Page 83 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

Old Greyva clears her throat, drawing all of our attention back to her. “This new demon wasn’t like the devil man. It was larger and looked nothing like a man at all. It had horns like a ram, the head of a dragon and wings nearly as wide as one. Hooves like a bull on its hind legs and claws as sharp as knives extending out from the ends of its impossibly large hands. Standing to its full height, the demon was taller than the trees of the nearby forest.

“With no magic left, our hero was sure that they were about to die. And yet, they stood tall, clutching a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, refusing to run, to cower, even in the face of such a creature.”

*Fuck ya they did. Us Fragmented Souls aren’t no cowards, we–*

I shake my head, tuning out Rayne’s excited commentary.

“And do you know what happened next?” Greyva asks, meeting the gaze of each and every child in the room. When they all shake their heads, her lips curl up into a grin.

“The ginormous demon smiled. As it turns out, the devil that created the portal had come into our world in hopes of escaping punishment for attempting to overthrow a demon lord. The same demon lord who now stood before our hero. But that’s not all, the devil had also been planning to open portals all throughout our realm in hopes of unleashing enough chaos and destruction that he could create a new hell to rule over. Here.”

Leaning back in her chair, her grin is slowly replaced with a soft smile, aimed directly at me. “The demon lord hadn’t liked that plan at all, and so he’d come through the portal intending to put a stop to it. As a reward for killing the devil, he offered our hero a favor. A fraction of his own power, magic unlike what any of the Fragments possessed. The ability to turn into shadow.”

I suck in a breath, heart now beating wildly in my chest at the implication of her words. Suddenly, I’m struck by a brief memory of sitting in our mother’s lap, an ancient book in her hands. All too soon it ends, leaving me even more confused than I’d been before.

Greyva continues, either oblivious to my current…whatever I’m feeling, or choosing to ignore it. “The magic was so powerful it also changed our hero’s skin and hair color. Their skin became as dark as shadow and their hair a dark purple. The magic healed all of their wounds as well, yet it left behind faintly glowing scars.”

For a second time in the last hour, all of the children slowly turn to look at me, their eyes trailing over seemingly every inch of me as they no doubt make the same connection I’d made. I swallow down the lump in my throat, increasingly uncomfortable under their scrutiny. Sensing my unease, Mariane makes a shooing motion with her free hand, prompting the children’s gazes to return to our storyteller.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I offer Mariane a grateful smile before turning my attention back to the old woman as well.

“And that’s the story of how our hero, Farwen Amzarath, became the very first Nightshadow Elf. This forest was named after them, in their honor, as well as the cliffs where the battle had been fought, Heroes’ Rise. In a few years’ time, our hero would fall in love and get married to a beautiful dark elf woman. Soon after, the two lovers decided they wanted to settle down and start a family.”

Old Greyva’s gaze stays locked on mine as she comes to the end of our hero’s tale. “And so they did, inviting anyone they came across who had no place else to go to join them. They found an unsettled and unclaimed bit of land along the coast and made a home for themselves. It was there that their wife gave birth to the second Nightshadow Elf and the newly established Kingdom of Amzarath had its first heir.”

A single tear leaks out from the corner of my eye as I feel my consciousness slowly fading.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Vannaria

Our unfocused eyes are filled with tears when I blink them open. My hand trembles as I slowly lift it to my cheek, the wetness on my skin not exactly unexpected, but still a bit disorienting since I hadn’t been the one crying.

“The first Nightshadow Elf was…like us,” I hear myself say, without conscious thought.

“They were,” Mariane whispers, lifting our combined hands to her lips and placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. “Was the story worth the wait?”

Dropping my free hand back to my lap, I give her an incredulous look, but it quickly transforms into an affectionate smile. “It most certainly was. Although I would’ve also liked to hear how you would’ve told it.”

Lifting one shoulder in a shrug, she sighs softly, resting her head back against my shoulder. “I’m not the best storyteller, as I’m sure you realized when I was attempting to tell my mother of our time together.” Ignoring the scoff I let out in response to that entirely untrue statement, she lowers her voice to a whisper and asks, “Are you all alright? Aren seemed quite upset after their talk with Greyva earlier.”

My eyes narrow of their own accord as I glance over at the old woman. All the children are now crowded around her, excitedly asking questions and talking over each other in hopes of being heard. A bit of my anger dissipates seeing how she does her best to give each child equal attention, seemingly unbothered by the chaos surrounding her.

Slowly, I nod. “I am, and I’m sure they will be as well. We just have a few things we need to come to terms with first.”

Mariane leans into me further, wrapping her free arm tightly around my waist. “Good. Because I’m not sure if I am.”

Hearing the pain in my lover's quietly spoken words, I pull my hand free of hers and wrap both my arms around her in a fierce embrace. “Brace yourself,” I whisper, right before shadowing us out of Old Greyva’s home.

By the time we fully rematerialize at the edge of the surrounding forest, there are tears streaming from Mariane’s eyes. My heart aches for her, realizing she must’ve heard at least some of what Aren and Greyva had been discussing. Heard the old bitch admit to having known what tortures she’d been subjected to in the last seven years.

Knowing there’s nothing I could say in this moment to erase the hurt caused by that knowledge, I merely continue to hold her, hoping my embrace can at least bring her a small bit of comfort. Fingernails dig into my back as she holds me just as tightly, her shaky breaths and quiet sniffles quickly being replaced by heart-wrenching sobs.

Even knowing it likely won’t help, after a moment, I begin whispering into her ear. “I’m so sorry, Mariane. I can’t even begin to imagine how you must feel after learning of such a betrayal. But, I’m here for you. Always. No matter what.” I suck in a shaky breath of my own. “Knowing that I’m somehow also to blame… Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

She shakes her head, face still buried into my chest. “It’s not… Not your fault. She knew. She knew and she just…” Another, louder sob rips its way from her throat, the sound rattling me to my very core. “How could she?” She abruptly lifts her head, pinning me with her gaze. “I meant what I said before. If it all had to happen in order for me to meet you, then it was worth it. But…”

“And I still feel the same about my own past,” I mutter, momentarily losing myself in her golden eyes. “But it still hurts, knowing you’d been abandoned.”