She felt blessed, like the Stars themselves had granted her this. There was no limit, no rules or constraints. She was boundless; she was home, safe and secure in his unbreakable embrace.
~
Shackled in an abrupt and demanding upbringing, Althera is...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dark-colored coats and cloaks hung on the slumped shoulders of the people gathered around something Althera couldn't quite see. The sky was glum and sad, clouds layering the open grayness like calm, rippling waters. Under a soft shaft of moonlight a bell tolled, humming a transfixing tune of anguish and torment. It sounded rather peaceful, and Althera let the melody form a halo of notes around her.
She didn't know where she was, but the look of the marble tombstones of black and white, she guessed it was a graveyard. She was standing in a clump of dead trees with broken brown leaves lying on the ground at her feet. If any of the people saw her, they didn't express it. But what was she doing here? And why were all those people dressed in black beginning to sing? The tune was unfamiliar, yet she felt as if she'd heard it somewhere before. Somewhere far away. But then when she tried to follow the words being sung, another voice - a younger and more somber one - took place inside her head, drilling into her mind. That voice... It was the same one she'd heard in the dungeon when she was trapped inside the cell. There was no mistaking it.
When the sad song ended, the crowd parted for the priest and Althera was able to see what had been hidden by their slouched bodies. Four identical coffins made of gold and marble sat motionlessly on the muddy ground, the lids covered in cloths of red silk. Depicted on the front of the fabric was a seal - the royal seal. Althera reeled away, gasping for air in the suffocating atmosphere. Were the royal family dead? Shouldn't they be in their own tomb somewhere close to the castle?
Her questions were answered when two armed men who looked like guards stepped up and lifted the cloth off of the coffins, along with the lids. She wanted to turn away in shock, but the face of the woman inside the container on the very left stopped her. She wore a crown. Not a tiara or golden decoration which was worth more than most of the riches in the kingdom, but a string of silver jeweled with a single diamond that flashed red, green, and blue. Her pale eyelids were closed and her dark eyelashes curled over the distinguished emptiness of her cheeks, giving her a sleepily serene and reposeful look. Lips as white as the marble surrounding her seemed to Althera, who was standing several feet away, as if it had been sewn shut by an invisible thread. Her placid face looked similar to one she'd seen before. She just couldn't make it come to her mind.
Then the coffin lids were pulled back over the corpses once again and were raised into the air. The group scattered, some bent over with their companion's arms around them as they wept in distress. The darkening sky roared and umbrellas the same shade as all the clothing was put up, blocking the shower. But Althera didn't feel the droplets graze across her skin or soak through her gown. She gazed down at her arms, suppressing a cry as she watched the rain pass right through her as if she weren't even there. Her transparency was terrifying, and it took her some time to adjust to the great change, bewildered but curious. If she wasn't actually supposed to be there at the funeral, then why was she observing from behind a grouping of trees? Was this meant to be telling her something?
A quiet whisper sounded somewhere next to her, dragging her head back. Not sure whether she was just imagining it or not, Althera made a noise from the back of her throat when she glimpsed a tall, shadowy figure bathed in a cape of pearly white standing - no, floating - a few meters away from her, hands clasped before her delicate form and golden hair tumbling down her shoulders in soft waves. Her eyes were brown, gentle but dull and deserted. She was smiling sadly at Althera, and something painful struck her heart.
The woman whispered again and turned slowly as if waiting for Althera to follow her. She did, moving away from spiky, jutting branches even though she knew they wouldn't affect her. It was an instinct, and she couldn't help it. She struggled to keep up with the woman, and though she was gliding herself like a suspended ghost, it was still hard to catch up with the rushed pace. The woman seemed as if she were in a hurry, occasionally twisting her head around to see if she was behind her the whole time.
The loud commotion of sobs and murmurs of comfort were long gone now, and Althera and the woman were appearing before a large fortress camouflaged behind a cluster of plants and never-ending rows of guard-like trees. The spire fondled the black sky with glistening eyes, a warning message to outsiders. Althera didn't waste a second to scramble after the woman, afraid she might be too enraptured by the glory of the fortress and never be able to leave the captivating beauty of the structure ever again.
They were heading toward the building now, the graveyard only a speck of life far behind them. The path leading up to the fortress was thin and flimsy, the dirt going straight through her when she trekked upward to the front entrance, which was blocked by a particularly large gate of weather metal that looked as if it had seen better days. Extending a slender white hand, the woman pried the gates open and the hinges creaked tumultuously in protest. Althera tried not to flinch when she outstretched an arm for her to take, scared that the skin was going to be as cold as ice. But to her surprise, the hand she grasped was warm and reassuring. With a firm grip, the woman hauled her up the platform before the double doors of the fortress, not giving her a chance to suck in the wonders of her surroundings.
Carved and colored directly into the stone of the building were drawings and images. It wasn't very clear, and it took Althera a long while before she understood what they were. The pictures showed the process of some ritual or worshipping of some god or goddess. The people in the etchings were slightly deformed, with warped limbs and eyes as big as a saucer. Hazardously long and sharpened canines poked out from swollen lips smeared with some liquid that looked precariously like blood. Althera felt sick as her eyes flickered to the next image, which was of a mountain of corpses and carcasses. The distortedly shaped people were surrounding the pile with arms stretched out and pieces of raw meat hanging from their jaws. They wore nothing but cloths of dark red around their waists, exposing the skinless ribs and chests.
But they were moving on, the woman taking her further into the fortress, not speaking once. Althera didn't talk either and tried not to make a sound as she passed even more of the images, now pictured on tapestries and paintings. What was this? Some kind of breeding place for otherworldly creatures?
When they reached the far end of the building, an iron door met them, and the woman stood to the side, gesturing for Althera to enter before her. She dithered, gulping when a scream of agony erupted from inside the room she was now being told to go into. The woman waited patiently, eyes never leaving her. Another shriek resounded in the air around. She turned to the woman, eyes making out a question she was too shaken to ask. But the woman only answered with another one of her whispers. Althera couldn't understand the muttering and decided that it was unsafe. With a shake of her head, she backed away.
Clearly, the woman wasn't happy about this. Snarling, she clasped Althera's arm, her now forced and intruding touch sending a shiver of fear running down her back. There was no place she could run to and no strength left in her for her to break away. Althera felt herself being dragged like across the floor as if she weighed nothing.
And before she could muster up the courage and voice to cry aloud for help, the iron door swung shut behind her and she was left alone in the dark with the hungry creature crouching a few feet away, ready to pounce.
