Soul of Shadows

Selphien

General Lucerne had made his wealth and fame in the Lake Palace territory by utilising the skills he had learnt while training under one of Tarvenia’s greatest warriors, Coralian Ansel Gregovich of the Lake Palace. Lucerne had fought under Ansel, and when Ansel, who had been eight hundred years old when he had finished training Lucerne, had died, General Locklyn had risen to take his place.

While he wasn’t an Coralian yet, since you needed a Lake Palace Royal to gift you the title, he was treated, deservedly, like one. He had his own home, land outside of the capitol and a court that listened to him in the absence of a reigning King or Queen, along with plenty of wealth.

But his greatest pride and joy wasn’t the wealth or fame, but in fact the boy who now danced like he saw the music flowing around him, a wave of purple and white hair flowing elegantly behind him on the stage before us.

He had matched that hair with a set of white, silver and purple ribbons that shot behind him like a cape, and his outfit, which was a blue as deep as Lake Parime and tipped with white like the snow on the Silver Mountains, once again matched the dress Nadia had designed for me today, although mine had a silver cloak and matching shoes.

We had come here to watch Namid dance every day for the past two weeks now, General Locklyn tearing up and clapping loudly with every performance.

And every day, after that dance, I had been left in the hall, guarded by Lucerne’s two Guards, while he spoke with Namid and his parents.

Today, something seemed different. Namid danced more nervously, like he now knew who watched him from the crowd, and while, thanks to the bright lights of the Lake Palace’s theatre at night, I couldn’t see where his gaze drifted whenever he faced the crowd and bowed, I could feel them on me, studying me.

At one point during the performance, I had felt magic curiously tap at me, retreating when I brushed back.

The music was winding down, reaching its end, and Namid made his final spins across the dance floor, General Lucerne already rising from his chair, turning to look at Namid’s parents, who were waiting only three feet away, a rucksack in their hands, tied shut with one of Namid’s ribbons.

Namid’s mother had long green hair that looked like the sea grass that grew along the banks of the rivers and lakes, and her skin was a blue that shifted like waves in the sea, her sea-foam eyes sparkling whenever she smiled with lips the colour of roses.

His father was a man with skin that indicated he hailed from the town closest to the Silver Mountains, his skin a bright white with a silver sheen underneath it, and his eyes were blue. His hair had been cut short, and shone with the same silvery glow of his skin.

In short, they looked nothing like Namid, who had hair that had been split into two different colours. The back of his hair, which was long enough to brush his shoulders, was pale white, while the front was a light purple, like somebody had taken Syrphien and I’s hair colour and mixed them together.

I hadn’t gotten close enough to see his eye colour yet, or what he looked like beyond the fact that his body was lithe and built for dancing.

The song ended, Namid pausing and bowing deeply, his arms sweeping dramatically behind him, and I clapped politely, Lucerne already making his way toward the parents.

This time, before they entered the room they normally spoke in, they turned toward me, Lucerne holding his hand out for me.

Rising, I adjusted my crown nervously, striding over, General Locklyn saying, “It is my greatest pleasure to introduce the two of you to Crown Princess Selphien Maw’tryx of the Lake Palace. Princess, these are Namid’s adoptive parents, Fedha and Lynn Kinsley.” Adoptive parents- that made more sense, considering Namid’s hair colouring.

Both of Namid’s parents bowed and curtseyed, footsteps echoing behind us, Namid making his way down the stairs to join his parents and General Locklyn.

I turned to greet him, only to have the boy, who was only ten, pause, his mouth dropping open before he bowed again, stammering, “Princess Selphien! It’s an honour to have you at my performance!”

He lifted his head nervously, remaining in his bow while allowing me to finally get a good look at the boy I had been speculating about for two weeks, and I felt my own jaw drop before I swung, turning to face General Locklyn and hiss, “Is this some kind of joke?!” Namid looked like a younger version of Syrphien, although his features were softer and more delicate, and across his cheeks were white and gold stars; the very same stars that laid across my face, and had once laid across Syrphien’s face.

If this was General Locklyn’s idea of a funny joke, he was wildly wrong.

Namid paled, turning to his parents for an explanation, both his parents just as pale, and Locklyn laughed nervously, saying, “No, no. Um, Princess Selphien, this is Namid… Namid Maw’tryx.”

