It wasn’t until a small face followed after the hand that I could identify it.
"Luna?!" Loic and I both gasped at once. How could that be? But sure, enough the small ten-year old’s’ hand was coming from Rakesh’s palm.
That couldn’t be! I just watched when her soul shattered. Terror filled me.
Her face was what I expected but there were more golden cracks in it as well. The pure white soul looked like a repaired china doll. There were still a few shards missing, such as her left eye and small flakes near her hairline. Her right eye was closed, and she looked like she was sleeping.
“Isha begged at first to have her wake up, but then wished for her to be whole. Well, Isha’s magic is stronger than she realizes.” He smiled and tightened the vines around my shoulders as I struggled. “Both her and Chase’s efforts put her back together in time. However, she was brought back when I already had her in my possession.”
Isha and Chase repaired her soul at the last minute? And Rakesh captured her?
The Light Weavers did say she ceased to exist as she was. Was this what they meant? That she had shattered but she was reformed. Either way, this was not a good situation to be in.
I panicked. If I made contact with Luna’s soul, we would both die. I tried to get free of his vine hand making aura blades trying to cut the vines off where the wrist would be, but the aura vanished before I could cut. Was I too weak or was this tar too thick? Loic charged at me. He kicked the hand Rakesh held me with, his own aura successfully doing what mine couldn’t, and I got free from him. As I fell, I felt like something was being pulled from me, as if a cold breath had left me. At that moment some of my memories returned to me. Mostly, the memories of the few times I saw Luna in the mirror as a child. The reason I was afraid.
'Run, stay away, you will die...' Were some of her messages. The clearest message was the image I saw in the broken truck mirror, after the accident. A few moments from the accident itself was still a blur.
Luna was laying in the broken mirror, in Loic’s arms. I saw a tear fall from her eye before she vanished entirely.
"Rayne!"
Loic held me close against his chest as he moved me away from Rakesh. We moved away dodging the attack as the hand missed me. it dug into the ground where my shadow was. It looked almost like it was being pinned in place, staying there even as we moved away.
We moved a distance away until we were almost against the wall that was opposite of the crack we came in from. Loic looked me over checking to make sure I wasn’t hit, and he tried to make me look at him, but I couldn’t break my terrified gaze from Rakesh. Luna’s small white hand coming from his palm now had a dark shadow in its grip and something about it felt familiar. I looked down at my feet and noticed something was missing. My shadow was gone.
Formless were born from the shadows attached to Originals. Chase’s lessons came back to mind. The shadow, seen in mythology as a neutral observer, could be separated and corrupted, then swallowing its host to become a Formless.
There was my shadow, ten feet away from me, in the hands of my enemies’ captive ally. My heart sank, and Loic came to the same conclusion that I did.
"Rayne, put a shield up now!'
I understood why he wanted me too. Rakesh was turning my shadow into a Formless. He was planning to use it to turn me into one of his beasts. The shape shifted for a bit, and then I saw the deer that caused my accident, now a hideous monster of dripping tar. It turned and looked at me with sharp antlers and four red slit eyes on its face. Fear filled me again. Was that my sin, cowardice? The embodiment of everything I was afraid of?
I tried to gather my aura, but I was still weak from Rakesh choking me. I couldn't make it strong enough. My heart raced. That only made it harder. Loic saw me struggle; he moved over to cover me. I barely saw him move, but the next thing I knew was he was shielding me.
His stance was one of battle. He was willing to take a hit if he needed to. He looked around looking for a chance to move us, but there was no escape. Rakesh laughed and let my shadow go. The deer glared at us. Loic’s eyes urged me to hurry with every glance back at me. If I could manage a shield, he could move to attack.
"This one has a very strong poison,” Rakesh said. “A strong Formless it is. Why don't we test its possession abilities?"
The Formless charged to me, charging with its antlers pointed outward. I screamed closing my eyes to hide from confirming what I believed my fate could be. I felt warmth around me, and I was finally able to put my shield up, but nothing attempted to attack me.
