Page 118 of Shackled By Shadows

I want to break through it, to shout his name, to reach out and pull him back from whatever darkness has taken hold of him.

The panic in my chest claws at me, tightening my throat as I watch, helpless. Everything we’ve fought for is slipping through our fingers.

The soldiers around us move in a blur, their faces indistinguishable, their movements mechanical.

Zander and Ash are lost in the chaos, their figures barely visible as they carve a path through the tide of soldiers.

On Ash’s side, bodies fly through the air, their limbs flailing, bones snapping with sickening cracks before they slam back to the earth. Some land in broken heaps, others are impaled on jagged remnants of shattered weapons, their lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. The ground beneath him is a graveyard of the fallen, the sickening thud of bodies hitting the dirt forming a gruesome rhythm in the madness. Blood stains his hands, his face, yet he never falters, never hesitates.

On the opposite side, Zander’s war cries tear through the air, a roar of unyielding power as he cleaves through soldier after soldier. His blade drips crimson, his movements relentless, each strike precise and brutal. A male lunges for him, and Zander meets him with a vicious swing, severing his head clean from his shoulders. The body drops, twitching, as blood fountains across the dirt.

Another comes at him, and he drives his sword straight through their chest, the dying soldier’s gasp lost in the deafening chaos.

Just as the bloodshed seems to reach its peak, a ripple in the air catches my attention as the ground trembles. A massive figure looms at Oberon’s side, Keagan. His form twists and expands in a violent burst of power.

What was once a male is now a colossal beast, its sleek black body glistening under the blood-red sky, wings unfurling with a deafening snap, massive and dark as night, stretching wide enough to block out the sun. Its eyes gleam with a feral hunger, and its jaw parts, revealing rows of sharp, gleaming teeth as it lets out a guttural growl.

With a swift, powerful leap, the beast launches into the air, its wings beating with the force of a storm, sending soldiers scrambling in every direction. It descends upon the battlefield with terrifying speed, raking through the ranks of Fae like they are nothing.

The sound of its claws tearing through armor and flesh echoes through the clearing, an unstoppable force of destruction.

Amidst the carnage, I remain motionless, my eyes locked on Oberon, his face twisted in a mixture of disbelief and terror, unable to do anything but watch the hell that tears through the battlefield.

Believe in me. The words cut through the chaos, clear and unmistakable. His voice rips through my mind like a jagged blade, sending a shockwave through my entire body. For a moment, everything around me disappears. The soldiers, the blood, the battle, all of it fades into nothing.

The panic hits me, drowning me in confusion. My chest tightens, my heart racing as the realization settles in the pit of my stomach. I am hearing his voice in my mind.

The connection we share, the bond I always knew existed, his presence, his touch, his gaze.

Believe in me, Lyra. His voice echoes again.

Chapter forty-five

Before the Sunshine

Ash

“What the hell were you thinking?”

Oberon lifts an eyebrow at me but says nothing. He sits behind the desk in his office, draped in the ceremonial armor demanded of him, looking like a royal fucking fool.

My footsteps echo off the stone walls as I pace, trying to make sense of how the fuck this plan makes any godsdamn sense.

“You're going to get us all killed,” I bark, growing tired of his silence.

Still, he says nothing.

I sigh, slowing my pacing and dragging a hand down my face. “Brother, you know I'll always have your back...” I wait for some kind of reaction. Anything. I get none.

“But this?” I continue. “Don't you think you've gone too far?” My voice softens despite myself. I'm trying to understand. I really am. I just can't.

I've stood at his side for a long time. I trust him, even when he's being an insufferable, stubborn asshole.

“No,” he says at last. Just one word with no further explanation.

“You've worked so hard. Given so much. Is the risk really worth it?”

I'm the only one who can challenge him. The only one who can question him to his face. He doesn't always like it, but I'm the only person he'll tolerate it from.