Shadowlight (Lightkey: The Intrepid Lucy Duceaul, Book 3 - PART 1)

by Elon Vidal

  But she had distracted the shadow long enough for Madge to do her work, hadn't she? She had been able to do something tangible, even without her trusty anelace. Maybe she could fully trust her magic now, although there was quite a bit she had to improve. But… she wasn't able to defend Anwar, not until it was too late. If she hadn't spoken telepathically, maybe none of this would have happened.

  But oh, that shadow dweller, when Lucy would get her hands on him, she'd show him! No one makes her friend blind and gets away with it.

  But, despite all the emotions tumbling inside Lucy, one additional feeling added to the mix. Sympathy, for the shadow dwellers.

  Find the light…

  It was the shadow dweller's thought she had somehow snagged, which now lived rent-free in her mind. She never asked for some undead creature's thought, but here she was. Something in her refused to get very mad with the shadow dweller. Why?

  Anwar moved his hands across his face, focused on trying to find them, but turned away with a look that crushed Lucy's heart. He looked like he had already lost hope for his sight. Lucy’s breathing became heavy, and she could barely contain her growing panic. She still couldn't believe this was happening.

  “What… what can we do?” She stuttered. “Is it... permanent?” The last word felt sour on her tongue.

  “I have no idea,” Aquarius answered. “This has never happened before. It's a sign.”

  “Related to the prophecy?” Didi asked.

  Aquarius tilted his head, staring at the now blackened wall Madge had pulled the shadow dwellers into. “I don't know if it is related to the prophecy, but what I do know is that this is a sign that the shadow dwellers are getting stronger.”

  “What are they planning to do with the strength?” asked Lucy. She remembered that the last shadow dweller had requested for her help, to bring him to the light. What did he mean by that?

  Lucy wanted to share with the others, but something made her push it down. It was like her interaction with the shadow dwellers was her little secret to keep and she couldn't understand why. She couldn't bring herself to speak either.

  No one seemed to notice her internal dilemma, though. Phoebe stepped forward to explain, still holding on to her sphere of light. “Shadow dwellers want to reverse their deaths. They want to reenter the land of the living. The real world.”

  Ivar rubbed his nose and shrugged, saying, “I mean, that's not entirely a bad thing. I don't believe most people wanted to die in the first place.”

  “If that's all they want to do, why don't we just let them?” Molly asked. “From what I saw, they don't attack if not attacked.”

  “The balance will be broken.” Madge placed her hand on the wall and rubbed off black dust with her index finger. “The dead cannot dwell peacefully among the living, no matter what. Each belongs in their own specific world.”

  Lucy thought over what Madge had said. The shadow dwellers seemed like a threat, but Lucy didn't understand them or their cause enough to make decisions concerning matters at the moment. They were on their way to Netherim, the land of the dead. Maybe she would find out more about them there; that was their dwelling, after all.

  That was by the way for now. All she was going to focus on was finding a way to undo Anwar's blindness—fix what she accidentally broke—and move forward with the prophecy, which was visiting the land of the dead.

  “How much farther to Netherim?” Lucy asked Aquarius.

  Aquarius slithered forward, down the tunnel. “A few more tunnels. It is the deepest portal beneath the surface.”

  As the group followed him, Lucy glanced back one last time at the large black smudges all over the cave, and then hugged her black-dusted arms before going after the rest.

  “Stop it, Crick,” Lucy whispered with a small smile at the nature elemental's antics.

  Crick didn't seem to understand how serious Anwar's condition was, and kept poking Anwar's sides with a woody finger, ducking out of the way when Anwar blindly reached for him. His chittering laughter showed he was enjoying this game, and Anwar joining him to laugh showed the same.

  Lucy shrugged. She'd allow it. She had been worried Anwar would get down, not being able to see a thing, but Anwar showed that he tried to be cheerful in any situation.

  “Does it hurt?” Didi asked him, reaching out to touch his face, before deciding against it and drawing back.

  “Nope,” Anwar answered with a shake of his head, “just itchy and, well, dark.”

  “There's gotta be a way to help you see again,” said Ivar, emerald eyes fixed on Anwar's face. “I hope so...”

  Lucy was about to reply that maybe their visit to Netherim would help, when Aquarius announced, “Here we are. The gate to the underworld.”

  Lucy frowned; all she could see was a wall, just like every other black-smudged wall she had been passing. Then, all of a sudden, the wall rippled like liquid and she caught glimpses of what was on the other side.

  A huge gate as high as she could see was set in the middle of two fences made from jagged, dark gray rock. There were crowds of translucent people passing through the open gate, in their hundreds by the second.

  “Do we need any tickets to get in or something?” Didi asked, still staring at the wall that had now become solid.

  Aquarius laughed. “Death is your ticket, little phoenix, but I have an alternative...”

  A large scale on his neck raised open, and pearls fell out. Crick hurried and picked them up, some spilling out of his grasp. Ivar helped with the rest.