I heard Loic gasp. then I opened my eyes back up. The Formless had impaled him. Its antlers driving into his back. He was facing me shielding me. Was His shield shattered so easily? No, I saw him holding his arm out towards the shipping container where Juliet was hiding. I looked fearing the worst but seeing what Loic had done. He had moved his shield, stopping a Formless from attacking Juliet in the corner.
Its claws were trapped inside the shield, but she was safe. Rakesh still standing at the center of the room, pointed his hand towards Juliet, directing the Formless that attacked her. Knowing she would be protected! This left Loic exposed.
I could see the pain in Loic’s face. My shield fluctuated. Loic fell to his knee. My shield broke.
"R-ray-ne. R-run please." He begged, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Loic! what's going on?" I didn’t know why yet, but tears began pouring from my eyes.
"I'm sorry. I couldn’t leave you to protect her, just get away from me. I beg you." He twitched and he recoiled, the air around him starting to turn black. I jumped.
Was he turning into a Formless? The legend of the formless king came to mind. ‘He became a formless and could create more.’ Rakesh almost looked like the drawing of the Formless king. The legend repeating before my eyes.
I looked to see Loic fighting to not collapse. He held his chest, grabbing onto one of the antlers that had made it through him and tried to move away from me but was frozen in place. The air around him turned black and the smell of tar started to get stronger.
"Fight it off! Please don't...!" I begged him. This was my fault. Rakesh was hoping to make me into a formless but Loic took the hit and he protected my best friend. This was my fault I had to do something.
"Just run." He said, as both of his eyes turned red and his pupils vanished.
"No Loic, please!" The tears began to blur the view of him, even though he was in arms reach.
"Rayne..." He stuttered. The blood coming from his mouth had begun to turn black and become thicker.
I reached out and held onto his shoulders trying to pull him into a hug, but he pulled away from me. He let go of the antler and reached up and held my head and his finger lingered behind my ear. I felt a sharp pain. His knowledge of aura powers went to me as well as some of his memories of me and of his family. I saw the face of his mother as he remembered her, and I saw Luna as a child following him around like a lost puppy.
'Ha, you're funny Loic.'
'My sweet Loic, I love you dearly.'
'Well now, why don't you come stay with me Lad?' The voices of Luna, his mother, and Chase echoed together in his memories.
These memories warmed my heart. Tears formed in my eyes as I saw every memory he had. I saw him watch his mother die through a mirror. I was him, holding Luna in his arms. I saw what he saw when we kissed, his fervent love for me. My heart pulsed, and I cried. Through my tears, I saw Loic in pain the black blood beginning to boil up and he gritted his teeth. The dark air around him shifted and I looked to see the formless Loic protected me from the digging antlers deeper and deeper into his back leading back to Rakesh’s hand. Loic dropped to his knees and sat straight up as he was being pulled up by the shadow and I tried to focus on only him.
Rakesh moved his hand to call the Formless back. I reached for Loic who was being dragged to Rakesh. I wrapped my arms around Loic’s waist, trying to keep him still. The Form
less antlers were close to my face. I could feel how cold they were and how warm Loic’s blood was. The sting of the poison didn’t bother me, I was telling myself to hold on as long as I could. I pressed my cheek into his stomach trying to lock my arms together to hold him.
“I’m not letting you go.” I grunted.
“Enough with this foolishness. Come!” Rakesh urged.
Loic tried to stand but I pressed him down. The shadows wrapped around him and pulled back. Soon it felt like a tug of war. My knees were being dragged against the stone floor of the warehouse as I clung to him. Loic cringed, and I held on tighter. My fingers felt numb, and my arms burned but I refused to let go.
"Loic, no!” I shouted. “Loic I love you. Please don't go. Fight him!"
Loic stared up at me and I saw his lips move. He shook his head, then tried again.
"I evol uoy oot." His voice turned into a slight hiss.
