From A Kingdom's Shadow

Chapter One

    Apondra took a breath to steady herself at the sight of the cabin where she spent her childhood. The waters of Siren’s Lake were calm under the glow of the moonlight, barely a ripple to cut through the silence that wrapped around this place. She felt an urge to run from this place, as if reentering would cause her to disappear from the world. Apondra clenched her fists at her sides and strode carefully through the overgrown grass and weeds, carefully trying to avoid any gopher holes, though it was too dark to see them even if she wanted to. She cracked open the door and took a cautious step inside.
    It was as if the small cabin had been caught in time. The strong smell of a fire was in the air, but the fire was down to embers, barely a wisp of smoke in the small fireplace against the wall to her left, the curtains draped over the few windows billowed, though Apondra had not felt the whisper of wind when she walked in. But her eyes were not on the room itself, but the figure who sat with their back to her, on her mother’s bed.
    Apondra forced her hands to unclench, hating the hope in her voice as she said aloud to the figure, “Mother? Is that you?”
    Silence. Not so much as a movement to acknowledge her presence.
    Apondra took a step further into the room towards the bed, seeing her mother’s long hair billowing in the wind that should not be here. The scent of violets and pine needles mingled in the air, it was her mother. Why had she started crying? Apondra brushed the tears from her cheeks and stood behind her mother’s silhouette, “Mother, where have you been all this time?” she choked out, “Why did you not come to find me?”
    The figure still said nothing, but had turned her head, in a way that Apondra knew she was listening.
    She knelt by the bed, resisting the urge to grasp the back of her mother’s dress as she used to do as a child, “Please... say something. Anything... I miss you so much Mother, please!” she begged through tears. The room that was cold seemed to be blanketed in sudden warmth, but Apondra no longer thought of the feel of the cabin, only of her mother who sat silent and  motionless.
    Apondra sighed and walked around to be face to face with her. Apondra’s mouth fell open at the sight of her in the silvery moonlight; her dress was in tatters, and the skin that showed was no different, covered in unsightly blackened burns, patches of red-pink skin where her skin had blistered and fallen away. Her gentle face was marred with these burns and her lips were a mess of pustules and exploded blisters.
    Apondra covered her mouth to keep from vomiting at the sight, “By the Father...” she gasped at her mother, “What happened to you?”
    Her mother finally seemed to realize that she was there, looking up at her from her place on the bed. She seemed to smile her gentle smile and a raspy voice croaked out through her broken lips, “Come home...”
    Before Apondra could back away, her mother had wrapped her in a tight hug that exploded more blisters, crushing Apondra's wings to her back and covering her front and arms in a mess of stinking puss, the room changed, the bed exploding into a plume of flames that choked the room in thick smoke, Apondra could not feel the flames, but her mother repeated those same words until she was practically screaming in Apondra’s ear, “Come home!” A sickening crack sounded from above them, and Apondra looked up to see the beams of the roof collapsing on them both. She screamed.

    Apondra gasped as she came out of the nightmare, covered in a sheen of sweat. Her hands shook as she sat up in her bed, still hearing her mother’s voice screaming in her ears. She covered her ears and sat upright in her bed, sobbing from the fear of it. This one has been so real, she could feel her mother’s embrace still around her.
    “Oh brother...” she heard a familiar male voice call from the other room, “Can Barri not get one night of peace?”
    She hugged herself and watched the flicker of a candle light appear down the hall from her room. Barri shuffled towards her, rubbing one eye with his free hand, at least he had taken to tying his robes this time. Apondra looked down as Barri entered and sat at the end of her bed, the bed creaking in protest to his weight. This was the third time this week that she had woken him with her nightmares, they had been getting more frequent, and she had started losing sleep because of them. She would hate to do the same to Barri, he had to tend the shop in the morning.
    His muted green eyes surveyed her in the flickering candlelight, and he sighed, “Nightmares again?”
    She nodded, still hugging herself to try to stop her hands from shaking, though it did not matter, her entire body was shaking violently as she tried to shake off the image of her mother’s face that resurfaced every time she closed her eyes.
    Barri extended his hand, “Come, let’s you and Barri make some tea eh?” his smile reassured her that he was not angry with her, only startled from being woken so abruptly.
    Apondra took his hand, and he led her out into the kitchen.
    Barri sat with her next to the fireplace, handing her a sweet smelling tea, “Here, drink this. It helps calm you down,”
    She nodded, shaking even in front of the fire, trying to keep her eyes off the flames. Her mother’s scarred face was still looking back at her from the fire. Apondra took a small sip of the tea, a tea of honey, mint and a touch of blood meal. He always added a touch of blood meal to give her mind something to focus on when she had a hard night.
    He sat patiently, opting to take a chair from around the small dining table so he would not have to worry about struggling to his feet from the floor where she sat. He had his own tea, minus the blood meal, Barri’s stomach turned at the smallest taste of it.
    Apondra breathed into her cup, and forced her back to relax, her wings relaxing around her shoulders, “It was about my mother again...” she muttered into her cup, taking another sip, her hands clenching the glass, “The fire...”
    Barri nodded, sipping his tea, “This time was different, you are shaking like leaf, you never shake so bad,”
    She nodded back at him, turning to face him, ignoring the way the flickering light accentuated the warped folds in his ears, “She said to... ‘come home’... that was all she said,”
    Barri leaned forward and looked at her intently, she hated when he did that, like she was a child… she was practically to her Ascension year, only a few birthdays away, “Maybe Barri should do the deliveries tomorrow, give you a break from work?”
    She glared at him for a moment and raised her voice in defiance, “I can handle the deliveries Barri. It was just a nightmare, I am fine, really,” she stood with her half full cup of tea and started for her room.
    Barri sighed and walked after her, calling after her, “You are stubborn as elf teenager! Perhaps you are Barri’s daughter!”
    Apondra closed her bedroom door, but could not help a smile at his joking.