The Brighter The Light The Darker The Shadow Novels & Stories

A shadow aware of itself. I don't put on makeup, except for a little balm on my lips. My dark circles, I leave. They are part of the picture. Fatigue, lucidity. Eight o'clock. I leave my room, barefoot in flat black leather sandals. The hallway is silent, bathed in indirect golden light that has replaced the day's coldness. The house seems to have changed its skin with the night. The angles are softened, the shadows deeper, more welcoming, or more threatening.

It shouldn’t have been visible. Not like this. Not in the middle of the day. But it was there. Faint at first. Then clearer. Pushing into view like it didn’t belong, but refused to be ignored. Light and darkness clashed in the sky. The sun burned against the growing shadow, like it was fighting to hold its place. But the darkness kept spreading, consuming more of it with every passing second. The entire stadium fell into an eerie half-light. It wasn't day or night. It was something in between, something wrong.

Power radiating off her in waves that made the air shimmer. The shadow creatures shrieked. Recoiled from the light. Tried to flee. She didn't let them. The light intensified. Spread down the hallway. Into every corner. Every shadow. Burning away the darkness like morning sun burning away fog. Could feel the curse fighting back. Could feel it trying to pull more power from me. Trying to make more shadows. More creatures. But Lena pushed harder. The light growing brighter. Hotter. Until I had to close my eyes against the glare.

The blade blazed. Light exploded from the dagger—pale blue, bright as a star, brighter than the sun. The light poured into the shadow, filling its cracks, burning away the darkness that held it together. The shadow screamed—a sound that shook the walls, that cracked the bones, that made my ears bleed.

"Moon power seeks the light. It wants to heal and protect. Shadow power seeks the dark. It wants to dominate and destroy." "When you use both at the same time, they fight for control." He paused. "Your job is to make them work together instead." "How?" "By understanding that they're two sides" of the same coin. Light cannot exist without shadow. Shadow cannot exist without light. They need each other to have meaning." He moved to the center of the space. "Attack me. Use only moon power." I channeled the silver light and attacked. My speed increased, my strength enhanced, I moved with the fluid grace that came from weeks of training.

The axe slipped from his hand and hit the floor with a clang. In that instant, the balance of power flipped. I said, "Since you're just my shadow, killing you is pointless. Kill a shadow, and it will always come back as long as the source is still there." I wiped the blood off my face and stepped up to him. "The one I really have to kill… is the light that's casting the shadow."

>POV: Carrie Mоѕt оf thе tіmе, I wаtсh the ѕunlіght. There’s a ѕhаdоw that trаvеlѕ асrоѕѕ the wall and rеtrеаtѕ аgаіn.

The water passed straight through the shadow and turned black. Morrow floated closer. Her white light touched the edge of the darkness. The two forces clashed violently. Light and shadow pushed against each other. The shadow figure trembled slightly. But did not fall. You are bright, it said softly to Morrow. But not bright enough. With one smooth motion, it lifted its hand. Morrow was thrown backward into a building. Maria screamed. “No!” The shadow turned slowly toward the city. Toward the people. Toward everything. Helios moved to block it.

Then I poured another drink and waited for Viktor's people to come finish what they'd started. Because that's what happened to shadows when they tried to step into the light. They got burned.

Their hands gripped weapons with dark, poisoned blades—the same deadly poison that had hurt my dad! That poison could take down a werewolf, eating away at every vein and nerve, making them weaker and weaker until... It was the worst way I could think of to go. Things happened so fast. They aimed for my weak spots, and no matter how hard I had trained in the past, I could not take on so many opponents at once. "Thorne!" I yelled, my voice almost breaking. He whipped his head around and started to come over, but Isolde clung to him.