The Shadow Summoner

Panic

I wake up to a dark room, it takes me half a second to remember where I am.

I groan and stretch my arms, accidently smacking, who I assume to be, Aleksander.

He groans in return," My bad," I say in apology.

I get no answer and after a few seconds I hear soft snoring.

I guess he went back to sleep.

I quietly slipped out of bed and blindly searched for my discarded kefta.

Eventually feeling the familiar fabric, I slip my arms into the sleeves buttoning the clasp.

The office light is on, so I only open the door enough to leave the room.

I walk towards the door to leave the office, but I hesitate, I turn around and head to the desk, sitting at the large chair.

I do my best impression of Aleksander as I suppress the urge to spin around in circles on the office chair.

I spin a few circles in the chair before deciding I should probably head to the upper deck.

The salty air greets me as I reach the upper deck and begin looking for Armis.

Armis seems to be below deck, but I catch sight of Sturmhond, looking just about as charming as ever.

"Good morning, Captain."

"Oh, hello doll," he pauses ,"We should be docked soon."

I nod," Okay, sounds good."

I decide to stay on the upper deck, the sunlight gently heating my face as I watch dolphins leap into the air behind the ship.

Soon enough, Armis joins me.

"it's done," she states from beside me whilst staring into the waves.

"Good job."

She chuckles," My sister would love this."

I tilt my head, letting her clarify.

"She's always had a fascination with undercover work ,in fact , I'm sure if our father allowed it, she would've joined the guard to become a spy."

"I hope I'll get to meet her one day."

Armis beams at me," She'd love you."

"Were here," a crew member shouts from the crow's nest, just about 50 feet above the deck. The sound carries over the ship and the air tenses as Aleksander ascends from below deck, his dark clothing contrasting starkly with his pale complexion.

Aleksander crosses the deck to me," I will not be accompanying your group today, but I trust you to keep the crew in line."

I nod, giving him a half-smile," Of course."

A few minutes later me and the crew set off.

I discreetly lead the crew toward the actual location of Alina instead of the one I'd given for leverage, no one seems to notice and I'm suddenly glad Sturmhond didn't come with us, he would definitely notice the change in direction.

Finally we arrive at a shady looking building, parts of the roof have broken away, but it's still livable.

"I'll go in first, you'll come in when I give the signal, understood?" I advise the group as I emerge from the forest and start towards the building. I enter the building and make my way towards the familiar pull of my shadows.

I eventually reach a door and I can hear Mal and Alina speaking in hushed tones.

I open the nearest window and whistle the agreed-upon signal.

Within seconds the crew has broken down the door and Alina and Mal are being hauled away.

I quickly lead the crew back through the forest, our targets struggling the whole way.

Aleksander meets us at the dock and helps pull Alina and Mal onto the ship.

Mal struggles beside me on the deck and begins to thrash when Aleksander gets close, I try to move away, but I'm not quick enough and Mal's shoulder pummels into my chest, effectively knocking the air out of me.

I take a few steps back before collapsing onto the deck, I'm struggling to breathe and panic has set in.

I hear a horrible gasping sound and begin to look for the source, before realizing it's coming from me. Suddenly Aleksander is kneeling over me, he bends my legs and tries to calm me down, but my survival instincts have kicked in and all I want to do is get away.

I push myself away from Aleksander and pull in a painful breath," I'm done here," I whisper shakily as I head towards Aleksander's room, and when I get there I lock the door behind me.

*************************

I no longer remember the plot I was supposed to follow but I'm figuring it out as i go so hop on the crazy train ig :)