7. Shadows Strike
Chapter 7
Shadows Strike
H is heart still raced from the mad dash through the forest, the cryptic prophecy from the Night Market merchant echoing in his mind. Eliar paced at the edge of the clearing, his movements tense and deliberate as he scanned the tree line.
“You shouldn't have come back so soon,” Eliar said, not looking at Kai. “I told you three days.”
“Yeah, well, plans change,” Kai replied, trying to sound casual despite the anxiety churning in his gut. “I found something. Something you need to know about.”
Eliar finally turned to face him, those star-filled eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What have you done?”
The accusation stung, all the more because it wasn't entirely unwarranted. Kai had made a bargain at the Night Market, had learned of a prophecy that cast their growing connection in an ominous light. But now, facing Eliar directly, the words stuck in his throat.
How exactly did you tell someone that their potential redemption might also be the catalyst for cosmic disaster?
“I...” Kai began, then faltered. Briar, perched on his shoulder, gave him an encouraging nudge. “I learned about a prophecy. About a fallen guardian and someone called the Catalyst who awakens his power.”
Interest flickered across Eliar's face, quickly followed by wariness. “Where did you learn of this?”
“There's a market,” Kai said, deliberately vague. “Hidden in the forest. They deal in information, among other things.”
“The Night Market,” Eliar said flatly. “You went to the Night Market. Alone.”
“Not alone,” Kai protested. “Briar was with me.”
“Oh yes, that makes it much better,” Eliar replied, sarcasm dripping from every word. “A witch with unpredictable power and a sprite the size of my thumb. Surely nothing could go wrong.”
“Look, that's not the point,” Kai said, frustration building. “The prophecy said that when the Catalyst—which I'm pretty sure is me—awakens the guardian's power, there's a choice to be made. One that either restores balance or...” He hesitated, the merchant's words echoing in his memory. “Or tears the veil between worlds.”
Something shifted in Eliar's expression—recognition, perhaps, or confirmation of a fear long held. “Tell me exactly what you heard. Word for word, if you can.”
Kai closed his eyes briefly, recalling the faded text on the ancient parchment and recited it over to Elias. When he opened his eyes again, Eliar had gone perfectly still, his face drained of what little color it normally held.
“You know it,” Kai said. It wasn't a question. “You've heard this prophecy before.”
“Parts of it,” Eliar admitted, his voice low. “When I was first... sentenced to this existence. It was mentioned as a possibility, a distant future that might never come to pass.” His gaze sharpened. “But prophecies are dangerous things, Kai. They shape as much as they predict. The moment you learn of one, you begin to fulfill it—or to fight against it, which often amounts to the same thing.”
“So you're saying it's self-fulfilling?” Kai asked. “That by learning about it, I'm making it happen?”
“I'm saying—” Eliar broke off suddenly, his entire demeanor shifting from contemplative to alert in an instant. His head snapped up, gaze fixed on something beyond the temple clearing. “Something's wrong.”
A cold wind swept through the ruins, bringing with it the scent of ozone and something less definable—like the absence of scent, a void where smell should exist. The hairs on the back of Kai's neck rose in instinctive warning.
“What is it?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
Eliar didn't answer. He moved to the center of the temple, his steps precise, one hand raised as if feeling for something in the air. After a moment, he swore under his breath—a phrase in a language Kai didn't recognize but whose meaning was unmistakable.
“We need to leave,” Eliar said, turning back to Kai with newfound urgency. “Now.”
“Why? What's happening?”
“My power,” Eliar said grimly. “It's been... fluctuating since our connection at the stream. Creating ripples. And something has noticed.”
As if summoned by his words, the shadows at the edge of the clearing began to move. Not the natural shift of darkness as the sun's angle changed, but something deliberate and hungry. They pooled and stretched, separating from the objects that should have cast them, becoming entities of their own.
“Void Feeders,” Eliar identified them, his voice tight with tension. “Like the one we encountered before, but more of them. And they're not just passing through—they're hunting.”
Kai's hand went instinctively to the dagger at his belt, though he doubted mundane weapons would be much use against creatures of pure shadow. His magic stirred within him, responding to the threat and to Eliar's proximity, golden light beginning to gather around his fingertips.
“Hunting what?” he asked, though he already suspected the answer.
“Me,” Eliar said simply. “Or more precisely, what remains of my power. They feed on magical energy, especially the kind that exists at boundaries between realms. My essence... calls to them.”
