Kindred: (Into The Darklands)

by K. M. Raya

  I choke as I’m yanked backwards by the collar of my armor and lifted into the air. The drac has me clutched in its teeth as we go up and up higher into the air. The ground is growing farther away as I watch the treetops come into view. Fear races through me and I scream—suddenly very aware that I’m about to die. The drac swoops around as if wielding me like a prize, showing off its kill. I hang from its closed jaw, staring down at the battle below us—watching the slaughter. I lost sight of Shayde at some point and frantically scream for him while I kick and thrash.

  A loud rumbling fills the air and I still, squinting my eyes into the distance—movement in the trees catching my attention. It looks like a black mass writhing over the forest floor and heading in this direction. I try to make out what shakes the trees and disturbs the forest, but the drac is still flying higher.

  I want the her to bring me closer, and as we swoop lower before veering off, I can see that the mass is not one thing, but rather a great many things. It looks like hundreds of storm sabers.

  ‘No, that isn’t right.’ They aren’t storm sabers, but they’re very close. These creatures have no eyes, but massive talons and tusk-like teeth that protrude from their heavy jaws. They slither across the muddy ground and the pelting rain seems to only help them move faster as their riders hold onto their backs. My eyes widen in shock and awe as they lock onto the most terrifying figure I’ve ever seen. On the back of one of the creatures is a woman—I think it’s a woman. Her long, stringy hair looks like reeds—dripping with rocks, gems and grasses. It’s soggy like moss and her skin is sopping wet and cracking like dry soil. She holds her mouth open in a scream, exposing rows of too sharp teeth—pointed like needles. Her white eyes have no blacks and she holds them open wide and crazed. The creature looks positively gleeful. Hundreds of others follow just behind their leader, wielding sharp spears that they hold overhead.

  The drac carries me further away until I can barely make out the Hags. They could be nothing else and the stories did not accurately convey just how atrocious they look in reality. In the distance, I watch as the saber-like creatures carry them into the fray of fighters, clashing with the horses and the mages that ride them. Screams of terror reverberate through the trees.

