The Shadow King - Matthew R. Davis (reading the story of the .TXT) 📗

shoulder and led him into the darkness of the room off the left. Inside the room they found a bed, a dresser, and a table with a candle on it.
“Elena must have sent someone to prepare the room for us” Elva noted upon seeing the lit candle and readied bed. Shutting the door behind them, Elva led Pen to the bed, where he sat with a deep sigh of relief.
She sat down on the bed next to Pen, her heart racing in her chest. She brushed her hair out of her face. The orangish glow of the candle danced around the room, illuminating his face just enough for her to tell that he was looking directly at her. She reached out and placed her hand on his and for some reason, felt tears building. She embraced him tightly and whispered softly into his ear.
“I was so worried about you Pen. I was scared, scared that you would never wake up again. Even now, I can’t feel your consciousness. It’s as if you’re not even here, with me.” She hadn’t realized that she had begun to cry. Pen was still unable to talk, or to comfort her for that matter. He was barely able to hold her.
“Don’t leave me Pen, not ever.”
Those words stuck in his wandering mind through the rest of the night. Even though he wasn’t able to do much physically, having Elva sleeping next to him breathing softly was enough to keep him happy. Pen didn’t want to fall asleep that night. He wanted to hold onto that moment forever.

A soft caress awoke Pen from his sleep the next morning. It was Elva’s hand, brushing aside Pen’s golden blonde hair.
“Good morning Glen.” She said
Pen smiled “Good morning Helena.”
His eyes widened. He was able to talk again. He smiled widely and sat upright without much effort, though he could still tell that he was still weak. “That’s a good sign at least. Pen, do you still have your grandfather’s ring?”
Pen nodded and showed it to her.
“Do you think that your grandfather could help you replenish your fallen strength?”
“No, I already thought of that. No one else can enter the ring, and I can leave my body to do it myself. For some reason I can’t use any magic at all.”
Elva bowed her head and sighed. “ We can’t still can’t enter your mind either. Perhaps we can use the moon.” Elva suggested.
Again Pen shook his head. “I doubt the moon spirits would be to willing to help against someone who directly violated an Elder.”
“Yeah you’re probably right. And who knows what they might do to you if you’re rejected by them.”
Elva grabbed Pen’s hand and said with a smile “Then I guess we’re going to have to wait it out!”

Hamlock looked out at the horizon. His master was indeed right. There was a town only a few miles ahead.
“And what’s better Hamlock, the dragons are nowhere near the town. We have a good fifteen minutes before the dragons could show up on the ssscene.” The man said with a hiss.
His lips curved into a crooked smile and he laughed. “The boy’s conscious also seems to either completely gone, or is so faint I can’t even sense him any longer. He was the biggest adversary we were going to have to take down. This makes my job easier. If he’s dead already, I don’t have to take him back to Mathias.”
Hamlock ran down the small hill and joined his master. “I am curious sire. Why is this boy so important to the king? What could one small child do to someone as powerful as Mathias?”
The man scowled at Hamlock “Insolent fool! Do you not pay attention to anything in our briefings?! Ask yourself what we are and what we do Hamlock.”
Hamlock hesitant to answer said, “You are the kings shadow, and I am your servant. We are sent on assassination missions to remove anyone that could possibly stand a chance against the king if they were to fins the correct allies.”
The man began walking, nudging to Hamlock to join him.
“You are correct Hamlock. So you ask why this boy is so important. It is simple. Where there is darkness there is a light to cast that shadow. Blodgaram was that light, and Mathias was that shadow. But what happens when the shadow overcome the light? Then there is just darkness correct? But how can there be only darkness? This is what the Elders believe. So upon Blodgaram’s death, they created a new spark of light within a young child.
This is the same young child that we are chasing. What makes the child special is the unique energy he can harness. The Elders created the boy for the sole purpose of defeating the darkness. He is the gateway between the moon and Earth. He is the embodiment of the moon spirits. And once he figures out how to harness their power. Not even Mathias will stand a chance against him. He is very dangerous to our cause. If he were to meet an Elder, and that Elder to learn that the boy is the moon child, then I imagine the Elder would awaken the spark. We can only hope that never occurs.”
“The, moon child sire?”
“Yes. The legendary moon child that will harness the power of the moon spirits and destroy the dark lord. That prophecy has been spoken of for thousands of years. I will make sure that it never comes true.”

Pen spent the majority of the day in bed, and once it was time for his to rest, Elva sat by his side, and gently sung to him, her voice smooth as silk. Pen loved this girl. More than he had ever loved anyone. Now he was faced with the challenge of telling her how he felt. He knew that he would have to wait until they defeated Mathias, but he wanted more than anything to share his love with her. He pondered this as her song came to an end and he drifted off to sleep, her hand in his.

