Young Writers Society

I first would like to thank Marth for graciously donating me some points to publish the below work. Thank you, Marth, for giving me the points to keep on writing faster than ever! I had this in a draft, but it was your points that published it.

Thanks again,

-Featherstone9086

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I couldn't move- some hidden force bound me. I struggled, but it was futile. I could see nothing, hear nothing, smell nothing. All my senses were silenced- even my sight. All, that was, except touch. And feel it I did.

A burning pain as something cut into my flesh, something so hot it must have been taken out of Hell itself. I screamed in agony, wishing only death.

It didn't come.

I woke up with a start, panting. I must have fallen asleep. Though it wasn't a necessity for me like it was for humans, I functioned better with it, and I did get tired. Normally, I would have slept during the day when it hurt to walk around outside, but as they say: when in Rome, do as the Romans. Or perhaps said. Hard to tell tenses with time's troublesome nature paired with the complications of parallel universes.

Lyrel, who was taking watch, noticed my sudden movement and turned as I got up. So much for sleeping. He turned back when he saw I wasn't doing anything I wasn't supposed to, but I could see him watching me out of his periphery. I didn't blame him for distrusting me- I would have done the same if I were him.

I touched my wrist in an attempt to relieve the pain from the bracelet of light- it didn't work. The sun would be coming out soon. Gyer sensed it and shifted, restless. He wanted to reign the night, not be trapped playing as a mundane horse.

"Irnae, Gyer," I whispered to him. "Irnae." Patience.

"Raven, stop that." Lyrel's post was nearby the animals.

"I may not even speak to my steed?"

"Not in that accursed tongue. I know he's a demon or devil or something- no normal horse lives that long- and I don't trust what you're telling him."

"Vultures can't fight very well, Lyrel."

"But ravens are very good at plotting and loopholing and using tools- all of which you are perfectly capable of even with that bracelet. And I'm sure that horse-thing is a tool."

"Then why reunite us?"

"None of the other horses would so much as get near you without a rider to make it."

"No. They never liked me. The ravens and their kin did, though. The wolves."

"Yes."

"Don't go there." I said, changing the subject.

"Where?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"What?"

But I was already gone, merging with the last shadows of the night.

We rode out at first light. The ride was fairly easy since we were out on the flat grasslands, but that also meant no shade, and, thus, a lot more sunshine. Neither Gyer nor myself enjoyed that. Every time it touched my pale skin it burned. Covering my wings was the hardest part, especially with the glamour. I finally managed to cover most of them, with only the primary feathers sticking out.

When we reached the junction where our little trail joined the Yellow Road- the primary trading route between the elves and the humans- Lyrel stopped the party and tossed me something. I caught it.

It was an eyepatch to cover my scarlet eye that marked me as a seer. Covering it, however, would also mean it'd take away my so-called second sight for the duration I wore it- that meant no visions, no illusion-piercing sight, no seeing into peoples' minds.

"Put it on. We don't have all day," Lyrel told me.

I hesitated. My sight had only been taken once before, and that time...the pain...the oblivion....the torture... But like it or not, I was at his command: I couldn't defy him. I tied it over my face, fighting down that pit of fear in my stomach.

He noticed my hesitation. "Disobey me, Raven, and there will be hell to pay. Keep your head down, stay quiet, and behave yourself. And keep that bird of yours out of sight. We're conspicuous enough as it is."

"Hell, is it? Seems I've already paid that price."

Mikréla seemed unnerved by that. How was it possible that I'd already been to Hell and yet stood right in front of her?

"With power like mine, you can cheat even death," I looked her straight in the eye. "I've clawed my way out of the depths of Hell many times."

"What did I just say about being quiet?" Lyrel asked me.

I silenced.

He clucked to his horse and we moved off. Travelers and traders gave us a wide berth upon seeing a black-garbed prisoner in the paladins' midst. A criminal warranting eight paladins, all the best of the best, meant trouble- trouble they didn't want to involve them in the least. Even just by seeing me, they thought they'd contracted some sort of bad luck. I ignored them, feeding off their silent fear and nervous murmurs. Gyer snorted nervously and stopped mid-stride, the paladin behind me nearly hitting us. Lyrel turned.

"Gyer, ilir wliir mesqé?" What are you doing?

