The Shadow That Chose Me

The Voice Beneath the Dark

The forest went completely black.

Not dark.

Black.

Elara couldn't see Kael.

Couldn't see the stranger.

Couldn't even see her own hands.

For one terrifying moment, she wondered if she had gone blind.

Then something whispered beside her ear.

Remember me.

Elara spun around.

"Who are you?"

Her voice echoed strangely through the darkness.

No answer came.

Then another voice spoke.

This one was deeper.

Older.

And it sounded as though it came from somewhere beneath the earth.

You have forgotten.

Elara's heart hammered against her ribs.

"Forgotten what?"

A cold sensation crawled up her arm.

The black mark on her palm began spreading.

Thin dark lines moved beneath her skin toward her wrist.

She gasped.

"No."

She tried rubbing it away.

It didn't disappear.

Instead, the darkness climbed higher.

Her forearm burned.

"Kael!"

No answer.

"Kael!"

Something grabbed her wrist.

Elara screamed.

A second later, a familiar voice shouted, "It's me!"

Kael.

She couldn't see him, but she recognized his voice.

"Where are you?"

"Right here."

His hand tightened around hers.

"Don't let go."

"I can't see anything."

"Neither can I."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know."

A strange vibration moved through the ground.

Kael pulled her closer.

"Stay behind me."

"Where's the other man?"

"Which man?"

"The one who was here."

Kael was silent.

"Kael?"

"I don't know."

Something moved in the darkness.

A low growl came from somewhere nearby.

Kael immediately drew his sword.

"Whatever happens, don't run."

"That isn't exactly comforting."

"I'm not trying to comfort you."

"Then what are you trying to do?"

"Keep you alive."

The growl came again.

Closer.

Elara felt Kael tense.

Then the darkness suddenly lifted.

Moonlight flooded through the trees.

Elara blinked rapidly.

Kael stood beside her, sword raised.

But the stranger was gone.

So were the creatures.

The forest looked completely normal.

Too normal.

Elara looked around.

"What happened?"

Kael lowered his sword slowly.

"I don't know."

"Where did he go?"

"I told you. I don't know."

"You were talking to him."

"I was."

"And then everything went black."

"I know."

"And now he's gone."

Kael looked at her.

"Yes."

Elara folded her arms.

"You know more than you're telling me."

"I know enough to understand that you're in danger."

"That's not an answer."

"It is the only one you're getting right now."

She glared at him.

"You brought me into this."

"No."

"You found me."

"I didn't."

"You said you searched my house."

"I did."

"You knew my family name."

"I knew the name."

"You knew about the symbol."

"I knew about the symbol."

"You knew those creatures were afraid of me."

Kael's expression hardened.

"I knew they were afraid of something."

"And now you know it's me."

He said nothing.

Elara stepped closer.

"What are you hiding?"

Kael looked away.

That was answer enough.

"Unbelievable."

She turned and started walking.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere that isn't near you."

"That's not an option."

She stopped.

"Why?"

"Because if you leave me, you'll be dead before sunrise."

Elara slowly turned.

"You really enjoy saying things like that, don't you?"

"No."

"Then stop."

Kael sighed.

"Elara, listen to me."

She waited.

"There are things in this world that most people don't know exist. There are kingdoms beneath kingdoms. Bloodlines that were erased from history. Creatures that have existed longer than human civilization."

He looked directly into her eyes.

"And there are people who spend their entire lives making sure those things stay hidden."

"You're one of them?"

"I was trained to be."

"What does that mean?"

"My family has been hunting supernatural creatures for generations."

Elara stared at him.

"And now?"

"Now I don't know what to think."

"Because of me?"

"Because of what happened tonight."

The honesty in his voice surprised her.

Before she could respond, a distant bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Kael immediately turned toward the north.

"What is that?"

"An alarm."

"For what?"

"Blackmere."

Elara's stomach dropped.

"My town?"

Kael nodded.

"We need to move."

"My parents."

"Elara—"

"My parents are still there."

"We don't know that."

"I don't care."

She started running.

Kael caught up with her.

"You can't go back."

"Watch me."

"You don't know what's waiting there."

"My family is there."

"You don't even know if your family is alive."

Elara stopped so suddenly that Kael nearly ran into her.

"What did you say?"

He looked uncomfortable.

"I said we don't know."

"No."

She stared at him.

"You said earlier that you found no bodies."

"Yes."

"Then they're alive."

"Not necessarily."

"But there's a chance."

"Yes."

"Then I'm going back."

Kael studied her for several seconds.

Finally, he nodded.

"Fine."

Elara blinked.

"Fine?"

"We go back."

"Just like that?"

"No."

He sheathed his sword.

"We don't go through the main road."

"Why?"

"Because whoever attacked your town may still be there."

"Then where do we go?"

"There's an old tunnel beneath the hill."

Elara frowned.

"I've lived in Blackmere my entire life. There is no tunnel."

"There is."

"How do you know?"

Kael looked at her.

"Because your father showed it to my father twenty-two years ago."

Elara's blood went cold.

"What?"

Kael began walking.

She followed.

"What did my father have to do with your family?"

"More than you realize."

They traveled through the forest in silence.

Every few minutes, Elara glanced at her palm.

The black mark had stopped spreading.