  I claw at the talons that grip me and frantically send sparks shooting into the drac’s underbelly. The drac roars and thrashes me around, whipping from side to side. Gaining momentum, I take a possibly fatal chance and swing myself up and over the dracs back, catching it by surprise. Latching on, I hook my fingers underneath the thick scales at its neck. Reaching down, I dig out my dagger from its place in my boot. It’s the same dagger Gavriel had given me all those years ago—sharpened to a thin point, gleaming in the light of the sun above the rainclouds. The dagger comes down hard on the soft space between the neck scales and the head. The small patch of exposed skin there gives way beneath my blade. Years of saber hunting have prepared me for this moment and my body fills with equal amounts of exhilaration and dread. I hate myself for what I’m being forced to do. Shadow dracs are sacred beings who should be respected and kept safe. But here I am now, riding the back of a traitorous drac, stabbing it through its neck as it plunges towards the ground.

  ~~~

  I know the drac is dead even before we hit the treetops. I can feel the muscles give beneath my knees as I squeeze tight.

  Releasing my hold, I lift from its back using my magic to slow my descent. My flames lick up beneath me and hold me in the air, lowering slowly. I hit the ground with a dull thud but remain upright. A moment later, the body of the drac slams into the mud with sickening finality. I have no time to cry or scream or rage, I have to get back and finish this.

  Taking to the trees, I propel myself faster than I’ve ever dared to push. My magic seems limitless as I gained speed, catching my second wind. An awareness fills me. Looking down, I feel the rumble beneath the treetops only to discover a herd of storm sabers slithering through the mud. They haven’t spotted me yet. Without hesitation, I drop down, landing gracefully on the back of a saber. It roars in fury and grunts but never slows down. I am the predator from above and there’s nothing it can do to defend itself. Instead of hunting the beast, this time I use its speed to my advantage. Hooking my fingers into its scales, I brace myself and lower my head to avoid the rain that pelts my face. My skin is stinging, and I can no longer differentiate between raindrops and tears.

  Breaking through the trees, I burst into the fray, drawing my bow and slinging arrows into the bodies of my enemies as they try to kill the ones I love. Derrund and the troupe are thrashing mages around with their fists like they’re nothing more than rodents. The ground shakes as they stomp them into the mud before moving onto the next. Dorethe rides the back of her sabre creature, holding a spear in her gnarled, moss colored hand. The spear has a severed head at the tip, and she reaches down and feeds it to her beast. It’s savagery, it’s chaos. Dorethe’s smiling with maniacal glee.

  My eyes are drawn to a lone figure atop a pale white horse in the distance. He stands upright on the horses back like a madman and instinctively I know this is Sephrian. His golden hair gleams in the wetness of the pouring rain and tangles around his iron crown. It takes a moment to realize he’s flanked by two others. Magnus and Soran are equally as regal, but less wild and mad looking than their brother. Bloodlust shines in their eyes and they drive their flaming swords through the hearts of my people. A black smoke writhes around Sephrian’s body as his eyes gloss over with inky darkness.

  Sephrian yanks his blade out of a chest and I glance down only to discover that it’s Savina lying there, bloodied and broken on the ground below his horse's hooves. Rage and grief overtake me, and I surge forward—screaming for my saber to go faster. A haze of red clouds my vision and all I can see is Sephrian’s head on a pike. I want to gouge out his eyes and pull his heart from his chest.

  Arrows bounce off my armor as I crash my way through the throng of fighters. Sephrian looks up, eyes catching mine as his face lights up with malicious glee. He recognizes me, no doubt about it. I look just like my father and brothers though I’ve always hated to admit it. Though wet, my long locks still shine as red as a burning flame. Sephrian stays there, standing atop his horse with Savina’s blood dripping from his blade as he laughs. He truly is crazed. In his fists are balls of battle magic, swirling both blue and red, but I can see the swirling black tendrils that lace the flames. Death magic has taken control. It crackles and snaps every time the raindrops hiss in his palms.

  I summon my own magic; it travels from my palms all the way up to my elbows. I can feel the energy rushing through my veins, just begging for release. For a moment, Sephrian’s eyes widen as my hair catches fire and sparks rush up my arms, coating my skin in bright red and orange light. The saber slams its legs to a halt and slides. When its body comes to a stop, our momentum sends me flying forward. I launch through the air, tackling Sephrian right off his horse and into the mud. We roll onto the ground, burning one another with our magic. My skin touches his face, melting the flesh of his cheek and he cries out in agony.

