“I know what a conversation is.”
“Well…I’ve had my doubts. We haven’t really spoken since we got back from Draconia Isle. And you’ve barely left your room.”
Shadow shuffled his feet. “It’s not intentional. I’ve just been trying to figure out the identity of this mysterious evil person.”
“I see…well, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it would be nice if you tried to socialize more. If not for the actual socializing aspect, then so the rest of us know you’re still alive.”
Shadow waved a hand around the length of his body. “As you can see, I’m alive and well. And not dead.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m glad. But just so you know, your seclusion isn’t helpful for morale. The others are worried about you, and I am too.”
“I know, I know!” Shadow replied, throwing his hands up in defeat. “You win.”
Ellie crossed her arms. “It’s not about winning. It’s about you still acting like a one-man army. It’s not healthy, mentally or physically.”
“I promise, I’m fine. You and the others have absolutely nothing to worry about. I’m not going to burn myself out just because of a few sleepless nights.”
Ellie sighed. “You’re so stubborn.”
“That’s part of my charm, isn’t it?”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Just do me a favor, would you? Try to tone down the hostility. It may seem annoying, but we care about you. And that means we have a right to annoy you if we think you’re pushing yourself too hard.”
Shadow blushed. He wasn’t used to people caring about him, so he didn’t know how to respond. It was a very new feeling…not to mention incredibly confusing. So he just shrugged it off and hoped she wouldn’t notice. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Ellie replied with a smile. “Now, what have you been up to?”
“Do you remember the Seer I told you about?”
“What about her?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to get in contact with her since we came back from Draconia Isle. And I managed a few moments ago.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?! Are you serious? What happened?!”
Shadow held his hands out in front of him. “Everything’s fine, for the most part, anyway. She told me about a kid in a nearby town who’s in trouble and needs my help.”
“What’s so special about this kid?”
Shadow shrugged. “Apparently, he’s a pyrokinetic.”
“Like Tristan?” Ellie asked.
“Not exactly,” Shadow said. “Tristan’s power is creating fire from thin air. This kid can rapidly heat up molecules and make them explode.”
“That’s interesting…but wait, that doesn’t make sense. I thought she gave you the power to sense kids like us with special abilities. Why didn’t you sense this kid before?”
“His parents cloaked him,” Shadow explained. “They’re both powerful high priests, and they’ve been using spells to mask his energy signature. I’m guessing whatever magic they’re using is strong enough to interfere with the energy of my sensing power.”
“Huh, well it’s nice that they care enough to protect him.”
“From what I hear, that’s giving them too much credit. I was told the village treats the boy like a pariah. He’s feared for his powers and sequestered away from everyone else.”
She frowned. “You’re kidding me.”
Shadow shook his head. “I wish I could say I was…but the Seer seemed pretty adamant about it. Besides the saving aspect, she thinks the kid will be of use to us in the battles ahead.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Ellie replied. “So, that being said, I think it’s time for a rescue mission. Where is this town, anyway?”
Shadow walked over to a map on his wall, pointing to a location. “The village is Derelyn, in the western providence of Arkovia.”
Ellie blinked. “Dude, are you serious? That’s only, like, what, a few miles away from this castle? He’s been practically under our nose this entire time!”
“Yeah….”
“We could have gotten to him so much earlier!”
“I know!” Shadow let out a roar of frustration as he tensed up and put his fist through the nearby wall. He slowly pulled his fist out of the hole and let out a sigh. He shook his head at his hand, which was sporting a few superficial cuts. “I know…I failed this kid.”
Ellie took in a deep breath and then let it out. She closed the distance between them and gingerly wrapped her hands around his cut one. “I understand you’re mad, but taking out your anger on the wall isn’t going to help.”
“I know. I just hate it when people are in trouble when I could have done something.”
“Speaking of trouble,” Ellie said suddenly, “did you hear about what happened the night we went to Draconia?”
“No. What happened?”
“Wow, that’s a shocker,” Ellie remarked. “I didn’t think you’d be out of the loop when it came to the dark and doomy stuff. But it was all over the news.”
“Because I totally watch the news.”
“Well, maybe you should start. Then you would know about this,” Ellie replied, pulling a folded newspaper article out of her back pocket and handing it to him.
Shadow unfolded the newspaper article, and his eyes darted back and forth as he read it. “One month ago, a brutal murder occurred in Kreashe La-Femme?” he read aloud, confused. “Video cameras recorded a tall woman with red hair attack a cashier in what the police are calling the strangest murder of the year. The woman’s nails appeared to have magically extended and sliced his neck right open.”
“Ten bucks says that’s not a coincidence,” Ellie said. “I mean, what are the odds that there are two powerful and clearly evil women running around on the same night?”
Shadow nodded slowly. “It makes…perfect sense. And I don’t believe in coincidences. But why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!”
“I assumed you knew,” Ellie replied. “But that’s irrelevant now. The point is, we now have a description to go off on.”
Shadow crumpled the newspaper in his hand. Shadows formed around it, and then the paper disintegrated. “I will personally make sure that this monster doesn’t harm another living being.”
