A Storm of Shadows (Shatterborn Book One)

Chapter V, Blood Dawn

            And then she was falling; falling without sound, without light, without air flowing around her. Yet she knew she was falling, she could feel it in her gut. She could sense it, the yawning chasm around her, and she was falling, ever deeper, down into its depths.

Panicking, she flared her Sight. Briefly, her vision burned bright white, but then that, too, faded into darkness. A torrent of terror gushed through her. Emmaline reached inside to her own Ki energy, forming it into a construct of light. When she could feel it bubbling just beneath her skin, she released it into the deepness.

It floated for a few seconds, shimmering against shadows. Then it slowly faded, and Emmaline felt it recede from her as she fell away from it.

She was about to give in to despair when she felt it.

At first, it was nothing more than a flicker at the edge of her fading mind. Then it came surging out of the gloom, an arm of writhing energy that grabbed at her and held her steady. As its fingers wrapped around her, she could feel the throbbing pulse of its Ki. Light trickled slowly down the arm like water, wrapping around her in gentle tendrils.

You will not die today, the light whispered to her. Use my strength and pull yourself free.

Her dwindling awareness groaned softly. I can’t, she thought helplessly.

You can, the Voice said, its tone soft and urgent. You must.

At its words, a subtle flow of energy seeped into her. Adrift on the verge of endless sleep, it was like a lifeline to Emmaline. Gasping, she latched on to it, sucking in the energy greedily.

As she did, she began to rise, and as she rose, her weariness receded. The energy within her burned stronger, and she rose faster and faster. Thank you, she thought solemnly.

Above her, a light beckoned. Using the energy the light gave her, she shaped glowing wings of Ki around her that thrust hard against the shadows.

            Something was falling towards her, too. Drawing closer, Emmaline realized it was the falcon, the one whose body she had borrowed. No, she thought. You will not die because of me.

With a rapid flap, she careened away from the light and caught the falcon in her outstretched arms. Instantly, she felt ten times heavier. The ball of feathers in her arms twitched weakly. She sensed herself sinking down again, but strained against it with all her might.

Still she sunk into the darkness, and felt she’d never rise.

Desperately, she flared her Sight once more, this time paying close attention to the falcon in her arms. Its life energy was fading quickly, leaking out of its body and into the snatching miasma around them.

As another tendril of life was whisked away, she understood what she had to do. Trembling slightly, she turned her Sight inward.

And there it was, pulsing gently, throbbing with energy so ancient, so arcane, she barely understood it. And yet… It was her, it was everything she was. Tenderly, she took just the tiniest thread and pushed it, so gently, into the falcon.

The effect was instantaneous. Through her Sight-enhanced vision, the falcon caught ablaze with new life. They shot upwards together, racing toward the light. Yet as they did, Emmaline felt something… different. A connection. Like a link between herself and something that was both outside her and a part of her.

The light swallowed them then, and Emmaline at last felt safe.

            She woke in a blur of motion, springing to her feet with halberd in hand. She instinctively grabbed at her Ki, weaving it into a thick shell around her. Her hands glowed brightly as she automatically shifted into a defensive position.