Chapter 8: The Acceptance of Truth

Ronan lay motionless on the damp, uneven ground, his body barely clinging to life. His breath came in shallow gasps, and his skin was alarmingly pale. The deep wound across his chest bled slowly, his strength draining with each passing second.

Evelyn knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she pressed against the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest.

Ronan, she whispered, her voice breaking. Please, stay with me. You're going to be okay.

His lashes fluttered, his lips parting slightly, but no words came out. He was slipping.

Damien stood rigidly a few steps away, his face filled with tension. He had seen Ronan fight through wounds before, but this… this was different. If they didn't do something fast, Ronan would die.

Evelyn turned to Damien, her eyes blazing with fury and desperation.

No more secrets, she said, her voice raw. Tell me everything. Tell me why these creatures keep coming after me. Tell me why I was never supposed to exist.

Damien's jaw tightened. He had been dreading this moment.

Evelyn..

No! she snapped. I am done being kept in the dark! I need to know why they want me dead. I need to know who I am!

Ronan sighed softly, his fingers trembling against the ground. His body was weakening, yet he still managed to rasp, Tell her… Damien.

Damien inhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair before finally meeting Evelyn's piercing gaze.

You want the truth? His voice was like steel. Fine. But be prepared, because after this… nothing will ever be the same.

Damien stepped forward, his eyes dark with a weight he had carried for far too long. You weren't supposed to be born, Evelyn, because you are something… forbidden, he began, his voice low but steady.

Evelyn's breath ceased for a second.

Your father, Damien continued, wasn't an ordinary man. He wasn't even human.

Evelyn's fingers dug into the ground beside Ronan. What?

Damien exhaled sharply. He was Shadowborn. One of the last of his kind.

Evelyn felt as if the earth had cracked beneath her.

The Shadowborn? Her voice wavered. That's…..no. That's impossible. But even as she denied it, something inside her already knew the truth.

The creatures. The nightmares. The power surging beneath her skin. She had always felt different, like a piece of her didn't belong in this world. Now, she finally knew why.

Damien's expression darkened. The Shadowborn were creatures of pure darkness, able to wield powers that could corrupt and destroy the balance between light and dark. They were too dangerous, so the Elders of the Blood Council wiped them out centuries ago.

Evelyn swallowed hard, her mind racing. Then… how did my father survive?

Damien's gaze darkened. We don't know. But he did. And when he fathered you, half-human, half-Shadowborn, you became something even more dangerous.

The words hit her like a hammer. They want me dead because I'm Shadowborn? she whispered.

Damien shook his head. No, Evelyn. They want you dead because you are something worse.

Silence filled the cavern, thick and suffocating.

Evelyn's stomach rumbled. What do you mean?

Damien hesitated, then finally said, You're not just Shadowborn. You are the key to a prophecy. A prophecy that speaks of a child who would be born of both shadow and light, someone who could either restore balance… or destroy everything.

Her chest tightened in shock.

Me? she whispered. I don't even know how to fight. How could I destroy anything?

Damien's gaze flickered with something unreadable. Because, Evelyn… your power is already waking up.

Before she could respond, the air shifted.

A sudden chill swept through the cavern, so sharp it felt like ice slicing through her skin.

Evelyn's breath caught. Something was coming.

A low, growl rumbled through the darkness. The torches flickered sharply before snuffing out, leaving only the dim, ghostly glow of magic pulsing along the walls.

Then, it stepped forward. A creature unlike anything they had faced before. It was taller, more monstrous. Its body was wrapped in thick, pulsing shoot of black mist, shifting and wiggling like living veins. Its hollow eyes glowed violet, and when it spoke, its voice was like the sound of shattered glass.

"You were warned," it says, its gaze locked onto Evelyn. "Yet, you live."

Damien moved instantly, stepping between Evelyn and the creature. Despite his injuries, Ronan tried to rise, but his body was too weak.

The creature's gaze glare to Ronan. A slow, twisted smile formed on its lipless mouth.

"You should have died," it hissed. But she saved you.

Evelyn hardened. She had saved Ronan?

The creature leaned its head. "She doesn't even know what she is," it mused, its voice sliding through the cavern. "Shall I show her?"

Then it lunged.

Damien was fast, his blade slashing through the air in a blur. But the creature was faster. It knocked Damien aside with a flick of its wrist, sending him crashing into the stone wall.

Ronan barely had time to react before a shadow vine wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground.

Evelyn's heart nearly stopped. No…..Not again.

Something inside her snapped. The air rippled.

The cavern shook. A pulse of unseen energy exploded from Evelyn's body, shaking the very ground beneath them.

The creature froze.

It turned its hollow gaze on her, and for the first time… there was fear.

Evelyn's entire body felt like it was burning, but she didn't feel pain. She felt power. Raw…Unfiltered…. Unstoppable.

The shadows around the creature obeyed her. They coiled, fallen, then turned against it.

It screeched a sound of pure agony as its own darkness devoured it. And then…it vanished.

Silence.

Evelyn staggered, her breath coming in sharp gasps. Her hands trembled at her sides. She turned slowly, her wide eyes meeting Damien's… then Ronan's.

Damien pushed himself to his feet, staring at her. Not with anger. Not with relief, but with fear.

Ronan, barely conscious, whispered, Evelyn… what did you just do?

She didn't answer, because she didn't know.

All she knew was that for the first time in her life…she wasn't afraid anymore. She felt powerful.

And that terrified her more than anything.

 …. Continue...