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The Bound Shadow (Chapter Five)

Calm before the storm

Chapter four saw the bounded pair forced to leave the keep in search of a way to break their curse. As they travel the bond pulls them into uneasy intimacy as they cross nightmare landscapes and face a storm that demands cooperation. In the darkness of their shelter, fear softens into something tender. They share a kiss which hints at the greatest threat to their freedom may be the feelings growing between them.

Elara was starting to settle a little bit with Raelith. It had become a matter of letting go of distrust. She just had to accept that even though he had spent countless years in the shadow realm, he was still, a human.

Over time, she noticed a gentler side emerging in him, while also realizing she was changing too. Being around someone with his mastery of magic was rubbing off on her and as they traveled, she learned a great deal.

The barren terrain continued, until a huge forest made of tall pine trees rose up above.

“This is not a safe place,” Raelith said. “You must stay close, as there are things which can snatch you from behind a tree or above. Not even my eyes can pick them out, as the whole place is full of shadows, and that is where these creatures are strongest.

“Something tells me that we must be extra wary. When we left the castle, I sensed that there was a change happening, almost like an uprising that was taking place.” He said as he began to search for a way into the treeline.

“I feel the same as if we’re in a calm before the storm,” Elara said.

There were several entrances to the forest marked by signposts written in a language that Elara couldn’t understand. Raelith looked at each one closely before shaking his head and continuing until he found what he was looking for.

He told her not to interrupt him as he was using a strange kind of magic. It seemed like it wasn’t just the writing he was looking at. He was noticing something within them, as if the runes were inscribed and infused with some kind of essence he was trying to sense.

When they entered the forest, it was unnaturally silent, and there were shadows everywhere as the starlight and moonlight shimmered down intensely above. The trees and branches created nightmare-type visuals, and Elara got closer to Raelith as she felt she needed his protection.

What’s more, there was a chill in the air as if something was about to happen that required a lot of negative energy.

If she felt anything, it was extreme nervousness, and she couldn’t shake her intuition as she told Raelith that something bad was about to happen.

He looked at her angrily and said there’s nothing to worry about. “The quietness is because there’s no living creature here; it’s only full of shadows and death. I’m the master of them, so they must obey what I say.”

In the darkness, the shattered creatures started coming almost immediately as he said that. The moment before, he was completely relaxed, but Elara sensed that his mind was now chaotic.

“No longer the master now,” voices were heard saying.

“You betrayed us; you must relinquish your title.”

Nightmare creatures emerged from the shadows, swift and terrifying; they were met with the powers of the bonded.

Bright flashes shot from their palms, and the moment they struck a shadowy creature, it exploded into light and vanished.

But there were many of them, and Elara became separated and forced to create a sword of light from her hands. Only with this could defend herself from the attacks of the shadow creatures.

Both of them could feel the other’s fear spiking, and as they got further apart, the pain began to erupt from the separation.

Elara was cornered, and they came from everywhere. She willed her light to whip around her head, and they stopped for a time, but then something came from above, and she was completely surrounded.

Cold, dark bodies touched her, draining her of life energy. Raelith also felt the pain as he felt her spirit begin to be sucked from her body.

But he was fighting his own battle, and there’s no way he could reach her. The only thing which connected them was the bond, and then the thought came to him: why not use it to send magic to Elara.

She felt his presence and the power flooded into her. She surrounded herself with a ball of light which pushed the shadows and scattered them away. Both of them are fueled by a tether of flaring life, heat radiates under their skin, and she feels his emotions flooding into her mind.

The sensation was intimate, overwhelming, and frightening.

A complete violation of Raelith, as she absorbs everything he was thinking, and what he felt towards her. A part of her smiled in that moment as there was desire within him and lust for sure.

It all came at once, and she was awash with the feelings, and she felt her own consciousness flowing back to him. They both radiated light from their bodies and released a devastating power that echoed with a sonic boom through the forest, forcing the creatures to retreat to where they came from and obliterating those close enough to be caught in the blast.

As the last creature retreated, there was silence once more. Their minds were racing, incredibly busy, and both were shaken by what happened, with memories drifting unbidden between them.

“That is power beyond anything I’ve seen before,” Raelith said.

“I have no control over it at all. I don’t know what is happening to me, what I’m thinking. I feel like I’m losing myself, and yet I’m getting things from you that have no meaning.”

“The bond is stronger, more evasive than anything that I can think of; it’s dangerous now. I feel the power can destroy anything, maybe even reality itself. We must tread carefully.”

They didn’t speak of it for a while, avoiding eye contact and bearing the moment with silence. It was no wonder, as there was a lot to process from what had happened, and it was time to try and separate their thoughts from each other. However, with every moment, there was the faint buzz of memory coming through the bond, which was disconcerting.

Within these feelings, there was a sense of desire. She felt possessed, as if she was losing herself completely to him. He was no longer a stranger; he was so much more familiar, as if he had been in her life for years.

She sensed the duality inside his mind and was unsettled by it. He became more withdrawn, more inside himself, cold and detached. Before she sensed it was kind of an act, but now he did not like the idea of someone knowing exactly who he was.

With each day, she was learning more about him, and the mystery person that he was when she first saw him was beginning to disintegrate, and he was becoming more human with each moment.

“It changes nothing,” he said, as they walked through the forest. “We travel to remove the bond. You’ll tell no one of what’s going through my mind, as I know you can read it easily.”

“The same applies to me too; I don’t want anyone knowing what I’m thinking or have learned in my life.”

“It is just a battle shock we are going through, that’s all. The thrill of the fight is still like a flicker through our hearts. It’ll pass in time, and then our minds should return,” Raelith explained.

“So, you don’t want to go through what that explosive power means to us,” Elara said.

“That was nothing; it’s just an abnormality. We must remain silent until we make camp. I’ve had enough of this foolishness.”

As they walked through the trees, Elara knew he was completely wrong; the bond had changed and so had her future.

She just hoped they got to where they were going before it was changed forever.

… To Be Continued

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