Hollows of the Nox

by Matthew E Nordin

  “Interesting concept.” Eldritch rubbed his chin. Maybe she knew more than she realized. “So what did this traveler say about the fairies he saw? Were any of those the dark ones?”

  “He told me their skin was a rainbow of precious jewels and their hair shone like a field of grain on fire. Their eyes were like the twin moons appearing every hundred years. He laughed when I asked how much one of them would be worth.”

  “Are they traded then?” Eldritch’s mind danced with the idea of being able to purchase such a creature. If he were able to get close to one, he could learn of their secret power in the forest.

  “He said if anyone could even get within speaking distance of a fairy, it would be a feat all to its own. They like to do business from a distance. Although some have seen them, none have ever been close enough to touch one. I guess it wouldn’t be good to try and catch one.” Sayeh moved her leg back down and stared at Eldritch. “You’re not interested in catching one, are you?”

  “I don’t know if such a being could be caught. And I can assume the ill fate of one who would try. Has anyone told you anything else about them?”

  “All the other stories they told me were similar to the ones you told me from your books.” Sayeh’s eyes lit up. She reached for the book of fae stories Eldritch kept in his stack. “Do you think the customers who told me the stories could be the writers of those books?”

  “I doubt it.” Eldritch snatched the book before Sayeh could grab it. “These books were written long before any of us were here. Before your ancestors collected them all.”

  “I heard one man say that fairies never die and never age. Maybe one of them wrote the book.” A certain smile crossed her lips again. “What if someone had a romantic encounter with a fairy?”

  Eldritch thought for a moment. He couldn’t recall reading anything about a half-fae creature before. “Interesting. I wonder what it would be like if a fairy and human ever―”

  “I meant to tell you,” Sayeh interrupted. “I’m actually a fairy. We could see what would happen together.”

  Eldritch’s mouth went dry. He let out a nervous laugh and took a drink from his cup. It tasted stronger than usual, dizzying his mind. He put his hand upon Sayeh’s. Such intimacy he had read of in stories. The passion of a thousand sonnets sat before him, waiting for him to make the next move.

  “Lead her to the back room,” the voice said so clearly he jolted up, still holding her hand.

  She stood with him.

  “Come with me,” Eldritch said.

  The old building echoed the pulses of his heartbeat. It resounded with his yearning for the private chamber and Sayeh.

  The sweat between their hands caused Eldritch to grip her tighter while they twisted through the maze of scattered books and shelves. Sayeh pushed Eldritch into the door as their adrenaline rushed together.

  “It’s locked,” Eldritch said while fumbling with the chains.

  “Give me a moment,” Sayeh said.

  She reached her arm around him and pressed her soft chest into his. Her foot slid between his legs. Eldritch was encapsulated in her sweet perfume. Jasmine and vanilla filled his senses. Her lips hovered near Eldritch’s neck.

  The chains came loose from the handle and the door opened. Eldritch stepped out of the way. The warped wood and stains of neglect made him wary. Sayeh’s alluring scent filled the area and helped him forget his hesitations.

  She jumped inside the room with a laugh and twirl.

  Her laugh turned into a scream as her legs crashed through the old wood floor.

  The rotten boards snagged her dress and cut across her thigh. She hung by the fabric, crying louder while she dangled above a passage below the room.

  Her fingernails dug into Eldritch’s arm as he grabbed her shoulder.

  “My leg!” she shouted.

  He tried to pry her from the broken floor. Her leg slid farther into the shards of the board and she shrieked in pain. Eldritch hooked his other arm around her shoulders and caught a glimpse into the chasm below.

  Old tomes of books and scrolls shrunk away from the light intruding on them. The streaks of Sayeh’s blood soaked into the papers below.

  Eldritch lifted with all his might and finally yanked Sayeh free, pulling the board up with her. She crawled farther from the hole and held her leg where the wood had impaled her. Her cries faded to a whimper. More blood spilled from the wound.

