Shades of Grey

THE HUNTER’S UNDERGROUND— JANUARY 1844

Naturally, I was unable to sleep. My unconscious thoughts turned into horrendous fantasies of what sort of horrors Forma was being subjected to and what kind of battle awaited me in Verrilius’s castle. I began to imagine that the castle was a Creature itself, controlling and manipulating the Tournesian citizenry to its own hellish will and Forma was trapped inside its belly, wildly calling for me. I tried to run to her, but I was chained to the ground with copper shackles. I collapsed in defeat and reached for her, when the castle suddenly grew legs and began to run from me. Thousands of people cast in an eerie viridescent light then emerged from the ground and began to pull me down with them…further into the earth where Forma had been taken…

I awoke with a scream and sat up, sweating and gasping in my thin nightclothes. I stood up and emerged from my small room and walked over to the third level of the cave. I looked out over the vast space, allowing my mind a chance to return to a state of normalcy.

“Hardly anyone sleeps well on their first night,” said a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned around sharply and saw Liam’s Maisling, Ryder, standing next to me looking as strong and as astute as I remembered him.

“Ryder!” I cried, throwing my arms around his neck. He stumbled a bit, caught off guard by my energetic reaction, but he embraced me nonetheless.

“Hello, Grey,” he said after I had pulled away. “I’m glad that you are finally here.”

“This is all so strange,” I admitted. “Creature Hunting has been forbidden?”

“Unfortunately so. Liam and I were nearly captured before Naomi and Giselle led us here,” he replied. His face then grew serious. “I am deeply sorry about Forma.”

I noted how tightly he set his jaw. Ryder and Forma had always had a special bond.

“Have any captives of Verrilius escaped to tell about it?”

Ryder’s expression was all the answer I needed.

“It is not hopeless,” he added quickly. “However, this is what Verrilius wants: for each Hunter to willingly step into the city and be captured. He works by kidnapping the Maisling and luring the Hunter into his reach.”

A thoughtful, solitary beat passed before I turned to Ryder.

“You have to help me. I can’t do this alone.”

Ryder had always been secretive about his feelings in school, but for a moment I saw a streak of heartbreak flash across his face. He took a shaky breath and gathered his emotion.

“Of course,” he sighed, something else clearly weighing on his mind. “Meet me in the southeast corner of the second level this afternoon.”

“Thank you, Ryder!” I threw my arms around him again. This time however, he expected it.

A couple of hours later, I sat at a table eating a hearty helping of some sort of breakfast mush looking much like what would occur when mixing together several breakfast foods that had no business being mixed together. I stared at it in disappointment, longing for the ripe fruits and rich stews in Jzasach.

“Looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

I looked up at the sudden sound of the new voice and gasped in elation.

“Naomi!”

I leapt over the table and threw my arms around her small frame. She embraced me with equal fervour.

“Hello Grey!” she called, pulling away to look me in the eye. “You look so different!”

“How so?” I asked.

“I don’t know, just, mature somehow.”

My heart soared. I did have new knowledge to display!

“Well that’s a sophisticated way of saying she looks ‘old’.”

I looked behind me at the sound of the third voice and saw Naomi’s Maisling, Giselle, approach the table with a warm smile on her handsome face.

“Giselle!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her. Giselle laughed and returned my embrace.

“Hello Grey. How are you? The last time I saw you, the school was burning!”

My mood fell slightly as I remembered.

“It is a story that is sad and depressing,” I replied, sitting down to eat my breakfast mush. “Not unlike this poor excuse for a breakfast.”

Naomi and Giselle laughed.

“It’s supposed to be good for you. It has all the vital nutrients your body needs,” replied Giselle.

I looked at her doubtfully. The mush looked like something a dehydrated Serthra would leave behind.

“I doubt that,” I mused.

Naomi chuckled.

“Forget about the breakfast. Tell us what you’ve been up to since Commencement!”

With some reluctance, I began to divulge into my story and as I revealed more and more to Naomi and Giselle, I found that it was slightly cathartic to share my experiences with someone. Especially with someone I trusted. It felt like being back at the Academy.

