A Power of Old(52)

“Shadowed!” Nuriya called down to it. “We mean no harm—we pledge to protect the integrity of the stones. Leave us.”

The creature abruptly stopped groaning, its jaw now hanging slack and useless. Its shoulders hunched over, and it slowly turned around, moving back the way it had come.

My first reaction to the Shadowed was revulsion, but now it was pity.

“Those things remind me of the mindless humans at Murckbeech,” I muttered with a shiver. “What are they anyway—or were they?”

“You won’t like the answer,” Nuriya replied sharply. Her pillowy lips pursed. “It is best left unsaid.”

“Nuriya,” Claudia and Corrine pressed.

The jinni sighed, taking out the felt bag that she had brought along for the stones. She handed it to Aisha, and the younger girl opened it up dutifully. I waited for Nuriya to continue, knowing that the woman, being jinn royalty, didn’t take kindly to being prompted.

Impatient, I took out the gloves that we’d all packed for the stone collecting. If one stone could have the bizarre effect it had on Corrine, then I didn’t want to take any chances when we were faced with an entire planet of them.

I spied more Shadowed approaching in the distance. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to reach us, as they watched us from afar with their silent, open jaws. It gave me the creeps.

“The fae created the Shadowed,” Nuriya replied eventually. “The story goes that when the fae heard of the jinn dumping stones in the In-Between, they panicked. It was impossible to remove them all, so the fae used this planet as a punishment for their people…any fae banished from one of their four planets was sent here. They soon realized that the fae who remained on this planet had their minds addled—the stones took their effect, sending the banished fae into madness.”

“That’s barbaric,” I breathed. “How could the fae do this?”

“The fae can be cruel,” Nuriya replied with a shrug. “I don’t pretend to understand their ways.”

We all looked at one another. I supposed we already knew very well that fae could be ruthless—going by what Sherus and his comrades had done to my brother, hoodwinking and kidnapping him to The Underworld along with countless poor disembodied souls.

“We need to have a word with Sherus,” I concluded. “The Shadowed should be removed from this land. It’s horrible.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Mona replied, shaking her head. “We should at least give them the chance to try to be healed. I don’t know if they’re too far gone, but maybe with fae powers…I don’t know.”

“I think this is enough,” Nuriya interrupted, holding up a bag filled to the brim with the dull stones.

I nodded, adding a few more that I’d just picked up.

“Let’s go,” I replied.

As Nuriya jolted us back up into the starry galaxy, I vowed that we would speak to Sherus soon. If we were helping the fae with their request, then they needed to be mindful of the fact that the whole reason for GASP’s existence was the protection of those within the supernatural and human worlds—this included the mysterious world of the “In-Between”. Barbaric treatment of undesirables would not be tolerated… My father was not going to be pleased when he heard about this.





Ash





I left Ruby fast asleep in the cramped single bed that we’d shared. I dressed quickly, careful not to wake her. I wondered how long it had been since she’d had an uninterrupted sleep without being plagued by the worries of where her friends were, if they were safe or if she was safe. The danger was far from over; if the entity was free to rise, then none of us knew what the next few days would bring—but at least for the moment, she could rest knowing that everyone she loved was alive.

Leaving the room, I shut the door quietly behind me and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat before I left for the Fells. I wanted to get there early, hopefully without the ministers joining me, and see if I could speak to Memenion before the trials began. If he was as determined to bring down Queen Trina as I was, then perhaps we could come up with a plan. If the Acolytes were the worshipers of the entity, then once it had risen, I didn’t know where that might leave the queen—by then she might be untouchable.

The kitchen was bare except for a basket of bread on the table. I walked over and took what I could carry. I was starting to feel the effects of being unable to syphon off Ruby before the trials, and food was the only option I had for keeping up my energy levels.

“Hey.” Ruby’s sleepy voice came from the door.