The Shadow

Avea caught something deep within the obsidian stone barricade surging forward. “Bebop watch out” she screeched, diving to the hard ground cradling Bebop to her chest. Seconds before a deafening sound erupted from the stone. Looking up Avea’s breath caught, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of the enormous overpowering crack. Directly over where she had placed her palm mere moments before, taking in the deep jagged edges like something had torn its way from the inside out."I knew it was following me," Avea felt nothing but blind terror.

The mutant blue hands she could now see so clearly, as though the stone had transformed into a translucent glass. It felt like peering into a crystal ball, as the blue mutant hands solidified pressing against the inside of the stone. Avea staggered backwards staring up at the monstrous blue body looming behind those taloned claws. So close to Avea that she could see the twisted horns above its head that took up the entire expanse of the barricade. She could now see into the walls, her vision of the creature was blurred as though the sheen of the stone layer were fogged up glass separating them. Avea winced clasping her hands over her ears, as the sound of the creatures claws savagely ripping into the stone sent a ear splitting echo through the passage. Threatening to shatter her eardrums, "V we need to run" Bebop screeched. "Where? We're trapped inside! There's no way out" Avea shouted over the deafening roar of the darkness swarming around her, as though it too were sending her a warning to run.

'There are many dangers lurking in these tunnels Avea Maxwell," Cyrus's words ringing in her mind.

Did Cyrus know of the shadow being trapped within the walls?

Was this another attempt to leverage more power against the Core council?

There was no where else she could escape into. The clawed, blue mutant hand slammed against the stone mere inches from her face. Bebop’s cries echoed around them. "This is the worst night of my life" Avea gasped, as another slitting crack sounded above her. "I told you the tunnel races were unsafe" Bebop screeched, right behind her. Cracks began forming across the smooth glossy sheen of the obsidian stone passageways, breaking off pieces of rock and dust falling onto her head. "It's not my fault tonight didn't go to plan."

"That's your apology!"

There was another deafening crack."No I am not running" Avea whispered to herself, taking a step forwards. "What are you doing?!" Bebop screeched, the bots antenna sparking violently in distress. Avea grazed her hand against the rough surface of the rock wincing at the stinging in her calloused hands. If this silverlight is alive…then maybe? She remembered the way that the shadows had recoiled at the her light before, writhing and withering as the silver light cut through them like searing blades. She had to stand her ground, she refused to cower and die in these tunnels. Closing her eyes, she exhaled sharply, tears prickling in her eyes. Her hand pressed into the rock trying to indent her handprint, but she couldn’t find the connection.Her touch had summoned it before, the stirring inside of her stilled and there was a heartbeat of silence. She waited for that tether to resurface and just like before that connection met her through the barrier…faint but there.

Avea didn't notice that eerie shadows had twisted around the passage edge, like an opponent awaiting for her next strike. This time, Avea did not cower from the resurgence of energy that skittered along her bones. As every fiber of her being thrummed with vibrations she'd never felt before. She suddenly felt the invisible bond of the tether pulling her toward its source, and this time she allowed it. Grasping onto this connection, the darkness surged towards her sensing the light she'd summoned. The ground began convulsing beneath her, but Avea anchored herself, focusing on keeping hold of that tether, sensing an alignment of her mind and body. Opening her eyes, Avea could feel every ripple of light in the stone walls. She'd become attuned to each quiver of luminosity in the obsidian walls, each thread of silverlight weaving through the stone and merging within her. She and the silver light had become one.

She unleashed a blasting light that surged forth, illuminating the shadowy passageway of the tunnels as if the very essence of the moon had broken free from the embrace of the night sky and erupted from the depths of darkness. The shadows writhed, as their anguished cries echoed as Avea's celestial light blasted through them. Their forms contorting and twisting before they finally vanished into the ether. The creature, shrouded in the shadows behind the fragile veil of the stone wall retreated back into the obscurity. The turmoil of power settled inside Avea and as her vision cleared, she watched as the last shadow shrivelled beneath the radiant rays of light before dissolving into nothing. Avea gave a sigh of relief as the rumbling ceased, and the vicious cracking suddenly stopped. "Did I do it?!" Avea whispered, barely daring to breathe, as if even the slightest sound might revive the chaos."I think your night light scared it off" Bebop said. The passage was still around her ... too still.

Avea didn't have any time to react as the chill surged towards her, engulfing her and holding her down. In that moment, she felt the weight of its ancient power, its cold presence seeped into her consciousness."No…no no no” she felt it latching onto her tether. "There's no need to hide” a voice spoke inside her head. Hoarse and grated as if this being hadn’t spoken in a long time. Is the creature inside my head?

Losing control, the feeling of the ground beneath her nor the hard wall pressing into her back faded away, the latching of those clawed blue hands on her wrists were all she could feel. Avea squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, desperately trying to fall back into her own reality. Avea screamed a hollow wail of terror, but nothing came out. Struggling against its grip those cold mutant hands pulled her forward sending pain searing into her wrists. Avea felt herself fall forward, the strangest sensation of her mind escaping her.

What is this hell? She pondered silently.

This hell is your calling Avea Maxwell. 

