”

  “May I come with you?” she whispered, not looking up.

  He scooped her up and headed across the hall without further comment, for which she was grateful.

  Seeing the unfamiliar faces around Celdorn’s table, Elena stiffened. She turned her face into Braiden’s shoulder, her cheeks on fire. Braiden hurried past the men, shifting his shoulder to block her view.

  “The b-bed or the fireside?”

  “The fireside.”

  He settled her in one of the large, heavily cushioned chairs beside the fireplace. He turned the chair so
she could see what was happening in the room but still be able to rest her injured leg on the hearth. Elena appreciated his intuitive sense for what would make her most at ease.

  Sasha joined her, wagging her tail with enthusiasm. Elena smiled, glad to see her too. Bria lay on the opposite side of the hearth. She rose more slowly and timidly approached. Elena felt small between these two large beasts, whose heads were level with hers, but also safe. She embraced the rare feeling and settled back into the comfort of the chair, suddenly aware of all the bruises and lumps on her body. She squirmed.

  “D-do you want some c-cordial?”

  She frowned at the young healer, aware that he was reading her far too easily. “No,” she snapped, then caught herself. “No, thank you.” Braiden was kind and not in the least threatening. She glanced at the other men in the room. She needed him as an ally.

  “I don’t like what it does to my head,” she explained, keeping her voice low.

  “Y-you like to be in control of your faculties, s-so you can respond quickly to any ch-change in your environment.” He matched her confidential tone.

  Maybe she was wrong. This young man was dangerous in a different sort of way—far too insightful for his years. She gave him a weak smile. “Yes, my mind seems crazy enough lately.”

  He smiled and pointed to the table. “I’ll b-be right over th-there.”

  She nodded, relieved he didn’t pursue the question of her sanity any further.

  ~

  As Braiden approached the council table, the men rose. It was an odd experience to be treated with deference at his age. All of these Guardians were his seniors by at least ten years. But he was a part of Celdorn’s inner circle now, and these men knew it and treated him accordingly.

  A muscular, battle-scarred man held out a barrel of an arm to clasp wrists with Braiden, thumping his fist to his heart. “Sir, I’m Dahmid, Silvandir’s second in command and Captain of the Guard here at Kelach.”

  Braiden cringed at the sir. This man was thrice his age. He swallowed the dryness down and tried not to show his discomfort. “W-would you introduce me t-to your men?” He saw the slight twitch in Dahmid’s brow. His stutter often brought that reaction. It certainly did little to convince people of his confidence.