Page 71 of Tides of Shadows

Chapter

21

It turned out there was such a thing as a Small Gathering. Only the oldest members of the families, usually fathers and matriarchs, all gathered in the Regent’s offices. There should have been ten people, but there were twelve, including Aidenar and me. I guessed we were exceptions because of our power. My father rose and stood at the center of the room.

“Our children deserve the truth.” he said, his voice calm and hard as tempered steel. “But it would also be good for everyone to hear this story again.”

The room fell still. I felt each breath strike the walls and return.

“Nicolas was always better at telling stories,” father went on. “But the sacrifice fell upon him.”

Aidenar lifted his head. The veins stood in his neck, and a shadow moved in his silver eyes. He understood no more than I.

“More than twenty years past,” Victor began, pacing slowly, “Valerius and Elara Cineris came to us all with a warning. They spoke of a darkness rising from the south, of beasts being wrought, of sickness that devoured the land. Most of you laughed.” He cast a meaningful look at several elder lords. “But they knew. They knew the desert would not stand if savages and creatures poured out of the shadow.”

His voice hardened.

“Scorpions and spiders the size of hounds. Black jackals that attacked people. Vultures that bore away children. Then Valerius spoke of the Prophecy of the Elements, of words no one now remembers entirely.”

For a breath there was only silence. Then father spoke the vow I had seen in the catacombs.

When the breath of creation kissed the void,

Four rose to bind the chaos into form.

Water, that gives life and takes it.

Air, that whispers and suffocates.

Fire, that warms and devours.

Earth, that births and buries.

Together they rose, four forces divine,

In balance and bond, the world aligned.

From blood spilled in hatred, from anguish and pain,

A fifth power awakens, the Devourer’s reign.

Born of false tribute and cruel sacrifice made,

It spreads like death, a creeping decay.

his shadow hungers for all that is pure,

It twists living essence, corrupts and obscures.

The four chosen bearers shall face their dark test

For the Devourer seeks to consume and ingest.

Should it swallow their powers and drain their bright flame,

The world falls to ruin, and nothing remains.

“They were the first to offer their blood,” Victor said. “They believed the gods of the elements would send power to save the world.