Page 34 of Ryld's Shadows
Chapter Eight
The dark stone walls and faint blue light of the cave were incongruent with the hospital bed. Still, it was a relief to have Hank here with him. The hours spent in the blazing white light of the medical ward while the doctors had worked to close the wounds Hank had received and make sure the blood they gave him wasn’t going to kill him were torture. Ryld had lost track of the time. How long since Hank had been hurt, how long in medical, how long since they had moved them both into the cave?
Hank had been awake, briefly. He’d spoken to him, but Ryld couldn’t seem to say more than a word or two. He slept in tiny micro-naps, jerking awake to make sure Hank was still there, that he was safe, from others and from him. Lysander coaxed him to eat. He drank a little but couldn’t stomach the thought of food.
He sat cross-legged on the fur-covered pallet, his head level with the side of Hank’s bed. It took a tremendous amount of effort not to snarl and hiss at the medtechs that came to tend Hank.
A rustle of cloth came from the cave entrance. Kai Hiltas slipped in on silent feet, his jacket draped over his shoulders. He sank onto one of the stone protrusions that served as chairs in the cave, cradling his heavily bandaged right arm in his lap.
“Little brother, you should rest. Hank will be there still when you wake.”
“Can’t.” The word was harsh in his throat even though it came out as a whisper.
“Hmm. I am familiar with this malady. Ah, well. Sleep will come upon you if you ignore it. Annoying habit that sleep has.” Kai shifted on his rock. “I would like to tell you some things. Everyone has been so concerned with injuries, I think they may have forgotten to tell you things.” He leaned against the wall with a gusty sigh. “The first is that this was self-defense. You and Hank were viciously attacked by someone with vindictive purpose. Both of those fools will live, by the way. Their injuries are of their own making.”
He waited, maybe to see if Ryld would say something, then went on when Ryld just stared. “Second is that Hank was not harmed by your shadows. Though I think some part of you knows that. Your shadows, listen to me carefully, little brother, your shadowsprotectedHank. Stood guard over him. They did not get away from you. Something new, I think.”
It seemed to take a monumental effort to speak. “They trapped me. Hank was being hurt. The shadows came…and I remember. Not all, but I remember they broke the circle. They went after Cress. Then nothing. Until you came.”
Kai considered him for a long moment. “You remembering something of it tells me that you… Ah, it’s not that you go away or outside yourself when the shadows come. But I think your mind tries to protect itself for some reason. I don’t understand this reason, but I’ve seen similar. And this time, because Hank needed you, you did not sink so far into the safer place your mind makes for you. Part of you was more present.”
Ryld sat with the idea for a moment. It felt right. He looked at Hank. Sleeping, breathing evenly. Alive, if not well. Would he be, if the shadows hadn’t come to break the circle? If they hadn’t gone after Cress and left Hank untouched?
He must learn how to control his weapons. He must learn how to control himself.
“Kai Hiltas, you are drow. You know how I was made.”
Kai didn’t look away but he shifted as if uncomfortable. “The specifics? No. I was not a member of your court. I do know of the superstitions about drow born with your coloring. I know some particularly ruthless courts will…pair certain men with certain women, in the hope their offspring will be born with your power.”
“White, black, gray, blue. The most common colors for drow hair. Their eyes all shades of red from light to dark, very few other colors. I was told I was bred from stock. Like an animal.Sulitek.”
Kai didn’t flinch at the word, but there was a tightening around his mouth and eyes.
Ryld nodded. “The woman who birthed me was a slave, punished for a crime. She was chosen for her dark hair and white eyes, and not given a choice. The man who sired me had silver hair but no power. He went mad and was killed before I was born. I was the only one of their offspring who survived. The only one with power.”
“The court mages…” Now Kai stared off into the distance. Maybe he was remembering things, too. “They don’t understand genetics as the humans do, but those notions they have about coloring show a rudimentary grasp of it, even if they don’t have the words. Your sire most likely carried the seeds of power within him, even though he could wield none of his own. Breeding programs among the drow are not as rare as I would like, though they are not always so brutal.”
“Brutal. Yes, they were that. I was always smaller than others, and many believed I was simple minded, because I didn’t speak until well past the age most drow children begin to speak. Because I couldn’t control my emotions.” He paused. He didn’t like to speak of that time. Remembering sometimes made the past feel so close it was hard to tell what was now and what was then. Still, it felt important to tell Kai. If he could tell him how he had been treated, how he had lived, then perhaps he could begin to understand himself.
After a few moments he continued. “The one who owned my mother believed the experiment that brought about my birth had failed. She believed I had no value. Not until I showed the signs that I had power. Then a new experiment began. To find the ways to best use the weapon they had created. They observed and learned that when I became upset, the shadows would grow. The more agitated I became, the more power the beasts had. I don’t know if there was a time that I had control of the shadows. Maybe the punishments took the control from me.”
Kai opened his mouth to speak, closed it again, his foot tapping in an agitated fashion the entire time. His expression might have been angry or distraught. Ryld couldn’t be certain. When he finally spoke, his voice was tight and strangled. “You should have beentaught. Guided. Instead they punished you like a dog being trained for fighting.” He stopped and held up a hand. “Forgive me. I’m not angry with you, little brother.”
Ryld nodded his understanding. “You believe there is one who could teach me. I’m not sure I can learn. Certain things that were done…things to make me fearful, react strongly, immediately…I don’t know if it can be undone.”
“It may be that they cannot.” Kai shook his head, chewing on his lower lip. “The damage done to you was egregious. However, consider this. When you first came to the city, you were so frightened you loosed a shadow beast in my department that had little form. Serpent and spider both. Amorphous and strange. Destructive. Mindless. In the short time you’ve made a life here, away from your former keepers, your beasts have already changed. Their forms are more defined. They begin to have purpose.”
Kai held up his injured arm. “Ryld, they were wolves in the park. And they defended and attacked as a pack. As wolves would. Theyhadshape and purpose. You have already progressed. Can these people teach you? Perhaps not. But if they can, even a little, you may be able to teach yourself the rest.”
Ryld nodded. He reached out a hand and placed it gently on Hank’s arm. He hadn’t stirred while he and Kai talked. Still deeply asleep from the powerful medicines they gave him.
“I will go to this teacher.” The capitulation filled him with an odd dread but doing nothing would certainly be worse. For all that Kai tried to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong, and that the two the shadow beasts had attacked would live, Ryld knew it was only a matter of time before they did kill someone. Innocent or not, the humans, and many of the crossovers as well, might not be as understanding as Kai was the next time Ryld lost control.
“Good.” Kai leaned forward and spoke more gently. “We will wait until Hank is well enough to travel. I have every reason to believe he would wish to go with you.Iwill go with you. While trust comes more easily to me than it once did, I can only trust so far and willnothand you off to people I don’t know well.” He gave Ryld a wry smile. “I, too, have only progressed so far.”
* * * *
Hank zipped the suitcase shut, swearing under his breath when his shoulder twinged. They’d had to pick luggage up for him fromNeedful Thingswhen he realized he didn’t own a suitcase. He’d never had the need to travel out of the city. All this wide new world, and he had stayed rooted in place—just like at home.
