Shades of Grey

L’ÎLE DU DIABLE— FEBRUARY 1843

I awoke with both my wrists tied to two tall poles above my head; my legs bound with copper cuffs to a platform beneath me. I groaned inwardly and hung my head as my breathing became laboured. Hunters had an unfortunate genetic allergy to copper and I was beginning to feel the debilitating effects.

The entire Nemorosa tribe stood in a nearby throng encircling the platform, laughing and jeering like Yahoos as they threw rocks and bits of refuse at me. I gasped for breath as the familiar rash began to spread up my extremities, but I was determined not to fall prey to the Nemorosa torture tactics. I remained as stoic as possible, cursing the fact that they had taken my bandoleer of weapons.

At long last, Chief Sirva stepped to the front of the circle and held up his hands, halting the shower of debris and silencing the irate crowd.

Chief Sirva crouched down to my eye level and gripped my hair, sharply pulling my head back and examining my face with a critical eye, noting the rash that had now spread to my neck.

“What is your name, Hunter?” he asked with almost menacing calm.

“Grey Echo,” I murmured through clenched teeth and wheezing sighs.

A gasp of horror swept through the crowd and Chief Sirva’s face hardened in odious recognition — he knew my name and for some reason it had educed a dark, powerful hatred.

“What?”

“Are you any relation to Willania Drake Echo?” he asked with visual animosity.

I searched my memory, recalling the name from Rodag’s reference the previous day: the Hunter who nearly destroyed all of their species…

“I have no idea,” I replied honestly.

Chief Sirva grew impatient and he rubbed his hands together, looking at me with seething ire.

“Then remember!”

He then placed his hands on the sides of my face and I cried out as I felt my skin begin to burn. Instantly, I was accosted with a barrage of unfamiliar memories — names and faces I could only briefly see before they disappeared. One of the more clouded memories then suddenly linked the name Willania Drake Echo to the face of a woman I recognised.

“Mother!” I cried instinctively.

I felt Chief Sirva’s hands lift from me, pulling me out of the whirlwind of memories and leaving only a burning sensation on my skin. Chief Sirva stood still for an austere moment and then walked off the platform, whispering to the attending Nemorosa guards. I tuned in to the conversation and managed to hear the last of his words.

“...and eliminate her.”

“NO!”

Every eye shifted immediately to the left for the source of the unexpected voice as Rodag ran onto the platform and crouched in front of me, blocking me from Chief Sirva. He looked at Rodag in puzzled aggravation.

“Rodag, she is a Hunter: she has come to eradicate us,” he said slowly.

“I understand, Chief Sirva, but she is not like the Hunters that have come before her!” Rodag cried.

“What do you mean?”

Rodag stood and walked behind me, untying the ropes from the poles and unlocking the cuffs around my legs, promptly throwing them out into the jungle so I could recover my strength. I collapsed to the ground in weakness, looking up at the striking Rodag as he stood between his hostile tribe and me.

“She is willing to listen to us about the Tyragnon. She is young and not so prejudiced against Creatures. She—”

“—reminds you of your late lover, who was so unfortunately lost to the Tyragnon?” finished a snide Nemorosa standing to the left of the platform. This comment incited muffled gossipy whispers, which ceased instantly when Chief Sirva held up his hands. Rodag looked at the chief pleadingly.

“Please, Chief Sirva, she is not like the others. Release her. This is not the Nemorosa way.”

Chief Sirva studied Rodag and then looked at me, cowering dumbly at his feet as I recovered from the copper exposure and then spoke in a soft whisper.

“Don’t you ever tell me what is the way of the Nemorosa, boy! I have lost countless men in the battle to protect the ways of the Nemorosa.”

There was a sharp, angry silence before Chief Sirva brought the back of his hand across Rodag’s jaw.

“There are penalties for insolence, boy!”

The Chief brought his staff into Rodag’s gut, knocking him off his feet onto the ground next to me.

“Are you alright?” I asked quietly, watching him stand.

“…fine…” he exhaled, leaning into me for support.

“NO!” a voice cried from the back of the crowd. A woman then ran up and stood in front of Rodag, her physiognomy just as dark and attractive as his.

“Anyma, please; he has spoken,” said the chief coolly. “He has condemned himself.”

“He is not in his right mind! Please, high chief, believe me when I tell you that since the death of his love he hasn’t been well!” she cried.