The shadows were taking more definite shape now—vaguely humanoid but wrong, too fluid and formless to be anything natural. Kai counted at least five distinct entities, with more shadows coalescing at the forest edge.
“This isn't just some ghost story we've stumbled into, is it?” Kai said, a chill running down his spine that had nothing to do with the dropping temperature. “This is a hunt. And we're the prey.”
“They've been hunting me since I fell,” Eliar replied, positioning himself slightly in front of Kai in what was clearly a protective stance. “Usually, I can sense them coming, avoid confrontation. But lately...” He glanced at Kai, a hint of accusation in his gaze. “Lately, my awareness has been... distracted.”
“So this is my fault?” Kai asked, equal parts defensive and guilty.
“Not fault,” Eliar corrected. “Consequence. Everything has consequences, Kai.”
Before Kai could respond, one of the shadow creatures surged forward with shocking speed. It moved like liquid darkness, flowing across the ground and then rearing up into a towering form just steps away from them. A gaping maw opened in what might have been its head—a void darker than the shadow itself, hunger given shape.
Eliar reacted instantly, silver-blue light flaring from his palm in a focused beam that struck the creature dead center. It recoiled with a sound like tearing fabric, its form momentarily disrupted before it retreated to the perimeter, reforming as it went.
“They're testing our defenses,” Eliar said. “Assessing our strength.”
“Great,” Kai muttered. “Intelligent shadow monsters. Just what we needed.”
Another creature attacked from a different angle, this one staying low to the ground, moving in a zigzag pattern that made it difficult to track. Kai sent a burst of golden magic toward it, but the creature veered at the last moment, his attack missing by inches. Where his magic struck the ground instead, the stone briefly glowed with the same celestial patterns he'd seen during their first encounter in the temple.
The shadow creature lunged again, and this time Kai barely twisted away in time. As it passed, he felt a cold so intense it burned, the creature's proximity alone enough to hurt. Where it touched the ground, a sizzling sound filled the air, the stone corroding as if exposed to powerful acid.
“Don't let them touch you,” Eliar warned, sending another beam of light at the retreating shadow. “Their essence is corrosive to living matter.”
“Noted,” Kai gasped, heart racing from the near miss.
The remaining shadows were circling now, coordinating their movements with an intelligence that seemed at odds with their formless nature. Kai and Eliar stood back to back in the center of the temple floor, magic flickering around their hands as they tracked the threat.
“We need a plan,” Kai said, trying to keep his voice steady. “There are too many to fight head-on.”
“The temple itself has power,” Eliar replied. “Old magic, tied to my arrival. If I can access it, channel it properly, I might be able to create a barrier they can't cross.”
“That's a lot of 'ifs,'” Kai observed.
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Eliar asked, a hint of his usual dry tone breaking through the tension.
Before Kai could answer, two shadow creatures attacked simultaneously from opposite directions. Kai spun to face one, unleashing a wave of golden magic that caught the creature mid-lunge. It writhed in apparent pain, its form rippling as Kai's magic disrupted whatever dark energy held it together.
Behind him, he heard Eliar's sharp intake of breath, followed by a pulse of power that made the air itself vibrate. Kai glanced back to see Eliar holding the second creature at bay with one hand extended, silver-blue light streaming from his palm in a continuous flow. But something was wrong—the light flickered erratically, its color shifting between its usual silver-blue and a darker, almost purplish hue.
Eliar's face was tense with concentration, sweat beading on his forehead despite the chill air. He seemed to be struggling not just against the shadow creature but against his own power, as if trying to contain it even as he used it.
The remaining shadows sensed weakness. They converged on Eliar's side, sensing the faint trace of power he had managed to access. One slipped past his faltering defenses, striking at his leg with whip-like speed. Eliar staggered, the small thread of energy he'd been channeling from Kai cutting off abruptly.
"Eliar!" Kai shouted, abandoning his own opponent to send a blast of golden magic at the shadow attacking Eliar. The creature retreated, but the damage was done—a patch of corrosive shadow clung to Eliar's calf, eating through fabric and into flesh. His face contorted in pain as he tried to reestablish the tenuous connection to Kai's magic.
But it was clearly not enough. The binding on Eliar's powers meant he could only draw the smallest fraction of energy from Kai—just enough to defend himself in the most basic way, but nowhere near what would be needed to drive back the shadows. And now, even that limited connection was faltering under the strain of battle.