  Sephrian places his hands on my chest and sends me flying backwards and into the trunk of a tree. I slide down the bark, grasping my head in my hands. When my fingers come away, I see that they’re dripping with blood. My leg throbs as it buckles beneath me every time I try to stand. Sephrian crawls forward through the mud, still laughing with a half melted face. His wide smile stretches across his face showcasing all of his teeth. They’re covered in blood as it gushes from his mouth. I’d expected him to say something—to make a speech or spin some fancy, gloating tale before striking but that had been giving the man too much credit. He cares nothing about me, I’m just another obstacle in his way. My death is a conquest—unfinished business.

  I can’t say for sure what makes me look, but for a moment, my focus leaves Sephrian and spots a figure over his shoulder. Thallan crouches on the branch of a tree, arrow notched and ready to let loose. My heart races—de
sperately hoping he doesn’t miss. The arrow goes flying, but at the last second, Sephrian ducks to the side, letting the arrow glide past with a low hiss until it crashes into the trunk of a tree. In a rage, Sephrian turns and throws his magic at Thallan, sending a ball of crackling fire through the air, knocking my elf out of the tree. A strangled cry rips from my throat.

  Sephrian turns back to me but I’ve already gathered my magic. I throw ball after crackling ball of fire at the man, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping him. All around me I can hear the sounds of the battle still raging, but it’s as if I’m somehow hearing it all from beneath the water. Everything is muted and garbled, time is moving slower. Ball after ball slams into Sephrian’s chest and knocks him to the ground. Still he crawls towards me.

  I have no idea where Shayde is and I desperately wish he’d swoop in and save me, but deep inside I know it’s too late. Still sitting at the base of the tree, I realize that my right ankle is broken. I can’t run away or stand and fight. Sephrian is closing in and I’m going to die. He crouches down and draws a blade from his boot. It’s a tiny blade—almost insulting. Without a word but a with a disgusting smirk, Sephrian brings the edge of it to my throat as I close my eyes tight, waiting for the end to take me.

  But the end never comes. My ears register a choking, gurgling noise that has my eyes snapping open. A weight lands atop my prone body. Sephrian falls down dead in my lap and I stare down at him with wide eyes. There’s a black, ornate looking dagger with runes carved into the handle sticking out from his open mouth and protruding from the back of his head. His eyes are milky and vacant. It happened in the blink of an eye.

  ‘How is this possible? Was he so weak?’ My mind is spinning—unable to understand what just occurred. I snap my head up when the feeling of being watched slithers over my skin. The battle around me still rages, but there—on the edge of the tree line stands a lone figure. Clad in black, the figure steps out of the shadows.

  No, not out of the shadows…it is the shadow.

  Holding my breath as terror fills me, the shadow comes closer. My heart thuds painfully and I breathe in hard though I can’t seem to get enough air. It’s here. Flesh and blood here. My body wants to run, my brain is telling me to get far away from this monster, but with a broken ankle, I am rooted to the spot. It approaches slowly, cloak swishing and flowing despite the rain until finally it crouches down over my body. I still can’t see past the blackness that covers its face beneath the hooded cloak. It reaches out to me and I cringe away. Just like it had that night in my mother's chambers, the assassin strokes my cheek with its gloved hand which seems to be shaking.

  “Tell me who you are, you coward!” I scream at the figure, not expecting any sort of answer. The assassin pauses though, lowering its face to mine. I hold my breath, not daring to make another sound. It reaches a gloved hand to its own face slowly. I watch in terror as the blackness dissipates—exposing the face beneath.

  “No!" I scream as a sob rips from my lips. “No, no, no, no!” Over and over I scream, and I heave wanting to retch and rage. My world is shattering, and my heart is nothing more than dust. There’s no emotion in his blackened eyes as he watches me break.

  Gavriel smiles down at me from beneath a mane of crimson locks that match mine so perfectly.

  “Hello, sister.”

  Sera

  The world is muted as I stare into Gavriel’s green eyes turned inky black. His lips are drawn up into a horrible smile that I can’t ever remember seeing before. I want to lash out. I want to scream and rage, I want to choke the life out of my favorite brother because my heart is breaking.

  “I mourned you, you bastard!” I sob. My body shakes as I attempt to scoot away. My back hits the tree behind me. “I felt your death for five years, and all along it was you!”

  His smile only grows. “You were always a naive little sprite, weren't you?” Reaching out a gloved hand, I cringe as he runs his finger down my cheek again. “Father always thought you were a simpleton, but I knew better.” He taps the side of his nose cheekily. The voice coming from his mouth belongs to the brother I’ve always known, but the words don’t match up. This isn’t like him. This isn’t the Gavriel that took me horseback riding through the woods once upon a time. This isn’t the older brother that snuck me treats when the queen sent me to bed at night hungry…

