Three hundred years ago, the Earth split and the sky trembled. And then the monsters came.
The island of Lowynn is cursed. The Veil between worlds has torn, and now, monsters come with vengeance. They can only be placated by the blood of sorcerers...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ciara was drowning in silence. She stood deep beneath the ground in the largest cave she had ever seen. It was the gaping mouth of an enormous beast, stretching so high she couldn't find the roof.
In the pitch blackness, she saw all. With a start, Ciara realized that she was moving, as her feet slipped across the rocks. The jagged stones tore at her. She had somehow lost her shoes.
Ciara couldn't remember how she had gotten there. She knew nothing but her slow footsteps as they echoed throughout the cavern, as enormous and solemn as a cathedral. After a moment, she turned right, finding a passageway carved into the rock. It would have taken her breath away, but she had no breath to lose. The walls were lined in crystal, making her eyes sting. It was impossible to focus on their lights, each one a sun of gold, red or emerald.
A voice within her impelled her forwards, so she stumbled on. Her feet slid into something warm and sticky. Ciara cried out, ankle deep in a silver pool. Tentatively, she brought her fingers down into the liquid. It glinted like moonlight on glass, and smelled overpoweringly sweet, like her garden in the thick of spring.
As Ciara bent down to examine the pool, she glimpsed a reflection of herself in the water. Or, at least, someone who looked like herself. The woman in the pool had her same gently sloping nose and soft cheekbones. She had the black hair and hazelnut eyes Ciara had inherited from her father. And yet, she looked...different.
The girl had a crown upon her hair, and a brazen, blazing expression that Ciara had never seen on her real face. Whoever this woman was, it wasn't Ciara. She radiated poise and power.
As if in response to her thoughts, the reflection grinned. Ciara yelped. Her skirts had gotten soaked in the pool, and they tangled around her legs, threatening to drag her under.
The woman in the pool raised her arms in a celebratory gesture. She had a sword, but the hilt was gold. As the blade arced over her head, a phantom chorus began to cheer. Shadows of soldiers formed behind the woman, stretching across the pool in an infinite army.
At first, their cheers were unintelligible battle-cries. But then, they took shape into one word, harsh and guttural.
"Markeri," they chanted. "Markeri! Markeri!"
Ciara shrunk away from their voices, but the woman in the pool relished them. Her smile grew brighter and brighter until the woman brought her arms down.
The already-glistening pool erupted into blinding light. Ciara slipped, plunging into its depths. She kicked upwards, desperately searching for fresh air. But all she found was the thick and heavy liquid, filling every pore of her body.
Her lungs burned. She flailed, only sinking deeper with every motion. And then, she heard a voice as oily as the pool closing around her.
Ciara. I've been waiting for you. Come to me.
Ciara shook her head. She opened her mouth to scream, but her mouth filled with the thick liquid. It tasted bitter.
Her lungs spasmed, finally filling with moonlight. A moment before Ciara drowned, she opened her eyes.
She sat straight up, gasping for the cool night air. Her fingers grasped at dew-washed grass, and she relished the feel of the gritty, solid dirt.
Lugh was at her side in an instant. "Ciara! Ciara! Are you alright? What happened?"
"Night... nightmare," Ciara stammered. It had seemed so real, from the sharp feeling of the rocks beneath her, to the moonlight, to the eyes of her reflection. The remnants of the dream clung to her, and Ciara closed her eyes, focusing on her trembling breaths. "Just a nightmare. How long was I asleep?"
"Less than an hour, I think. You can get back to sleep, if you'd like. We can spare a little while longer."
"I'm alright," Ciara said. "If you want to move on, I'm ready."
Lugh raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure? You're tougher than you look, but I don't want you collapsing on me."
Ciara smiled weakly. "I won't. We'd best keep moving. This whole 'being hunted for my life' business isn't really good for sleeping."
"You had best get used to it," Lugh said.
Ciara grinned. She felt more real already. "When have you ever been hunted for your life?"
"That's a story I don't care to share."
"Which means it never happened," Ciara said.
Lugh gave her a playful shove. "Ask your father someday."
"What! I-- Lugh, explain that immediately!" she cried. When he remained silent, rising to extinguish their fire, Ciara prodded him with her foot. No response.
"Fine! Keep your secrets! You have a lot of them!" Ciara said. She sighed melodramatically. "The past day has been one of secrets, I suppose. Tell me, anything else I should know? Perhaps I have a sister, or you have a secret wife, seeing as you tell me nothing about your—"
Lugh let out a roaring laugh. "A wife? Do you think your father would ever allow me to wed?"
"Surely my father does not control that—"
"We were going to be wed," Lugh said. "Ayla and I. Before I entered his service. There is much that he controls, Ciara."
"He said that... you would be a free man. If you escort me safely to Connal. Lugh, is that true? Are you not free?" Ciara said. It ached her heart that her childhood playmate might have been ensnared by her family-- kept away from home and family on her account.
"I am a debtor, nothing more. We all have debts we must pay him."
Once the fire was nothing more than a mass of embers and smoke, Lugh motioned towards their horse. "Now we really must move. That smoke is going to draw everyone in the area."
Ciara nodded. As she stumbled to her feet, she was suddenly aware of just how little sleep she had gotten. Her veins were still flooded with energy and excitement, but her entire body was just a little heavier. Strong. I must be strong. But they were barely one night into their flight, and Ciara was already beginning to weaken. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go on in the unprotected woods.
"Lord Connal's estate is half a moon from here, right?"
Lugh nodded. "As the horse rides."
Tears pricked Ciara's eyes. She was prone to sickness and fainting spells even when she was well-rested. The idea of another two weeks on the damp earth, plagued by nightmares-- it was a struggle not to scream.
Lugh must have noticed, because his gaze softened. "Hey. Anyone pursuing you from Celnaer castle is going to be just as tired as you. And anyone else, any civilians looking to claim their rewards... we can handle them. Alright? Alright? Please don't cry on me."
"I won't."
"Good," Lugh said. "For I forgot to pack handkerchiefs." While they mounted the horse, he cast a concerned gaze back at her. Ciara smiled at him in return, reaching forward to gently squeeze his hand.
Before long, the sun began to rise. Ciara felt her faith return with its light. The remains of her dream no longer seemed so frightening in the golden rays day. Just a dream. That was why the cave had felt so familiar, why the voice had called to her. Ciara had always been a dreamer, always needing to dull her nightmares with teas and tinctures.
They hadn't been riding long before Ciara cried out in shock. Lugh ripped at the reins of the horse, and they came to a careening stop. "What's happened? What's wrong?"
