Shadows And Bones Cast Novels & Stories

What I wouldn’t give to have enhanced eyesight in this moment. There was a crack on my left, and then another to the front. Another then another. “Who’s there, I call out into the darkness.” My eyes slowly adjusting, I can just make out the outline of the trees and shrubbery. It didn’t help that any moonlight was blocked out by the tree canopy over head. Only allowing the smallest beams through the thick branches.

And a single line of text. Marry him tomorrow, and your brother dies that night.

Declan stands motionless by the floor-to-ceiling window, the neon glow of the city bleeding across the hardwood like liquid gold, painting his silhouette in flickering light. His shirt hangs loose, the fabric clinging to the damp heat of his skin, sleeves pushed up to reveal the corded muscle of his forearms. The faintest sheen of sweat glistens along his collarbone, catching the light as his chest rises and falls with controlled restraint. His jaw is set, a muscle ticking beneath the stubble, his shoulders taut with something raw and unspoken. I can see the pulse hammering at the base of his throat, the way his fingers flex at his sides, as if fighting the urge to reach for me.

I finished my bacon, stood up to return the plates to the kitchen, and drank the remaining juice, but it was as if my legs were stuck to the ground. I couldn't lift it due to how heavy it was. I tried standing up forcefully but fell back on the chair I was sitting on and held my stomach in pain. I sat down for a few more minutes, and when I felt like I was relieved I stood up and started walking towards the door. I was almost close to the door when my legs got stuck again, but thanks to the wall, I used to support myself till I got close to the door. Suddenly, my hands started shaking and the plates I was holding fell on the floor and shattered into pieces.

The bond spiked, sharp and urgent, and I spun, blade drawn, as the shadows at the chamber’s edge *moved*, not light tricks but *alive*, curling like smoke, forming shapes—hands, faces, eyes. “Get back!” Lucian shouted, pulling me to the center, his blade flashing as the shadows lunged, not solid but cold, their touch burning like frostbite. I slashed the dagger, its light cutting through, scattering them, but they reformed, faster, their whispers filling my head—*spark, key, ours*. Killian swung his staff, the runes flaring briefly, pushing the shadows back, while Mara stabbed at one, her knife passing through but slowing it. “What are they?” she gasped, her voice shaking.

They were both afraid for what's to come, out of nowhere. It would be a hungry animal in search of food or a deadly monster who's waiting for its prey. Both of them hope it was just an assumption. “Suppleret nos lumen tuum.” Falla cast a spell as she waved a piece of stick on thin air and a blinding ball of light appeared up above them. It brightens the area close to them. There, a dark hooded figure stepped out of darkness to reveal itself. Its eyes were as red as blood and its presence gives a chilling and horrifying feel.

We can see through the darkness luckily because so can Bane and his men apparently and they advance as soon as the fog covers the whole area. ‘Now Tristan.’ I mindlink our Beta, and he howls from somewhere to my left. Shadow rubs his head against Dawn, and she reciprocates his affection before the first rogue is over us. Shadow takes him down without a hitch, tearing his throat out. Another rogue comes at us and Dawn makes short progress, killing him as well, throwing his body into an advancing Bane.

Chandler's legs gave way, and he sank to the floor. He stared blankly at the blood-covered flesh on his hand, murmuring, “It’s really her, it’s really her… “How could this happen?” He asked as he gazed at Ben, his eyes bloodshot, panic and anger surging within him. With a wave of his arm, he sent everything nearby crashing to the ground. Then, he seized Ben’s collar. “Bring me all the data on A167!” His voice trembled as he sank into despair. “Wasn’t it said that the special drug was supposed to be effective?”

The mist suddenly coiled around a tree ahead, swirling up the trunk and spilling down again in ribbons of green light. And from that light—something stepped out. Its form was wrong. Half shadow, half smoke. A body made of mist and ash, glowing faintly where veins of green light pulsed through it. It didn’t walk—it glided. Corin pushed me behind him, sword raised. “ Shadow spawn,” he hissed. The creature hissed back, its voice echoing like dozens of whispers overlapping. “ You shouldn’t have come here…”

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.