Chapter 55 - Safe

Xiana writhed on the ground, her eyes wide and shining black in the light of the fire. Her hands clawed, her fingers grasping at the air as she curled up, tortured by the searing agony running through her body. Winter watched, her eyes faintly glowing copper, a strange smile on her face. She held a hand out, stopping Antrandis.

She glanced at him, “No. Let me do it.” she said simply.

Winter shook her head, walking over to Xiana and standing over her as she twisted and turned. Winter straddled her, pinning her hands behind her back as she shuddered. Looking over to Antrandis, she held out her hand, catching his looped belt and swiftly bound Xiana’s hands at the wrists.

Leaning down, she brought her lips close to Xiana’s ear, a stirring of copper in her steel eyes as she whispered, her voice cold as the abyss, “You have no idea who I am. The moment my master’s will does not bind me, I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.”

Xiana slowly turned her head to the sound of Winter’s voice, her jaw clenching as more tremors rolled through her. Winter raised her hand, readying to strike. Shaking slightly, she resisted the urge, instead pounding the ground beside Xiana’s head.

“Sleep.” said Winter, her voice loaded with power, watching as Xiana grew silent, her head lolling limply as tremors still shook her body.

Winter stood, staring down at Xiana’s form with a perplexed expression.

“I thought you were going to hit her.” commented Antrandis dryly, checking Tiffaniel’s shoulder.

Winter turned and looked at him, “I thought I was going to hit her.” a faint thread of confusion in her voice as she knelt opposite him.

Antrandis glanced at her, frowning, “Winter, could you.” he said, indicating the still open wound that no longer festered with ebon ink, but returned to inflamed and ravaged skin.

She nodded, placing her hand over the torn flesh, he steel eyes flaring as a gentle glow built in the skin around her hand, the wound pulling itself together cleanly, the inflammation receding and leaving a pinked line of new skin that would fade with time. Breathing out deeply, she checked Tiffaniel’s back and the pale grey line of fur that had started to take over. It too, also receding, withdrawing as the girl remained unconscious.

Winter slid her hand over the line of fur, “Antrandis, I can feel it. Groumangand’s disease, it has permanently changed her.” she said, frowning while looking at the girl.

He nodded, briefly glancing at Xiana. “Xiana said from now on the girl will shift into a wolf on nights of the full moon.”

Winter looked at Tiffaniel’s face sadly, “She’ll be a Were. She will have to be restrained.”

Antrandis shook his head, “No, she believes she will be something different.”

Winter’s eyebrows raised, “You believe her?”

“I have no reason not to.” he said simply.

He looked over to where Snowshadow stood near the bank of the river with the boy and gryphon. He slowly stood while Winter covered the girl, wrapping her carefully in the blanket.

“The girl’s name?” Antrandis asked.

“Tiffaniel. The boy is Groyven. And the gryphon is called Hendosphyre.”

He nodded, walking out to meet them.

“Is it safe for me to change?” asked Snowshadow.

Antrandis quickly glanced over his shoulder, back at Xiana, “For now, she won’t be waking for a while. I agree, the less she knows for now, the better. We can decide after we have heard what she has to say.” Antrandis replied as he approached them.

Groyven watched tentatively as he approached, the one Sian called Antrandis. He knew immediately that the man who had helped to heal his sister was not normal, he was an elf, but not like those he knew of. The closest comparison was Sialin, not as tall or willowy like the moon elf Illias, but instead with the dense, powerful bodies of the wilds. Like a smaller version of the Captain. He felt Sian’s hand on his shoulder. Like Sian, he walked with a bearing that Groyven could only connect to being of some type of leadership, a strength of character, of command, like the Captain and his sister Selera, but more, far more.

Groyven looked past Antrandis, watching Winter carefully wrap Tiffaniel, he frowned, looking up to see the man called Antrandis standing right in front of him.

“Your sister, Tiffaniel, will recover. It will take time, but for the most part she will recover.” the man said as he knelt on one knee before him.

“My name is Antrandis Kahn’Draneth Darkfall, I am the ruler of Meliandra and the commander of the fortress known as the Shadowfalls. Finally, I get to meet the firebrand that single-handedly fought back more than seventy wolves.”

Antrandis offered his hand, “You are in safe hands now, we will protect you.”

Groyven stood looking at Antrandis’s face, struggling to breathe. Choking on his words, a lump grew in his throat as he fought back tears. The events of the past few hours hitting him hard.

“My sister?” Groyven said struggling to get even a whisper out.

