The Grisha Diaries (A Darklina Fanfic)

Chapter 15: Escapism

The shroud of shadows make it impossible to see even a centimeter in front of myself. The loud booming of battle dies into a soft hum. Aleksander grabs my wrist and pulls me to escape with him and I let him. Without being able to see, my steps are hesitant and slow. I feel Aleksander's frustration, tugging me along. I try pushing light out of my eyes like I did this morning, but this action only creates small beams of light that don't extend to my peripheral and don't stretch more than yard, not allowing me to see very much. My feet suddenly come out from under me and the life-force that lives in me deeper and more central than my light responds instinctively, the ground coming into view and allowing me to step out of the fall.

I feel the preciseness with which shadow wraps itself around my cornea, bending it's very nature. It's energy so similar to that of my light yet colder and wispier as the shadows touch my eyes. The world had become black and white, yet the area around me is so clearly defined. The leaves on the trees are perfectly contrasted from the rocks and the blades of grass.

With my new shadow vision, I accelerate to match the Darkling's pace beside him.

He looks up at me as my feet fall in line with his steps. Eyes the same shade of gray in this black and white world as they are in the sun, jolt when they meet mine. His amusement and a hint of pride tickles my spine through the bond.

After a few minutes of walking, his hand barely uncomfortably grips around my wrist, I see the outline of horses and soldiers in the distance.

"Put this on," he demands, taking a bundle of clothes out of the inside of his kefta.

As he holds the clothes out to me I see a black kefta with gold ornamentation folded on top.

"I'm not wearing that." Putting on his color, this kefta, clearly the most exorbitant kefta to have ever have been at that, is too much. I'm not running off with Aleksander. I'm being willingly kidnapped. It's different.

"Alina I don't have time for this. Put this on now," he insists, annoyance sharpens his words.

"If you really want to ride a horse through the night in a dress that is fine," he growls, tucking the clothes back into his kefta.

"Unzip me," I snap, taking off the short sleeve jacket and turning around to give him access to the zipper. He grunts with appeasement.

He quickly unzips the back of my dress, smoothly moving the zipper from the bottom of my neck to the bottom of my spine.

He again hands me the stack of clothes and this time I take them. I make myself invisible allowing me the privacy to change. Before removing my wedding dress entirely I sense more than I see a flicker of light in the corner of my vision. I look up at him and see that His grey eyes are now white, having pulled my light just as I did his shadow.

I softly growl at the invasive intrusion. He turns around to give me privacy as amusement tickles the bond for the second time tonight. This man is having too much fun kidnapping me and my anger responds snapping back.

Stubborn to my bitter end I avoided the kefta entirely, putting on only the trousers and pullover. Both were black but the symbolism is not the same as putting on the twin to the Darkling's own kefta.

He doesn't say anything about it, likely having already predicted what I would do, as he grabs the unworn kefta from my hand shoving it under his and pulls out a light grey one instead, practically throwing it before turning to walk back toward his soldiers.

I hate how much I appreciate the nondescriptness of this kefta and the fact he brought it as I tug it on and follow him.

The shadows pull back as we clear the tree line and into a field. The dim light from the still setting sun is barely there, yet the world feels so much brighter compared to the darkness of the receding shadows.