Embrace The Shadows

Prologue

Ear piercing screams and the smell of smoke woke Evelyn up, and her jade eyes flew open. The large room had a slight orange glow and she looked over at her bedroom door, thick grey smoke was pouring out of the cracks and she swore loudly.

She threw her covers off, letting them land on the ground. She quickly pulled a grey t-shirt on her thin torso, put a pair of black pants over her long legs next before pulling on a pair of black leather boots that ended 2 inches below her knee. She threw on her belt and grabbed her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt. Finally, she threw on a jacket and zipped it up.

Evelyn ran over to the window, thankful that her room was only on the 3rd floor. Looking out with her hand holding on to the edge of the window for support, her green eyes scanned her surroundings. The Academy was burning, and rubble was falling to the ground. Flames danced all around the school. Bodies littered the courtyard, some burned beyond recognition, and some crushed under boulders. There were a few who had wounds that came from a lightsaber.

Her eyes froze when she saw one of her classmates fighting a masked figure who was wearing a long black cloak. The green and red lightsabers crashed against one another loudly enough that even she could hear them. She could not tell which of her classmates it was, but they looked to be a couple years younger than Evelyn. She took a deep breath and inhaled more of the smoke, began to cough violently, tears beginning to fall from her eyes and her body sweating like mad from the heat of the fire, which only became hotter with each passing second.

The person who was fighting her classmate's lightsaber was red, like that of others who used the Dark Side, but it was slightly different than any other Evelyn had seen before. It was the cross-guard style, an ancient design that she had only ever seen pictures of in books, and it made the weapon look like a sword. It had a haunting beauty, and she was mesmerized for a minute, both by the weapon and by the person wielding it. Their movements were quick and agile, and they moved with extreme grace. It almost seemed like they were floating.

Her blood turned to ice when she saw the masked figure pull the green lightsaber out of its owner's grasp with a wave of their hand, the weapon landing on the grass a couple of feet away from the pair. Whoever it was grabbed Evelyn's classmate by the throat, lifting them in the air before thrusting their lightsaber through their abdomen. The figure quickly ripped the lightsaber out of her classmate's body, tossing it on the ground without a second thought.

"NO!"

The screams that made its way out of Evelyn's mouth were loud enough to be heard over the roaring of the fire and the rubble crashing against the ground. She swayed a little, so she gripped the edge of the window more tightly, her knuckles turning white. It was the only thing stopping her knees from giving out. Hot tears of agony and anger began pouring out of her eyes, and she began to see red.

The masked person's head snapped up, quick as a flash. They looked directly at Evelyn and she froze in terror. She stared at the figure, and they were staring right back. She snapped out of it when a large piece of rubble crashed to the ground not far from her and she looked over at where it had landed.

The fall was going to hurt, but not too much.

Hopefully.

She jumped down, silently praying as she fell.

Evelyn had to put her hands out to make sure she did not hit the ground face first. Her palms and feet stung a little as they hit the ground, but otherwise she was unharmed. She looked up, pushing her long black hair out of her face, allowing her to see better. Evelyn let out a strangled cry as she recognized the body laying closest to her. She made her way slowly over to Nirah's body and gently placed her hand on young girl's cheek.