He danced back. I reined him in. Something was amiss- something I couldn't see.

"What are you doing?" Lyrel seemed concerned- something was off.

"Gyer, ilir wliir mesqé?" I asked again, more forcefully.

"Raven?"

He reared, plainly spooked. That concerned me- even lesser demons didn't scare that easily, and he had to be terrified if he wanted to run instead of fight. Lyrel, too, realized that if Gyer was afraid then there was something powerful that could potentially be targeting any of us.

"Gyer, iriinae! Ilir siin siil?" Gyer, calm! What is it?

He stomped, wanting to run. I looked at Lyrel. "Let me see!"

Lyrel nodded, summoning his magic to identify an enemy, signaling my escort to pull into a defensive formation. I pulled off my eyepatch and looked around.

A caravan with mules and oxen pulling wares rumbled past us. A shepherd's dog nipped at the ankles of sheep as they followed a farmer's wagon. A little girl ran across the road, a doll in her hand.

That doll…

My eyes widened as the girl met my eyes. I couldn't look away…

Oblivion. An eternal abyss.

"No one has made it past the second-to-last test, but they say that after it is the trial of pain." Cornix's words echoed in my mind.

I could not see.

I could feel only pain, fire in my veins, burning agony in my flesh, something wrenching its way into my mind…

"No…" I whispered.

The girl's irises were midnight blue, glinting as though speckled with stars. They portrayed an age far beyond even my own or Lyrel's, a knowledge- and power- much more significant than any mortal's.

I somehow heard the voice of a young girl through the blinding torture, humming a song a knew so well. The Shadowsong.

I screamed.

She smiled once in a disconcerting way, then was gone. Simply disappeared into the air. What was going on here? Why was that ghost still haunting me? I'd passed the Trials, hadn't I? Was it her who'd been stalking my nightmares of late?

Why was she there? What had she wanted to say? What was her message?

"Myliianyræ," I murmured. Transformation, change, metamorphosis, revolution.

"Where'd she go?" Mikréla spun, searching for the target.

"Who was she?" The man next to her asked.

"More importantly, what was she?" Lyrel directed that last question at me. It took me a minute to register he was addressing me after being shaken like that.

I shook my head. "I do not know." I pulled the eyepatch back into place. "Not of this plane, nor that of the dead. Something different, unique, unlike anything else. That is all I can tell." I fought to keep my horror at the sight of that-that thing- from showing. As per usual, Lyrel noticed despite my efforts.

"Where do you know her from?"

"She was a…" I paused, unsure whether she was friend or foe. "An old..Acquaintance."

"I would assume foe from your reaction?"

I shrugged. "It's rather…complicated."

"Clarify."

I shook my head. "I'm more afraid of my Lord than you, Lyrel. Do what you will- I'm not going to explain."

He looked for a minute like he might press me, then changed his mind. The first priority was reporting in to Bericus. Then he'd deal with whatever I wouldn't tell him.

That encounter with the girl- or whatever took the form of a girl, at least- was the first omen that warned me of what was to come. I didn't realize it at the time- I was too unnerved at the time to analyze it.

The rest of the day was uneventful. We set up camp a little ways from the road. Mikréla set up a circle of protection so that no dangers could get in- or out. Lyrel still kept watch, though, for the sole reason of making sure I didn't try anything.

I didn't. Honestly, I was terrified of what I might find. At least there I had some sort of protection, even if it was only because I was a tool. I didn't try to sleep, either, despite my exhaustion- I didn't want to face the nightmares I knew would plague me.

We sat in silence for hours. Finally, Lyrel spoke as the moon reached its zenith.

"What did she-it- do to you?" He hadn't seen me be that terrified of anything: not him, not Cornix, not anyone.

I didn't answer immediately. "She caused me immeasurable pain."

"What did you do to anger such powers?"

"I didn't. I did it for…for a…a curse, I suppose. Maybe it's a blessing." I wasn't very convinced of the latter. I'd tried to see it that way, but I just couldn't.

"Why by the gods would you go through that for something you don't even want?"

"I follow my orders, Lyrel- I don't question them."

"Why would you follow one who would do that to you?"

"Because it was- is- my only option."

"No, it's not."

"What do you suggest, Lightwing?"

"It is never too late to turn back."

