Page 54 of Return of the Darkness
Nyzaia’s hand was steady and methodical as she dipped the needle in ink and dotted it across the scars on Elisara’s arms, her tongue poking out in concentration. Larelle had a newfound appreciation for the ones on Alvan’s scalp, nearly hidden beneath his hair now. She did not know how he endured it and doubted she would ever ink anything on herself. Despite Larelle’s aversion to the idea, a small smile graced Elisara’s lips as Nyzaia finished the sails in the crook of her elbow. From her exterior, Elisara appeared content while watching Nyzaia work, but her smile had faltered on many occasions before she put on a brave face for the sake of everyone else. Larelle had done the same for Olden after losing Riyas. Though she had good and bad days, all that mattered was she never descended to the state they found Elisara in. Entrenched in her grief, Larelle thought they might have lost her completely. The smell of Elisara’s blood still lingered; the memory of finding her hunched over, with open wounds streaked across her back, was one she would never forget.
Caellum moved his chair closer to Sadira at the end of the bed; they both watched Elisara with saddened eyes. The room was rife with pity and pain, making Larelle wonder if Elisara sensed it too. Despite the sadness of such emotions, it showed just how many people cared.
“I imagine I have missed a lot,” Elisara said, watching Nyzaia’s steady hands.
“We could say the same,” Caellum said, pausing to glance at the other queens. “We still do not know exactly what happened to youbefore the second half of the battle.” Caellum seemed to choose his words carefully and spoke slowly to prevent triggering Elisara’s pain.
“Let me go first. I can summarise the important parts of what you missed,” Larelle said. Elisara finally tore her gaze from Nyzaia to nod at Larelle. “After you left, Osiris gave us as much information as he could. It would seem the lands he is from are somehow cursed, preventing him from giving us much information. But it would suggest his own lands have also fallen victim to Caligh’s destruction, just like Novisia and Ithyion before it. He implied we are but one part of a much bigger problem and that other lands exist out there. Finding and freeing these lands will hopefully aid us in defeating Caligh together.”
“He spoke words that resembled a prophecy of sorts,” Sadira said, and Elisara groaned. “A Wiccan I know fell into a trance and relayed the rest; her words aligned with bits and pieces Larelle heard from a priest, who potentially descended from Garridon rather than Nerida.” Sadira handed Elisara a piece of paper with the words on it, who furrowed her brow while reading.
“Have you uncovered what it means?” Elisara asked. The three queens and the king shook their heads.
“Caellum and I think part of it is linked to the people of Garridon. Healing and prophecies, curses and spells—all of these gifts are linked heavily to the Wiccan of Garridon, and thus ‘one abides, one rebels’ seems to reference two parallels. We were told something has divided the Wiccans. Perhaps one half represents those who rebelled, aligned to curses and spells,” Sadira said.
Caellum pulled the pins from his pocket and passed them to Elisara. “One symbol represents shapeshifters, though we do not fully understand what they are. The other two symbols are similar, but different. One is Wiccan, but we don’t know the other. They might be the opposites that are mentioned, or perhaps something to do with whatever power hid people’s memories.”
Elisara looked up from examining the paper. “Sitara saidsomething about memories.
She said that this world is crumbling because Caligh took Sonos, and minds would soon awaken and memories return.” What type of chaos could befall their kingdom to compare it to the world crumbling away.
“So, Sitara knows something about the curse,” Larelle surmised. “What if the gods are involved? Someone had to be strong enough to overpower another god.”
“I don’t think they are. Something was stopping Sitara from telling me everything,” Elisara said. “Is the memories part true then?” Sadira nodded, shifting further onto the bed. “We met someone with memories awakening in Garridon. We think the priest in Nerida was suffering with it, too.”
“But why would Caligh need to hide people’s memories?” Elisara asked. “We’re assuming it’s Caligh, aren’t we?”
“That is what we can’t quite work out,” murmured Nyzaia, dipping her needle back into the inkpot. “In Tabheri, there’s a cult devoted to different gods. We thought Novisia might be made up of people from many lands, and that Ithyion never existed. Those who first settled here had the memories of their lands erased.”
“It would align with Osiris being from a different land,” Larelle said. “We just do not know why our ancestors would arrive on Novisia only to be hidden away. What purpose would that serve Caligh?”
“If what we’re saying about different lands is true—and that all lands are potentially under threat from Caligh—then what Sitara asked of me makes some sense,” Elisara murmured. Larelle waited for Elisara to divulge more, seemingly sorting through her memories. Elisara winced. “Sitara said the world was crumbling, but it was because Caligh took Sonos. This new prophecy speaks of the cost of a curse. What if the price of taking Sonos is an imbalance in the world?”
Larelle thought through the implication. Sitara and Sonos represented dusk and dawn. It made sense that the absence of onewould cause an imbalance, but was Caligh truly powerful enough to take down a god and hide the other away?
“It’s definitely an option, but Osiris’s lands are physically cursed; they’re not crumbling because of some imbalance,” Larelle countered.
“Perhaps they are linked. Sonos’s capture must have created an imbalance,” Elisara said. “In taking Sonos, curses arose on the lands with different consequences, including not being able to share the curses with us. Perhaps that’s why we are separated? We are cursed by our lack of knowledge and memories.” Larelle rubbed her brow. The endless information and theories were becoming too much, even for her. She tried to simplify it.
“We had three tasks. One, confirm if memories were returning,” Larelle said.
“Which we have done,” agreed Nyzaia.
“Two, learn more about the Wiccans’ power and their link to the land,” Larelle continued.
“We know some Wiccan know of the Sword of Souls; they implied it divided their people, which could explain the differing symbols on the pins and the pendant Larelle took from the priest. The notion of there being a divide or ‘two,’ the healing, prophecies, curses, and spells—all of that suggests that the divided Wiccan are tied to the words Osiris recited and perhaps are linked to the curse on his lands. The Wiccan could have been used in whatever curse hid the memories,” said Sadira.
“We had to confirm there were more lands and how to save them to gather more people to fight Caligh. I found maps of other places, but no indication of where they resided, and still, we don’t know how to break the curse.” Larelle sighed. They had barely made any progress.
“And Sitara wants us to find Sonos,” Elisara added.
“Oh fantastic,” Nyzaia mumbled. “Let’s just add finding the God of Dawn to our world-saving to-do list.”
“Must we prioritise breaking the curse on somebody else’sland?” Caellum asked.
“If it helps us gain allies before Caligh’s return, then yes,” Larelle said—unless their land suffered from a curse far worse than missing memories, which appeared to be broken when the rulers took the thrones. Perhaps they could find answers in the books taken from the church. They had not yet read through them or analysed the maps, instead prioritising the trip to the Unsanctioned Isle. Now seemed like an ideal time to read them, with multiple sets of eyes to help.
“Zarya!” a stern voice shouted from outside the hallway. Alvan was not quick enough to stop the little girl from bounding into the room, her curls flying about her face.
