Born of Shadow - Book 1 (complete)

Chapter 57

Kami could see the other group ahead, backing cautiously up the serpentine path as a giant shadow crocodile stalked them. She heard Gedo and Samuel join her.

"Ready?" she asked. The two men drew out their laser sabers and nodded. She rushed the creature from behind and trained her laser saber on it. She felt the lights latch onto the shadows, and Kami was surprised how difficult it was to hold the position. She had naively thought once the sabers were in place that it would be fairly easy to control the creatures. 

Not so. She could feel the tremendous strain of the creature as it struggled against its captors. It was an invisible force, almost as if trying to bring two repelling magnets together. When Gedo and Samuel had added their laser to hers, she could feel a strengthening power. The creature was now unable to move at all. Even its head was locked by the lasers.

It roared again in frustration, but Liam whipped it, silencing the creature. 

Liam murmured something to Chris and handed him the whip. He locked eyes with hers and pointed up. He was going after Neina. Kami nodded.

She redirected her attention to the shadow creature, bracing herself for losing the strength from Liam's laser saber. She was surprised when it wasn't too bad. Sure, she felt the loss, but she still felt like they had complete control of the creature. 

Liam was moving swiftly up the path now. She hoped he'd hurry. Suddenly the laser saber slipped a bit in her sweaty hands, and she lost her position. Seizing the opportunity, the creature strained against them. She quickly wiped her hands on her jeans, first one and then the other, then retrained her laser saber on the creature's massive tail, holding it in place again. She couldn't make that mistake again. The others were counting on her.

Kami felt the ground tremble. She could hear the rocks rattling around her. Something was coming, something big. She looked up to see Liam running toward them. A huge black shape flew from the shadows and hit the rock floor with a thump, forming a black puddle. It shimmered and shook violently, then three giant bats exploded from it.

She groaned. The shapeshifter again.

Liam tripped and sprawled on the ground just as one of the bats skimmed over him, missing him by only an inch or two. One of them slammed into Gedo, curling its wings around him. He dropped his laser saber and stumbled backward, screaming and trying to push it away. 

Chris came running with the whip, cracking it over and over. The bat screamed and disentangled itself from Gedo, who slumped to the cave floor. 

Kami could barely hold the creature any more. She gritted her teeth and held on, but other than her, only Yasmin and Samuel were left to hold it. The creature was straining to break loose. It took every bit of strength she could muster to hold her laser saber. Her hands shook under the pressure.

Chris must have noticed, because he tossed the whip to Liam, grabbed Gedo's laser saber and focused two of them on the creature. Kami felt a tremendous power shift. They had the creature back under control.

Liam fought like crazy, first thrashing one bat that dove for his head, then a second. He lashed that one hard, slamming it back against the wall with a resounding slap. It pooled on the wall and slid to the ground.

He turned his attention toward the other two bats. The one who'd wrapped itself around Gedo had recovered and was attempting to attack Liam in the same way. Liam held the switch above his head and whipped it around like a helicopter propeller, effectively warding off the bats that tried to fly in close. 

In her peripheral, Kami noticed something rising from the dark puddle. She watched in horror as the shadows molded themselves into the form of a rhino. 

"Liam, watch out!" Kami screamed, but it was too late. While fleeing the rhino, Liam crashed to the ground. The whip flew out of his hands and landed near Kami. One of the bats dove for it, but she beat the creature to it. She came up flinging the stinging strands at the bat, which recoiled, then dove again. Kami whipped it hard. Green shots of energy crackled around her.   

The second bat swooped down at Samuel, knocking the laser saber from his hand. It rolled down the ledge and into the wax lake. The rhino went after Yasmin and she was forced to scramble away. Without her help, Chris couldn't keep his grip on the crocodile. It wrenched itself loose of the laser sabers and turned on him.

Kami sprinted beside Chris and cracked the creature a few times with the whip. They backed away from it, toward the entrance. Samuel joined them.

"Keep it back if you can," Samuel told her. "We're going to grab Gedo. We've gotta get out of here. There are too many shadow creatures."

Kami continued to whip the creature as Samuel and Chris hauled Gedo up and helped him into the tunnel. The creature turned away from her and stalked toward Liam and Yasmin.

She called out for them to come, but when the shadow creature moved, she could see they were surrounded. Not only that, but more creatures were coming, crawling up the ramp and clamoring overhead, burrowing through the shadows. 

Liam's eyes locked with hers, and all she could see was hopelessness. He shook his head, wordlessly telling her not to attempt it. Whatever. She wasn't going to just leave her friends to the shadow creatures. She would fight her way to the middle and do whatever it took to get them out. 

Liam pointed toward the lake, and that's when Kami noticed her. There was the woman who had threatened her grandparents—the creator of the shadow creatures, the Shadow Queen. With whip in hand, she glided up the ramp in the midst of her creations. That was what Liam was trying to tell her. It would have been a long shot to clear a pathway for them to get out, but with the Shadow Queen's arrival, it would be impossible.   

Kami shrank back into the shadows. She was fairly sure the Shadow Queen hadn't seen her yet, at least she hoped so. She wouldn't be any help to Liam or Yasmin if she was caught. And if she could leave and return with the whip, at least she'd have that advantage. 

Still, she felt anguished to leave them. They were so close. It felt as if she was abandoning them. If she left now, she couldn't be sure if she'd ever see them again. 

Kami looked at her friends. Yasmin was watching the woman warily, but Liam's eyes were still on her, silently urging her to run. She stared deeply into his eyes and sent him the silent message. I will be back. Hang on.

Then she turned and fled down the passageway.

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