Horrific tales had spread of an acidic rain that charred human and animal flesh on impact and turned even the most fertile soil to dust. I'd never dreamed that the stories were true.

Until now. 

My body gave an involuntary shudder. Images of firestorms, lightning bolts, and magical poison rained upon my consciousness as we walked the ruins of Kratvach. My mind replayed the horrific massacre in front of me as though I'd witnessed it. I almost heard the villagers' frantic screams. 

The fabricated sounds and images morphed into the real memories of my parents' deaths. My memory replayed how Papa's body slumped to the ground. I heard my mother's dying cry as her soul crossed the heavens and entered the ephemeral plane for all eternity.

I would never forget that sound. 

The pain pressed upon my chest, making it hard to breathe. An unknown force seemed to suck all the air out of my lungs.

It had to be him. It took every ounce of strength not to cry out in agony.

"Release me from your cruel magic," I said to the Rider as I pressed my fist against my chest.

"I haven't caused the pain," Darius said in a low grumble. "It comes from deep inside you."

Was that true? I'd never known anguish like this. My chest felt hollow. As though someone had carved out my heart and lungs, leaving only the skeletal husk behind.

Would I always feel this way?

"I can't take away your pain," he said, "but I can teach you how to channel it."

"You'll never turn me into a Shadow Rider," I said. The thought of succumbing to the forces of evil made me shudder. "I can't cast magic. Light or dark."

"Not yet."

With a scowl, I folded my arms across my chest. "Even if I could manipulate matter or energy, I'd never use my anguish to fuel it. That path leads to darkness."

"It also leads to strength."

"At what cost?"

If my parents had respected Darius, he must have been a good man in the past. Now he seemed like a monster. I shivered at the thought of all the heinous acts he might have committed as a Shadow Rider. 

He was my only ally, though. I decided to bite my tongue and remain civil. 

"This place is eerie ... unnatural," I said. 

"After the massacre, the Shadow Riders imbibed the raw energy to fuel their dark magic."

Near the gravel track, I saw the bones of a small child and those of an animal. The skeleton of a pet dog lay beside the human child.

They didn't even spare the animals.

My heart clenched when I grasped the true horror of Kratvach. In silent shock, I wiped away the tears that streamed down my cheeks.

The Shadow Rider cast a cursory glance at me. "Your parents would have felt no pain."

"Why do they do this?" My voice trembled as I pointed back towards the skeletons we'd passed. "I just saw ..." I paused to fight back more tears. "How many more have to suffer?"

"Such things happen in war."

"How much longer will the Gatál keep fighting?"

Darius drew me closer, lifting my chin. It bothered me not being able to see his face. His eyes. They could reveal so much about a person's soul. 

Yet somehow I could almost feel his piercing stare. Was he using dark magic to influence me?

"Follow my orders," he said in a deep, soothing voice, "and you won't have to suffer any longer."

I furrowed my brow. "I can't inflict that kind of devastation on others." 

He stared at me in silence.

"What did the Gatál do to you to make you so--"

The Rider nudged me forward, all sympathy gone. "I don't need your pity." 

Every time he spoke, it made me a bit on edge. Maybe the metal helmet changed his voice. It did cover his entire face, after all. Or perhaps it was an affectation to scare me. It might just have been an accent that made him hit the consonants in Common a bit too hard.

Still, his every word resembled a distorted hiss. 

"The massacre has fueled my dark magic for a decade," he continued. "The events transformed me into a powerful and formidable spellcaster. Not a weakling."

"Won't that destroy your soul?"

"At twenty-four, I'm a Shadow Rider who is feared by all," he continued. "My power will only grow. It would be wise to bear that in mind."

"Is that a threat?"

He grasped my shoulders and a cold frost cascaded down my entire body, rendering me immobile from head to toe. My heart thudded as I struggled to move a single muscle.

"Do not mistake my aid as weakness," the Rider said. "I intend to keep my promise to your parents. If you push me too far, however, I'll make this freeze spell permanent."

When he released me, he gave me a firm push forward, and I stumbled along the gravel track with a gasp.

Could he make me into a living statue for all time? Would he?

A shiver traveled down my spine, and I held my tongue. Gods only knew how many people Darius had enslaved, tortured, or killed. I didn't want to discover the truth the hard way.

"An hour has passed," he said after consulting his timepiece. "We should be safe to teleport now, even in your weakened state."

I turned to face him and crossed my arms. 

"Can you walk twenty miles in five hours?" He lowered his voice to an ominous growl. "At night? With a Shadow Rider? Do you think that's wise?"

It took all my strength to swallow my pride. Self-preservation won out in the end, though, and I shook my head.

Darius extended his gloved hand towards me. "Then come with me."

With a defiant expression, I stood before him. Pressing my back against his chest, he wrapped one arm around my shoulders and another around my waist. My skin crawled at his touch.

"Hold still."

