LIGHTS IN THE SHADOW

by Rana Demiriz

  “Yes,” I said. Freyja smiled, and she turned to Egeria.

  “I told you she was The Divine Being,” Egeria seemed surprised, although she didn’t show any other reaction.

  The door was knocked. Freyja went to open it. It was one of the guards I have never seen before. After he said something to Freyja, she nodded. She closed the door and turned to me.

  “I’m sorry but I have got to go. I’m happy to have you here. See you in breakfast,” she said and left the room. We were alone with Egeria.

  “Rio was acting strangely, and Alejandro is just too good. Is Rio drinking?” I said.

  “No. I thought you knew that. That’s a part of the prophecy, but not everyone knows that. It was written on the prophecy chamber, but I guess you missed that part.”

  “What part?”

  “The curse says that the evil and the goodwill change sides. And even though they both deny it, we know that’s true.”

  “What kind of curse is this?”

  “A very unfortunate one, indeed… But, we have you. Maybe you can do something about it. Tell me, are you in love with Rio?”

  I answered in a blink. “No.”

  “What about Alejandro?” Instead of answering, I turned my back to her. Just when I was about to get in the bathroom, her words stopped me.

  “That just gives me another reason to kill you.”

  I turned my back and screamed. “What?”

  But everything happened too fast. Egeria took out a sword, which I didn’t notice before. She drove the sword into my stomach before I knew what hit me. It hurt like I was being crushed under the weight of the earth, and I screamed even though it wasn’t enough to express my pain. I put my hands on the hilt of the ornamented sword, but I didn’t have the strength to remove it.

  Egeria left the room in a flash.

  The world blacked out. I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. Of course, the huge sword in my stomach didn’t make things easier.

  I collapsed on my knees on the white carpet in the middle of the room. Every passing second, the symptoms of the blood loss showed more and more. When my pulse got slower, my heart stopped beating, and I was completely covered in my own blood. I felt the cold breath of death on my back once again. But this time, the cold breath of death escaped my lips as my last breath.

  And I took the grim reaper’s hand. When everything went black, I wasn’t the woman lying on the carpet anymore.

  THE ARCHIVE OF HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

  Recorded By Eva Irinov

  After Mia Riley, also known as The Divine Being, got kidnapped by Rio Luz, in other words, The Master of Light, we went after them. We prepared ourselves in that brief moment before we took off. We were taken by surprise by that nefarious attack.

  Alejandro was wearing one of his black shirts instead of his usual black t-shirts and other black pants - his other signature piece of clothing. He was armed. I’m sure he also had his blades. But his most visible weapon was hanging from his shoulders: The Curse Destroyer aka The Sword that Killed the Curse.

  I, on the other hand, was wearing black leather pants and a matching blouse. I was fully armed as I hid my blades in all the right places. Minutes later, we were on our way to a place we all hated. Three more jeeps were following us. We took half of our men with us. I was driving. Alejandro was at the front seat and Simon and Jay were sitting at the back.

  I was occasionally checking on Alejandro. His dark eyes did him justice. He was so angry and impatient. He was feeling guilty about not being able to stop Mia from being kidnapped right before his eyes.

  “Drive faster, Eva!” he said. The roads were empty as it was the middle of the night, and I was already two times over the speed limit.

  “Don’t worry, master, we’ll save Mia Riley,” I said with a reassuring tone.

  “Not at this rate. You saw Rio’s face. He already knew what he had to do when he found out she wasn’t the Mistress of Darkness for real.”

  Alejandro’s words were bursting with anger. It took us five minutes to get there instead of fifteen. I was surprised we could make it alive.

  Before we entered the sanctuary, all of our men were waiting for Alejandro’s orders outside.; including me, of course. He walked up to me, he was whispering, but I could see how angry he was.

  “We’ll get in, rescue Mia and kill everyone who dares to stand in our ways. That’s our plan, Eva.”

  Killing? That was my job. I smiled.

  “Don’t be afraid to die because if we can’t take Mia back, then we will be all dead when the war comes anyway!”

  I knew he completed the rest of his ‘because’ sentence differently on the inside. He didn’t reveal his actual emotions to our men.

  “Yes, master.”

  He turned back just as he was about to leave. “Eva, let’s make a deal with you.”

  “I’m listening, master.”

  “Rio is mine. I know he can’t die, but I want him unharmed. If he did anything to Mia, I’m going to kill him myself.”

  I smiled. Our plan was clear: Kill everything breathing. “And what do I get in return, master?”

  He rewarded me with a smile even though he was angry. “Pam is yours.”

  My smile got wider. He turned his steps towards the secret entrance without saying anything else. I turned to the men who still awaited our orders.

  “Gentlemen, here is our plan: We get in and don’t leave until we rescue The Divine Being.” Most of the men protested because I saved the best for the last. “Guys, there comes the best part! We can kill anyone we came across.” Everybody smiled. Some of them made comments, and others even applauded.

  Be killed, no.

  Kill, hell yeah.

  I felt excited as if this was my first operation. I could feel the adrenaline running in my blood.