“Excuse me?” I snapped at the same time Namid stammered, “I- I’m sorry? I don’t quite follow?” Only his parents didn’t seem surprised, instead seeming mournful, and they both lowered their gazes to the rucksack in their hands.

“If all of you would please follow me into this room,” General Locklyn brandished his arm toward the room they had spoken in for weeks, “I would be happy to explain everything. I think an explanation is long overdue.”

Shoving past all of them, storming for the room, I snapped, “Indeed it is!”

The room General Locklyn had ushered us into was luxurious, decorated with red carpet and a dark brown wood, and accentuated with white curtains and pillars with pearls embedded within them. There was a massive, round firepit in the middle of the room, chairs seated around it, and I fell heavily onto one of the velvet chairs, crossing my arms.

Namid took a seat beside me, eyeing me curiously and his parents, who sat across from him, with worry.

General Locklyn, closing the door and standing before it, looked over all of us before exhaling.

“It has been a great many years since the Lake Palace Royal family was torn apart. The King and Queen of the Lake Palace, their Crown Prince, and their Princess were, seemingly, murdered, and the Royal family was eradicated.”

“Except my brother and I escaped!” I snapped furiously, and General Locklyn tilted his head, murmuring, “Indeed. You and your brother were not the only ones to escape, however. Your parents had kept it hidden for quite some time, but your mother was carrying a Seedling when the Commander attacked.”

A Seedling… Glancing to Namid, I studied him, the purple hair with tints of pink within it, the white and gold stars, the pink eyes, and shook my head in disbelief. Seedlings didn’t need their parents to survive, only magic. That could be anyone’s magic.

Not the last Maw’tryx. I wasn’t the last Maw’tryx…

“That Seedling was Namid Maw’tryx, a male Faery who, at the time of his parents deaths, did not even have a colour on his flower. Namid’s parents, who were chosen specifically to care for the child, the Prince of the Lake Palace, were instructed not to inform Namid on who he was. Funnily enough, like calls to like, and when he was only three he pointed to a portrait of the Royal family and called you, Selphien, his big sister. He was always fascinated by the Royal family and what had happened to them.”

I was a big sister…

I had always been the youngest, the baby of the family. I hadn’t thought there might be another. It had seemed impossible. It was impossible! My mother would have said something!

Shaking my head again, I whispered, “My parents would have said…”

“Your parents were waiting to tell you,” General Locklyn said quietly, “Unfortunately they were killed before they could do so. Namid here is learning the news at the same time.”

Swinging in my chair, suddenly remembering once more that he was there, I stammered, “Did you know you were adopted?”

He nodded, saying, “Yes, I knew. Not about you being related, but… Well, I used to dream about you and your brother. I had entire stories made up about how we were friends, and the things we would do. I guess I subconsciously, magically, recognised all of you.” No. No, no. Absolutely not. I didn’t have the ability to care for a younger sibling, not right now, when I was still dealing with the death of my last remaining sibling.

Except Syrphien wasn’t my only brother, according to the people in this room. Regardless, I couldn’t accept Namid. How was I meant to tutor a sibling the way Syrphien had tutored me? I couldn’t protect him if the war came for him! I hadn’t been able to protect Syrphien!

“Like calls to like,” General Lucerne reminded gently, and I hissed, “I never got a calling to Namid, though!”

“You had a calling to come back to the Lake Palace, did you not?”

“Yes, because it was my HOME! A home that I was brutally chased out of after having my wing torn apart! I wanted to come home to a family that no longer existed!”

“And now you have come home, after three-hundred years of avoiding your duties and hiding, to a younger brother. You have a family. The Maw’tryx family. You are not the only Maw’tryx left, Selphien, and it is time the Lake Palace territory learnt that. Namid will be moving to the Lake Palace, as will you. I know you have stayed with Nadia and I in my home the past two weeks, but it is time you go to your true home and meet your court.” Was this the Archangels way of replacing Syrphien? I didn’t want a replacement! I wanted my brother back!

“I am not a good role model for children!” I argued desperately, turning to Namid’s adoptive parents and pleading, “Please, I could not care for Namid the way you all have! I have no skills, no way of protecting him!”

