Chereads / The shadows burden:the one who bears all / Chapter 3 - CHAPTER 1.3: DARK REVELATIONS

Chapter 3 - CHAPTER 1.3: DARK REVELATIONS

Finding a candle and a trail of flammable power, he used it to light up the room with blue fires dancing gently around the library. As the trail was lit, it traveled across the chamber to reveal more of it. It took a few moments for the flames to reach the very end. Standing in awe of it all, Umbra found his time to admire the place very limited, as he heard the sound of a bowstring behind him, and felt an arrow pierce his shoulder. 

 

 "-AGH!" Umbra cried out in pain, turning his head sharply behind him to see that the assassins were here again, running through the hall. 

 

 With whatever strength Umbra had left in him, he quickly tried to close the heavy door behind him to create a barrier between him and the assassins, however, it was far too little, far too late. The assassins burst through the door, knocking the boy back and down a series of steps, snapping the arrow in his shoulder on the way down. In pain, Umbra slowly got back up, attempting to run through this library as he observed a doorway at the very end of it. He managed to grab a couple of books from a nearby shelf and shove them into his pouch. Just before he could get far, though, a chain bullwhip wrapped around his ankle, dragging him right back to them.

 

 The assassins circled him once more, but this time, it was clear they weren't wasting any more time. They seemed desperate as if this whole ordeal took far longer than they expected it to take. Before Umbra could even get back up on his own two feet, two assassins stepped forward, prepared to drive their blades into him.

 

 Umbra struggled like a fish out of water, the fear of death striking his heart. It was clear that he was far too deep into this - that there was no running from this anymore - which only terrified him even more. His eyes welled up with tears, frantically trying to draw a sword and summon his dark powers. The assassins gave no mercy, no time for the boy.

 

 "No! No, no! NO! Wait- ARGH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Umbra cried out, his voice shaking, betraying him and showing his dread. 

 

 In a moment of panic, as the world was fading away from his vision, Umbra found the last of his strength within himself to bring forth his powers, collecting the shadows in this library into a tangible force to direct them at his foes. The assassins were lifted and knocked into the ceiling, some were thrown through bookshelves, and others were simply pushed back and away. And in this brief moment of respite that followed, Umbra unwrapped the chain around his ankle and got back up. Fear turned into bravery as he realized the only way out of this was through. Even if he was still terrified - even if horror struck him at his core, Umbra had to fight.

 

 It wasn't long before an assassin came charging through the flickering shadows cast by the blue flames. Wielding a sword with a razor edge, he leaped up into the air and was prepared to drive the tip through Umbra's body. Just in time, Umbra conjured his sword and parried the attack with an upward swing as he turned around, initiating the assassin into a sword fight. Steel clashed against solid mist as Umbra kept up the offensive, though he could feel the wound in his shoulder now starting to burn, even hearing the sizzling of his flesh. He groaned out as his arm weakened and the effects of paralysis were slowly taking place. To end the fights as quickly as possible, he exhausted his powers to their absolute limits, driving a dark pillar of shadows down onto the assassin in front of him, crushing him, and throwing him away like a ragdoll.

 

 Two more voices screamed out behind him in a warcry, encountering throwing knives hurling towards his direction as he turned around to face them. However, Umbra was quick to utilize his abilities and followed his mother's teachings, turning himself into mist briefly to allow the knives to pass through him as if he were a ghost. He then summoned forth dark tendrils from the ground to wrap around one of the assassins, dragging them down to the floor and immobilizing them as he dealt with the other one carrying no weapons. Using his bare hands and armor to protect him, the assassin fought against Umbra's sword to find an opportunity to tackle him to the ground. 

 

 Yet once again, Umbra dodged the tackle with ease by turning himself into mist briefly. Now behind the assassin, he conjured a dark rope to wrap around the assassin's throat before jumping up into the air carrying the assassin with him and swinging him overhead, driving him straight into the ground with such force that it cracked not only the assassin's bones, but the stone floor itself. 

 

 Just as Umbra was preparing to face the last few assassins, he felt a weight jump on his shoulders and a dagger piercing his back not once, not twice, but three times. The female assassin that had backstabbed him took this chance to swing him to the ground and take him in a chokehold, stabbing Umbra once more in the chest for good measure. She kept Umbra still for as long as she could until the effects of her poisoned daggers could take place, which was unsurprisingly fast. 

 

 In a pool of blood and a body full of poison, the boy's eyes widened in fear of his mortality. With his vision fading and his body going limp, the last thing he remembered seeing was a figure made of complete shadow emerging from the dark and fighting the assassins. 

 

 The sounds slowly echoed in his mind as he drifted away into blackness. 

 

 "Who the hell is that?!"

 

 "...does it matter?! Kill him!"

 

 "NO!" 

 

 

 Silence.