It felt safe.

“No good!”

That afternoon, Naomi and I were heavily engaged in hand-to-hand combat. I however spent the majority of the time on the floor of the ring wiping the blood from my mouth. Ryder and Liam stood just outside of the ring, calling out my mistakes and hints to increase the power of my strikes.

“Hit lower, knock off her centre of gravity!” Ryder cried. “Move quickly! Verrilius’ soldiers may be skilled in basic magic, but they are large and have slow reflexes. Your best bet is to incapacitate them while avoiding getting hit.”

I stood up quickly, expectorating a thick stream of blood. I then turned back to Naomi, who held her fists up, ready for my next blow.

“Come on, Grey! Let’s see those famous Echo combat skills in action! You said you fought Nemorosa and Cronamians: I should be no problem for you!”

Once Naomi had finished her first taunting remark, I tried to bring my fist to her nose, but she easily blocked it and brought her elbow up into my jaw, sending me reeling. I looked at her as I cupped my aching jawbone. She smiled and shrugged.

“You’re too slow!” she laughed.

Naomi continued to throw skilful punches and dodged my attacks with the grace and agility of a learned and experienced Hunter. I had not engaged in hand-to-hand combat in a long while and I found my energy draining quickly. After only an hour, Naomi was able to knock me down with a single backhanded blow to my gut. I fell to the floor and tried to regain my breath, spitting the blood from my mouth and the sweat from my brow.

“I don’t remember fighting so poorly in school,” I said in between breaths. Liam knelt next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Well, you’re fighting this poorly now,” he said with a captiously cynical smile.

“Liam, be nice!” Naomi snapped. “You’re doing fine, Grey, this is just a matter of recalling skills you haven’t used in a while. You’ll get better in no time.”

“Naomi, don’t lie to her!” Liam then squatted next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He took a vociferous breath, as though preparing to tell me that I had only moments to live.

“Grey, quite frankly, you fight like a girl.”

I narrowed my eyes before I punched Liam in the gut, sending him reeling. Naomi laughed hysterically and helped Liam stand. Ryder entered the ring and extended his hand, helping me off the ground and back onto my feet.

“That was not as bad as you think,” he said sternly, looking straight into my eyes. “But you are far from where you need to be. You need to focus your energy and—”

I gasped aloud as a dull throbbing suddenly rattled my head. I gripped my temples as the throbbing grew.

“Grey, what is it?” Naomi asked in concern.

“Nothing,” I said dismissively as I stood, draping a damp cloth over my shoulders and stepping out of the ring. “Just a little dazed I suppose.”

“Did Naomi hit you too hard?” laughed Liam. “You can fight Ryder next time. He’s always hits like a girl.”

Ryder narrowed his eyes.

“That’s a poor argument since you just said Naomi hit too hard for her.”

Liam was about to retort when he saw the logic in Ryder’s statement. His mouth closed decidedly.

“Well,” I said, turning. “I’ve got to g—”

I gasped as the dull throbbing suddenly morphed into a wailing, burning pain. The jovial mood was gone as Ryder was the first to arrive at my side.

“Grey? What is it?”

“I made too many blows to her face! I hit her too many times in the head!” Naomi muttered in worry as she flew infront of me and studied my expression.

“She looks pale, Ryder,” she said in a nervous voice.

My mild cries of discomfort suddenly turned into feral screams and I collapsed.

“Grey!” I heard several people shout at once. I had a brief flashback of the psychotic queen Grey as she went into labour with the monster child. This realisation made me fight harder against the pain, trying to assume a feeling of normalcy. I failed and only resulted in more painful convulsions when all of a sudden, the pain stopped…as did all sounds around me. I looked up at the crowd that had gathered — their mouths moved but I heard nothing. It was as if my ears had suddenly stopped working.

A great, familiar scream then ripped into my skull, followed by a dark, cruel sneer.

“Are you still so strong?! ARE YOU, YOU FILTHY FAIRY?!”

I gasped as I realised that I was now hearing through Forma’s ears. My heart broke as I heard the unmistakable crack of a whip.

