When God Closed His Eyes

Chapter 2: The Man Without a Shadow

POV: Kaelen

“Hey, for goodness' sake, move!”

"My poor brain screamed at my muscles, but I was completely locked in place. The heavy iron axe vibrated in the air, just stuck inches above her neck.

Suddenly, the whole room exploded into pure madness without our slightest awareness.

The rising smoke of shadows didn't touch the girl or affect the girl. Instead, the shadows wrapped themselves around like black tentacles and slashed at the guards at the same time.

One guard, whose face was a deathly white, choked on his last breath when a shadow had strangled him. Another soldier drew his sword, but a dark shape slammed him face-first into the stone wall with a sickening c***k while he was still wielding his sword.

"'This is magic! It is a witch!” a startled captain cried out, instantly cracking his voice while he instantly scrambled backward.

The crowd in the galleries went completely wild as they trampled on each other. Hundreds of them were running away, some over people, some knocking down benches, all in the attempt to find their way through the tight passages of the place at the same time.

The whole space was filled with the sound of loud cries, stamping of boots, and screaming of people who did not know where to go.

All of a sudden, my eyes were met with a flash that looked like a break in the wall I hadn't noticed before. I felt like a heavy body of axe fell into my hands again and that the big heavy blade of a sword had been completely buried into the place of a simple wooden figure.

Then,she, who had been standing just in front of the axe blade, disappeared into nowhere.

Turning around instantly I looked at where I had seen the girl, Elara - she already was sliding down from the stage.

Then she started running at such a pace that I could no longer see her dark hair as it disappeared in the smoky air of the lower tunnels.

"S…stop her!" I roared at the remaining guards, my voice shaking with a rage I didn't entirely understand.

"Don't let her get away!"

I tried to go to her, but suddenly I felt like my feet were attached to the floor.

Then behold, the torches on the walls flared wildly, casting long, jittery shapes behind every pillar, every dead guard, and every piece of wood. I glanced down at my feet expecting that my very long shadow would come out from beneath me.

But there was no shadow.

A bright, fully lit torch stood just in front of my face. By every law of nature, my body should have blocked the light,but the stone floor behind my boots was totally blank. Just bare with empty grey rock.

I was cold all of a sudden as cold sweat poured down my neck.

Shadows, which were only there to protect the guards, disappeared and did not even protect me.

I am now without a shadow.

About ten minutes further into the scene, I stood in front of the throne of the high king. My bloodstained hands were still dirty with the thief's blood, and my head felt like it was splitting in half from a blinding headache.

King Malakor sat on his golden throne. Usually, when a plan failed, he screamed or paced around like a maniac. He was a cruel man who needed total control and I fully expected him to throw me into the dungeons or order my execution on the spot.

"S-she... she escaped, Your Majesty, " I replied, kneeling down as my voice trembled a little while I kept my eyes glued to the ground so that the king would not notice the panic in them.

"She cast some kind of dark spell and the shadows... they turned against us."

The huge chamber suddenly became silent as the king's mouth stood agape in shock at my words. There was no yelling or angry footsteps.

The silence lasted so long it grew oppressive, making me feel like I could hardly breathe. Then carefully, I looked up.

The King didn't look angry at all. He looked so pale that his skin resembled spoiled milk and his hands trembled so much that he had to hold the golden armrests of his throne to stay steady. He was not giving me an angry look. He gave me a look of sheer, freezing fear. He was like a man confronting a ghost.

"Did she..." The King swallowed hard, his throat making a noise in the silent room and his voice was very weak and almost a whisper. "Did she say something to you? Before she ran away?"

My thoughts started to spin.

Rowan.

The name rang in my head accompanied by flashes of a village on fire and a child laughing.

My heart was pounding in my chest, but I managed to keep my face emotionless. "No," I answered untruthfully, my voice getting strained. "She... she said nothing."

The King sighed deeply as he stared at me in fury but fear in his eyes was still there. "Bring her to me, " he said, his voice trembling as he made a gesture with a finger towards the door. "Bring her to me and kill her before dawn and do not let her talk to anyone else. This is an order… Go!"

I could not get any sleep that night.

I was sitting by myself in my dark room at the corner of the castle walls, looking at my boots with a blank expression. One candle was lit on my table which gave off a certain brightness, but my figure was not reflected against the wall behind me at all. It was as if I was a ghost. Just a shell of a human being.

Who am I really? I wondered, scratching my head in despair when the pain in my head struck again. What did that man do to my mind?

Knock! Knock!

I heard a loud and abrupt noise resonating against the thick oak door of the room. My heart skipped a beat. It was a long time after midnight and no one would ever come to the executioner's quarters at such a late hour.

They were obviously terrified of me. So who could this be?

Slowly, I got up, my heart drumming loudly in my ears, and I grabbed the dagger at my waist and tiptoed to the door laying my ear on the chilly piece of wood.

"Who's there?" I asked sharply, attempting to sound intimidating but there was no answer. Instead, a wet, choking gasp came through the c***k of the door, followed by a raspy, blood-soaked whisper that made my stomach turn.

"O…open up..." the voice choked, right against the keyhole. "You are inside my body.”