The Shadows Within

It was a soft sound, the rain on the windows of the mansion. Ilyana woke up, her body numb from the previous night's trials, her mind heavy with all the questions still not answered. Velvet Woods were merciless, their secrets elusive as smoke. And that portal, whose warning still pulsed in her chest, like it had left a part of itself inside.

Slowly, she rose from the sitting position. She still held onto the mattress for balance with her hands. The light had dimmed gray. The clouds formed by the rain outside had huge dimensions; hence, shadows cast across the room's walls by these clouds appeared so long and big. Some kind of hum was heard at a distance inside the house-it was almost an unearthly sound with no source.

Knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," she said, her voice hoarse.

The door groaned open. Zarvian stood in it. His presences was in the room as a storm cloud, dark, charged. And his eyes,she would always remember that,he looked at her with a cold intensity that ripped her skin away.

"You are awake," he said, baldly.

"Me?" Barely. She thrust her legs out of bed, swinging them up and down with a gentle bounce. "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours. You needed the rest."

"How about you? Do you ever rest?"

Zarvian smiled faintly, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Rest is a luxury I cannot afford."

The weight of his words settled upon her. For a moment, neither said a thing. She finally broke the silence.

"What now?"

"We train."

"Train?"

"You said you wanted to prove yourself, to be ready for whatever comes next," he said. "That starts now."

Ilyana scowled, rubbing her temples. "Zarvian, I barely survived last night. What makes you think I'm ready for training today?"

"Because the forest will not wait for you to feel ready. And neither will the forces that lurk within it."

She sighed and stood up, pushing herself against the pain. Her body screamed at her, but she pushed it down. If Zarvian could do it while half-asleep, so could she.

"Fine. Let's do this," she said, standing up and squaring her shoulders.

---

It was not a ground Zarvian took her to but a clearing in the Velvet Woods. Here, trees enclosed them naturally. Their circle, in turn, created an isolation of its own. The air here felt heavier and more substantial. There even was a metallic tinge to it that Ilyana could not like.

"This place feels. wrong," she said, looking around.

"It's supposed to," Zarvian said. "The forest is alive, remember? It knows what we're doing here. It'll push you, challenge you."

"And what happens if I fail?"

Zarvian's gaze darkened. "You don't."

She swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her. But she couldn't back down - not now, not after everything.

"What do I need to do?" she asked, trying to sound braver than she felt.

Zarvian leaned forward, his shadow stretching across her. "The power you tapped into last night-do you know what it is?"

"No," she said. "It just. happened. I didn't even know I could do that."

"It's your essence," Zarvian explained. "Every being has one, but yours is different. Stronger. Wilder. It's tied to the forest, to the portal, to everything here. But if you don't learn to control it, it will consume you.".

"Eat me?"

He nodded. "Power like yours doesn't come without a price. If you let it, it will take over - shape you into something unrecognizable."

Ilyana shivered at the weight of his words. "So how do I control it?"

"By facing it," Zarvian said.

She couldnt ask what it meant before earth gave way underneath her feet, stumbled, world a blur of green around. She blinked in time when Zarvian had gone and when the clearing stopped being a clearing but in endless dark void clinging to it all like heavy air, oppressive energy thick all over. Whispers of whispers flitted over her head where shadows flitted around, voicing something but too faint.

"Zarvian?" she yelled, her voice carrying on the wind.

No one answered.

Her heart pounded as the shadows closed in, their murmurs growing louder. She attempted to call forth the crimson energy she had once wielded, but nothing stirred.

"Terrific," she said to herself. "Now what?"

The shadows continued to close in, their shapes taking on hazy, humanoid forms. One of them advanced, its eyes glowing a dim red.

"You don't belong here," it hissed, its voice like the rustling of dead leaves.

Ilyana took a step back, her heart pounding. "I don't want any trouble. I just..."

"Trouble has found you," the shadow said. "Your presence disrupts the balance. You are a threat."

A threat? To what?

A darkness leaped forward at her mouth before she had a chance to say anything. Its shape grew monstrous. Ilyana jerked both of her hands upwards, and the crimson energy jumped to life now, forming into a barrier to protect her.

The shadow screamed as it exploded into nothing after hitting the barrier. The others halted in mid-step, almost turning around with the idea clearly not appealing after all.

Ilyana's hands were trembling and the power surged like a flame in death. She could hardly guess for how long this was sustainable.

"You are stronger than this," the voice called. Zarvian's voice though he stood nowhere close. "The shadows belong to you. Look them straight into the eyes.

Easy to say, she whispered to herself but she knew he was right. She couldn't run anymore.

She breathed deep and let the wall fall. The whispers of shadows surged. But instead of stepping back, she went forward with her hands shining brighter with each step.

"I am not afraid of you," she said to them.

The shadows hesitated and their forms flickered.

"You're not real," she continued. "You're just. echoes. Parts of me that I haven't faced yet."

As she spoke, the red energy in her hands shifted, warming and steadying. The shadows dissipated, their whispers fading to nothing.

When the final shadow had dissipated, the void around her shattered like glass, and she was once more in the clearing. Zarvian stood a few feet away, his arms crossed.

"Well done," he said, a rare note of approval in his voice.

Ilyana mopped at the sweat that coated her forehead. Her legs buckled under her. "What… what was that?"

"A trial," Zarvian said. "The forest's way of testing you. You faced your fears, and you passed."

She dropped onto the earth, spinning. "Is it always going to be like this?"

"Not always," Zarvian said quietly. "But the road you've taken, Ilyana, isn't an easy road. You're going to be proved again and again. And when you are-proved you emerge stronger than steel."

She leaned forward to ask him something with her eyes in his face.

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"I do.".

For me, Ilyana felt hope for the first time. The path ahead was mysterious, but with Zarvian at her side, she knew she was ready for whatever that lay in front of her.

The forest seemed silent as she walked out of the clearing, its whispers being softer. She knew that wasn't something that would last. What she thought in her mind - the shadows inside her - and that Starfall Realm was waiting for her.

And so was everything beyond it.