"Why would I do that? This way, if I succeed, I have everything: power, allies, the night. Otherwise it is all weakness, distrust, and that damn light."

"It is loyalty, forgiveness, and truth."

"Perhaps."

"I'm offering you a second chance. Redemption."

"Both of which I neither need nor desire. I have followed that path before, and never will I again."

"Then nothing awaits you but death and pain."

"What awaits me is power so I need never be trapped in this light again."

"If you choose power over peace, it is your decision. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Three days later, we reached the town I'd seen in my vision many days before. It was completely destroyed- the burnt husks of old corpses lay about the town like so many gems scattered amongst the dark soot. The houses had all been burned away, leaving nothing but charcoal supports. Ash blanketed the once-lively farming village like snow on a winter's day, but inspired desolation and depression instead of joy and celebration as snow did when it neared the coming winter holiday. The demon-kind were long gone.

I slipped off Gyer, surveying the carnage with cold detachment. I'd caused enough incidents like that one- unintentionally or otherwise- to have closed off my heart to such death and sorrow. It was lucky there hadn't been a wildfire in the middle of the dry grassland when the village and crops had been scorched.

"Can you see what happened?" Lyrel asked me.

I moved to flip up my eyepatch so I could. But then I hesitated- I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to feel their pain again, like I had so many times before: I knew the story as it was.

Where did that sudden weakness come from? That quailing from their pain? Since when did I care?

I shook it off, disconcerted, then flipped up my eyepatch.

Fire.

Horror.

Chaos.

Death.

Serpents' tongues of destruction crackled through the hovels, devouring everything in their wake. The inferno blazed with a life of its own, with only one desire: ruin. The blaze razed the place, sparing nothing.

A disparaging dread came over the villagers as the fire came and the sun was blotted out by the foreboding moon. Horror found its way into their hearts as the Legions of Hell came, butchers as the human lambs came to the slaughter. Screams of agony pierced the air, smoke rising with the stench of scorched flesh ascending with it. Dread turned to fear, fear to horror, horror to panic as turmoil ensued.

Discord reigned the field as the cacophony of cries and yells of distress joined the pandemonium of chaos as demon-kind ravaged everything in their path with no order or plan or purpose but the simple instinct to annihilate.

None were left to sing the requiems of the dead after the nightmare unfurled. Carnage, bodies, blood. A silent oblivion.

I closed my eyes and pulled down the patch once more. For the first time since I was a fledgling, a part of me was grateful not to see any longer.

"It is as you'd expect," I told Lyrel. "Inferno, terror, havoc, death."

"How long ago?"

"Approximately 1 day, 4 hours, 32 minutes, and 42.789 seconds."

"So they are long gone."

I nodded, wondering how the demons could disappear and appear so quickly. Had we finally found a way to make portals into this Realm?

"We need to get to Akaron as quickly as possible. Mikréla, go double-check that there aren't any stray demons. Selanlar, Taredd, go with her. If you find them, kill them. You know how to get help. The rest of you go look for any surviving humans. Have haste- time is of the essence."

"Yes, sir," they chorused, and headed off on their respective assignments.

"What did you see?" he asked me as they left.

"I already told you."

"Give me detail."

"You don't want that."

"Raven, just tell me."

I shrugged. "The villagers were going about their normal day when the moon blotted out the sun- and I'm not talking ring of fire; it was entirely dark. Then the demons came. No dæmons or devils- these were grunts who live for flat out massacres. No tactics, no planning. Just death. Anyways, they lit fire to the town and kept it alive. I think it was Hellfire. Then they tortured and killed everyone. End of story."

I pulled the heart out of the child- the soul of an innocent was always the most powerful. The boy fell, limp and lifeless as his heart pumped in my hand. I crushed it, pulling forth its essence, then devoured the spirit, turning it into raw power.

I pushed the memory out of my mind. There was a pit in my stomach, a regret for what I'd done. Was that…guilt?

What was happening to me? Why was I going soft after all these years? I shook it from my mind: I needed to focus on the plan. Earn Lyrel's trust, backstab him, help my Master rule that awful place. I couldn't get sidetracked.

I mounted Gyer, waiting for the paladins to return from their futile missions. I didn't have to wait long.

