The Queen of the Nightrealm

  The halls of the Night Palace at Black Square, the capital of the Nightrealm, stretched before Dalia, their obsidian walls gleaming with a subtle iridescence that caught the dim light—flecks of silver and deep violet shimmering like stars trapped in stone.

  Her footsteps, alongside those of her assistant Malivian, echoed softly against the polished floors as they walked the corridor that would lead to her private chambers. The air here carried the faintest scent of Midnight blooms, a fragrance unique to the Nightrealm, both soothing and unnerving to those unaccustomed to its allure.

  Dalia’s pale face was contemplative, her dark eyes fixed ahead, though

  Her mind wandered far beyond the palace walls. Her silver-blonde hair cascaded down her back like an avalanche of snow, contrasting with the long, dark dress she wore.

  Malivian kept pace beside her, his short black hair and pale white skin making him appear almost like a shadow of his mistress. His black pupils, much like hers, held the depth of the void, a fitting trait for those who lived in the Nightrealm. He carried himself with quiet dignity and efficiency, though his gaze occasionally flickered toward his queen, as if measuring her mood.

  “What news do you bring of the Nightrealm today, Sweet Malivian?” Dalia asked, her voice soft. “I want to know how my precious Nightwalkers are faring”

  Malivian cleared his throat. “My lady, you have received another invitation to join the council meeting of Origins.As usual, it’s being held in Titania in two weeks’ time.”

  “Shall I prepare a response?” Malivian asked.

  Dalia’s stride faltered slightly on hearing that, though she quickly recovered. The Council of Origins—an assembly formed by her siblings—always stirred a complicated knot of emotions within her. Not the thought of uselessness most of her other siblings associated with it, but something deeper, something she had never dared to name, at least to anybody else.

  Fear? Loneliness?

  Possibly both and, to add to that, the sting of being perceived as an outsider, even among her own kind?

  She exhaled slowly, her fingers brushing against the icy surface of the obsidian wall as if drawing strength from it.

  “Indeed,” she said after a moment. “Express my gentle regrets...but decline the invitation.”

  “Are you sure?” Malivian asked.

  “Yes... but send them with a bouquet of Midnight Blooms” Dalia added, “ I may be rejecting their invitation but I do not want them to think me a monster ”

  “I do not believe they will consider you monstrous for rejecting their invitation but I agree that the flowers will be a nice addition” Malivian replied.

  It was not unusual for an Origin to refuse attendance. The council’s founders—Desia, Darkeus, Permeus, Dephenus, Imaia, Aerus, Golobus, and their elected leader Helus—had established it as a means of unity, yet few beyond their circle ever attended. Most saw no purpose in it. The Origins had each forged their realms independently; why should they now submit to another’s governance? At least that was the view most of Dalia’s siblings had. Dalia’s reasons ran deep, but she tried hard to hide them. Though anyone who knew her well enough knew her reasons as well. And the look on Malivian’s face was proof enough.

  “If I may ask, my lady, why not consider attending this time? It’s the fiftieth anniversary, you know. It would be a significant gathering, and your attendance would be a great surprise.”

  “I know I would make a surprise with my arrival, Malivian.... I just don’t think it would be the kind you’re expecting.”

  “Plus, the council comprises only seven Origins,” she said softly.

  “Yet there are over a hundred of us Origins. They hold no true authority.” She paused, her fingers tracing an absent pattern on the windowsill. “How significant could their anniversary be?”

  “You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Malivian replied

  “Are you ever going to drop this?” Dalia asked

  “Possibly,” Malivian answered, though his tone suggested otherwise.

  “I can not attend the meeting, Malivian... I am too... strange,” Dalia elaborated. “My realm is too strange. I would be too much of a burden”

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  She wasn’t wrong. Even other Origins often misunderstood and feared the Nightrealm. None in the realm's history had dared set foot in it except Helus, and that was just because the graceful Origin of Hel felt the obligation to be friends with every Origin, especially those living in the underworld.

  She couldn’t blame them either. The fear of the Nightrealm stemmed mostly from its proximity to the chasm. A cosmic entity whose origin was unknown. It was mysterious, and that caused many who were not residents to fear the place.

  An even scarier fact was that Dalia drew her own power from that very chasm. She dared drill from a shallow depth since even she feared what dwelt in its core.

  But Dalia’s realm was more than just the chasm in front of it; it was its own entity, alive and breathing, thrumming with energy albeit drawn from the chasm.

  Seriously, that place did tend to be so spooky that it felt like it seemed to whisper with malevolence.

  She had felt it too the many times he had visited its edge—the way the shadows coiled too tightly round there, the way the air grew thick with unseen tension like something in the deep dark abyss was alive. Dalia always insisted her nightwalkers be careful not to draw too deeply from that well of power, and she also took care not to do so, fearing she and her people might awaken something that should probably remain undisturbed.

