Page 30 of Cursed Shadows

“So much for helpin’ to protect us,” the sprite grumbles.

I walk far enough that I can still see the light from their fire, but no longer hear their voices. The silence around me is comforting, and I feel myself begin to relax somewhat. The constant squabbles and dissension between them is distracting and irritating. I’ve been on my own for so long, I find company both disagreeable and tiring. Their constant chatter fills my head and I can’t concentrate on anything. But that’s not the only reason I seek my solitude.

I don’t like the way I feel around that angel. I don’t know if it’s her light that appeals to the darkness within me, but being around her does something to me. It’s almost as if I can feed from her energy. As a vampire, I require sustenance from other beings, something which usually comes in the form of their blood. But with her, it’s different. I note with interest that I haven’t fed since I met her. And, what’s more, I don’t feel the pangs of hunger. I feel satiated, content, even without nourishment. I don’t understand how this can be.

Perhaps I’m feeding from her life energy?I consider. It doesn’t seem far-fetched. If I am, in fact, feeding from her lightness, I know it’s from her alone. Being around Cambion does nothing other than vex me. Furthermore, I’ve been in the company of creatures of light before and I’ve never felt anything like this.

When I’m in proximity to Eilish, I feel energized, full of life, even. My spirits are improved and this constant darkness that suffuses me seems less… dark, somehow.

It’s dangerous,I think.It’s the type of feeling one could become addicted to.

Not me,I argue with myself.I’ve experienced too much darkness ever to succumb to the light. I’ve known misery andpain such that none other has. It’s been the entirety of my existence. And I’m nothing other than a death dealer. There’s no place in me for lightness.

***

BARON

It’s dusk by the time we reach the The River of Souls, which traverses the North Eastern edge of the Raven Forest. The River of Souls isn’t a river in the literal sense; that is, it isn’t comprised of water. Instead, the current is driven by hundreds of thousands of lost souls, traveling in endless circles around the Island of The Lone Tree. The tree is long since dead and looks like a skeleton, with angular and broken branches that reach up to the sky at awkward angles.

As we reach the shore, I see Eilish’s eyes widen. The souls reach up, out of the current with white and glowing arms and legs. Sometimes, faces appear. Moans and howls interrupt the stillness of the air and the sounds are unsettling, to say the least.

“What is this?” Eilish asks as she eyes the river with concern.

“It’s the portal into the Mortal Realm,” responds Dragan.

“You mean we gotta cross that shit?” Flumph asks and his furry eyebrows reach for the sky.

“Yes,” Dragan answers. “The souls can’t hurt you.”

“You sure?” demands Flumph, eyeing the howling spirits nervously.

“I’m sure,” Dragan confirms. “Once you walk into the river, the souls will part to allow you entry into the mortal plane.”

“Can’t I just fly over it?” Flumph asks.

“No,” Cambion says curtly and smiles at the rest of us. “Bon voyage, assholes.”

Then, he steps into the river. The souls, as Dragan explained, separate into two large waves on either side of him, leaving onlythe dirt of the river bottom directly in front of him. Cambion walks into the center of the river and promptly disappears.

“Hmm,” Flumph says and waits for Thoradin to do the same. Once the gargoyle fades from view, Flumph shrugs and walks up to the river. He sticks his toes into it and the spirits separate for him. Then he disappears into the Mortal Realm as surely as Cambion and Thoradin did before him.

“Eilish, you go next,” Dragan instructs.

She nods and walks ahead of him. Her eyes are wide, and I can see fear in their depths. But she takes a heavy breath and hesitates at the edge of the river only momentarily before taking a step. The river parts, as it did for the others, and Eilish takes another tentative step, followed by another.

It’s then that I notice something strange. The twenty-foot waves on either side of her begin to shake and wobble as though they’re ready to collapse. Souls stick their faces through the walls of each wave, one after another, until thousands eye Eilish with surprise.

“Dragan?” she calls out but her eyes are locked on the faces that stare back at her, as if she’s afraid to break her focus.

“An angel,” the voices say in unison. “Yet something more.”

“What’s going on?” Dragan asks me, his eyebrows furrowed.

“I don’t know,” I respond honestly.

The large walls of souls on either side of Eilish suddenly collapses, and she’s submerged in the river. The current forces her forward, away from us.

“Dragan!” she yells before her head is pulled underneath. I can only see one of her outstretched arms reaching upward as the current forces her onward.

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