"Let me help you!" Kai shouted, frustration and fear making his voice harsh. "We need to find a way to share more of my magic!"
"You don't understand," Eliar replied through gritted teeth, barely deflecting another shadow attack with the minimal energy he could muster. "Even this small connection is straining against the bindings. If I draw any more from you?—"
"We're about to die!" Kai cut him off. "I think that's a bit more pressing than whatever you're worried about!"
As if to emphasize his point, a shadow creature surged between them, forcing them apart. Kai stumbled backward, dangerously close to the edge of the temple floor. Another shadow closed in from behind, cutting off his retreat. He was surrounded, separated from Eliar, his magic flaring wildly as panic threatened to overwhelm him.
Across the temple, Eliar wasn't faring much better. Three shadow creatures circled him, darting in to strike and retreating before his minimal defenses could catch them. The faint silver-blue shimmer around him—barely visible, just the merest hint of his former power—was fading entirely as the connection to Kai weakened with distance.
Their eyes met across the chaos—Kai's wide with desperate determination, Eliar's filled with an ancient fear that went beyond their immediate danger.
"Trust me," Kai called to him. "Whatever happens, we'll face it together. But right now, we need to survive!"
Something in Eliar's expression shifted—resolution replacing hesitation, decision overcoming doubt. With visible effort, he fought his way toward the center of the temple floor, where the ancient mosaic patterns were most concentrated.
"Come to the center," he called to Kai, his voice strained but determined. "The temple itself might help us."
Kai didn't argue. He fought his way back toward the center, golden magic streaming from his hands in defensive arcs that kept the shadow creatures momentarily at bay. When they reached each other, Eliar knelt and pressed one palm against the mosaic floor.
"I need your hand," he said, looking up at Kai. "The temple was built to amplify celestial energy. I can't access mine, but maybe with your connection to me, with your magic..."
Kai immediately knelt opposite Eliar, placing his hand atop the fallen guardian's. "Whatever you need," he said without hesitation.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then Kai felt it—a gentle drawing sensation as a small stream of his magic flowed through their connected hands, into Eliar, and through him into the temple itself. Not a torrent, not even a river, but a careful, controlled trickle.
The celestial patterns in the floor began to respond, not with blinding brilliance but with a soft, steady glow that spread outward from where their hands connected. The light traced the ancient designs, creating a circle of illumination that pushed the shadows back slightly.
It wasn't spectacular. It wasn't overwhelming power. But it was enough to keep the shadow creatures at bay, enough to give them a moment to breathe, to think.
"It's working," Kai said, surprised. "But barely."
"The temple remembers what I was," Eliar explained, his voice strained with the effort of maintaining even this small connection. "It's designed to respond to celestial energy. Your magic—it has enough resonance with mine to trigger a response, but not enough to fully activate the defenses."
As they maintained the connection, Kai noticed something concerning. Where their hands met, where his golden magic flowed into Eliar's silver-blue aura, tiny threads of darkness had begun to appear—black filaments that spread like hairline cracks through Eliar's already faint glow.
"What's happening?" Kai asked, alarmed but not breaking the connection.
“The prophecy,” Eliar replied, strain evident in every word. “The choice. It's happening now.”
“What choice? What do I need to do?”
Eliar looked at him then, his eyes still blazing with starlight but now rimmed with darkness. “My power is tainted, Kai. Corrupted by centuries of isolation, by bitterness, by the void pressing against my essence. If I embrace it fully, try to reclaim what I was...” He shook his head. “The corruption spreads. The veil weakens.”
The shadow creatures were regrouping at the edge of the light dome, their forms stretching and merging into something larger, more coordinated. They sensed the weakness in Eliar's power, were drawn to the darkness spreading within it.
“Then don't embrace it,” Kai said desperately. “There has to be another way.”
“There is,” Eliar agreed, his voice strangely calm now. “Rejection. Complete rejection of what I was. But that path leads to the same destination—a tear in the veil, a gateway for things that should never enter this realm.”
“That can't be right,” Kai insisted, the merchant's words echoing in his memory. The choice mentioned in the prophecy? It may not be the guardian's alone to make. “The prophecy said if you embrace what was denied, balance is restored.”
