Martyr by A. R. Kahler

seeks must surely be an interesting specimen.” He chuckled to himself. “I must say, I am so far unimpressed.”
    â€œGet out of my dream.” Tenn stood up on the thick branch, but there was nowhere to go. He dangled over the ice-cold lake. He wondered if he could change the dream, just by thinking it, like he had a few times in the past. He tried. It didn’t work.
    â€œAnd if I don’t? Will you cry on me?” Matthias sneered. His eyes seemed to glow like a cat’s.
    â€œGet out!”
    Matthias walked closer to the tree, only an arm’s reach away now.
    â€œWhy do you dream of this night?” he asked. “Why is this so tender in your heart?”
    Tenn said nothing. Matthias glanced out to the horizon. Above them, the stars were winking out with small flares.
    â€œAhh,” Matthias said as recognition dawned. “I see.” More stars blinked out. Even the lights on the horizon faded as the dream twisted into nightmare. The sky was nearly black now. “This is the night the Dark Lady began Her work.”
    Tenn shivered in spite of himself. The Dark Lady, the woman who had created Leanna and Tomás and the other four Kin, the woman who vanished off the face of the earth once Her work was done—some said killed, others said in hiding. She was goddess to the necromancers and Howls. She was the new religion. Matthias’s next words were low, the mockery gone. He looked at Tenn as though he knew the most intimate details of his soul.
    â€œYes. This is the night the world was damned. This was the night you lost your home.”
    Tenn said nothing. He didn’t move, just stood amongst the branches and watched the lights wink out, one by one.
    â€œShe’s not gone, you know,” Matthias said. “Not really. My goddess, She still lives. And She stirs.”
    The words made Tenn colder than any winter could.
    â€œI don’t believe in your goddess,” he whispered.
    â€œBut She believes in you,” Matthias said. “And in the end, that is all that matters.”
    All the lights winked out now, save for two on the horizon. They glowed red, like eyes. The Dark Lady smiled in the depths of the darkness. Then She swallowed Tenn whole.

    Tenn awoke with a start. The sheets were tangled at his feet, and the hurricane lamp burned low on the nightstand. He was alone. His heart raced as he looked around the room. Had Jarrett been taken? Had Matthias or Tomás snuck in during the night? Then he remembered that Jarrett would have left early to speak with Cassandra. She’d need the debrief. He flopped back on the bed.
    For the longest time, he just lay there, trying to calm the furious racing of his heart, the staccato of his breath. He could still feel those red eyes on him. In every corner of the room, he expected to see Her, the Dark Lady, watching him from the shadows and waiting for his back to turn. Matthias’s words echoed in his skull. Matthias, Leanna, Tomás…and now the Dark Lady herself. Why were they after him? How was he so special? Powerful in ways that are only just awakening , Tomás had said. But what powers? Tenn was suddenly reminded of the way Water had acted up without his trying. Was that what everyone was after?
    One thing was certain—he was being watched, and if he didn’t act very, very carefully, he’d have more deaths on his hands. He had no doubt Tomás would carry out his threat. The idea of finding Jarrett stone-cold some morning was enough to make him swear to anything.
    Almost anything.
    He pushed himself out of bed and followed the copper pipes hanging in the corridor toward the bathroom. A shower wouldn’t fix everything, but it would definitely help. At least it would get him out of the room.
    The showers were part of the original gym, but they’d been modified since the Resurrection. Hot water was one of the few luxuries they’d salvaged, and after any amount of time in