"My dearest Mireya..." His cold hand wraps around her wrist and guides the blade away from her heart.
"...Do you believe your death is something I want?"
***
Aitháli was an empire known for its lush for...
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Many of the people in the village described their first few weeks of waking up to darkness as a traumatic experience. Even the ones who had awoken from the grip of the curse, from the looks in their eyes, sleep would never be the same to them again.
Yet even with everything that was currently conspiring around her, Mireya couldn't help but feel peaceful during those blissful hours of rest. Even now, while she was trapped in the astral plane, she found sleep just as easily as she did when she was in the village.
Although this time, when she awoke, she could feel the terror budding in her chest.
She laid still. The blanket that covered her body served as a temporary shield from the black mass that wandered back and forth around her room. Her eyes followed its every move. She kept quiet for fear of drawing attention to herself lest this thing be a dangerous creature.
It was the first thing her eyes laid on when she awoke and now she feared if she looked away, it would disappear and something sharp would immediately plunge into her back.
Mireya wanted to scream, but the action was completely against everything she had ever learned. She knew screaming would only mean danger. Regardless of what Ciaran said, any demon could claw its way through her bedroom window and devour her soul.
When the unknown creature grew closer, Mireya could hear it whispering. Whatever it was saying, it was unintelligible for her to understand. The closer it got, the easier it was to see exactly what it was.
It was exactly what it looked like, a black shadow. It had arms and legs and moved the way any human would. There was no silhouette of clothing, and it was almost impossible to distinguish any gender or more specific details.
Mireya's eyes slowly trailed up the form of the shadow and tried to look up at its face. Even through the dark mass, it was possible to see the outlines of a nose, lips, and ears. She tried to squint her eyes to see if they had any eyes themselves, but it only seemed to bring her attention to the fact that the shadow had stopped moving and was now facing her.
Even with nothing but shadows replacing their eye sockets, the moving mass of shadows had Mireya pinned to her spot on her bed.
They began to step closer, and with every step, Mireya could feel her heart pounding in fear of what might happen to her. Who knows what this shadow was capable of?
As the shadow grew closer, Mireya started to hear the faint sounds of whispers in her head. It sounded as though multiple people were speaking through them; all of them desperate to send a message.
One phrase in particular was easy to detect, and it prompted the chills that ran from her head and all the way down her back and arms.
"Help us..."
Mireya sprung out of the bed, narrowly avoiding the shadow's outstretched arm, and ran for the door. In just her bare feet, she ran down the castle halls. She had nowhere to go, but she just knew she had to leave in case that shadow tried to do something to her.
