Shadow's Kiss: Blood, Lust and Magic Read online

  SHADOW'S KISS

  Blood, Lust & Magic

  by

  Adria Eustis

  Copyright © 2015 by Adria Eustis

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Prologue

  CHAPTER ONE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWO | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THREE | KING DEDERICK | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER FOUR | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER FIVE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER SIX | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER SEVEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER EIGHT | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER NINE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER ELEVEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWELVE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | ADMIRAL ADAM | January, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER NINETEEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY | ADMIRAL ADAM | January, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX | ADMIRAL ADAM | January, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE | ADMIRAL ADAM | January, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THIRTY | CAIN SALEZAR | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE | JANINA | October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  EPILOGUE

  Prologue

  In ancient times, on the continent of Ainin, our ancestors constructed huge stone fighting pits. They called them Dedite's Amphitheatres, or fighting pits for short. Dedite being the Goddess of War. Crowds gathered to watched people fight to the death within those walls, for entertainment. Or as they would put it, to watch fearless warriors sacrifice their lives to the Goddess Dedite. Talented warriors gained followings and became famous for their skills in battle, but their opponents were often just slaves who'd never held a sword before. But those times died out and with it the brutality. Ainin lived for centuries in peace. Until six years ago.

  Everything was as well and good as it could be when our good King Everart ruled. Alas one day we woke up to discover Everart mysteriously dead in his sleep and his younger brother, Miles, was crowned that very morning. Miles renamed himself Dederick and his obsession with the Goddess Dedite soon became clear.

  In times long before the fighting pits, many Gods and Goddesses created our world Etath, and they walked amongst us Humans, Elves and Nymphs to teach us their ways before leaving to create new worlds. When they left they gifted their magical abilities to one hundred of the wisest men and women. And left behind countless artifacts from the Heavens, scattered across the plains of Etath. Those gifted people became known as Diviners. On Ainin the most powerful Diviner was elected ruler and the royal family began and Ainin declared a kingdom. The gift of magic is genetic and the royal family from then on would breed only with other strong and talented Diviners. As it stands today King Dederick is the most powerful Diviner in the world. Blessed with the ability to heal himself, shield himself from all harm and inflict massive amounts of pain onto others in the name of The Light. Dederick has also taken every single ancient artifact that archaeologists have ever unburied, for himself. That along with his impressive divine gifts, most importantly his impenetrable Hallowed Shield spell, Dederick is said to be undefeatable in battle. And each stalwart and loyal soldier in the army that he built in secret, whilst his brother Everart ruled, has been blessed by him with his gift of The Light, with an aura that renders them immune to pain, and grants them increased regeneration on their wounds.

  The Gods taught our ancestors that there is both and good and evil, and that the two must learn to live together. They tried to teach us that both sides came in all different forms. That all elements, every virtue and each type of wickedness in their world had deep symbolic meanings. But our new King Dederick has warped ideas of the meanings of both words: good and evil. Though each God and Goddess left her own mark on the world, he sees only two. Dedite's way of War and that of Ciorr the Goddess of Light, Peace and Justice, whom his magical gift of The Light descends from.

  But how does one go through life respecting two opposite ideas? How does he choose to appease both the Goddess of War and the Goddess of Peace? One year into Dederick's rule and Ainin became a truly new world.

  The ancient form of entertainment; Dedite's Amphitheatres, have returned - but with a modern twist. He appeases Dedite with his fighting pits. But they are no longer small stone buildings that fit crowds of a few thousand. Instead, Dederick uses an island surrounded by an impassible barrier. This Island is known as Dedite's Isle. On the island great warriors volunteer to fight for fame and fortune in the king's name. And their opponents? Well that is where Dederick appeases his Goddess of Peace. The opponents are those who should break the laws of his totalitarian kingdom.

  Dederick imposed impossible peace laws upon Ainin. Those who break them, no matter how small their crime, are labelled sinners and sent to a penitentiary on the island. The inmates are all given life sentences, and the only way out is through battle. His laws are unfair, as even those who would so much as steal a loaf of bread can find themselves on the island, fighting for their life, for the entertainment of Ainin. The events of the island can be watched throughout the day, all year round, by anyone who owns a television set. Under Dederick's reign, death is a sport and the lives of those who mock Ciorr's Peace, are meaningless.

  Although the majority of Ainin finds Dederick's ways appalling, those who rebel only find themselves, killed or thrown on the island too. Life is no longer the same, the people are no longer free. And there is no end in sight for the cruel king's reign.

