The Brother in the Shadows
665 Words
Xaden rarely looked afraid.
Annoyed? Yes.
Irritated? Always.
Done with Jace’s existence? Daily.
But afraid?
Never.
So when he whispered, “My brother,” and stepped instinctively back—
Liora knew something was very, very wrong.
The figure stepped fully into the weak tunnel light.
Tall.
Sharp features.
Dark jacket marked with a faded crescent symbol.
Eyes colder than the tunnels themselves.
Nova gasped. “That’s… Xylan.”
Arin blinked rapidly. “So… um… is this a ‘hi, long-lost brother!’ moment or a ‘run or he’ll murder us’ moment?”
Jace hid behind Arin. “I vote for running.”
Xaden’s hands tightened. “Don’t move.”
Xylan’s gaze drifted over them like he was examining a row of insects.
Then his eyes locked on Liora.
“You’re the girl,” he said. “The Witness.”
Liora’s spine turned to ice. “I—um—I’d like to unsubscribe from whatever this title is.”
Xylan didn’t smile.
He stepped closer. Xaden immediately blocked his path.
“Don’t,” Xaden growled.
Xylan tilted his head slightly. “Still protecting the wrong people, little brother?”
Arin whispered to Nova, “Is now a bad time to mention I forgot my inhaler?”
Nova smacked him lightly. “Yes.”
Jace trembled. “I just want to say… I didn’t join this group to die in a sewer.”
Xylan ignored them and looked directly into Xaden’s eyes.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” he said calmly. “Go back. This tunnel is not for you.”
Xaden’s jaw tensed. “And you shouldn’t be working for criminals.”
Xylan sighed. “You don’t understand the Shadows. You never did.”
“And you don’t understand right and wrong.”
Xylan moved faster than anyone expected.
One moment he stood still—
the next he was right in front of Xaden, gripping his wrist.
Liora gasped. “HEY—!”
Arin yelped. Jace’s scream cracked like a dying violin.
But Xaden didn’t move. He stared straight at his brother, eyes burning.
“Let go,” Xaden said.
Xylan studied him, as if debating.
Then he released him.
Nova stepped forward. “What do the Shadows want with Emil? And why are you showing up everywhere Liora goes?”
Xylan turned to her slowly.
“Because,” he said, “she saw something she shouldn’t have.”
Liora threw her hands up. “CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I SAW?! Because I honestly have no idea!”
Xylan actually paused — just for a second.
Then he looked directly at her.
“You saw a face.”
Liora blinked. “A… face?”
Xaden stepped closer to her, protective. “What face?”
Xylan didn’t answer.
He stepped backward into the shadows, like darkness itself was swallowing him.
“Leave this place,” he said. “All of you.”
Nova’s eyes narrowed. “Or what?”
Xylan’s voice dropped.
“Or you won’t leave at all.”
Then—
he vanished.
Like a shadow flickering out.
Silence fell.
Deep. Heavy. Cold.
Arin exhaled shakily. “So… that was terrifying.”
Jace nodded. “Ten out of ten villain appearance. Zero out of ten on the ‘comforting older brother’ scale.”
Nova paced in a circle. “He didn’t attack us. He warned us. Why? What does he know that we don’t?”
Xaden didn’t speak.
He just stared at the place where his brother had disappeared, fists shaking with quiet fury.
Liora touched his arm gently. “Xaden…?”
He didn’t look at her.
Instead, he whispered:
“He wasn’t lying. Liora… you really did see something dangerous.”
Liora felt her heartbeat hammering.
“But what did I see?” she asked.
Xaden finally turned to her, expression unreadable.
“I think,” he said slowly, “you saw the leader of the Shadows.”
The tunnels hummed louder.
And the air suddenly felt much too cold.
- Writer
