Episode 19: The Darkness Left Behind
778 Words
The battlefield was silent.
For the first time in hours...
There was no screaming.
No fighting.
No sound of magic colliding.
Only the slow sound of breathing.
The Void Beast was gone.
The darkness covering the sky began to fade.
The moon returned.
But something was wrong.
Zara felt it.
The moment the creature disappeared...
A cold feeling remained.
Not outside.
Inside.
She looked at her hands.
The silver light was there.
But different.
Weaker.
Unstable.
Caden noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Zara didn't answer.
She looked toward the ground.
"There is still something here."
Everyone became alert.
The hunters searched the area.
The warriors prepared again.
The Shadow King stepped forward.
His expression was serious.
"The Void Beast was not destroyed."
Everyone turned.
"What do you mean?" Lucian asked.
The Shadow King looked at the place where the creature vanished.
"It was created from darkness."
His voice lowered.
"Darkness cannot be destroyed."
The air became cold.
"It can only be transferred."
Zara's heart sank.
Transferred.
To where?
A sudden scream came from behind them.
Everyone turned.
A Blood Wolf warrior collapsed.
Dark veins spread across his skin.
His eyes turned black.
The warrior began shaking.
"No..."
The hunter stepped forward.
"Move away from him."
The warrior looked up.
But his voice was no longer his own.
It was deep.
Ancient.
"You defeated the body."
A dark smile appeared.
"But you did not defeat me."
Everyone froze.
The Void Beast.
Its voice.
Inside him.
Caden immediately moved Zara behind him.
The possessed warrior laughed.
"Always protecting her."
His eyes turned toward Caden.
"The Alpha bond is powerful."
A pause.
"But it has a weakness."
Caden's expression hardened.
"What weakness?"
The creature smiled.
"Her."
Before anyone could react...
The warrior attacked.
Fast.
Too fast.
Caden blocked the attack.
The force pushed him backward.
Zara grabbed his arm.
"Caden!"
"I'm fine."
But she could feel it.
Through the bond.
He was hurt.
The darkness was affecting him.
Because the bond connected them.
The creature noticed.
"Interesting."
It looked between them.
"I cannot break her."
A pause.
"But I can break him."
The Shadow King stepped forward.
Enough.
Dark power surrounded him.
"You will not touch my daughter."
The creature laughed.
"Your daughter?"
It turned.
"You failed her once."
The words struck.
"You failed her again."
The Shadow King froze.
Because they were true.
The creature continued.
"You couldn't protect her mother."
"You couldn't protect her."
"And now you cannot protect her."
The darkness grew stronger.
The Shadow King attacked.
Their powers collided.
The entire forest shook.
Zara watched.
Everyone was fighting for her.
Again.
And suddenly she understood.
The creature was not attacking their bodies.
It was attacking their hearts.
Their regrets.
Their guilt.
Their pain.
She looked at Caden.
He was fighting because he blamed himself.
Her father was fighting because he blamed himself.
Even Selene was fighting because she was hurt.
Everyone was carrying something.
Zara stepped forward.
"Stop."
Everyone looked at her.
Caden immediately shook his head.
"Zara, don't."
She ignored him.
The darkness around the warrior grew.
The creature smiled.
"Finally."
"You understand."
Zara looked at it.
"I do."
The creature paused.
"You feed on pain."
A silence.
"You become stronger when people hate themselves."
The possessed warrior stared.
Zara lifted the sword.
"So I will not give you mine."
The creature laughed.
"You think acceptance makes you powerful?"
Zara nodded.
"Yes."
Her silver eyes glowed.
"Because I spent years hating myself for things I never did."
The darkness began weakening.
"I blamed myself for being abandoned."
She looked at the Shadow King.
"For being lied to."
Then at Caden.
"For being hurt."
The bond pulsed.
"But I am still here."
The creature stepped backward.
"No."
Zara continued.
"I am not my pain."
The sword burned.
"I am not my past."
The darkness cracked.
"I am Zara."
The entire forest exploded with silver light.
The possessed warrior fell.
The darkness screamed.
Not with anger.
With fear.
Because for the first time...
It had found something it could not consume.
A heart that had healed.
The darkness disappeared.
Everyone stood frozen.
Then the hunter looked at Zara.
And whispered:
"The First Moon did not choose you because you were powerful."
A pause.
"It chose you because you survived."
Zara looked at the sky.
For the first time...
She felt peace.
But far away...
In a hidden chamber beneath the mountains...
Someone watched.
A figure smiled.
"The girl has awakened."
A hand touched an ancient book.
"But she still doesn't know the final secret."
The page turned.
Revealing a name.
A name everyone thought was gone.
Aurora.
Zara's mother.
And beneath it...
One sentence.
She is not dead.
- Writer
