Queen of Stars and Shadows (Dark Fae Guardian #3)

Zyren

Chapter Six

Zyren

I haven’t seen a soul for nearly two days. Of course, that’s very much intentional.

Ever since I woke up in that meadow with people I didn’t recognize and an ancient nightmare big enough to destroy a mountain range, I’d been wandering this strange realm, avoiding any signs of people. I’m not sure why I can’t remember anything of my life in recent years… or how I know that the things I do remember are from long, long ago.

I just know there’s this empty hole inside of me, this gnawing sense that I’m missing something vital.

How many years of my life are missing from my head?

What people and places and events?

The woman with the long silvery hair and golden eyes had said she was my wife. But surely I would remember my own wife. Wouldn’t I?

When I’d looked into her eyes, for a moment I’d felt some connection, some distant feeling, but then it slipped away and the nightmare acted as if it was about to attack, and whatever it is I felt vanished.

Anyone who keeps company with nightmares is an enemy, so she cannot be who she says she is.

I may not remember much, but nightmares are permanently scarred in the recesses of my mind. They’ve taken so much from me. From all of Valaron. And though my mind may be broken, I remember my own deep, dark secret… that I myself have nightmare blood.

I know who I am, my family, know I spent centuries as a guardian, but what I’ve been doing in recent years is one of the missing holes in my head. I know where I came from, my realm, but not where my actual home is, or if I even have one. These two days I have tried to recall more, turned over the distant memories I have over and over, willing more to come back, but there is nothing else.

Not only do I find myself in a realm unfamiliar to me, but I’m so lost inside that I don’t know how I’m ever going to find myself again.

The silver-haired woman has tried twice now to invade my dreams, but I’ve been able to evade her. Earlier tonight, I’d once again had that fleeting feeling that we know each other, but it’s almost as if the moment I try to grasp hold of it, it escapes like a wild animal. As if those memories don’t want to be found.

I’ve been awake since she found me the last time, and now dawn has begun to lighten the edges of the horizon the slightest bit. I’m sleeping in a small glen amidst a circle of oak trees in a deep forest. A thin trickle of a creek runs through one side of it. I’ll move again when it gets light—I haven’t wanted to stay in any one place too long. It’s maddening enough not being able to remember anything, so traveling is the only thing I can do to keep my sanity. Staying on the move, hoping that somehow, things will return to me, and start to make sense again.

There’s the crack of a snapped branch off to the left. My head whips in the direction of the sound, my eyes straining into the semi-darkness. There’s barely any light yet, the sun not fully awakened. It’s likely just an animal coming to drink from the creek, but all my senses are on alert. I call my magic, so it’s ready if needed.

A hooded figure steps from the shadows about ten feet away from me.

A wave of my shadow magic is flying toward them before they can take another step. They throw their arms up to deflect my attack, and it slides past them. “Wait!”

“Who are you?” I growl. “Speak quickly!”

“I’ve been looking for you, Zyren,” says the hooded figure. “And I can help you get your memories back.”