Fantasy: The SHADOWS fallen (Dark Fantasy epic Occult Metaphysical Short stories) (Women's Adventure Fairy Tales Sword & Sorcery Supernatural, Visionary, Paranormal, Mythology)

The Shadows

fallen

By: Paula A. Obrien


Copyright 2015 by Paula A. Obrien - All rights reserved.

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

The Shadows

She looked up at the sky emptily, the blood on her face mixing in with the rain. Her blonde hair was sprawled on the ground around her. Her arms were attached to her sides, palms open, too weak to move. Too weak to get up, to fight again.

There was a body water. Water everywhere.It filled her lungs and drowned out her words
.
She tried to speak, but her voice was too weak.

It was raining hard. Her clothes were soaking wet-Her only pair of clothes.

The bow was lying just a few inches away from her hand, in a puddle of blood.

Somebody screamed.

She didn’t blink-It was too tiresome.

The body was dragged out of the water, bloodied and broken.

Her lips were somewhat parted, so she could breathe, some small part within her gaining consciousness, silently terrified at the memory. Remembering what brought her here.

They stopped breathing.

For a second, she clenched her teeth in agony. She didn’t know how, she could hardly remember, but she was hurt.

And then SHE arrived.

The monster that had caused all of this.

The girl let out a sigh, closing her eyes for a few moments. It felt nice. Relaxing. No one there to worry or care about. No troubles to give her headaches. No one was there. No heartache. Just her, lying in a pool of her own blood in the middle of nowhere.

Dying.

She let herself drift away from the pain. Both outside and in. She wanted to die. She was ready for it. In fact, she embraced it, after all she had been through. The world was better off without her-Without all of them, in fact. It no longer mattered. All they had been through had been for nothing. They could not win this war.

The girl with the blonde hair and blue eyes took one last breath, ready to fall asleep. Rest for a while…

"Avalon!"

With great effort, she turned her head to the side, blinking slowly, wanting so badly to ignore the voice and take a little nap.

But it was hard to avoid it. The girl stuck out like a peacock with her purple hair in that dull weather. You couldn’t miss her if you wanted to. The blonde girl tried to focus her eyes more, see if she was hurt. Was anyone with her? She dearly hoped not.

She was running toward her. Luckily, she wasn’t bleeding-Not as bad as her, anyway. She could spot a small cut on her cheek, but that was it.

The girl collapsed onto her knees beside her, hardly stopping to breathe. She shook her shoulder wildly. ”What the hell are you doing? Get up! Avalon, get up! We have to leave before the army-”She stopped, her eyes flickering to the blood around her. The cuts on her body. ”Oh God-”

“I’m not going, Iris, ”Avalon shook her head, looking up at the sky again, her voice quiet and soft. ”I can’t go.”

“W-What? What are you talking about?” She shook her head quickly. “N-No, you can’t give up. Avalon, you’re just delusional. It’s just the scratches talking. We can make it through this-”

“No…No…”She kept shaking her head in exhaustion.” I’m just so tired of running.”

“Look, Avalon-”Iris pulled her closer, flicking the rain off her face.” You cannot be saying this. You just can’t. Not yet, okay? None of us would still be here if it wasn’t for you-”

“Or dead,” Avalon managed to spit out a note of anger with her tired, dull voice.

She looked slightly surprised at her. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped herself, whirling around as quick as lightning. There was a fire in her eyes, the devotion to protect her wounded friend. Even Avalon was surprised. She hadn’t heard a thing. It was when Iris stepped forward that she heard the sound of coming footsteps, splashing through the puddles, and saw the person.

The boy had spiky black hair like night and hazel eyes. His hair was draped over his eyes from the rain, which he had to clear out of the way with his hand. Unlike Iris, he had more wounds-There was a cut above his eye. One on his jaw. Maybe he got punched like she had. As he ran, nearing them, Avalon saw a slight limp in his left leg. Still, not as bad as her.

The boy came to a halt in front of Iris, dropping the sword he was carrying as soon as he looked over her shoulder, down at Avalon, who’s eyes were slowly closing again.

For Adara's sake, just let me sleep for a minute…she begged desperately in her head.

