Shadow and Spell A Tale of Redemption Part 3

The cave was silent, save for the distant drip of water echoing off the jagged stone walls. The air smelled of damp earth and something older—ancient magic, lingering like the last whispers of a long-forgotten spell.

Vaelin adjusted his stance, hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. His instincts told him they were safe for now, but he had learned long ago that safety was an illusion.

Elira sat on a nearby rock, her fingers tracing glowing sigils in the air. “That was close,” she muttered, exhaling. “Teleportation over that distance isn’t easy. I think I singed my eyebrows.”

Vaelin smirked. “They look intact.”

“Good. I like my eyebrows.” She flexed her fingers, exhaustion creeping into her voice. “We should rest for a bit before moving on.”

Vaelin hesitated. Time was not their ally. The Silent Fang would regroup, track them down again, and next time, they might not escape so easily. But he could see the fatigue in Elira’s face, the way her hands trembled slightly from the overuse of magic. If she couldn’t defend herself, they were both as good as dead.

“Fine. Not long,” he relented.

Elira gave him a weak smile before turning her attention to the cave walls. Ancient carvings stretched across the stone, barely visible in the dim glow of her magic. “Look at this.”

Vaelin stepped closer. The symbols were unfamiliar, looping and twisting in ways that made his head ache if he stared too long. “What is it?”

“A language lost to time,” Elira whispered, her fingertips hovering over the carvings. “This place is older than Duskwatch itself. These symbols… they’re connected to the Heart of Tenebris.”

Vaelin narrowed his eyes. “What makes you so sure?”

Elira hesitated, then turned to face him fully. “Because I’ve seen them before.”

Vaelin folded his arms. “Where?”

She exhaled. “My mother’s journal.”

A flicker of something passed through Elira’s eyes—pain, loss. Vaelin recognized it instantly. He had seen that same look in the mirror too many times before.

“She was a scholar,” Elira continued. “She spent years researching lost magic, but the Heart of Tenebris became her obsession. She believed it was hidden somewhere deep beneath the ruins of an old kingdom, long buried and forgotten. But someone didn’t want her to find it.”

Vaelin frowned. “What happened to her?”

Elira swallowed hard. “She was murdered.”

The word hung heavy in the air between them. Vaelin knew better than to offer meaningless condolences. He had lost people too. He knew that kind of grief never truly healed—it only hardened into something sharp, something that drove you forward even when the world told you to stop.

Instead, he asked, “You think the same people who killed her are after you?”

Elira nodded. “It makes sense. If the Heart is as powerful as the legends say, someone wants to keep it hidden—or worse, claim it for themselves.”

Vaelin considered this. The Silent Fang rarely took contracts blindly. Someone high up had ordered Elira’s death, someone with power, resources, and a vested interest in burying the truth. He didn’t like being a pawn in other people’s games.

“Then we find it first,” he said simply.

Elira blinked. “You’re—just like that? You’re in?”

Vaelin shrugged. “I don’t like being lied to. And if this thing is dangerous, better we get to it before someone worse does.”

Elira studied him for a moment, then smiled. “You’re not as cold as you pretend to be, Vaelin Duskbane.”

Vaelin rolled his eyes. “Don’t spread that around.”

Before Elira could reply, the air around them shifted. A chill ran down Vaelin’s spine. He turned sharply, daggers already in his hands.

The shadows in the cave moved.

A low, whispering voice slithered through the air, not in any language Vaelin knew, but the meaning scraped against his mind like claws on stone. A darkness pooled in the corner of the cavern, a figure forming from its depths—a being of shifting black mist, with eyes like burning embers.

Elira inhaled sharply. “A Shade.”

Vaelin didn’t waste time with questions. He lunged, his dagger slicing through the shadowy form—but instead of meeting flesh, his blade passed through as if cutting through smoke. The Shade chuckled, its voice echoing unnaturally.

“You seek the Heart… but the Heart seeks you.”

Elira’s grip tightened around her staff. “That’s not ominous at all.”

The Shade’s ember-like eyes flicked toward her. “Daughter of the Seeker… your fate is already written.”

Vaelin didn’t like that. Not one bit. He grabbed Elira’s arm. “We’re leaving. Now.”

The Shade’s misty form stretched toward them, but Elira muttered an incantation, and a pulse of bright, golden light erupted from her staff. The darkness shrieked and recoiled. In the brief moment of respite, Vaelin pulled Elira toward the cave’s entrance.

They burst into the open night, the crisp air shocking after the stifling cave. Behind them, the whispers faded, but Vaelin had the sinking feeling they weren’t gone.

Elira was breathing hard. “We need to move faster.”

Vaelin nodded. “Agreed.”

He cast one last glance at the cave before leading them into the forest. The past was chasing them, and time was running out.

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All Parts of This Series

• Shadow & Spell: A Tale of Redemption Part 1
• Shadow & Spell: A Tale of Redemption Part 2
• Shadow & Spell: A Tale of Redemption Part 3
• Shadow & Spell: A Tale of Redemption Part 4
• Shadow & Spell: A Tale of Redemption Part 5