Antrandis smiled warmly, “Introductions later. After what I have witnessed, you are lucky to be standing. Come, I will take you to her.”

Groyven followed Antrandis over to Winter. Groyven quickly dropped to his knees and looked at Tiffaniel’s pale and drawn face.

“Tiff?” he whispered.

Winter looked at Groyven, “She needs sleep, maybe she will wake at some point during the night. But for now, her body needs rest. I healed the wound, and the scar will fade to nothing in time. But.”

Groyven looked at her, “But?” he asked expectantly.

“There are some things… In that bite.” said Winter, trying to be tactful.

“Cursed magic, I know.” said Groyven, “I felt it when I fought them, the black ones, their numbers only got greater. I saw the grey wolf that shielded us, I saw it start to turn black when that big wolf...” he looked up to Antrandis, suddenly concerned, “What did it do to her?”

Antrandis looked over at Xiana’s sleeping form, her arms starting to regain their colour, “Xiana is the best person to ask about how it works. She is the dire-wolf that tore apart the black one that was chasing you. She is also the one who drew out the disease that was taking over your sister.” he narrowed his eyes, “She did so at great cost to herself.”

He looked back at Groyven, meeting the boy’s eyes, “You saw the fur?”

Groyven nodded, looking back to Tiffaniel, “Is she going to be a Were-wolf, like from the legends?”

Antrandis crouched beside him, a curious look on his face, “Not exactly, the woman who helped her does not believe she will lose her mind and become a dangerous beast that kills every full moon. She halted it before it got to that point.”

Groyven met his eyes as Antrandis continued, “She will be something in between, we will have to wait and see.” he felt Antrandis’s hand on his shoulder.

“I am sorry, Groyven. We did what we could.”

Groyven shook his head, his voice choking, “I couldn’t save her. I tried, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t save her.”

Groyven’s face started to crumple as he fought back tears, “Thank you.” he whispered through his sobs, allowing himself to be drawn into Sian’s arms and embraced, the emotional toll of the last couple of days hitting him.

Antrandis watched Groyven as he cried, a frown on his face. Hearing a sharp click, he turned. The mighty gryphon, Hendosphyre stood behind him.

“His name is Hendosphyre.” Groyven said through sobs.

Antrandis glanced back to Groyven, “Groyven, I know I am a stranger and I am asking you to trust me.” Antrandis smiled , “Did you know that gryphons are an incredible judge of character? Some even say that they can look right into your soul and uncover the truth of your intent before you even know it yourself.”

He placed his hand over Groyven’s, looking him in the eye, “Let me do this to prove to you that you are safe with us, that we will protect you.”

Antrandis turned and stepped before Hendosphyre. The gryphon clicked his beak, watching Antrandis carefully as he stood before him. Antrandis tilted his head in a short respectful bow. Hendosphyre looked at the children, vocalising and then clicking his beak, finally dropping his head in a low bow to Antrandis, bending both forelegs and bringing his wings forward. Antrandis ran his hand over Hendosphyre’s beak, smiling sadly.

“Great one, you have my word.”

Hendosphyre gave another click of his beak, looking to Sian and then Winter the longest.

Winter nodded, listening to the gryphon’s words. She laughed, looking at him, shaking her head in mild amusement. Groyven watched the exchange.

“Hendosphyre trusts you. He,” Groyven turned in Sian’s arms, “You, you wear a seal of the gods and you too, Winter. He said he can feel it.”

Sian nodded her head with a small smile, noticing that Hendosphyre’s attention was elsewhere, focused on the far bank.

Groyven looked at Antrandis, “I am sorry, my name is Groyven Desilantre, my twin sister is Tiffaniel.”

Antrandis nodded, “A pleasure, I wished our meeting to be on better terms, but everything came to a head this evening.” he said, “Unfortunately I can not offer you more than the banks of the river and a fire for tonight. In the morning we will meet up with others and then you can start to tell us your story.”

Antrandis turned slightly, distracted; hearing the sound of hoof and wheels on the broken roadway over the rush of the river. Peering through the trees, he noticed light moving through the forest.

“Winter? How far away did you say Silias was?” Antrandis asked.

“I didn’t, though she said they will push on to the ruins if the road is serviceable enough for passage. If not she will send a few riders ahead with gear.”

Antrandis pointed across the river.

“Riders and wagons.” he said calmly, shaking his head.

Shadow of the Eclipse: Chapter Timeline

(Click to enlarge in new tab)