Though I understood she was trying to protect him, I felt it irresponsible of her to appear as his apologist and then to call him insane. Rodag felt the same.

“Mother, please. I know what I’m doing.”

He gently urged her off of the platform into the crowd, regaining his strength from the chief’s attacks.

“I don’t want to lose you too! I don’t want you to lose your powers and be cast out into the jungle! Please Rodag! Stop this foolishness!”

Rodag simply stared at her, cold and indifferent as a Laodicean. He then released my bonds, helped me to stand and led me quickly away from the stunned crowd. We had not taken more than six steps before the chief gave the ominous command.

“RETRIEVE THEM!”

The silent crowd behind us then became a loud, roaring monster as they raced obediently after us, shouting and ejaculating things in their native tongue that chilled me to my core.

“Keep up,” Rodag commanded, releasing his hold on my waist and proceeding to run at breakneck speed through the thick jungle. I matched his speed easily, ignoring my perterbation at his masculine assumption that I would not be able to do so.

The angry Nemorosas continued to chase us through the thick brush, throwing stones and other large objects in our direction. I managed to dodge most of them, but one can only do so much while running at full speed under fire.

“Take that, Hunter!” snapped a young voice from behind me. Seconds later I felt an arrow pierce my right shoulder. I buckled, falling to my knees. I reached up and touched the tip of the arrow protruding through the front of my shoulder. The mongrel had completely pierced me!

The Nemorosa crowd wasted no time. Half of them continued their pursuit of Rodag while the other half immediately looped ropes around my neck and limbs, readying to take me back to the camp where I would surely be executed. My Commencement night fears of worthlessness returned swiftly.

“You will get what you deserve, Hunter!” sneered the man who had shot me.

I screamed briefly as he ripped out the arrow and the blood fell down my uniform in torrents. The crowd was then about to drag me back to the camp when a sudden movement in the distant canopy of the forest caught their attentions, leaving me visually unattended.

“What was that?” someone wondered.

“Could it be a wood nymph?”

“Or Terre Sprite?”

“No matter what it is, we shall crush it like we have crushed this filthy Hunter!”

The crowd laughed in agreement at the confident statement and just as they were about to turn back to me, Rodag leapt out of the canopy and quietly sliced all of my bonds with his blade. He then wrapped his arms around me and leapt back into the canopy, all within a fraction of a second and without any sound.

“Oy, where did she go?!” cried the man who had held my ropes once the crowd turned back to me. “She was here just a moment ago!”

The group that had continued to chase after Rodag re-joined the others, grossly out of breath.

“We lost Rodag. He is too fast.”

The angry Nemorosas then began to disperse, searching for the two escaped fugitives that were at the moment sitting safely on a strong branch right above their heads.

“How did you do that?” I asked as I pulled out my analgesic and proceeded to douse the gaping hole in my shoulder. I winced as it cauterised and sealed.

“I didn’t. It was a passing Black Troll. I just ran out of sight and leapt into the canopy as it passed over them.”

He laughed at the rousing good luck we had just encountered. I chuckled once in agreement and pulled myself up as my wound healed.

“Thank you,” I said as my strength slowly returned.

“No thanks are needed. What is needed is for you to recover Forma and escape this island. Follow me.”

He leapt out of the canopy and ran in the opposite direction that the rest of the Nemorosas had run.

“Where would they have taken her?” I asked, following swiftly.

“Fairies of any kind are brought directly to the Tyragnon, which presents a problem.” Rodag looked at me apprehensively.

“What?” I asked with misgivings.

“The Tyragnon have very…er…specific facial features.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t they Nemorosa as well?”

“They were, but living inside the mountain for generations has changed them. We only see them during their very rare sweeps of the island when they ensure we are all maintaining good conduct and even then few of us actually see them. When we do, it is not something we like to dwell upon.”

I shivered in anticipation. How hideous could these Creatures possibly be?

At that moment, we turned a corner and came upon the face of the great volcano I had seen from the beach, but I saw no entrance as we stood outside of a menacing black brick and mortar gate that circled the mountain. There was no way in.

“What do we do?” I queried. “There’s no door.”

“Just follow my lead,” Rodag said confidently.

I nodded, feeling a little lost in the role of follower instead of leader as Rodag led me over to the gate.

“What are we waiting for?” I whispered.

“Ssh!” He scolded.

I closed my mouth and listened. A huge carrier wagon then drove slowly past us, lead by what appeared to be a cross between a horse and a bison.

