Chapter 1

Don't stop, run, fast. Keep going!

The shadows licked against her icy limbs, her body growing heavier the more ragged her breath became,

Freezing.

Her legs were icicles growing to a ghostly pale while her heartbeat thrummed in her ears, all around was darkness and endless black with every step she grew more paranoid and alarmed.

She cried out for her partner, he was nowhere to be found but was close by with every step she took. The feeling peeled her skin back and crawled within her she knew she was being watched, taunted...followed.

She halted then turned, She looked into the pitch black and howled. "What do you want from me!?"

Like a tide in the ocean, she felt herself get drowned by the presence and with one final gasp she shrieked.

"OMBRA!"

After a few seconds realising the young girl was in her bed with a warm solid small figure nestled up beside her legs, she sighed a breath of relief as two golden orbs stared at her.

"Rein? Is everything alright?"

She nodded back at the dark figure by her legs leaning down and stroking his ears listening to him purr in response swaying his tail slightly, "Just a bad dream."

The cat's ears perked up. It made her uneasy when his golden eyes narrowed and she could feel his voice chiming inside her head,

"A bad dream? What kind?"

She didn't know how to put the words into a sentence to explain how the shadows had crept up her legs, how they creaked with every move.

How they twisted and coiled and turned and folded over her small self, even now she could hear the raspy breath in her ear.

The cat lept down from the bed walking over to stand with the large black book, The symbol on the front cover was a mass of swirls with a barely noticeable intricate rose in the centre of the swirls.

Rein leaned over to the cat and raised an eyebrow,

"Is there something you're trying to say?"

She gazed as he jumped up the stand and sat beside the book, padding it gently with his paw. But he just remained silent, so with a light grunt, she got up from her bed and glided to her bookstand. She laid her hand over the cover her forefinger in the centre, she murmured by the spine of the book.

"I am a fleur de Lis."

The book ruptured open and she peered as Ombra started to scan the pages then stopped, he glanced up at her. In front of her, the page showed a witch,

"Sophia fleur de lis, my great great great great grandmother?"

"She was the witch of foresight and premonition."

He continued, "Often when Sophie had a premonition it was when she had touched something, however, there were rare times when she had a vision during her dreams. As you already know most witches train many years to learn of their ancestors' powers and craft but some like you Rien gain their ancestors' power naturally. Perhaps where she had rare dream visions you gained that power..."

Rein's head began to race, her eyes widened. "Does this mean what happened in my dream...?"

He gave a minor nod, "It's possible that your dream was a premonition, what happened exactly? Anything that stands out to you?" She closed her eyes and tried to think, it was like watching gears clicking into place gradually starting to turn.

"Not really...just shadows and the feeling like something or someone was watching me, chasing me..."

The midnight feline's fur stood up, his golden orbs staring into her intensely.

"Black Shadows? How did you feel?"

"Cold."

The candles that illuminated the room suddenly became just whisks of smoke, Ombra hissed like the whistle of a kettle. She felt her chest tighten while her breath got caught in her throat, it was like someone grasped around her neck and was squeezing slowly... Slowly...

The young witch carefully wrapped her fingers around her wand and pulled it from her pocket and waved it saying hoarsely,

"flaxigatale!"

As the flames flicked back to life, the force that just made her struggle to breathe vanished as if it was never there. She wheezed for air as the feline padded to her,

"I'm sorry! I couldn't do anything it was like something was holding me back..."

She waved her hand for him not to continue, she understood he would've helped if he could.

The young witch slowly pulled herself up, leaning against the wall while the cat jumped up onto the table near her. He swayed his tail, "At least you got that fire spell correct!"

She looked over at him and gave a bright smile, "That's true, and I didn't accidentally set fire to anything else this time!"

"Yeah, how did you make it light just the candles?"

She tapped her finger against her lips, "I aimed my wand at my candle said the spell and just focused on the candle being lit, I didn't really think or focus on anything else just the candle and the fire."

The feline gave a slight nod before glancing at the window, we both saw the first light slowly absorb the cloudless sky.

They watched for a few silent moments before she gave him a pat on the head, she smiled and kissed her teeth while walking to the door.

"You do know just because I look like a cat doesn't mean I need to be—" He started purring and rolling onto his side as she began to rub his belly.

She grinned, "What were you saying Ombra?"

He laughs sarcastically.

"Haha alright, you got me."

They walked out into the garden, surrounded by the forest. The young witch stepped into the light and it was as if a golden beacon turned on, the long waves of golden hair swayed in the air majestically.

She started feeding the animals around her, pigs and chickens, before—

BANG!