The clearing had grown unnaturally quiet, the stillness settling like a shroud over the chaos that had consumed it moments before. The air hung heavy with the mingled scents of blood, ash, and the faint, metallic tang of spent energy. My legs trembled beneath me, threatening to give way, but I locked my knees and forced myself to stay upright.
Mal walked toward the fallen figure of the shadow king, her blade lowered but still in her grip. The way she moved was cautious, each step deliberate, as if she expected him to leap up at any moment. I followed, though the exhaustion now creeping into my bones made my steps sluggish.
We stopped a few feet away from him. His body was twisted unnaturally, one arm splayed out to the side and his chest barely rising and falling. The remains of his mask clung to his face, cracked and splintered down the middle, revealing one cold, gray eye and part of his jaw. His lip curled in what might have been pain, or disdain-maybe both.
“He’s still alive,” Mal muttered, her tone sharp with unease.
“I know.” My voice came out weaker than I’d intended, but I didn’t care. I stared down at him, my own heartbeat thrumming loudly in my ears. This was it. The moment we’d fought for. All that power, all that pain-it led us here.
I raised my hand, summoning what little energy I had left. My palm glowed faintly, the flickering remnants of my power barely more than a spark now. Mal tensed beside me, and I could feel her gaze flick toward me, questioning.
“You’re going to end it?” she asked quietly.
I didn’t answer immediately. My hand hovered above the shadow king’s battered form, and I saw him shift slightly, as though sensing the impending blow. His uncovered eye fixed on mine, no longer mocking or cold, but filled with something far more dangerous.
Amusement.
“You think… this changes anything?” His voice was hoarse, every word laced with strain, yet his defiance hadn’t dimmed. “You don’t… understand what you’ve unleashed.”
“Unleashed?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes.
“You think I’m your greatest enemy?” He gave a low, rasping laugh that sent a chill down my spine. “I’m nothing compared to what’s coming.”
Beside me, Mal took a half-step forward, her knuckles white around her blade. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”
The shadow king coughed weakly, the sound wet and ragged. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the slight smirk remained. “Killing me won’t stop this,” he murmured. “The tide is already turning. You’re fighting… the wrong war.”
The faint glow in my hand faltered as doubt crept in. My instincts screamed at me to end this now, to crush him before he had the chance to rise again, but his words clawed at the edges of my resolve. Was he bluffing, or was this another calculated move in a game I didn’t fully understand?
“What’s he talking about?” Mal asked, her voice low. She looked at me, searching for answers I didn’t have.
“Don’t listen to him,” I said, though my own conviction was wavering. “It doesn’t matter. He’s the reason-”
“You’re wrong,” the shadow king cut in, his voice sharper now. “You’re just another pawn, blind to the board you’re standing on.” He coughed again, his body convulsing weakly. “You think this victory is yours, but it’s not. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”
Mal let out a growl of frustration, raising her blade higher. “Enough of his riddles. We’re wasting time.”
I hesitated, the glow in my hand flickering once more. Part of me wanted to listen to Mal, to end him here and now, to silence whatever game he thought he was still playing. But another part of me-the one that had always doubted the obvious solutions, the one that questioned and second-guessed-froze.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice firm despite my racing thoughts. “What’s coming?”
He laughed again, the sound faint but no less unnerving. “You’ll find out soon enough. You’ll wish you hadn’t.”
His words sent a shiver crawling down my spine, but before I could press him further, his remaining strength seemed to leave him. His head slumped to the side, and his chest stilled. The smirk, however, lingered on his lips, as if he’d won some invisible battle even in death.
Mal nudged his arm with her boot, her expression skeptical. “Is he dead, or is this another trick?”
I shook my head slowly. “If it’s a trick, it’s a convincing one.”
She glanced around the clearing, her sharp green eyes scanning for any remaining threats. “We should go. This place… it doesn’t feel right.”
She was right. The air itself seemed heavier now, the silence almost oppressive. The forest felt less like a battlefield and more like a graveyard, and I didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what might come crawling out of the shadows.
“Let’s move,” I said, my voice steadier now. “Before we attract more trouble.”
Mal didn’t argue. She sheathed her blade and fell into step beside me as we left the clearing. Behind us, the shadow king’s body remained motionless, the forest slowly reclaiming the ground around him.
As we pushed deeper into the trees, the adrenaline began to fade, and the weight of everything we’d just endured hit me like a stone. My limbs felt like lead, and my thoughts were a jumbled mess. Mal was quiet, her usual sharp remarks absent. I could tell she was processing everything too.
Finally, after what felt like hours, we stopped near a stream. The gentle sound of running water was a welcome reprieve from the chaos of the battle, and I sank to the ground, leaning heavily against a tree. Mal crouched nearby, rinsing the blood from her blade.
“What do you think he meant?” she asked after a while, her voice quiet but probing. “About something worse coming?”
I shook my head, staring at the faint glow of my hands, which had finally begun to fade. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But whatever it is… we’ll be ready.”
She gave me a doubtful look but didn’t argue. The weight of what we’d done-and what still lay ahead-settled between us, heavy and unspoken. For now, the shadow king was gone, but his warning lingered like a ghost.