Avea was reeling, piecing together the shattered fragments of her mind, trying to rationalise what she had just felt. As she blinked, the sight of mutant blue hands flashed before her, splitting in and out of her vision, as though something were obstructing the vision. The wavering reality around her seemed like a dream, rocking below her until she felt her feet planted firmly on solid ground. Inhaling sharply through her nose, she muttered under her breath, "It's not real... it's not real... it's not real," with her eyes squeezed shut. Yet, the cold, lifeless hands that had seized her were undeniable; the blue mutant hands dragging her further into the strange plane of reality. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself gazing down at the black, obsidian soil beneath her feet. There was a knot in her stomach that tightened with every step, and a frigid cold crept into her veins. Avea didn’t know where she was, and found herself longing for the isolation of the tunnels. “Please let this be a concussion.”

Her vision slightly hazy almost like her surroundings weren’t solid, only a figment. She was surrounded only by lifeless, skeletal plants that continued endlessly in a circle around her. These same plants that had brushed against her earlier now enclosed her with their ethereal beauty diminished, their deathly frames looming ominously, as if to grieve for her. She realized she was in the outlands, yet it appeared altered and distorted. Disoriented, her vision was unclear, as if her surroundings were merely an illusion. Standing alone in the chilling ominous land that only seemed to bore lifeless flora. Avea gazed up noticing three moons drawing close together, though they weren't perfectly aligned. Their thin beams of moonlight piercing through the darkness, illuminating the circle she was trapped inside.

Curiously Avea reached out to touch one of the skeleton plants delicate branches. Shivering as the entire plant withered at her touch dissolving to dust at her feet. It felt like walking in a dream, only the kind of dream that secretly harbored the deadliest of terrors residing in the deepest regions of the mind. She forced herself to muster any remaining courage she possessed, "You've been following me?" Avea spoke aloud, knowing that the creature was here, listening. A blue flame appeared in the center of the circle, and Avea could sense the ancient power emanating off it, but the creature didn't make another move towards her. "I am Dolunay, servant of the lumos and the keeper of the Uri. I have been summoned by the ancients to find you. I apologise for the pursuit, but my spirit form has been trapped for too long and my powers have become restless. It sensed your power the instant you entered the tunnels."

She felt a tingling sensation at her wrists. Where those taloned cosmic hands had touched her, dragging her into this twisted vision. The blue flame flared brighter, hiding the creature from Avea's sight, concealing its true face."You chase me all night and then are too scared to show your face?" Avea sneered. The creature, Dolunay stepped out from the blue flames. Avea felt her heart stop as she took in the creature's striking appearance. Its blue skin had a pale, greyish hue, and symmetrical zig-zag patterns etched into its flesh covered its entire body. Two monstrous, twisted horns jutted out from the sides of its sharply defined head, giving it the fierce look of a cosmic minotaur.

Avea strained to get a closer look at the strange markings that covered the Dolunay's body deep, jagged lacerations. There was one etched onto its shoulder drew her attention, while the other markings seemed radom, a result of battle shed. This one had deep lines that seemed to weave together to forge one linked knot. Avea found herself curiously staring at the marking trying to make sense of it. Avea strained to get a closer look at the strange markings covering Dolunay's body, deep, jagged lacerations no doubt from countless battles. One in particular, etched onto its shoulder caught her attention. Unlike the others, which seemed random, this one had deep lines that wove together, forming a single unbroken knot. Her gaze lingered on it, drawn in by an inexplicable curiosity. Then, her eyes drifted upwards to the unusual collar encircling Dolunay's neck, its surface alive with shifting inscriptions that pulsed and swirled like living ink. As the massive creature loomed over her, Avea realised, she was finally face to face with the shadow itself.

Avea tried to hide her fear, but Dolunay's beady eyes were staring into her own wide terrified eyes. "I can smell your fear Avea Maxwell," Dolunay spoke. The ancient voice coming directly from the creatures mouth didn't ease Avea in any way, in fact it was more unnerving. Avea squirmed in discomfort at the creature speaking her name. This shadowy, horned beast had pursued her since she first entered the tunnels. "I have been bound to this underground prison forced to remain dormant, waiting for this very moment."

"Um I'm flattered."

"I have been searching for you for quite some time," the shadow creature spoke. “What do you want with me?” she spoke into her mind; looking in every direction trying to find some way out, but she wasn’t in the outlands she didn’t know where she was. The only familiar feeling was that ancient lifeless presence that had been following her since she'd entered the tunnels. “It is not I who seeks you Avea Maxwell” the ancient voice spoke coming from everywhere. Avea whirled around trying to locate the sound of the voice.

Avea realised it couldn't reach her, everything in the vision merely an frightful illusion. "Why are you hunting me?" Avea asked. "The light side of the moon has chosen you to bear its mark." "The what?" She didn't understand anything the creature had said, now she was convinced that she'd died and somehow not released it. She imagined her body currently laying lifeless somewhere in the dark forsaken tunnels. You are not dead. "Stop reading my mind," Avea snapped. "You do not belong on this planet Avea Maxwell. You hail from the Luminous." Avea tried to quiet her mind, she wasn't even sure if any of this was real anymore, or if this was her sanity unravelling. "Why should I believe anything you say? You're trying to kill me."

