Requiem of Ghosts is the second book in the Requiem of the Night series. Proceeded by Living Shadows, it is recommended that you reed it first.
Blurb: The mysterious Silhouettes have been following Shattered and Glass for weeks now, and they are beginning to wonder not only who, but what they are. When even the all-mighty Spirit of the Council don't know what these beings are, seeming their neither dead, nor alive, Shattered begins to wonder how much of the strange disappearances are related to the Silhouettes. And when she remembers a centuries-old campfire story, everything begins to click.
Prologue[]
300 years ago...
"I will tell you one more time" The voice hissed so close to Duskmaster's ear she flinched. Silhouette was invisible in the dark cave, He seemed to blend into it.
"Your dragonets will keep well out of sight of any hybrids that happen to be able to see spirits, or your dragonets will be under my control. Permanently." Silhouettes claws were digging deeper into Duskmaster's shoulders.
"Aren't they already" She hissed at him.
She knew it was a bad mistake.
"They're your dragonets as much as they are mine, you may as well have them" She continued.
"Oh" Silhouette said lifting one talon of her shoulder and stroking her face.
"But they aren't." He said with a smile.
There wasn't even enough time for Duskmaster to scream.
"You are the one that will live forever! Not me! You will obey my orders, or forever be haunted by my presence! You hear me!?" Silhouette roared at Duskmaster. She flinched as pain raced through her, nothing could kill her, she was immortal. But every day, she wished she wasn't. And so when she disobeyed Silhouette, he slashed he stomach and her wings, for she was unable to be killed, but she felt pain as any other dragon would.
"Now." Silhouette said, lifting a blood-soaked claw and leaning down so Duskmaster was pinned beneath him.
"you will do as i say. Even when i'm gone."
Silhouette fled the cave Duskmaster was trapped in, caged by her own magic, As she lay on the floor, bleeding out. Silent tears streamed down her face. She had to find a way out, for there were much worse things Silhouette would, and could, do to harm her.
Chapter One[]
300 years later...
"What?" Glass repeated.
"They're what?"
"Demon-spirits." I replied. "I told you, I didn't realise until this happened today, it all just... clicked."
"That would explain why the spirit of the council can't see them..." Glass trailed off. She was so beautiful when she was in thought, I would even say cute. I ducked my head as I felt my cheeks heat up, staring at my talons.
Urg! Why did Glass have to be a ghost? I think I've nearly screamed that out-loud a million times.
"Wait, repeat the whole thing again, I'm finding this incredibly hard to comprehend." Glass stated.
"What, are you brain-dead?" I giggled, Glass didn't think my joke was funny. Instead, she just blinked at me.
"Ugh. Really? fine." I replied.
"300 years ago, there we're two dragons-"
"Oh, no-way" Glass said sarcastically, Karma for the joke I made probably. I rolled my eyes, starting again.
"As I was saying, there were two dragons, NightWings named Duskmaster and Silhouette. They loved each other, but when Silhouette found out Duskmaster had an ability called Ardor magic, his intentions soon became evil. A year before, they'd had their first egg, but sadly the dragonet died half-hatched. After a year, Duskmaster laid two more eggs. And Silhouette had her do an enchantment, though she didn't quite understand it, this is what it was; 'I enchant the dragonet of Duskmaster and Silhouette of the NightWings who died a year and three days ago to forever haunt the dragons of the claws of the cloud mountains. I enchant them so that they can enter, and posses dragons, and when they are removed from that dragon, by another, non-possessed dragon, they split, to create a duplicate with exactly the same abilities. I enchant them so that when they leave the dragon, the dragon either dies, or has no memory of what happened, this excludes the first dragon the dragonet possesses.' Duskmaster made the enchantment, unwillingly. When her two other eggs hatched, they where completely black, they had no eyes, and their edges where blurred. They names were Shadowtalker and Duskwalker. They themselves where silhouettes, and had the same abilities as their lost sibling, all three of which where demon-spirits, neither living, nor dead. Shadowtalker and Duskwalker had died in their eggs, but the leak of magic from the spell of their dead sibling gave them their abilities." I stopped, catching my breath.
"And then?" Glass asked, her eyes where wide, with fear and amazement.
"And then Silhouette locked Duskmaster away, making her enchant herself to never be able to leave the cave he had her trapped in. No matter what. So she would never be able to run and tell someone about the threat of the Silhouettes."