******

Chapter 7:
The Shadow King

The man entered the town under the cover of nightfall, followed closely by Hamlock. They snuck their way silently into the Unague hotel. The man led Hamlock up the stairs to the first door on the left where he stood.
“Hamlock, I don’t know what’s behind this door. If the boy has awakened his energy, then I will fail. In this case, you are to remove my heart at all costs. It’s the only thing keeping me connected to the dark lord. If I die, he dies, and his daughter’s life will replace his own removing the King’s only safe guard. Am I clear on this?”
Hamlock softly replied, “Yes.” This was followed by a deep grunt and the sound of a blade splitting skin. Hamlock fell to his knees as a sword was pulled from his back.
“Ah, you must be the rider I sensed before.” The man said without turning from the door.
“Who are you?!” Rien yelled at the man’s back.
“I’m sorry but if you wish to die, you’ll have to wait your turn. I have other matters to attend to.” He said as he reached for the door handle.
“Elva! Get out of there!” Rien yelled. The man spun around and grasped Rien by the throat. His grip crushed Rien’s windpipe, making breathing impossible. His sword fell to the ground as he instinctively clawed at the man’s hands.
“Impatiens is such a nuisance. And you killed my servant. I won’t make you wait any longer. I’m certain the dark lord will be pleased to feel your strength.”
Rien was beginning to get dizzy. He hit the man, desperately trying to free himself for his grip. But with each blow, the man’s crushing hands only tightened around Rien’s throat.
The door behind the man swung open. Rien saw the shimmer of Lethian sink into the man’s head from behind. But to Rien’s surprise, it wasn’t Pen wielding the rider’s sword.
Elva pulled Lethian free of the man’s skull. Blood rushed from the man’s open wound.
“Now this is bothersome.” He said calmly. “I can’t kill you Elva. You know that, don’t you.” Elva placed both her hands on Lethian’s hilt and prepared to strike again, but before she could attack the man’s conscious blanketed her own. He held her frozen in motion as he continued to choke the life from Rien, whose body had gone limp.
“I’m sure your father will be happy to have you back.” He said without looking at her.
The man shoved his thumbs into Rien’s throat, breaking his neck. The sound of Rien’s bones snapping sent a chill down Elva’s spine. The man released Rien, he fell to the floor.
“I’m sure his dragon senses his death. So my time here is limited. Two dragons are too much for me. He leaned in close to Elva’s face, and for the first time, she saw him. Horror gripped her as she realized who she was facing. She had expected to find her father’s eldest brother. Pen leaned against the door frame for support. He looked directly into the man’s eyes.
“Leave her alone.” He said
The man looked away from Elva and smiled at Pen. “I see you’re not dead. That is surprising. I’m still not able to sense you’re conscious. Have you perhaps been weakened so much that it isn’t able to protrude the outer limits of your mind? How pathetic. This is the child the dark lord wants so badly.”
Pen glared at the man. “If you find me so pathetic, then why don’t we go outside, where no one else will be harmed, and see just how pathetic I am. Or are you afraid you’ll lose, father.”
“Ah, so you were able to recognize me, even as I am? It matters not. I may have been your father long ago. But you are no son of mine. Fine, I accept your challenge.”
Pen knew his father had been forcibly recruited into Mathias’s army. And he knew that being recruited was a death sentence. But never had Pen thought that Mathias would make his soldiers into shadows. That would be dark, even for Mathias. Pen knew how shadows were created. They were created with the torture of children. The pain they felt as the life was drained from them and put into a subject. The man walking down the stairs behind Pen, was no longer his father. He was the king’s shadow, a nightmare, or what the people of Fienster had come to call, the shadow kings.

Pen held Lethian with his right arm, a task that proved to be a challenge. His body was still weak and he wasn’t able to use magic. He knew he was at a great disadvantage.
“I bet you plan on wasting my time, until your dragon friends arrive. Am I right Pen?”
Pen gritted his teeth. That is exactly what he had planned to do. He didn’t have any other options available to him.
If he couldn’t do that, how would he defeat a shadow?
“You can’t even hold your sword properly! How do you expect to defeat me child?”
“Let me handle this Pen.” Elva’s voice said from behind him. “I wasn’t ready for him the last time, but this time he will pay for killing Rien.”
Pen was reluctant to give Lethian to Elva, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He nodded and handed the sword to her.
She gripped its hilt and readied herself
“He can’t kill me.” With that she lunged forward, swinging Lethian with all her