He fell onto his knees, holding her in his arms, brushing the blood off her closed eyes. He was struggling for breath, after what happened, the pain, the loss, the run…And now this. Finding her lying in an abandoned field, dying in a pool of her own blood.

“A-Avalon?” he whispered, still breathless. He caressed her face. “Avalon, wake up. Just one more miracle, please-” He looked back at Iris, desperation in his voice when she did not respond with words. Instead, her eyes opened, looking not at him, but back up at the clouds. ”Is-Is she dying?”

“I-I don’t know,” she breathed, covering her face for a quick moment, then recovering. “I don’t think so. I think she’ll make it.” She looked back the way he came, her eyes flickering here and there. “Wait, where-?”

“Avalon,” he murmured, leaning into her face, searching for that familiar warmth. “Avalon, listen to me. Just tell me you’re going to be okay-No, just say anything. Please.” He waited. “For Eeneas’ sake, say something!”

It was worth the wound-it was worth many wounds-to have him be that close to her. To have him look at her like that and his breath that close to her face. To know that there was something else lying behind that mask of his. That he cared, and that he made it quite clear, at that moment. Those cold, hard eyes had dimmed for just a second, and those firm lips were trembling. Not from the cold. In that moment, Avalon caught a glimpse of the boy she first met on the balcony, when she felt more desperate and alone than she had ever felt before. When he was there, listening to her every word, her every expression, every move she made. When he wiped her tears and made her smile. All of that in that moment of revelation.

But she did not have much time to savor it.

“Booker,” Avalon whispered, so faintly, that the rain faded out her words, that they both had to lean in to hear what she said.

When they did, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank Eeneas.”He let one hand go, that tenderness slowly fading back, but still held her hand with the other. He looked at Iris, who had come to his side. “Where are the others?”

“I have no idea,” she said honestly, looking defeated. She looked around again, as if expecting to see them run to their side. “I just woke up around here-Got up to look for you guys and found her here. “Her voice turned serious.” Booker, you know she’s coming back. This is just some kind of trap.”

“I know.” he gave a curt nod, hiding his eyes.

“Um…”She fidgeted with her hands, pacing as she tried to think of what to do next. “Booker, pick Avalon up. She’s hurt. You know that. But we have to get moving before she catches up.”

“Right.” Booker moved only an inch before Avalon sat herself up, shaking her head.

“I can move,” She croaked.

He stood up, his hands ready to catch her if she fell. Her knees were wobbly. Her hands were unsteady. It was tedious to watch. She was as unsteady as a new-born horse.

That was not made them both catch their breath. On her side, there was a thick coating of blood, still dripping down onto the ground, into the puddle. Her hands were painted red, like she just got down painting with them. There was a cut above her eyebrow, possibly from a blade. Possibly from a particular woman’s claws. Either way, her standing up caused blood to gush out like a waterfall, bleeding down onto her face. Avalon blinked the blood from her eye. She spat it out as it dripped down to her lip. She was on the verge of death.

“Oh Christ-”Booker gaped, almost too shocked to help her.

“Bloody hell-Avalon, lie down!” Iris ordered, her voice shaking. She was a bit of a blood freak, even then.

She did as she was told. Booker rushed to her wounded side, digging in one of the pouches hanging from his belt for a long piece of cloth. He lifted a bit of her clothes and wrapped it around her stomach.

“Don’t we have to clean the wound first?” Iris argued.

“Do you have any medicine?” He snapped. He quickly regained his control. “I’m sorry-”

Avalon groaned, trying to speak up. “I don’t need your help.”

“Avalon, please, just once, would you let me help you?”

“No,” she hissed stubbornly. She tried to stand, falling back to the ground and ruining her clothes further. Booker quietly helped her back up, letting her go.

“I…Hate you,” she breathed, her anger rising. “I absolutely hate you. I’ve hated you ever since I first laid eyes on you. I would rather die than spend one more minute with you.”

He took a deep breath, trying not to get frustrated. “Okay, look, I know this is hard for you-”

“Hard?!” Her hands instinctively turned into fists. She clenched her teeth, her eyes narrowing. She had hardly any control of her actions as the pressure of it all finally came crashing down. Avalon raised her fist, punching him in the draw, sending him falling to the ground. “It's over! Everything! We can’t fix this-Can’t you see?! It’s over!”