“Or 'should he reject the offered hand, the veil shall tear asunder,'” Eliar countered. “But what is the 'offered hand'? What am I supposed to embrace or reject? The prophecy is unclear, and in that ambiguity lies our danger.”
The dome of light was flickering now, the dark threads spreading more rapidly as Eliar's concentration wavered. The shadow creatures pressed closer, sensing imminent victory.
"We need to retreat," Eliar said, his voice tight with pain. "I can't maintain even this small connection much longer."
"No," Kai cut him off. "No retreating. We both get out, or neither of us does."
Before Eliar could protest, Kai did something reckless—even by his own admittedly low standards of caution. He knelt beside Eliar and placed both hands directly atop the fallen guardian's where they pressed against the temple floor.
"Take more," Kai insisted. "As much as you need."
The effect was immediate and overwhelming. Kai's golden magic surged through the connection, pouring into Eliar in a torrent rather than the careful trickle they'd managed before. Eliar's body shuddered under the influx of raw power, his own dormant energy responding to Kai's like dry tinder to a spark. Where the two energies met, something new formed—not gold, not silver-blue, but a pure, radiant white that pushed back the encroaching darkness.
Eliar gasped, his eyes widening in shock. "What are you doing?"
"Helping," Kai replied through gritted teeth, already pale and sweating from the effort of channeling so much magic. "My magic connects with yours. Always has. Maybe that's the point."
For a breathless moment, it seemed to be working. The white light spread along the patterns, healing the dark cracks, strengthening the circle that held the shadow creatures at bay. But then something shifted—a tremor that ran through the temple floor, a dissonance in the harmony of their combined magic.
Kai felt the change first—a sudden resistance, as if his magic was no longer flowing freely but fighting against some invisible barrier. Then he saw it—the silver-blue shimmer around Eliar intensifying, fragments of light breaking through like shattered chains falling away.
"The bindings," Eliar gasped, his voice strained and fearful. "They're breaking. Kai, you need to stop?—"
But it was too late. With a sound like ice cracking across a frozen lake, the invisible constraints that had held Eliar's power in check for centuries shattered. Kai was thrown backward by the sudden release of energy, his connection to Eliar broken.
The severed flow of magic left Kai dizzy and weak, his vision blurring as he struggled to remain conscious. Through the haze, he watched as Eliar rose several inches off the ground, suspended by the sudden release of long-suppressed power.
It wasn't Eliar's full celestial might—not even close—but it was more than he had accessed in centuries. The borrowed power from Kai had acted as a key, unlocking what remained of his own bound energy. The silver-blue light around him deepened to an almost violet hue, shot through with starlight and darkness in equal measure.
What Kai saw made his breath catch in his throat. Eliar was transformed—not fully restored to his celestial glory, but far beyond the reserved exile who had walked beside him. His hair whipped around his face though there was no wind, each strand trailing faint traces of stardust. His clothes rippled as if they might dissolve at any moment.
But it was his eyes that truly frightened Kai. They burned with inner light—not portals to the cosmos as they might once have been, but windows to something beyond human, glimpses of what Eliar had once been. And in them, Kai saw pure, undiluted fear.
Not triumph at accessing more of his power. Not anger at the creatures attacking them. Just fear—bone-deep and ancient, the fear of someone who knew exactly what might follow this broken constraint.
"Eliar!" Kai shouted, his voice thin with exhaustion. "You can control it! Focus!"
If Eliar heard him, he gave no sign. The power continued to build, though Kai could see him struggling to contain it, to direct it rather than let it expand unchecked. The shadow creatures sensed the change, their formless bodies rippling with what might have been uncertainty as they assessed this new threat.
With visible effort, Eliar thrust both hands forward. Not a wave of celestial fire—he wasn't capable of that anymore—but a focused beam of silver-blue energy that cut through the nearest shadow creatures. Where it touched them, they dissipated, their essence returning to the void from which they'd emerged.
But the power was clearly unstable, fluctuating wildly as Eliar struggled to control what had been released. Sparks of energy shot in random directions, scorching the temple stones and igniting small fires at the forest edge. The air itself seemed to warp around him, reality bending slightly under the strain of containing even this fraction of celestial power.
"Eliar, stop!" Kai called, pushing himself to his knees despite the bone-deep exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him. "You can't control it yet!"
Something in his voice seemed to penetrate Eliar's consciousness. The burning eyes blinked, awareness returning to them in fragments. Horror dawned as Eliar saw what was happening around them, what his partially unleashed power was doing to the surrounding world.
