Deception

7 ¦ A Moment to Mourn

The Shadow Rider and I hit the ground hard. A cloud of dust flew into the air, tickling the back of my throat. Desperate to escape, I stumbled to my feet. My fuzzy vision swam in a milky haze, whirling with every step. My stomach churned in protest. 

Teleportation sickness.

I dropped to my knees and vomited onto the gravel. 

Mama... Papa... I can't go back home. But I can't stay here.

As far as the eye could see, nothing adorned the landscape. Not even a weed or a blade of grass. Stone ruins dotted the barren gravel earth, but there was no sign of life. 

Ice crawled down my spine. Something wasn't right about this place. 

Wait a minute...

Silence. Absolute stillness. Not even the sound of rustling leaves, chirping birds, or buzzing insects. 

Nothing.

The howling breeze swept across the desolation and carried the scent of decay. The ruins extended far into the distance until dreary sky kissed the fallow earth.

Only dark magic could wreak this kind of destruction.

"Is this ... Kratvach?" I murmured as my vision slowly came into focus.  

With slow, deliberate movements, the Shadow Rider stirred and rose to his full height. He whipped his head toward me like a predator sensing its prey. My heart leaped into my throat.

Like a rabbit fleeing from a hungry fox, I sprinted away from him.

To my shock and dismay, he appeared right before me, blocking my path. When I tried to run around him, the Shadow Rider froze me in place and grabbed me by the arm. I struggled to move even a muscle, but I felt as though someone had cemented me in concrete. 

Magic.

Scowling at my attacker, I glared at the Rider. But his mask obscured his entire face--even his eyes.

"Fighting me won't help," he sneered in nearly flawless Halcían dialect. I could detect only a trace of a guttural Gatál accent.

"Let go of me," I yelled. "I won't give in to you."

"Tell me, young Helena," he growled as he gripped me tighter. "Where would you run?"

"I'll figure it out."

"Look around you." His voice turned sour. "Have you not heard the tale? Nothing survived the attack on Kratvach. There's nowhere left to hide."

"Let me go!" I screamed as I struggled to break free.

"You have the Gatál fire, but you cannot tap into your strength and magical power yet," he murmured as he observed me from head to toe. "Interesting."

The Rider muttered an incantation in a foreign language, and a soothing warmth came over me. All the tension left my muscles, and I exhaled a deep breath.

"Don't try to placate me with your magic," I said, brushing him aside.

"After what you've seen?" he murmured. "You need it."

"Just give me a minute, yeah?" I asked, my throat hoarse with emotion.

He nodded. "Don't even try to run."

Turning my back on him, I walked to a nearby stone ruin and was shocked to see the skeletons of the dead fully visible on the surface. I gasped and tears streamed down my face as images of my father's last moments crowded my consciousness.