"This happy happy love

Is sieged with crying sorrows

crushed beneath and above

Between to-days and morrows;

A little paradise

Held in the world's vice."

- Edwin Muir, "In Love for so Long"

*****

Song of the chapter: Rescue Me by Eurielle ( Please do play it! ;D)

Media: IT'S FRIGGING CASPER ( and ah no, it's not my artwork )

*****

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Hall of Shadows (Part I)

Home.

It sounded strange in her mind, yet it was so sweet and warm. Ever since Havoc Haven, home was no more. The Hall of Games was a pit swarming with evil plot and secrets. The Hall of Spirits was a chasm, always threatening to expose her.

Home was a place where she could be herself; no more running, no more hiding.

Jasper was right. Even in the skeleton of the Hall of Shadows, she could still claim it as her home. It was her rightful place. The blood of the ancients ran though her, the call of the shadows was only for her and her kind. She was a Walker, and the Oracles can never strip that identity from her.

"Jasper," she said. "I'm sorry that I made you spill your memories, I-"

He shook his head. "All those emotions are bound to come out, sooner or later."

His warm hand rested on her forehead. She shivered at his touch.

"Your fever is gone. Get some rest. We set out at dawn."

When Jasper had left the tent, Cady curled up and traced invisible lines in the air. She wrote his name over and over again, committing the image of him into memory, carving the stories he had told her into her mind.

Cady wasn't sure if she could ever let go. Jasper, the boy whom she thought to be sculpted from ice, sprung from the light to help her when she sunk into darkness. He had been her anchor, she realized, her anchor in the face of danger in the Hall of Spirits.

"Still thinking about him?" Zoroth's voice crawled out from the depths of her mind. It seemed weaker, the deep thrum of his voice.

She didn't answer him, for he already knew the answer.

"It's alright to think about him. I give you my permission."

Cady snorted. "I don't need your permission."

Zoroth's reply was dripping with smugness. "So you are thinking about him."

Her hands found the blanket and drew it over her, ignoring the little stabs of pain that came with her motions.

"Screw you, Zoroth."

*****

"Tell me if it hurts, okay?" Jasper's breath was hot against her ear. She nodded, both hands clinging onto the saddle tightly.

Jasper had managed to get her onto his saddle by carrying her bridal style and using a large rock as a make-shift stair. He now sat behind her, one hand on her waist and the other, clutching the rein.

Cady's mare was tied to Jasper's horse, carrying all their remaining supplies. She whinnied at the horse, who replied with an annoying neigh, as if complaining about the weight he was carrying.

He flicked the reins. The horse snorted and broke into a slow trot. Cady whimpered, each step that the horse took was as if someone had stabbed her in the stomach. Her fingers tightened on the saddle front, so much that they turned numb.

But there was progress. Then piercing pain soon faded into a dull throb. Jasper's hand remained secured around her, keeping her from shifting too much or falling out of the saddle. Jasper hummed a little tune as they travelled out of the woods, slowly but steadily.

"What's the song?" Cady asked Jasper.

"The Tree of Life, why?" he said. "You've never heard of it?"

She shook her head.

Jasper sighed. "The Tree of Life is a Walker song. My mother would sing it to me every night when I was a kid."

"Sing then," Cady said. "Sing it out loud. I want to hear it."

He cracked sheepish a grin. "You know what, I can't sing. I'll kill the animals here with my singing."

"I'll survive," she said, smiling.

"You asked for it, don't regret when I puncture your eardrums."

"The ancient tree grows tall."

Cady shuddered. Jasper was right. He can't sing to save his life. His sense of chords was like a squirrel picking away at a ruined guitar. But there was a certain lure to the song that even his terrible singing couldn't take away.

"Its branches wide, its leaves silver,"

Hush, child, it said.

Dream of me, and I will grant you a wish."

Far in Cady's mind, Zoroth was nodding along with the song.

"I will cloak you in my leaves,

Take you into my arms,

There will be paradise.

Dream of me, and I will bring you the stars,"

Someone else seemed to be singing along with him. As they travelled deeper into Walker realm, the earth vibrated with a sudden burst of energy. A woman joined in, and then another. Spikes of light broke through the shade, hitting the ground in a splendor or colors. A man pitched in, and then another.

The voices of the dead-the forsaken and those killed in the Great War. The voices of a thousand mothers and fathers, the eager voices of a thousand children, singing as one to a lullaby they all grew up with.

"Come sit on my branches,

I will give you a view of the world,

Now close your eyes,

I will give you pleasant dreams."

