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When I reach the campsite, I watch from the shadows as the Leafborne fae huddle together, their delicate wings trembling with fear.
My shadows have encircled them, pinned them together.
They think they chose this to protect themselves but the shadows drove them to it.
On the opposite side of the camp, the Shadowkind do the same.
They do not know that no harm will come to them today.
I emerge from the darkness and move towards the fire. Although it is still daylight beyond the forest, here it might as well be the middle of the night.
The Leafborne try to huddle closer, move farther away.
One or two throw their magic towards me, but the shadows simply swallow it.
When I left here, I was pathetic. Small, weak, unable to fight.
Now, I am bigger than them, more powerful than them. And I am the fight.
As they blink at me from their huddle of bodies, I savour their terror, letting it wash over me like a dark elixir.
With only a thought, I send long tendrils of inky blackness snaking towards the Leafborne. The shadows creep in from the edges of the clearing, cutting off every escape route, every path to safety.
The fae scream, their voices high and thin with terror as they separate and try to flee. But there is nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. My shadows are everywhere.
One of them, a young male with gossamer wings the colour of spring leaves, steps forward, his hands raised in a futile attempt at defence. He summons his own magic, a glimmering shield of emerald light that pulses and shimmers in the darkness.
But it’s no use. My shadows simply flow around his magic, engulfing him in a writhing mass of darkness. He screams, his voice choked into a gurgling cry as my magic tears at his flesh, ripping and shredding until there is nothing left but a broken, lifeless husk on the floor.
Power is thrumming through my veins, intoxicating and addictive.
“Run, little Leafbornes,” I purr. “Run, and let the shadows feast upon your fear.”
The fae scatter, their screams ringing out through the forest as my shadows pursue them, relentless and inexorable. They tear through the forest, fleeing from me in blind panic.
But there is no escape, and there is no refuge from the darkness that has come to claim them. One by one, they fall, their light extinguished forever as my shadows consume them whole.
And it feels . . . so hellishly good.
With every heart that stops beating, my power seems to surge.
With every scream, and vibration of fear, my wings grow stronger.
With every death, I live louder.
I turn to face the Shadowkind. They have been spared, and they are huddled together, their eyes wide.
I can feel their uncertainty, their confusion, but also their curiosity. They know something momentous is happening, something that will change the course of their lives forever.
I step forward, my wings unfurling behind me like a cloak of purest, darkest night. The shadows dance around me, caressing my skin, whispering their dark secrets in my ears. I feel their power, and the intoxicating rush of knowing I hold the fate of an entire kingdom in my hands.
“Shadowkind,” I say, my voice echoing through the clearing like a thunderclap. “Your new destiny is upon you. As the first of our kind to believe in me, and follow me into the forest when we fled from Eldrion’s cruelty, you will be the first to reap the benefits of my transformation.”
I spot Yarrow. He is the only one who looks intrigued rather than afraid.
“The time has come for you to take your rightful place in this world.” I focus my gaze on him; my oldest friend. “The time has come to rise up and undo the wrongs that were done to us for so many centuries.”
I can see the hesitation in their eyes, the fear that holds them back. But I know that deep down, they yearn for this, for the chance to be something. To be what they were always meant to be. I just need to unlock it for them.
