Phantammeron Book One Read online

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  There had returned to the Gardens of Abrea another being, dark and dolorous. The Shade had hid in the depths of the woods, watching the destruction of Abrea from afar. But she had watched in horror as Agapor had fallen before her terrible brother. And she heard his cries and felt his suffering from afar, waiting till the light of the One Tree should dim.

  She then came to him when the dews of the twilight mist were thickest, his pitiful cries having ceased, seeking his dying form hidden within the tangled vines of the garden. With her dark feathered-wings unfurled, she reached down and took Agapor in her arms. She then flew from Phantaia, carrying him far from that cursed wood, drifting upon the ethereal winds of Midnight, beyond the Dreaming Seas, and into the deepest pits of icy Oblivion.

  There she laid him upon a bed to rest alone within his candlelit chamber. She then lovingly tended to his wounds. But he would not awaken. For he tossed within the nightmares of his own mind, haunted still by his loss and yet the horror of his own vow still unfulfilled. His daughter was gone, his family destroyed. And he had lost all power over the Realms of Oblivion. For both the iron manacles and the dark ring had been taken from him. And so a sickness of mind and spirit soon crept over him.

  But the Shade loved him truly and would not abandon him in his time of need. And for a time her love alone sustained him, though it was itself doomed. She stood beside Agapor many nights as he struggled to stay alive. But the poisonous wound of the Shadow would not heal. Yet the Shade would not let him perish. So she bled forth her own essence into his mouth so that he would yet be saved. Weakened, she remained beside him and cared for him, night after night, until he at last awoke.

  Agapor cried out in agony. For trapped in his madness, he saw only the dark face of the Shadow. He then collapsed back into a cruel and torturous sleep, so that even in his dreaming mind he had sought death. The Shade then held him to her. When he was asleep again, she left him. In the midst of his dark laboratories, she then summoned his alchemists to her, commanding them to fashion a magical potion to heal his madness and clear his mind.

  But when the Shade, triumphant, returned with her enchanted brew, she saw that Agapor was gone. In desperation she sought to find him, racing through the shadowed halls of the underworld, crying out for him. She then saw dark trails of blood on the cavern floors, leading forth into the darkness.

  She followed their dark traces through many winding and twisting tunnels, until she had come to a great cliff that fell away into the gray depths of the Great Beyond. There upon a ledge stood Agapor alone. The Shade then looked in terror at the abominations that lay waiting for him in the abyss below.

  The Shade stood in shock as Agapor walked to the edge of the cliff. But hearing the presence of the Shade, he turned to look upon her. “I made a terrible vow to these spirits for the life of my daughter. But never again must evil threaten her, or her children. And so must I fulfill my vow. I will surrender myself in return for her life, so that she and Phantaia may live, undisturbed and unharmed, ever after,” said Agapor.

  The Shade ran to him. And he held her again as they kissed, one last time. Wiping tears from her face, Agapor then said to the Shade, “My love, you must return to the land of your father. For something there yet remains for you to do.” Agapor spoke again, as he looked into her tear-filled eyes, “Complete the will of your father. This you must do for the children of the world.” Agapor looked into her eyes one last time, as he let go of her hand. He then fell backwards, falling away, disappearing in the mists below. Agapor was gone. And like his mother never again would his form or spirit be known in this world.

  The Shade then fled away from Oblivion, never to return.