Author Willow Quinn

Prologue: Enid

11 years prior

Venatu, Human Realm, Nemus

Gritting her teeth, Enid’s fingers fumbled over the silver buttons of her tunic. The clasps wouldn’t fasten, the room was too hot, the heavy wool of her uniform was itchy and, “My damned hands won’t stop shaking.”

“Language, Enid.” Her mother, Emilia, appeared in the mirror behind her, hands resting on the stiff shoulders of Enid’s uniform. “Let me help.”

Emilia came in front of her, carefully securing the silver buttons. “Why are your hands shaking?” Her words came out in that soft, motherly tone she took to when Enid’s emotions were overwhelming. Enid couldn’t remember a time that the tone hadn’t been a soothing balm. 

Enid swallowed. “I’m nervous.” 

She gazed at Emilia as the female adjusted the tunic’s stiff collar. The Realm of Shadows rite uniform. This would be her first time wearing it, her first time taking part in the rite. Her mother wore the same uniform, though black tattoos spread out from under the sleeves onto Emilia’s hand, whisps and shadows, marking her as the mate of The Lord of Shadows.  

Enid looked more like her father, but she’d always hoped she’d grown into the same beauty Emilia had. Tall with muscular arms and legs. Her leathery wings were dusted brown, spanning out behind her with a grace that Enid often tried to emulate and failed. 

“How come?” Her mother asked, finishing up the adjustments and sliding her hands over Enid’s shoulders, calmness cascading over her more.

“I’ve never been part of a rite before.” 

The rite was a sacred and secret ceremony performed by priests. It required all colony members of a certain age to take part. Enid had always wanted to participate, itching to be a full member of the colony, but now she couldn’t get rid of the gnawing fear in her gut. 

“You’ll do well. You only have to kneel and bow as the priest recites the prayer.” 

“Why do we all have to be there? Couldn’t we have just sent some of the colony?”

Emilia shook her head. “The ritual allows demons to control our magic much in the same way elves do. But it can be dangerous. They need their colony—and the more the better.”

“Because we’re all tied together magically?” Enid asked. 

Demons existed in colonies, a magical network of extended families. They could use that to perform different spells inherent to them, and the rite helped them control and manipulate their power even more. 

Her mother nodded. “Our power is siphoned during the rite and when it returns, it comes with such a force that if only a few people take it back, it would overwhelm them enough that they would die.”

Enid knew this. She’d been practicing for weeks leading up to their trip here. This ritual was of particular importance. Her father had challenged and usurped the previous Lord of Shadows, The Cruel Lord. The Cruel Lord had occupied the continent of Nemus, forcefully ruling over the humans, elves, and orcs there, stealing from them as he pleased. Her father was determined to right those wrongs, and this was part of it. 

They’d spent the last week in the human capital, Venatu, dining and meeting with nobles and the king. Enid had enjoyed it. She’d met only a few humans, and she’d heard the ones of Nemus despised demons, but these had been so welcoming and kind. She and her brother, Kaemon, had wandered the castle grounds while their parents and eldest brother attended meetings. Their guards shadowed them as a human advisor, Cillian, gave them the tours, telling them various histories, and asking about their own‌. 

This ritual was the last part of the treaty they’d worked out before the demons left for home tomorrow. The Cruel Lord had set up several demon temples throughout Nemus. They had magically tied all the temples into ley lines, drawing out the small amount of magic from the land that was already mostly barren of it. The elves guarded the little magic the land had, using it for their enchantments. The demon priest would perform the rite to untie the temple from the ley line, allowing the magic to be used by the elves again.

“Where does the magic go during the ritual?” she asked as Emilia stepped behind and began brushing her hair.

“We don’t know. I think the sky, but the priests say it goes to the pit–or the Great Darkness, as the Elves call it. Then it returns to our world.”

“But those are just fairy tales?” Enid asked.

“Yes, I believe so. But don’t let the priests know. They believe in the twin goddesses, the tales of the trials of the gods, and the pit.”

They fell into silence as her mother began braiding the long, wavy black hair, her pale hands deftly interlacing Enid’s hair in a tight plait. The door to the room creaked open and Enid glanced back to see her father, Kian, entering with her two brothers trailing behind him. Her face split into a grin as he came up and kissed the top of her head. 