  Perhaps that was why she avoided the council. Clearly not out of defiance, but because she knew her siblings would sense it on her—the way the Nightrealm pulsed with something they could not name nor would dare try. The way she carried a weight and a fear they would never understand.

  “I don’t think your siblings view you as wrongly as you fear,” Malivian ventured gently. “The Nightrealm is essential to the balance of all things, especially in the underworld.”

  “Your being our leader only makes you essential as well,” he continued

  “Your loyalty is a comfort, Malivian,” she said.

  “Perhaps one day I will find the courage to face my siblings and they the courage to face my realm.” She added, straightening her posture.

  “But not today. Today, we have more pressing matters. Continue with your report if you will.”

  Malivian nodded, resuming their walk. “Most of the Nightrealm is calm, my lady.”

  “Most?” Dalia repeated, her tone sharpening. “Explain please.”

  “There have been reports from Lumis End. Lord Kylian, its governor, says the area has experienced some… disturbances.”

  “What kind of disturbances?” Dalia asked, deeply curious.

  Malivian hesitated, his voice dropping lower. “Beasts of darkness have been attacking citizens. Three were injured last night.”

  Dalia stopped walking abruptly. “Beasts of darkness? Created by a rogue nightwalker?”

  “That’s just it, my lady. No nightwalker made the beasts.”

  Her brow furrowed.

  “That’s odd... Is he sure?” she replied

  “I agree it makes next to no sense,” Malivian said. “But Lord Kylian assures us they were not made by any nightwalkers”

  “And how may I ask did our lovely Lord come to that conclusion?” Dalia asked skeptically

  “He says the aura of the beast does not match the aura of his residents,” Malivian answered

  Dalia would have asked if an outsider had made the beast, but then she remembered that Lord Kylian was one of her first servants. He knew the aura of every nightwalker-dead or alive. If he said it did not feel like a nightwalker, it didn’t.

  A cold unease settled in her chest upon that realization. If not her, and not her people, then who?

  Her mind raced through possibilities. Her brothers, Karus and Darkeus, could manipulate darkness—though not as she could. They drew from the aura of her realm, not the chasm itself. Only she could do that, and to make beasts of darkness, you would need to draw from the chasm itself. And even if they had learnt how to, would they truly dare interfere in her domain? Dalia sure knew she had never interfered in theirs.

  “Was it by chance... caused by my brothers?” She asked, though she was sure she already knew the answer.

  Malivian shook his head. “I assure you according to Kylian’s report, it was not them, my lady.”

  She met his gaze. “Well, I assure you, Malivian, I did not create them.”

  “I know,” he replied, his voice steady, “Lord Kylian is sure of that as well.”

  “Which leaves us with a troubling question.” He added.

  “Who did?” Dalia whispered, more to herself than to him.

  The implications were staggering. If neither she, her brothers nor her nightwalkers had conjured these creatures, then something—or someone—was manipulating the very essence of her realm without her knowledge. And that was a threat she did not feel like ignoring or forgiving.

  Dalia nodded decisively before her response.

  “Prepare my carriage. We leave for Lumis End within the hour.”

  Malivian’s eyes widened. “My lady? Perhaps I should investigate first, or send a contingent of guards—”

  “Guards?” Dalia asked half laughing

  “Sweet Malivian your concern touches my heart... but you forget I am an Origin,” she said, though not unkindly. “Nothing can harm me.”

  “But we do not know what this nothing is.”

  She almost smiled at that. It always warmed her heart when Malivian tried to protect her, even though she was the more powerful one.

  “All the more reason I should investigate.” Dalia stressed.

  “But—”

  “No,” Dalia said firmly, ending the debate. “These are my beloved people, Malivian. They look to me for protection. I will not hide behind these walls as they suffer.”

  Her expression softened as she saw the concern in his eyes. She could not blame him for his protectiveness—his loyalty was one thing she cherished most about him.

  “I appreciate your caution,” she said gently, “but this is my duty. If something threatens the Nightrealm, I must face it directly.”

  Malivian bowed slightly. “As you wish, my lady. I’ll make the preparations.”

  As he turned to leave, Dalia called after him. “Malivian?”

  He paused, looking back.

  “Thank you for your counsel,” she said. “Even when I do not heed it, I value it greatly.”

  He smiled then, with a common, genuine warmth in his expression.

  “It is my honor to serve an Origin who cares so deeply for her realm and her people.”

  After he departed, Dalia remained standing in the corridor, her thoughts tumultuous. Someone or something was attacking her realm, and she intended to find out what and why.