“Shadow, you're only human. You can’t save everyone.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Only human, really?”
“Oh, hush, you know what I mean.”
“So who’s going with us to Derelyn to save this kid?”
“If that’s your attempt at changing the subject, you’re doing a poor job, because that’s not going to do it,” Ellie said pointedly.
“Ellie, drop it,” Shadow said, any hint of humor or room for compromise absent. “I mean it.”
“Fine. Whatever. Who would you like to come with us on our rescue mission, then?”
Shadow thought about that for a moment. “Honestly, I’d prefer just to go by myself, but I know you wouldn’t let me–”
“Yup, try again.”
“So that being the case, you’re coming along since I’d want backup that I could trust. Besides that, I think we could use one more person, and I prefer it be someone who could benefit from some extra training. So I’d say Reya?”
She shrugged. “That sounds like a plan. But do you think he’s ready?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Shadow went over to the door and beckoned Ellie to follow him. They went down the hall to Tereya’s room. “Do you think he’s in here?”
“I don’t know, but he wasn’t in the living room before I came here.”
Shadow knocked on the door “Tereya?”
“Come in,” Tereya answered after a few moments.
Shadow opened the door and stepped into the room. He glanced around and saw that Tereya had made the place his own. The walls were adorned with sparkling geodes in cases and the ceiling was covered with tiny brightly-colored jewels of various shapes and sizes. “Wow.”
�
�I’ve never been in here before,” Ellie said. “It’s really cool.”
Shadow nodded in appreciation. “Yeah, I like what you’ve done with that place.”
Tereya blushed. “Thanks.” He rubbed his arm absent-mindedly. “So uh…what’s up?”
“We’re here because we need your help with something,” Ellie said.
“You need…my help?”
“Yeah, of course,” Shadow said, gazing directly into the younger boy’s eyes. “There's a boy around your age who is in trouble. His parents are torturing him. And if we don't rescue him, well….” He didn’t finish his thought, but left the awful possibilities in the silence.
Tereya's eyes widened. A few different emotions passed across his face as his bottom lip quivered. “We gotta help him,” he said after a moment’s pause. “We can’t just leave him there.”
“Glad you’re on board, Reya.” Ellie gave him a thumbs-up.
“Well, if there are no objections, let’s go,” Shadow said.
“We’re going right now?” Tereya asked. “No preparation or anything?”
“Yup, after all, we’re killing moonlight here,” Shadow said. “Besides, think of this as the equivalent of a pop quiz. I know you’ve been training extra hard with the others since we got back from Draconia. Now it’s time to see if it paid off.”
“Oh…okay.”
“So how are we getting there?” Ellie asked.
“Well, we could take the jet,” Shadow said, a thoughtful look in his eye. “Or…I have a better idea.” The area of ground that they were standing on flashed black and became hollow. Ellie and Tereya let out screams as the ground disappeared from under them. Less than a minute later, they appeared a couple inches off the ground, inside a strange building.
Shadow landed on his feet, and winced as the other two landed face-down on the ground. “Yeah…sorry. The landing takes some getting used to.”
Ellie growled. She lifted herself off the ground and helped Tereya up. “You could have warned us first, jerk.”
“Yeah, I could have,” Shadow agreed, “but where’s the fun in that?”
“Where are we?” Tereya asked, looking around.
“We are in the purification house of Derelyn,” Shadow said. “This was the only place I could teleport to because the entire town is on ultra-consecrated ground.”
Ellie slapped him on the head. “If you could teleport us here that quickly, then why didn't you just teleport us all to Draconia Isle to save time?!”
“Teleporting takes energy, more with each person I teleport with. I couldn’t risk depleting all of my energy and leaving myself too weak to fight,” Shadow said, rubbing the back of his head. “Even now, after teleporting to this town, I feel weakened. And being around these consecrated areas doesn’t help, either.”
“Um, Shadow, what do you mean by 'purification room'?” Tereya asked.
“Look at the ground and it should become obvious, Reya.” Shadow gestured to the ground under their feet, which was littered with ash and dozens of bones.
“Gross!” Tereya exclaimed, backing up until he hit the wall.
Shadow moved forward and put a hand on his shoulder. “Nothing in this room can hurt you…they’re just bones. But they were bones of innocent people who weren’t pure enough for the residents of this town. If anything, you should feel pity, not fear.”
“Shadow,” Ellie said, rubbing her hands together nervously, “how do you know so much about the people in this town?”
“What are you implying?” Shadow asked, avoiding her eyes. He pretended like he was interested in a crack on the stone wall.
“It’s just that you knew where the town was located, and you know a lot about their rituals and whatnot…it doesn’t make sense unless you’ve been here before. So, have you?”
Shadow sighed and covered his eyes with his hands. He didn’t want to remember all of this. He wanted to forget, to place it deep in the dark crevices of his mind. Yet here fate was, bringing him back to the last place on Earth he wanted to be, forcing him to remember and relive the horror of it all. Why did fate have to be so cruel? “Do we really have to go over this right now?”
