I waited a minute and then ran after him, staying about twenty paces behind so that he wouldn’t hear me and put up a fight. I could see now why he had taken his boots off. He was silent as his bare feet hit the mossy floor and I stopped to do the same, losing sight of him as I ditched my boots and padded barefoot in the direction he’d gone. There was no way I was letting Stryker fight my battles for me. This curse plagued both our lands, it wasn’t his responsibility to bear alone.
When I reached the clearing, I peeked into the fading light to see Stryker walking on his tiptoes before the beast, trying to skirt him and sneak into the cave while he slept. I froze, holding my breath as Stryker held his blade aloft and disappeared into the darkness.
A wave of dizziness washed over me with the anticipation of waiting for Stryker to return and I realized my heart was beating so fast that my hands shook.
Relax, Aribella. The worst time in your life to faint would be right now.
Just as I saw Stryker reappear in the cave opening, the sun sank below the horizon and shadow dragon’s eyes burst open.
Stars help us.
The creature’s nostrils flared and he whipped his head in Stryker’s direction. I leapt out from the protection of the thick trees and waved my arms to draw his attention. “HEY!!!” I yelled and the beast snapped his head toward me, standing on all fours.
Stryker slipped out from the cave and into the woods, and I watched in horror as the shadow dragon began to suck the darkness from around him.It filtered in threads, absorbing into his skin, and I gasped as suddenly he grew to nearly triple his previous size.
I heard a noise behind me but didn’t dare take my eyes off the beast, which was now forty feet high and peering down at me like I was a snack.
The noise turned out to be Stryker, who appeared beside me, covered in soot and holding a black crystal the size of a fist. The Shadow Heart. “Take it and get on the boat, float into the water and wait for me a mile offshore. I’ll swim.”
He was just saying that. If I left him alone, he’d die. He said himself that his powers didn’t work on this beast.
I shook my head. “Let’s both go. We still have time to—”
“No. I have to kill it or the beast will give chase and we’ll both be doomed.”
He deposited the cold, heavy crystal into my hands and a powerful buzz ran up my arms when my skin touched it.
Leaning forward he placed a kiss on my lips. “Forgive me,” he breathed against my mouth.
I didn’t even have time to wonder what he was talking about when shadow bands wrapped around me and began dragging me backward toward the boat.
“Stryker, no!” I screamed as he used his power to ferry me to safety. “Don’t so this. I can help!”
He turned his back to me and held his sword up just as the shadow dragon breathed a wall of fire right at him.
I struggled against the shadow ropes that held me, screaming and tearing at them with my hands to no avail. My toes dragged along the forest floor as Stryker used his power to carry me across the sandy beach and directly into the boat.The bands set me gently down onto the boat deck and then they gripped the boat itself, shoving it into the ocean and away from the shore. The post we’d been tied to snapped and I screamed in desperation as the shadow ropes disappeared into nothing.
I stood, heart pounding, tears welling in my eyes. How could he do this?
No. He would die fighting that beast. Unable to use his shadow power, with only a sword against a fire-breathing shadow monster that seemed to grow bigger as the night drew darker. I couldn’t let that happen.
I peered at the dark, deep water, almost black now that the sun had set. My childhood fear that some ravenous creature swam in its murky depths and would eat me alive rose up inside me, causing my heart to flutter wildly.
Stryker’s bellow cut through the night. It was deep and filled with pain, and I didn’t even think before dropping the crystal to the deck and then diving into the cool water.
I was always a good swimmer. The one thing my mother would let me do as she was told it helped strengthen my heart without stressing it too much. Of course that only applied as long as I didn’t swim too fast or too long. I was doing both right now, but I barely felt the icy bite of the frigid liquid as I raced for the shoreline trying to think of a plan.
No shadow powers. Fire-breathing monster.
There was only one option. I had to try to use my magic on the beast. Something I’d never attempted before. I wasn’t even sure it would work on a non-fae being, but I had to try.
I reached the sandy beach in no time, hurrying out of the water so fast that I fell over. My soaked clothing felt like it weighed four times as much as before, but I didn’t care.
I tore across the sand and into the forest at double speed, pulling on my powers as I went. I thought about sleepiness and the emotions and feelings that went into making someone fall asleep. The heavy feeling that settled over your body making your eyelids droop, the relaxed way your mind went fuzzy before you eventually succumbed to the darkness.
When I hit the clearing, which was half on fire, I took stock of the scene before me.
Stryker stood in the center of the meadow with his sword brandished as the creature lunged for him.
