Through the Wastelands

The silence after every battle we fought was almost worse than the fight itself.

The clearing remained still, save for the scattered debris and the charred marks where my magic had burned through the creatures. The air still hummed with lingering energy, a reminder of what had just happened.

But I barely noticed.

I was too busy trying to breathe.

My hands were still trembling, and I couldn't tell if it was from exhaustion or the remnants of whatever had just taken hold of me. The power inside me had felt different this time—like it wasn't just mine anymore.

Like something had answered me.

And that voice...

"We see you, child of light and dark."

I shuddered.

Where did it come from? Why did the voice call me a child of light and dark? Are they watching us this entire time?

My head is aching.

Someone knelt beside me. I didn't have to look to know it was Valtor. His presence was sharp, cutting through the fog in my mind.

"Aric," he said, his voice unusually quiet. "Are you—"

"I'm fine." My voice came out hoarse, and I hated how unconvincing I sounded.

Valtor didn't move. His gaze bore into me, assessing me.

I ignored him, forcing myself to my feet. The others were already regrouping, dusting themselves off.

Seraph groaned, rubbing his ribs. "Next time, can we not get thrown halfway across the clearing?"

Herold, still blinking away the aftereffects of his own illusions, let out a breathless laugh. "Yeah, Aric, if you wanted to kill us, you could've just asked nicely."

Elara, more composed than the others, sheathed her bow. "Are you alright?"

I nodded stiffly. "I just... lost control for a second."

Valtor made a sound—something between a scoff and an exhale. "A second was all it took."

I shot him a glare. "Not helping."

His storm-gray eyes narrowed. "Neither are excuses."

The tension crackled between us, but before I could snap back, Seraph clapped his hands. "Okay! Let's all take a deep breath and not kill each other. That was a very weird fight, and we should probably figure out why those things ran off like scared little rabbits."

He was right.

The creatures had just... disappeared.

Vanished.

And that voice...

I exhaled, forcing myself to focus. "We need to move. There could be more."

Elara nodded. "Agreed."

We mounted our horses, though my grip on the reins was tighter than necessary. As we rode, I felt Valtor's gaze on me more than once, but he said nothing.

Good.

I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what he was thinking.

____

We traveled in uneasy silence, the forest gradually thinning as we reached the outskirts of Valerya's southern lands. Here, the once-lush fields turned dry and brittle, and the grass faded to a sickly yellow.

Something had tainted this land.

Elara rode up beside me, her expression troubled. "I've never seen it like this."

Neither had I.

Valerya was known for its fertile lands, its golden fields stretching as far as the eye could see. But now, everything seemed... wrong.

As if life itself was being drained away.

Seraph, riding ahead, frowned. "The Queen's reports said there were disturbances, but this..." He gestured at the barren ground. "This is something else."

Valtor's voice cut through the conversation. "It's spreading."

I glanced at him. "How do you know?"

His expression darkened. "Because I've seen it before."

That caught everyone's attention.

Seraph leaned forward in his saddle. "Care to share with the rest of the class?"

Valtor hesitated. It was barely noticeable, but I caught it.

Finally, he exhaled. "There was an attack near the northern borders months ago. Similar creatures. Similar darkness. The land was left like this afterward."

A cold weight settled in my stomach. "Why wasn't this reported?"

Valtor's jaw tightened. "It was. The Queen just didn't want to cause panic."

Of course.

If people knew something was infecting the land, fear would spread faster than the corruption itself.

I looked at the wasteland again. The way the ground seemed to pulse beneath us, as if it were alive.

And for the first time, I wondered—

Was this darkness just an effect of something bigger?

Or was it a warning?

We didn't get an answer.

Because the ground exploded beneath us!

The horses reared, shrieking, their hooves churning the dirt as figures burst from the earth. These creatures—these were different. Larger. More solid. Their grotesque bodies pulsed with veins of dark energy, writhing like something alive beneath their skin. Their hollow eyes locked onto us, unblinking.

And they were fast.

One lunged at Seraph in a blur of motion. He barely had time to summon a crackling shield of lightning before the creature slammed into it, sending sparks flying.

“Shit!” Seraph gritted his teeth, forcing more power into the barrier as the monster clawed against it.

