"Bound by Light and Shadow"
She's gone," Lyra whispered, her voice raw. "Present."
Kieran didn't say a word. Black eyes were unflinching, his jaw clenched. His voice was hushed, near resolute, when he finally spoke. "She'll be back. And next time, she won't let me walk."
Though Lyra straightened, resolution burning in her chest, the weight of his words' bore down on her. "Then we five shall be ready. We have to be.".
They grew more quiet with each other the further they went into the forest. His shoulders were tensed in front of him, his grip on the sword tight, when Lyra saw him, her heart aching from the silver-haired lady's taunt.
"Kieran," she whispered, breaking into the silence. "You have to be honest with me. about her remark.".
He stopped but did not turn around. She paused a moment to wonder whether he was ignoring her, and then he let out a heavy sigh. "What do you want to learn?"
"Absolutely everything," she said, moving closer. "You cannot constantly shut me off." If we are to fight this together, I need to know what we are fighting against.
He turned around to see her, his features guarded yet open. "The darkness she was talking about is part of me. It's long-run.
Lyra closed on her breaths. 'What mean you?'
He confessed, remorse in his voice, "When I was young, before I ever knew what it meant to fight for the light, I was… lost.".
Not direct deals with the shadows but means of survival. First, it felt like autonomy, like power.
But it wasn't before I saw the price close at hand. She clenched inside as his words sank in. "You broke free," she said, her voice shaking. You are not like them any longer.
"Maybe not," he said, eyes down.
"But still the darkness won't let go." It waits for a moment of weakness and then persists. This is what she means when she says it would claim me.
Lyra stretched out, her fingers brushing against his arm.
"You are better than that, Kieran. I have seen it. You have fought for me and for everyone else. The shadows do not define you."
His eyes full of something she couldn't quite put a name to a wish, dread, love turned toward her then. He asked softly,
"And what if I am mistaken?""What if I can't stop what is within me from hurting you?"
Her voice strong, she said, You already have. "Then you will once more."
The forest was starting to change as they pushed forward.
The trees rose higher; their twisted branches created a canopy so thick that even Lyra's light seemed to be fighting against the advancing black.
Artificial coolness saturated the air, and the floor underneath their feet felt spongy, almost like deteriorating flesh.
"This place," Kieran muttered, scanning their environment. "Something doesn't seem quite right."
Lyra nodded; her instincts were screaming at her to return. Yet, something inside her was begging her on; that is, a force she could not resist. "Close I feel we are, she said.
"To the source."As they approached a clearing, Lyra felt a sudden dizziness strike her. Holding her head as memories not hers deluge her head, she staggers.
She saw glimpses of a great temple lit with golden light, a group of figures bowing before a radiant crystal, and a small girl herself standing in the middle, her hands up in a shielding posture.Kieran's voice cut through the vision and brought her into herself. She blinked, back in the real world with his hands supporting her.
"I'm okay," she replied even though her legs felt like gelatin. I just remembered something. About the Keeper. About me,
Kieran's brow rose.
"What could you see?"
"A crystal, she said. It was powerful, and it somehow has a connection to the shadows. It's, I think, why they're following me."
His grip on her upper arms tightened a little more. Then we must get rid of it. Whatever it might entail.
She nodded, but discomfort knotted in her gut. "Do it? Just what about destroys me as well?
Kieran was resolute in his tone, though his countenance darkened. Finally, I will ensure that does not happen.
The clearing opened into a cave, down whose walls jagged crystals glowed with a sinister black light. Center was the silver-haired woman, hands resting on a big, glowing shard. Lyra's skin prickled as she came closer; the air buzzed with negative energy.
"You're quite persistent," said the woman, smiling. "But silly. You can't run what's coming.
Kieran growled as he stepped ahead of Lyra, "Watch us."
The lady laughed; the noise bounced off the crevasse walls. "Such devotion," she said, her eyes dropping to Lyra. But do you wonder, little Keeper, what he keeps from you? What would he sacrifice to hide you?
Lyra's heart was racing. "Already I know," she said, cool. Nothing changes.
The smile of the woman quivered. "Really, you think love will save you, that it will save him? Not so precious."
Lifting her arms, she hurled forward the shadows around herself into a vast wracking monster. Its bright eyes focused on Lyra and sent a deep roar through the gallery.
"Back!" Kieran yelled as he ran to step in front of her. But Lyra snatched his arm.
"No," she said. "We do it together."
His eyes clashed with hers for a beat and two before both nodded as if on one cue, looking back at the beast.
The creature leapt, its claws sweeping through the area. Kieran met it full-on with sword blazing, repelling the strokes. Lyra directed her beaming, beams of brilliance striking the dark form of the beast, forcing it to retreat.
Yet this was hardly a fair fight. Every hit they delivered seemed to give the monster strength because it fed off the shadows around them. Lyra began to fade, her own light flickering as she weakened.
Kieran screamed, insisting, Lyra, concentrate! ;
Her hands shook as she said, "I'm trying!" "It's too hard!"
"No, it isn't," he growled. You're stronger. I know you're syndicated."
His words lit something within her. Using up all of what was left within her, Lyra let an incredible burst of light explode through her body. The monster wailed as its body buckled from her strength in such power.
When the creature began to dissolve, the silver-haired woman exploded with rage. The cave shook and creaked with the fissures of spreading cracks.
Growling, she became a shade to disappear at her back.
"You have merely forestalled the inescapable."
Before Lyra or Kieran could reply, she had vanished from existence, all of crystal, except the dust it had made.
Lyra sank to her knees, her body shaking. In a second Kieran was beside her, wrapping her into his arms.
"And you literally did it," he muttered in a voice full of wonder.
But Lyra couldn't shake off the feeling that their victory had come at a cost. And as she looked at the remnants of the crystal, a sense of foreboding settled over her.
The shadows weren't gone.
It was just waiting. And she knew that the fight was far from over.