“You have to learn to trust us, Shadow. Like it or not, we’re your friends and we’re here for you, no matter what,” Ellie said. “So, yeah, if something is bugging you, I want to know about it. You can’t just keep everything bottled inside of you.”
“All right, let’s play therapy,” Shadow replied derisively. “About two or three months ago, when I first started tracking down all you guys, there was a kid just like you. His name was Andrew. He was able to project his thoughts into reality. I had run into him a few times, and we got along great. He wanted to travel with me to do the recruiting. I should have said no, but I didn’t. God, I was so stupid….”
“What happened to him?” Ellie asked quietly.
“It was a few days before I found you two. Andrew and I were tracking Faith and Tristan. Our search brought us near this village. Andrew was hungry, so we decided to try to find a local place where we could rest for a few minutes and get him something to eat.” He paused to sigh.
“We came during one of their prayer sessions. It was almost like they sensed what I was. They were coming after me. They caught me. Andrew could have gotten away, and I told him to. I didn’t want him to get hurt. But I was tied down and about to be bathed in acid…he didn’t want to leave me. Andrew used his powers to shift me from my bonds and teleport me away from them. He was so busy focusing on my safety that he didn’t see the person behind him with a knife….”
“You don’t have to continue!” Tereya exclaimed, horror building in his eyes.
“Reya’s right, Shadow.” Ellie grabbed him by the arms. “You can stop. We get it.”
Shadow paused, balling his fists. He didn’t want to finish the story, but he knew he couldn’t stop. It was as if floodgates had opened in his mind and they refused to close. “I made my way back to try to save him, but I was too late. I found his body nailed to a cross…”
“Shadow,” Ellie breathed, tears in her eyes. “I had no idea.”
“I don’t think any of us did,” Reya added.
“Ryan, Ethan, and Crystal knew. They had all met Andrew. He lived with us for a few days before it happened. I told them to never mention his name to me, ever again. Because every time I think about him, I think about how I should have been the one who was crucified, not him. He did nothing wrong except care about me. And now he’s gone. It’s all my fault.”
“I’m sorry,” Ellie replied, brushing her tears away.
“Me too,” Tereya said, his body shaking.
Shadow shook his head. “It’s fine. We don’t have the luxury of getting all emotional now. We have to find this kid and save him.”
Ellie bit her bottom lip. She looked as though she wanted to continue the conversation, but seemed to think better of it. “Where do you think he is?”
Shadow didn’t reply. He closed his eyes and reduced his breathing to slow, deep breaths. He focused his energy into the ability he had to sense power sources. A few moments passed by, and then he smiled triumphantly. “I can feel…something. It's getting weaker, fading by the moment, but it's there. It has to be him. It's coming from the north.”
“Let’s go,” Tereya said. “There’s not a second to waste.”
Shadow nodded. He pulled open the door, taking a few glances around to sweep the area. After seeing that the coast was clear, he motioned for them to follow him. He led them out of the purification room, pushing the stone door closed behind them, making a loud banging sound.
“Well, there goes the element of surprise,” Ellie said.
“You know, if I wanted witty repartee, I would have brought Ryan,” Shadow replied.
“So where exactly is this kid being held?” Ellie asked, ignoring him.
Shadow pointed straight ahead at the only well-lit building in the town. It was a bright yellow cathedral with a large cross nailed to t
he top of the highest point. A crowd was gathered around, crying out a faint but steady chant. “I think we should get closer. Maybe we’ll be able to overhear something useful. It’s worth a shot.”
They quickly weaved between the houses, careful not to be seen.
“Wait,” Shadow whispered, stopping a few feet away. He peered out from the shed they were hiding behind and pointed toward the cathedral steps. There were two individuals standing at the top of the extended staircase, behind a podium: a man and a woman. They were both wearing bright white robes emblazoned with a symbol he did not recognize. But it was clear there was some kind of ritual in progress. “This isn’t good….”
“Citizens of Derelyn! As you all are aware, tonight marks the beginning of our holy week. But what you all may not be aware of is that it also marks the centennial year of our village. Such a glorious day requires a sacrifice!” the man exclaimed to a chorus of cheers and applause. “As proof of our devotion to the dark goddess…we offer our son as tribute!” The crowd roared their approval again, this time with increased conviction. “Our goddess, Maedara, will finally smile upon us with the destruction of the unholy one. Within the hour, his blood will spill and our town will be cleansed!”
Tereya stared in horror at the scene unfolding in front of them. When the commotion from the crowd died down, he wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand. “They’re…monsters.”
“I know,” Ellie said. She pulled Tereya into her arms and wrapped them around him tightly. “Don’t worry, Reya…we won’t let them hurt him.”
“But what can we do?” Tereya asked. “How can we get to him in time? There are all those people…they’re not going to let us just walk in and save him.”
“What we need,” Shadow said, “is a distraction, or something.”
Ellie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright, one distraction coming up.”
“Come again?”
“You need a distraction, so I’m your girl. I’ll go out there and put some people on ice, throw around icicles, and freak them out. While they’re distracted, you and Reya can get the kid.”
The Descending Darkness Page 8