Herold vanished in a flicker of illusion, his form shifting between shadows as he darted away. Elara’s bowstring sang—an arrow tipped with frost shot through the air, piercing deep into a creature’s chest. Ice spread rapidly from the wound, but it barely slowed the thing down.

Valtor was already in motion. His sword flashed, wind howling around him in a violent storm. He cut through the first monster with terrifying precision—one strike, then another, moving with the deadly efficiency of someone who had done this before. His face remained unreadable, but his blade told the story for him.

I reached for my magic.

It answered too quickly!

Darkness exploded from within me, curling around my limbs like a living thing. My vision sharpened—too sharp. Every motion slowed, each detail crisp and clear as if time itself had stretched. The shadows whispered, urging me forward.

I didn’t think—I moved.

In one fluid motion, I kicked free of the stirrups and leapt from my horse. The moment my feet left the saddle, the darkness caught me. It coiled around my body like mist, twisting and shifting, propelling me forward. The ground blurred beneath me, my movements impossibly fast, my body weightless as the shadows carried me across the battlefield.

The creature barely had time to react before I was upon it.

Tendrils of pure shadow burst from my hands, writhing like living serpents. They lashed forward, piercing through the monster’s chest, sinking deep into its core. A guttural, unearthly screech tore from its throat as it thrashed against my hold. But the darkness held firm.

I could feel it—its essence. A swirling abyss of hunger, of malice. The thing wasn’t alive. Not in the way we were. It was a construct of something deeper, something worse.

The tendrils tightened, twisting like vines. I pulled.

The monster convulsed, its form deteriorating from the inside out as the shadows siphoned something from it. Something raw. Something wrong.

And then—

Light flared from my other hand, searing, pure—a sharp contrast to the abyss writhing in my grasp.

Pain ripped through me as the opposing forces clashed. My body seized, my vision fracturing into blinding white and suffocating black. A scream—mine? The creature’s?—echoed in my skull.

My knees hit the dirt. My head swam.

Someone was shouting. Hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me.

“Aric!” Elara’s voice cut through the haze. “Snap out of it!”

“I’ve had enough of these shadows attacking us!” Seraph snapped, running a hand through his already messy hair. Sparks crackled at his fingertips, still charged from the fight. “What the hell is wrong with them?”

Herold, who was leaning against a tree, arms crossed, let out a dry chuckle. “Wouldn’t that be the reason we’re here?” His sharp gaze flickered toward the fading remnants of shadow on the ground. “I’d say they’re making their point very clear.”

Valtor ignored their bickering and scanned the group, his expression unreadable. “How’s everyone?”

“Aric is still on his knees,” Elara said, her voice tense. She was still gripping my shoulder as if she wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t collapse again.

“I am fine,” I muttered, shoving down the lingering nausea and shaking off her hand. My legs felt like lead, but I forced myself to stand. “Let’s go. I couldn’t wait either to know what the hell is wrong with this place.”

A heavy silence fell over the group.

It wasn’t just exhaustion weighing on us—it was unease. The way the creatures had stopped, how they had looked at me before vanishing… It wasn’t random. It wasn’t just another attack.

They had been testing me.

Valtor’s eyes lingered on me a beat too long. He wasn’t smirking anymore.

Seraph exhaled sharply and cracked his knuckles. “Alright, fine. We move, but if another one of those things shows up, I’m blasting it into next week.”

Elara rolled her eyes. “Yes, because that’s worked so well so far.”

Seraph shot her a look, but Herold cut in smoothly. “Maybe we should focus on why these things keep appearing instead of just throwing more magic at them.” He gestured vaguely at me. “Especially since they seem… interested in Aric.”

All eyes turned toward me.

I swallowed. “Uh—well. That’s unsettling.”

Valtor folded his arms, his gaze sharp. “No. It’s more than unsettling. They weren’t just attacking—they were waiting. Watching. And they only disappeared after you used your magic.”

“Maybe they were afraid of me,” I said lightly, though my stomach twisted at the thought.

“Or maybe,” Valtor countered, voice quiet but firm, “they were recognizing you.”

No one spoke.

The wind rustled through the trees, carrying with it the distant sound of running water.

Seraph finally broke the silence. “Okay. That’s sufficiently creepy. Can we please keep moving before something worse decides to show up?”

No one argued.

With wary glances between us, we mounted our horses once more, the weight of unspoken questions pressing down on us as we rode deeper into the unknown.