“What is that?” I mused aloud.

“Now!” Rodag grabbed my hand and we leapt inside the open back of the vehicle, which unfortunately happened to be filled with garbage.

“Wonderful,” I cried adroitly in detest.

“Shush! Get back against the wall.”

I obeyed and waited as the driver of the carrier received clearance to pass through and drove forward. I clapped my hand over my mouth, trying not to gag at the putrid odour.

“Wait for it,” Rodag whispered. “We are going to jump out in a minute.”

I nodded as we waited for a moment or two more until we felt the vehicle come to a stop.

“The driver is leaving. Look outside carefully.”

I attempted to imagine the sight of a Tyragnon, but nothing could prepare me for seeing one in the flesh. I had to cover my mouth again to muffle my horrified gasp.

A huge, hulking Colossus of a man came loping around the cart to pick up some papers from a slot in the wall, grunting and groaning with each step. His insane eyes were orange with a black oval pupil like a tiger’s eye, and his pale deformed skin was nearly viridescent in the dim lighting. Three bone spikes extended from each forearm, matching several more spikes that ran down its hunched back. I swallowed nervously.

“Alright, now step out and use your disguise cloak,” Rodag said, noticing my disgust. “Return here and go down that staircase after you’ve retrieved Forma. It leads to the loading docks where I will be waiting with the escape ship.”

I nodded slowly and withdrew the Pallitus, throwing it over my shoulders as I slipped out of the cart, concentrating on the monstrous Grendel I had seen moments earlier.

“How do I look?” I asked in a low, malformed voice, turning to the cart.

Rodag’s eyes quickly swept up my frame.

“Inconspicuously ugly. Now stop looking at me and go search for Forma!”

I turned and began walking, without the slightest knowledge of where I was going but trying to appear as though I did. My acting skills had never been very strong.

“Forma! Can you hear me?” I called, stretching the boundaries of our mental connection as far as they would go.

“Grey? Grey! Help me!” Forma’s voice was weak and distant, but I heard it.

“Alright, I can barely hear you. Keep talking.”

Forma took this opportunity with a vengeance and even in her weakened condition she found endless topics on which to relay her opinions. I tried to listen to the steady increase in her voice as I got closer to her while also trying to acknowledge the other ugly Tyragnon members as I walked passed them, easily clearing security until I got to the Fairy holding cells and was stopped by the warden.

“What is your purpose…here?” he asked in a gruff, intermittent voice, splitting the sentence with a loud intake of breath. I pursed my mouth in disgust.

“Where is…the Maisling?” I asked in an equally spasmodic manner.

“At the end…of the hall, why?” he replied.

“She’s got to be…moved. Another Fairy was just apprehended…and we are in need of a cell.”

The warden looked me up and down through squinted eyes, completely doubting my legitimacy.

“What’s your…name?”

I panicked and quickly ran through possible actions in my head and I went with my first instinct.

I unsheathed the Tyragnon weapon sitting on my hip and I drove it into the warden’s gut, barely making a sound. The warden slipped to the floor and as it breathed its last, I ripped out one of its teeth and placed it in my pocket under the cloak to be added later to my necklace.

The hallway was filled with screaming Fairies, all of them frantically calling for my help which I desperately wished I could give, but I could focus only on one Fairy cry.

“Forma!” I cried as her telepathic voice became unbearably loud in my head. The instant she heard my voice, she halted her psychic ranting and tried her best to verbally call to me.

“Grey!” she called faintly in exhaustion.

In a flurry of anger towards the Tyragnon, I kicked the door down and ripped off my cloak.

A natural-sized Forma was bound atop a large pile of burning wood. The flames danced quickly up the tinder, getting closer and closer to her.

I ran to her and cut her ropes swiftly with my Flamesword, quickly grabbing her and leaping off the pyre, just as the flames reached the top.

“Are you alright?” I asked softly, gently turning her over in my hand as she gasped for breath.

“I’m fine, Grey, we need to go! They’re coming!” she warned between gasps.

I looked up and heard furious footsteps approaching our current location. I slipped Forma into my pocket so she could rest and I wrapped the Pallitus over myself once more, walking casually out of the cell and quickly down the hall just as the other wardens arrived at the scene.

“FIND HER! THE HUNTER IS HERE!” called one of them angrily.