“You have fought wars, Princess. You are capable of protecting Namid, and while I understand how this would be a shock to you, you need to rise up to your duties. Raising a kingdom in rubbles up to a status befitting of its history takes diligence. So does helping to raise and tutor a younger brother.”

“Up until now, I did not HAVE a younger brother! Namid did not exist to me! I mean this in the kindest way, Namid, but I do not have a connection with you the same way I did with Syrphien. I cannot sense a sibling familiarity!”

Namid, shrugging, replied, “I would not expect you to,” at the same time General Locklyn said, “You would not have one, considering you have only just met him face-to-face.”

“You are all being ridiculous! How am I meant to- to replace Syrphien in my mind?! He was my only brother! Namid is not, and never will be, my brother!”

Wincing, Namid rose from his chair, murmuring, “I believe it would be best if you continued this conversation without me. I can tell when I am not wanted. It was a pleasure meeting you, Princess Selphien.” He bowed to me before exiting, General Locklyn sighing in disappointment, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed the door once more, turning to me and snapping, “Was that really necessary? We are not asking you to Heaven-damned replace Syrphien! We are asking you to recognise Namid as your younger brother simply because he IS your younger brother! This is not difficult, Selphien!”

“Namid is a well-behaved, mannered boy with a good, even temper and excellent skills,” Namid’s adoptive father reasoned, “If you are afraid of him affecting your status-”

“That is not what I’m afraid of!”

Her eyes widening, the mother added, “Is it the cost? We are happy to pay-”

“No! Stop! Just please, stop… I am still grieving my brother, the one who was assassinated. I cannot handle going through anything that resembles that again. If I publicly declare Namid is my brother, he will be hunted for it. I have made a ridiculous amount of enemies in the war raging outside of this territory, and every single one of them will hone in on Namid once I name him.” Perhaps an overexaggeration for my enemies, but it wasn’t strictly a lie.

“Namid won’t be killed, Princess,” General Locklyn promised, and I shook my head, tears forming as I cracked, finally voicing what was actually bothering me when I breathed, “Everything I love is taken away, alright? My parents, my home, my brother. I can’t lose another.”

“By pushing Namid away, you will be. Tomorrow you will be going on tour, as planned, around the Lake Palace territory, and that is if you are approved of by the Lords and Ladies of this court. Naming Namid and taking him with you will give you an advantage, Princess. People are afraid to bank on one Royal, especially one who is being hunted, but two? That could create a solid family once more. If either of you were to be killed, there is another.”

“So Namid is the back-up plan?” I replied snarkily, and Locklyn nodded his head gravely, saying, “Any and all siblings in Royal families, outside of the Crown Prince or Princess, are back-ups. If your parents had not had you, Princess, then your line would have ended with Syrphien. You were the back-up plan, and it worked. Let Namid be your back-up, and you his. Together, you create a unified front, and one that looks very agreeable. On top of that, you of all people know the pressures of a crown. Namid can be your trusted confidente, someone to ease your burdens, and you his.”

“I feel he could not carry the weight of mine!” I hissed, “I am grieving! What part of that are we not understanding?! I cannot care for a child right now!”

Why wouldn’t they listen to me?!

Magic crackled, sparking around me, and I gasped, General Locklyn slowly saying, “You haven’t learnt how to control your magic yet?”

“I have… I don’t understand.” Gripping the skirts of my dress, I sunk my hands as deep into the fabric as possible, stifling the magic, whispering, “I should go.”

Rising from the chair, I dipped my chin to Namid’s parents, who returned the favour with weak, nervous smiles, and General Locklyn gruffly said, “I’ll see you to my home, then, Princess. We will discuss Namid’s being named a Prince later.”

Biting my tongue to swallow my retort before it could do some serious damage, I simply nodded my head, making my way out of the room, General Locklyn hanging behind in the room to talk to Namid’s parents for a moment longer.

I had to get out of here! A Faery was seated at the piano once more, their fingers flying across the keys, spinning a beautiful melody while Namid danced, his ribbons twisting and twirling around him.

Turning away, I stormed for the front door, the urge to escape the theatre growing by the second. I had to get out, and now.

Shaking my head at the thought of being frightened by Namid, a child, I turned the corner to leave the building, slamming into a male in front of me.