"Do you have to hold me like that?" I asked, shrugging off his touch.

"It's the only way," the Rider said. "Trust me, I take no pleasure in transporting a weak Gatál child in my arms."

"I am not a ..."

He cut me off by placing his gloved hand over my mouth. Goosebumps rose on my skin. 

"Silence!" He lowered his hand to my shoulders. "Teleportation tests the body to its limits even without you squawking in my ears."

"Maybe I'd squawk less if I wasn't being led around by a creature in a mask."

Darius snorted in derision and pressed me closer. "Bite your tongue."

Without another word, he muttered an incantation in a guttural language I couldn't understand. The ground lurched beneath my feet. I clutched the Shadow Rider for balance, suppressing a shriek as we passed through a void filled with darkness and pinpoints of radiant light. 

A sensation of weightlessness overcame me as we traveled, suspended in time. 

Is this what Papa felt when he flew the Falcon? 

We descended into darkness and landed with perfect balance in a secluded grove of dead oaks. A hundred meters away rose the huge Gothic Fortress of Castle Halcía.

We'd traveled twenty miles in a matter of seconds. 

"Good gods!"

The Shadow Rider released me. I stood gaping at the massive complex. A thousand Halcían houses could have fit inside its walls.

Dense clouds hovered above the citadel, swirling in unnatural patterns as though the gods were brewing a soup made of liquid obsidian. Lightning coursed across the heavens, illuminating the basalt rock plains.

Armed fighters paraded back and forth along the stone parapets with crossbows. Several dozen guards patrolled the outer courtyard with lances, swords, and shields, ready to defend their master. 

Lord Hesse.

Atop the spikes on the main gates, the severed heads of political prisoners rotted, their eyes gouged out by vultures. A raven with glowing red eyes was feasting on the flesh. 

My stomach revolted at the sight, and I gagged. 

"You've never seen the castle before," the Shadow Rider surmised. 

"My parents never allowed me to travel here," I said as I took an unsteady breath. "Now I see why."

"They made a wise choice," he said with a nod. "The Gatál don't look favorably upon trespassers."

"Indeed."

"If you want to leave here alive," he said in an ominous rumble that coincided with distant thunder, "stay close and don't speak out of turn. Or your head might be next."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I nodded.

When the Shadow Rider pushed me forward towards the castle, my stomach twisted in knots. Mist hovered above the moat. Thunder rumbled in the heavens like an ominous warning.

Stay away. 

Darius' hand on my shoulder was my only comfort as I strolled towards my doom. The high-pitched sound of crying bats and cawing crows pierced the air in between rolls of thunder.

A raven with red glowing eyes perched on an oak branch next to me. I halted and furrowed my brow as he gave me an intense glare. 

"Dead ... heads," the bird croaked as his red eyes glared at me like a predator stalking its prey.

"Quiet, you," I muttered at the bird with a shiver.

"You're ... next," the raven replied. "Dinner ... time."

When I grasped Darius' arm for support, the Rider shrugged away from me. "Don't touch me."

"Why are you so cold?"

"That's none of your concern," he replied. "Follow my orders and keep walking." 

I turned around and gasped when a guard dressed in full plate armor strode purposefully towards us. Darius pushed a button near his throat piece and pushed me forward when we reached the portcullis. The guard on patrol snapped to attention, clicked the heels of his leather boots, and saluted.

"Good evening, Lord Darius."

I gawked at the ferocious soldier. Were all the Gatál as tall as Darius and Lord Hesse? If I had Gatál blood like they claimed, why was I so short?

Darius clicked his boot heels and showed his palm to the guard as he tightened his grip on my arm and drew me nearer to him. "A prisoner for Lord Hesse," he said in a commanding tone. Once again, his voice rumbled in a deep bass that hurt my ears. "Open the gates."

The guard's expression morphed into one of fear. "Yes, my Lord. As you wish." 

He scampered away like prey fleeing from a predator.

With several loud clanking sounds, the portcullis rose. The guard glared at me as Darius escorted me across the courtyard. We walked on the cobblestone causeway illuminated by the dull glow of torches. Guards and servants alike sneered at me as I walked past, and the Shadow Rider pulled me close.

"What is their problem? Can they literally smell my Gatál blood?" I asked, wide-eyed. "Or is that just an expression?"

"Never mind, little spitfire," he whispered to me. "Just stay beside me and follow my lead. If you behave, you'll never have to see this place again."

Somehow his words made me feel safe. But where would he take me after our audience with Lord Hesse? What if Darius failed to free me? 

Would I have to stay here forever?

___

A/N: Thanks so much for reading. Whew, they made it past the guard, so why not give them a vote of support? :) The next chapter relates the audience with Lord Hesse. Eep!

Banner courtesy of Amaze_onetrustno

This depicts the desolate landscape of Darius' former home. 💔 It's perfect, Ama. Thank you.