The skeleton plants swayed softly around them in a hypnotizing rhythm, and the moons that had been resting peacefully above began orbiting above her. "I am not trying to kill you, I am here to show you the truth." Dolunay spoke, extending the blue hand out from the blue flame towards her in invitation. “The bearing of the mark must be chosen, claimed by its successor.” Avea stared down at those monstrous blue hands, and realised that it was offering her its hand. "I'm not holding your hand" Avea said, her voice deadpan. "You must let me take you to the gateway, where you're destiny awaits you" Dolunay said. Avea could hear the desperation the creature's voice. "No I don't believe anything you say...let me out and leave me alone!" She screamed at the blue flame. "You must claim your birthright," the ancient spoke. The sound of it slightly obscured that she could no longer tell if the voice was inside her mind.

Run.

The moons above them began slowly orbiting above her began spinning faster and faster until it felt like everything tilted on an axis. "There is a realm of moons, as you Terrains call it. All connected through the celestial power of the uri, and that same power now flows through your veins."This isn't real ... this isn't real" Avea whispered to herself, in a state of complete disbelief. Dolunay stayed still on the curve of the circle, blue flame erupting from his twisted thorns. She swore she could feel Dolunay staring at her with such ferocity as though thinking about ramming those terrifying horns through Avea. The air instantly became denser and colder. Her sight blurring, feeling whatever grip was holding her down start to slip. Dolunay felt it too surging towards her, "The realm hangs in the balance, now you must prove yourself." She sensed Dolunay breaking through the shield to reach for her.

Her vision blurring and her sense of restraint weakening. Sensing this too, Dolunay lunged to reclaim its hold, but Avea, unleashed a silent scream and raised her hand defensively. As blinding glare erupted from the moon's rays, she threw her hand to shield her eyes. A being of pure luminous light flew out of the moonlit streaks heading for Avea. Glistening blades in hands the being slashed at the air, and Avea unleashed a scream feeling the tether connecting her and Dolunay severed deep within her core.

Avea stumbled backward, freed from the grasp as she fell out of the vision, her head striking something solid. Grabbing handfuls of the gravel instead of obsidian dirt, the pain on her wrists fading. She squinted her eyes to see the familiar dark passageway. Confused when she saw the shattered obsidian stone that had littered the passageway. She couldn't sense that eerie lingering presence anymore, had that light being saved her? Or had she imagined it?

"V you're awake" Bebop static voice drew Avea out of her submerged trace. "What do you mean?" Avea groaned. "You touched the barricade and then I couldn't reach you" Bebop said. "These tunnels are messing with my head." Avea fell to the ground disheveled heap as gut-wrenching sobs tore through her chest, as she finally confronted the reality of her situation. She was trapped in the underbelly of the outlands and she was slowly losing her mind. Avea held onto Bebop, who let her cling to the metal bodice. As the tears poured, all of her thoughts began swirling inside her mind. "V look," Bebop said. She lifted her head blinking away her tears, and there it was.

A thread of silver light.

Avea forced herself to her knees and began to crawl.

"You don't belong to this world Avea Maxwell," she heard Dolunay's speak inside her mind. "Stay away from me, you blue creep" she cried, turning on her heels. The glossy obsidian lining the passageway shattered, sending fragments of glistening stone flying from every direction. Throwing her backwards and the coldness seized her. Light flared out from her, and she heard Dolunay let out a menacing snarl. "We need to go home" she gasped. Forcing herself onto her aching knees Avea crawled to the light flickering in the pitch blackness. The tunnel obsidian stone that had imprisoned the horrifying minotaur Dolunay lay shattered on the rough floor. Ignoring the destruction around her, Avea dragged her aching limbs that screamed in protest to the flicker of light that remained in the obsidian stone untouched by Dolunay's rampage.

She watched this tiny speck of light fight off the raging darkness that threatened to consume it. Dolunay's words were ringing inside her head, "It is not I who seeks you Avea Maxwell." Did that mean there were going to be more coming after her? And what of the light warrior that had severed Dolunay's tether? Friend or foe? Avea thought her mind might cave in on itself, cracking from the inability to decipher reality. It couldn't be real none of it. "You hail from the lumos. I sense your power." Avea knew that she did not possess this uri, she'd been born on the outskirts where a roamer had found her mother. Given her refuge only to be snatched by the Guardwatch for harbouring them, forcing her mother to flee with Avea into the Valent ring. There was no realm of moons, and even if there was she certainly didn't belong there.

She needed to find a way out, and Dolunay couldn't be held at bay for much longer. Dolunay's power faltered slightly, giving Avea enough time to slip through the entrance and seizing the chance she bolted out from the depths of the tunnels. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, struggling to suppress the unsettling connection that had seemed to take root in her very core. Threatening to pull her back, and Avea didn't know why. Only that she'd awakened something that should have been left untouched, unprovoked. As her feet pounded against the ground, her head was spinning with one unsettling thought.

What if Dolunay was telling her the truth?