“Are you ready for your first rite, kiddo?”

She drew in a breath and nodded. “I think so.”

He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.“Let’s go then.”

***

Enid shifted on her feet, breathing in deep the pine forest scent. The air was hot and stuffy and her mind wandered aimlessly as the priest droned on and on. She looked up at the sky, watching as the clouds passed and the sun rose to the noonday position. So close. The priest would stop his prattling any minute and they could enter the temple.

An elbow jutted into her side, and she hissed, looking up at Dryston. He frowned down at her, giving a slight shake of his head, and she knew what that meant. Stop fidgeting.  Rolling her eyes, she kicked her other brother, Kaemon, in the leg. He looked down at her and she gave him a wicked grin. Kaemon was harder to bait into trouble than Dryston. Dryston always got annoyed with her too quickly, but Kaemon always stood up for her, so it was more fun to cause a ruckus with him. And she was absolutely itching to get into trouble. 

Enid drew in a deep breath, standing taller and tried to focus on the priest again. The priest seemed like a rational male. Did he truly believe in the ancient tales? Did he really think the gods had once loved them and then just left them alone? Enid had certainly never heard from them. She loved the tales of the trials as much as she loved the stories of the hero Lemia. But they were all just fables. Meant for children, and to comfort those in pain. 

The priest stopped and Enid let out a loud enough sigh of relief that her father looked back. He tried to give her an expression of reprimand, but failed as the corners of his mouth tugged up. She smiled, suppressing a chuckle. 

Emilia whispered, “You spoil her.”

“Me?” Kian murmured, pointing to himself incredulously. “You do.”

Her mother shrugged. They both did and Enid loved it. She loved curling up in her mother’s arms at the end of the day and listening to her voice recite the story of Lemia. She loved training with her father in the sparring ring and telling him she would be as strong as Lemia one day and him saying, “I think you will be stronger.” 

The priest beckoned them into the temple and she kicked Kaemon gently in the shin one more time for good measure. He shook his head, chuckling, dipping to knock her off balance with his shoulder. She almost stumbled, but Dryston caught her with his steadying grip, eyes piercing her with a warning. She met Kaemon’s gaze, both pursing their lips to stop from laughing and then sped up to follow the rest of their colony in. 

The temple was cool and dark, with only an opening at the top to let light in. The skylight aligned so the full moon could shine inside perfectly. Normally, the rites occurred at night, as the moon helped shroud the full power of the sun, giving just the right amount. 

But her father was leery of trying this at night in the human lands. The humans had trained a class of warriors during The Cruel Lord’s reign, specifically to combat the demons, called Hunters. They were formidable adversaries, and only a fool would take them lightly. Humans were the weakest beings in the world, so it made sense to Enid. Even the humans who could use magic back home were still weaker than the other races. Training specifically to learn a demon’s weakness and using Elvish enchanted weapons put them at less of a disadvantage.

So instead, her father had chosen full daylight for the ceremony. The spell would be trickier, but they had several priests and priestesses to help distribute the power. Enid took her place in the circle, at the end of her family unit, next to the beginning of the next family of the colony. The head priest stood in the center, the beam of light coming over him, lighting the black robes in hues of purple. He swiped his hand down the center of his face, and they all knelt. Enid primly laid her hands on her lap, a bout of nervousness skittering along her skin. 

There was always some inherent risk to the ritual, even though no one had died from it in recent memory. It was written in the ancient texts, so she supposed when it first began plenty had died. Still, something brushed across her senses like a premonition. She glanced over her shoulder, her chest tightening uncomfortably. 

She was being silly. Childish, even. 

Everyone’s head bowed reverently, no shaking hands. She grasped hers together to hide her own shaking, to cover her own fear.

The priest and priestesses began reciting the spell that would drain their power. She felt nothing at first. Then the pressure changed around them. It felt like static snapping across skin and her hair floated in the air. Then, without warning, she felt it disappear. She let out a cry, as did one other young demon who hadn’t experienced it before. She felt a hand on hers and it was Kaemon’s. He gave Enid a pained smile. 

Enid’s breath came out labored, her body feeling as if it were being twisted like a rag, her very being wrung out. 