  “Help me, please.” Sayeh gasped and shivered.

  Eldritch ripped off his shirt and tied it around her leg.

  “Put pressure on this, hold it tight.” Eldritch placed her hands over the bandage and sprinted toward the window.

  “Help us!” he cried out.

  No one was around. No one was ever around when he needed them.

  “I need to find someone to help us.” Eldritch glared out the window. “This cursed town! Why is no one here?”

  “Please, don’t leave me,” Sayeh begged.

  Eldritch rushed to her side. The bandage was soaked through.

  “Listen to me,” the voice whispered in his ear. “You can save her. You have the power within.”

  A door seemed to unlock in his mind. Memories of stories and spells wove together. A power his grandfather tried to explain.

  “What do you mean?” Eldritch cried aloud in frustration. “Who are you?”

  “Eldritch. . .” Sayeh whispered.

  He looked into Sayeh’s eyes. They lingered in a distant direction.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I need to get you help.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the floor. Strands of wet cloth clung to his arm. His hands slipped on her bloodied skin while he tried to carry her. Her life was fading away.

  He continued to call for help, stumbling over the piles of boxes and books.

  “They cannot help you,” the voice hissed. “Listen to me!”

  The command caused Eldritch to stumble over a stack of books. He twisted, landing hard on his side to protect Sayeh.

  She rolled to the side and made no sound. Her breathing was shallow, and she slipped out of consciousness.

  "Listen to me! You have the power to save her."

  The voice seemed to be crawling along the base of his skull. It lingered behind his eyesight.

  Eldritch clamped his hands around the wound and cried out, “Tell me, please!”

  Like fingers running through his hair, the voice moved across his mind. It blurred his vision. His own fingers twitched away from Sayeh as they traced patterns into the bloodied cloth which was once his shirt.

  He moaned in strange syllables and patterns he had never read or spoken before. The cloth hardened when he rested his hand back on the wound.

  The fingers inside his mind slipped away. His vision returned, and he witnessed the bright red stain continued to darken beyond the crimson until a shell formed around the wound. It resembled a hardened mass of charred wood.

  Eldritch rested his ear on Sayeh’s chest. Her heartbeat slowly pulsed. She was alive.

  He slid his hand from the wound to her side and eased her onto her back. It took more of his strength to move the books out from under her than it had to pull her from the hole. The material around the wound sizzled and smoked.

  He pushed himself up from the ground and grabbed some of the cleaning buckets. Although he had helped Sayeh many times with them full of water, a weakness sunk into the fiber of his bones that caused him to carry it with half the amount. Whatever spell he cast, drained him.

  He glanced outside once more in hopes of his luck changing.

  Still empty.

  None of the other houses gave any hints of life inside them. Only the flies trickled in the building from the cracks in the windows.

  The strain of the buckets forced Eldritch to stop. He sighed and dragged them closer to Sayeh, pulling out a strip of cloth.

  The rags scraped across the crusted wound on her leg like a mop on a dry floor. Scrubbing had no effect. He
wiped away the blood from the other parts of her skin. The water, tainted red, stained his pants as he finished cleaning.

  He placed his ear to her chest again and listened to her breathing. It continued as before.

  A chill pulled him away, and he caught a glimpse of the chamber under the broken floor again in the corner of his eye. A desire to discover what treasures lay hidden in such a place tempted him, but he feared he was already losing his sanity. Something took control of him to save Sayeh, and he wasn’t sure how much of it had been from his own understanding of magic.

  He placed one arm over her waist and wrapped the other under her head. His joints and muscles ached. Perhaps someone would find them and carry them both to a softer place to rest. Perhaps they would slip together into an endless sleep. Whatever happened, he wanted to be with Sayeh.

  Every sense of time slowed to a stop as their hearts beat together. Eldritch took steady breaths as he watched Sayeh. He hoped that if he looked at her long enough, her eyes would open and she would give him that smile again.

