Chapter 3 – Shade
SHADE
The forest I’ve appeared in is wet and dark. I crumble underneath the shelter of a tree and cry. So this is what it means to hurt. This is what pain is.
I don’t like it.
And I don’t like the darkness either. It reminds me of the Underworld.
If I can choose, I’ll forever remain in light.
Shaking uncontrollably as my blood runs from dozens of wounds on my flesh, I sense movement in the woods. I gather closer around my naked, injured body, and pray that whatever is approaching will leave me be. I don’t know if I have it in me to teleport again.
Out of the darkness comes a man. The shadows seem to cling to him like a cape. His flesh is the same pale color as the moonlight, and even from here I can see the slight red glow around his pupils.
He doesn’t hesitate as he walks, but pauses when his gaze falls on me. Taking a deep breath, he seems to breathe in the scent of me.
“I knew I smelled blood,” he says, his voice soft and musical. “But it isn’t the sweet blood of a mortal. No, it is the grimy blood of a creature who is not of this world.”
Tilting my head, I stare at him. Is he a friend or a foe?
He comes closer, then regards me with more than a little interest. “I know what you are, sweet creature. And yet, where is your thread?”
“I freed myself,” I tell him softly, speaking before I can decide if telling him the truth is wise.
He rubs his chin. “A shade not under Hades’s control? You, my dear, are a rare and precious thing.”
With graceful movements, he holds a hand out to me.
I regard him with fear.
He smiles, flashing two sharpened teeth.
“There are many creatures that should fear me, my dear, but you are not one of them. Your blood is foul to my kind. But you are something as untouchable as a legend. A creature more powerful than you could ever understand. Let me take you to my home. Let me heal you and teach you just what you’re capable of. ”
“I want…to be free,” I tell him.
In reality, I don’t quite know what I want. But the woman who brought me into this world made it seem as if freedom is the most important thing. Freedom, and not becoming like the other shades, I think, a shudder moving through me.
His smile widens. “Of course.”
I almost take his hand, but hesitate. “And I don’t like the dark.”
Something flashes in his eyes. “Then you will be forever in the light.”
Reluctantly, I take my hand and place it into his cold one. I don’t know if I can trust him. I don’t know if this is wise.
But I also know so very little about…everything.
It seems going with him is better than remaining here.
And so, he leads me away from the woods, to a brightly lit castle. I don’t know what will happen yet, but I’ll go anywhere other than the Underworld.
Anywhere at all.