But it hadn't disappeared.

She could feel something beneath it.

A pulse.

Like another heartbeat.

She pressed her fingers against it.

For a moment, she heard something.

A child's laughter.

She stopped.

Kael turned.

"What?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A child."

Kael listened.

Nothing.

Then Elara heard it again.

A girl laughing.

Soft.

Familiar.

She turned toward the sound.

Between two trees stood a little girl.

She couldn't have been more than six.

She wore a white dress.

Her hair was long and black.

Elara stared.

"Hello?"

The child smiled.

"Elara."

Kael immediately grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't."

"But she—"

"There's no child."

Elara looked at him.

Then back at the trees.

The girl was gone.

Her breathing quickened.

"What was that?"

Kael's face was pale.

"I don't know."

"You've seen it before."

"No."

"You looked terrified."

"I'm not terrified."

"You are."

He didn't answer.

The little girl's voice whispered from behind them.

"He's lying."

Elara turned.

Nothing.

Then the voice continued.

He always lies.

Kael grabbed Elara's hand.

"Keep moving."

"Who is she?"

"I don't know."

"She knows you."

"Elara."

"She said you lie."

"I heard her."

"Then who is she?"

Kael looked at the darkness between the trees.

"I think she's part of the shadow."

Elara's stomach tightened.

"How can a shadow have a child?"

"It shouldn't."

They continued.

Eventually, the trees opened.

An enormous stone hill stood before them.

At its base was a narrow opening covered by vines.

Kael pulled them aside.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Elara stared.

"This is beneath Blackmere?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't anyone know about it?"

"Because your family kept it hidden."

"My family?"

Kael nodded.

He lit a small lantern.

"Stay close."

They descended.

The air became colder with every step.

Ancient symbols covered the walls.

Elara ran her fingers over one.

The moment she touched it, the lantern flickered.

A flash of memory struck her.

She was small.

Maybe five years old.

She was standing in this exact tunnel.

Her mother was crying.

Her father was holding her shoulders.

"Listen to me, Elara."

The memory shifted.

Her father placed his hands over her ears.

"If they ever ask you about the door, you don't know anything."

Young Elara nodded.

"Why?"

"Because some doors should never be opened."

Another flash.

Her father looked terrified.

Behind him stood a woman dressed in silver.

Elara didn't recognize her.

The woman was holding a baby.

Then the memory shattered.

Elara stumbled.

Kael caught her.

"What happened?"

"I remembered something."

"What?"

"My father."

"What did he say?"

She looked toward the symbols on the wall.

"He told me never to open a door."

Kael's expression changed.

"What door?"

"I don't know."

He looked around.

"Maybe we're close."

They continued deeper.

At the end of the tunnel stood a massive stone door.

Seven symbols were carved across its surface.

Elara recognized them immediately.

They matched the pendant.

Her heart began pounding.

Kael stepped forward.

"Don't touch it."

Elara froze.

"I wasn't going to."

The black mark on her palm suddenly burned.

The door responded.

A deep rumble echoed through the tunnel.

Kael raised his sword.

"Step back."

The symbols began glowing.

One.

Two.

Three.

Elara couldn't move.

A strange force pulled her toward the door.

"Kael..."

"Back away!"

"I can't!"

The final symbol illuminated.

The stone door opened by itself.

Cold air rushed through the tunnel.

Behind it was not another room.

It was a vast chamber.

And in the center stood a throne.

An ancient black throne.

Something was sitting on it.

Elara's breath caught.

A figure slowly lifted its head.

It looked human.

Almost.

Its eyes glowed silver.

It smiled at her.

"Finally."

Kael stepped in front of Elara.

"Who are you?"

The figure ignored him.

Its eyes remained fixed on Elara.

"You took so long to come home."

Elara couldn't speak.

The figure stood.

Darkness moved around its feet.

"You don't remember me."

Elara shook her head.

"No."

The figure smiled.

"You will."

Then it raised one hand.

Kael was thrown violently across the chamber.

"Kael!"

Elara rushed toward him.

The figure laughed.

"You still protect him."

Elara stopped.

"How do you know me?"

The figure tilted its head.

"Because I knew you before you were born."

The black mark on Elara's palm began glowing brighter than ever.

The figure's expression suddenly changed.

For the first time, it looked afraid.

"No..."

It stepped backward.

"What?"

The figure stared at the mark.

"That isn't possible."

"What isn't?"

"You were supposed to inherit my power."

Elara stared.

"But something else chose you."

The darkness behind Elara began moving.

The shadow emerged.

It stretched across the chamber like a living storm.

The figure backed away.

"Impossible."

Kael slowly pushed himself up.

"What is it talking about?"

Elara didn't answer.

She couldn't.

Because she suddenly remembered something.

Not a dream.

Not a fragment.

A memory.

Her father kneeling before her when she was a child.

His hands trembling.

His voice breaking.

"Never let the shadow find you, Elara."

She had spent her entire life believing he was protecting her from it.

But now she understood.

He hadn't been afraid that the shadow would find her.

He had been afraid of what would happen...

when she remembered that it already had.

The shadow moved behind her.

Then it whispered:

You were never chosen.

Elara's eyes widened.

You were born as mine.

And somewhere far above them, Blackmere began to burn.