Midnight Dawn

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished.

The small, light green stream of the Cascade began to froth into a deep, effervescent river and soon grew to be a vast lake.

Were the Cascade a body of water like any other, this would have been a disaster. The entire settlement of Vyren's Harbour disappeared in less than an hour, swallowed by the mana stream's embrace. The Cascade, however, is not just a body of water. The Cascade is pure magic itself, and one that we all depend upon to live. The one rule that everyone learns, one of the very first lessons taught to a child, is to NEVER enter the Cascade. Whoever or whatever enters the Cascade does not emerge the same.

The raw essence of power contained within the swirling liquid tends to twist matter in grotesque ways. We call the creatures that claw themselves out Revanants. Their bodies are often contorted in unnatural ways, hooked appendages twitching in violent anticipation. The shape of the bodies always differ, but the eyes... the eyes are always the same. At first they seem bloodshot, pulsing veins straining against the light of the world, but soon they always turn red as blood, shimmering with the incandescence of torchlight.

As I said, if the Cascade were just an ordinary brook of water this would have been awful.

This was calamity.

By the time the screams started it was far too late. Entire houses were covered up and the inhabitants with them. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and even their pets sunk beneath the great deluge under the moon's midnight glow.

I never thought my family's destitution would prove to be our saving grace. The closer you live to the Cascade the greater your power and we had very little.

The name Vyren's Harbour is meant as a mockery from the aristocratic types in the Kingdom of Auren. They had built their settlement around the largest swaths of the Cascade. Vyren's Harbour was at the tail end of the Cascade's flow where the brooks ran as barely a trickle. It wasn't much but it was enough for the most pitiful conjurations or evocations.

Our house was nestled into a nook my father had cut into the Evergrowth Forest, half a days hike to Vyren's Harbour. Thanks to our remote proximity, we were able to cling to our meager tranquility just a little longer, like a soft blanket shielding us from the horrors to come.

But come they did.

"Theo, did you hear that?" I woke to small hands prodding my shoulders. Her fingers worrying into the hem of my sleeping tunic. "Theo, wake up!" she urged in an elevated whisper.

"What do you want Sylvie? Was it another of nightmare?"

I looked into her face, and saw it etched in a grimace of fear. She had come to me many nights seeking solace from the terrors of her sleeping mind. I would often oblige, counting it as one of the many requirements fitting my station as the elder brother.

"Something is outside." she hissed

"We have been over this countless times Sylvie. We live by the Evergrowth, there are so many animals out there, it would strange if we didn't hear them pass by from time to time."

"No, no. This sounded different I swear."

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and sat to look out the window, just as I had done countless times before. It was always easier to calm her down if I humoured her just a little.

I swept the glade outside with lidded eyes, seeing nothing out of place.

"Nothing out of place. You can sleep here if you..." a dull scraping outside stole the words from my mouth. It sounded like a dagger had been dragged across one of the trees.

"See?" she whispered. Her curly brown hair was clung to the sides of her tear dampened face.

I put my finger to my lips and pat her head, slowly shifting my weight off the bed and grabbing my makeshift spear. Most of the time the animals around us left us alone, but occasionally a hungry wolf or other nasty beast decided to test its luck against ours. I always wished I had a sword. All the knights got to carry a sword but in the end a spear just made sense. I spent most days wielding farm implements like rakes and hoes and I know the uses are completely different, the feel is similar enough.

"Where are you going? You can't go out there!" Sylvie squeaked.

"I'll be right back. With luck this may mean I don't have to go hunting tomorrow." I said, forcing a sliver of levity to my hushed voice.

I pried her fingers from my clothes, set her on the bed and crossed the room to the bedroom door. As I stepped into our common room, I noticed the silhouette of my father in the moonlight streaming through front windows. He shot me a warning glance and he too pressed his finger to his lips. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as mother would say.

I stepped lightly towards him, grabbing my shoes and silently slipping them on my feet. We shared a look to signal our readiness and pushed the door open.

A light breeze ruffled the grass and trees, caressing our skin with the cool night air. The breeze felt nice on this warm summer night, soothing even, but the odour that came with it drove away any serenity the wind could offer. A heavy tang was in the air like rust and blood. We took tentative steps into the yard, each brandishing our trusty spears before us, tips piercing the darkness ahead. Each pace we took led us deeper into the stench. The acridity clinging to our throats. I raised the collar of my tunic to cover my mouth in an attempt to filter out whatever was in the air.

My father gestured towards the small trail leading up to our home with his spear. I scanned the area for signs of movement to no avail, until I saw it. For just a moment something flashed in the distance. I narrowed my eyes, peering in the darkness, breath held in my aching lungs. I waited, the sound of my heart throbbing in a sharp staccato against the melody of the wind. Then the scraping noise echoed off the clearing, followed by a scream. If you could call it a scream. The noise was unlike any I had ever heard. This was akin to the wailing of the banshees from the tales of the great northern wastes.

