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I had fallen into my shadow, somehow, or at least that’s what the Lorica’s bizarre architecture was making me think. That was it. This was another one of their tricks, possibly even a part of Thea’s test. I was getting more and more pissed by the second.
Whirling around in the pitch-black, I searched for the right direction to protest, to shout something clever, but everywhere looked the same. Just darkness, and more darkness. Seconds passed, and I thought my eyes would finally adjust to the gloom, but nothing.
Briefly I thought about calling out to Thea, but then quickly reconsidered the stupidity of making myself known to someone who wanted me dead not five minutes ago. Still. What else was I supposed to do?
“Haha. Super funny. Game’s over, Thea.”
Yet even my voice sounded leaden in my ears, like the shadows were swallowing it up. The words were heavy, hanging in the air just long enough for me to register that I spoke them, then thumping dully to the ground, as if they had gone both unheard and unspoken.
Maybe this wasn’t a test at all. Maybe it was a trap, and Thea meant to keep me here for whatever sick purpose she and her people had. Magic, and the Veil, and all that other nonsense. I didn’t want anything to do with it, not anymore. And the thought of her keeping me against my will shouldn’t have caused me to panic as much as it did, but the worry was gnawing at my insides. Where was I? How the hell was I going to get out?
I groped around in the darkness, finding nothing to hold on to but just more of this unseen black. It was getting harder to breathe, the air around me thinner, colder as I waited. No, that wouldn’t do at all. I’d have to get a move on, I knew. Pick a direction and head down it. Better than waiting there and freezing, or worse, suffocating.
I still had no real grasp on my bearings, no concept of up or down, but at least my feet were taking me in what I could only assume was the same way: forward. And finally it felt like I was making some kind of progress, if only visually. I could almost see in front of me, but it was less a matter of light being introduced to my surroundings. It was more as if the darkness were receding, its intensity going softer. But that offered little relief, because I could still hear – something.
Rather, several somethings. I knew I wasn’t imagining the sound of things shifting just beyond my peripheral vision, of the shadows melding and uncoiling as I walked. The blackness still terrified me, but somehow, here in the cold, unbreathable pocket I’d found myself, there was something almost comforting. It was like being under the watchful eye of a teacher who also happened to be a known terror. You knew you were safe, more or less, but you also knew that you were in no way in the clear, that things could still go horribly wrong if you took one false step.
That’s what I kept waiting for as I moved, as I kept heading for what I could only assume was not a light, but, again, an absence of shadow.
“Finally.”
Again the word dropped to the floor like a stone. I tried not to berate myself for wanting to say something this time, but come on. Who was I talking to, anyway? And if I ever made it out of this hell tunnel, Thea would still be waiting at the end to try and kill me.
But that was when the dimness grew thicker. Smokier. And I knew that it didn’t make sense, but it was also more – violent, somehow.
I wasn’t alone.
I broke into a run, speeding down the tunnel, my eyes glued on the tiny pinprick of light I could only assume represented my freedom. I didn’t dare look behind me, or even to either side of me, but I became acutely aware of deliberate movements from things on the edge of sight. They seemed like tendrils, strange organic forms that shifted from tentacles into hands, then claws, then talons. I didn’t look, didn’t wait to find out. Just kept running.
And the hardness of breathing, that never went away. It pressed on my lungs, this dark, unknowable presence squeezing against my chest. The more I ran, the more dramatic the expanse of air that was sucked out of me. Just seconds more, I knew, and I wouldn’t be able to breathe at all.
I made it just in time.
My muscles screaming, I made one last, decisive step. The shadows ripped apart, fraying at the seams at the exact spot that my foot struck the ground. The universe exploded into a burst of radiance, a dazzling panorama that made my eyeballs ache.
Gradually the light faded, and I saw that I was somewhere familiar. I recognized it as the exact same room I’d been stuck in with Thea, only that I was several feet away from where I’d attempted to duck. The far wall was pockmarked and
shattered, the floor a mess of splinters.
It was as if the shadows had peeled away, taking me from that dark place back to my own reality, where Valero and Heinsite Park and that one really good burger place existed, where Thea and her grenades were still waiting to obliterate me. I tumbled to the ground, sprawled across the floor, the sweat cold against my back. I looked over my shoulder. The dark chamber was gone. Thea stood there, staring at me with huge eyes that, at first, were filled with confusion, but slowly widened with awe.
“That was splendid, Mr. Graves,” she said, clasping her hands together. I watched her fingers, still wary. No more motes of light, as far as I could tell, and no further intent to produce those explosive orbs she could throw so well.
I thrust my finger at the space behind me where the black tunnel had been, then pointed one accusing finger at her chest, barely able to collect my thoughts, much less my words. I sputtered, coughed, then took in the hugest gulp of air my lungs could muster.
“What the hell was that? Where the hell was I?”
Thea blinked at me, the surprise on her face genuine. “You mean you don’t know?”
I slammed one ineffectual fist on the ground. It didn’t work as well as I thought at emphasizing my anger, and only did so much as to drain more air and strength out of my body.
“Enough with the riddles, Thea. Enough with playing dumb. Where was I? What was that black room I was stuck in?”
She spread her hands and shrugged. “That wasn’t a room, Mr. Graves. Those were shadows. You walked through them.” She clapped her hands together once, her fingers squeezing each other tight, like a girl hardly able to contain her glee. “I knew attacking you was the right thing to do. You just needed a nudge. That was all.”
I stared at her in disbelief, watched the space in the air where that hellish portal of living shadow had just been. “You mean that was magic?” My voice caught in my throat, meek. “I did that?”
Thea grinned, the perfect pearls of her teeth arranged in the sort of smile a proud mentor would give her protege.
