Page 35 of Blood Sings (Beyond the Gloom #1)

I burst out of the sparring room just as Selena leaped over the railing and crashed onto the marble coffee table. Pink primroses, delicate figurines, and crystal shards exploded across the polished floor and velvet settees.

She dove behind me, using me as a pureblood shield, her eyes scanning the upper level. “There’s a-a thing !”

Before I could ask what ‘thing’, a blur of charcoal wings and gangly limbs came hurtling over the banister. It hit the floor with a squeak, rolled, and let out a shrill wail from its beaked mouth. Yellow eyes blinked owlishly, scanning the foyer.

The doors slammed open, and Terraknight rushed past. “Sugar!” he called out, his voice rising to a pitch but filled with affection. “Where have you been, you little troublemaker?”

The rest of the Black Guild poured into the hallway.

Selena, still clinging to my shoulders, demanded, “What the hell is that?”

Terraknight chuckled, kneeling to welcome the creature. “So, there is something that scares you, huh?”

The creature had other ideas. It soared over Terraknight’s head, bypassing us all to land squarely in Harbinger’s arms.

My breath caught. “Is that a... zmeu?” I whispered as Harbinger sat on the burgundy settee.

Zmei belonged in the snowy peaks of the Carpathian Mountains, not here in the Outer Wards. And certainly not as a pet.

Gale sidled up, cooing as she stroked the rough skin between its eyes. “Oh yeah, he’s our little mascot. Likes to play hide and seek, though.” She grinned at Harbinger. “Captain picked him up. Tiny thing’s been following him around since hatching.”

I frowned, recalling the illustrations in Sonya’s atlas. An adult zmeu was massive, twice the size of a pureblood, with wings spanning three times an iele’s and scales as hard as forged iron. The zmeu in Harbinger’s lap couldn’t be more than a few months old.

It pawed at his gleaming white hair, and my heart swelled. Despite our issues, I couldn’t help but soften at the gentleness with which he cradled the little dragon. It was the same side of him he showed me in his room, and it stirred feelings I wished gone.

Pearl rolled her azure eyes. “I don’t know what it sees in him. The captain doesn’t even pay attention to it.”

“Maybe it just likes him for a comfy perch,” Hummingbird quipped. “Cap never moves when he’s reading. Perfect nap spot.”

“Unlike you,” Pearl shot back. “You’re too loud. That’s why it doesn’t like you.”

Hummingbird clutched his chest in mock offense. “Wow, rude! And totally unfair! I demand a formal apology and snacks as compensation.”

Their banter faded into the background, but my eyes remained fixed on Harbinger. It was moments like these, I realized, that kept them going. Radu was the calm eye of their storm. He was the protector between them and the grim world outside.

“So,” I said, smiling when the zmeu purred contentedly, “what’s his name?”

Everyone chimed in at once.

“Ash!”

“Sugar!”

“Birdie!”

“Boy!”

“Chubby!”

They all turned to Harbinger. He looked up at them, one dark-blond eyebrow raised. “Zmeu,” he said.

Our eyes met over the creature’s head, and the scarlet ring flickered in his gaze before he blinked it away—warmth, calmness, perhaps, a silent apology. I couldn’t know for sure.

The zmeu chirped, and Terraknight swatted at Quakelord. “For the hundredth time, stop calling him fat. He’s just a baby!”

“Wait… Have you all named it?” I asked, puzzled.

Gale chuckled. “It’s an ash-colored baby boy who loves cakes and sings like a crow when hungry. We haven’t settled on a specific name, so we just call him whatever we feel like. Lately, he’s learned to come when we glance his way.”

“But why not just decide on a name?” Selena asked over my shoulder.

Sabin was quick to defend, “His name is Sugar!”

“It’s not,” Gale rolled her eyes. “We all have our own attachments to him—”

Harbinger jumped to his feet, his tattered shirt stretching over coiled muscles. The baby zmeu whimpered, soaring toward the chandelier.

My pulse stuttered.

He fixed his piercing amber gaze on the diamond entrance doors, but it was the stillness in his gaze that betrayed a wandering mind. He was listening intently to something only he could hear. The others followed his line of sight, awaiting orders.

An icy breath swept over my spine. “Did something happen?” I asked, noticing the tight muscles jumping along his jaw.

I’d learned to read his body language. When he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms like that, it mirrored a cobra poised to strike. A prickly rush of adrenaline swept over me.

I stretched out my magic, mapping our surroundings. I pushed my limits until my head throbbed with pain, extending my senses to the glade where the zeppelin had dropped Selena and me. But I detected nothing unusual.

“Projector Tepes,” Harbinger’s gravelly voice cut through the air like a knife on stone. “Please get ready for battle. Stalkers are coming.”

Transylvanian springs seemed determined to outdo themselves in unpleasantness. Typically, we could count on a steady diet of rain and gloom. Sometimes a light dusting of snow would make an appearance, melting almost as soon as it touched the ground. But in recent years, the season had taken on a more capricious nature.