  “What do we do with these?” Lucy asked, taking one smooth pearl from Crick. She could see her blurry reflection on it, and the longer she stared at it, the more something felt… off.

  “Keep them on your person,” Aquarius answered. “Without these pearls, you would be stuck in the land of the dead.”

  Didi picked one of the pearls and brought it close to her face, staring at it with a small smile on her face. “These are really pretty.”

  “And these are really important. I'm sure you're going to lose yours the moment we step through the portal,” Molly said to Didi with a smirk.

  The phoenix laughed and scratched her red and yellow hair. “That's… that's painfully accurate.”

  Lucy tilted her head to the side, staring at Aquarius. His pearl system looked like the surest way to get them stuck in the underworld; they could fall out of your pocket and you wouldn't even notice. How did Aquarius expect them to keep it without losing the pearls during however long they would stay in Netherim? Was he still trying to get revenge on Molly for taking away dragons from Dracoterra? Was this his way to get back at the sidhe, even if it affected everyone else?

  “Aquarius, we can't possibly keep these pearls safe,” Lucy told the sea wyrm, brushing strands of blonde hair across from her face. “Who knows what we’ll face down there? And then we’ll be stuck.”

  “Leave it to me.” Madge took the pearls from Crick, laying them on the floor. She did the same with the ones in Ivar’s and Didi's possession.

  Taking a deep breath, Madge stretched her hand to the wall on her left and it suddenly cracked, big enough to fit an adult hand. A vine crawled out of the crack, and Madge physically uprooted it with hardly any efforts, despite the plant having roots in stone. Allowing the vine to float before her, Madge spread her arms and it was divided into nine strips. The strips wrapped around each pearl and Madge wore one around her neck.

  “The vine is very strong, it won’t break no matter how long you wear it,” she informed the others. “It will keep the pearls safe until we need to leave.”

  “Problem solved then,” Ivar said, taking his and fastening it on his neck.

  “The portal opens in a few minutes,” Phoebe said. “Make sure you're all ready.”

  Didi clicked her fingers. “I was born re— wait, my shoelace is untied.” She bent to fix the issue, making Molly roll his eyes because Didi was tying the laces loosely. They were bound to loosen again.

  While Luc
y helped Anwar secure his around his neck, Anwar telepathically told her, “These pearls are dangerous for us.”

  Lucy frowned. Anwar suspected something too?

  “How did you know that?”

  Anwar reached up and tapped the necklace now resting on his lean chest. “I sense that they're temporary and will vanish with time, leaving us stranded if we are still in Netherim.”

  Anwar reached for Lucy's wrist and guided her to the pearl partially hidden from view by the vine wrapped around it. He placed her index finger on the solid white sphere and she let out a soft gasp. The energy in it was a dull gray; temporary energy, unlike the yellow one that was destructible but durable.

  “How long do we have before these pearls die out?” Lucy turned and asked Aquarius, slipping her hand out of Anwar's grasp.

  Aquarius looked surprised and let out a low growl. Was he upset that his plan had been discovered? No, Lucy was going to let things play out more and have some time to understand things before she jumped to conclusions.

  Why did he growl, though?

  “You should be back before then,” Aquarius firmly stated.

  “When is then?” Lucy asked, keeping a straight face and posture, studying Aquarius' reaction.

  “Fear, Lucy. He feels fear,” Anwar whispered into her thoughts.

  “One month...” Aquarius trailed off and looked to the ground. “You should be back before then,” he repeated.

  The wall rippled.

  “The portal is open,” said Phoebe. “It won't stay that way for long.”

  Ivar turned to Lucy, worry working its way into his face. “Do we go or not? The portal to enter Netherim won't open for another thirty-two days.”

  “And what if we don't return before the month is up?” Lucy asked Aquarius, folding her arms across her chest. She could hear the slight panic in her voice and digging her fingernails into her skin didn't relieve her.

  Aquarius responded with silence.

  Lucy didn't like the way this was going. She really hoped she wasn't about making a mistake by trusting Aquarius or to wander into the land of the dead. The prophecy was leading her there, but what if this wasn't the right time, or maybe they shouldn't have gone through Aquarius? What if —

  Madge grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her towards the wall, which now looked like disturbed dark gray waters ominously pooled in the vertical wall. “Let's go. We'll figure this out when we're through the gates.”

  “But, Madge —” Lucy tried to say, but Madge tightened her grasped on Lucy's wrist.

  She pulled Lucy through, along with Snack on her shoulder and Crick who had caught onto Lucy's clothing. Next was Anwar guided by Didi, then Molly and Ivar made it through with Phoebe, right before the portal started closing.

  Looking back, all Lucy could see was thick fog from where the wall was supposed to be. She pulled her hand out of Madge's hold rather roughly.

  “Do you really trust this?” Lucy asked her, holding up the pearl necklace she was yet to wear on her neck.