The chorus of a thousand dead voices was enough to quake the world, shake the trees, calling forth a breeze which had witness the terrible massacre. Wetness trickled down Cady's cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away. This was her home, her people and her ancestors were calling to her.

"I will cloak you in my leaves,

Take you into my arms,

There will be paradise.

Dream of me, and I will bring you the stars,"

She wept. What evil did the Walkers commit to bring such great injustice upon them? No one with a twisted mind could come up with such a song. She could feel the faint energy of the dead beside her. Cady couldn't see them, but she felt. She felt the fuzzy tingle of an arm that brushed hers, and the feeble tug of a child, long dead and forgotten.

"Come sit on my branches,

I will give you a view of the world,

Now close your eyes,

I will give you pleasant dreams."

The dead stopped singing, as did Jasper. The buzz in the air died down to nothing but the fresh morning air. The chirrups of birds filled the skies, replacing the faint voices of the lost Walkers.

"Why did the Oracles wipe out the Walkers, why?" she sobbed. "No one can be so twisted, so inhumane. The Walkers, they have good in them, I can feel it."

"The Great Wars remains one of history's greatest mysteries. I'm afraid I don't have an answer to that."

The horse hit a stone, jerking its riders. Cady screeched and Jasper at once held her firm, using his back as a cushion and his hands, straps.

"Grieve, Cady. Grieve with me, for the Hall of Shadows was too, my home."

Cady wanted to laugh. She had never imagined such a scene to happen, an Oracle, escorting an estranged Walker to a place they both called home.

Every few hours, Jasper would stop and lift Cady from the horse for some rest and to change her bandages. They had to find shelter when it rained as well, for Jasper was worried that Cady's wounds would be soaked.

"Argh, how much further?" she moaned. She felt like a Halloween pumpkin, like someone had scooped out all her insides before dumping prickly thorns back in.

"Days, like I said. Your wounds, remember?"

"You never stop reminding me." She grunted as Jasper laid her down under a tree. He rummaged through his battered knapsack and took out a fresh roll of bandages.

"I'm going to need you to hold up your shirt for me."

Cady did, slowly and feeling her face growing warm. Jasper touched the bandages with his long, slim fingers, undoing the safety pin at the side and started unwrapping it. The bloodied bandages fell into a heap as he observed the stitches with keen eyes.

She had to give Jasper credit for his stitching. All of them were professionally done and neat. Her flesh was still raw, but it looked better than before.

"Good progress." He pressed one end of the new bandage on her stomach and started raveling it around her. "You didn't pull out any stitches, yay."

He gave her shirt a tug and helped her back up on her feet. Cady gave her sore legs a long stretch and massaged her buttocks. All the bumping and riding were causing her pain and aches. She looked forward to her soft bed in the dormitories, along with a nice hot bath.

Jasper threw her the pack of beef jerky she had stashed under her pillow on their first night out in the woods. Cady caught it and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What? I saved some for you."

"I can't believe the jerky survived the attack!"

Jasper waved a dismissive hand in the air. "All hail the almighty food!"

Cady laughed. Her hand flew to her stomach instinctively, as if she could prevent her insides from spilling out if she roared too much. Jasper chimed in, his deep laughter blending with her own high voice. She liked laughing. The past few months had been hard on her, crushing her with its unbearable weight. Laughter was a rare, and it only exists around Josh. Now, Jasper gave it to her.

She sat down, using her hands as support before she plopped her whole weight onto the ground.

Cady held out the bag to Jasper. "Want one?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I got my own food."

They ate their fill of dried meat and some berries Jasper had foraged from the nearby bushes, washed it down with some water and hit the road.

Jasper once again held her before her in a protective manner, his left hand on her waist and right hand guiding the horse. She was beginning to get used to this new manner of riding. She felt safe. Jasper was like a thick and sturdy rapport that would be there for her, preventing her from falling or injuring herself further.

Travelling onward on a steady trot down the path, they walked right into the setting sun and vanished into its warm beams.

*****

A/N

A slow chapter with Jasper ruining your eardrums! Glad to see that Cady is recovering, writing her being in pain was both ridiculously fun and sad while all those Casper scenes made me smile like an idiot. 

I've read all your cutest comments on last chapter, you guys have the most brilliant ships, suspects and ideas!

On an important note though, you have 2 weeks before the THoG fanart and fanfiction contest ends. So hurry up and get that creativity rolling! Let's write and make some art!

Roast chicken,

Stef