Where the Dark Stands Still
Where the Dark Stands Still
She holds the rowanberry appraisingly, raising her fingers so it rolls into the middle of her palm. The Cizarologia's restoration spell slips into her mind, as if it has been waiting for this moment. Magic rattles at her bones, eager, too eager. Her breathing quickens. She thinks of the apple core, thin and rotted on the table. She thinks of thorns closing around Tata's wrist. She thinks of vines of ice whipping across the Walkowo square; she—
The Leszy presses his lips to her forehead.
In her shock, Liska's thoughts go still. She blinks up at the Leszy—they are nearly nose to nose now, his piercing green gaze holding hers with unwavering trust. An easy smile, a smile of certainty, curves his lips. He is not afraid.
She has nothing to fear.
She takes a deep breath, filling her lungs until they ache, and exhales the spell.
"Restore."
Blue light haloes her hands, swirling in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope, taking the shape of a butterfly's wings. Liska holds her breath as the berry's surface smooths out, red colour seeping into its skin, A second passes. Another. The berry remains ripe—Liska's magic begins to fade. Relief floods through her, along with an unexpected spark of pride.
She's done it. She cast a spell, intentionally, properly.
She cast a spell, and it did not bring disaster.
Where the Dark Stands Still is a standalone fantasy based on Polish landscapes and folk tales. Liska, a girl with magic she doesn’t understand, lives in a small village that fears and abhors magic. Because she can’t control her power, as a young child she is responsible for her father’s death. After years of failing to suppress it, she enters the Drogheda, a forest full of dangerous spirits watched over by the demon known as the Leszy, in hope of finding a wish-granting flower to take away her magic. She encounters the Leszy, himself, and he bargains with her: he will spare her life and grant her wish if she serves him for a year in his mysterious house in the forest.
The House Under the Rowan Tree is haunted by the ghosts of the Leszy’s past and is, itself, sentient. As Liska begins to care for the neglected manor, it tries to show her its secrets. The Leszy tries to teach Liska to use her magic, but she has been traumatized by past disasters and cannot access it. Meanwhile, the dangerous spirits of the forest are attacking villages, and the Leszy tries to protect the humans but at great cost to himself. As Liska learns his history, she comes to trust and love him. The Leszy was once a boy who made a dangerous bargain with an Old God, and he has tasked himself with containing the god’s malicious power within the Drogheda. But keeping the god satiated requires a terrible sacrifice. Liska needs to overcome her fears and discover her own power so that she can save the Leszy, and the whole land, from the fearsome god.
Where the Dark Stands Still, a unique and evocative reworking of the Beauty and the Beast story, is told in gorgeous prose suffused with Polish language and storytelling. Liska has all the agency in this version: her knowledge and her choices determine what happens, and her slowly developing relationship with the Leszy is based on mutual understanding and respect.
The Drogheda and the House Under the Rowan Tree are delightfully spooky settings full of terrifying and quirky monsters: rusalka, skrzat, utopiec, kikimora, bannik and bies, all pulled from Polish folklore. Underpinning the plot is the historical conflict between Christianity and the Old Gods, handled with believable nuance; there is potential danger and oppression under both belief systems, and what ends up mattering most are the intentions and compassion of individuals.
The magic system is consistent and compelling, incorporating monsters and spirits with their own agendas, powers and limitations—and capacity for change. The sentient house is a character in fascinating conflict with its creator, the Leszy. The Leszy’s denial and fear of his past parallels Liska’s repression and fear of her power; as they give each other strength to face their inner demons, their magic is freed to transform their outer world. “You are not a monster, Liska Radost. You are sunlight, and you breathe life into everything you touch.”
With elements of dark fairytales, gothic horror and dangerous romance, Where the Dark Stands Still is a beautifully written fantasy debut that will appeal to readers of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, Diana Wynne Jones Howl’s Moving Castle, and Margaret Rogerson’s Vespertine.
Kim Aippersbach is a writer, editor and mother of three in Vancouver, British Columbia.