Shadow Breathing Novels & Stories

CHAPTER SIX : THE FIRST DEATH Lyra woke up cold. Not regular cold. Not the kind of cold that came from winter weather or a lack of blankets. The kind of cold that came from lying on frozen ground with no pack bond to keep you warm. The kind of cold that sank into bones and stayed there. The kind of cold that could kill. She opened her eyes slowly. Everything hurt. Her head pounded. Her chest ached like someone had carved out her heart with a dull knife.

It tore at the shadow’s limbs, pushing and binding in impossible angles, striking with a precision that defied logic. Sparks erupted with every collision, the oppressive haze shivering under the force. Vaethea and Aphrodite felt it like a tidal wave against their backs, pushing them forward step by trembling step, giving them space to advance toward the flickering pulse of light ahead. The shadow shrieked, a distorted sound that rippled through the void, frustration radiating like heat. Its violet glow flickered as it staggered under the combined assault, sensing a danger it could not name, a presence beyond comprehension interfering with its domination.

Every grave he dug. The Darkness flared weakly around his body. A dying star. He lunged. Slammed into them. They stumbled back half a step. Surprised. Good. He tackled them to the ground. Hands around their throat. Not squeezing. Just holding. “Come back,” he begged. “Please… just come back…” Their eyes searched his. Empty. “I can’t.” Shadow moved. Too fast to see. Something cold slid into his stomach. Then out. He looked down.

“Centuries ago, twin alphas Fenrir and Faber Nightshade were born to lead Shadowfang. They fell for the same she-wolf, fated to Faber. Heartbroken, Fenrir founded Nightshade, carving a territory steeped in the land’s spirits. Their rituals, passed down through generations, border on magic, drawing power from the earth itself. That, paired with the three years of nearly complete silence... it feels deliberate and worrisom.” Aurora’s heart raced, her thoughts flickering to Vincent’s warnings about Nightshade’s unrest. The pack’s isolation, paired with this unnatural energy, pointed to something sinister. “This feels bigger than territorial disputes,” she mindlinked. “Like it could threaten all

“Feel it. The way they move. The way they wait.” She exhales, shaky but steadying. The shadows coil around her waist, tugging, pulling. She doesn’t resist this time. She leans into me. And then— We fall. The world dissolves into nothing but cold velvet and whispering threads of dark. It feels endless, vast, like we’ve stepped into the hollow chest of the universe itself. She gasps, but I hold her tighter, pressing her against me, grounding her. “This,” I whisper, “is shadow-travel.”

Through the haze, I saw Lucian dive in without a second thought, swimming fast toward me. Thorne followed, diving in and heading straight for me, ignoring Isolde's cries for help. Griffin stood on the shore, yelling with worry, "Thorne, you can't swim! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" I felt a jolt of shock. ...Thorne could not swim? I tried hard to open my eyes, which were already blurry, and looked over to see Thorne flailing in the water. He really could not swim at all and was quickly sinking.

It’s something older, something that’s been watching me from the moment I stepped into Gatlin Hollow. The water begins to churn, as if something is rising from the depths. I can feel it in my bones, this unnatural cold, this force that pushes against me. I gasp as something dark and heavy breaks through the surface. It’s a shape—an outline, shifting in and out of focus. A figure, almost human but not quite. Its face is a blur, as if it’s struggling to form, like it’s not meant to be seen.

Fear sharpens into fury, molten and blinding. I reach. Not with hands. With instinct. With that strange internal pull that drags me into shadows night after night without permission. The darkness beneath my feet answers. Not violently. Not chaotically. It opens. Like a mouth welcoming breath. Like a path recognizing its traveler. The shadows gripping my legs falter. Just for a second. But one second is enough. I step. Not forward. Down. Into the shadow beneath me. The world snaps sideways. Sound tears apart into jagged fragments.

Howard's tears meant nothing to her. Opposite us, there was a huge floor-to-ceiling window, and as we watched the sunrise, Shadow's body began to burn. The fire on her didn't ignite anything else, but it consumed her completely, reducing her to nothing but air. I raised my hand, letting the sunlight flicker through my fingers, and my shadow mirrored the movement. "This time, Shadow should be completely gone, right?" Celeste asked, blinking. Was she gone? Who could say for sure?

The wind was making her hair flying around as it slapped across her face. She was breathing hard when the wind was too strong for her to protect her face from the debris that was flying when the helicopter blades were buzzing her ears as Marina was closing her eyes. She did not know who was coming from the helicopter as her blood loss was making her dizzy right now. “We got you now. You will be safe,” the shadow said as Marina was closing her eyes. Then, all of sudden from the blood loss as well as the wind that was blaring her eyes, Marina could not keep her eyes open and the last thing she knew, she was claimed by the darkness.