Kitto pressed his boot upon the chest of the Drau taking the shape of a twisted, blackened tawny owl—once a common sight in these woods—and yanked his blade free. It dissipated into black smoke and fled back off into the shadows to reconstitute itself.

  He spat, and sheathed his weapon, pausing only to wipe the sweat from his brow before hurrying away in the opposite direction. There was no killing the Shadow, at least no way anybody had discovered. Killing the poor creature it had possessed delayed them, but they would come back.

  They always came back.

  Kitto had little choice but to run. Hunting had, once again, been a bust. The front line of the War was half a world away, but since they’d received word Riawa had fallen, everything had changed. Shadowspawn arrived on their island in drips and drabs from the sea, slinking into the forest and gorging themselves on the souls of its inhabitants.

  Now, even people were not safe to travel alone. Kitto was lucky. His father had been a career soldier and had taught him and his little brother enough of the blade that he could defend himself—at least well enough to get away. Others living here didn’t have the same privilege.

  He darted between shadowed thickets of trees, making as little noise as possible. His eyes scanned the surrounding area constantly, each oddly shaped clump of shrubs or angled branch taking the appearance, at first glance, of another Shadowspawn.

  The paranoia had become a constant figure in his life since his parents’ passing. Always watching over his shoulder. Always tense and on guard. Then again, who wasn’t now? Riawa had been the centre of human progress and strength—a beacon of light even as the Shadow rent holes in the sky itself, and descended from above, swarming the northern hemisphere of Feres.

  As long as Riawa stood, there had been hope.

  Now, there was no force left that could stand between humanity and the Shadow, no sanctuary for those that remained. Every day was now simply another inch of a slow, inescapable crawl to the end. What was worse was that everybody knew it. Armies collapsed as their soldiers fled to spend their last days with families. Cities fell to madness as their citizens realised that with no future, there were also no consequences. Each story that came from the north made Kitto thankful they lived on a relatively small and remote island at Feres’ southernmost point.

  Finally, home came into view. A humble trapping cottage built beside a running stream that, in the warmer months, teemed with life. The soft babbling always sent a rush of warmth through him. Even a decade on, he could hear his and his brother’s laughter carrying through spring air as they traipsed through its shallow waters, picking out handfuls of frogspawn and depositing it in buckets.

  He swallowed as he traipsed across the gently winding path to their battered front door, the warmth in him fading. More and more, thoughts of his little brother soured his mood. The world was dying, and Kitto would die right alongside it. He had made peace with that. Accepted it.

  But the thought of his brother sharing that fate? The thought sent ripples of impotent fury through him. It was his job to protect his younger brother—he was the only one left that could. He was going to fail, he knew, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  Kitto raised a trembling hand to the door handle, taking a deep breath before relaxing his facial muscles, willing the anger and frustration out of his expression. A frigid chill ran across his spine the moment his hand touched cool metal, and he felt a bony hand fall upon his shoulder.

  “You know that’s not quite the truth, dearest Cristopher,” a rasping, paper thin voice whispered into his ear. Kitto went rigid at the familiar touch, and the use of a given name even his own mother never really used.

  “I already gave you my answer!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low enough that his brother would not hear him on the other side of the door. “Now leave me, before I—”

  A cold, rasping chuckle cut him off. “Before you… what? You cannot harm me. And even if you could—would you? Even though you know that I alone can save your precious, baby brother?”

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  Kitto ground his teeth. “I would never.”

  “For now. We shall see how long your resolve holds. Perhaps until this forest burns around you? Or perhaps you will hold out until his broken body lies at your feet, his final, mortal breath rattling free from his lungs. We shall see.”

  Kitto whirled around, fist barrelling through empty space, as a cold, rasping laugh reverberated through his head.

  He screamed, and Casek’s own scream joined with it, the two sounds merging into one piercing, discordant note.

  Casek sat up, ram-rod straight, sweat coating his face and soaking through his shirt. Across from him, Raelynn crouched, prepping her side of the camp to leave. She peered at him, expression unreadable.

