Monday, April 29, 2013

Shadows of Theera (fantasy fiction)


Prologue

            It was a dark, moonless night in the city of Theera. Even the bars had closed, and the last of the drunks had stumbled home. Everywhere was quiet, or, at least, everywhere but a garden on the east side of the city. There, a pair of shadows played a desperate game of hide and seek.
            “Please come out,” pleaded one of the shadowy figures. “Don’t make me do this, Shanio.”
            Shanio was huddled behind a bush, clutching a small bundle. He stared silently into the darkness, praying to the gods that he wouldn’t be found.
            Apparently none of them were listening. The bundle stirred, then woke with a loud wail. Shanio hushed the tiny newborn girl, rocking her back to sleep, but the damage had been done. Their seeker was headed in the direction of the bush.
            Shanio stepped out of his hiding place. He knew his game was done. “Tenrius, please don’t take her now. Give me a few days.”
            “I’m sorry, old friend,” replied Tenrius sadly. “I would if I could. Don’t you trust me?”
            “I trust you with my life,” Shanio said. Then he looked down at his precious bundle. “But not with hers.”
            “Then this is out of my hands.”
            A pair of hooded and cloaked figures appeared out of the darkness, one on either side of Shanio. None of their features were visible, but Shanio knew what they were. “No,” he whispered, and looked pleadingly at Tenrius. Tenrius looked at his feet. The baby began to wail again.
            Then time seemed to slow, like everything was moving through some dark, viscous fluid. One of the hooded figures raised an ugly, clawed hand, his sleeve trailing behind like the tail of an eel. Soft green light condensed around the gnarled appendage, wavering like sunlight seen from underwater. Then, slowly, the awful hand with its rippling green corona moved toward Shanio. He stood, frozen, unable to scream, unable to run as it came closer, closer to his chest. 
When the hand was about a foot away, the light leaped from it to Shanio. For a second, they were joined by the glow. Shanio gasped, and then moaned as the light vanished into his chest. Around him, the world began to blur and sway. One of the figures plucked his daughter from his arms. “No,” Shanio whispered again. Then he crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The figures vanished into the night.
Tenrius knelt beside Shanio. “She will be safe,” he murmured. “I promise.” Then he, too, faded into the shadows.
Shanio, king of Theera, lay unconscious in the gardens of his palace until morning, three hours later.