Three times out of four, we’d get the usual dreary mix. But that fourth time? Winter would return with a vengeance, bringing heavy snowfall and bone-chilling cold. Some blamed the Gloom, which I now knew as the insidious Limus-sand mist. Others saw it as divine retribution for the ongoing war. Whatever the cause, I longed for the predictable misery of springs past.

By the time we reached Brasov, I was chilled to the marrow.

The city stood silent, a ghost of what it once was. Where bustling markets thrived a century ago, now only ruins remained.

Selena and I huddled by a brick chimney, surveying the desolate landscape of collapsed rooftops and moss-covered turrets. Nature had reclaimed its territory, vines snaking up weathered walls. In the central square, Derzelas’ fallen statue rested among shattered cobblestones half buried in snow. A lone black marble wall, all that remained of the old temple, gleamed in the moonlight.

Stalkers prowled the ruins, eyes glinting with bloodlust. A frosty whisper that had nothing to do with the weather slithered down my back and settled in my bones. Their numbers far exceeded our expectations.

Harbinger’s words from our strategy meeting bounced around in my mind, raising my blood pressure. ‘Three legions, approximately fifty each. Mixed types.’ His precision had nagged at me then, and still did now.

How was Harbinger so certain without Blood Manipulation or scanners?

Now, as moonlight silvered Brasov’s ruins, that question burned anew. Harbinger’s eyes darted across the square through the Astral Visor.

“This place… it feels different today,” his voice streamed in my mind.

Terraknight countered, “Just the calm before the storm. We’ve been through this before.”

“If you’re making it sound like a piece of cake, I might strangle you.” Harbinger growled, his tone darkening. “Something’s off. It’s too quiet—never this quiet.”

Selena shot me a questioning glance as uneasy silence spread through the Harmonization.

“But that’s a good sign, right?” Hummingbird’s light words relieved some of the tension. “No Black Sheep in sight.”

“Can’t sense any,” Harbinger confirmed.

“So, what’s the call? We proceed?” Terraknight asked.

Harbinger didn’t reply straightaway, likely weighing options, then said, “Yes, but be careful.”

We leaped from the rooftop and crept down the alley. My magic thrummed beneath my skin, ready to explode at the first sign of a Stalker.

I was about to report on the enemy’s composition when I sensed a shift. The Stalkers regrouped, forming tight formations.

An unsettling hush fell over the city, like that ill-fated mission with the Sparrows. Dread coiled in my gut.

“Harbinger,” I said, recalling his past battles, searching for patterns, “their formation’s changed. It’s more precise. Have you seen this before?”

“You’re right, Projector. They are… more compact.” His evasive tone made my blood boil. He was hiding something—something bigger than his usual lies or even his ability to predict Stalker attacks.

“Based on your reports, if they’ve developed self-preservation, Ignises wouldn’t be at the vanguard,” I pressed on, voice sharp. Let him hear I was onto him. “We should separate them, target the Ignises before they combine powers.”

“You keep talking about preservation and tactics… Do you even sleep, woman?” Terraknight chuckled.

“I don’t have time for that,” I muttered, thinking about the mountain of reports Harbinger had ‘found’ last week. Another lie to add to the pile.

“Projector,” Harbinger cut in, a harsh note seeping into his tone. “I need you to shut down your Nexus for this mission.”

His command stabbed deep, penetrating the mental armor I had donned for him. Without the Nexus, I’d be blind. I couldn’t believe he’d sideline me to satisfy his petty revenge. My chest constricted. After everything, he still thought so little of me.

“If you want an explanation, I’ll provide one later. Cut the link!” he yelled.

I’d been a fool to think he’d trust me in battle. Tears burned my eyes, pain curdling into rage.

“With all due respect, Captain ,” I said, injecting as much frost into my voice as I could muster, “I fail to see how cutting off my primary means of communication and tactical awareness benefits this mission. Unless you have a damn good reason, my Nexus stays on. The guild’s safety comes first, regardless of… personal issues.”

“Projector, do as I say. You’ll thank me later.”

“Transmitters might jam in the Gloom. I’m not cutting my connection.”

The Stalkers’ sudden movement swallowed his growl.

“For what it’s worth, I warned you.”

His bitterness stung more than I cared to admit. I whirled to Selena. “When this is over, I’m going to kill him.”

She nodded. “You’ve put up with enough of his bullshit. I’ll hold him down for you.”

The air soured. Two Glacies landed before us, massive ebony wings blotting out the moon. At the alley’s other end, a Limus appeared from the Gloom, claws scoring deep furrows in the stone. Its howl froze my blood, but rage kept me burning.

The hellhound charged, eyes blazing crimson in the darkness. I moved, shoved Selena to safety, and plunged my fist through the first Glacie’s throat. Bones and vocal cords shredded beneath my fingers. It collapsed, ice shards exploding into a glittering mist.

I pivoted. My leg hooked the second Glacie’s as I ripped its heart out before it hit the ground. The crunch of ribs seemed distant as I fumbled for my needles.