I immediately began running in one direction, but I was soon caught in the stampede of Tyragnon officers headed the opposite way. Fighting the stream, I attempted to appear as though I had a feasible reason for going in the opposite direction of the rest of the squadron. They did not accept this at all.

“Where are you… going?” shouted one of the larger wardens as he clapped me on the shoulder and forced me to turn back to him. Unfortunately, this movement also succeeded in rustling my cloak and exposing my boots, which they all noticed instantly.

“It’s her! It’s… the Hunter!”

I wasted no time. As soon as the realisation had spread throughout the entire crowd, I whipped off my cloak and drew my Flamesword in one smooth motion, bringing its unlit blade across the face of the warden that had touched me. This movement caught the stupid brutes off guard and allotted me a chance to run down the hallway with as much speed as I could summon.

“After… her!” cried the warden with the split face.

The others obeyed with cacophonous, dumb outcries of adrenaline and thundered after me. I was faster, however and ran out of their eyeline before I managed to slip behind a small door that, to my intense dismay, happened to lead to a water closet. Apparently, the Tyragnon saw no particular reason to clean their water closets or to properly dispose of their own deposits. I covered my mouth and my nose in revulsion, listening as the dumb wardens stampeded loudly down the hall.

“Ugh, what is that smell? Did you take a wrong turn into a sewage drain or something?” Forma said through a disgusted cough from my pocket.

“I’m sorry. I had to hide from the wardens.”

“Well, think before you open a door next time or I might throw up in your pocket.”

I laughed quietly and carefully opened the door as I heard the sounds of the wardens dying in the distant hallways. Once I saw that the hall was empty, I sprang from the water closet and ran as fast as I could down to the garbage vehicle Rodag and I had used to gain entry, trying to inhale the steely aroma of metal and erase the malodorous water closet from my olfactory memory.

I remembered Rodag’s instructions and turned to the staircase next to it: the wide, black, ominous looking staircase…

I swallowed my apprehension and ran down the staircase to a brightly lit cave with a long docking platform where several beautiful ships sat anchored. Outside, the sun shone overhead and cast warm rays of sunlight over the still fleet, a picture of virtual normalcy amidst the chaos that ran rampant on the island of the Tyragnon.

“Grey!” Rodag called when he saw me. “Over here!”

I ran down the docks to the second to last port where Rodag stood hoisting the anchor of a charming blue caravel.

“Hurry, get on. They’re coming,” Rodag urged as he pulled the anchor into place.

I leapt on the boat just as the doors to the dock burst suddenly open and at least twenty Tyragnon members ran toward the ship, screeching at us dumbly.

“HALT! No one is to board a ship without proper clearance!” they cried.

“How is this for clearance?!” I threatened, drawing my Flamesword.

Rodag and I sailed back over the ship’s railing once more and immediately began our attack. My Flamesword moved smoothly around each of their swords in an intricate dance, cutting down Tyragnon after Tyragnon as I easily recalled the skills Lord Daryn had spent ten years teaching me. I did better than I thought I would for it being my first real swordfight.

“Grey! Go!” cried Rodag, locked in combat with four Tyragnon members.

“I can’t leave you to fight them yourself!” I cried, cutting down three members with one strike.

Rodag leapt out of the fracas, grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him while the Tyragnon worked to get up off of the floor.

“Yes you can.”

“But you’ll be executed for helping me!”

Rodag then grabbed my wrist and before I could stop him, he threw me across the harbor onto the deck of the caravel.

“Forma! Hold her there!”

Forma was too happy to oblige, turning into a silverback and wrapping her large limbs around me.

“NO!” I cried, trying to fight her as best I could. “Forma, let me go!”

“I don’t think so,” she replied smugly, squeezing tighter.

I fought harder, watching Rodag bravely fight all the Tyragnon, but even a skilled fighter could not see in all directions at once. I gasped in horror as one of the ugly brutes jammed a sword up through Rodag’s back.

My scream echoed off the walls of the dock as Rodag fell to his knees. The tip of the sword stuck just out of his skin and blood fell in surges down his bare, tattooed chest. He looked downward, gently touched the blood and then looked up at me with a look of serene tranquillity. He reached for me with bloody hands and then collapsed to the ground.

With Rodag dead, the Tyragnon turned their attention fully to me.

“NO! STOP! You are breaking the—”

I looked over at the motionless Rodag as Forma opened the caravel’s sails and we were carried out to sea.