Chapter 2; Whispers Beneath the Stars
1320 Words
Everyone watched in awe, as black fire bloomed at Alayna’s feet, flickering violet and gold. The forest hushed. Even the lanterns dimmed.
Magic pulsed from her chest, ancient and wild, and the shadows danced—not cast by the fire, but called to life by her.
Kayla gasped.
Serina and Deryn were stunned into silence.
Marek, cheered; “Hell yah baddie! Shadows and fire. That’s my best friend right there.” Marek even started clapping.
This made Alayna less nervous and even smile, however, her smiled faltered. “Shadows and black fire? Grandma isn’t this dark magic, am I a dark fae. Wouldn’t there have been signs?” Mirra just shook her head and pressed her lips in a line, trying to think of an answer that would make sense and not alarm her grand-daughter. “Sweetie, dark fae are made they aren’t born that way like most have been taught to believe. Your powers might represent something dark, but that could also mean your good enough to handle these powers. The shadows have to choose you, it’s not a magic you manifested it old, ancient, the shadows are a different entity that choose you, a fire fae believe it or not. The black flames I think are manifested to always responded to the shadows, see?” Mirra maneuvered Alayna’s hands to the shadow behind her as her arms were still ignited with the dark flames. As her arms moved the shadows were not disrupted and they continued to thrive. “Your flames will not disrupt the shadows that follow you. Allowing you to use both your magic and the magic the shadows have gifted at the same time.”
“Oh that’s wicked.” Marek grinned from ear to ear. “So grams, what is the shadow magic and how is it a separate entity if it needs Alayna to manifest?” Mirra c****d an eyebrow, “The shadows do not need Alayna to manifest, if anything the shadows are using Alayna not the other way around. However, this magic is so old I have no idea what it truly is, or how it came to be. This entity could be a guardian sent from the moon Goddess herself or a lost soul. What I can tell you is that ,ever since Serina brought Alayna to me, I have study this entity, I have felt it’s magic, I’ve heard it whisper. It does not feel or sound sinister, but beautiful and full of hope. Despite what most will assume.” Alayna smiled, relief flooding through her. She finally breathed a little bit more now. “So, looking forward to seeing you kick someone ass with that shit.” Marek’s comment made everyone laugh, except one person. Kayla, who in this moment was truly jealous.
Most of the lanterns now drifted lazily through the trees, their glow soft and low like fireflies grown tired. The music had faded. Her parents sat curled together near the embers of the fire. Mirra had vanished somewhere beyond the warded circle, no doubt consulting the stars or her stones. Kayla had retired early, citing a headache.
Only Alayna and Marek remained awake, sprawled side-by-side on a mossy patch just beyond the circle, the stars wide open above them.
“Tell me you saw how smug your dad was, when he threw that apple at me during our little sparring session? If it wasn’t for the at distraction he would have never gotten me on the ground.” Marek murmured, one arm folded behind his head.
Alayna chuckled softly. “Haha, I did. Did I tell you? He shifted mid-race, on the way here.”
“Of course he did. I swear he gets more wolfish every year. By your next birthday he’ll just want to roll around in the dirt and howl at the moon.”
She snorted, then went quiet. The firelight was far behind them now, and the stars above were brilliant—icy white points scattered across a sea of indigo. Her fingers curled in the grass beside Marek’s.
“I think something big is about to happen Marek,” she said quietly.
He didn’t have to ask what she meant. “Yeah. I know. I can it too, the forest has gone quiet, the atmosphere feels heavy.”
They both stayed quiet for a moment, not sure if this feeling was worth dwelling on. Marek broke the silence; “how are you feeling by the way?”
Alayna just remained looking at the stars. “I feel good. Like something in me cracked open tonight. Like… everything I’ve ever been taught to suppress just unlocked. The shadows and the fire. I wasn’t afraid and it’s kind of like the shadows just took over.”
Marek turned his head toward her. “Because they’re yours, Laynie. They’ve been waiting for you.”
She blinked fast. “What if I can’t learn to control them though, what if I hurt someone?”
“I do not think you’re supposed to control it necessarily,” he said softly. “Like gram said, you’ve always had the shadow magic, and if it wanted to use you to hurt someone, I think it would have happen already.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “You remember when we first met in Kindergarten? How no one else wanted to come near me cause I smelled weird? Not like a wolf. You were the only one who liked the way I smelled.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “I could smell your mom pistachio muffins in your bag, and everyone knows I’m a foodie.”
She laughed then, loud and real.
Marek watched her with quiet eyes, the humor fading to something gentler. “You’re scared.”
Alayna nodded. “I am.”
“Well… that’s fine.” He sat up, brushing moss from his shirt. “You’ve never let fear stop you before. You didn’t flinch when we climbed Widow’s Peak. Or when Kayla dared you to sneak into the alpha’s cellar. You punched Caleb in the face with a broken wrist. You remember that?”
“He grabbed my ass,’” she muttered.
“Which, to be fair, you do have a nice juicy booty.” Marek said, “if I was straight I would be wanting to clarify if it was real too.” Marek winked at her, and Alayna cackled, she wanted to cry she was laughing so hard.
Her voice dropped. “I’m not just scared for me.”
Marek looked down. “Your parents?”
“And you.” Her voice caught. “What if someone finds out about me and they use you guys to get to me. What if you guys.. get hurt or it all becomes too much to hide it and you leave…”
Marek interrupted her by reaching for her hand, squeezing it tight. “I’m not going anywhere. And if I go down because someone is after you. I’m taking at least three bastards with me.”
Alayna turned her head and laid it on his shoulder. “Promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“If I lose control… if I ever hurt someone—”
“You won’t,” he said sharply.
“But if I do,” she whispered. “Stop me. Even if you have to put me down.”
There was a long silence. Only the wind in the trees answered.
“I won’t promise that,” Marek said finally. “Because I don’t believe I’ll have to. And if you think I’d ever raise a hand against you… then you don’t know me at all.”
She closed her eyes.
They sat in silence then, two souls wrapped in the calm before the storm. Marek’s arm around her shoulders, Alayna’s fire gone quiet for now, her shadows slumbering in the grass.
Above them, the stars watched.
- Writer