We reached Akaron- the human capital that doubled as the headquarters of the paladins- a few uneventful weeks later. I got a lot of fearful looks as I passed through the city. Despite my recent entrapment, I had been well known in the days of olde, and legends of my cruelty and my abundant power were still well known. Even if I wasn't recognized, my obvious status as 'powerful prisoner' was enough to scare them.

The Paladin Guild Hall was a huge, church-like affair made of white marble. The whole thing was hallowed, filled with light. As I approached the threshold to the courtyard, I paused.

"Go," Mikréla, who was behind me, told me.

Did she just order me to do something? A mere human?

Gyer snorted in indignation.

"Play with fire, girl, and you might get burned," I hissed at her.

"Raven, don't make me come over there," Lyrel called back to me.

I followed him into the hall, gilded statues of old heroes glaring down at me. His men disappeared into the labyrinth of corridors as we entered. Darkness gripped my shoulder tightly, portraying our fear. We were walking straight towards the very heart of what we'd tried so hard to escape from.

I lost track of how many turns we took and staircases we climbed. I just tailed Lyrel in silence. Finally, we stopped at a door. Lyrel knocked, then stepped back.

The door swung open to reveal the largest man I'd ever seen in my life. He wore a golden doublet and hose, a greatsword across his back. He hadn't bothered to hide is feathery, snow-white wings with a glamour- they fanned out to either side of him, making him appear even larger than he already was.

"Lyrel."

"Bericus."

Bericus eyed me for a moment. "Raven?" He turned back to Lyrel. "Shouldn't you have locked her up already?"

"She's the seer, and she saw something. I though it better if you heard it straight from her."

He considered that for several seconds. "Fine. Come in."

He stepped away from the door to let us in. I dropped the glamour and shed the eyepatch- there was no need for either among the angels.

"I trust your journey was uneventful?" Bericus asked Lyrel.

I tuned them out and looked around the room. The majority of it was taken up by a table with a map of Ethnu spread across it, filled with figures indicating past attacks and ally locations. On a sudden hunch, I started moving the markers.

"Raven!" Lyrel came over to stop me from messing up the map. I raised my hand in a signal that said stop.

"Lyrel, what is she doing?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, keep her from destroying the map!"

"Raven-"

The map now had every enemy figure on the eastern side of Ethnu, all the angels' and their allies on the western one. Slowly, steadily, I placed every ally figure on its side, representing loss.

"Into darkness the world shall fall," I said. "Collapsing as demons come to the call. Raven, Crow, One of Night, Vulture soars as moon shines bright. Dog has fallen, Wolf has died, the Serpent alone remains in the sky. One of Truth, another of Lies, a spider's web of Fate entwined." There were only two ally tokens left, each representing a single high-up official. I started knocking down the demonkind armies as well. "Powers of old each coincide with the loss of sun on nigh. Should they live or shall they fall, fate decided by one with choices all." There were only two demons left now, too.

There was a moment of silence as they thought about what I'd said. "I don't suppose you could repeat that?" Bericus asked me.

I shook my head- once spoken, it wouldn't be said again. "Myliianyræ," I told him. They could figure out the translation- I was just there to give them information.

"She can't repeat that in Common, can she?" Bericus asked Lyrel.

"I cannot, no. That's your job. I see, I tell, you translate," I told Bericus.

"Was that a coherent sentence?"

"Was that a rhetorical question?"

"Raven, can you tell Bericus what you saw at the village?" Lyrel interjected.

I nodded. "All common-bred demons being their best selves. They came faster than they should've been able to. The only warning was an eclipse- a total eclipse. Which isn't normal. The next one isn't supposed to be for another few years, up to the North."

"Then they're gaining in power." Bericus paused. "Alright." He waved a hand. "You two can go."

I replaced the eyepatch and donned the glamour once more as I followed Lyrel. We navigated the maze of corridors and stairs once more- only this time, I had the distinct impression we were going down.

As we descended, the hallowed magic became stronger. There was little light in the cave-like structure of the prison, and Lyrel finally had to grab a torch. I wasn't sure how long we traveled deeper into the abyss, but we eventually reached a door. Lyrel said something in code, and someone on the other side opened the door. A draft blew past us as it swung open. A woman stood on the other side, lantern in one hand and sword in the other. A ring of keys hung off her belt. She looked pretty average if you discounted the blade and armor. Except for her eyes, that was- one was metallic gold, the other entirely white.

