ECLIPSE OF ETERNITY
789 Words
Kai vs. Elias.
Avery cornered.
The betrayal revealed.
The hallway shook as if the house itself sensed the violence brewing.
Avery’s lungs burned as she ran,
her cloak trailing behind her like torn wings.
She could still hear it the metallic snap of power,
the echo of two men who should never have met inside the same room.
Kai and Elias.
The shadow-walker and the lightbearer.
The two men who loved her in ways she
was only beginning to understand…
and fear.
She reached the staircase landing,
gripping the railing as distant thunder cracked from the room behind her.
That wasn’t real thunder it was Kai losing control,
the shadows in his veins surging with every heartbeat.
And Elias, radiating that impossible,
holy fire that made the air tremble.
Avery turned back.
She could not leave them fighting because of her.
But when she rushed in when she finally
saw them her heart dropped.
Kai wasn’t merely fighting.
He was hunting.
His eyes had fully darkened,
obsidian with streaks of silver,
a sign she had only seen in one ancient text
a shadow-bond awakening.
Elias, panting,
burned with a soft gold haze,
but something was wrong.
His glow flickered, unstable.
Kai’s attacks were too fast, too feral.
Kai, stop!
Avery screamed.
But he didn’t hear her.
Or he didn’t care.
Elias thrust a barrier of light toward Kai,
but the shadow-walker cut through it like mist,
appearing behind him in a heartbeat.
His hand closed around Elias’s throat,
lifting him off the floor,
shadows curling up his arm like smoke.
You tried to take her from me,
Kai growled
but his voice was distorted,
layered, darker.
You touched her mind without her consent.
Elias choked.
I was protecting her!
Avery froze.
Protecting her from what?
Kai tossed Elias across the room,
sending him crashing into the oak shelves.
Papers scattered.
Ancient books split open.
The lights flickered and then died.
Only the shadows remained,
dancing around Kai like worshippers around a god.
Avery stepped forward.
Kai enough. Look at me.
And for a moment… he did.
His expression softened,
the darkness pulling back slightly.
His eyes traced her face like he was memorizing the shape of her.
But then Elias groaned,
pushing himself up and the softness vanished.
Kai lunged again.
But this time, Avery moved.
She threw herself between them.
Kai froze inches from her,
his breath ragged,
his hands trembling
where they hovered near her waist.
Avery…
he whispered, voice breaking open,
shadows flaring and dying in pulses.
Move. Please.
You don’t understand what he did.
Elias wiped blood from his lip,
his golden light dimming.
Avery…
I need to tell you the truth.
You were never meant to meet him.
The room went silent.
Avery felt her stomach drop.
What… do you mean by that?
Elias didn’t answer with words.
He lifted his hand and a symbol
appeared in the air,
glowing faintly.
She recognized it instantly.
Her family crest.
The one she had been
forbidden to ask questions about.
The one that appeared
in nightmares she could never remember
clearly.
Kai’s shadows recoiled at the sight of it.
Elias looked at Avery with guilt carved
into every line of his face.
Your family sent me to erase Kai from
your life before the bond fully formed.
Avery staggered back.
That was the betrayal.
Her family.
Her own blood.
They had blocked her escape route
not just physically,
but for years without her knowing.
Kai’s darkness surged violently.
They tried to erase me.
Erase your memories.
Erase what we are.
Avery clutched her chest.
Something inside her
a locked door in her mind
clicked open just a crack,
releasing a flash of memory
she didn’t recognize.
Kai’s hand in hers.
A night full of stars.
Her own voice whispering,
Don’t forget me.
Elias stepped forward.
Avery,
the truth is worse than either of us told you.
You are
But he didn’t finish.
Because heavy footsteps echoed from
the corridor outside.
Not enemies.
Not monsters.
Family.
Her aunt’s voice sliced through
the darkness.
Avery.
Step away from the shadow-walker.
Now.
Avery turned toward the doorway
and there they were.
Her bloodline.
The ones she trusted.
Blocking the exit.
Their faces cold.
Their weapons ready.
Their eyes fixed not on Kai or Elias…
But on her.
Kai pulled Avery behind him,
shadows coiling protectively.
Elias stepped forward to shield her too,
despite the blood dripping from his jaw.
And Avery realized
Tonight was not about choosing between Kai and Elias.
Tonight…
the three of them were on the same side.
Against everyone she thought she knew.
And the door behind her family creaked as something far older… far darker… began to wake.
- Writer
