Kyan
A few hours earlier
Marabella keeps struggling to contain the shadows. So today, we have created a dome so the shadows don’t have a chance to escape her grip as I try to coach her to pull them back in. Her hands glow a smokey gray as the shadows engulf her.
“Just draw on it,” I tell her in a gentle whisper as I wave around the dome of my magic. I know how much she struggles under a lot of pressure, so I try to approach this part of the training with as much ease as I can.
While I round the dome, I can see her better through the transparent shield I created around her.
“Kyan, I can’t,” she cries out as the frustration sets in. I see the shadows shake a little, clearly affected by the emotions she feels.
“You did it before. Just focus on them and try to pull them back. Try to feel for their energy and will it to draw it toward you. You can do it, nice and easy.”
Sweat beads on her forehead as she concentrates on her task. The dome that surrounds her slowly fills with mystical mist and thick shadows.
“Kyan!” she shrieks as panic sets in and completely takes over her senses. Marabella unleashes the shadows entirely and lets them roam freely in the dome.
Stepping closer to the dome, I try to calm her, let her see I’m still here with her and she isn’t alone in this. “Ella, I need you to calm down. Don’t panic, just breathe,” I tell her.
Kaif’s unease settles over me as we watch the shield obscure her and go completely dark. I raise an eyebrow at the sight. The last thing I expected was to see the shield turn black as coal.
And then I hear her cough. My heart starts beating faster in my chest so violently, the sound deadens me and the organ threatens to break through my ribcage. “Ella?” I call out to her, but all I get is a shuddering rasp of a response.
Kaif shoves forward with me, reinforcing the shield. It shudders as the darkness swirls inside and tries to break out. As her own power mingles with it, Marabella makes the same choking noise.
“Kyan, this shield won’t hold much longer,” Kaif warns me a second before an intense wave of pain slices through my neck and Kaif quivers inside me. My heart starts beating even faster as the bond to Ella falters.
“Ella?” I rasp out. In pure panic, Kaif drops the shield. He wants to get to her. He doesn’t care about the shadows we release.
“Kaif, no,” I scream as the shadows burst free.
Kaif finally recognizes his mistake. He tries to pull them back, and I let go of control, letting him take over. His hands glow a silvery blue as he tries to place the shield around them again, but it is like grasping air in your hand. There are so many shadows, it is near impossible to catch them all as they swirl like a tornado above our head.
Marabella gasps, and he turns his head toward her to see her clutching her neck. She looks pale, as if all this time inside, someone has been choking her. She crawls to hands and knees as her eyes blaze white for a second.
“She hasn’t let go of them,” I murmur to Kaif, and we glance up.
The shadows are swirling above us, but they clearly aren’t unleashed. Marabella raises her hand, and I can see the black tendril around her throat from where the shadows have tried to kill her.
Marabella grits her teeth and then, a vicious scream leaves her lips as she tries to draw them back in. Thunder and lightning suddenly crack across the sky. A storm comes out of nowhere and the winds pick up speed.
“They are fighting her,” Kaif whispers.
“What?” I gasp at his statement. Can that be possible?
“The shadows, they don’t belong to her, so they are fighting to break free of her,” he mutters as he watches the shadows and Marabella, as astonished as I am.
“You are making no sense,” I tell him as I watch, horrified.
“They belong to the Octavian bloodline, Kyan. Now that they are out, they want to go home,” Kaif murmurs.
“But?” I ask right as Kaif glances at Marabella. She falls backward as if the tether to her shadows suddenly snaps or gives way.
Kaif looks up to see them, suddenly whisking with alarming speed directly at her. It all happens so fast, I scream in horror as they fly toward her just as she sits up. She shakes her head. Her eyes return to normal, and Kaif moves as the shadows rush toward her.
He tosses himself in front of her, and he tenses as they smash into him. So cold and loud. I can hear the dying screams of those trapped within through my soul. Icy cold and Kaif jolts as he takes it, absorbing it. He gasps and stumbles forward. I peer out of his eyes to see Marabella cup her mouth with her hand as he steadies himself on his feet.
“Thank god,” I murmur to Kaif, but I get no answer.
I try to push on the barrier that is separating us, but it feels as if he is locked in place. The barrier between us is rock-solid, and I can’t seem to reach him either.
“Kaif, give me back control!” I try again and push on the barrier once more. Just as I do, his back arches and Kaif collapses on the floor.
I am swallowed by darkness, and yet I can hear my heart beating. The sound is so hollow; it scares me. Just as unexpectedly as the darkness appeared, the lights flicker. Memories flash through me, rows after rows of them, but none of them are mine.
The shadows are angry and at first; I don’t understand what is happening as I watch those foreign memories as a bystander.
A woman stands by a cradle, humming some melody under her breath. The door to her room opens and I look over at it.
The man says something to her, but the woman doesn’t turn or acknowledge his presence. I don’t understand why I can’t hear whatever he is saying, but I could hear the tune she hummed. That fact alone is rather odd, aside from my presence here, of course.
Her voice is so clear, it rings loudly and echoes off the room walls. “Do you know what creates a monster?” she murmurs as she leans into the cradle.
I look at the man, who looks just as confused as I feel.
“Another monster,” the woman whispers the answer to her own question as she turns to him with a baby in her arms. I can see tiny black spots of hair on the baby’s little head. Surely the child can’t be older than weeks, months at tops.
“Monsters create monsters, Kaif. I won’t let you make him one,” the woman whispers as she looks down at the baby in her arms. She brushes her finger down his nose and a black tentacle appears out of nowhere. It rushes under her skin, making it ripple and break like a porcelain surface.