IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy

Axel

Menacing darkness hovered dangerously in the corner as I slowly inched in front of Gabrielle. She stood utterly still gaping at the darkened mass, so black it seemed to be sucking the life out of the room.

I could feel the hackles in the back of my neck standing up, blonde fur sprouting in its wake and vicious canines elongating from deep within the base of my gums.

The eerie mass throbbed steadily, pulsating with an even rhythm. There was no sound coming from it and no smell either. I didn’t know whether it could see us or sense us, but for some reason, I just knew we shouldn’t be making fast, threatening movements.

“Get my sister out,” I breathed while taking a calculated step further into the room, shielding the women effectively with my body.

Since I wasn’t part of the pack, I couldn’t mind-link anyone, but instincts told me that Gabrielle already had.

Although I kept my yellow wolfish gaze transfixed upon the entity, I remained utterly aware of every step my mate took behind me. She moved like a predator, intentional and deathly quiet, inching closer to my sister, who was still blissfully unaware of the monster in the room.

“You can sit down, make yourselves comfortable. Ray should be here any minute,” Lily said cheerily without looking up.

We inched closer and closer until Gabrielle was able to reach a trembling hand out and gently wrap it around Lily’s forearm.

“Come, Lily,” she said, her voice sounding somewhat unsteady and rasp, “Ray is waiting for us downstairs, I will lead you to him.”

I didn’t dare look behind me as the creature’s pulsating stopped. It hanged unnaturally in the air like solid matter, completely still as though it was listening, waiting for the right time to strike.

Every instinct inside of me urged me to act. React. Now! Do something now!

“RUN!” I commanded as the cloud burst out, instantly doubling in size, devouring the light in its path.

Gabrielle sprang into action without hesitation and lunged for my sister, tugging her from the chair and hauling her out of the room. I could hear Lily peppering her with questions as they entered the hall, along with numerous pairs of heavy boots hitting the ground, rushing through the corridor to get to us. She did call for help, good girl.

One of the first people sliding to a halt outside the door was Locke. His eyes shot up and his mouth fell open as he took in the sheer blackness, which had now stopped approaching but had already absorbed half of the room. Our eyes only met for a brief second, before the warriors joined him, all of them struck with horror upon seeing the looming threat.

Locke stepped inside, drawing an ancient sword from his back. His leather-like armour groaned with the movement and his heavy boots moved around me. Strapped to his thighs and just below his knees, more hilts appeared, all sheathed in black leather. An assortment of daggers and knives with another sword dangling from his hip.

He spoke to the blackness in a foreign tongue and took up a fighting stance beside me, lifting his sword diagonally above his head, feet spread wide apart.

Immediately, the blackened mist awakened again, pulsating and growing bigger and bigger with each inhale, until…

It imploded.

Rapid and powerfully, the darkness pulled in on itself like a hole had been opened in another dimension and was sucking it in.

Time slowed down, as did my heartbeat. The blood in my veins felt thicker and all sounds around me died out into muffled background noises. Quieter and eerier the noises faded until only deathly silence remained, so quiet, my ears started to ring. Unbearable pressure began building up in my inner ear and pain. Excruciating, stinging pain.

I glanced over my shoulder. My men, the warriors, were moving sluggishly slow with their hands and arms covering their ears. Some of them looked like they were screaming, their faces contorted in agony although no sounds were coming out.

When I turned again, I felt my feet lifting off the ground. Time sped up and everything happened so quickly, that if I blinked, I might have missed it all. Everything in the room accelerated and were flung through the air towards the back wall, me included.

Sofas, coffee tables and decorative stone pillars, all crashed into each other and into us. A heavy decorative stone ornament hit my upper body with such force, I heard a rib crack under its impact and blackness spread all around us. Pitch-black dark mist.

For a second, I couldn’t see, but I could feel more things crashing into me.

I blinked and it was all over.

Gone was the darkness. Gone was the quiet and reality came slamming back into us.

Locke lay on his back, sprawled and trapped under the weight of two large couches.

Warriors came rushing in, pulling wrecked furniture and rubble off from us. I heard Locke gasp and groan as they shifted the weight of a particularly large couch off his chest so he could breathe again. Luckily, they moved fast. It would have crushed his lungs had they lingered too long.

Gabrielle came rushing in and fell onto her knees right beside me, my face was already cupped in her warm, loving hands as she said, “you’re bleeding.” Her frantic eyes darted over me, and she called for help over her shoulder.

Strong hands were pulling furniture away, digging me out of the rubble.

Warriors all around worked in a synchronized manner, swiftly and efficiently pulling us out of the wreckage.

There were no more traces of the entity. It was like it had disappeared into thin air. Faded into nothing.

The first words Locke choked out was, “Shadow and Whispers.”

~

“As I said, the entity is a fae creature belonging to the Kingdom of Shadows and Whispers, one of the three remaining original fae kingdoms. It is possible that the human we found a few days ago had also been affected by one of its creatures. They have many different beings belonging to their realm, which I know little to nothing of.” Locke strode to the window and stared out, looking at nothing in particular. “They have always been the most secretive kingdom. They don’t let any outsiders in, and no one ever comes out of there either.”

I sighed and pulled my hands through my hair for what felt like the hundredth time, “ok, so you are saying that the Kingdom of Shadows and Whispers are attacking us?”

He shook his head and started pacing the length of the room slowly, “I don’t know. Attacking seems a bit drastic. If they wanted to attack us, they would have done so already. They wouldn’t dally around like this, giving us time to make reinforcements.”

It was a valid point. When attacking your enemies, it was better to catch them by surprise. Off guard. When they least expected it.

“Maybe they sent spies to gather information first, but we intercepted them before they could return?” It was Dorian asking this time.

Gabrielle nodded beside me, her face grave and weary.

“Those things aren’t dead,” Locke replied with dead certainty. “They left on their own accord.”

“Can we stop them? Before the information reaches their king?” Alpha Blake asked. Dorian sat on his left and John to his right. The Beta looked a bit pale, and sleep-deprived since his border patrol duties had been more than doubled as punishment for what he did to Gabrielle. Most of them running deep into the early hours of the morning, the slots everyone else hated and tried to avoid at all costs. Serves him well though. If I had been his Alpha, his head would have been on a pike.

Locke shook his head again, “odds are they have already reached their destination. AND…” he pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, grimacing, “no one knows exactly where their kingdom is.”

Jarryd cursed under his breath and Ray leaned forward in his chair, blowing out an exaggerated breath.

“I have spoken to my father,” Locke said. Ray merely peered up at him from under his brows, “we will send two of my brothers out, along with a small regiment of High Fae warriors to look for them. Find out what the hell is going on up north in the pits of the Black Forest.”

“Do you need wolves?” Alpha Blake asked.

“No. We should keep most of the warriors here. Build a fortress and stand our ground.”

Alpha Blake nodded, a muscle in his jaw feathering.

“The rest of us should remain here, at least until we know what is going on.”

I exchanged a grim look with Ray as the room emptied around us.

They couldn’t stay. They needed to head back to Shadow Creek. Reinforce their own pack and protect their home.

“We should inform Mat.”

Ray nodded and stood.

“Stay safe, brother.”

“You too.”