Four years the war had lasted, Ivan told me as we navigated the labyrinthine passage through the mountain. Four years that led up to events that upturned both of our lives and the lives of countless others. Four years that left the land permanently scarred.
As Ivan had recounted the story of his past, she had noticed tears well in his eyes, the tears of a man who had failed. He told of a time when the battles were so fierce that the very trees of the forests wept blood. Elf, human, dwarf, kindred and countless other races fought against the shadowsworn, each victory a pyrrhic one.
Yet none of the races set their arms down, the dwarves nearly did, but the shadowsworn occupied one of their cities, an act that rekindled the flames of their wrath. Ivan had told the story in such vivid detail, with a fiery passion that seemed as though telling the entire thing to me was what would redeem him and his people. I was thoroughly engrossed, and well entertained.
Then one day, he said, nearing the end of the tale of the wars, “It all just vanished.”
I had stopped dead in my tracks then, surprised by the softness and despair of Ivan’s voice. I knew he had been tired of his duties as King over that mountain city, which was why he left, yet I never thought that it wasn’t the only reason. I realized then, that he simply had to run away from it all.
“What do you mean, Ivan?” I asked surreptitiously, my tail swishing slightly.
“It just vanished… the light of the sun, the cities that had been taken, everything. I looked the ground over myself, there was nothing… absolutely nothing” said Ivan, the last word spoken softly and almost wistfully, but not without the pain.
“The sun itself?” I asked, surprised. A sickening feeling rose in my stomach and I turned sharply towards Ivan. “When did this happen, Ivan?” My snout ended up just inches from his face.
Ivan pushed me away gently, his eyebrows meeting in a crease as he tried to recall the time that had passed since.”Thirteen years, if I recall correctly…” he trailed off, looking at the mix of emotions painted on my draconic face. “Do you know something of this, Kite?” he asked me.
“Thirteen years ago, the night stopped coming to the floating isles, Ivan. I believe there is a connection” I said and looked at Ivan expectantly, waiting for an answer. He seemed too deep in thought to be bothered, so I moved on and he followed, the sound of our echoing footsteps the only thing that filled the caverns.
Ivan stirred in his sleep, and that jerked me back to the present. I trotted over too him and shook him awake. He grumbled a bit, but sat up and glared at me. I was about to make a smart remark when I heard it. It was a haunting melody, music that lamented loss, death, despair. I picked Ivan up in my jaws and set him on my back, chastising him when he struggled. “Listen” I said through gritted teeth and so he did. He gave a start when he heard it.
I walked towards the ledge overlooking the endless drop below the isles. Ivan realized what I was doing and said “No, Kite, you’re not even used to this body of yours…” The sunlight had reinvigorated him and for once he relished the feeling, until he found himself screaming at the top of his lungs while plunging to almost certain death “KITE YOU FOOL!”
Then my wings snapped open and I began beating them to gain height. “Once a flier, always a flier, Ivan” I said and as one we sought the source of the music. And there I came upon her, sitting on a rock on one of the smaller outer isles, wings that drooped behind her lifelessly tossed in the wind.
To her perfect lips she held a flute, the source of the music. Across her face, from the left temple to her right cheek, a scar-that-was-not-a-scar stretched. Recognition hit me and I gasped. “Dandelion? What happened to you?” Nothing. The only thing I heard was her haunting music.
Ivan jumped off me and walked to her. He touched the scar, not so much as eliciting a reaction from the faerie. “It’s as though it’s under the skin, Kite… Something’s wrong here. It’s as though she’s—“ I cut him off with a stunned whisper, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Broken”
I love the treat! Thank youuu! And this is beautiful as always!
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