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“What are you?!” I yelled. “What do you want?”
The shadow figure standing between the trees simply stared at me, its giant form not moving one inch. I still couldn’t get a read of what I was looking at, not really. It was mostly darkness, featureless darkness, save for an outline and a general feeling of dread.
Dread.
That was exactly what I was feeling. There was no better word to describe it. Whatever this creature was, it wasn’t going away on its own. I wasn’t sure how it had found us, what it was, or what it really wanted. I also had a strong feeling it wasn’t about to leave just because I had told it to. I was going to have to get way more forceful than that.
Luckily, I was ready for that, too.
“Alright,” I said to myself. “If you won’t go away nicely, I’ll have to make you.”
Taking a deep breath in, I allowed myself to feel Arcadia’s power as it thrummed through me. It was always there, just under the skin, but in truth, I never saw much of a point to my magic. I had never been given a task I couldn’t solve with my own wits, or my own brawn. Magic felt like a strange, alien thing; a gift I knew I had but didn’t really see much of a need for.
Unless I wanted to blast a hole in something from a distance.
For that, it was useful.
I felt the magic surge through me, rushing into my body and empowering it as if I were a conduit. A ball of silvery light began to glow in my hand, and I heard the whispering darkness grow louder, and become more like a clamor, a wild cacophony of nonsensical voices.
“You don’t like the look of this, do you?” I asked, charging the ball of light in my hand. “I’m going to give you one last chance to get out of my way.”
Still, the creature didn’t move. The voices, however, grew louder, and louder. It became almost deafening. I couldn’t hear anything else—I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts over the noise. But I had warned the creature, and now it was time to make good on that promise.
Winding back my arm, I hurled a fistful of light into the tree-line, sending a stream of sparkling, silver motes directly into the heart of the shadow figure standing there. The darkness receded as if it were afraid of the light, but something strange happened.
My bolt struck… nothing. It sailed harmlessly into the dark, illuminating the forest for a moment only to suddenly be consumed by the dark around it. The shadow figure, I realized was still standing exactly where it was. It hadn’t moved. No… that wasn’t exactly right, was it?
It had moved.
It had gotten closer.
“What the hell?” I asked. “That should’ve worked!”
“Now are you satisfied?” Valerian asked.
I hadn’t realized, but he had climbed off Colbolt’s back and was standing behind me, now. “No, I’m not satisfied. Why didn’t my magic work?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a hunch.”
“A hunch?”
“I think we’re dealing with something way more powerful than we realize.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Get behind me, and when I tell you to, close your eyes.”
“Close my… what? Why?”
“Just get behind me!” he barked.
I moved around Valerian in time to watch him fish an amulet out from inside his coat. It was a large, chunky thing—old, a little warped, and vaguely in the shape of a lantern. It was attached to a chain that looked way too big to be worn around someone’s neck, even though that was clearly the object’s intended use, but when Valerian looked at it, the little lantern piece lit up.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Like I said. Following this hunch.”
The whispering in the woods heightened in intensity, as if they were reacting to the presence of the lantern amulet he was holding. Valerian shut his eyes and I watched, astonished, as silver tattoos began to race along his skin like veins of light. They streaked across the back of his hands, up the side of his neck, and created a kind of crown of light along his forehead.
