Shadow Walker (Revenant’s Series Book 1)

by Elissa Daye

  “So to fight the energy feeding those shadows, we need to channel different energy into their world.”

  “In a matter of speaking. We could use this energy to destroy the orbs and perhaps shut down the portals. This may only be a temporary fix to the situation, for I have not begun any tests on the orbs within the Land of the Shadows. I have only tested it on these rocks.”

  “We’ll need much more evidence in order to get more of the Watch Tower to assist us.”

  “I realize that. I’m going back in tonight.” Part of her knew that she should not attempt this alone, but the pigheaded part of her decided she could do this. She would take down this orb and prove that these shadows could be stopped once and for all.

  “Be careful, Lyssa. Don’t take any unnecessary actions.”

  “Of course.” He did not need to know that she would take any action necessary to bring down these shadows. Too many people had suffered. Too much damage had already been done.

  Chapter 27

  Tonight, Lyssa was going back to the last portal that she had visited. She had spent some time drawing a map of the world so that once she entered the portal, she could teleport directly to the orb without attracting the tornado clouds from the sky. If she waited until the witching hour, then most of the shadows would be vacant from their world.

  When she entered the portal, she pulled out the map and ran her fingers over it. Lyssa had only been able to create the areas that she had explored. There was a chance that orbs were in other places as well, but she was going with what she already knew from her first exploration. While she was going to try to take down the orb, she was also testing a theory out to free the souls trapped within the rock garden.

  Lyssa ran her fingers over the map and waited to see if she could feel the energy trail that the shadows left. She could not sense any activity in the garden areas. There was activity in regions of the map that had not been drawn yet, but not nearly close enough for her to worry about. Taking a deep breath, she gathered as much courage as she could and teleported to where the obsidian orb was located.

  The garden was even darker tonight. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, Lyssa could see where she had stood the other day. Moving closer to the orb, she reached her hand out to touch it. One woman’s screams of agony roared through her head, and she moved her hand away.

  Lyssa placed both hands to her temple to help sway the painful flashes she saw in her mind. Lana. She had been too late to save her soul. Lyssa curled her fingers into tight balls and squeezed her eyes shut when other screams started to filter through the silence. Apparently, this orb held all the pain and memories of each and every one of its victims and had taken so many souls; it was hard to separate one from another. Soon she was overwhelmed with the emotions that swarmed around her. It became clear to her that it would be better not to touch another orb in the future if she could avoid it. She could not afford to be distracted by the feelings stored within them.

  Pulling out the large rose quartz, she put every inch of her hopes and dreams into it. Lyssa imagined the face of the child in her future and grabbed onto her locket, but it was not enough. She took a deep breath and let every sad, angry, and belligerent thought leave her body. Lyssa imagined Jackson’s smiling face and felt his warmth run through her. He had always been the best part of her life. Then she imagined Lana’s sarcastic voice teasing her as she often had. When she held enough courage within her, she tried to see Hunter’s face without remembering the pain of their separation. She had to lock up those emotions, for right now, she needed to simply exist within the happiness of the memory of his embrace.

  The rose quartz hummed loudly in her hand, and she knew she had charged it as much as she possibly could. Lyssa created a large white light that she suspended in the air before her. When it had grown to the size of the orb, her mind forced it toward its black counterpart. The light merged and melted into the darkness before her.

  The energy she sent into the orb started to create cracks within its design, almost as if the light were seeping through the darkness. She heard a hiss as the light splintered, and the black orb looked much like a dried riverbank in the middle of a hot drought, its cracks trembling loudly. She watched it glow like an ember in a flame before it cracked one last time. For an instant, she thought that energy she had filtered into it had done all that it would. Lyssa was disappointed that she had not been able to affect it more. Then suddenly, she was ducking her head, trying to avoid the exploding orb as it sent shards into the air upon ignition.

  Lyssa was not fast enough, and she felt something hot rip across her head. She ducked to the ground, gripping her head as the rest of the orb detonated around her. When she pulled her hand away from the back of her head, it was covered in blood. Lyssa attempted to apply more pressure to still the bleeding, but the world was fading around her as she murmured the only thing she could.

  Hunter!

  Her head was pounding like a jackhammer when she woke up just moments later. The incessant throbbing made it hard to focus her eyes. When she was finally able to, she looked through squinting eyes at the world around her. The shadows swarmed around her, and she knew they would have her in moments if she didn’t do something quickly. She grabbed her wand out of her bag and aimed at the growing darkness surrounding her.

  They were so close together; it was hard to tell where one shadow started, and the other began. Their icy black fingertips pulled at every inch of her, and she felt herself being pulled deeper into their blackness. Pulling the locket off her neck, she gripped it within her fingers. The shadows tried to pull her apart piece by piece, but she would not break. Lyssa used all the energy she had left inside her and made a shield full of light to surround her. They raised their crystals and started blasting at her until she flew through the air and crashed onto the ground a few feet away. She felt them breaking through the shield and cried out one last time. “Hunter!” Her scream pierced the air around her as the shadows floated closer toward her. One last blast, and they had demolished her shield. She curled up in a ball and prepared herself for an attack. It never came.