  I—I don’t understand…” I stammer.

  “You didn’t think you were the only one, did you?” He scoffs, teasing the strands of my hair between his two gloved fingers. “We may look like the old bastard, but did it ever occur to you that something was amiss?”

  No, it truly hadn’t. “How could you murder your own mother?” I snap, eyes burning with betrayal. If he truly belongs to the General like me, then why would he do such a thing? “How could you poison the woman who gave you your powers and your life?”

  This time, Gavriel throws his head back and laughs deeply. “Oh, my dear, sweet sister—or should I say half-sister.” The ground rumbles as something drops behind him.

  Over his shoulder I watch as Shayde’s dragon form stands tall and menacing, frothing at the mouth as his body shakes with fury. My eyes widen when I look further up only to find Wesley perched on Shayde’s back holding a long spear in his hand. Wesley whistles, flicking his eyes to the left. I follow his line of sight until a head of pearly white hair pops up from behind a nearby tree and Thallan crouches down low—waiting for a signal. Relief spreads through my body. It’s only now that I realize that the noise of battle has died down, leaving only the sounds of the wounded and the dying behind. I can’t say for certain how long I’ve been here face to face with Gavriel, but it feels like eons.

  My brother unsheathes a long black dagger that matches the one he’d put through Sephrian’s head so easily. He brings it to my throat and forces my head to tilt backwards. A growl rips from Shayde’s mouth. Gavriel turns his head and smiles at my men.

  “I don’t want to end my half-sister’s life, but I will if it comes to that,” he warns them, and I look up into Wesley’s blazing eyes. I watch as recognition washes over him. His mouth drops open in horror as he gets his first real look at Gavriel. I see him mouth my brother’s name before fury fills his face. In this moment I believe that Wesley was a pawn. He was a pawn and so was the powerful Sephrian—the rebellion leader we’d all feared, when it was Gavriel behind the horror.

  He turns back to me. “It seems the beautiful queen Lorena couldn’t manage to hold our father’s attention for long...such a shame.” He clicks his teeth together. “I bet you had no idea that Moran had a daughter, did you, Sera? No, you wouldn’t. My mother’s existence was kept a secret even from me for a time. I always did wonder where the darkness came from—”

  Shaking my head, my wet curls whip my cheeks and sting my skin. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re a madman! Either kill me now and be done with it or let me go, Gav. Just let me go...”

  “Do you have any idea how powerful the spawn of mage and a necromancer could be? Do you understand what flows through my veins?” He laughs as blackness fills the whites of his eyes further. I stare in horror as his whole face transforms. “You and I could rule together, and it would be so easy, sister. We can take back what should have belonged to us all along.”

  “You’re insane, just like father—” I spit. His dagger presses in deeper and a trickle of blood drips down my neck. Shayde and Wesley lurch forward but I plead to them with my eyes to let it be. “Father was human! He was evil and vile, but he was a weak, corrupt human man!”

  Gavriel tsks. “That’s where you’re wrong, Sera. Seth Draegan was Kindred through and through. His magic flows through our veins and I know you feel it. I can practically taste the power rolling off of you. Father knew that banishing the Kindred from his kingdom would leave him with absolute power, and with Moran...he’d be unstoppable. Aligning with the mancer’s would amplify it all.” He sneers. “Only he was too simple to know what to do with it.”
He spreads his arms out wide. “Here I am, proof that he did at least one thing right in his whole wretched life!”

  I fall silent and I watch his face shift between emotions. Black, undulating fog begins to pour from his palms, swirling around us until I can barely make out anything beyond him. If what he says is true, then my brother could topple nations. His eyes are two shining pits of nothingness now as he hovers over me and stretches a hand forward—beckoning me to take it.

  Looking into his eyes, I let my mind flicker through seventeen years of cherished memories—memories that brought me peace while I mourned him. All the times he took me hunting in our father’s forest...when he treated me like the soldier I always dreamt of being and taught me how to shoot my first bow. I can hear our pealing laughter every time the queen nearly discovered me wearing a pair of his old boy’s trousers after tussling in the mud with Wesley and a few of the other children. I remember the nights I’d lay awake in my bed, unable to sleep with tears streaming down my face—wondering why my mother hated me so much. Gav would always show up with cakes and sweets to comfort me before rocking his little sister to sleep. I can’t seem to reconcile that man with the monster that leans down before me, beckoning me to join him. I know in my heart that Gav doesn't want to kill me, he would have already done so if that were true. He’s had so many opportunities, and yet here I still am. His complete faith in my loyalty will be his ultimate downfall.