  There is but one way off of Dedite’s Isle: Every battle that you win there earns you a point in the Justice System. Points for a soul sacrificed to Dedite in the name of War. And a sinner killed by your own hands in the name of Justice for Ciorr. Enough points
, and you're free to go. Free to walk home: a mass murderer.

  CHAPTER ONE

  JANINA

  October, Year of the Pearl Acacia

  Janina Ambrose stared down the sheer cliff face. She squinted her eyes in the light of the five ashen moons, trying to make out the dark fuzzy patch on the sandy beach, sixty feet below. Several small rocks shifted out from under her feet and she stepped hastily backwards as a gust of sea wind blew her long hair backwards. Her chest ached as she began the descent down the craggy path that twisted around the cliffs. Janina knew them well enough to steer them in the darkness, but she thought, if only for a split second, about purposely forgetting that there was a sudden drop to the death to step over, after the pattern in the cliff face that looked like The Devil.

  ~

  At the bottom, she knelt in the sand, her shivering hand covering her mouth. For a moment, time slipped away, and the world seemed to slow down around her. The splashing of the crashing waves close behind her sounded a million miles away.

  “Oh Maire,” she said, stroking her freezing fingers across her Aunt's cheek. “What have you done?” Maire's skin was more frigid than the sea-air that whipped at Janina's long coat and lashed at her face.

  Maire's once lively teal eyes were fixed in a thousand year stare across the waters, East, towards that Island. When she brushed her Aunt's eyelids closed, Janina never imagined she'd be closing someone else's eyes forever.

  She reached into the pocket of her coat and tugged out her ringing phone, and with a voice devoid of all colour she answered her brother's call.

  “Hi, Rohn.”

  “Nina, where are you?” He asked.

  “I'm on the beach behind the house. Come right away. I've found her.”

  ~

  Rohn must have returned from training just before the call, he arrived on the beach with fresh sweat matting his long tousled hair and wearing no coat in the harsh weather. No words were needed, she knew him well enough that his eyes told his thoughts. Rohn's world was falling from the sky all around him. Looking back up at the spot she'd first peered down from, Nina wondered if that was the same spot in which Aunt Maire had jumped from. She had to have jumped, Maire wasn't stupid enough to fall, only cowardly enough to give up.

  Rohn lifted Maire's twisted body into his strong arms and began the trek back home. At only fourteen, he made grown men look like daisies. He was the last male in the family now. What had began as a small boy in the pursuit of saving his sisters from the barbarity of the world had over time turned into determination to be a big league sportsman and the acceptance that the king's warped peace system could not be changed.

  In the small patch of land between the cliff edge and their run down back garden, Rohn dug a grave for his beloved Aunt. He threw out spade after spade of soil without stopping or breaking eye contact with the ground. Nina perched on the garden fence, the scent of the disturbed earth reminded her of her parent's burials six years before. It smelled like heartache and terrifying change.

  Nina and Rohn carefully placed Aunt Maire's lifeless body into the grave. She noticed her younger brother sniffing and wiping the sleeve of his Chen Ninzi martial arts uniform against his nose, she dug through her bag for tissues, but he pushed them away.

  “We can't tell Erisha, she's too young to understand not to say anything,” Nina said.

  “I can't believe she would do this to us,” Rohn said, shovelling dirt into the hole with a sudden fierce burst of energy. His roller-coaster of emotions was reaching the second loop, resentment was kicking in.

  “Some people just give up Rohn.”

  “Why? Why would anyone give up? Why can't they conquer the battles that life hurls at them? Why don't they even try? Why surrender like a coward?” His voice threatened to crack open and release it's tearful timbre.

  “She held on a lot longer than most. What exactly did she have to live for? She lost her husband and her own children, and what did she get? Us, three kids she'd never even met, three kids by a sister-in-law that she barely knew, from half way across the continent. This was a long time coming, and not our choice to make.”

  Nina clutched her Aunt's necklace in her fist, she had made it for her when the kind woman first took her and her siblings into her home, black leather with a scarlet heart. She blinked back her tears, couldn't have red puffy eyes when she arrived back in the house. Erisha may be only six, but she knows her own sister hiding sadness when she sees it.

  “We needed her,” Rohn snapped. Rain was falling now, mixing in with the dirt across his face, as though Maire was looking down from above and crying. Did she regret leaving us?

  “Please calm down Rohn. Let's say some words, and we'll go inside and see to Eri, she's been alone for too long.”

  He patted down the mound of wet earth and stood at her side, leaning his chin on the top of the tall spade.

