Chapter 1:The Girl Who Woke The Shadow
512 Words
The sun was bleeding behind the oak trees when Lena face-planted into the mud.
"Screw school trips," she muttered, wiping dirt off her jeans. Her whole class went to see the ancient cave, but she chased a weird blue butterfly. Now she was lost.
The forest was silent. Too silent. Even the birds stopped singing.
The blue butterfly landed on a black stone in front of her. That stone wasn't there a second ago. Silver runes carved into it glowed in the dark like they were alive.
Curiosity beat fear. Lena was 17, and she believed "legends are meant to be touched". She pressed her palm to the runes.
The ground shook.
A scream tore the sky. Not a human scream. Something... ancient. The trees split open and a 10-foot black creature clawed its way out, red eyes blazing, talons gleaming.
Lena froze. Her heart stopped.
"Move back."
The voice came from behind her. Low and husky, but it cut through the air like a blade.
She turned slowly.
He stood between the trees. Tall, around 185cm. Long black jacket, messy black hair covering part of his face. But what made her stop breathing were his eyes.
Silver. Glowing in the dark like the moon itself. And a thin scar above his left eyebrow.
"I said move back," he repeated, just as cold. He drew a long sword from his back. The blade itself shimmered with silver light. "The Shadow you woke up eats humans."
The monster roared and lunged at Lena. Before she could scream, the silver-eyed boy was in front of her. He moved so fast she didn't see him move.
His sword sliced the air. _SHING!_
The Shadow split in two and dissolved into black smoke.
Silence returned.
Lena was still gasping. She dropped to her knees. "You... who are you?"
He took one step closer. His silver eyes scanned her from head to toe, like he was checking for injuries. His face was ice. Cold. No expression.
"Kane," he said finally. His voice held zero warmth. "Guardian of the Moon Crystal."
He pointed at the black stone, its runes now dead. "And your touch woke every Shadow that's been sleeping for 100 years."
"I... I didn't know," Lena whispered, trembling.
Kane turned to leave. "Doesn't matter. What matters now is that you're dead."
"What?!"
He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. For the first time, she saw something in his silver eyes besides coldness. Anger. And pain.
"The Moon Crystal chose you. The Shadows can smell you now. All of them will come to kill you and rip the crystal out of your body."
He paused, then added in a lower voice: "And my job... is to stay by your side until you die. Or until you save this world."
The blue butterfly returned and landed in Lena's hair.
Kane stared at the butterfly, then at Lena. His expression cracked for half a second. Like he saw a ghost.
"Let's go," he said, turning his back to her. "We don't have time. The war just started."
- Writer