With visible effort, he tried to pull the energy back, to contain what had broken free. For a moment, it seemed he might succeed—the light dimming, the distortions in the air smoothing out, the remaining shadow creatures retreating further into the darkness.
Then, suddenly, the energy collapsed in on itself. The light winked out, not gradually but all at once, like a candle being snuffed. Eliar dropped to the temple floor, his body crumpling as if every ounce of strength had been drained from him.
Kai crawled forward on hands and knees, his own magic depleted to dangerous levels. He reached Eliar just as the fallen guardian's eyes fluttered shut, his breath coming in shallow, rapid gasps.
"Eliar?" Kai's voice was barely a whisper, his own consciousness threatening to slip away. "Eliar, can you hear me?"
There was no response. Whatever had happened, whatever bindings had broken, the effort had completely overwhelmed Eliar. And Kai, having given so much of his own magic to trigger the release, was little better off.
As the last of the shadow creatures melted away into the forest, Kai collapsed beside Eliar on the temple floor, darkness claiming him before he could even check if the fallen guardian still breathed.
Eliar's eyes opened—normal again, though still faintly glowing—fluttered open. “Get... away,” he managed, voice barely a whisper. “Not... safe.”
“The shadows are gone,” Kai assured him, glancing around the temple clearing. Where the shadow creatures had been, only wisps of rapidly dissolving darkness remained, like smoke being blown away by an unfelt wind.
“Not them,” Eliar gasped. His hand clutched weakly at Kai's shirt. “Me. I'm not... safe.”
In that moment, understanding crystallized with perfect, terrible clarity: Eliar's reluctance to use his power, his constant pulling away, his warnings to stay apart—none of it had been about protecting himself.
He hadn't been afraid of the shadows. He had been afraid of himself. Of what might happen if he let go, even for a moment. Of what might emerge from the depths of his being after centuries of suppression and isolation.
And Kai had pushed him to do exactly that.
“I'm sorry,” Kai whispered, guilt washing through him. “I didn't understand.”
A bitter smile touched Eliar's lips. “Neither did I,” he replied, his voice gaining a fraction of strength. “Not fully. Not until I felt it again—what I used to be. What I could be again.” His eyes closed briefly, pain etching lines around them. “The power wants to be free, but it's... changed. Corrupted. The veil between worlds is thin where I am. Always has been. And the void...” He trailed off, a shudder running through his frame.
“The void what?” Kai prompted gently.
“The void has been whispering to my essence for centuries,” Eliar said, each word clearly an effort. “Offering freedom. Power. Vengeance.” His eyes opened again, meeting Kai's directly. “When I use my power now, I can feel it responding to those whispers. Reaching back toward the void instead of holding it at bay.”
Briar, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire confrontation, finally emerged from Kai's pocket where she'd been hiding. Her tiny face was solemn as she fluttered toward them, hovering nervously over Eliar.
“The corruption's spreading,” she observed, her voice unusually gentle. “I can see it in your aura. Like ink in water.”
“Yes,” Eliar agreed, not questioning how the sprite could perceive such things. “It has been since I fell. But slowly, so slowly I could contain it. Until...”
“Until I came along,” Kai finished, the prophecy's warning now making terrible sense. “And accelerated everything.”
Eliar's hand found his, the grip weak but insistent. “Not your fault,” he said. “The prophecy would have found its catalyst eventually. If not you, then someone else. Something else.”
But Kai wasn't comforted. He looked around at the temple clearing, at the evidence of Eliar's momentarily unleashed power—scorch marks on ancient stone, crystallized trees at the forest edge, shadows that had been not just defeated but unmade. And all from a fraction of what Eliar was capable of, all while fighting against the corruption within his own essence.
“We need to get you somewhere safe,” Kai said, forcing practicality through his swirling emotions. “Can you stand?”
Eliar made a valiant attempt but couldn't even sit up without Kai's support. “Give me... a moment,” he gasped, clearly frustrated by his own weakness.
“What happened? Why did the power affect you like this?” Kai asked, helping Eliar lean back against a fallen column.
“Using it... strengthens the connection to what I was,” Eliar explained between labored breaths. “But also to what changed me. To the void that has been pressing against my barriers for centuries. The power flows both ways—I channel it, but it also... channels through me.”