Chapter 49 Shadows in the Dark
NYX - EIGHT MONTHS LATER
I was ten years old now. Looked it. Felt ancient. Eight months of searching. Eight months of dead ends and false leads. Eight months of watching father slowly die inside while pretending he was fine. He was not fine. I knew it. He knew I knew it.
But we both pretended anyway. "Another sighting," Lyra said. Morning briefing. Same as every morning. Eastern provinces. A village destroyed. Everyone aged to dust. The survivor said a woman with black eyes did it." "That could be anyone," Father said. Voice hollow.
"Half the cursed vampires have black eyes." "This one cried while killing them. Said she was sorry. Said she could not remember why but it hurt." Lyra looked at me. "That sounds like—" "Mother." I stood. "We leave now."
"Nyx, we have been chasing ghosts for eight months. Every sighting ends the same. We arrive. She is already gone. We find nothing but bodies and destruction." Father did not move.
"Maybe we should accept—" "Do not." My voice was sharp. Cold. "Do not say we should accept it. She is alive. She is suffering. And we are going to find her." "She is gone, Nyx. What remains is not your mother.
It is something else. Something that kills without meaning to. Without control." He finally looked at me. "Maybe it would be kinder to—" "To what? Kill her? Put her down like an animal?"
I was filled with rage. "She gave up everything for me.
I will not abandon her." "She sacrificed herself so you could live. Not so you could waste your life chasing a ghost." "Then I waste it. That is my choice." I grabbed my cloak. "Stay here if you want. I am going." I left before he could argue.
Before I said something worse. Before I broke like he was breaking. Arianna the Younger found me in the stables. "You are going alone?" "Father will not come. He has given up." "He has not given up.
He is grieving. There is a difference." She helped me saddle my horse. "I will come with you. Two Time Walkers are better than one." "Can you track her? With your magic?" "I have been trying for months.
She exists outside normal time. Flickering. Unstable. Like she is in multiple moments simultaneously." Arianna's voice was sad. "Whatever she is now, it is not fully in this reality. That makes her impossible to track consistently." "But not impossible completely." "No. Not completely."
We rode hard. Reached the eastern village by nightfall. It was worse than Lyra described. Everyone dead. Not just aged. Desiccated. Like something drained every drop of life from them. Buildings collapsed. Streets empty. Silent.
"She was here," Arianna whispered. "I can feel the temporal disturbance. She stopped time. Walked through it. Killed them while they were frozen." "Why? Why would she do this?" "Because she is starving. The ritual made her into something that feeds on life force. On time itself.
She probably did not mean to kill them. Just tried to feed. Took too much." Arianna knelt. Touched the ground. "She went west. Toward the Shadowlands. Maybe an hour ago." "Then we can catch her." We rode. Following Arianna's directions. Into the forest.
Into the dark. Found her at midnight. She stood in a clearing. Surrounded by dead animals. Crying. Her hands were covered in blood. Her eyes are pure black. No recognition. No humanity. "No, no, no, I did not mean to," she was saying. Rocking. "I just wanted to eat. Just wanted to survive.
Why did I kill them? Why do I always kill them?" "Mother," I said. Soft. Careful. Like approaching a wounded animal. She spun. Looked at me. Tilted her head. "You. I know you. You are important.
But I do not remember why." "I am Nyx—your daughter. You sacrificed yourself to save me. Eight months ago. Do you remember?" "Daughter." She tested the word. "I had a daughter. I think. Maybe. The memories slip away like water through fingers.
I try to hold them, but they disappear." She stepped closer. "You smell like love. Like home. Like something I lost." "You did not lose us. We are here. We came to find you. To bring you home." "Home." She laughed. Broken. "I have no home.
I am a shadow. I am done. I am the monster in the dark that parents warn children about." "You are Sera. My mother. Kael's wife. You are family." "Sera." The name made her flinch. "That name hurts. Like thorns. Like fire.
I do not want to be Sera. Sera is gone. Sera died so this could live." "Then be this. Be shadow. Be end. But be ours. Come home with us. Let us help you." "Help?"
She examined her hands, which were covered with blood. "How can one assist a monster? "How can something that destroys everything it comes into contact with be saved?" By not giving up.
By loving it anyway. By being family." I took a step forward. "Please. Come home. Father is dying without you. I need you.
We remember you even if you are unable to remember us." "Dad." Her eyes sparked with something.
Brief. Painful. "I had someone. Someone who loved me. Who held me when I was scared?
Who chose me over everything?" She looked at me. "He is the one who hurts most—the hole in my memory.
The shape of something missing." "Then come meet him. Remember him. Be with him again." "What if I kill him? What if I drain him like I drained this village? Like I drain everything?" Her voice broke. "I cannot control it. The hunger. The need. It consumes. It takes. It destroys."
"Then we teach you control. Like we taught me time magic. Like we taught you to survive." I extended my hand. "Trust me. Please." She stared at my hand. At the connection offered. At the chance to be something other than alone.
Then she took it. Her hand was cold. Wrong. But it was hers. And she was holding mine. "I will try," she whispered. "I will try to be good. To remember. To be what you need." "You are already what we need.
You need to be you." We rode back. Slow. Careful. She was skittish. Kept stopping. Kept checking behind us like something was hunting her. Maybe something was. Perhaps the darkness she carried.
Perhaps the person she once was.
At sunrise, we arrived at the palace.
Father was waiting. He looked terrible. Had not slept or eaten, and just waited.
He saw us. Saw her. And his face broke.
"Sera."