Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (3 page)

The scattering of pebbles echoed back. Something crawled toward them through the dark. Eloryn mentally flicked through pages of her reference books. What lives like this? Animal or fairy-kind? What other clues did she have? She looked down and saw the sticks under her feet were in fact old, fragile bones. A slithering chatter of dark words ricocheted down the cavern walls. Eloryn realized what the creatures were before they came into view. She gasped.

“What is...?” Memory’s question cut off as the monstrous shapes shambled into the light.

Flesh eaters, cave dwellers, unseelie fae. The illustrations didn’t do them justice. Human in shape but larger and malformed, the creatures were long armed, with grey hanging skin that rippled underneath, as though they were made from dripping mud. Eyes like deep holes were set in their angled skulls, black and without shine. Their yellowed teeth, too big for their mouths, smelt of death. Eloryn’s first sight of trolls shook her to the core.

“I’m guessing they aren’t your friends either?” Memory whispered.

“They shouldn’t hurt us. We should be protected by the Pact.”

“
Shouldn’t
doesn’t really do it for me right now. Like monsters
shouldn’t
be real.”

Eloryn took a deep breath, also finding no comfort in her words. They were in the trolls’ territory. The Pact would give them no protection here. Eloryn could hear the twisted voices of the creatures, speaking of their desire to crunch small bones. Her stomach lurched. The trolls moved closer, but circled, keeping their distance, testing an invisible boundary. They hissed in frustration. One repeated word reached Eloryn from the mess of whispers;
Forbidden.

“This way.” Eloryn stepped between the piles of bones, edging around the side of the cavern to another tunnel.

Memory followed close behind, barely taking her wide eyes off the trolls. She picked up a large bone, holding its broken end outwards like a weapon. The trolls laughed in response; a harsh noise, like the bones crackling under their feet. They gathered at the edge of the light, coming to them from all the dark crevices of the cave, forming a wall of sharp toothed monsters.

Eloryn whispered, “When we reach that tunnel, just run. It’s small. They might fit but we’ll move faster.”

“What if we get stuck in there? What if we can’t get out?”

“Please, trust me,” Eloryn said.

One ambitious troll surged forward and Memory swung the bone blade. It crumbled against the troll like chalk across a stone. She dropped the useless bone, but the troll backed away, choking laughter again. Just a few more tricky steps from the tunnel entrance and more trolls tensed to lunge.

“Run, now!” Eloryn cried, then spoke her words to the earth.

A trunk sized stalactite fell, crashing down between them and the trolls, shards and dust flying. Eloryn bolted into the tunnel. Memory tripped, stumbling into her. The tunnel floor dropped in front of them. Eloryn’s knees gave way and they both fell forward, rolling down the uneven rocks and steep slope faster than they would have dared to run. Hips and elbows cracked into rocks, and hands cut as she reached out to slow her fall. The tunnel’s descent smoothed and they washed up on top of a pile of broken pebbles and bones.

A blow to Eloryn’s chest left her sucking breath back into flattened lungs. Fortunately she’d chosen not to wear a corset today. She directed the glowing wisp back up the tunnel. Through the smallest gap between bends a few determined trolls could be seen making a less clumsy descent.

“Have to keep going.” She got to her feet too quickly and scraped her head, the tunnel roof too low to stand fully. Wincing from the sharp sting, she was too slow to warn Memory from doing the same. The girl spat a word Eloryn didn’t know. She guessed it was a curse.

They dashed over uneven ground, deeper into the mountain through the winding tunnel. Openings branched out on either side but Eloryn led on without hesitation, a clear direction whispered to her by the life in the earth. The tunnel stayed tight by their shoulders, sometimes pressing in closer and making them squeeze sideways through the narrow gaps, sometimes dropping in height, making them crawl. The sound of the trolls’ pursuit faded away and the girls slowed to a tired stumble.

