Page 68 of Monster's Melody

I wove a melody for the seas that came to my call and they surged up through the floorboards, a wall of water that burst over the flames, then splashed down to drench us all.

Zowen roared and whirled on me again, spewing flames toward me, but the water was already there, spiraling around me and Vorzak, who’d once more attempted to shield me from Zowen’s wrath.

The waters rose, creating a barrier between us and the killer who wanted nothing more than to silence my voice.

Still, I continued to sing as Vorzak wrapped me in his arms and The Hissies grew and twined themselves around me, their bodies swaying to the melody of my song.

It filled the air around us, a wall of sound compelling Zowen to stay and fight, compelling him to remain flesh and blood as my classmates, professors and friends attacked.

As the battle raged on, the shadows whispered all around us, their messages overlapping and contradicting one another.

He’s too powerful, the dead whispered.He can’t be stopped.

He flees the light, he will be stopped.

Hide.

Fight.

Call the shadows.

Call the light.

The contradictions were confusing and I wasn’t sure what to do, other than to continue singing, but the whispers were hard to ignore.

We’re here.

We’ve come.

We’re here.

To fight.

Call the shadows.

Call us into the light.

I froze for a moment as the truth exploded in my head, as I realized the shadow army had been trying to help us all along.

The shadows who’d spoken to us from the very beginning, warning us to hide or to fight, were the very soldiers in the shadow army I’d been dreaming of.

Andthiswas where it all happened.

Right here, in the cafeteria at Blackthorn Academy, with the vaulted ceiling and skylights that should be pouring sunlight into the room, but instead were shrouded in darkness..

This was my dream.

This was the moment the Shadow Army invaded, but I’d gotten it all wrong.

They weren’t Lydrel Zowen’s soldiers.

They were ours.

I shifted my song, weaving a new layer on top of all the others, this one not a compulsion, but an invitation to the shadows.

Join us,I sang.

Leave the shadows behind,