Awakening (Born From Shadows #1)
Chapter Twenty

“The Cararsak?” Tatianna asked.

“The Children of Nyra, the Kiss of Death, whatever you want to call them!” he frustratingly yelled, running a hand through his raven black hair.

“Just tell me what they are!” she shouted back, tired of his ambiguity.

“When I was a child, my father told me stories about shadows that moved, killing people with just a single touch making their blood boil and flesh deteriorate within them. As I grew up, I thought it was just a myth to keep me from running away at night and exploring the city…but those bodies, they were everything my father described,” Nik explained. Suddenly it all made sense. Why her vision darkened, why no one was out on the street. The Cararsak got to them first.

“Do you think they will follow us?” she asked.

“I don’t know but I am not willing to replace out,” he replied.

“Ok, we will go as soon as Ida is back on her feet.”

“That could take hours,” he protested, “did you not hear what I said? They don’t need to stab you with some fancy blade, they just need one touch.”

“If you are so scared then run,” she offered.

“I am not leaving you,” he replied, his voice was raised slightly.

“Why not!” she yelled.

“I don’t know!” he shouted back. “I don’t know why I just…I can’t leave you here alone,” he said his voice calm.

Nik turned away from her, pacing from side to side. She knew how terrified he was of those things, yet he would rather stay with her than run. She didn’t know what to think of that.

She looked around and saw the night darkening, at first, she was confused by the shift but then she realised what it meant.

“Nik…I think they are here,” she whispered to the Prince.

He looked around and saw the shadows creeping into the place in the woods that they were in.

“Did your father ever tell you how to kill them?” she asked, wondering how you stab a shadow.

“Everyone who encountered them never lived to tell the tale, no one even knows what they truly look like, so no,” his voice started to shake.

There was a movement within the trees, sounding like something brushing against a leaf. She had her knife out ready to attack, even if it didn’t do anything to the creature. Nik moved towards her and the horse, looking around as if trying to replace an escape route but she could sense the movements of the creature. She knew they couldn’t outrun them.

The shadows in front of them thickened even more and without realising it she grasped onto Nik’s hand to try and comfort her fears. The shadows gathered in small places, shifting until slowly a shape started to take form.

The body wasn’t really a body, but rather a collection of shadows compressed into one spot except for the being’s eyes. They were red, as dark as blood shining straight towards her.

She looked around and saw that they were surrounded by them, like a pack of wolves cornering their prey. They all moved forward towards them at the same time, taking each step in sync with each other. Tatianna could not stop shaking and her skin paled by what was before her.

With every step they took towards them Nik and Tatianna took one towards each other. They were close now, close enough that if they desired, they could reach out and touch them. But they didn’t. The one standing directly in front of Tatianna just stared into her eyes, shifting its head to the side as if curious. Then suddenly the shadows fell back into the ground. Fading away into the night. They stood completely still for a moment trying to catch their breath. Tatianna felt as if she just had a heart attack by how much it was palpitating.

“I thought you said that no one lived to see them, why didn’t they kill us?” Tatianna asked him.

“They don’t leave survivors but the way it looked at you…maybe they don’t attack Elves?” he wondered unsure of what just happened. “They do come from the Dark Lands which is close to Elven territory. Maybe they are afraid of them?”

“It didn’t look afraid though, it seemed curious. As if I interested it,” she thought, remembering how those cold eyes pierced into her.

“I think we should just be glad we are alive,” Nik told her.

“Wait…the Dark Lands…what are they doing all the way in the North?” she asked him.

“Nothing good I suspect,” he replied. “Now are you going to keep asking questions or can we get some rest?”

“I don’t know if I can sleep after that,” she honestly replied.

“Me either, but we need to try. The trip to Faithorn is much longer than the one from Avalla to Cainva. We need to rest.”

She did feel tired, enough so that she thought it didn’t help to try and sleep for the remainder of the night.

“Ok,” she replied and walked over to where Ida laid, already fast asleep. She curled into the horse’s side seeking its warmth, she then felt Nik lie down behind her. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pulling her into him. In any other circumstance she would have pushed him off, but she was glad for the comfort after what had happened, and the warmth just felt like an extra bonus.

“Goodnight,” he whispered to her.

“Goodnight,” she replied and shut her eyes. Yet sleep did not come for her.