A Walk Amongst Shadows (Book 2)

With a flick of his wrist Aris was suddenly with us. Only he didn’t resemble the Aris I knew at all. His eyes were a brilliant green and his hair was dark brown. His complexion was healthy and I even noticed a few freckles on his face. This must be what Aris looked like as a mortal. I thought to myself. Panicked, Aris ran straight to me and took me into his arms. I felt him kiss the top of my head before standing back and examining me all over.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” his voice was frantic.

“Relax boy,” I heard the god’s voice command. “I mean our Rose no harm.”

Aris stepped back and bowed curtly to his father, his jaw tightly clenched.

“Rose and I have been having a little chat and it would appear that she is still completely unaware of the noble purpose she has served us…” he trailed off.

Aris’ face darkened. He looked at me for a moment and then looked away. I felt dread building within me.

“Aris,” I started, “What is he talking about?”

Aris shook his head, “I-I’m so sorry Rose.”

I felt myself getting dizzy, “Tell me!” I demanded, exhausted from being kept in the dark once more. Aris tried to speak but appeared lost for words. His father quickly stepped in.

“My dear, it was foretold that you would bring about an end to Loeva’s empire.” His voice almost sounded empathetic.

“But I haven’t done anything to any of her people, they tried to kill me.”

“That they did, and you fought back. You defended yourself Rose Rivyn.” His voice was proud and he wore a triumphant smile.

“But I didn’t hurt anyone…did I?” I looked desperately to Aris for confirmation. “Aris?”

He looked tearfully at me, “You didn’t have the control over magic that you do now…” his voice was pained, “It wasn’t your fault…” he trailed off.

The reality of what his words implied hit me all at once and I felt a stabbing in my heart.

“No…”

Aris looked terrified as he regarded me.

“Aris, is he telling the truth? Did I really,” I swallowed, “kill them?”

He took a step towards me as he nodded. I placed my hand on my stomach. I felt as though I were going to vomit. I thought back to that night, how much life energy I had absorbed.

“I gave it back though,” I stated, “Their life energies…remember? You helped me.” My voice cracked as hot tears streamed down my face.

“You tried your best, but that energy never made it back to them though,” Aris explained.

“NO!” I screamed. “NO! that’s not right! I couldn’t have, I wouldn’t have killed them!”

I saw tears in Aris’ eyes too.

“TELL ME YOU’RE LYING! SAY THIS IS JUST PART OF HIS LIES!” All he could do was shake his head.

“I am afraid my dear, Aris and I are telling the truth.”

“Prove it to me then!” I carelessly demanded of him.

The dark god scowled at me. In hindsight, I should never have spoken in such a way to a god.

“You sure that’s what you want?” he sneered.

“Rose, please, don’t do this,” Aris pleaded. “It’s not something you want to see.”

I fixed my gaze on the dark god’s eyes. They burned into me but I refused to back down.

“Show me,” I commanded.

“Very well.” He extended his hand towards me. I ignored Aris’ protests as I reached out and took it.

I was instantly back in the village. I looked all around me and saw all of the buildings in varying states of disrepair. Even the temple was showing signs of neglect. As I walked through the city center, I found it completely empty, it was eerie. I felt my heart beating faster. I saw my family’s apothecary and felt a lump in my throat. Like all of the other buildings it had clearly been abandoned. I pushed the door open and ventured inside. Tears stung my face as I saw the emptiness before me. A thick layer of dust coated everything inside. I could see tracks on the floor from where a few animals must have broken in. Aside from that, not a thing was different from the last time I had been here. I walked back outside and began walking towards the temple. As the temple lawn, or what used to be the lawn, came into view I stumbled on a root and heard a nasty cracking sound. Looking at my feet I saw in horror that I was standing on a pile of bones. I screamed and clasped my hands to my mouth. Looking closer I realized the entire lawn was covered in bones. There were even scraps of black fabric sticking to some of them. I felt my lungs constricting and struggled to catch my breath. These are the villagers.

“Do you believe me now?” I heard his voice emanating from around me.

I spun around but saw no one. I clutched my hand to my heart. Running back out into the village center I screamed.

“Hello!? Is there anyone here!?” silence, of course, followed.

