"Shadows Within"

The evening weighed down on the forest; darkness seeped through such density it felt alive. Lyra and Kieran moved across the ground quietly, their exhales discernible in the frigid air.

The dim sparkle of Lyra's light magic fluttered at her fingertips, barely enough to light their way without attracting notice.

Every movement felt like a risk; only the faint rustle of unknown perils disturbed the absolute silence.

Kieran sat stiff and tense, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword.

His black eyes scanned her face for any weariness while he continued glancing at Lyra. She'd been pushing too hard, he knew, but there wasn't time to stop.

"Do you feel like you can manage?" he whispered softly.

Lyra nodded, but her head was weighted with fear and exhaustion.

"Though the tremor in her voice belies her," she said.

"Hope the right question was asked, but that slight quivering in her voice shows that she was asking for information, and that will enable clocking off the right notes.

Information was asked for, and hope relevant questions covered the argument with the will to solve problems. "I trust we have to keep on moving. They are still wondering.".

He stopped quite abruptly and turned to face her. 'You don't have to do this on your own, Lyra; I should share some of the burden.

She looked at him, her eyes both resolute and vulnerable. And, she said, 'You are now.

But this is something I need to do. If I'm the Keeper, then I have to be strong enough to keep everyone safe, including yourself.".

His jaw set, a small impatience flicking across his face. "You need not shelter me," he said, his voice low but steady. "That is what I do." My decision.A sudden sound exploded the delicate stillness before Lyra could reply. After the rustling of leaves, a faint, guttural growl resounded in the woods. They were discovered by the Duskwraits.

Running, their noises echoed on the tree floor.

The beasts pushing forward at a speed unnatural even for them let out loud and low growls. With a swish of luminescent eyes and dark shapes darting across the trees, Lyra's chest pounded as she looked back. "Kieran said, drawing her toward a small ravine. Sloping ground downward. Hilly country. Lyra stumbled as her foot caught on a root, straightened by Kieran's reaching hand before she could fall.

"Stay with me, he said, his voice urgent.

At the edge of the ravine stood a fallen tree, a fragile bridge over the ravine. Kieran motioned for Lyra to go first; only briefly did she hesitate.

"Quickly," he begged. "I will cover you."

Lyra stepped onto the rough bridge of fallen trees, arms out to the sides to grasp, swallowing her fear. She creaked the tree beneath her and kept herself from looking down.

She heard behind the clash of metal from Kieran and the pursuing Duskwraiths.

As she crossed over to the other side, she scarcely had time to view Kieran draw the rest of the monsters. He started at one end of the bridge, but when his boots approached the middle, a loud crack echoed throughout the ravine.

The tree started splitting.

Lyra screamed, her heart pounding, "Kieran, run!"

Running to his finish on the bridge, which fell under him, and he still hadn't slowed up. And suddenly, in like a flip, the tree tumbled over and into the bottomless void beneath.

Lyra reached out for his arm, pulling him towards safety, so they sprawled on the floor, breathlessly.

"That was close," Kieran said reassuringly and murmured: "

Lyra's fingers were shaking as she still gripped his arm.

"Too near," she said softly. "You might have died."

He turned to her, his eyes softening. "Still, I didn't." "Thanks to you."

They shelter behind a tangle of thorn behind, in a little cave. Kieran built a fire, and the warm light cast their stone walls with shadows now.

Lyra sat next to him, her eyes staring at the flames and her knees tucked into her chest.

He sat beside her, saying, "You have not spoken."

"What is it that troubles you?".

She admitted that "I constantly think about what you said earlier." "About bearing the load together."

He tilted his head and looked at her intensely. "And, in addition,"

She whispered, barely audible, "I have spent so many years trying to show I can do everything on my own, build trees." "But actually, I am" afraid.

Afraid of failing and of losing my loved ones. Of you getting lost.

His breath caught, eyes softening.

He opened his hand to touch hers. His voice even, he said, "You won't lose me, Lyra. I'm not going anywhere."

Her eyes met his; for a second, the weight of the world appeared to dissolve.

Kieran felt a tug on that he couldn't resist as the firelight flickered inside her eyes. He leaned somewhat gradually.

Their lips touched in a soft yet electric kiss that sent Lyra's chest full of warmth.

She first felt a glimmer of hope: could it be possible that they might confront the gloom together?

The instant passed quickly; the fire was put out by an abrupt gale, driving the cave into blackness.

Lyra's uttermost light, issued spontaneously, exposes the dark shape by the doorway.

said the figure, its voice a cold compound of scorn and contempt. "You're even poorer than I thought."

Kieran sprang off in a flash with his sword unfolded.

His voice like metal, he commanded, "Stay behind me."

The figure drew closer. Its outstanding features were buried, after all, beneath a swirling shroud of shadows. "Kieran, you can't always protect her," it sneered. "She'll be consumed by the darkness, just as it did you."

Lyra's blood was icy. "What's he saying?"

"Go now." Kieran did not answer; his hand upon his sword was frozen. "Go now, or I make you."

The statue laughed, a sound that rang oddly in the locked room. "Oh, Kieran." Your decision has been made. And soon she will understand.

Just as neither of them moved, the form dispersed into smoke, leaving an exhausted sense of fear. He looked at Kieran, whose pulse quickened.

He explained to her what he meant: "What is it you never tell me?"

The weight of Kieran's secrets burdened him and sank down to the ground.

Now is not the time, he murmured low, "But I promise you, Lyra, I shall tell you everything. Not left behind herein. Not at least now.

The tension between them was obvious, but Lyra shrugged; they couldn't afford to waste time.

With night closing in, she would have to delay the solutions she wanted. Survival came first now.