Chapter 13: Shadows in the Night
516 Words
Aurora sat by the fire, unable to shake the feeling that something was watching them.
The night was too quiet. The kind of silence that wasn’t peaceful—it was waiting.
Darius noticed it too. His silver eyes flicked toward the tree line, his body tense. “Stay alert.”
Lysander groaned. “Oh, good. I love when you say that.” He tightened his grip on his sword, shifting into a defensive stance.
Celeste sat up, her dagger already in hand. “So, we’re just assuming something’s about to attack us? Because I’d really love a night where that doesn’t happen.”
Aurora stood, clutching the book to her chest. The mark on her palm tingled, the same way it had before the Shadeborn attacked.
She knew what that meant.
They weren’t alone.
The shadows between the trees moved—too fast, too unnatural.
Then—a whisper.
Not from the wind. Not from any of them.
A voice slithered through the air, curling around Aurora like a serpent.
“Dreamweaver…”
A chill shot down her spine.
And then—the attack came.
Shadows burst from the trees, shifting, twisting, forming into creatures with no faces, only the glint of hollow eyes.
Shadeborn.
Darius reacted first, his twin blades flashing in the firelight. He cut through the nearest creature, but it barely staggered before reforming, lunging again.
Celeste darted forward, moving like liquid moonlight, her daggers finding weak spots that shouldn’t have existed.
Lysander swung his sword, slicing one Shadeborn clean in half—only for it to dissolve and reform seconds later. “Oh, come on!”
Aurora’s heart pounded.
She couldn’t fight like them. But she had something else.
Magic.
The book in her hands flared with golden light, as if answering her thoughts. The mark on her palm burned.
Aurora raised her hand.
The light exploded outward.
The Shadeborn shrieked, their forms twisting, unraveling as the golden energy tore through them.
The remaining creatures hesitated.
Darius didn’t. He lunged, cutting down the ones that were still standing. Lysander and Celeste finished the rest.
And then—silence.
Aurora gasped for breath, her whole body trembling. The book dimmed, its power retreating, but she could still feel it inside her.
Darius turned to her. “Are you alright?”
Aurora swallowed. “I… I think so.”
Lysander kicked one of the fading remnants of the Shadeborn. “I hate these things.”
Celeste sheathed her daggers. “Well, at least we know they’re still following us. That’s comforting.”
Darius’s expression darkened. “They’re not just following us. They’re hunting her.”
Aurora tightened her grip on the book.
The Shadeborn were getting bolder. Stronger.
And something told her that this was only the beginning.
She looked at Darius, her voice steady despite the fear in her chest.
“We have to get to Ravaryn.”
Darius nodded. “Then we move at first light.”
Aurora stared out at the darkness beyond the trees.
Somewhere, out there, something worse than the Shadeborn was waiting.
And it knew she was coming.
- Writer