  “Aquarius would not lead us astray. This is the method he's always used for transportation to Netherim,” Phoebe answered for Madge.

  Lucy was about to ask what he even did during his visits to Netherim, and why he would be there anyway; he guarded the Dragon territory, yes, but why would he venture into the underworld, even after he told them many don't return? But she saved her questions for later. She just wanted to be sure that she wasn't going to be trapped in the land of the dead by trusting in some vanishing pearl from a Dracoterran that may or may not still hold grudges against her Sidhe cousin.

  “Follow?” Crick held her hand and pointed at the foreboding gate. It looked quite intimidating and scary now that Lucy knew they may not be able to make it out of Netherim if the pearls failed.

  There were hundreds of souls flooding through the gate, and more appearing from the fog behind Lucy. The newly-arrived souls ignored the group and joined the crowd cramming through the gate. The souls looked just like normal people, except for the fact that the little light used to see, was passing through their skin. The whole place was quiet, save for a low series of hums no one could identify exactly where they came from. It was probably the souls communicating.

  “It's best we get in, find a place to settle for the night, and see what the book has to say,” Phoebe suggested, looking towards the souls.

  “Is it even night or day here? The sky is all cloudy and dark gray like a storm's coming...” Snack motioned at the dark sky for emphasis.

  Lucy grabbed Anwar's hand; she couldn't afford losing him in the crowd, especially with his current condition. Turning to Madge, she nodded. “Let's go.”

  Whatever happens will surely be taken care of, one way or another. That didn't make Lucy any less anxious, though.

  Lucy and the group marched on the fog-carpeted floor, towards the gates. Just as she had expected, the crowd was rough.

  One soul shoved her when she accidently bumped into the lady.

  “Wait your turn, kid!” she shouted as Lucy stumbled back, pulling Anwar along. He almost fell to his knees, but Lucy caught him right on time.

  “I won't let go of you. Stay close to me; there are a lot of unhappy souls out here,” Lucy whispered to Anwar.

  He nodded and scanned his surroundings with unseeing eyes. “Where are the others? I can't feel their energy signatures anymore.”

  Lucy's brown eyes widened as she frantically ran her eyes over all the faces surrounding her. None were the least bit familiar.

  “No… no, no. Madge!” Lucy hollered and tugged Anwar after her. Craning her next, desperate to see a familiar silver head of hair, or even a red and yellow one, but all her running about was in vain as more souls arrived and closed in on them.

  “Madge! Ivar! Molly!” Lucy called out, but only got weird stares from souls who probably wanted peace and quiet. “Molly!”

  “Don't draw attention to ourselves,” Anwar advised Lucy, tapping her hand. “Just keep an eye out for them.”

  Lucy clenched her teeth and pulled Anwar forward, with Crick following. They were getting closer to the gate, and still she couldn't spot any of the group. There were probably thousands of souls here, and searching for just a few people was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But, Madge and the rest were bound to turn up at the gates, right? Now Lucy had to hurry over there so they won't leave her behind or organize a search party for her.

  “Hey, watch it!” growled an old man with a scowl when Lucy bumped into him.

  “Sorry, sorry,” Lucy apologized.

  Anwar chuckled. “I'm the one who can't see, but you're the one who bumps into people the most.”

  “I can't help it if they're all so pushy,” Lucy muttered.

  The gate drew nearer and beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. Lucy didn't want to be in a place like Netherim all by herself. Just the thought of losing her way, with the pearl to hang on to for a half-guaranteed return, scared her more than she dared to admit.

  If Lucy got stuck in the land of the dead, who would carry out the rest of the prophecy? She'd never even get to meet her parents again. Her father, most especially. Her heart ached, remembering how they had parted without a goodbye. If he was here with her, he wouldn't have let her get separated. But he wasn't, and she had to toughen up and find the others.

  As she trudged forward, Lucy pulled her backpack closer to her back, finding a small sense of comfort in the Lumenary Prophetiae's hardcover feel through the fabric. It reminded her of the prophecy she had come to fulfill, to bring about the end of days, going from one world to another and gathering a force that will bring peace and fairness in the end. She was certain this was her purpose now, and that she would be safe until all in store had been carried out. There was no need fretting over getting lost.

  “We at gate,” Crick informed Lucy, pointing beyond the gate. There was a long road up ahead, but they could only see little of it as the rest was covered in fog.

  “You're not souls�
�” uttered a low female voice from the left, the moment Lucy and Anwar stepped through the gate. “Come with me.”

  Lucy glanced at Anwar, who just kept staring at the lady. She had very pale skin and plump red lips. Her eyes were large and glowed amber, and her movements were quick and sharp.

  “Come,” she repeated, heading towards the back of the gates where a long and extremely high fence was set up.

  “What is she?” Lucy asked Anwar.

  “A vampire,” the lady said out loud, hands crossed behind her back.

  Lucy's mouth dropped open. How did she hear a telepathic message to Anwar?

  “How did you —”