"Lyrel? What are you doing down here?"

"Escorting the dæmon here." he gestured to me.

"Raven. It has been a long time."

"Indeed. Jireq imaran, Gatekeeper." I never learned what the words meant. All I knew is that they were the traditional greeting. What language, I had no idea.

"Jireq imaran, Shadow-seer."

"This is where I leave you," Lyrel told me. To the Gatekeeper he said "Her magic is bound, so she shouldn't be too much trouble. Just do me a favor and make sure nothing comes in. We encountered something on the road that I think will be back."

The woman nodded. "Until the morrow, then."

Lyrel raised a hand in farewell and left the dungeon.

"I see they finally stooped to releasing you."

"Hardly released, but yes."

"You're planning to backstab them, aren't you?"

"Probably," I admitted, "Unless my Master has another plan." She wouldn't tell them anything- I knew that. The Gatekeeper was an odd character.

She gestured for me to follow her as she closed the door behind us with a resounding clang.

"So how have things been outside of that tower?" She inquired.

"Rather…unpredictable."

"That's something coming from you. Say, where did you get the patch?"

"Lyrel thought we were conspicuous enough with me there, much less my red eye showing."

"It takes your sight, though."

"Yes, it does. I can speak normally for once, though."

"Indeed."

"Anything new in this pit?"

"Not really. Bericus is shorter of temper than usual."

"I wonder how that went down when Lyrel argued against freeing me."

"Not well, I can tell you that much."

"I can't say I've missed the Lion up there."

"Agreed. Hey, did you hear about that werewolf?"

"No. What?"

"The Huntress finally emerged, just like you said."

"Ah, yes. Silver, was it not?"

"Yep. You nailed it all those years ago."

"Maybe people would find what I tell them helpful if they stopped dismissing it as crazy babbling."

"It's their loss." The Gatekeeper stopped at one of the cells and unlocked it. "There you are."

I stepped inside obediently.

"See you later, Raven." She closed the door.

It was dark, which I welcomed. What I didn't like was how much holy magic there was stinking up the whole place. Sighing, I sat down and leaned against the corner. Darkness flew up to a perch near the door. I smiled. I guessed the Gatekeeper had been thinking of us.

I lost track of time, sitting there in the shadows, thinking. Wondering how things would have been different if I'd stayed for the trial and served my time instead of escaping and joining the ranks of the fallen. If I'd gone with Lyrel when he'd given me a last chance to come back before he'd captured me. If I knew my full power before I ran so I didn't make so many mistakes that cost lives. If I hadn't gone with Cornix, taken the Trials.

Why? Why did all that happen? Was there a reason to that web of fate, that labyrinth of life, or was it all pointless? What was death, really? Did we make things real by seeing them, or was it already pre-destined?

The scrape of a key interrupted my reverie. Shadows seeped under the door, forming into a fire-eyed figure before me. I dropped, kneeling with my head bowed and my wings touching the earth.

"Raven. I see they finally freed you."

"Yes, Master."

"I take it you've been plotting already?"

"Yes, Master."

"What is your plan?"

"Gain Lyrel's trust, backstab and kill him, then return to you so we may bring back the night."

"That is, in theory, a good plan. But do you know the flaw in its foundation?"

A feeling of dread came over me. I didn't like where this was going. "No, Master."

"You already were ordered to kill Lyrel. And do you remember what happened?"

"Yes, Master."

"You failed me."

"Yes, Master."

"And now I see you going soft as you survey the carnage of that town. I'm beginning to wonder if I can rely on you anymore."

I stayed silent, swallowing the lump in my throat.

He grabbed me, slamming me into the wall, his hand around my neck. "Do you know what I do to failures?"

"Yes, Master," I somehow managed to say.

He traced a finger over the design that had been branded over my eye- the one I'd hidden with a self-sustaining glamour that made the bracelet glow- and used his magic.

Some of the more powerful dæmons knew how to make any scar, any wound, feel as though it was being made again. I choked on a cry of pain as he traced the brand.

"So this time don't fail me. This is your last chance, Raven." Cornix dropped me onto the ground and I gagged for breath, panting from the agony.

He disappeared into the shadows once more. Gone.

I coughed, stumbling back to my feet. "Yes, Master," I murmured, and fell back where I'd lain before that carrion crow had come.