Tara awoke to pain and the scent of rot. Her head throbbed, her ribs ached, and the cold bit through her thin clothes like teeth. Her wrists were raw from the iron shackles that had been ripped off her sometime during the journey. They hadn't been gentle about it.
The first thing she noticed was the silence. Not the peaceful kind. The kind that lurked. That watched. Slowly, she sat up.
The air was thick with dampness; the ground beneath her was cold, uneven stone, slick with moisture. The sky overhead was a sheet of endless gray, the sun struggling to bleed through the oppressive clouds. It was wrong here—unnatural.
Tara forced herself to breathe. Her mind was slow, fogged, but the memories came back in pieces. Blood. The wreckage of her home. Her parents' bodies. Bailon's cold eyes as he watched her be chained like an animal. And now, she was here. The Shade Territory. Exile.
A dull, pulsing terror settled in her bones. The Shade Territory wasn't just a prison—it was a graveyard for the unwanted. No one left this place alive. The air reeked of decay, of old magic and something deeper, fouler. The stories she had heard of this place rushed back to her in a tidal wave of dread.
The Shades were not people. They were monsters. And now she was one of them.
A sound echoed in the distance—not human, not animal. A low, rattling breath. A scraping of claws against stone. Tara's heartbeat skipped. She wasn't alone. The realization sent adrenaline surging through her, her muscles stiffening. Her survival instincts screamed—move. Run. Hide. But where?
There were no walls, no buildings, no shelter in sight. The land was open, jagged, broken, surrounded by hunched trees with skeletal branches, reaching toward the sky like the twisted hands of the dead. A sudden snap of twigs. Tara whipped around. A figure stood in the shadows between the trees. Not a soldier. Not quite human, either. She didn't have time to think or scream before it lunged.
Tara threw herself back just in time. A clawed hand slashed inches from her face, ripping through the air like a blade. She scrambled to her feet, breath shuddering. The thing that had attacked her crouched low, watching her. Its eyes gleamed red. Its teeth were jagged. Its skin was stretched too thin, like it barely fit the body it wore. Not a Shade. Something worse.
Tara's hands clenched into fists. Power itched beneath her skin, humming, but when she tried to reach for it—nothing happened. Her power was gone. No. Not gone. Blocked. A new kind of terror clawed its way up her throat. The Shade Territory was lined with barriers that suppressed supernatural abilities—a failsafe to keep the exiles weak, manageable. She had heard of it, but she hadn't truly believed it until now. She was defenseless.
The creature tilted its head, sniffing the air. Savoring the scent of fear. It smiled. Tara ran. Her feet pounded against the wet earth, breath sharp and ragged as she darted through the gnarled trees. She could hear it chasing her, its movements unnatural, faster than anything should be. She wasn't going to make it. A sharp pain seared through her lungs. Her legs burned.
Then—Something tackled her from the side, sending her crashing to the ground. Not the creature. Someone else. Tara gasped, struggling, but a hand clamped over her mouth.
"Shut up," a voice hissed.
The weight lifted from her, and Tara whirled around, heart hammering. A girl crouched beside her, dark curls wild, her fangs glinting in the dim light. A vampire. Tara barely had time to react before the girl pressed a finger to her lips, then gestured toward the trees. The thing was still looking for her. It paced in the distance, sniffing, then let out a low, guttural growl before skulking back into the darkness. Only when the silence stretched long did the vampire turn back to Tara.
"Well," she mused, brushing dirt off her ripped coat. "You're not dead. That's promising."
Tara was still trying to catch her breath, still trying to process the fact that she hadn't been ripped apart. The girl grinned, sharp and amused.
"I'm Ballad Rose," she said. "And luckily for you, I'm your best chance at surviving this place."
Tara stared at her, still trying to push past the shock.
Ballad rolled her eyes. "Come on, little bird," she said, already moving. "The Shades don't take kindly to strays."
Little bird. The words hit Tara like a whisper from the past.
"Éiníní, éiníní... codalaígí, codalaígí..."
She swallowed hard and followed.