Falling back, I caught myself on the doorframe, flinging my hair out of my face and bending to pick up my crown from where it had fallen on the floor stammering, “I’m so sorry! Are you-” There was a clicking noise above me, and I lifted my gaze just enough to see the feet of whatever stood before me.

Their toes were curled inward at awkward angles, like somebody had snapped the bone, and where there should have been nails there were growths of what appeared to be fungi, their skin the colour of ink and shadows and pooling with blood. Brushing against them with magic, I recoiled at the oily feeling of Demonic powers just as the creature tackled me, my scream of surprise shattering the theatre, people shouting within.

My head struck the floor of the building, colours exploding across my vision, and I felt something sharp slice across my face before I could rally my magic around me…

*

The ground was shaking. That was the first thought when I opened my eyes, unsure of how much time had passed, followed closely by the curious thought of if there was an earthquake- A scream pierced through my muddled thoughts, and I sat up, instinctively lifting a hand to my face, feeling a cut there before turning to the source of the scream.

The creature! It was still here, and somehow, I had survived its attack!

It was dragging itself across the floor, General Locklyn wounded and laying unconscious on the ground behind it, people screaming in the background, nursing family members who had been attacked, each one bearing a similar cut across their cheek. The Faery the creature now dragged itself toward was Namid, his ankle twisted harshly, preventing him from fleeing, his magic forming a weak, wobbling shield around him that didn’t seem to bother the creature, and I saw it extend one long arm forward, a single claw emerging from its skin, dripping with a mud-coloured substance. It reached for Namid, piercing through his shield, and he let out a panicked scream.

Throwing myself to my feet, I rushed at the Demonic creature, bouncing off Namid’s shield and slamming it into the pillar, my own magic pinning it there, giving me enough time to grab Namid’s hand and run, racing for the street outside the same way Syrphien had fled with me that night. The walls raced by, the creature dazed enough that for those brief, life-saving seconds, it was still looking for us rather than chasing, and memories began melting into the panic when I looked back at Namid, his face pinched in fear, his hand in mine.

“Run faster, Selphien!” My brother’s barked call was the only thing I heard over the panting of my breath, each new inhale bringing a fresh wave of pain to my body, my wing… Shaking my head, I let out a long, loud sob, crying, “Syrphien, slow down!”

To my left, Tarlien was racing with us, turning to look back at the Palace, and the thundering of the Commander’s horsemen as they raced after us, trying to catch up.

How we were outrunning them, I didn’t know.

Their swords were still dripping with blood- the blood of my parents, who we had been forced to run by to escape, and I let out another sob, Tarlien rushing back to my side when I tripped, scabbing my knees on the cobblestones. Screaming out to my brother, the horses gaining on us, Tarlien helped me to my feet, trying to drag me back up, pleading, “Selphien, get up, kiddo! Come on!”

My brother turned back, picking up the sword of a fallen Fae Palace Guard, stepping around us so we were behind him, the Faeries sliding off their horses, laughing at us while I looked up at my big brother- “Selphien!” Namid’s scream of panic as he tripped had me whirling, instinct summoning my magic- although this time it was different. It hardened into a sword, the very same sword Syrphien had wielded, at least in looks, and I lifted it, racing in front of Namid just in time to swing wildly at the creature in front of me, snarling viciously. I didn’t have time to think about how my magic had made that blade, or ponder the consequences as something shifted in me, roaring to life, hunger and pain and death lacing it.

The Demon leapt back, avoiding the blade, seeming to be utterly uninterested in me, its predatory focus locking onto Namid, who continued to cry, trying to stand on his ruined ankle. The running had made the injury worse. This time, he wouldn’t be able to run.

Which meant I had to kill the creature in front of me.

Shoving my panic away, I locked it down, hissing in whatever Demonic words I had picked up from the war camp, taunting it, the creature unaffected.

Was this something new, and not one of Caliem’s court?

It didn’t matter, because Namid let out another scream that shot through me like an arrow, and I smiled darkly at the creature. I was going to destroy it.

Stepping forward, I watched it with a furious snarl as it stepped back, avoiding me.

I raced for it, and it simply dodged to the side, a single swipe of its hand sending the blade flying out of my hand, and it threw itself at me once more, its teeth snapping at my neck, its massive arm wrapping around my back, trying to break my spine.

This one was smart, but not smart enough.

Rolling out of the way, I reached down, to where I always kept a dagger strapped to my upper thigh, slicing at the creature.

