The Whispers of the Fallen

by J. D. Netto

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  The Whispers of the Fallen

  ISAAC

  “Tortured fear and stupid confidence..."

  I

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  VI

  VII

  VIII

  IX

  X

  XI

  XII

  XIII

  XIV

  NEPHELE

  XV

  XVI

  XVII

  XVIII

  XIX

  XX

  “I knew the darkness was strong..."

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  The Whispers of the Fallen

  By J.D.Netto

  Copyright 2013 by J.D.Netto

  Cover Copyright 2013 by J.D.Netto and Untreed Reads Publishing

  Cover design, interior design by J.D.Netto, www.jdnetto.com

  The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

  Previously published in 2012.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  http://www.untreedreads.com

  DEDICATED TO THOSE BOLD ENOUGH TO DREAM

  The Whispers of the Fallen

  J.D.Netto

  ISAAC

  “Tortured fear and stupid confidence

  Are both desirable states of mind…”

  C.S. Lewis

  I

  The deafening thunder of the storm outside awoke me suddenly. I was panting; my face was drenched in sweat. I looked at my pillow and it was soaked. I felt troubled, as if all joy had been taken from me. I headed toward the window and looked outside. The rain poured down like a waterfall and lightning ripped apart the morning sky. In my eighteen years of life, never had I seen such inclement weather.

  I gasped when I saw my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were dark and heavy, as though I had not gotten any sleep during the night. Instead of their typical lively, green hue, my eyes were faded and dull. My brown hair was dripping with sweat and my mouth was incredibly dry. As I glanced down at my hands, I noticed they were shaking. I lit the candle that sat on my dresser and descended the main staircase. I was surprised to see that the house sat in darkness.

  I made my way to the kitchen and saw that it was spotless. There was no bread on the wooden table and no fresh milk in the jar. This was rather odd, as my mother would always have breakfast ready before Dad and I left for the fields to work.

  As I turned toward the door, I was surprised to see my father’s coat still hanging behind it. Confused, I ran to their room. The moment I opened the door, I lost my breath. The bed was broken into many pieces and the sheets ripped apart and stained with drops of blood. The glass chandelier that once hung over the bed was no more, and shards of its broken glass were scattered across the entire room. Even the mirror that hung next to the window was cracked. It was clear that something was terribly wrong.

  “Mom! Dad…!” I screamed, but there was no response. I made my way around the house, frantically looking for any other signs of what might have happened, but everything seemed untouched.

  I lit all the candles so I could better see the entire place. The fireplace looked the same as it did from the night before. The old cedar table my dad built last year still sat snugly between the fireplace and the old clock.

  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I stood still for a while, afraid to open it. After some time, another knock followed, stronger this time around.

  “Isaac, open up!” I heard Demetre’s muffled voice.

  As soon as I opened it, he quickly stepped inside. His shoulder-length black hair was soaking wet. He wore the same black raincoat he had always worn during the rainy weather. The coat looked rugged from overuse.

  “Why did you not answer the first time I knocked?” he asked, infuriated.

  “Because…I can’t find my parents,” I said in distress. “I’ve looked everywhere but there is nothing.”

  Demetre’s eyes suddenly seemed hollow and void. He shook his head in weariness.

  “What’s the matter?” I cried.

  “I…I don’t know what is going on anymore. I woke up terrified because of a dream I had during the night. Then I headed to the kitchen to see if Mom was there…but when I got there…nothing,” he spoke in a trembling voice.

  “Your parents weren’t home also?” I asked, fearing his response.

  “No. That is why I came. I thought they were here or you’d probably know where they had gone to.”

  I grabbed Demetre’s arm and dragged him to my parents’ room. His blue eyes widened and his face grew pale the moment he saw what had happened.

  “This is what I woke up to find,” I said. Demetre paced around the room with his gaze fixed on the broken bed.

  “Isaac, we need to find them. I don’t like this. Agalmath is such a small village, there is no way they could have gotten far! Whoever did this must be close,” Demetre spoke in a hoarse voice.

  My house was located in a far corner of Agalmath. I had neighbors but none that lived close enough to have heard a sound. No one would have been able to see what had happened here.

  “Do you still have your horses at home?” I asked him.

  “I believe they are there,” Demetre replied. “I left in such a hurry, I forgot to look for the horses.”

  “Let’s head to your house and get the horses. We should go to the fields and see if our parents are there or if any of the workers have heard from them.” I knew many of them were going to be there. They had to save whatever they could from this violent storm.

  I picked up a pair of old boots and put on a black raincoat. One last glance around the house was all I could bear before walking out the door. I sighed and closed my eyes. I hope they are okay, I thought as I made my way down the little steps and into the rain.