Then it was over, and it left her with nothingness. A cold darkness wrapped around her. It seeped into her bones, icier than anything she’d ever experienced, a deep, deep void carving out a cavern inside her. Voices echoed. 

“What is that?” she whispered to Kaemon. 

He gave her a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

“The voices?”

Kaemon shook his head, confused. 

He didn’t hear it. She closed her eyes, listening hard. Something was chanting, praying, calling. Darkness wanted her attention. 

Something was going to happen. 

She jumped to her feet and whipped towards the door of the temple. Kaemon grasped her hand and gently tugged, wanting her to kneel again. 

But a scream rent the air and everyone scrambled to their feet. The priest and priestesses continued finishing the prayer. She felt some power return, but it hurt and ached and she couldn’t access it. It wouldn’t come to her beckoning like it normally did. 

“Those were the guards outside,” Kian said, rushing forward.

Dryston grabbed his arm. “No. What if it’s an attack?”

“We have to protect them then,” her father said, continuing forward, Kaemon not hesitating a step as he followed.

Enid’s mind swirled. She stared at them as they walked out, as if watching a dream unfold. It was silent at first, and another demon placed her hands on Enid’s shoulders as her family left the temple. Shouts and the clanking of metal on metal echoed into the temple. She couldn’t stop her feet from moving. She ran to the door and stared in horror. 

Hunters. Enid knew their dusty blue capes and gleaming silver armor. She’d seen plenty of them in the week they’d been in Venatu with the humans. They surrounded them in the forest and they held Kaemon down, his hands bound, his face in the dirt, a foot on his back. 

“Let the boy go and let’s talk,” Kian said, his hands in the air. But his wings spread out, defensive, aggressive. He couldn’t stop the instinct. His family, his colony, was in danger and he was their Lord. 

Her father.

The Hunters watched him with open hatred. Fear clawed its way up her throat, threatening a sob. 

“He’s weak,” the Hunter over Kaemon said to another.

“They all are then, that’s what Cillian said,” the other replied. 

“Kill them.”

It all unfolded slowly before Enid. Each movement, each sound, each emotion washing over her senses as if they took up their own eternity. Her mind cataloged it all and memorized it, imprinted it on her brain. 

Arrows zipped through the air and  mutilated her father’s chest and head, killing him instantly. Her mother threw herself in front of Enid, then fell down the steps with a quiver full of arrows in her back. Blood dripped down her mother’s mouth as she blinked in shock and stared at Enid. 

Kaemon screamed for her to run. To flee. 

Instead, she rushed to her mother. She had to save her. Or at least had to try. Blood pounded in her ears, her own staccato heartbeat drowning out the other sounds of the chaos. She came to the last step when her mother screamed and something hit Enid’s stomach. Pain bloomed like a rose from that center, up and out, surrounding her abdomen, down to her legs. An arrow stuck out of her. She staggered back with the force of it, her mind going blank in shock. 

Her colony fled out of the temple. Cries and shouts filled the air, along with the clanking of metal on metal, arrows flying, flesh being cut. The smell of blood overpowered the pine of the forest. She fell to her knees, grasping her wounds. Her hands slipped on the arrow as she tried to tug on it. 

“No!” her mother’s voice was raw and high pitched. “Leave it Enid! Dryston! Dryston!” 

In the bedlam, Dryston was over her, muttering something, examining her. He placed a bandage over her stomach, commanding her to press it down. She weakly placed her hand there, and he yelled, “Hold it tight, Enid! You’re not dying today!”

She pressed harder, then grasped his shirt weakly with her other hand and pointed to Kaemon. He was bound, but the Hunters weren’t paying attention to him as the fight continued. 

“Kaemon,” she said with difficulty. “Get Kaemon.”

Dryston looked up, horror clear on his face. Kaemon screamed for them to run.  

“No, no, no, no.” she grasped his shirt tighter, her hands so weak that she could barely keep hold. 

“Run,” her mother croaked out. “Run.”

“No, no, no!” Enid said. “Kaemon. Mother. Get them!” 

But Dryston took one look around, devastation marking his features. Then he pulled her in his arms and shot into the sky. Arrows followed them, but one only grazed his wing. He held her close to him and her vision blurred. She could barely think. Then her world went black.