  He tried to stay awake. He wanted to see her wake up, if she were to wake up again. But an unnatural heaviness on his eyes caused him to slip into a blackness of sleep. A sleep unlike any before.

  Eldritch’s mind sunk beyond the floor of the shop and into the earth. Past the graves of his ancestors and into the sarcophagus of forgotten books. Books that were meant to be buried and remembered no longer. Ones that bridged the realms of life and death. The realms he now balanced on. Whatever entered his mind and gave him power took something from him that could never be replaced.

  His mind swirled in that dark abyss. Visions of his past blinked into existence and vanished into the clouded dream. Phantoms of friends he knew but never got close to put their arms around him to drag him deeper into the sleep.

  “Is that really you?” a small voice called through the blackness.

  Eldritch tried to focus. The shadows darted in front of his eyes. An image formed of a younger man who looked identical to Eldritch. His face was youthful, but his hair grew long and white. It twisted around his face causing a blur of indistinguishable features. The man could almost be Eldritch’s younger brother, if he were alive.

  “You can’t be here.” Eldritch gasped. “You died as an infant. How can you be here?”

  “We’re always here. Always growing while you diminish.” The boy’s words were choked as if coughing through smoke and ash. “You created me here. I am and am not. We thrive on your loss.”

  “But you died, how are you older now?”

  “Always growing, filling the void. It is endless. We are endless. The shadows consume all.”

  “I don’t understand, where are you, who are you?” Eldritch tried to turn away, but the image of his brother followed his eyes. “You’re not my brother. Let me out!”

  He could feel the darkness lifting.

  “Eldritch, come back! Come back to me! You found us, now save us.” The voice trailed away. He felt his whole body shaking.

  “What happened to my leg?” Sayeh’s voice called. “Eldritch? Come back to me!”

  He forced his eyes open as the strength returned to his body. His mind was dizzy from the hallucination as he turned to Sayeh. She had managed to sit up.

  “What did you do to my leg?” she asked.

  “Is it okay?” Eldritch checked to see if any blood seeped from around the shell.

  “It doesn’t hurt. But what the hell is on it? It won’t come off.”

  He wanted to give her an answer but didn’t know what to say. He rubbed his forehead and sat up.

  “You lost a lot of blood. I had to make something to get it to stop,” he explained.

  “I thought I was dying.” Sayeh pushed on the wrap again, but it remained firm.

  Eldritch shifted his weight to support her and helped her to her feet. She stood tentatively on the injured leg.

  “That’s odd,” she said and let out a long breath. “I don’t feel any pain at all.”

  “Are you well enough to walk?” Eldritch said, holding her waist.

  “Yes. My leg is a little stiff, but I’m fine.” She tried to cover the wound with her tattered dress. “My clothes are ruined. I need to go home. My parents will need to know about the damaged floor, and I should probably lie down for a while.”

  “Let me help you.”

  Sayeh held her arm out, and Eldritch slipped his hand under it to give her support. He led her through the fallen books.

  Although far from the room now, he felt like something watched him from the shadows. The chasm held some sort of answer to his strange vision.

  “What happened to you?” Sayeh asked. “You sounded like you were in a deeper sleep than I was.”

  “I’m not sure.” Eldritch focused on the door ahead of them. “I guess I was up too late reading last night.”

  The sun cast long shadows upon the town when they stepped out. Its heat hung in the air one final hour before nightfall.

  “I’ll lock up the shop tonight.” Eldritch noticed Sayeh’s hesitation to leave the building in such a state.

  “Thank you, Eldritch.” Sayeh placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed him softly on the lips.

  His cheeks flushed. He looked around the streets to see if anyone noticed. The town was empty.

  Eldritch held out his arm to help Sayeh home. Even though she said it wasn’t painful, she could not move it right and limped through the dusty streets.