  The howling of the wind sounded like whispers echoing in the air. Agalmath was quiet. Many houses were built high up on the hill surrounded by a dense forest of pine trees, which cast their dark shadow ominously overhead. Still, we could see a dim light flickering through the windows of our neighbors’ cottages. Strangely, the animals sometimes seen grazing outside the houses were nowhere in sight.

  “What was your dream about, Demetre?” I asked as the rain poured.

  Demetre was silent for a while.

  “It was…different. It was so vivid, I actually felt as though I was there.”

  Once again, Demetre fell silent and for a while, he was at a loss for words.

  “Is everything alright?” I asked.

  He sighed. “I dreamt I saw a huge precipice. The darkness was thick. The sky had run out of stars and the sun was no longer shining. As I stood on the edge of the precipice, I heard a voice calling my name. After some time, more voices joined in, almost like a chant. They repeated
ly called me.”

  He took a deep breath.

  “What happened after?”

  “Well…I closed my eyes and I fell into the precipice. As I descended, I felt as if I was leaving my body. When I reached the bottom of the precipice, I saw…” Demetre scoffed.

  “What?” I asked.

  “This…this is just stupid. This has nothing to do with our situation…” He kept shaking his head.

  “What?”

  “I saw a man with six wings. He stood on top of a hill and his eyes seemed to pierce the very core of me. As I stood before him, I felt as though all the joy and happiness that I have ever felt was taken away. I could not see his face, only his body. Flames surrounded him. His hands slowly approached one another and once they met—I woke up.”

  A loud clap of thunder echoed. It was so strong that I felt the ground shake.

  I was silent. What could I say to such a dream?

  “Demetre…it is indeed…disturbing,” I said. “Do you think it means something?”

  “I don’t know…I am not sure…” He couldn’t disguise the trembling in his voice. I could tell he was as worried as I.

  On our way, we walked right in front of McCnolle’s pub. He was outside, trying to fix the broken wooden sign that hung from the window.

  He saw us from afar. “Young lads,” he shouted. “Where ya off to?”

  Demetre looked at me, his gaze indicating that nothing should be mentioned about our situation.

  “G’morning, Mr. McCnolle,” I responded. “We are just heading to the fields to see if any of the workers need help.”

  He laughed. “Dear boy, I don’t believe many of the men went off today. The storm is pretty violent. Maybe you two should just head on home, huh?”

  We were both silent.

  “Have your parents gone out to work today?” he asked.

  The moment he did, I lost my breath. I could tell Demetre was shocked as well. To our relief, his dog ran out from inside the pub into the rain.

  “Oh! ’Xcuse me,” he shouted as he frantically chased after his pet.

  Demetre and I immediately quickened our pace, making sure that the moment he returned with the dog, we would no longer be within sight.

  “I just want to know what happened…” I mumbled. I was trying to remain calm but it grew harder by the minute.

  I could finally see Demetre’s house. The house was behind a small forest of trees. There was a little stone path leading to the flaming red door. His parents always loved vivid colors. Next to his house, many of the weaker trees had fallen on the ground. Tree trunks found a new resting place in the road ahead.

  “The horses are in the back inside the barn,” Demetre said as he made his way through a small wooden gate near his mother’s quaint vegetable garden. Every time I entered this gate, memories came to mind. Demetre and I had been friends since childhood.

  As we walked, I could sense heaviness in the air.

  “Are you worried that the horses might not be in the barn?” I asked.

  “No,” he responded. “I am afraid of what is happening. I still can’t quite grasp what I saw.”

  The old barn was visible and not far from the gate. It had lost its color due to years of inclement weather. Near the barn lay a pond where Demetre and I would fish all the time.

  Demetre violently opened the door and ran inside. As I walked in, I was relieved to see the two black stallions. Their coats shimmered even in the darkness; their manes were precisely combed and graciously sat on their necks and above their eyes. The one with white spots on his back was Bracken and the other one was Midnight, named due to his coat’s dark pigment. Paul Aliward tended to these horses well.

  Demetre sighed. “This is a good thing.” He gave me a halfhearted smile.

  “Good indeed,” I said.

  “But also troubling…” he said as he opened the gate to get the horses out. “My parents never leave home without their horses.”

  I grabbed Bracken by the reins and slowly made my way out of the barn. What words of comfort could I give him in such a situation?

  We left the stable in haste, setting out toward the fields. It was a ten-minute ride from where we were but under these weather conditions, I was pretty sure it was going to take us longer. Because of the muddy roads, the fallen trees and also the flying debris, we had to be extremely careful. This situation only built up my anxiety, especially because it would take us longer to get to the fields. We rode in silence. I could see that Demetre was in deep concentration, focused on the road and on the goal we had set before us.