Then he scratched me with new black claws. Tears fell from my face. He said he loved me too. He loved me, and he was being stolen away. I couldn't help but heat up inside. I wanted to yell out and curse. He was pulled away from me and my grip on his waist broke. A voice inside of me was screaming. 'no, I can't let you do this. you will not win. Rakesh, you...' The voice soon became my own. I felt the pulse going through me and my skin began to feel warm. I gathered light in my palms, and I kept building it up making everything brighter around us. The light started to move up my arms making my skin start to glow. Suddenly my power overwhelmed me, and I could see that all of my exposed skin was covered in blue light. I saw other shadows running into the warehouse.
Was it the others? Or Formless. Either way I no longer cared. My eyes were locked onto Rakesh and his captive.
I stood to charge at him, but Chase ran to me and grabbed me, I only recognized him because I saw a flash of green aura as he reached me. I screamed, and a strong energy surrounded me.
"Rakesh! You bastard, you will not win! Give him back." I yelled, my voice fading as the light grew. “GIVE HIM BACK!”
The light from my skin began to lift off of me and turn into the small firefly lights from my practice before and flew at Rakesh. The tar around him started to boil away as each one hit him. The lights got stronger as I stood. Each light turned into small blades pointed at the center of the room. Every single one hit Rakesh little by little, boiling away small strands of his hair claws and blowing holes in his trench coat. The lights kept appearing by the hundreds. Each launching towards Rakesh like shooting stars with long tails of light behind them, the patterns were random as were the colors, but the sizes kept consistent as they hit Rakesh, tearing through his tar like he wasn’t there. I saw all six of his red eyes twitch and he backed up slightly.
In my anger my only thought was, ‘you need to die.’
I took a deep breath, preparing to charge him. All of the light blades became one large blinding light, losing any semblance of solid form. My body caved in from expending so much energy, and I lost sight of anything around me.
Before I passed out, my energy turned the Formless into dust and Rakesh disappeared with Loic at his side.
"At least I won’t go empty-handed. Thanks for the prize princess." His voice seemed distant.
"No, Loic," I muttered.
All of my power left me. Soon my world became dark. My veins were ice. Loic was gone. In the back of my head, I thought. What if I never feel his warm touch again? What would happen to him? What would Rakesh do to him?
I entered the in-between, and the atmosphere lightened. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I reached up hoping Loic would pull me back, but no one came. I replayed what happened. Loic had been possessed. Did he fight it off after I passed out? Why couldn't I sense him? I couldn't help but cry. I yelled for him only managing to get water in my mouth.
"Loic! Loic come back." I yelled, but my voice didn't make a sound. Nothing happened. He didn't come for me.
EIGHTEEN
♦
Promise
MY VISION RETURNED, AND I saw Isha and Chase over me. I was in Luna's body in Mirror Image. I sat up and felt the small room spin I shook my head and held it still.
"Oh, you're okay. Thank goodness." Chase sighed. "I was worried I didn't make it in time."
"What happened?"
"You destroyed the Formless. You saved Juliet.” He paused. “Rayne?"
Tears fell down my face. I didn’t save Loic. My heart shattered falling to the pit in my stomach. He wasn't here. Rakesh took him away from me. My arms burned still feeling the friction from his clothes as he was pulled from me. Would I really feel it in Luna’s body? Was it just my memories of feeling him slip through my arms that burned? Did that burn deep enough to scar my soul?
"Loic?” My voice quivered. “Chase, did you get Loic!"
Chase froze, and I knew he saw what became of him.
"Chase, please tell me what happened. Is he okay? Could you save him?"
His face turned weary and sorrowful. He clenched something in his palm. "Rayne. I'm sorry there's no reaching him. He was possessed by a Formless."
My heart stopped. His palm opened to show a small stone chip on a leather band.
It was the one Loic wore…
No
Loic, you have to be here. You protected me. You’re the hero of this story. Aren’t you?
"But those boys at the club. They were possessed.”