"Then how do you know the story?" Glass interrupted, leaning close to Me. I blushed a little, and then replied.
"Because she did. But before she escaped, Silhouette used her for her magic, but many years ago, before Duskmaster met him, she was enchanted by an over-protective animus friend to never be able to die. If Duskmaster didn't obey him, Silhouette would tear his claws across her stomach, usually ripping so far down any usual dragon would die. Exposing her organs usually, knowing that she couldn't die. And my the end, she was left on the floor in a puddle of her own blood and guts, silently crying, or passed out from the pain. But it would always heal by the next day, though leaving a bad scar that could tear easily. After Three months of this happening, she had only given him 3 of the 48 enchantments he asked for, usually because she was barely functioning and had blood dripping out of her mouth. Finally, one night, she found a hole in her enchantment, she enchanted Duskmaster to never be able to escape. She enchanted herself to change to the appearance of an IceWing, Keeping all her memories, but changing her to the age of a 4-year-old dragonet by the name of Reflection. She then passed out of the cave and into the night, they say, never to be seen again." I finished. Glass's eyes where as wide as a scared scavengers, her jaw was dropped and then she looked up at me. the same reaction she'd had 20 minutes earlier when I'd told her the same folk-tail-legend.
Chapter Two[]
Glass was sitting on top of a tree stump opposite me, thinking hard. She had been sitting there for at least an hour now.
Every time I looked at her, my stupid mind would wonder to a fantasy of her and I, in a universe where i could touch her, where she was a real dragon, alive and well. Where she wasn't just a spirit, and she loved me back. Then I would stop myself and look at the ground, usually blushing.
"How do we stop them?" Glass suddenly muttered from the top of her tree stump.
"What?" I asked.
"How do we stop them?" She repeated. I blinked, physically and mentally. How do we stop them? I thought, going through all the stories I was told as a dragonet. I suddenly remembered one.
"We have to stab them with enchanted diamond knives" I answered.
"And where, exactly, are we getting enchanted diamond knives from?" Glass replied, quite sarcastically, may I add.
"Reflection." Was all I said.
See, Reflection in the legend of the Silhouettes and the Reflection as in my adoptive mother are, well, the same dragon. I guess I should have stated that earlier. (Oh, it's also why I know the story of Duskmaster and Silhouette so well, because Reflection always told it to me.)
The only problem is, the Silhouettes probably know we want to stop them, and Reflection hates using her magic. I guess we'll have to try.
Chapter Three[]
Why is the night so... distant? Its been like this lately, it doesn't feel like the night is here, or like were not here, or something. I don't know, I haven't slept in four days, that would be part of the problem. Or the whole problem. But lately I've been feel like i'm insomniac. Probably just paranoia.
"Ugh, how are you still awake?" Glass said from beside me. I looked at her.
"Yeesh, you look dead." She observed.
I groaned.
"I feel dead." I grumbled back.
"Oh moons! Just sleep woman!" She replied. I groaned, and a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me. I collapsed onto the snow, and pulled a laugh from Glass. I huffed from my spot on the ground.
"Sleep." She insisted to me after a few minutes of me lying there with my eyes open.
"I'll stay up, don't worry." She whispered. Finally, slowly, my eyes began to close. And then, the sounds around her faded out. She would be asleep for a while.
A flickering light from the other side of my eyelids pulled me from my sleep. Glass must have lit it.
Wait.
She couldn't have.
I jumped up, faster than I'd ever before. And smashed my head into the roof of something, something hard, like stone, and cold that way too. There was a crunching sound. Uh oh. I thought, gingerly placing my talon on top of my head, something didn't feel right...
"hmm" I muttered as I figured it out. Welp, no more left horn. Well, I hadn't broken off the whole thing, just part of it.
I looked around, suddenly remembering that I wasn't where I was when I went to sleep. As my eyes adjusted, I could make out the figure of a dragon.
I sat up, slowly this time, and crept forward. The dragon was facing away from me, poking the fire that had woken me up. I glanced around the cave, and a creeping sensation of déjà vu hit me like a truck (omg XD inside jokes...) rock.
I knew this cave. It was the one we had slept in a month or so ago. But there was a dragon here now. An actual dragon, not a ghost.
I crept forward slowly, wondering why it - he, from the looks of it - had brought me here.
"There's no use in moving, you're hurt pretty bad." The rough voice of the dragon in front of me said. I froze in mid-step.
Hurt?