48. Onora
Chapter 48
Onora
T he shores outside The Darkened City were bustling with merchants and artisans. A tall mountainous volcano sprouted from the ground, rising high with green foliage rolling down to the beach and giving way to black lava rock. Three large boulders came from the water, hedging in a tide pool full of shimmering black rocks. As she and Dryston wandered closer, she realized that the rocks sparkled with a pearlescent sheen, casting glinting rainbows.
Vessels came to port and went, as demons milled about along the sands, some fishing, some lounging, others hitting up shops or restaurants. Fried fish and potatoes greeted her nose and her stomach rumbled. Dryston squeezed her hand, guiding her to a grill where they were given fish on a stick and a basket of potatoes; then they sat down to eat.
It was the new year festival and the first day that the deep-sea fishers came home, bringing a variety of goods to be sold. It had been almost three months of being here and she was settling into a rhythm, making friends and slowly integrating into the community. It felt natural, as if she had always belonged here. Yet, she often marveled at it. A much younger version of her would have been shocked to see this scene. Sitting next to her mate, a demon, on a dock surrounded by demons she called friends.
A shadow darkened the dock, and she looked up, seeing two flying beings looping around in the sky. She squinted, then Dryston let out a cry of joy—it was Enid and Avenay. Enid spotted them, waving, then tucked in her wings and dove for the dock. She landed with a thud, shortly followed by a gentle landing from Avenay.
They rushed up to them, breathless and a look of urgency on their faces.
“We have a lot we need to talk about,” Enid said.
The council hall echoed with murmurs from the members who had been gathered urgently from all over the city. Avenay walked to the table, grabbing multiple pieces of parchment out of her bag, spreading out scrolls and smoothing them down.
Dryston came up on one side of her and Onora on the other, seeing that it was the map she’d marked the location of each attack. There were the marks made by Avenay and added in were marks in red, some over the other marks, others slightly offset.
“I showed my father this map,” Avenay said. “He’d seen one with similar markings, that’s what the red is.”
“What are they?” Onora asked.
“They were other wells of magic,” Avenay said. “They were said to be portals to the void, that if cracked open would flood the world with magic.”
Prickles of fear ran along Onora’s skin, her hair sticking up. “How bad would that be?”
Avenay drew in a deep breath. “Well, that in and of itself would probably be fine. The main problem is why someone would want to crack them open. It’s an old fable, a horrible and specific spell that is said to have been sealed away in the grimoire of Evonin.”
Dryston’s skin paled. “That’s the grimoire the Cruel Lord stole from the elves.”
“The one we gave to King Leeth in exchange for protecting Kaemon and Melina,” Enid said, voice dark.
“What’s the spell?” Dryston asked.
“It’s a spell to revive a being of great power.”
As if stirred from a great slumber, the voice inside her purred.
Evoleen.
“Evoleen,” Onora repeated out loud.
Avenay nodded. “That’s what we believe it is. Opening the well in Evolis was the first step. It’s the largest, the lock.” She pointed to a red circle in the mountain range where Evolis is. “The map my father had showed Evolis as a location with a key symbol.”
That’s where she was sealed away. The voice filtered through her mind, ancient, cold, cracking.
Who are you?
Her twin sister.
“Did Evoleen have a twin?” Onora asked, and they all looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“The twin goddesses are different from Evoleen,” Enid said.
No.
“Well ...” Avenay said, pulling a face. “That’s actually a theory I’ve been working on.”
Enid crossed her arms. “What theory? You haven’t told me.”
Avenay shrugged. “Demons worship the twin moon goddesses. The one of light—the light side of the moon. And the dark side—the never-seen one. Well, there is some lore I’ve uncovered that mentions the dark one was in opposition to the light one and gave her life to seal the light one away.”
“Where did you find that?” Dryston asked.
“The temple archives. It had a lot of dust on it, I don’t think anyone had read it in a long time.”
She wanted power. All of it. She would destroy the world to consume it.
A shiver ran through Onora as she repeated the words out loud, and everyone stopped to stare at her in shock. The voice continued and she repeated it word for word.
I had to lock her away. But in doing so, I gave up my corporeal body. I was saved by a witch. Your ancestor. She took my power and sealed me inside herself, to be passed down to the eldest daughter for generations. Sleeping, waiting, watching for any sign of magic.
The room became cold, their breaths coming out in puffs and darkness swirled with shadows, a pure darkness, cold as the void, a spark flicking across it.
Will you kill me?
No, my dear, i love you as if you were my own daughter. I saw your mother raise you, and I too raised you. As I saw her mother raise her.
The darkness twining with shadows came by and caressed her cheek.
“You have the power of the other goddess?” Avenay asked, gaping.
Onora swallowed hard. “I suppose so.” Memories flashed in her mind, a flood of things that began making sense. Her mother called Onora her moon child. Being drawn to the mountain ranges where Evolis was, the birthplace of witches. “When the demons enslaved us, Varek, the Cruel Lord’s first-in-command, kept me close by, not allowing anyone to touch me or harm me. He said the Cruel Lord had a special use for me.”
Avenay chewed the inside of her cheek. “I think he intended to take the power inside you and use it to revive Evoleen. I think he occupied Nemus to crack open these wells and bring her back.”
“The temples,” Dryston said, his face pale. “He placed so many temples on ley lines in Nemus. He was trying to use them and the demonic power to bring her back. Fuck.”
“Who is behind this, then?” Onora asked. “Is it the Hunters?”
Avenay shook her head. “There’s so much chaos in Nemus right now. I can’t say.”
“What have you heard of Nemus?” Onora asked, fear gripping her for her friends.
“Nothing good,” Avenay said. “There have been a lot of border skirmishes and more attacks. From what we can gather, the attacks are happening where the marks are, or very close.”
“How many more remain?”
“Two.”
Avenay’s words echoed in the silent hall, an omen of doom.
“What happens when they are all opened?”
Avenay swallowed. “I can only assume Evoleen is fully revived, brought to her full power—perhaps even more so.”
Death. That’s what will happen, Onora. And only you have the power to defeat her.
“We have to stop it.”
The room was silent again and she looked around, the council members shifting on their feet.
“We aren’t welcome in Nemus, girl,” Makel said. “How are we to stop it?”
“This will affect everyone. Not just Nemus. Evoleen won’t stop there. She will grow in power until she consumes the whole world.”
“Let’s not be dramatic,” Salen said, laughing awkwardly. “Do we really believe all this about goddesses and magic wells?”
“Yes,” Enid said resolutely. “We’ve seen the magic, we’ve seen the people affected by it. Onora speaks the truth.”
“We have to go, and we have to try and stop her,” Dryston said. “My people will meet the challenge, who will join us?”
It was silent for a bit, Salen taking a step back, shaking his head and Makel following. But then several chieftains stepped forward, kneeling and placing fists over their hearts. The others gave pleading looks, unwilling to help. Onora drew in a deep breath. She had no idea what forces awaited them in Nemus. The demons kneeling weren’t much. But it would have to do.