  “I will see you tomorrow?” Sayeh asked when they reached her house.

  “Yes. Of course.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. A movement at the window made him shrink back.

  Sayeh nodded to the house and made a shooing motion with her hands before straightening her hair and dress. He was grateful that he did not have to stay and explain anything to her parents.

  Eldritch turned back down the street and smiled to himself before strolling back to the bookshop. A few of the brighter stars decided to make themselves known as the sun blinked its eye on the horizon one last time.

  The stale air gave no breeze, and the lingering summer heat made him have no wish for his shirt. He rubbed the back of his head and wondered: What had happened to his shirt? Was it encased within the shell around Sayeh’s leg, or did it turn into the shell itself? How was she able to stand and walk after losing that much blood?

  He reached the door of the shop and peered inside. The sunlight that once filled it was replaced with cool twilight. Eldritch wanted to search the chamber below the floor. He looked down at his half-clothed and blood-soaked appearance.

  “Tomorrow,” he muttered under his breath.

  He closed the door and used the hidden key Sayeh showed him when they were younger to lock up. If all went as planned, he would be able to get home with enough cover of darkness to put on new clothes before his parents saw him.

  A building of clouds on the eastern skies quickened his steps as a storm flashed its warnings of light across the land.

  Chapter Three

  The path to town was scattered with broken limbs and shards of crops. Eldritch should have felt sorry for leaving so early in the morning. His parents would have much to clean up without him. Thoughts of the old and mysterious books he caught glimpses of filled his mind as he walked past his family’s grove of apple trees.

  Branches were broken low and twisted to the ground. It was unlike any storm damage Eldritch witnessed before. Something horrendous hit last night. If not for his study of agriculture, their crops would have perished in the decade-long drought like many of the other farms. With the storm, not many remained.

  The dryness of the season brought pests to feast on the juicy leaves. Although his parents tried many methods to cut back their reproducing, they managed to pop up on every tree. Their resilience was admirable.

  A breeze passed through the remaining leaves, giving a musty tinge to the air. It tugged at his new clothes and urged him to look closer. Weary branches reached for a rejuvenating touch, a
spell which would restore them to their former glory. The answer laid beyond the realms of his mind and those of nature. As he had healed Sayeh’s leg, he would mend the trees.

  He walked over to the apple tree and took a solemn breath. Pressing his hand on the splintered bark, he focused on the power from before. The tree conveyed a sense of being brittle. He tried to force his will upon it to be strong, but no power flowed through him like before.

  He grunted again and pushed at the trunk. It swayed listlessly until one of its apples fell, one not overtaken by worms. Eldritch broke it open to be sure. At least he would have breakfast on his journey to town.

  The handle to the bookshop door clicked open as he twisted it before using the key.

  He jolted back. He was sure he locked it.

  “Come in,” Sayeh’s voice called on the other side of the door. “I'm sorry I cannot greet you there. Do come in and look around. I can answer your―oh. Eldritch.” She smiled and repositioned herself at the table.

  “You must be feeling better this morning,” Eldritch said looking past her in the direction of the back room. He would have to find a way to get her out of the shop so he could explore the hidden area they had discovered.

  “Thank you for fixing that hole up last night. I’m sure it kept you up late.”

  “What do you mean?” Eldritch raised an eyebrow.

  “The hole I almost died in,” Sayeh said. Her words trailed away as he pushed through the bookshelves to the back room.

  The unchained door swung open with an easy push. The floor that had splintered away the night before was replaced by a slab of boards and scorch marks.

  Eldritch knelt down and ran a hand across them. The boards were strong and secure as if placed there for years.

  He knocked.

  The sound echoed back to him. The secret chamber was sealed off again.

  “Tell no one of this,” he heard the ghastly whisper again. “Patience. We have waited, now you must wait.”

  The scent of ash and sulfur filled his nose, and his eyes burned as if standing in smoke. He could taste it in the air.