  “Nightmares?” she asked. At his shaky nod, she returned her attention to her bag, before muttering a brisk, “me too.”

  Strangely, Casek appreciated the lack of further comment almost as much as he did her choosing to share that she also suffered from nightmares. The dream had been startlingly real, and almost visceral in its clarity. He didn’t know how he would have even begun to explain it had she asked, nor how much of it was based in reality and how much of it was simply his brain trying desperately to fill the gaps in his knowledge with something.

  Riawa was a real place, Tauph muttered, making Casek leap nearly halfway out of his bedroll.

  Tauph, you’re talking again? What happened to you?

  I…I’m sorry about that, he said, voice weary. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Truth be told, I don’t really remember what happened.

  I bound the Drau. I had to use some of the other power—but I managed it. After that, you were gone. Did having the Drau bound to you have some kind of effect on your ability to speak?

  Not…exactly.

  Tauph’s hesitation brought on a sickening sinking feeling in his gut. I figured as much. That extra power—it’s yours isn’t it? I cycled it during that fight?

  I…Yes. I suppose there really isn’t any hiding that anymore. You knew I wasn’t human already. That source of power you felt is mine.

  Casek’s mind raced as the possibilities span round in his head. Are you one of the Shadow

  No. I’m… Something else.

  But only the Shadow can use magic naturally, you said so yourself.

  No, I said that only beings of the Other could access their magic naturally. For the record, Tauph added, with more than a hint of attitude, I also said pretty definitively that I wasn’t one of the Shadow.

  Yes, whilst hiding a secret well of power. Do you not think that might have come in handy? Or even that it might have helped me trust you, if you’d have told me?

  Casek could feel his fists clench and unclench rhythmically as he fought to keep his temper. He wanted to trust Tauph so badly—wanted to believe this voice was not that of some devious monster—but the secrets were making it almost impossible, let alone the fact he’d been given no real reason they needed to be kept besides ‘his own good’.

  Waking with no memories meant that besides the essentials of survival, information was his most vital commodity. He was perfectly capable of finding his own food and water, of building shelter, and even fighting when it came to that; but all this meant was that his own ignorance was the thing most likely to get him killed.

  Tauph could help with that, but was choosing not to.

  Casek, I didn’t even know for sure that you could access that power. We didn’t exactly have the time to stop and start experimenting—not until we got trapped in that crystal. Look, you seem to think I’m hiding all of these big, earth-shattering secrets from you. I’m not. There are only a handful of things I will not talk about—mostly to keep a promise I made to you before you lost your memory.

  How would telling me break a promise to me?

  There are things you wanted to forget. When you found out what was being done to you would cause amnesia, you made me promise to let you.

  And I’m supposed to just accept that?

  We’ve been down this road already. You can stomp your feet like you did when you were a baby as much as you like—it won’t change anything. You can’t force me to do anything.

  Casek’s breath caught in his throat as a soft forest breeze gently lifted the leaf litter on the forest floor around him and sent it drifting airily across the ground. When I was a baby? How long have you known me, Tauph?

  For a moment, the only sound was the whisper-faint rustle of leaves, punctuated by Raelynn’s distant rummaging. Since you were born, Tauph said, finally. I—

  “Are you getting up, or what?” Raelynn’s impatient bark cut through Casek’s mind like a war-hammer through ice. His mouth worked silently, trying and failing to form a coherent response, and Raelynn rolled her eyes. “Move. We need to be moving fast if we’re going to make decent time before dark.”

  She strode away to finish packing her last pieces of equipment, leaving Casek to scramble to do the same.

  How can you have known me since I was born when you’re not even from this reality? That’s one hell of a friend of the family!

  I wasn’t exactly a friend. But what I always have been was your protector. Right from the day you were born to now, everything I have done has been for you. Everything. I need you to remember that, Casek. No matter what, it was always to protect you.

  Thank you all so much for reading this far! If you've enjoyed what you've read, please consider checking out one of my other stories below - just click on the pictures to go to their pages!