  Suddenly three other Guardians were surrounding her, their wands raised and ready for the approaching shadows. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the pain in the back of her head finally took the little energy that she had left. Lyssa let her head fall back to the ground, and the last sight she saw before darkness hit was Hunter’s angry face.

  Chapter 28

  When she came to, her head was swimming, and dots were clouding her vision. Lyssa tried to speak, but no words would come out. She brought her hand to her forehead and felt bandages wrapped tightly around it.

  Jackson rushed to her side. “Careful, Lyssa. We don’t want to damage Sarah’s fine work.” He nodded to the blonde in the corner.

  Sarah rose and came to the other side of her bed. She lifted a light scope to look in Lyssa’s eyes. “Do you see the light?”

  Before the light had flashed in her pupils, Lyssa saw the number twelve tattooed on Sarah’s left forearm. Lyssa tried to move her mouth and form the words, but her mouth was parched. When she attempted a nod, a blinding pain bit into the back of her head, she must have gotten hit harder than she thought. Lyssa moved her eyes around the room, searching for Hunter.

  “He’s okay, Lyssa. He had to go back. We’re all fine. It’s you we’re worried about, going off all half-assed like that without taking any of us with you.” He was clearly upset at her.

  Lyssa smirked at him and pursed her lips. Attitude must have shown quickly on her face because Sarah started to chuckle. “Cool it there, buddy. Yelling at my patient is not going to help the situation. Listen to me, Lyssa. We tried to get all the shards from your head, but there’s one too close to your spine near your neck. We had to leave it in. So far, it is affecting the rate of your healing. You’ve been asleep for three days already, and we’re not quite done with our he
aling rituals. I’m going to have to put you in a longer sleep, more like a meditation than a coma. It might take a couple of days, maybe a week. When you wake up, you’ll be as good as new. Do you understand? No, don’t try to nod again, please. Just raise one finger for yes, two for no.”

  Lyssa made a fist in her right hand and opened just one finger. She understood what Sarah was saying. The healers would be patching her up while she slept, and although she had just woken up, she was still exhausted. If she could wake up without such a pounding headache, that would be so much better. Lyssa smiled at them and winked at Serena, who was looking at her with tears in her eyes. When Sarah moved her hands over her head, she felt her eyelids get heavy. Sarah’s healing energy was all she felt before she nodded off once again. Her last thought was of the dark fragments that might always be a part of her.

  The next time she woke, Hunter was by her bedside, crouched over the hand that he held. She squeezed his hand lightly, and he raised his head. He looked like every ounce of his being was in mourning, but for what, she had no idea. “Lyssa.”

  “Hunter,” she whispered back. It was all she could manage, considering she had not used her vocal cords for an extended period of time. “What day is it?”

  “October 25.”

  What? That much time had passed? That meant she had been in bed for almost two months. She saw gemstones surrounding her bed and could tell they had been working overtime to help bring her back to the land of the living.

  “I’ll be right back, Lyssa.” Hunter left the room and returned quickly with Sarah.

  “Ah, there’s my patient. It seems you needed longer than we first thought to recover from that head wound. Let’s get some food and water in you. Hunter, you can come back later when we have sorted her out here.”

  He did not want to leave. It was clear that he wanted to argue with Sarah, but she was having none of it. She pointed to the door and commanded him to get out once again.

  “Okay, dear Lyssa. Let’s get your voice together for you. I know you’ll have questions to ask, so first, let’s get those vocal cords hydrated.”

  Lyssa spent the next two hours getting checked over for residual damage. Her vocal cords were in working order before long. It was hard to move her legs at first, but when Sarah applied a warming poultice of some concoction she had put together in the mixing bowl in front of her, the life seemed to seep right back into her limbs. Lyssa sat up and tried to push herself out of bed.

  “Whoa there. None of that yet. Just focus on keeping the energy flowing through those legs right now, if you please.”

  Jackson had come in to fill her in on what had been happening around them while she was asleep. The Watch Tower was putting her strategies into play, and with the documented portals that she had detailed in her reports, they were destroying more orbs around the world. While this was happening, Hunter and Logan remained within the heart of the Craven, finding new leads and information for taking down the organization once and for all. Hunter was coming to see her during times that did not coincide with his movements within the Craven. For all intents and purposes, everything was going as planned, even in her absence. The summer session had just ended at school when she was injured, and that suited Lyssa just fine. She had no plans to return to school at this time, no desire to keep up a false front any longer.

  When Sarah finally left the room, Hunter entered quietly. He looked at her face, and she could tell that these two months had been difficult for him.

  “Why are you here?” she couldn’t help asking. Lyssa knew he was supposed to be deep undercover.

  “Why?” Hunter shook his head in disbelief. “Why do you think I am here, Lyssa? I have to be here. I need to see for myself that you’re okay.”

