Chapter 35: The Fight Against Myself

My fists tightened so hard that my knuckles turned white, the tension in my jaw sharp enough to crack bone. My breathing was ragged, each exhale misting into the cold air swirling in this nightmare of a battlefield.

Across from me, the other me smiled.

A slow, calculated, infuriating smile.

He flexed his shadowed wings, the dark energy around him writhing like living serpents, eager to lash out.

Without warning, he lunged—faster than I could react.

I barely managed to raise my arm, instinctively calling on the fragile shadow barrier the Queen had taught me to summon.

Clang!

The impact rattled through my bones, my feet skidding back across the cracked obsidian floor.

I'm not ready for this. I can't fight this version of me… he's everything I'm not. Strong. Confident. Merciless.

But somewhere deeper, buried under the fear and self-doubt, a dangerous thought crept in—

What if… I want to become him?

The power. The control. The freedom from fear.

But then, I remembered her voice.

"You're not alone anymore."

The Queen's words echoed louder than the chaos.

I gritted my teeth, forcing my trembling legs to steady.

"I'm done running," I muttered under my breath, a spark of something unfamiliar flickering in my chest—resolve.

The shadows around me surged like a tidal wave answering the call of a long-forgotten king. My own wings—unstable, half-formed—burst out with a scream of torn reality, slicing through the darkness like jagged lightning tearing open a stormy sky.

My shadow self raised his blade, smirking as if he'd already won.

But this time, I didn't wait for him to strike first.

I charged

.As our blades clashed, a shockwave of raw shadow energy exploded outward, splitting the battlefield in two.

And for a terrifying, breathtaking moment…

I saw the fear in his eyes.

My fear.

My darkness.

And I realized—if I could make my own shadow fear me… I might just win this.

To Be Continued…