It cost me a fraction of a second. The Limus ascended, jaws gaping. I caught it mid-air, driving a needle deep into its rabid eye. Twisting past, I unleashed a savage kick into the first Glacie’s abdomen.

Stay down.

Bones splintered under my heel as it gurgled on its own tainted blood.

It staggered, and I seized its head in both hands. With a furious roar, I wrenched, feeling vertebrae snap and tendons tear. The Glacie’s head came free in a spray of ichor.

Silence fell. The Limus gave one final, pitiful whine before collapsing.

Selena gaped at me, awe etched on her face. “Remind me never to get on your bad side,” she said, eyeing the carnage. “I almost feel sorry for Harbinger. Almost.”

My chest heaved, each breath tasting of rot and bitter anger. “I’m so furious I can barely see straight,” I snarled.

Black Guild herded the Stalkers into the square, and the threads in my head grew tense. Wails and explosions fractured the night, injecting more adrenaline into my muscles. It was all going how it had before, so why did I feel so on edge?

“Where do you want me?” Selena asked.

“Take the south,” I ordered, already scaling the sandstone facade. “I’ll handle the north.”

She nodded and disappeared into the shadows, touching her forehead with a quick tap.

From my perch near the eave, I surveyed the battlefield, my hands still slick with Stalker blood. But it wasn’t enough to quench the firestorm of betrayal in my chest.

Terraknight and Ember emerged from the east, flanking over fifty Stalkers. Ember’s veins lit up as she summoned her magic. A ghostly pinwheel of flames formed between her fingers, growing into a blinding ten-foot fireball. She hurled it at the rear guard. Limuses, Nebulas, and Glacies ignited, their cries choked by thickening sand.

I lashed out with my magic, seizing the vanguard. A sharp pang coursed through my skull, but I channeled it into my assault. The Gloom thinned, and I saw Terraknight raise his hand. Dark, thorny roots erupted from the ground, impaling Ignises. Ember’s twin-flame jets engulfed the flanks.

To the south, the ieles provided aerial support to Pearl and Quakelord.

Pearl’s water blast sliced through Stalkers while Quakelord cleaved the earth open. It looked as if a giant had driven a sword into it. Winds howled, sweeping monsters into the abyss.

Harbinger flickered across the square, a blur of platinum strands and his flashing blade. Corpses littered his wake. The stench of death thickened the air.

The remaining Stalkers regrouped, advancing in a tight column. The Gloom spread before them like a living shroud.

A piercing scream broke my concentration. I gritted my teeth, tracing the threads to find its source. One outlier was at the receiving end of that terrible sound.

The Stalkers froze as if hitting an invisible wall—Selena’s handiwork, no doubt. But one Nebula broke free, approaching Harbinger with sinister purpose.

Move, you idiot , I thought, fists clenched as he remained motionless.

The Nebula stopped just out of reach, raising all four arms in a grotesque embrace.

A single word rang through the Harmonization.

“Brother.” The voice thundered in my head with bloodcurdling clarity.

At that moment, everything—Harbinger’s uncanny knowledge, his secretive behavior, the Stalkers’ bizarre tactics—crystallized into a horrifying truth.

Rage, hot and vicious, surged through me. I’d trusted him, defended him, even started to care for him. And all this time…

He could communicate with them. With the enemy.

“Harbinger,” I snarled, my voice quivering with fury, “when this is over, you and I are going to have a very long, very painful conversation.”

The Nebula’s voice rasped again, hollow as a dying child’s final gasp. Warmth trickled down my neck—blood, I realized with mounting horror.

“Brother, Brother, Brother—”

Each whispered repetition was a dagger to my skull.

I whimpered, muscles seizing. Roof tiles shattered beneath me as I collapsed, every fiber in my body rigid with terror. The haunting cries shredded my mind like paper in a storm, flaying me alive from the inside out.

“Brother.”

Desperate, I clapped my hands over my ears, though I knew it was futile. The assault came from everywhere—my head, my bones, my very blood. The wail stabbed, shredded, scorched, its call to Harbinger relentless. Language dissolved into pure, excruciating noise.

Finally, I broke.

A scream tore from my core.

My veins turned to lava, searing me from within. More voices invaded, a tsunami of agony crashing over me. I choked on my own blood, hot and metallic, as it streamed from my eyes and nose.

“Help me! Help me! Help me—” a shrill plea echoed.

Another joined the hellish chorus. “It’s hot! It’s hot! It’s hot.”

“ No… No… No!”

A dozen echoes clamored in my head, tormenting me.

The world tilted, and air rushed past as I plummeted and crashed into the cobbled alley, the impact sending shockwaves of fresh pain through my body. Darkness encroached. Blood bubbled in my throat. I was drowning, suffocating, dying—and still, the voices wouldn’t stop.

“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”

“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!” Ditoa’s—Phoenix’s—voice, horrifyingly familiar, pierced through the chaos, but agony consumed any chance of response.

I could hear them all.

All sensation left my body, and I felt myself slipping away.

Harbinger’s angry growl rose above the maelstrom of moans, whispers, and wails. “Projector, cut the link! Cut the fucking link!”

To be continued