Page 181 of Where Darkness Falls

Present Day…

Father…

I had a father that isn’t Rolph, and I loved him dearly. My head throbs as laughter and my father’s words echo in the chasm of my mind… I have something I must show you.This memory doesn’t make sense to resurface at this exact moment. Does it possibly have anything to do with the Crógemma? Is that what he needed to show me? Either way, the Basilisk knows more and is taunting me by keeping that information from me.

For ten years, I’ve been in the dark. Ten years I haven’t known who I am or my heritage. Yet, everyone with that knowledge continues to believe I’m not yet privy to such information. I’m not a child in need of protection. I’m a woman desperate for answers… and I will obtain them

The lights flicker wildly above, signaling that our means for escape is waning.

My dear, it’s time to leave,Saoirse warns.

Not until it tells me what I need to know,I snarl.

If you don’t leave, you’re going to die, and I won’t be able to save you,she panics.

“Did you remember, Chosssen Daughter?” the Basilisk hisses.

Maeva, just lea?—

“Who am I?” I ask, ignoring Saoirse.

The Basilisk hisses, swaying its massive head. “Did you remember your father?” it deflects.

I growl, no longer caring about decorum. “Answer my question, serpent.” My starlight sweeps through my hair as my anger mounts. “Tell me who I am, since you seem to know more about my life than I do. I’m tired of the riddles and games.”

“It’sss a sssshame you don’t remember,” the Basilisk hisses. “I’ve angered you, and that makessss you the mossst unpleassssant company.”

“Tell me!” I scream.

“But this way issss sso amusssing. Howdeliciousssit’ll be once you remember. Ssssearch the crevicessss of your mind and come back to me onccce you know of your secretsss. Then I’ll tell you everything you desssire to know.”

Then, the serpent is gone, leaving us alone.

My starlight diminishes as I lean over the water. “No,” I bellow. “I deserve to know!”

I’m about to dive in after the horrid creature when Emyr pulls me away from the side of the pool and forces me back up the trembling stairs.

“Let me go, Emyr. It will answer me,” I snarl.

“It will kill you,” he scolds. “Look around, Rosey. Time is running out. We have the Crógemma, which is what we came for. So we need to go before these creatures make a feast of our bones.”

As if on cue, the lights quiver, picking up tempo, as the chants of the atrocious beings crescendo in pitch. We’ve wasted time down here with the Basilisk, and now I have more questions than answers. As if reading my mind, Emyr grabs my face. “Maeva, I promise I’ll help you learn the answers you seek, but for now we must go,” Emyr reasons. “Please.”

The fear in his eyes helps simmer to mounting anger long enough to think rationally. If we die down here, then Celestae is lost to Tiernan’s reign. Laisren and Riordan will be lost to the spider. We must leave. “Okay,” I reply. “Let’s go.”

Emyr propels me forward. “Lead the way, Rosey,” he says.

As I race up the stairwell, my thoughts roam back to the memory. This is the first one I’ve had of my childhood before Aurelius, and itisn’t even a full memory, nor does it reveal who my parents are. The only truth I know is that my name is Maevriana.

You always were called Maeva for short, my dear,Saoirse interjects into my racing thoughts.

The name that came to my mind when I was found in Aurelius is truly a part of my past then. For some reason, that gives me a sense of relief. Though a majority of my mind is fractured, a part of my true self came through. I thought that perhaps it was just a name I’d heard someone utter, or maybe it was one my imagination conjured up. However, out of every memory my mind clung to, it’s my name that remained.

“Watch out!” Emyr yells, pushing me away from an outstretched arm of a prisoner with no eyes and a serpentine tongue. The creature shrieks in protest at its meal is thwarted, but we continue onward. This time, I focus on the steps ahead. The bars of the cells rattle with anticipation as the creatures frenzy with the knowledge that they’ll soon be unleashed.

My legs scream for me to stop moving, but Emyr continues to dole out encouragement that gives me an added strength. I’m beginning to lose hope of ever reaching the top of the stairs when the giant door comes into view, just a few yards ahead. “We’re almost there, Emyr!” I call out. He grunts in response as we race against the clock to save our friends.

I’m at the top of the landing when I slam my body into the door, but it doesn’t open.