Eloryn’s heart ached for the strange girl who blindly followed her like a lost animal almost as much as it ached for herself. Once enough stale air returned to her lungs, Eloryn gave answers to unspoken questions. She explained that the tunnel would lead them to Maerranton. The men chasing her might also head that way, it being the nearest major city, but the tunnel would be faster than travelling over the steep and heavily wooded mountain.

“Why are they chasing us?” Memory asked.

The very question Eloryn didn’t want to answer. She couldn’t tell the truth but it seemed wrong to lie to someone with no memory. What if that was a lie, that Memory remembered nothing? Alward often chided her for being too trusting.
Just give the simplest details,
she told herself.

“My guardian is a wanted man. Those who associate with him are also considered to be criminals. They will no doubt believe you were with us too, having seen us together. I’m sorry. Please believe that he’s a good man though, that we are no harm to anyone.”

“You said ‘Wizard Hunters’ before. Is it not allowed, being a wizard? Doing that stuff you were doing?”

Eloryn cringed, and planned her words. “All but the simplest of behests have been outlawed.” Eloryn shook her head, upset at herself. “Alward, he would be furious if he knew I had been casting in front of a stranger. You wouldn’t... I hope...”

“Turn you in for it? No chance.” Memory looked as if she could laugh. She waved a hand toward Eloryn’s wisp that lit their way. “I feel crazy even talking about magic like it’s real, but I’m seeing it right now so I guess I’m crazy.”

“The magic,” Eloryn continued, “it could explain your memory loss. When a powerful spell goes wrong, it can often steal memories. A Veil door is a very powerful spell...”

“And it really went wrong? Ugh, just thinking about how that felt is all kinds of wrong, like the worst thing ever.” Memory shuddered. “But worse.”

Eloryn shook too, remembering reaching for Alward, her hand passing through his, leaving him behind. “It was interrupted. I went in and where I came out wasn’t where we planned. It shouldn’t have been possible, but you were there, caught part way, stuck between the world and the Veil. I helped pull you free.”

“Thanks, for that. Damn lucky you didn’t just leave me stuck there,” Memory said.

Eloryn blushed. “It didn’t occur to me to do so.”

Memory did laugh this time. “It probably would have been the right decision by the sounds of things. I was a perfect escape goat for the slaughter.”

Did she mean scapegoat?
Eloryn’s face flushed even more and she looked away.
Who would consider doing such a thing?

“But thanks, anyway, for not,” Memory added.

A loud grumble from Memory’s stomach broke the awkward silence. They had been walking for what felt like hours, and Eloryn noticed her own stomach was also hollow and hurting.

“Will you share some food with me? I have enough for us both.” Eloryn tried to hide the pain in her voice. It should have been her and Alward sharing this bread. She took it from where it sat upon the travelling cloaks that covered her and Alward’s most precious belongings. She tore the loaf and handed half to Memory.

“God this is good. Thanks. I don’t know when I last ate. Literally,” Memory said with a stuffed mouth.

“I wish I knew how you appeared, that I could give you more answers. Whether you were in the forest already, or it brought you from somewhere else, or...”  Eloryn let her musings fade out. She had read other explanations in Alward’s research. Darker, scarier, more complicated alternatives she would keep to herself, not wanting to give more worry to her already confused companion.

“I wish even more I knew where I was before that. I mean, how am I supposed to find my way home?”

“Alward,” Eloryn mumbled between nibbling on her bread. A flash fire of guilt passed through her to say his name. What would he say, when he found out it was her fault they were found? “He spent much of his life studying the Veil and doorway spells. He must know everything there is to know about them.” Eloryn hesitated. She had to decide once and for all whether she would trust this girl. Her heart could find nothing to distrust, felt only warmth and sadness for her, empathy stronger than the warnings that came to her in Alward’s voice. “We have another home in the south of Avall, on Rhynn island, that we were to go to if we were found here. That is where I am going and... You can come too, if you like. It is at least part my fault to have brought you into this danger, so I will help you as best I can, and am sure Alward will too.”

