Stranger (The Aevyanthis Chronicles, Book One)

Chapter Fifteen

Emm was still shaking long after Fallon had taken her away from that horrid place. No matter where she went, she could still feel those eyes – those cat-like, glowing eyes – burning into her. She had made up her mind the moment her face felt the sun again; she was never going back down there.

"It was very dark down there," Fallon said as they sat in the library. The evening's class had finished, and only a few stragglers remained behind.

"Your eyes can play tricks on you. Perhaps you only saw what you wanted to see?"

"I didn't just see it. I felt it, Fallon! I just..." Emm crumpled over the redwood desk. "I wasn't alone down there. I just know it. And whatever it was, it was dangerous. I could feel its eyes boring into me, watching me like I was a piece of meat or something."

Nothing Fallon said could change her mind. Eventually he gave up, sighing as he leant back in his chair, lost for words. It was a long time before either of them spoke.

"I apologize," he finally said. "I should not have spoken my mind about something so important to you. And to leave you unattended, after all you've been through... It was not right."

"It's okay," Emm replied in a small voice. The pain was still fresh, but she had come to realize that her answers were with the demon that waited outside those gates. She would beg him for the truth – demand it, if she had to – before telling him the news of Eldrian's passing.

Eldrian...

"I almost forgot!" Emm pulled the now crumpled letter from her pocket. "I found this when I was down there, it was hidden at Eldrian's gravesite. I don't know how, but... I think it's meant for me."

She showed him the wax seal, how it matched the back of her hand. His eyes were drawn to the symbol, how it burned with black fire when she willed it to be seen.

"It is a demon sigil," he breathed, tracing his fingers over her skin. "Each one is as unique as their name. How could someone else know about your demon? About you?"

"I don't know," Emm admitted. "But whoever put this letter there wanted me to find it."

She broke the seal, unfolding the letter with tentative fingers. The words were handwritten in long, flowing cursive, each one seeming to surface on the parchment as her eyes rested on them.

A Sonnet To The Dawn

I watch the star-dipped eveningg spread its wings,

A burning tangerine to deepest bllue,

Above mee, the lonely nightingale sings,

A soft lullaby, my farewell to you.

How it lamennts! My old and aching heart!

I greet the cold with bleak and weary eyes.

Death's cruel hhand beckons, pulling us apart,

And I will never again see yoou rise.

The dirge of my soull, it begins to drift,

Winter's kiss is now upon my lips.

I pray the night's chariot takes me swift,

I cannot fight against the hand that grips.

But hark! I see, a pale and shining light!

Once more the ddawn comes, to conquer the night.

- E