“Is that all you’ve got, you twisted charlatan?!” she shouted bravely.

“SHUT UP!”

Several more cracks from the whip sounded, followed by several more screams from Forma. I gasped in frustration as I felt her energy waning…and knew there was nothing I could do to help her.

“Stop, Phobos,” said a smooth, strong voice. I heard Forma’s heart begin to beat faster at the sound of this man’s voice: she feared him, really truly feared him. “That is enough for one day.”

“Yes, master Verrilius.”

At the mention of his name, my throat suddenly clenched and I was next tapped into Forma’s eyes long enough to behold a man’s thin, dimly lit face, his papery fingers clamped around her throat, squeezing with unusual strength. I choked as I stared at his demonic, scarred, Charon-like visage; twisted in the minimal light of the cell.

“Your Hunter will come…and she will fail…” he said darkly, just before he threw her weakened form across the cell, breaking me from Forma’s senses and sending me back to the cave. I cried out and began to gasp for air as I fell from Ryder’s arms to the floor, trembling in determination.

“Grey, calm down!” Naomi cried, reaching for me.

“I can’t! I HAVE TO SAVE HER!”

I tried to stand and run to the cave entrance, but I failed and tripped into Ryder. He immediately locked his arms around me, easily withstanding my violent attempts to break from his grip.

“LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SAVE HER!”

“Grey, you aren’t ready! You can’t go just yet or you will be captured as well and be of no use to her!” Ryder whispered into my ear, trying to calm me. “You must learn to defend yourself against the Tournesian magic first. Then you can give Verrilius exactly what he deserves.”

I kept my eyes on the cave entrance and slowed my remonstrations. In a brush of abrupt resolution, I shrugged Ryder away and stood up before storming away.

Later that evening, Liam, Ryder and I sat with Naomi and Giselle at a private lounge area in the corner of the second level of the cave. It was quite nice: four chaise lounges were arranged in a circle around a low rectangular table festooned with elaborate dinner plates and trays of food, all of which were picked clean by the end of the evening.

“Grey, I’m really glad you’ve finally come here.” Naomi said, sipping her water.

“I am too. I’m thankful to know that I’m not the only Hunter left in the world.”

Ryder nodded and the mood grew grave as we all gave a moment for Loria and Scepta.

“Tragic,” Giselle voiced.

“Yes,” agreed Liam. “But she only did what we all swore to do upon arriving here: protect the secrecy of this place.”

“But, if every Hunter was brought down here at the same time, why was I not notified? Did no one think I would be captured?” I asked after a moment. “Could no one find me?”

There was a visibly uncomfortable shift at the table: everyone knew the answer, but no one wanted to disclose it. Ryder finally spoke.

“The truth, Grey, is that we all survived that night because of you. The Avians were after you and even though we tried to prevent them from realising you had left, your departure and their subsequent pursuit allowed us all the chance to escape before they returned to burn the castle to the ground.”

“Why could no one tell me?” I asked.

Liam took a long, slow breath.

“No one knew. When we made our way here and began to form the Underground, Lord Rasna made it very clear that you were not to be contacted. He said you were the key, the key to the one who carries the fate of them all.”

My breath caught in my throat as I recognised the same phrase that Saul had relayed fervently to me the night we were caught in the storm. Was everyone connected to my destiny, somehow? And if so, why was it so important that I not know anything?

“That was all he said?” I asked.

“Yes. He made each of us swear to not tell you about the Underground,” Naomi replied softly in remembrance. “Which made it all the more difficult when he was killed in action several weeks ago.”

My breath caught in my throat as there was a brief moment of silence for Lord Rasna. I then turned to Liam.

“Then why did you interfere yesterday?” I asked. “What was different?”

Liam was silent for a moment, staring unblinkingly at me with his icy blue eyes.

“That was an exception. You were in danger of being taken by Verrilius if you had gone straight after Forma and I had to intervene, to explain the situation to you…”

There was a pregnant pause as this information settled in the air.

“I need to take a walk,” I excused myself, feeling I had learnt enough jarring information for one day.

No one stopped me.