Chase shook his head. “They were possessed as well. Loic saved them. They were Originals. It's easier to break that hold. But when a Reflection is possessed, it's nearly impossible to separate them."
"Why would it be any harder? Why couldn't you do it!"
Isha ran to my side. "Rayne, it's not Chase's fault. It has to do with the curse.”
“What do you mean?”
“From what we understand about Formless, they feed off of the sins of Originals until there isn’t anything left of them. Then they lose shape searching for another victim. If the Formless tries to absorb a Reflection not only will it feed on their sin but their magic as well. Nearly all Reflections produce magic throughout their entire lives so when a Formless feed on them they keep them alive, for the most part. This creates an unbreakable bond between the two until everything is drained. This magic bond also makes the Formless more stable, in control. Like Rakesh, they retain a humanoid form and have some degree of intelligence.”
This couldn’t be real. My hands shook. “So, this has happened before?”
She nodded. “The next section in that history book we were reading through had two encounters listed. The story of the Formless king and also, an incident where a Reflection child was swallowed up, believed to be dead. Decades later a Formless was killed that left behind the body of an old man who had the same birthmark of the missing child.”
To be a prisoner until everything is drained from you. Picturing Loic going through that made my stomach twist. I couldn’t bear it.
“We don't fully understand why this happens, how uncontrollable beasts react this way or why it’s never been shown to free a Reflection. Originals can be freed if separated before the poison infects them fully.” Isha’s face turned even more somber.” But no matter what had been recorded, no Reflection has ever been saved from a Formless possession. That's just how it seems to be, and Loic’s situation is unique anyway."
"How so? How is he any different?" I couldn’t control how loud I got, or how angry and desperate I was.
Why couldn’t he be saved? Magic could do anything, right? It seemed to be doing everything so far. Why of all times did there have to be a limit now? Why, when it was Loic’s life?
I was saved from being poisoned, impaled and shot…but Loic couldn’t be saved.
I barely heard what explanation Chase had. No matter what he said it wasn’t fair.
Chase remained calm. "Before the incident Loic was punished by order of the king, nearly letting a Formless attack Luna because I thought he could handle p
atrol alone. He broke off and inadvertently chased it closer to home. Thus, Loic’s power had been cut in half by a seal that the king created after that happened. That same seal is also his undoing. It was only made worse after the attack. I was exiled by Rakesh the last time I had fought him.” Chase started explaining and Isha chimed in.
“The failure of letting Rakesh get to Luna fell entirely on Chase. The king added more to Loic’s seal, making a blocking seal that was originally only supposed to last for a season, to last indefinitely. So only he could remove it. Needless to say, the king wasn’t given the chance to undo it. Frankly, with how stubborn he was I very much doubt he ever intended to remove it.” Ishas face pinched, angry at the king’s actions. Chase shifted his hair back.
"Wait. How does that seal make things worse?"
Isha continued, trying to keep a calm face. “A Reflection being possessed by a Formless is already difficult to separate. We are beings of magic, even if we cannot outwardly use that magic. That magic normally grows stronger as we grow and train with it. In Loic’s case, it's even worse, because the seal was designed to seal half of his power back. It adjusts its strength according to what power he has, or that’s around him. Now the seal is holding back Loic’s magic and the magic of the Formless possessing him. Sealing both parties only binds them together stronger.”
“Look at it like two pieces of paper taped together by duct tape. They typically can’t separate the two without damaging both pages. The stronger the magic in the two separated pieces, the stronger the ‘tape’ becomes.” Chase attempted to simplify Ishas explanation.
"It was my shadow." I gasped, realizing the truth.
"Yes. Because of the Mirror Stone within you, it is a very powerful shadow.”
“The Mirror Stone made the Formless stronger?”
Isha nodded, wincing. “Our shadows mirror us in just about every way. Mythology says they protect us, so wouldn’t it make sense they would have to be as strong or stronger than us to protect us?”
Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1) Page 44
