From Shadow to Light - Book Ten

Ch. 17- Cemetery of the Forgotten

"What is armor after all but a cage that moves with you."

***

In the shadow realm, there were no moon or stars. No sun. Only the scarlet sky was like it was made out of blood from tortured souls. We were walking on top of a desert because there was nothing grown in this Erebus's domain and I had to bite down the urge to vomit at the smell of rotting flesh. Of disease and the screams of so many souls ringing in my ears, begging for help. But if I got lost in their voices, I wouldn't be able to fulfill my plan. And once I do that, they will be set free. Easy, right? Lyka and the others covered us as we traveled down the narrow path toward the only building in this goddamn place. The tallest palace as I stole a glance when Lyka moved her head to the side for a second, analyzing how amazingly morbid he made his sanctuary in his realm. His fucking palace where he rules over these souls.

From what Lyka explained, the cemetery of the forgotten is a dangerous place here. One where no others love to venture because the call of these forgotten souls is loud and could make anyone take them six feet under with them, absolutely killing you in the process. That doesn't sound particularly pleasing but as long as we focus on our task at hand, we won't lose anyone. I hope so. We were getting closer to the cemetery and I could faintly hear their calls in my mind, but I ignored them, thinking about my vengeance. Erebus, a pile of ash at my feet. My future with Amias.

Soari, Soari, Soari. Oh, how you came back for us. Do you remember who we are, Princess? Do you remember murdering us with your sunlight? We were only seeking you out, hoping you would recall our names. The ones we were given by our mothers. Sweet darling Soari, tell us the story of how your Mother, the great healer, surprised the Vampire King with you. Tell us every terrible thing you did and we swear we will listen—

My jaw clicked, sunlight cracking beneath my fingernails as the voices grew louder and they weren't the calmness of Lyka in my mind now. It was them...those fucking sirens. "Go back to the dirt where you came from and out of my mind, you fuckers!" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping they could go back into hiding. As I glanced around my family, they seemed to be struggling with their control as we entered the cemetery, ghostly white spirits standing on either side of us. Lyka growled at all of them, warning them to keep their distance. But they still tried to lure us down in their graves...the ones with no identity mark on all of them. Nothing but a block of concrete crusted with black blood. The spirits were blaring in my mind now, blocking out every other thought I had. Every kiss I shared with Amias and all our secret moments, the rage-filled desire for Erebus, and all the memories with my large family. There has to be a way to stop this. To make them terrified enough to go back into that maggot-filled dirt that is their grave. I let out a garbled snarl as I resisted the urge to stop in my tracks, one hand clutching Lyka's scaly skin and the other digging into Amias's wrist like they were my foothold. He gripped mine with the same intensity, struggling with the same control. It was Lyka that spoke softly now, not at all bothered by these bastards.

Stay with us, Soari. We are halfway out of the cemetery.

"If you want a fucking piece of me, you're going to have to go through the bastard god that governs your goddamn home!" I growled. "Do you not know who I am? Do you not recognize the sunlight in my veins that he craves more than any of you?" When the voices quivered, mumbling to each other but I continued. "That's right. Get out of my mind before I do my worst on all of you. And for fucks sake, let my family go. Erebus ordered us safely through the shadow realm."

When the spirits backed away from us, their lure going dormant in our minds as they silently bowed to one knee for us, I was able to release a sigh of relief. Two seconds when I realized they were all bowing down for me, I rolled my eyes and kept going without looking back. "When in doubt, invoke the bastard god to make his creatures bend to his will," I muttered, eying each of the people behind me to see if they were okay and counted.