Shadow Word: Pain Novels & Stories

The warm liquid tasted of metal and burned her throat. Nate’s eyes fluttered open, she saw the blurred outline of a face. “You are mine now,” it said. He released her, Nate dropped to the floor with a thump. The man, the shadow, was gone. Nate’s hand reached for her throbbing neck, she felt two small punctures in her skin. This is when the real pain started.

“Stop talking in riddles!” The woman reached up and gently pressed two fingers to my forehead before I could think. I gasped. A flood of images slammed into my mind. A towering man in furs—an Alpha—stood in a circle of robed figures, his eyes wild. Blood. A basin full of it. A child screaming. A sigil, burned into flesh, pulsing like a heartbeat. A betrayal. A blade. The mark again. Branded. Glowing. Pain bloomed behind Naomi’s eyes. She dropped to her knees. “It hurts… it hurts… make it stop…”

"I have seen the dark side of life." "I have seen love but I have also seen pain" "I had everything...Then I lost everything." "The walls that I have built are to protect me from the dreams of the world." "I have become strong with the things that I survived over the years." "This darkness that surrounds me could have drowned me." "Now that I know I can survive...It's time to let in some of the light."

Layna shifted uncomfortably, her unease palpable, as The Shadows closed in, their icy, unforgiving energy enveloping us like a shroud. The Shadows' presence was a balm to my fractured soul, a beacon of hope in the darkness. I knew they possessed the power to revive Roxy, to defy even death itself. The only unknown was the terrible price they would exact in return. I held out my sliced palm, offering them the payment they demanded.

He grunts sharply. Darkness coils up his sleeve like smoke. I scream. The grid detonates outward in panic. The child flares violently. The shadow tightens its grip on him. Not injuring. Claiming. Dylan clenches his teeth. “It’s not… pain,” he forces out. “What is it?” I cry. His eyes darken. “It’s amplifying.” The shadow surges between us suddenly. And before I can react It slams into my chest. Cold. Burning. Consuming.

Frustration consumed the guard, and he lashed out, delivering a brutal kick to my stomach, sending waves of excruciating pain coursing through my body. As the searing pain surged through me, Shadow awakened. I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying with everything I had to keep him at bay. With a trembling voice, I pleaded with the guard to inject me once more with the wolfsbane. I knew that if Shadow took over, the guard's life would be snuffed out before he even had a chance to call for help.

Cold, beautiful emptiness. When I opened my eyes again, I felt… lighter. Quieter. My chest no longer ached when I thought of loss. My mind no longer fought itself with questions of mercy. The entity circled me, approving. “There you are. Hollow. Perfect.” I straightened. “Now give me what I came for.” It extended its hand, and in its palm appeared a shard of pure night—liquid and solid at once, humming with low power. “Shadowfire,” it said. “It burns through creation. It feeds on connection.”

She cried out as some of it hit her, burning with the most agonising pain she'd ever experienced, like her very existence was being melted away wherever it touched. She moved further around the column, placing it between her and the light, and cast both hands out towards those she'd felt hiding in here, screaming as in insane amount of dark power rushed through her. Her shadowy aura reached out to those she'd come with, drawing even more of that agony through her, and out through her hands, where it split five ways, and then more, as others rushed in from other rooms, and one by one they blinked out of existence as her shadows hit them, carrying the wounds from her friends.

I knew that Shadow's pain was deep and real, and that it would take time to heal. I knew that he felt lost and alone, and that he was struggling to come to terms with the betrayal of his mate. "I'm so sorry, Shadow," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I wish I could take away your pain, but I can't. All I can do is stand here with you, and offer you my support and friendship." Shadow looked at me, his eyes searching, and I could see the depth of his sorrow. He nodded, a small movement, and I knew that he appreciated my words, even if they couldn't take away his pain.

she finished. Pain exploded in her mind and she dropped to the floor as it spread throughout her entire system, her blood vessels filling with fire. Her initial screams faded to mewling squeaks as her lungs constricted. Flopping on the chamber floor like a fish plucked from water, Horann felt her mind slipping at the unbearable pain and welcomed the release of unconsciousness. Or death. “I believe it has had enough, brother,” Adnanter said to Garolinius in a mild voice.