“If you think he can help me get my memories back, help me get home, I’m Team Magic all the way.”

“I’m sure he can.” Even though they were separated, Alward would come for her, and if he couldn’t find her he would wait for her on Rhynn. Those men couldn’t catch him, couldn’t hold him. He was too clever, too powerful, and she needed him. She fought back a persistent fear that tore at the fringes of her thoughts.

The two girls trudged onwards, dragging their tired bodies through the rough tunnel.

“Just one more question,” Memory asked after a short silence. “Is life always like this?”

She had looked at him as if he were some kind of animal. Worse. A monster. The terror in her eyes crushed his heart, as though the rockslide that closed the cave entrance had also fallen on it.

He had waited for her for so long. He ran the moment he heard the noise, that same gusting howl he remembered from his first night in this world, coming from the very same spot. The night he would never forget. Just how long had it been? The years felt longer for being unable to count them, but shorter for his time spent with the fae. So long, lost in that forest, doubting he’d ever see her again, that his memories of her were even real. But here she was, looking just the same. Same age, same hair, same clothes, even the same bruises as the day he had lost her. He no longer doubted.

The dust from the rockslide cleared and the hunting men who had chased the girls still surrounded him. Them and the dragon. It circled above, waiting for something. To give the men their next order? He shifted his eyes upwards uneasily. He’d never seen a dragon before. They were legendary, even to the fae he knew, and scarce.

The men coughed and swore, wiping dirt from their eyes. They looked at him, wondering how he fitted into their chase, turning to their leader for guidance. He’d been mistaken as an animal by hunters before. He didn’t like hunters. A growl rumbled from his throat.

If it hadn’t been for him, those men would have caught her. He would not let anyone hurt her again. Not now that he was stronger. Getting out of this corner himself mightn’t be so easy, but he had the advantage. This was his forest.

He sized up each of the men, picking the weakest of the herd. That bald one, who stood there puffing with a little too much weight and already winded from the chase. He sprang at the man without warning. Landing on his rounded shoulders with both feet, he pushed off, using the man’s height to launch higher. He burst through a spray of leaves and wrapped a hand onto a thick branch, swinging himself up onto another. Behind him the men milled about, delayed by confusion, too busy yelling at each other over their lost prey.

Their voices grew dim behind him. He ran across branches as though they were solid ground.

His mind raced even faster.
Why didn’t she recognize me? Have I changed that much?
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a mirror. That sort of thing lost its meaning out here in the woods, until today. Seeing her again made him think of things he hadn’t thought of for half a lifetime. Things like mirrors, showers, soap.

The hunters were far behind by the time he slowed and dropped back to the forest floor. He brought his hands up in front of his face. Black earth and muck painted his pale skin. He picked up his pace again, heading to the nearest stream.

He stopped abruptly. He wasn’t thinking straight. He’d finally found her again, and lost her within the same moment. Washing could wait. He had to go after her, and he would need help.

“Mina?” He didn’t call loudly. She always heard him anyway. It was up to her if she came or not. He knelt down on a patch of moss between the vast trees and lichen-covered boulders, preparing himself to wait for her arrival.

“You didn’t have to call me. We’re already here.” She giggled behind him, her voice more familiar to him than his own.

He stood back up and turned to see Mina, accompanied by a large host of other fairies. No matter how often he saw them, he never got over the sight of the fae. It made his heart ache and beat faster just to be in their presence. He’d learned names for some of the forms of fae he had seen in his life here. Piskies, elves, sprites, fairies, gnomes, names he knew from the myths of his childhood. Mina would have been a sprite. Her true form was tiny, glowing, a dazzling flicker of sparkling light. But he knew she could take other forms, as could most of the seelie fae. Despite their names, their categories, they were each unique, changeable and perfect.

