Kingsblade

Chapter 6 - The Seer's Door

The Fallen Ones. 

Liliana couldn't believe it, yet the chills raised along the small of her back and up along her shoulders told her it was real. She was awake, even as she desperately wished for it to be a nightmare.

She stood and gradually slid her sword back into its sheath and stepped outside onto the balcony. The winds howled and the shadows danced across the world that lay beneath her, stretching across the long plains.

She shivered and stepped back inside, closing the door to the balcony behind her and latching it.

Then, the voice returned. So close she thought she could feel the man's breath in her ear: "Locks won't keep them out, little princess. We'll always find a way in."

"Leave me," she screamed, taking her sword from its sheath once more.

"Silly princess. You cannot kill what's already dead."

Laughter echoed around her as shadows moved across her walls, the candles flickering dangerously close to snuffing out.

Her heart seized in her chest as she swung her sword wildly toward the voice. "Stop calling me that! I'm not a princess!" 

Then, laughter again filled her ears. It was kinder than before as the voice turned honey sweet. "Perhaps it is time you asked them yourself."

Her sword clattered to the floor as she jerked her hands up to cover her ears. "Tell me your name!" she screamed again. "Show yourself to me!"

A chorus of laughter answered her, shooting toward her like a hailstorm of arrows. Mocking her. Liliana wasn't sure how many voices there were now. It felt like thousands. It felt like their voice would smother hers. 

And then, another voice waded into the assault, and it was like a battering-ram.   

"Lee? Lee, are you okay?" 

Her shield.

Relief washed over her when she heard a sharp rap on her door, but it was short lived. Doubt squashed her budding hope as she wondered if it was another illusion--another trick of the shadow, and she desperately sank to the ground to grab her sword. She was still clutching at its hilt when the shadows fleeted and the door scraped open. 

In a burst of adrenaline, Liliana pushed herself to her feet, sword in hand, only to see the drawn face of Marc. Without hesitation, she dropped her sword and ran toward him.

For a moment, they stood in silence and he simply held her until she pulled away. 

"I'm sorry," Liliana choked out.

"So they've been in your room as well," Marc murmured, laying a weathered hand on her shoulder.

She turned a fearful eye toward her fellow captain. "There were others?" Her knees weakened, but she managed to keep myself from falling. "I thought I was the only one who could see them, but--"

Marc shook his head. "Not tonight."

Liliana waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. 

"Did they speak to you?" she asked after a moment.

He nodded again.

She didn't bother asking what they had said. Part of her simply didn't want to know. "I do not... I can't believe this," she said hanging her head. "How are we supposed to fight an enemy we don't understand? That comes and goes at its own whim? That can appear and torture us in our own home?"

Liliana watched Marc's shoulders sink as he exhaled, feeling like it was the breath of life itself leaving her lungs. "All the training in the world couldn't have prepared us for this...." His voice trailed off as his eyes wandered like they always did when he was worried. "Will you fare alone?"