The noise was just the harbinger for what was coming.

Red orbs bright and horrid floated in the darkness, fixing us in place. And then it was upon us.

It bounded down the trail with surprising agility its two hind legs and front right ripped the earth apart while its left arm stretched toward us. It almost looked like the creature was reaching out for help, as if it were hanging off the precipice of a great ledge. It would have seemed so were it not for the jagged talons quivering with menace.

She, for the creature was undoubtedly female, was terrifying. The remains of her clothes were shredded, revealing blotches of scaly skin interspersed with the tanned complexion shared by all those who worked in the valley around Vyren's Harbour. The curve of her body was a sharp contrast to the abrasive angles of her face, her talons and most of all, her teeth. Her teeth were at least an inch long and blood dripped down her chin from where they had been slicing into her lips with each forward lurch.

When she was just a few paces away my father thrust his spear forward, narrowly missing his mark, and just managed to nick the creature's outstretched arm. Then the Revenant was inside his guard and the clawed fingers closed around his head. Like someone picking an apple from a tree. And just the same, she twisted and pulled, drawing a scream from him almost as if her hand had reached into his lungs in pursuit of that singular sound.

My hands trembled and I watched dumbly as the Revenant made a sound like a laugh, garbled up by her hideous teeth and a disturbing mockery of a smile spread across her face. Her hunt was complete and soon she could feast.

My father's eyes were wide as the moon itself when they found me. His gaze was a wordless plea for help since his mouth inadequate to the task. My mind raced and urged me to do something. Part of me demanded I fight. Another that I run. Each were in a stalemate holding me fast in place with shuddering legs. It was as if I was stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war, stretching me thin.

"Daddy!" Sylvie screamed from the doorway. "Theo you have to help daddy!"

Her voice cleaved the indecision within me, giving my will to fight the slightest edge. Our father was thrashing at the miserable wretch, trying to land a blow on it with his spear, but weapons like these are useless when your assailant is close enough to embrace. The thrashing irritated the Revenant and she clamped her serrated teeth on his arm, loosing the blood from his veins and causing him to drop his weapon.

I yelled, loud as I could muster and performed a thrust of my own towards the abdomen of the monster. The tip found one its scaled patches and glanced off, slicing a small patch of human flesh by her ribs. She screeched again and snapped her head towards me, the red eyes searing me with unfettered hatred. She extended her other hand towards me but found I was just outside her grasp. Without the third appendage as a support for her lumbering body she began to topple over. Her hunched back threw off her balance and as she fell, the tips of her talons crossed the distance and tore through the skin on my leg and dragged my father down with her.

He kicked at her, and with his newfound leverage he was able to extricate himself from her grasp. His scalp was a bloody mess and it his right eye was swollen shut. He pushed himself backwards until his hand found the spear once again.

"Now!" He yelled and we both went in for the kill. This time, I aimed for the patch of skin that I had cut previously and felt the spear bite into the flesh, grate across the curved bones of the ribs and became wedged inside. My father aimed for a similar space of vulnerability and stabbed by her through the thigh.

On any other being that would have been that but the Revenant lashed out and tried to move away. The spear pinned her to the ground and made the leg slack and useless. We had clearly hit a tendon of some sort. We backed up out of reach from the creatures knife-like fingers and watched as she bled out and air wheezed from her maw.

Not until the last death spasm had rolled over the twisted abomination did we look away. I took in the full measure of my father's lacerations. To say he looked dreadful would be an understatement.

"Is it over?" I stuttered. "Are you okay?"

"I believe so." I wasn't certain if his reply was to one of my questions or both.

"That was a Revenant wasn't it?"

He nodded, a curt shaky motion in agreement.

"How did it get here? The Aurensguard are meant to patrol the channel."

"I am wondering the same thing Theo." My father hesitantly pushed the body of our assailant onto its back to take a closer look.

Now that it was still I could recognize a bit more of the creature's human features and could not help but to think that there was something familiar about her.

"My gods... This was Lystria. The potter's daughter." I said, the realization sinking into my stomach. "I just saw her a few days ago."

Another nod in response. "Something doesn't seem right. The girl lives right by the Cascade but flow is so small there, I can't see how she could have possibly submerged."

Sylvie tip toed towards us, skirting away from the creature. Equal amounts of horror and worry playing across her tiny face.

"It's okay Sylvie, the monster is dead" I said as soothing as I could muster.

She shook her head, tangled locks bouncing with the movement.

"He is right dear. There is no need to worry now."

"But..." she began, her words tripping over her quivering lips. "What about Mommy?"

In all the chaos, the thought didn't even occur to us. Our mother had spent the night with our Aunt Selene who lives down the valley towards Vyren's Harbour. Just down the valley that lead from where we stood, to the potter's home.