Before him now, Mina stood as tall as he did, able to look him straight in the eye. Her vibrant fiery hair lifted around her with a life of its own. She flashed a heart stopping grin at him. A dozen more sprites shimmered in the branches nearby. Watching from behind tree trunks, a few also took larger forms, some with skin tinted green or gold, some with wings, some without. He recognized Yvainne amongst them, walking – gliding – toward him, her clothes woven from strands of cobweb silk, blossoms and dew drops that drew delicate patterns across milky skin and hung in flowing waves.

“Something new has come to the forest that will affect us all.” Her voice tingled in his ears.

He knew his place, and bowed. “It’s her. The one I waited for.”

Mina scowled.

Met with silence, he continued. “Men too, and a dragon. They chased her and another girl into the troll caves.” His heart lurched. That split second decision he made could have killed her. He’d planned to follow, keep her safe, but then the cave entrance crumbled, separating him from her again.

Yvainne’s eyes fluttered, irritated maybe, or bored.

“I want to find her. Can I... Could you help me?” He knelt down, bowed further, holding his breath.

“You should know she is not right. Within her there is something unnatural, something dangerous. She is not the way you remember her.”

“Please.”

Yvainne turned her back on him and began gliding away.

He jumped to his feet, taking a step after her. “Please!”

“We will be following her.” Irritation clear in her voice, she didn’t turn back to look at him. “She needs to be watched. Mina is coming with us, so I assume you will too.”

She faded out of sight while her last words still rang through the air. Other sprites around her twinkled and vanished like stars disappearing at dawn.

Mina remained standing next to him. “
Her.
”

He turned around with an apology on his lips, but Mina already grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. He was used to it now, how her moods shifted so fiercely. He smiled back at her. He couldn’t help it.

“They know where she is. We’ll follow later,” Mina said, all chimes.

He itched to leave now. After so long, he didn’t want to wait a moment when she was so close. He started to wonder what he would do when he found her again. So long... and he’d never thought of that, only thought of finding her, making sure she was safe. Could they go home? She didn’t even recognize him... But those men chased her as though they knew her. And that dragon. Why?

Mina leant up against him, toying with his arm, tracing the muscles and scars with a long finger.

“Do those men follow the dragon? Is that why they chase her?” he asked.

“Her!” Anger flared in Mina’s eyes and her orange hair lifted in matching flames. She let his arm drop and stalked away from him. “Those men try to leash the dragon. They give him orders. How could they? Fool men! Better to leash fire or thunder! Using that desecrated flute, that abomination. They will burn for it one day.” Mina growled, and a shower of glitter dust shook from her.

“The men control the dragon?” He couldn’t understand. He knew the sort of power the fae had and even to them dragons were of unimaginable might. “Tell me how, I don’t understand.”

“Maybe later.” Something shifted in Mina’s eyes and she smiled again, bringing her hands up in front of her. Luscious berries of rainbow tones spilled from them. “Come and eat with me.”

His flesh shivered over his bones, his whole body pulled with desire. He had no words to describe the flavors of fairy foods, the magic they made him feel. Mina stood in front of him like a picture straight from his memory. The very first time he’d met her, she stood just the same way, holding wondrous food when he had been so, so hungry. With an almost painful effort he closed the hunger away. He tried to sound neutral when he replied. “I can catch my own food now. I’m not hungry.”

Mina hissed, and threw the food on the ground. It grayed and rotted in an instant. In a flash and a blink, she was small enough to stand on the tip of a finger, and shot away into the forest like a shooting star.

“Mina, I’m sorry.” No sign or sound of her returned. “Mina?” A clammy sweat crept over his skin. He had to stay on her good side, or she could - she would - leave him behind. She’d left him on his own countless times before, for days, weeks, months, as punishments for the slightest affront. He didn’t mind being on his own, but now he needed her help. He looked around wildly for a sign of the fairy’s trail, running after her, faster than he’d ever run in his life.