The Raven Lord | Book I

XVII. The Eclipse

The creature roamed the streets, claws out and maw dripping blood onto the stones. His hunt had gone well that night.

Turning onto a dimly lit street, the creature paused. For there, mere streets away, was a blackened presence. It glided through the city like ink dropped into water, leaving with it traces of death. He smiled to himself, his pointed teeth glinting in the light of the moon. It was time to hunt.

He moved swiftly in the wake of the presence, stopping only to notice the drunks who had been left in its trail; their necks open and dripping, their bodies tossed aside. The creature's thoughts stirred and whirled in his head, piecing the clues together.

This was no hunt. No, whoever it was, this presence, it wanted him to find it. And so he would.

Merely a shadow among sleeping streets, the creature moved unnoticed until he came to the eastern side of Aurus, standing before the docks. Open ocean stretched before him just beyond the arm of the bay, gulls flying home for the night singing the melody of the sea. And for a moment, something human stirred within him.

A cool caress of shadow and death struck the back of his neck, and he knew it beckoned him to follow. Small drops of scarlet spattered the docks leading up to an old shop long abandoned due to erosion from sea winds off the bay. The half-beast followed, turning the eroded knob and stepping into musty blackness.

"It took you too long," a feminine voice purred. The creature winced. She always reeked of death. "I have been in your city for almost a day, and yet you did not find me until I wanted you to."

The creature's eyes adjusted to the dark, confirming what he already knew. Before him stood a woman with platinum hair to match his own, her violet eyes narrowed and dancing with promise of death. She was older than the beast by centuries, yet she barely looked to be more than three decades old by mortal standards.

"What is it you want?" the creature snapped, the scar that marred his face beginning to throb.

The woman stirred, her cobalt robes billowing on a phantom breeze. "They know," she cocked her head in the predatory way that the creature was familiar with, "about the army in the Ebony Isles."

"You didn't expect Alexander to be in the dark for long, did you? He was once Crown Prince, after all." The creature smiled, revealing his elongated canines.

"And I fear," the woman snapped, "that he wishes to be more than just Stygia's Lost Prince." The creature's head whirred yet the woman continued, "He entered the palace tonight. And with him, was a mortal girl. You are supposed to be Protector of this city, yet you allow a mortal in? And a man who was denied the throne, to strut in as if he owns it?"

"That's because he does," the beast purred. "The girl is no threat." He waved his hand dismissively, "She is fragile and weak, as mortals are. But you know this. So why do you fear it?"

"They know of the secret army, and on the same night they send out eyes and enter Elyon. Things are changing much too fast to be stable. You know as well as I do that it is you who deserves to sit the throne. Not Alexander."

The creature snarled, "I want nothing to do with the throne. Lex knows of the army, yet there is nothing he can do. If he seeks his throne once more, it will be fruitless. None here recognize him as king. You can sleep well knowing that."