Page 28 of The Dark Mage
The loose ends of shadows snagged on her fingertips, and she pulled.Groans of pain and rage rose sharply from the shades before dissolving into silence.Fael’s shield held strong, and the Void swirled around her feet like a restlesssea.
“Who leads you?”she demanded.
“I speak for us,” a male voice answered, rich with sorrow.
A tall figure stepped forward—a shade with long black hair bound by a twisted leather cord.His faintly gleaming armor shimmered in her second sight, and a broadsword hung sheathed along hisback.
“We have been prisoners of dark magic, held captive since we died on this land,” the shade intoned.“We were slaughtered here, long before the trees grew.A dark mage cursed us after we betrayed her, binding us to this place for eternity.We cannot rest until our debt ispaid.
“We felt your presence the moment you entered the forest.Each day, you drew nearer, and we felt him as well—the fire that burns behind you.”The shade inclined his head respectfully toward Fael.Fael remained impassive, his breathing slow and steady as he held his ready stance.
“We deserve our fate,” the shade continued.“Yet we ask for rest.So long have we been punished in darkness and pain.Will you free us from this curse, Dark One?Will you let us pay our debt toyou?”
The clearing fell silent as Ren’wyn considered his request.Her knees shook from the strain of maintaining her magic.It wasn’t wise to linger here, but she needed to hear the shade’s story before making any decisions.
She kept her gaze locked on the leader of thedead.
“I need to know the terms of an agreement,” she replied evenly, “and how you plan to fulfillthem.”
“We owe a debt of service.”The shade’s voice softened.“May I show youwhy?”
He extended a thin, ghostly hand toward Fael’s shield, but Ren’wyn hesitated.She had shared memories with the dead before, but never in a place so steeped in hatred.
There was no time to delay; her magic wouldn’t last forever.Steadying herself with a deep breath, she reached out.Her fingertips brushed the warmth of Fael’s shield before passing through.The Void enveloped her with icy air, shocking after the heat of Fael’s protection.
Her outstretched fingers met the shade’s, and the world dissolved into memory.
Screaming and the coppery tang of blood filled her senses as a vast grassy field stretched into the distance.Men clashed across it, fighting and dying.Their screams—rage and fear intertwined—rose in a chaotic chorus.
Through the shade’s eyes, Ren’wyn saw an army of 5,000 farmers and cattlemen, restless and terrified, assembled after the dark mage had come to him a month prior.They were untrained and unequipped for war.Crows circled above, waiting to feast on the corpses.
The enemy outnumbered them, with two dozen berserkers leading the charge.Ren’wyn felt the shade’s terror as he watched one berserker cut down eight men at once, his sword blazing withfire.
The shade turned, looking uphill.The mage stood on a ledge, her form tense under the weight of the failing battle.Shadows poured down the slope as she paced.She was distracted.
Now was their chance.Leaning back to his captains, the shade issued the order for a silent retreat.The battle was lost, but they could still escape.
The order spread.They turned from the carnage and began a quiet withdrawal.The shade’s heart pounded with the hope of freedom.
The mage’s power hit the shade’s body like a falling stone.
Shadows erupted from the ground, jagged, skeletal arms clutching his legs.The cold burned his skin and muscles as it climbed upward.His bones ached under the unrelenting pressure.
“Cowards,” her voice rasped, venomous and relentless, carried into his mind through theVoid.
Around him, his men froze where they stood.Some clawed at their legs, fighting the shadows; others vomited orwept.
“You could have died heroes,” the mage’s voice continued, echoing through him.“Now, you will die where you stand.”
His men began to fall, and the shade could only watch as his army was unmade.Their bodies crumbled into ash and mold as darkness consumed them.Her final words came as a personal damnation.
“You and your men are cursed.I seal your fate with my blood vow.You will remain bound to this land and the Void until you can serve a righteous cause.”
Pain coursed through his stomach and chest, and he couldn’t breathe.The world dimmed as his spirit faded.The last thing he heard was his men begging for mercy and cursing hisname…
Ren’wyn gasped and staggered back as the connection severed, her breath coming in great gulps.Her body bore the agony of the shade’s death, her chest gripped in the memory of suffocation.Fighting the urge to retch, she met the shade’seyes.
“In exchange for freedom, we will serve you,” the shade said, its voice low and solemn.“When you call, we will answer.In return, you will give a blood vow to break our shackles.”