Iris watched in horror as her friends began to turn on each other. In desperation. In anger. In hopelessness. Just as she had intended. She took a step toward Avalon, letting Booker get to his feet. “Avalon-Please. Don’t let this happen…”

Her voice trailed off as the still furious girl marched in front of him, rain dripping down to her eyes. “Let me ask you something-Just one thing: Did you honestly think we could win this? Did you honestly think everything would be okay?” She paused, the pain of just who she had lost coming to realization. “Did you think we’d all make it out alive?!”

“I didn’t know she would die-”he muttered.

She took a few steps back, trying to prevent herself from punching him again. “I'm done. I’m done trying to fix things-Because we can’t! We just can’t! Sometimes you just lose and-” Her voice broke.

Booker’s eyes flickered to the ground, then back to her, a memory hidden them. “I wish I could make the bad things go away, Avalon.”

She gaped, putting one foot behind her so she would not completely collapse. Her hands slowly began to sink to her sides, unclenching themselves, her eyes wide with shock, the anger fading away. Because those words had brought her back. Brought her back to what was really happening. Why this was happening. She began to feel weak.

So it was true. It was all true. Everything she said was true. How quick they could all turn on each other.

Her time had run out.

Avalon had fallen.

She had lost her faith in human life.

In everyone.

While they lived-No, while she lived, the innocent died. Everyone she cared about would die because of her. People and wolves she had never even met would be punished because of her. So why was she still there, breathing? They weren’t. Not anymore.

Maybe the lies were true, Avalon wondered. Maybe she just outta believe them. She was in the dark now, with no light around her.

Her light was gone.

It had gone out completely that day.

Or, maybe it had gone a long time ago.

No…She could not embrace human life anymore. She couldn’t bring herself to forgive what those monsters had done to her.

What she had done to her.

She made her lose everything. Everything she cared about. Made her point arrows at her friends or complete, absolute strangers. Made her lose her family, her friends, everything she owned. She had made her into a completely different person. Made her into a monster, just like her.

A dog.

Her dog

A puppet.

Her puppet

It was over.

She had lost everything.

Avalon looked back at Booker, her eyes pleading as she whispered in desperation, “What’s happening to me, Mr. DuLoc?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. There were two reasons for this. The first was the water falling from her face. Not from the rain-From her eyes. The second was the shaking.

The trio looked all around. The earth was shaking, just slightly. The ground was trembling beneath their feet, the force growing stronger by the second. They began to hear something far-off, like an echo, or a voice slowly nearing them.

And then, at the same time, they all saw it. They stood, side-by-side, their eyes wide. The only thing they could do was watch with horror.

Filling the horizon.

Hundreds.

Running straight at them.

At first, they were nothing but silhouettes, which gradually changed as they neared into something else entirely.

Wolves.

All different shapes and pelts.

Different ages.

Male and female.

But they had a couple things in common.

A crazed look in the eye.

Most were snarling or showing their teeth, but some had their tongues sticking out from the side of their mouths.

Laughing crazily.

Foaming from the mouth.

The whites of their eyes showing.

Pupils small, tiny black dots.

Blood streaming from the eyes or mouth.

It was happening again.

“The epidemic,” Iris managed to speak, her voice barely a whisper. She looked like she might faint from fear. She began to walk backwards, her hands searching for someone’s-Anyone’s. They found Avalon’s, but her hands were trembling so terribly she just let go again. Not to mention the nearing chaos.

She blindly took her wand out, still walking back. “Run,” Iris ordered them, her voice filled with terror. She shook Avalon’s shoulder, who was still watching, too horrified to react. ”Run!”

Booker dared himself to look away, to Avalon, still unmoving, mouth gaping. She was like a statue, frozen by fear’s icy grip. He grabbed her hand, trying to keep his voice firm. “Avalon, run.“ The pack of wolves were nearing, their howls and snarls filling the silence around them, the ground shaking like an earthquake from their paws, begging to taste their blood.

Finally, he grabbed her arm, pulling her backwards.

“Run, NOW!”

- F A L L E N -

THE END