Authors: Yasmine Galenorn
Shadow Silence (35 page)
“I need to know them. I need to understand.”
“You feel it, then. It's time you started learning about your heritage, Kerris. It's time you started delving into the history of your kindâof the spirit shamans. There's so much that your grandmother did not know, that your great-grandmother did not know. They could not speak with me as easily as you can. Each generation loses a piece of the puzzle and one day, unless the history is pieced together, it may die out altogether.”
“That's my job, isn't it? To remember the history and bring it back stronger than before.” The wind whipped my hair as the Crow Man cackled.
“Yes, you are a smart one, girl. For if you were to forget, and those after you, the danger would grow stronger. The spirits will never stop walking. And the Ankou and the Hounds will never stop. For, you see, the Hounds know more of their history than you do of yours. So talk to the blade, and she will help you remember.”
The crows suddenly took wing, screeching and cawing as they circled overhead. As I looked up, a giant dog formed in the sky.
The Great Hound . . . Cú Chulainn himself.
I realized that he had bigger plans than just taking over Whisper Hollow. He meant to destroy the lines of the spirit shamans, and the MorrÃgan herself if he could. I needed to learn, and I needed to learn fast. A shiver ran down my back.
“Will I ever meet any of the others? Perhaps if we meet, we can pool our knowledge.”
“That you may. But for now you have to take care of Magda. The old crone stands between you and fulfilling your destiny. There are still three witch bottles in the woods. But she won't be making moreâshe is working on something far more dangerous. Talk to Veronica, talk to Penelope. Listen to the spirits and the Elements. For they are in danger as much as the living. Enjoy this brief lull, because the storm is rising and when it hits, you will need all of your reserves.”
And with that he furled his cape and a swirl of color rose up to surround me, filled with snow and crows and the creaking of trees. When I opened my eyes the Crow Man was gone, and I was standing in my backyard. But a lone crow in the apple tree called to me, and I knew that the Crow Man would never be far from my side. And the MorrÃgan was watching and waiting for the new game to begin, between her sons and daughters and her enemies.
And the first move was mine to
make.
I write to music quite often, and each book will have a playlist that fits the mood of the book. For
Shadow Silence
, this is the list of songs I listened to:
A. J. Roach:
“Devil May Dance”
Air:
“Napalm Love”
Al Stewart:
“Life in Dark Water”
Android Lust:
“Here and Now”; “Dragonfly”
Arcade Fire:
“Abraham's Daughter”
Arch Leaves:
“Nowhere to Go”
AWOLNATION:
“Sail”
Beck:
“Nausea”; “Broken Train”; “Think I'm In Love”
Black Angels, The:
“Young Men Dead”; “Never/Ever”; “Don't Play with Guns”; “Always Maybe”
Bobbie Gentry:
“Ode to Billie Joe”
Bon Jovi:
“Wanted Dead or Alive”
Boom! Bap! Pow!:
“Suit”
Broken Bells:
“The Ghost Inside”
Celtic Woman:
“The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun”; “Newgrange”
Clannad:
“Banba Ãir”
Crazy Town:
“Butterfly”
Cream:
“Strange Brew”
Damh the Bard:
“Morrighan”; “Oak Broom and Meadowsweet”; “Grimspound”; “Cloak of Feathers”; “The Cauldron Born”
David Bowie:
“Fame”; “Golden Years”; “Without You”
Dire Straits:
“Down to the Waterline”
Dizzi:
“Dizzi Jig”
Donovan:
“Season of the Witch”
Eagles:
“Witchy Woman”
Eastern Sun:
“Beautiful Being” (Original Edit)
Fats Domino:
“I Want to Walk You Home”
FC Kahuna:
“Hayling”
Feeling, The:
“Sewn”
Fluke:
“Absurd”
Foster the People:
“Pumped Up Kicks”
Garbage:
“#1 Crush”; “I Think I'm Paranoid”; “Queer”
Gary Numan:
“Sleep by Windows”; “Petals”; “My Breathing”; “I Am Dust”; “Everything Comes Down to This”; “Love Hurt Bleed”
Gordon Lightfoot:
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
Gospel Whiskey Runners:
“Muddy Waters”
Hanni El Khatib:
“Come Alive”
Haysi Fantayzee:
“Shiny, Shiny”; “John Wayne Is Big Leggy”
Heart:
“White Lightning & Wine”; “Magic Man”
Hollies, The:
“Long Cool Woman”
Jay Price:
“Number 13”; “Dark-Hearted Man”
Jeannie C. Riley:
“Harper Valley P.T.A.”
Jessica Bates:
“The Hanging Tree”
Jethro Tull:
“Old Ghosts”; “Dun Ringill”; “Undertow”
Johnny Otis:
“Willy and the Hand Jive”
Joy Division:
“Atmosphere”
Julian Cope:
“Charlotte Anne”
Kills, The:
“Dead Road 7”; “Sour Cherry”; “You Don't Own the Road”; “DNA”; “Nail in My Coffin”; “U.R.A. Fever”
Lorde:
“Royals”; “Yellow Flicker Beat”
Low with tomandandy:
“Half Light”
Mark Lanegan:
“Bleeding Muddy Water”; “Riding the Nightingale”; “Mockingbirds”; “The Gravedigger's Song”
Matt Corby:
“Breathe”
Mogwai:
“Hungry Face”; “The Huts”
Motherdrum:
“Big Stomp”
Nancy Sinatra:
“The Boots Are Made for Walkin'”
Nirvana:
“All Apologies”; “Lake of Fire”; “Come As You Are”
Pierces, The:
“Secret”
Rachel Diggs:
“Hands of Time”
Stone Temple Pilots:
“Atlanta”
Sweet Talk Radio:
“We All Fall Down”
Susan Enan:
“Bring on the Wonder”
Syntax:
“Pride”
Tamaryn:
“While You're Sleeping, I'm Dreaming”; “Violet's in a Pool”
Tom Petty:
“Mary Jane's Last Dance”
Toadies:
“Possum Kingdom”
Tuatha Dea:
“Tuatha De Danaan”; “Long Black Curl”; “Wisp of a Thing”; “Dance of the Tufa”
Verve, The:
“Bitter Sweet Symphony”
Voxhaul Broadcast:
“You Are the Wilderness”
Wendy Rule:
“Let the Wind Blow”; “Elemental Chant”
Zero 7:
“In the Waiting Line”
New York Times
bestselling author
Yasmine Galenorn
writes urban fantasy, mystery, and metaphysical nonfiction, including the Whisper Hollow novels (
Autumn Thorns
,
Shadow Silence
), the Otherworld novels (
Darkness Raging
,
Panther Prowling
,
Priestess Dreaming
), the Indigo Court novels (
Night's End
,
Night Visions
,
Night Seeker
), and the Fly by Night novels (
Flight from Mayhem
,
Flight from Death
). A graduate of Evergreen State College, she majored in theater and creative writing. Yasmine has been in the Craft for more than thirty-six years and is a shamanic witch. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos, and she lives in the Seattle area with her husband, Samwise, and their cats. If you send Yasmine snail mail, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a
reply.
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