I don't dream. I hardly even sleep.
Yet, when I close my eyes—even for a moment's thought, I find her. She lingers there, tucked away in the darkest recesses of my mind. I know who she is. I know what she is. I know why she was created.
"Hi," she said, her voice thin and timid.
I was perched on the gnarled branch of a withered tree. As she spoke, an apple materialized in my palm. I took a slow, deliberate bite.
"You're Reagan, right?" she asked, sounding terrified.
"You have a good memory," I told her.
"Is this a dream?"
"Some dreams are reality itself," I responded, taking another bite of the fruit.
It was always the same cycle, she wanders in, we share a few words, and then I cast her back into her own body.
"Can you please help me go back home?" she pleaded.
"You have a bad habit of coming here."
"I don't know how I get here." She paused, her gaze darting around the dim darkness. "What is this place? And who are you?"
"I'm Reagan," I said, dropping from the branch with practiced grace. As I stepped toward her, she stiffened. "And this is—well—my place."
"Your place?" she whispered. "Are you a fae... like General Aerobin?"
I frowned. "That's a terrible guess."
"Then what are you?"
"It's complicated," I said, looking away for a brief moment before locking my gaze onto hers. "I'm a shadow wielder People call me the Shadow Prince."
She flinches scrambling backward, horror crowded her features. I knew I'd scared her.
"You!" she whispered. "You're the one behind all the chaos."
I took a slow step toward her, closing the distance. "Chaos is such an interesting word."
She took another step backward, she smelled of fear and panic.
"Are you scared of me, Janette?" I asked, her name rolling sweetly off my tongue
She narrowed her eyes, trying to find her footing. "No, I'm not. I'm not scared of anybody," she said, her voice trembling despite the defiance.
"That's good," I said. "We can be best friends, then."
"I don't make friends," she snapped, folding her arms tight across her chest.
"Fine. We will be something more than that, then," I mused, my eyes burning into hers, pinning her in place. "Shall I take you home?"
I stretched my hand toward her. After a long, moment, she placed her shaking fingers in mine. I pulled her hand to my lips and bit her—not enough to break the skin, but enough to leave a mark.
"Next time I see you, it will be reality," I promised.
With a flick of my wrist, she vanished.
I opened my eyes to the silence of my dark, empty throne room. Before the shadows could settle, Malik entered. As the commander of half the soldiers in the Shadow Realm, he usually carried himself with pride, but today he approached the dais with a visible tremor. Two of my Nephilim stood like statues at the door, their presence heavy and cold.
"Your Majesty," Malik said, bowing low. "I carry a report."
I didn't move. I simply lifted two fingers from the arm of the throne, a lazy signal for him to speak.
"Our forces have subdued every nation in the Glass Realm," he reported. "However... the Fae and Witch realms continue to be indomitable."
"Indomitable?" I repeated the word like a curse. I let the coldness of my voice fill the hall. "No realm is indomitable to me!"
Malik collapsed to his knees, his face turning a ghostly shade of pale. "I'm sorry, Sire!"
I stood up with fluid grace, refusing to listen anymore to him. Leaving Malik trembling on the floor.
I walked through the forbidden pathways of the castle until I reached a chamber filled with flickering candles and countless mirrors.
"Hello, Mother," I said smoothly, stopping before a specific golden frame.
The reflection shimmered, revealing a woman with silver hair and piercing, pale blue eyes.
"You only visit when you want something," her voice echoed through the room.
"I've come to taunt you," I countered. "Did you really think you could dispose of me so easily? Even imprisoned in this glass, you still try to spin your diabolical plans in the world"
Her eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped.
"Aerin." I said simply
At the mention of the name, her shoulders tensed. "You send a child to fulfil an adult's work," I continued, my voice rising. "Do you truly look down on me that much? Even you cannot defeat me, Mother. No one ever has, and no one ever will!" I bellowed, the candles flickering violently.
"You are an abomination," she whispered, her gaze hard. "My greatest regret."
"Then live in your regret," I spat. "No one is coming to save you."
"You know nothing of who Aerin really is—"
"I will deal with her myself. The girl doesn't even know her own nature." I burst into a dark, wicked laugh that rang off the glass. "I cannot believe you expect a child like that to defeat me."
"You will be taken by surprise when she does," she hissed, her voice sharp enough to cut.
"I will foil every plan you have," I promised.
Rage and fury finally broke through her frozen composure. "She is your doom, Reagan. Your destruction and your downfall. That is why I made her. She will fulfill her destiny."
"No one's destiny is written in stone," I said, leaning closer to the glass. "We both know that everyone chooses their own path and writes their own fate. And I will make sure her story is rewritten... by me."
Before I could retaliate any further, her image flickered and vanished from the glass. I turned my back on the empty mirror, running a hand through my dark hair to settle my rising temper. With a sharp tug of my will, I commanded the shadows to rise. They swirled around me like a living cloak, pulling me through the void and depositing me back onto my throne.
I sat in the silence, letting my thoughts settle until a plan began to take shape.
"Kira," I whispered into the dark.
Moments later, my deadliest assassin materialized before me. She was a shadow wieldier herself, capable of infiltrating the most guarded fortresses without so much as a whisper of notice.
"I have a task for you," I said, my voice echoing off the cold stone. "Locate General Aerobin. He has a human girl in his custody—find her, and bring her to me. Take a small unit of Nephilim to ensure there are no complications."
Kira dropped into a low, predatory bow. "Your wish is my command, Sire," she hissed, her voice smooth and dangerous as a snake.