  The rain did not stop. Large raindrops poured down so hard, I could feel their sting through my raincoat.

  Suddenly, the horses came to an abrupt halt—they neighed and kicked violently.

  “What is wrong?” Demetre said.

  “I am not sure,” I replied, looking around.

  “It must be the storm…it probably frightened them,” Demetre said as he alighted from his horse.

  “There, there…” he said, caressing his horse on the head—trying hard to tame it again.

  I got down from Bracken and tried to do the same, hoping it would calm him. Weariness grew inside of me. My heart was heavy and it felt as though cold air had settled in. I sensed someone watching me. When I looked behind me, I saw a dark being approaching us. I could not discern what it was because the being merged with the tree branches. After a while, not even the rain and the trees were able to hide the midnight-colored horse and its cloaked rider. The horse was fully armored; its eyes were hollow and surrounded by spike-shaped armor. The rider’s drenched cloak covered his entire body—including its head. The armor that sat on its shoulders had three spikes that stood almost as tall as his head.

  The rider stopped a couple feet in front of us, still as a statue. The whisper of the trees resounded through the forest. There was so much fear coming from this one being that our surroundings seemed to dim.

  “Can we help you?” I shouted.

  The rider was non-responsive.

  “Sir, are you alright?” Demetre asked.

  Still, there was no answer.

  “Something is definitely wrong here,” I whispered.

  “What is wrong here?” the rider said. His voice was deep and the very sound of it made me tremble.

  “Um…nothing, sir…we would like to go through, please,” I said.

  “Isaac Khan and Demetre Aliward, it is an honor to find you out here,” the rider said in an ominous tone.

  “Hhh…How do you know our names?” I stuttered.

  Every time this rider released a word, the horses grew even more agitated. “Many know your names and many want you. You two are very important.”

  A loud scream came from Demetre. He thudded violently on the ground with his hands pressed against his chest.

  In fear, my eyes became fixed on the rider. He hadn’t moved a single muscle. He didn’t even appear to be breathing.

  “Please, help me!” I yelled at the rider in desperation as I tended to Demetre. His skin was losing its color and his breathing was becoming heavier. The horses fled to the forest once I let go of the reins.

  “Help…yes, that is all I need from you.” This time, his horse slowly moved in my direction.

  “Help fr-from-me?” I stuttered.

  The rider stopped and alighted from the armored beast. The moment his foot met the muddy ground, he removed the cloak from his face, revealing a blond man with eyes so blue, they shimmered right through the darkness.

  “Isaac, I simply require your services in leading me to your house. There is something that does not belong to you that has been there for a while now.”

  I looked at this man and back at Demetre.

  “What is happening to him?” I asked in anguish.

  Demetre was mumbling inaudible words.

  “The pain…the pain…” he whispered.

  “What about the pain?” I asked in desperation.

  “Him…it’s hi
m…” As soon as he said these words, he let out a deafening scream.

  Terror overtook me. I got up with trembling legs. “Who are you, sir?” I asked with a broken voice.

  “Sir…” The rider sounded disgusted. “Not sir. Your mother and father did not call me ‘sir’ the last time they saw me in their room.”

  I could barely believe the words I had just heard. Instinctively, I catapulted myself in his direction. I lost ground the moment I felt a sharp pain taking me completely. Not a moment passed before the unbearable feeling caused me to lose my footing entirely. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain. My head burned and my body felt as though it was being pressed against the dirt.

  “My name is Cyro. I have come for you both before another immortal finds you. Trust me when I say I only want what is good for the both of you.”

  I tried my hardest to pay close attention to him but I couldn’t. The pain was excruciating, spreading all the way to the very strands of hair on my head.

  “I will make it stop now but you have to promise that you will do as I say.” His voice was void of emotion.

  “I will…I will…” I tried to say it as loud as I could.

  The pain rapidly released me. I gasped for air as if it was the last time I would take a breath. Startled, I got on my feet. “What is it that you want?”

  Cyro smiled—his gaze encountered my eyes. It felt as though evil flowed from his blue eyes.

  “Isaac, you ask too much. Lead me to your house and I myself will show you a very revealing truth about you.”

  I scoffed.

  “Will you leave me alone if I take you there?” I asked.

  “Indeed I will,” he responded.

  What choice did I have but to lead him to where he wanted to go? In the short time that I had stood before this rider, death itself had looked me in the eye.

  “I will show you the way…” As the words drifted from my tongue, fear overtook me.

  Cyro took hold of a rope that was attached to the horse’s saddle. He grabbed both of my hands and tied them together. The rope was so tight, it felt as if my wrists were about to break.