It missed, the Demon too fast for a dagger to possibly injure it, Namid now crawling slowly away, using my fight with the Demon to escape.

Sensing this, it leapt after Namid, who screamed again, and I shouted out a warning, cursing myself, for once, for not commanding the power of Hell like Destiny and Cain could. If I did, I could simply crush the Demon and shatter its bones!

I was not losing another person under my care, especially not in my territory, and to a Demonic creature that I hadn’t yet identified. I needed to make a shield of my own, and hope it lasted- There was a voice in my mind, light and sweet when it purred, ‘Do you need help, darling Queen of the Lake Palace?’

A shield made of pure, shining light rose in front of Namid, cutting the Demon off from him, and it surrounded it in a swirl of magic that lifted from my skin, crushing it with a ‘POP!’ of bones and blood that exploded across the theatre, leaving Namid sprawled there, gaping at me.

“You- I haven’t seen that magic in Faeries.”

Shaking my head, I held out my hand to see my veins were glowing a bright gold colour, the same way Desterium’s glowed that dark red whenever she used her powers. What could that have meant?

‘I’m surprised nobody has told you, and you haven’t used those powers… Hello, World-Killer.’

‘World-Killer?!’ I gaped, stumbling for Namid and lifting him in my arms, tossing him over one of my shoulders, unsure if that creature would return once the light finished fading away, ‘No, I can’t be a World-Killer! That’s what Desterium is!’

‘She is a Darkened One. You are an Enlightened One. Like Hell and Heaven. You are her natural rival.’

‘What? What does that even mean?’ I exited the building into the fading light, my dinner with the Lords and Ladies of the Lake Palace in an hour, and placed Namid on the ground, motioning for him to wait there. I had to go back and fetch his parents and General Locklyn, as well as anybody else that could be trapped in there with the creature. Closing the door behind me, preventing the creature, if it was still alive, from escaping into the street to harm more people.

‘You have the ability to destroy Desterium.’

Destroy Desterium… I could make her pay for killing my brother? Hang on- ‘Who even are you?!’

‘I, darling, am the Light God of Daemonium, Nazareth.’

Daemonium was the place we had been trapped in, which made this God- ‘Were you the one speaking to that woman, when I was in Daemonium?’

‘That would be my brother. Desterium’s husband.’

Desterium had gotten married?! But that meant Seth was free from her!

‘Seth? You mean the Nephilim boy? The blonde-haired one who has been a pain right from the start?’

Rounding the corner into the theatre, I reached General Locklyn where he laid on the ground, now awake, but bleeding from his face. Helping him to his feet, I sent him stumbling dazedly after Namid, searching around the rest of the theatre and nodding, ‘Yes. Him.’

‘About that, Queen of the Lake Palace…’

There were Namid’s parents, both of them hunched over in the doorway of the room we had all been seated in just ten minutes before, and I ran to them.

Both bore the exact same cut.

Scowling, I left them where they were, searching the rest of the room- Everybody had survived. Not a single person had been killed by the creature, but all of them had the same cut on their face. Including me.

There was a shouting from the front entrance, General Locklyn and the Guards of the Lake Palace territory rushing back in, and I turned to face them just as Nazareth said, ‘There was an attack in Karmona two weeks ago, and Seth Smith, while defending the Queen of Ordeallan under his King’s orders, was killed. The city of Karmona has been decimated.’

“What?” The news hit me hard enough that I spoke aloud, General Locklyn turning and raising an eyebrow questioningly at me, but it didn’t matter if he thought I had gone crazy. Seeing that I was lost in my thoughts, and perhaps wondering if I was traumatized from the attack, he left me where I was standing to help the remaining survivors. Seth was dead? Why?

Cain had ordered for him to defend Adelia, and he had died doing it. Did that mean Adelia was also dead?

Seth had died…

Was that why Destiny had looked so sad when I had last saw her? No, she wouldn’t have cared for him aside from the lost opportunity. She was just upset she was shackled down to Lazarus.

The voice vanished from my head, as though its sole purpose had been to deliver that news to me- News that none of my so-called allies had bothered to convey, and a hiss escaped my lips. The meeting with the Lords and Ladies of the Lake Palace could wait. I had something else to do first. I needed to pay a visit to Tatiana and ask her why she hadn’t bothered to inform me about Seth’s death, or the attack that had left them seemingly defenceless. It had happened two weeks ago, that was more than enough time to send a messenger here! I would have been easy to find!

