CHAPTER 006_LIGHT AGAINST SHADOW
The door slammed into the wall before Diego even got a chance to touch it.
He was standing there breathing hard. His face was pale. His eyes were wide with fear. I had never seen him look so scared before even though he seemed calm on the outside.
"They have broken through the wall, " he said. "All of them are inside."
Dante jumped out of bed in a flash. The warmth in his eyes was gone, like that. He grabbed his shirt from the floor. Put it on quickly.
"How many of them are there? " he asked. It was not really a question. He just wanted to know.
"Many, " Diego said. ". Dante, they are not like normal people."
That made Dante stop for a moment. "What do you mean they are not like people? " he asked.
"I mean my claws went through them, " Diego said. "It was like fighting something that was not really there."
Dante turned to me. "You need to stay in this room, " he said.
I said no.
"Leah, " he started to say. I cut him off.
"I said no, " I said, getting out of bed and walking past him. "Something there is calling me. I am not going to sit while you two figure out what is going on."
Diego looked at Dante. Then Dante looked at me. He cursed under his breath. I walked out of the room.
I took that as a sign that I could go too.
---
The balcony was big and cold. The wind hit me as soon as I stepped out. Below me the courtyard was a mess. The Blackfang warriors were running around; some of them were already in wolf form. They were all surrounding things that did not look like normal wolves.
These things were like shadows. They did not have bodies, they did not have weight. They did not have flesh. They moved through the warriors like they were air. The warriors' claws and swords went through them but they did not seem to care.
"What are those things? " I asked, breathing hard.
"Shadow Court, " Diego said, standing beside me. His voice was low and tight. "We have heard of them. We have never seen them before."
Below us Dante turned into a wolf. Ran into one of the shadows. His claws went through it but it did not even flinch. It turned around. Wrapped itself around his back like smoke.
Dante. I tried to shake it off but it held tight. It was like it was trying to pull something out of him.
"Dante, " Diego said sharply. Then he jumped off the balcony.
I grabbed the railing. My heart was beating really fast. I could feel it in my throat.
The mark on my wrist was burning. It was not like before when it was warm and nice. This time it was hot and painful like pressing my skin against something
I looked down at it. The silver was almost white.
"Stop it " I said to myself, pressing my hand over it.
It burned even harder.
Below me Dante was getting weaker. The shadow was pulling him towards the wall towards the dark and Diego was trying to reach him.. Two more shadows got in the way and three warriors ran in to help. Their blades went through the shadows but they did not seem to care.
"Get it off him " someone shouted.
Nobody could.
The shadow pressed against Dante's chest. I watched as his movements slowed down. His legs. His eyes were still open but they were fading away. It was like something was being pulled out of him.
My stomach dropped.
"No " I said quietly and then louder. "No."
The mark on my wrist exploded with heat. I stopped thinking.
I did not snap my fingers. I did not raise my hand. I just screamed.
The sound that came out of me was not mine. It was bigger than me. It came from deep inside me. It tore out of my throat. A bright light came with it.
Everything was white.
The light hit the courtyard like a wave and every shadow it touched stopped moving.. Then one by one they started to change.
They became real.
They had flesh and bone and fur. They were blinking in confusion. A warrior's sword hit one of them. It bled.
"Now " Diego roared.
The Blackfang warriors did not need to be told
I gripped the railing and watched, breathing hard my whole body shaking. The mark on my wrist was quiet now. It was cold like something had passed through it and left it empty.
Dante turned back into a human. He stood in the middle of the courtyard looking up at me. His chest was. There was a cut on his shoulder that was bleeding slowly.
We looked at each other for a while.
He did not say thank you. He did not say anything.. The way he looked at me said something that he did not have words for.
---
It was over when I heard a voice.
One of the shadows that had become real was lying on the ground near the wall. A warrior was standing over it, sword raised and the shadow looked up.
It was not looking at the warrior.
It was looking at me.
Its eyes found me on the balcony. Its mouth moved.
I gripped the railing hard and it hurt. "What did it say," I asked. Diego was already moving down to the courtyard and nobody heard me.
The shadows lips moved again. This time I heard it.
Its voice floated up on the wind. It was meant for me.
"The King is not dead Princess " it said, its voice low and rough. "He is waiting."
Then the warrior's sword came down. The shadow stopped moving.
The courtyard was quiet.
My hands were. I looked down at them but I could not make them stop.
Lucas was not dead. I had seen the golden wolf attack him. I had seen the blood on the stones. I had spent weeks and months thinking that he was gone. Now I was not so sure.
That shadow had looked at me like it knew me like it had been sent with a message just for me. It was not a thing to say, it was a deliberate message.
He had sent them here knowing that they could not be hurt by the Blackfang warriors knowing that they would push me to use my power knowing what I would do.
He knew about my power before I did.
"Leah, " Dante said, standing behind me.
I turned to him. He was looking at me with a serious face.
"What happened? " he asked quietly.
I looked at him. I tried to remember how to breathe normally.
"He is not dead, " I said.
Dante's jaw tightens.
"He sent them here, " I said. "He wanted me to use the light. He wanted to see it." My voice was steady. It scared me. "Lucas knows that I am Dante. He has known longer than I have."
The silence between us was heavy.
Dante did not say anything. He put his hand on the cut on his shoulder and pressed it shut.
"Then he knows what is coming, " he finally said.
"What is coming? " I asked.
He looked at me. He did not say anything. He just looked at me like he was not ready to say it loud yet.
The wind picked up. Someone shouted about another breach in the wall. Diego's voice was giving orders and Dante turned to go.
"Get inside, " he said. ". Do not use the light again tonight."
"Why not? " I asked.
He stopped in the doorway with his back, to me.
"Because something answered it, " he said. ". It was not Lucas."