Page 31 of Shackled By Shadows

The thought hits me with bitter amusement, a cruel sort of irony. Wouldn’t it be something? After everything, after all the years, after finally stepping beyond that cursed door, I get lost in the woods.

The very freedom I fought for would be exactly what ends me.

I’d be gone due to wandering endlessly until I perish here, forgotten by the world. The woods would claim me, after EVERYTHING.

I throw my head back, a sharp, hollow laugh tearing from my throat. My palms slam against my stomach as the laugh grows louder, echoing through the trees. A broken sound, one that would tell anyone who hears it that I have finally lost my mind.

And maybe I have.

I have to laugh. I need to laugh. Because if I don’t, I will break. And breaking isn’t an option.

The laughter turns darker. I scream a guttural sound, loud enough to shake the stillness around me. I scream until my throat feels raw, until my lungs burn, until the forest itself seems to hold its breath. I release everything, every pent-up, fucked-up emotion from the last hundred years: The grief. The rage. The confusion. For the first time, I have the freedom and the strength to let it all out.

This was what I needed: a purge, a release, a reset.

I scream until there is nothing left but ragged breaths and trembling limbs.

For a long moment, I just stand frozen in time, breathing deeply, letting the air fill the hollow spaces inside me. For the first time in what feels like forever, a small flicker of peace fights for space amid the chaos.

And this time, I let it in.

My breath slows as I push forward, my footsteps lighter now than when I entered the woods. I feel as though I have left something behind among the trees, a weight I didn’t realize I was carrying.

The trees part, revealing an open sky tinged with the fading light of dusk. The clearing welcomes me with its quiet serenity, and I allow myself to embrace it.

I take a seat on the ground, inching as close to the edge of the cliff as I dare. Wrapping my arms around my knees, gazing into the distance.

The edge of both worlds, Oberon called it. How beautiful it could have been in a different story.

The sun dips behind the distant mountain peaks, casting golden hues over the rivers and streams that wind their way through the valley. They flow as though untouched by time, unaware that the world had turned to shit around them. The moon begins to peek out from its hiding place, followed by stars that shimmer and dance in the darkening sky.

As twilight deepens and my vision surrenders to the night, I lie back on the cool ground. The earth beneath me feels grounding. I watch the stars perform their silent play, twinkling as if I am the only one privileged enough to witness them.

My fingers find the small pendant Oberon gave me. Absentmindedly, I roll it between my fingers, its worn edges familiar. My mind drifts to thoughts of the future. A future that, for the first time in so long, I hold the power to shape.

I could stay here forever, I muse. Never return to that godsforsaken cabin.

Condition two: If I do return, I will not stay in that cabin.

They will not leave me behind and decide when I am worthy of their presence. Not again.

But if I don’t go back, where else would I go?

What waits for me beyond this place?

Surely, there has to be something out there for me.

Perhaps I can find another untouched piece of earth, quiet and peaceful, where I can build a life of my own, a simple life, without chaos and burdens.

But what would that change? Who would that help? Would I be selfish for wanting such simplicity? Haven’t I given enough already? Is it so wrong to want quiet? To want easy?

I take another deep sigh.

What does my life look like if I return? Will it be more of the same? Will I always be some type of prisoner to them, even if they don’t physically confine me?

But if I do return, I’d have a chance to fight back, to take my revenge on the realm that tried so hard for so long to break me.

Maybe I could play a small part in righting this world, ensuring everyone has the same chance at a better life.