The Palace

Sa’ar woke them, and Bard fumbled for a lightstick before snapping it and causing a light to emit. Sen and him squinted their eyes and Bard noticed that Sa’ar’s golden eyes were also missing until they opened. After their eyes adjusted, they continued on their way. Sen and him were basically out of water by this point, and Sen and him trudged on.

Sen stood upright and looked around, as if hearing something he couldn’t.

“What is it?” he asked, looking ahead at Sa’ar.

“I must be imagining it,” Sen said with a sigh. Bard shrugged. Since she didn’t divulge, he didn’t ask. But she kept looking around, and it confused Bard. Until he too heard the soft sounds of water dripping. He paused.

“Do you hear it now?” she asked, and Bard nodded. He rubbed at one of his eyes. They couldn’t both be imagining this, right? Sa’ar looked back at them and they followed. The sounds grew louder as they walked, and then more joined. Bard noticed the sight of dripping water as they continued. He looked up at the stalactites as water dripped down, however, the ground had no stalagmites, making little puddles for the water to collect in. They continued through and then heard the sounds of a larger body of water sloshing around them. They continued on until they turned and stopped. Sa’ar gestured for them to follow.

Before them, the hall opened up and a great lake was what their light showed, but beyond that, as if the darkness was peeled back, sat a giant black structure. It’s walls towered high, and menacing, yet there was a refined elegance to the place. It dominated their vision and Bard could see many a shade’s eyes walking around inside.

“Water,” Sen whispered, but Bard held onto her hand. Only, if Sa’ar offered it, would he drink it. There were too many chances here that he wouldn’t take. Sa’ar calmly walked to an outcropping and as he stepped onto it, the water began to stir. Bard stayed back, watching. Sen seemed alert as a purple fire erupted at the castle, silent like the rest, with only the water making any sound. Suddenly, a giant wave erupted and splashed next to Sa’ar.

Bard froze. A strange creature, unlike anything he had ever seen, stood in front, confident, demanding. It had strange lights along its sides and fins which were along it’s back and legs. Then the shape became more shadowy with glowing teal eyes, though Bard could see the fins shift and was that, a tail? This shade was tall, almost the height of Sa’ar. The bird bowed it’s head, but then stood erect and this watery being cried out and the waters stilled. Little heads of watery shades bobbed on the surface, their glowing red eyes contrasting with glowing sides and markings, though the light did little to illuminate the water. Their shapes reminded him of large strange fish.

With them swimming near the surface, it made the scope of the lake even larger, making Bard wonder at the castle in the distance. There was also a single long bridge that ran across the lake towards the entrance.

“Bard… the lightstick,” Sen muttered. Bard looked at it and realized it was going to go out. He quickly grabbed another and paused as his hands broke it. The last one. He hoped they could get to that castle, but with more heads appearing in the water, their eyes disappearing in the distance, before the castle’s edge, he was growing less confident.

Sa’ar waited for a bit and the fish shade dove back into the water, watching as Sa’ar ushered them over. Bard and Sen kept close as all those eyes watched. Sa’ar maybe a leader of the shades, but they somehow felt these were commanded by that other shade with the teal eyes.

The lightstick made the heads of the fishy shades disappear under the water, but they appeared as it passed.

The path over the water was long, just as they had feared, and as they came within a relatively close distance, Bard strained his head back to look up at the palace. As he did so, the lightstick faded. Sen cried out in alarm and Bard grabbed her hand, holding it confidently as he looked forwards at Sa’ar.

The world around them became pitch black. Sa’ar’s golden eyes were gone, even the red eyes were invisible. Sen pushed up against him. Bard waited. Father’s song played in his mind.

He chided himself as he thought on what song this place needed. It hardly felt the time or place to be dwelling on that, but all his life, there had been music. So to have this silence, well, he wasn’t all that surprised to be thinking of it.

Then a light flashed behind them. Bard and Sen flinched as their eyes grew adjusted. Then the light flashed again.

Bard caught sight of purple flames erupting along the edge of the bridge, all the way at the very back and racing towards them. Some shades on either side cried out in alarm, and Bard saw their red eyes just a bit away from him and Sen, making his shiver. Another moment, and they might have been attacked. The flames went all the way to the palace where more flames illuminated torches and other devices meant for light, as if a mockery of the whole thing. But they were silent fires. Not one hearty cackle, nor a spit as they licked up any fuel. This was pure nothing, despite looking like flames. No heat was released either. Bard reached out and felt cold. These things were as unnatural as everything else he had seen about the shades. The shades looked at the flames and then seemed to bow at the sight. It was odd that they could handle this light, or was it light? Little made sense here, and Bard took on a deep breath and let his confusion go. It wouldn’t serve him when meeting this person ahead of them.

Sa’ar opened the doors ahead, still silent, and ushered them inside. The front hall was massive, even putting the sun temples to shame. Shades circled above, flying in different levels or walking among the corridors. If not that they were shades, it would seem like a hall full of people, races from around the world.

As he and Sen walked, their own footsteps grew quiet, as if something was silencing them. The shades watched them, but not one moved to strike or stir up any trouble. The stone structure around them was also silent.

Sen and Bard followed Sa’ar to a side door, where he presented them and entered. As he walked, in, he seemed even more quiet and reserved. Then he bowed and Bard looked forward, barely able to see a figure in front of them.

Bard focused his eyes. Was this the being he had been asked to meet? Hesitating, he reached back for his flute. As he did so, the being before them moved. Bard’s eyes barely followed, seeing a human like shade before them, though more human than shade.

“We have come to meet the Empress of the Night,” he managed to say, breaking the silence. The man suddenly grew in size and charged at them, six eyes glowing blue as he became the harbinger.

“Deimos.”

The harbinger stopped a few inches from Bard’s frozen face. He could sense the rage and hatred as the Harbinger froze. Bard stayed his ground, staring back at those six eyes before him. The silence began to stretch before the voice spoke again.

“Let them enter,” she said, amused. The Harbinger turned and walked back. Bard realized only as that shade walked through that he was walking through a door that he had been guarding.

As the imminent threat retreated, Bard felt his legs collapse. Sen quickly grabbed him, preventing him from fully falling to his knees on the floor.

“Bard?” her voice filled with worry. He shook his head, took a breath to calm his beating heart, and smiled at her.

“I’m fine, just a little shaken.” He then stood up and held her hand as they walked inside.