Chapter Text
Cobbled stone adorned the path of mist leading towards the obscured castle draped in the cover of nightfall. Tender laughter resonated behind encapsulated walls, filling the air with joyous glee and melodious song so compelling even the most devoid listener found themselves drawn to its symphony. It was a world she'd never seen, and yet, it held the familiarity of a life she'd been forced to release long ago: a place of blissful happiness, ballrooms, and idle chatter often laced with the bitterness of aristocratic scheming. A reality not so unlike the conniving realm of fae she’d been reborn into; the realization laced with pained acceptance not for her stolen humanity but the awakening she still struggled to face. Every step forward was met with defiance, every breath labored as the mist fought, only allowing what it wanted to be seen, what it chose. She was merely an observer in this realm and nothing more. The fog spread further, deepening into a cloud of pure ivory and in its wake, a chill began to prickle her skin.
A startling array of fiery copper locks flowing upon a gentle, snow laden breeze morphed into a flutter of flaming stems. Bristled feathers delicately swirled along the winds, an invisible waltz with the dark force desperate to clutch the fickle element to no avail. She couldn't see it nor hear it, but its ominous presence lingered there in the open - watching and waiting as though it wanted her aware of its existence. As the dance came to its crescendo, the feathers began their languid descent, scorching the earth beneath molten plumes and fiery wings.
And there it stood. No longer a realm of ice, the scenery before her shifted until it was nothing but gloom and spectral smiles. Created from the fallen tears of stolen maidens, the waters ebbed into an unnatural stillness as a shadow scoured the shores eclipsing the cobalt waves in blackened night. There was no peace, no tranquility to be found in the eerie silence as it flowed, endlessly searching for what it had lost - the key to both its resurrection and its demise. Until it saw her. A darkness so innately horrific that it called out to her like the Cauldron's siren song - a mistake she would never allow to be repeated. Never again... Drowning. Suffocating. The ceaseless pool of emptiness, the hollow purrs that caressed her flesh and preened at her beauty, her purity, all it found lovely. Torturously distorting the goodness she saw in the world with--
That haunting voice. Ancient, powerful, and all encompassing... Yearning for freedom, for release of its shackles as it lifted the charred feather into its grasp. And where the quill once rested, appeared a globe of ebony so obscure in its translucence it appeared to glow in the abyss. A single open palm reached out towards her, an invitation towards a different path whispered on the winds, a guide calling out to her in the midst of perpetual silence but its words were lost within the emptiness as night once again claimed its prey.
The raucous chuckles began to lose form, drowning out the jubilee with sheer terror. Screams that could chill the coldest heart, begging, pleading as those same walls that had once protected them became their tomb. Fingers clawed against the confines until nothing but bleeding nubs remained, cries of children so young, far too young to deserve whatever horrendous punishment this was meant to be. Such pain as mercy fell onto deaf ears and breaking hearts. Mothers cradled their children, men and women scrambled in agony refusing to accept their fate, to accept a life barricaded behind these walls - a fate made only worse as their flesh melded against the obsidian stone, taking on a jagged existence imbued with misery and endless torment - as a chorus of heartbeats released their final cry.
"Elain..."
Shattered tears streamed down her cheeks as the fae stared off into the nothingness of reality. Elain could still feel it: the warmth of crowded bodies pressed upon one another in tangled agony, the frantic pull of desperation as they fought for freedom, implored their captor upon the youngling's behalf until their very last breath - whatever cruelty they were going to face, they would bear that burden if only their children could be spared. And the children... Those innocent eyes so full of unadulterated dread at the horrors besought to them. A life cut too short, a family torn asunder yet eternally together, and tears that would never again be shed. It was all for naught except that sound, that final echo that still rang as clear as a bell. A resonating melody that had haunted her and her sanity for years but only now did Elain truly understand the depths of what she heard dazed and broken. "Their hearts are still beating," The sorrow wavered within her whispered confession as she continued staring out into the void. "I can hear them... Through the stone..." The muted words pulled taut against her throat bringing back memories of crowded rooms and silent discussions. Elain felt crazed to hear such words flow from her own lips, words that were both her own and yet not blurring together in harmonious finality. So long. For so long she’d kept it buried, abandoned until the voices faded into obscurity. Only now there was a demand behind each image that resonated behind glazed vision. But through the haze she saw him, saw the male peering down at her in solemn concern - that reticent expression betraying nothing yet the emotions that rose just beneath the surface of raging hazel spoke volumes. It was the graze of scarred digits upon her cheek, calloused fingers tenderly cupping the flesh until the reminder of who those hands belonged to drew forth clarity and a withered smile. “Azriel…”
The name was nothing more than a breathy sigh as Elain shut her eyes to the rest of the world allowing herself a moment to indulge in the Illyrian’s presence, to recall all they shared that fateful night and all that was to come for them. A leap of faith. That was all it had taken then, the first ripple unwinding their future, carefully weaving it into a tapestry of unparalleled beauty. The threads were still falling into place but with every sunrise, Elain was willing to give over another strand in hopes that their embroidery would not unravel.
The tousled ebony locks gleamed in the visage of twining starlight, illuminating beautifully bronzed flesh as rich almond crossed gilded hazel amongst the stunned silence. “What did you see?”
The vision of darkness entrapping a lone shadow in ceaseless night sprang forth as that hollow, cruel voice called out in amusement resonating within the deepest recesses of her mind. ‘I've been waiting for you, Shadowsinger.’