Freya, his world, shimmered beneath him as he departed—lush forests, ancient citadels, and the ever-stretching twilight skies. He glanced back once, a faint unease scratching at the edges of his thoughts. But he dismissed it.
This is just another council. Nothing more.
Back on Freya, Sasha stood on a mountain ridge, watching where Shadow disappeared into the stars. A strange weight lingered in the air.
She turned to Zic and Pugh, who sat lazily on a nearby boulder, playing a game with glowing stones.
“Where did he go?” Sasha asked, not hiding her concern.
Zic glanced up. “Council of the gods. A regular thing. Don’t worry—he’ll be back.”
Pugh added, “It’s just a chat with the Creator. Boring stuff. Deities arguing over stars and fate.”
Sasha frowned. “Why have I never heard of this meeting?”
The twins exchanged a glance, and Pugh scratched the back of his head.
“Well… not everyone gets invited. Only those deemed worthy by the Creator himself,” Zic said. “Shadow’s one of the few. He’s always been a favorite.”
Before Sasha could press further, her body tensed.
She felt it—an unnatural chill.
From the northern sky, something stirred.
A black mist began to roll in over the curve of Freya's edge, creeping like a plague across the world. Trees wilted. Skies dimmed. The wind itself whispered screams.
Something ancient… something vile… had arrived.
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Sasha’s eyes widened. “What is this…?”
Zic and Pugh stood, alarmed now, their playful tone gone.
The darkness coiled like a sentient shadow, hungry and deliberate. It began devouring the light, swallowing entire sections of Freya in silence.
Sasha, her heart racing, stepped forward. “If it touches the core, the world will collapse.”
Her mind raced. Shadow was gone. The Creator’s realm was too far for a cry for help.
There was no time.
She had to act.
Closing her eyes, Sasha summoned the essence she was born with—the Light of the Void, that rarest of divine forces. Her body began to radiate with pure illumination, outshining stars, rivaling even the divine sun that once guarded Freya.
She whispered a wordless plea… and became light.
Sasha exploded in a pulse of radiant energy that covered the world in a dome of glowing brilliance, pushing back the dark tendrils. The creature—whatever it was—screeched, recoiling from her divine presence.
But light had a cost.
The effort tore at her essence. Veins of energy cracked across her skin. Her breath shortened. And when the darkness was finally scattered, Sasha collapsed midair, a trail of silver and white falling like a dying comet.
Zic and Pugh raced to her side, catching her before she hit the ground. Her body was burned and cracked, glowing dimly like dying embers.
“She’s… alive,” Zic muttered, “but barely.”
“We have to wait,” said Pugh, his voice tight. “Wait for him.”
And then…
The sky split.
Shadow returned.
But something felt wrong.
As he passed through Freya’s dimensional veil, he felt it—an ache, a fracture in the world. He descended rapidly, eyes scanning for the source.
When he reached his citadel, he saw them—Zic, Pugh, and Sasha’s crumpled form resting in a bed of wildflowers, glowing faintly.
For the first time in eons… Shadow panicked.
Sasha…
He rushed to her, dropping to his knees. Her breathing was shallow. Her aura flickered.
His rage was instant, unfiltered.
The very bones of the world began to tremble. Mountains cracked. Oceans hissed. The sky darkened.
“She protected your world,” Zic said quietly, placing a hand on Shadow’s shoulder.
“Alone,” Pugh added. “Because she believed in it. In you.”
Shadow closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. Slowly, the quake in the world stilled.
“She used everything she had… for my world,” he murmured.
And then, something within him shifted.
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small vial—glass forged in stardust, containing a swirling golden liquid.
The Elixir of Aeons. A gift from his mother. Her final blessing before she vanished into the cosmos.
He had kept it safe… for a moment he prayed would never come.
Without hesitation, Shadow tilted the elixir to Sasha’s lips and let a single drop fall.
Light bloomed across her body, knitting the broken pieces back together. Her skin began to glow again, not with strain, but with life.
A soft breath escaped her lips.
Her eyes fluttered open.
“Shadow…?”
He gazed at her, silent but steady, the storm within him now calm.
“I’m here.”
To be continued.....