‘I have a better plan, Queen of the Lake Palace. You want revenge on Desterium, do you not?’

Killing her would be the last thing I had left to do, and after the show she had put on in Daemonium, making me look like a fool, I wanted to kill her.

She wouldn’t have cared about Seth dying, and she was too arrogant to believe me a threat to her safety.

Beyond that, my allies had known that she had been the one to kill Syrphien, and they had done nothing!

‘They believe you weak. You let them push you into doing nothing to avenge your brother. Now, they are doing nothing to avenge Seth. Would you like to know something else, little Queen of the Lake Palace? Desterium attacked them not long after the attack on Karmona. She almost bested Tatiana, but something called her away. She has turned against all of you. Do you want to know the best part? They’re still fighting for her, to try and save her rather than have her punished for her crimes.’

I wasn’t weak! Nazareth’s other news didn’t make sense, though… Did she have another mirage on them? There was no sane reason why Tatiana would do nothing about being attacked.

‘A mirage, or something darker? More twisted? Desterium can control entire Dimensions. Who’s to say she isn’t intending to make all of you her puppets in the upcoming war? Do you want to be a puppet, little Faery?’

‘I’m not a puppet!’ If Desterium was controlling my allies, then it meant she wanted Seth dead- Gasping, I glanced down at the bandage on my hand; a bandage put there by a Demonic-being who had claimed to be the one to kill my brother, sent by Destiny’s orders to do so.

A Demonic-being who had volunteered to take me away from The Borderlands, back into Tarvenia, to become Queen of the Lake Palace. Had that been under Destiny’s orders too?

‘A World-Killer cannot be controlled by another World-Killer, not easily. Controlling you would have used additional powers that Desterium may not have wanted to waste. The creature she sent today was to try and eliminate you.’

‘She sent me away so she could control the others without worrying about me? And attacked my city?!’ Because she would have known I would stay here, and be drawn into touring and voting and preparing for- Even Cain had told me to take my time here, like we had all the time in the world to prepare for the war we had been fighting for almost two years when he must have known we were running low on supplies and soldiers.

Desterium really was controlling everybody, and she had sent me away so I couldn’t fight back and save them! I was right! She had been working against us this entire time!

‘You said you had a better plan. What is it?’ I snapped, the Light God of Daemonium replying, ‘Our enemies are one and the same, Selphien Maw’tryx. You wish to kill Desterium for what she has done, and is doing, to your allies, and I wish to kill her to stop the war that will destroy this Dimension, and many others. We can work together.’

‘How could you possibly help me?’

‘You have the World-Killer ability. Utilise it. Desterium is currently trapped in a Dark Cell in Britain. Use this time to prepare for a war against her. Rally soldiers to fight her, but know this- Only another World-Killer could lay the killing blow on her. You will have to be the one to kill her.’

‘That isn’t YOU helping me.’

‘I can help you access those powers. You haven’t used them before today. Your hold over them is sloppy, weak. Daemonium, however, is a fifty-fifty relationship. I lend you the powers you need, when you need them, but then you owe me.’

Scowling at the thought of owing a God anything, I murmured, ‘What would I owe you?’

‘Small favours, here and there. I do not ask for cruel things, but for kind things. Blessings, miracles. My brother uses pain and suffering for his payments. I will lend you the power you used today for free, but from now on, each time you use it, you will owe me.’

‘Okay, I agree to that, but on one condition.’

‘What would that be, Queen of the Lake Palace?’ The voice sounded amused, like he had never been asked for a condition before, or had anyone accept his terms, and I hissed, ‘Bring my brother back to life! If you are the Light God of Daemonium, then I presume you work with Archangels? Bring Syrphien Maw’tryx back.’

‘Death is not something that can be undone easily. It would cost your brother.’

‘Him? Why not me?’

‘His soul is the one being brought back. He must pay the price.’

Syrphien wouldn’t want to pay anything. I knew that.

Shaking my head, I sighed heavily. I would just have to find another way to bring Syrphien back, once I had made Desterium pay for what she had done.

The only thing left to do now was become Queen…