Darkling

Answers

I followed Yvaine into the entrance of a cave and we darted between rock structures and through tunnels. Some places were so narrow it took a little trick flying to get through at full speed. Other tunnels opened up into massive caverns. The deeper we went, the more people I saw.

Yvaine abruptly pulled up, swinging her feet up to grasp at a hold. I landed right behind her and she led the way across the ceiling towards a cluster of spires and hanging formations in the center of an underground lake. Dark wings and low chatter filled the cavern, people moving around the waters edge or along the ceiling and walls.

Many of them noticed me and turned to stare as Yvaine led me through.

Weaving into the center of the tight cluster of stalactites, Yvaine spread her wings and darted up through a hole into another level. I followed right behind, landing lightly as Yvaine struck across the smaller cavern towards another tunnel.

"Where are we going?"

She glanced back at me. "Your parents remains were recovered once we found them. We gave them a proper interment here. Their names were Sylvanus and Isla. Sylvanus was my son. Isla came to us from another small family in the eastern range." She cast a smile over her shoulder. "You take after your mother."

Yvaine led the way into a long cavern that seemed to spiral down. How deep it went, I didn't think I would ever find out, because when I spotted a particular face in the long line of statues of the dead, everything else ceased to matter. I looked up at the carefully carved face of my mother.

I did take after her.

And beside her, the stern countenance of my father.

Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I tried to remember them. Their faces had brought back recognition, but there were no solid memories of them. Nothing of their character. Their likes or dislikes, even seen through the eyes of a child. "You never found out how they died?"

Yvaine sighed. "We assumed it was Nyxians, honestly. Their clan wars had been catching us up for years. Shooting us if we came too close to their borders without bothering to be sure if we were Nyxian or Chiropteran. It was your father's decision to send us into hiding, keeping us strictly to this mountain range to avoid any more 'accidental' deaths. And when he died..." Yvaine shook her head. "I ordered our people under the mountain, letting even our memory fade from the surface lands."

"The clans aren't feuding any longer," I said quietly. "Ashtoreth has been uniting most of the northern lands, providing protection for trade or-"

Yvaine scoffed, turning away to stalk back up the corridor. "I will not ally our people with a murderer who would rule the world. She wasn't happy ruling her own band of monsters? She had to rally them into conquering others?"

I took in the face of my mother one last time, taking in a deep breath before hurrying after Yvaine. "Ashtoreth isn't like that. She saved me. It's only because of her that I managed to come back here."

"And for that I am grateful," Yvaine snapped. "But she will not subjugate us, even with the bargaining chip she hoped to find in you." Her tone and face softened as she hesitated, letting me pull even with her. "You're safe now, Su'en. You can take your place as the leader of our family, as you were always meant to. The Nyxian woman can no longer control you if she can't find you."

I frowned. I didn't think Ashtoreth would have too much trouble tracking me down if she felt like it. She had tracked me across multiple countries and she hadn't even met me yet, after all. But telling Yvaine that would only enforce the misconception that I was a Nyxian prisoner. I changed the subject.