Chapter 3:Not Alone.
That quietness after the shadow slid under the door did not last long at all. Things stayed still in the house for just a second. Then everything turned off somehow.
The air hung cold in a way that did not feel right. It seemed like dawn had skipped my walls completely. Frost stuck to the windowpanes there.
My breath came out in fog right in front of my lips. Outside the roosters crowed away. But the noise got to me like it pushed through water first. It sounded far off. It twisted a bit. It stayed too quiet overall.
It seemed like the Citadel came right along with me to my home.
My boots made a crunching sound on the broken mirror pieces as I stepped back unsteadily. Those shattered bits sparkled just like ice. But that made it even more unsettling. Each piece showed a different view of myself.
One had me looking pale as anything,another missed my shadow entirely.A third showed me frozen in place,I pulled my gaze from them finally.
Liora's warning kept playing over in my mind. It looped without stopping.
"Behind you"
She spotted the shadow first before I even noticed. She stayed caught in the Citadel's hold. Still she pushed to keep me safe.
My chest sank in deep from that thought. I held onto the basin edge to calm my shaking hands. But the shaking just got stronger instead.
I stayed far from safe now,Not right here in my house. Not out in the village either. Maybe not in any spot left in this whole world.
The Citadel let me walk out of there,but it did not mean to set me loose.It just shifted how things worked.
I brushed ash off my coat even though I knew it would not budge. That ash stuck to me like it breathed on its own. Like it knew who I was.
Then I caught a sound soft as breathing.
"You left too soon"
The voice crept in through wall cracks. It settled right under my skin. I moved back from the mirror piece I dropped in the basin. Even under water it throbbed a little like a pulse.
Liora's voice did not rise from that shard.The Citadel spoke instead.
I leaned on the table while I gasped for air. That air would not warm up in my lungs no matter what. My heart pounded hard and fast. Every part of me yelled to get away. But I had no place left to head.
I ended up caught right in my own home.I pushed myself over to the window. I hoped the morning light might settle my nerves,but the sunlight faded out
A big shadow crossed over the window. It moved slow and dragged along. It stretched up the wall like ink climbing higher. My legs turned numb from it.
Then a noise came!
"Tap"
Another one followed.
"Tap"
A third hit slow and on purpose.
"Tap"
It sounded like knuckles on the glass,but folks in the village did not knock that way.No regular person did.
I swallowed hard. My throat closed up tight enough to strangle me.The knocking started up again.
"Tap" "Tap" "Tap"
It hit heavy. It tested things out. Like it checked how weak the wall stood between us.I lifted the curtain corner with two fingers that shook bad.
Nothing showed at first...Just fog.
It hung thick. It did not shift. It stayed too calm for morning time,then I made it out.
A dark form stood in the fog middle. It towered tall and thin. It looked off in every line. Not fully a man. Not fully a shadow either. I could not see its face clear. But I felt those eyes on me.
They watched steady....
I tripped back so quick I bumped the table hard. The candle up there flickered wild. Its flame pulled toward the window. Like it reached out to the shape outside.
"No"The word slipped from me. "No" "no" "no"
I snatched my lantern and stepped deeper into the room. My pulse thumped loud enough to drown other sounds. I hardly heard the creak that came from behind.
I turned fast,the house door sat half open. That same one the shadow used before. I must have left it that way in all the mess.
My thoughts spun quick,if the shadow no longer waited at the window.Then where did it hide??
I rushed to the door. I slammed it closed. I slid the bolt over tight. My hands trembled so much they fought me the whole way. My breaths came out rough and quick.
The thing roamed free now,Not back in the Citadel.
"Right here!"
"In the village!"
"Near the people!"
"Near the kids!"
Dread washed over me strong enough to spin my head. The Citadel aimed past just me. It went after all that is linked to me. Anyone close by,Anyone who cared for me!
It planned to grow out.
I went back to the basin. My heart sat high in my throat. The water shook once more. Small waves broke across the top. A light shape rose under it slow. Like a person coming up from deep down.
"Liora's face"
Her hair floated around her in the water. Her eyes stayed wide with fear. And something much darker too.
"Liora" My voice broke on the name. Please,tell me how to help you.
Her lips shifted.
"Not alone"
My gut knotted up. I did not want to get it,but I did anyway.She did not just mean the shadow in her warning.
She meant me too!
A hard knock burst through the door.
I jumped near out of my skin. The basin shook,the mirror piece hummed like something caught and buzzing.
"Elias". A woman's voice called from outside. "Elias" are you in there??
My heart stopped cold!
"Mrs. Dalren?"But could it really be her
The knocking hit again. Harder this time,it rattled the whole frame.
"Elias" open up. Something's happening in the village!
I waited a beat, my hand hung over the bolt.Are you alone?? I said it low..
The quiet after stretched out long. Way too long,then a shaky whisper came.
"No,Something followed me from the well!"
My breath chilled right through,the shadow started its spread already,I eased the door open just a crack.
Mrs. Dalren waited on the step. She clutched her shawl close. Her eyes showed pure terror. The fog behind her swirled wrong. It twisted into forms like hands stretching out.
She caught my sleeve!
"Elias"Something is wrong with this village!
I nodded once.I know...
She glanced back over her shoulder fast. I saw something move in the mist,something tall.
My chest squeezed tight.
"Very tall"
I pulled her in quick. I shut the door hard behind us. She tripped a step. She breathed heavy, I guided her to the table to sit. Her hands kept shaking without end.
She whispered softly. "What's going on?"People are seeing things.
"Shapes in their houses!"
"Voices calling their names!"
Her eyes darted around my dim room.
"Elias," did something follow you??
I swallowed hard,for the first time since I escaped the Citadel. I told someone the truth!
"A piece of the Citadel is here!"
Her face drained of color.
"The Citadel?" But that place thats just a ruin...
"No" My voice came out hollow. Its alive!
"It watches!"
"It takes!"And it wants Liora!
Mrs Dalren's trembling fingers tightened around her shawl. But Liora she's.....
"Alive!" I said it with a strength I did not feel.
Before she could reply, the candle behind us flickered violently, guttering low. Then a shadow stretched across the floor.
Not mine!
Not hers!
Something crooked,long. Moving from beneath the door.
Mrs Dalren sucked in a sharp breath.
"Elias"she whispered, Its here!
I stepped in front of her without thinking, body shielding hers.
The shadow widened under the crack of the door, spreading like a liquid darkness searching for a shape to become.
Then a whisper crawled through the room, brushing the back of my neck.
"Found you!"
Mrs Dalren let out a trembling sob.
I clenched my fist, forcing my voice steady.
"We are not alone"I whispered.