Page 187
Story: The Night Firm
"Speak ill of who?" I ask, though I'm beginning to suspect who they're talking about.
They share a concerned glance and Elal sighs. "All I can say is this. Be careful with the dragons. And go to that meeting."
Sebastian grumbles but doesn't argue.
"I need to know where it is," I say.
"Well you're in luck, darling," Ifi says, throwing an arm over my shoulder and walking me to the window. He points across the field of gravestones to the far end where a larger structure stands. "That's the entrance. The rest is underground. Go in and follow the steps down. You'll find what you're looking for."
I glance at Sebastian. "Will you wait here for me?" I ask.
"I guess I have to," he says, reluctantly sinking back onto the couch.
Elal holds the door open for me, but I shake my head. "I've got a faster way to travel these days."
I close my eyes and think of the location Ifi just showed me, tapping into my darkness, and then I disintegrate.
I land just where I plan, outside the door to Landal's Tomb. It's getting easier to do this teleporting thing, which pleases me.
Vines and moss cover the stone structure before me with lifetimes of growth, and creepers hang down over the entrance, covering the door. Though it looks to have been recently disturbed.
I push through and open the entrance. It squeaks and cracks as it opens and the scent of mildew and dust clogs my throat. I cough, choking a bit before I remember I can use air magic to clear some of this up. A flick of my wrist and I can take a deep breath with more ease. That handled, I navigate down the stairs, casting a ball of light on my palm to guide the way.
Cobwebs catch in my hair and something squishes under my feet, but I don't look to see what. I don't really want to know.
When I finally get to the bottom, I enter a cavernous space full of candles. The room has a tall ceiling, and in the center is a sculpture of a beautiful woman draped in a see-through gown. The stonework is incredible, truly magnificent. It's as if her soul was brought to life, and a chill runs down my spine as I stare at her form.
In another life, she and I were friends.
Or sisters.
I'm unclear.
But we were close.
Who were the other Fates? What were they like? I have so many questions I can never hope to get answered.
"She's stunning, is she not? I tried to capture her essence."
I turn to see Dath'Racul leaning against the stone wall studying me, his long red wing-cape draped over his broad shoulders, his eyes hooded in shadows.
"You sculpted this?"
"I did," he says, stepping forward, into the flicking candlelight. "She was my lover. When she died, a piece of me died with her."
Chapter 9: The Forbidden
“Your task is notto seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
~Rumi
His words leave me stunned. "Lover?"
"Does that surprise you, Miss Oliver? That I would be capable of love?" He steps closer, now standing inches from me, his massive form towering over me, his golden dragon eyes studying me with a penetrating intelligence that is unnerving. The candlelight plays off his deep burnt red skin, giving him a demonic quality that actually seems to amplify his attractiveness.
"We are, all of us, capable of love. The depth of that love is determined by the depth of our own souls," I say.
He tilts his head, studying me. "I was surprised to learn you were one of the Fates," he says in a non-sequitur. "But the more I study you, the more I see the wisdom of your past bleeding through the frailness of your small human life."
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187 (Reading here)
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228