  “Carohr, God of The Afterlife,

  Please accept our Aunt Maire and look after her,

  Guide her to her little baby girls,

  Perhaps they're all grown up now, do people grow in the afterlife?

  Can you even hear me, or have you all abandoned us for good?”

  Rohn's elbow dug into her side.

  “Sorry,” she continued, “Please forgive Maire for giving up, her future had no glow, but she has done so much for us and for that we are very grateful. It's time that we grow up now and make it on our own. Rest in peace, we'll not forget you Maire. And so may it be.”

  “And so may it be.” Rohn repeated.

  ~

  Inside the house, Nina pulled open the kitchen cupboard and surveyed the contents. Swallowing hard she took out the last packet of plain biscuits and divided them up onto three plates. Changing her mind, she placed half of the biscuits back on the shelf and served her family dinner with a smile.

  “Where's Auntie Maire? Why isn't she back yet, she's been gone for forever,” Erisha asked.

  “I told you Eri, she's coming back soon. Please don't ask again,” Nina replied.

  Rohn took his place at the dinner table, lit the three candles in the middle and sat back with his arms folded across his chest.

  “Not really hungry,” he said, pushing away the plate.

  Erisha scooped up a biscuit in her pale clammy hands, she had a little bite and then broke into a coughing fit. Nina stroked the back of her hand against her sister's forehead. Scorching hot.

  “She's not getting any better,” Nina said.

  “Auntie Maire was supposed to bring me medicine, why isn't she back yet?” Eri asked.

  Rohn got up suddenly from his chair and took long strides across the floorboards into his bedroom.

  “I'm going to bed,” he said sharply, on the way there.

  Nina struggled to find the right words for her sister. Her gaze spun all around the room, from the moth eaten curtains to the busted radiator and back to Erisha's bloodshot eyes, which were once a dark blue but had recently become light grey. She found it also strange that Erisha's once dark brown hair had been showing signs of greying.

  “Look, Aunt Maire was going to bring your medicine, but she's not here, but I am, and I'll get your medicine soon.”

  “Promise?” Eri said, followed by a long throaty cough. Sweat drenched her fragile little body from head to toe, but the girl wore thick clothing and her Aunt's dressing gown. Nina worked out the days in her head since Eri had first gotten sick, it had to have been at least three weeks now – she'd hoped it was just the winter flu that many other people in the town were riddled with. But whilst the other folks were back to normal within a week, her sister was getting worse.

  “Promise.” Nina kissed her wet cheek and then turned back to her meal. The mice in the attic ate better. But Maire hadn't shown up to her job as a fishmonger for weeks now, and the wages hadn't been coming in. She wasn't really hungry either, but she had to pretend normality, for Erisha's sake. Eri was only weeks old when their parents were killed in a rebellion protest against King De
derick's strict peace laws. So unlike Nina and Rohn, Eri didn't know loss, and Nina couldn't bare to find out how she'd take it. She watched her little sisters attempts at eating whilst dealing with a scratchy throat, if she could, she'd suffer the sickness in her place.

  ~

  Later that night, with Erisha tucked up asleep in her bed, Nina blew out the bedside candles and put down the story book. She stood outside Rohn's closed door, chewing at her lip almost to the point of cutting it open. The door opened slowly.

  “I can hear you breathing out here,” Rohn said. She avoided eye contact immediately after seeing the redness of her brothers eyelids.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Suppose so.”

  Nina walked inside, spinning her decorated shell bangles on her wrists nervously, she'd been standing outside for a while thinking about what to say. This conversation had been forthcoming for two weeks now, since Maire had disappeared and her return hadn't looked likely. The two siblings stood together in the chilly, dimly lit room, staring in opposite directions. Rohn's walls were covered in shining medals and trophies, each one of his cloth belts hung in ranking order from the brown coloured beginner belt that he earned at just eight years old, to the highest ranking master belt that glittered in the candle-light like a sliver of pure gold.

  “I guess I just won't go to the Ninzi Mountains,” Rohn said.

  “You've trained half of your life for it Rohn, what else could you possibly do?” Nina asked, though it wasn't a question, more of a statement.

  “We need money, now that Maire's gone so is her wage. And so are my dreams, my dreams are all gone. Out there buried with her in the muck. I know it's tragic and all, I know she was depressed and all, but gees, did she have to ruin every one else's life? Couldn't she have waited? The championships are months away and I'd have beat everyone. Everyone. I just needed time. Why Nina? Why?”

  “Calm down, this isn't her fault, she did us a favour letting us all live here, she didn't have to.”

  “I knew she never liked us.”