  “I’m on the mend, Hunter. We both still have jobs to do. I’ve already put yours in jeopardy. I’m sorry.” There was deep remorse in her voice. She just hoped that she hadn’t blown his cover. His work was so important to their cause. Lyssa could never forgive herself if she ruined his identity within the Craven.

  “You almost lost your life, and you want to talk about our duties to the Watch Tower? Seriously?”

  “Like you have room to talk, Hunter. Your life is in jeopardy every time you leave. It’s no different for me. Besides, what else is there to talk about right now? Isn’t that all that matters? The work we’re doing? It’s the most important thing.” Lyssa closed her thoughts to him. She did not need him to read the sadness that was tearing her up inside, for she knew she had to send him away. Lyssa could not let him sacrifice his mission for another single day.

  Hunter ran his fingers through his hair, and it was clear that he was agitated. “I can’t do this anymore.” He walked out of the room, and tears ran down her eyes. She had expected this. Lyssa knew if she pushed him hard enough, he would not return. She hated it, but it was necessary.

  By the end of the week, she was itching to get up and moving. Lyssa went into the library and found several Guardians around the spinning globe in the middle of the room. They raised their heads and smiled in her direction when she entered.

  Julius rose from his chair and walked over to pat her on the back. “Good to have you back.”

  “What are you working on?” Lyssa walked over to the globe and saw that they were looking over different cities in the country.

  “We’re going to work on the West Coast right now. There are a few portals in Washington that they wanted to start with.”

  “When do we leave?”

  “We leave tomorrow evening. You should get some more rest before we send you out again.”

  “Unless you can put me on lockdown, I’m going with you. As long as I’m not alone, I will be fine.”

  Finally, she wore them down, and it was agreed that she would be going with them the next evening. Lyssa teleported to her room to gather her thoughts for the journey ahead. She was glad to see that the information she had gleaned from her previous excursions was proving useful to the Watch Tower. The fact that she had been able to help in the fight against the shadows on her world warmed her heart.

  Lyssa was going through her closet to make sure she had the right clothing for tomorrow when she heard a whoosh of air in the room.

  “Lyssa, you are not going to the Land of the Shadows without me.”

  “Wow, you’re barely here for a minute, and you want to put your balls to the wall. News flash, Hunter…you do not control what I do. I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

  “Like last time?”

  “Last time was my fault. I took on too much alone. I’ll be fine with the others there.”

  “You can’t do this. Please, you need to regain your strength. You could get yourself injured so badly that you won’t make it back.”

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do. You don’t get to tell me anything. Who the hell do you think you are? If you haven’t noticed, you’ve been out of my life so long; it was like you were never in it. What right do you think you have to control anything I do? We’re not together, are we?”

  “Wait here while I go talk to Julius. I know he put you up to this, just like he put you up to your other excursions. I’m done with this. It’s over.”

  “Do your worst, Hunter. You still won’t stop me.”

  But he had already disappeared from her room. This was a disaster. Her stupid, foolish emotions had gotten the best of her again. She had not meant to fight with him, but he had no right to dictate her actions. Her mind settled on his last words to her. Did he mean that they were over? How would that be any different than their current hiatus?

  Lyssa sat on her bed and waited for him to come back, but Hunter did not return as soon as she thought. She lay down on her bed and curled up in a ball, the most comfortable position when the whole world continued to be turned upside down. Her head pounded angrily, and Lyssa tried to fight the exhaustion that fel
t like lead pulling down against the gravity of her eyelids. She drifted to sleep, trying to hold on to the image of the family that she had seen in the vision, a family that, at one point, had seemed like a destiny worth fighting for.

  Chapter 29

  Hunter did not return that night, and for the first time in forever, she slept until dawn’s light was just starting to trickle through her window. When she finally left her room, the apartment was empty. Usually, Jackson would be sitting in the living room or the kitchen, but no one was anywhere to be found.

  After making herself a quick meal, she teleported to the library to do some more searching. Lyssa spent a few hours scanning the globe for more activity and charting her findings and discovered at least six areas where she could sense active portals. She was so caught up in what she was doing; she did not hear anyone enter the room.

  “Lyssa?”

  She turned to see Hunter standing behind her in clothes that appeared to be wet. “What happened to you?” Lyssa was completely avoiding the questions that she wanted to ask. What happened last night? What did you tell Julius? All of the things she was afraid to know the answer to.

  “You should see this.” He pushed the button to get the screen from the ceiling and turned it on.

  Lyssa was surprised to see that a vehicle had crashed into the railing of a river near her college. The car had been pulled up from the water, but the driver was missing. A photograph came onto the screen, and she gasped aloud. It looked like Hunter, but it was off just slightly. “It’s you. Or was it you? What exactly does this mean?”

  “This is how the Craven saw me. I used a glimmer charm to hide my true identity. Anyone who knew me could see me the way that I actually am. This man, Charles Darvinger, was the man that was moving up within their ranks. It means that this Charles Darvinger is no longer with the living, or at least that is what the Craven thinks.”