Chapter 7
1189 Words
The Shadow King
The forest went silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
Even the strange silver leaves hanging above us stopped moving. The air felt frozen, as if the entire Shadow Realm had taken one breath and refused to let it go.
I stared at the figure standing between the trees.
The Shadow King.
He was taller than any man I had ever seen, dressed in black that seemed to move like smoke around his body. His face was partly hidden beneath a dark hood, but I could see his eyes.
They weren’t normal.
They glowed like two dying stars.
My mother’s hand tightened around mine.
“Amara,” she whispered.
I looked at her.
For the first time since I’d found her, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
Not fear for herself.
Fear for me.
“Run,” she said.
Kael stepped in front of us immediately.
“No.”
My mother’s expression hardened. “Kael, you cannot fight him.”
“I don’t need to defeat him.”
Kael raised his hand.
“I only need to get her out.”
The Shadow King laughed.
The sound rolled through the forest like thunder.
“Still protecting her,” he said.
His voice was deep and strangely familiar.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t get to speak to her.”
The Shadow King tilted his head.
“After eighty-seven years, you still believe you can protect what was never yours.”
My heart stopped.
Eighty-seven.
I looked at Kael.
He didn’t move.
But I could tell the words had struck something inside him.
The Shadow King continued.
“You were given one task, little prince.”
Kael’s fingers curled into fists.
“And you failed.”
“What task?” I asked.
Kael glanced back at me.
“Amara, don’t.”
I stepped closer.
“What task?”
My mother shook her head. “There isn’t time.”
“There is always time for the truth.”
My voice trembled, but I didn’t care.
I’d spent my entire life believing my mother was gone.
Then I’d discovered she was alive.
I’d discovered magic was real.
I’d discovered Kael had known me since I was a baby.
And now a terrifying king was standing in front of me, talking as if my entire life had been a secret everyone knew except me.
I was done being the only person in the room who didn’t understand what was happening.
“What did Kael promise you?” I asked my mother.
She looked at him.
Kael looked away.
My mother’s eyes filled with tears.
“He promised me he would keep you hidden.”
“From him?”
“From everyone.”
The Shadow King smiled.
“How touching.”
A pulse of darkness exploded from his hand.
“Kael!”
He moved instantly.
A wall of silver light appeared in front of us.
The force of the attack slammed into it.
BOOM!
The ground shook.
I stumbled backward, but Kael caught my arm.
“Stay behind me.”
The silver shield flickered.
Kael’s breathing became heavier.
My mother stepped forward.
“No.”
Kael looked at her.
“You’ve protected her long enough.”
The Shadow King raised his hand again.
“Give me the girl.”
My mother’s face changed.
“Never.”
The next blast was stronger.
The silver shield shattered.
Kael was thrown backward.
“Kael!”
I ran toward him.
He landed hard against the ground.
“Amara, stay back!”
I ignored him.
I reached for his hand.
The moment our fingers touched, something happened.
Light burst from my palm.
Not silver.
Moonlight.
Pure, bright moonlight exploded between us.
The entire forest lit up.
The Shadow King stopped.
For the first time, the smile disappeared from his face.
“No.”
My mother stared at me.
“Oh, Amara…”
The crescent mark on my wrist began to glow.
It wasn’t burning this time.
It felt alive.
The light traveled up my arm, spreading beneath my skin like silver veins.
Kael stared at me.
“I knew it.”
“What?”
He slowly stood.
“Your power is awakening.”
The Shadow King stepped backward.
“She doesn’t know what she carries.”
My mother looked at him.
“That’s why I hid her.”
He laughed softly.
“You hid the Moon Heart.”
My stomach dropped.
“The what?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Amara…”
“What is the Moon Heart?”
She didn’t answer.
The Shadow King did.
“The heart of the Moon Kingdom.”
His gaze fixed on me.
“Power that belonged to the first Moon Queen.”
I swallowed.
My mother.
He was talking about my mother.
But then his eyes moved to the glowing crescent on my wrist.
“No,” he whispered.
His expression changed.
“The Heart chose her.”
Kael moved in front of me again.
“That’s enough.”
The Shadow King smiled.
“Now you understand why I came.”
Darkness began gathering around him.
“I don’t need the kingdom.”
He looked directly at me.
“I only need her.”
My mother grabbed my shoulders.
“Listen to me carefully.”
Her voice was urgent.
“The Moon Heart isn’t just power. It is a key.”
“A key to what?”
“To the barrier between worlds.”
I stared at her.
She continued.
“If the Shadow King takes it, he can open the barrier completely.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
“And once it’s open, the human world won’t survive.”
A cold shiver went through me.
The strange dreams.
The creatures.
The attack at school.
The silver forest.
Everything suddenly felt connected.
The Shadow King began disappearing into the darkness.
But before he vanished, he looked at Kael.
“You cannot hide her anymore.”
Then he looked at me.
“Because she has already been found.”
He disappeared.
The forest remained silent.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then my mother pulled me into her arms.
I froze.
It had been seventeen years since I’d felt her embrace.
She smelled faintly of flowers and something I couldn’t name.
Something familiar.
Something that made my chest ache.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes.
“For what?”
“For everything you’re about to learn.”
I pulled away.
“What haven’t you told me?”
She looked at Kael.
He gave her a warning look.
She shook her head.
“No more secrets.”
She reached for my wrist and gently touched the glowing crescent.
“Your father is still alive.”
My breath caught.
I stared at her.
“My… father?”
She nodded.
“And he’s not human.”
The words hung between us.
Kael looked toward the dark trees.
As if he already knew what was coming.
My mother whispered the final words.
“He’s the last surviving heir of the Shadow Kingdom.”
I couldn’t breathe.
And somewhere beyond the silver trees, something laughed.
Something that sounded exactly like the voice in my dreams.
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