“My dear girl, how much more proof do you require? Can you not sense it? There is no life on this mountain.” I paused for a moment. I tried to sense life, any life. But found nothing. Not a soul. Only me. I felt the last shred of hope peel from my heart. I was alone.

“Get me out of here,” I gasped, “please, take me back, I can’t be here anymore.”

The dark god obliged, and I was immediately back with Aris in the shadow realm. He stopped pacing and froze as soon as he saw me.

“Rose?” he asked, cautiously.

I turned to face him and immediately found myself flush with rage. I ran up to Aris and threw my fists into his chest. My momentum knocked him backwards a few steps.

“YOU SAID THEY WERE ALL OKAY! YOU SWORE TO ME THEY WERE SAFE!” I don’t know what was worse, the fact that I was physically attacking him, or the fact that he didn’t try to stop me. I knew my feeble blows weren’t hurting him, but I couldn’t stop myself. I punched and pushed and screamed until I collapsed in a heap at his feet, pulled down by the pain in my heart. I thought about my mother and father. I saw their faces flash before my eyes. I let it wash over me in waves. I killed my own family. I thought about all of the villagers back in Wren’s Glen, none of whom were drawing breath in this moment. All because of me. I screamed into the ground and threw my fists beside me. The only sounds coming from me sprung from a well of agony I didn’t know existed within me. All this time, I had concerned myself with Aris’ past and all the lives he had taken. I was no better. I felt my head begin to spin and felt a familiar tingling in my extremities as I lost control of myself. Looking up, I saw Airs clutching his chest and stumble backwards as I leeched the life from him.

“Now, now,” I heard the dark god tutting, “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that.”

I hadn’t even been aware I was losing control of my magic again. I let go and watched as Aris caught his breath and sat on the ground beside me.

“I wanted so badly to save you from this pain. I’m so sorry I failed you,” he gasped, as he caught his breath. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to keep screaming until I was reduced to nothing. But I couldn’t. I was shattering. I wept longer and harder than I ever thought possible. Somewhere far away, I felt Aris wrap me in his arms. It’s a shame the dark god couldn’t control emotions, I would’ve traded my very soul to have him remove the pain.

“You should’ve left me up there, you should’ve never brought me down here,” I said under my breath, rocking slightly in place. My voice was hoarse. I sat back on the ground away from Aris and held my head between my knees. I watched my tears sinking into the ground. I choked on my words. I tried to steady my breathing. I folded my arms across my stomach, still feeling as though I might be sick. This isn’t real, this can’t be real. I felt Aris put his arm back around me to steady my trembling.

“Did they s-suffer?” I asked meekly. I looked into his now green eyes, they were glassy and seemed to mirror my sadness.

“No,” he answered, “it happened so quickly they didn’t even have time to be afraid.”

“Is that the truth? Or are you just trying to protect me again?”

I heard him sigh. “Of course, it’s the truth.”

“Were you just planning on lying to me for the rest of my life then?” I choked.

“I would’ve done anything to keep you from feeling this way,” he asserted.

“Did you not think that I deserved the truth?”

“Of course you do. You also deserve to be happy, Rose. Those people in that village were going to take all of that away from you.”

“I don’t deserve happiness. The only thing I deserve, is what the council had planned for me. No one in Wren’s Glen has a chance of happiness, they’re all gone. Why do I deserve any better?” I felt tears pouring down my face once more.

“Rose, what happened on that mountain was a tragedy. But it was a mistake. You are not a monster. You were naïve in your magic, that is not the same thing.”

“Tell that to Marcy! Or to my parents! Tell them that it was just a mistake! You know what that’s worth? Not a goddamn thing!”

He sighed again and fell silent as I was consumed by yet another fit of tears. This time when he reached to console me, I snapped.

“Get away from me!” I pushed his hand away from me, buried my face in my knees, and wrapped my arms around my legs, wanting desperately to be alone. “I just want to go home,” I squeaked.

“Come my dear,” I heard the dark god’s voice once more. I looked up and saw him standing beside me. He reached out towards me. I took it and he pulled me into a standing position.

“You,” I said abruptly. “You can fix this! You’re a god!”

“Rose, stop,” I heard Aris warn.

“You’ll do well to mind your tongue boy,” he quipped at Aris. “You’ve served your purpose here tonight. I prefer to continue this conversation with Rose alone.” Before he could open his mouth to protest, he was gone.