  When we entered the sanctuary, Alejandro was walking at the front in the familiar corridor with torches. He didn’t have a weapon in his hand. He was walking like we were here to visit. I was walking behind him with my guard up. My hands were ready on my weapons. I could shoot anything at the first sign of danger. It felt amazing.

  The first guards we came across reached for their guns when they saw Alejandro. But they had to step aside when they spotted us. When we opened the door at the end of the torched corridor, we stumbled across that suffocating whiteness and light. Fortunately, we were all wearing black.

  The first unfortunate men of Light who noticed us gave out a battle cry. We immediately drew our guns out while some of us preferred swords.

  “Rio!” Alejandro howled. His voice hit the marble pillars and echoed through the whole sanctuary. Our enemies sat on the wicker chairs on the entrance. Our men had guns against their heads. Obviously, they weren’t expecting a counterattack this fast.

  Everyone was waiting with fearful eyes for Rio to come, and then he did. And what’s worse, he had that moronic Pamela with him. Rio was wearing his white shirt and grey pants. He had his sword, The Curse Destroyer, on the one hand.

  Alejandro reached out to his sword. “Give me back, Mia, and we’ll leave immediately.” Meanwhile, we were giving each other deadly glares with Pam. Ah, how I wished to break that thin neck of hers. I knew most people would wish for a house, a rich husband, and kids, but I had already lost them in a car accident years ago. That was when Alejandro found me. I wasn’t ever going to have those things again, but that was okay. It was not meant for me. I was born to kill.

  Rio shook his head. “Mia is mine Alejandro. You can’t take her.”

  “Yeah? Is that so? I challenge you for a duel.”

  Alejandro was going to win. Dueling was his thing. Before he could control himself, I saw a trace of fear passed through Rio’s eyes, but then he unexpectedly made the first move. Alejandro wasn’t unprepared. He was skillfully blocking Rio’s every blow. While they were dueling, I wasn’t comfortable myself. I was kept checking around, especially for Pamela.

  Suddenly a deadly sound of steel echoed t
hrough the air. And then everything went silent. Rio’s sword and Alejandro were crossed in the air. I could feel the power and rage reeking through their skins. I could feel something very bad was about to happen. It was like seeing the dark clouds before the storm.

  Right at that moment, Pamela jumped on me. She wanted to thrust her sword into me, but I warded off with a smart move and my reflexes. Pamela blacked out as I hit her with my elbow. I didn’t think it would be that easy. It was such a disappointment. I looked around with enthusiasm; all of my muscles were ready to fight. Everybody was fighting each other in the great hall. They were all beating each other up with fists, kicks, or swords. Alejandro and Rio were still dueling.

  A screech coming from upstairs echoed through the sanctuary. It was very familiar. Mia Riley, The Divine Being.

  “Mia,” Alejandro whispered.

  Everybody dropped their weapons instantly. The sound of swords crashing the floor was deafening. Alejandro and Rio looked at each other first, and then they both put their swords back to their sheaths. Alejandro climbed the extremely white stairs running. Rio followed him. I was going behind them as Pam was still unconscious. I tried to keep up with Alejandro’s hurried steps. He was nearly flying through them. When we reached upstairs, we found ourselves in the middle of a corridor with a bunch of white doors.

  “Which room?” Alejandro yelled at Rio.

  “Stop yelling at me!” Rio said protestingly.

  “Shut the hell up!” Alejandro snapped.

  Instead of answering, Rio pointed towards a door near the end of the corridor. I paused for a moment. I wondered how Mia Riley was. Why did she scream? What was waiting for us behind that door?

  Alejandro rushed to the door. He fought with the crystal doorknob, but it was locked. For some reason, someone had locked the door. Maybe, Mia Riley had locked it herself. Alejandro was strong enough to break down the door without an effort. He stepped back, and then he kicked down the door.

  Alejandro and Rio stepped into the room at the same time. But I just stood there petrified at the entrance. Simon followed me. He wasn’t happy with what he saw either; none of us was.

  Mia Riley, known as The Divine Being, our Savior, was lying on the carpet in her black nightgown she had on this morning with a huge sword in her stomach. The carpet was no longer white, it was bloody red, and Mia Riley’s nightgown was painted in burgundy. The sword in his stomach wasn’t the color of cold steel anymore, it was crimson red. The whole room was filled with that salty, coppery scent of fresh blood.

  I was the first one to move because everyone seemed to be frozen still. I took a few steps into the room, so I could get a clearer vision of Mia Riley. Her hair spilled around the carpet in beautiful locks. There was a crease in the middle of her eyebrows, which indicated that she was surprised by the attack. She was still so beautiful even when she was lying on the floor with a sword in her stomach. I got a little closer and stood aside just for this time and this time only. I bent down, and I put two fingers on her neck.

  She didn’t have a pulse. She was dead.

  The beautiful Divine Being, our Savior, Alejandro’s, in other words, the Master of Darkness’ first and only love was nothing more than a corpse. I turned my head towards Alejandro without getting up.

  “She’s gone…”

  I’ve never seen Alejandro like that. He was about to cry, yet his dark eyes didn’t give away his true feelings. Only I could see that because I had been working with him for years.

  Rio, on the other hand, was staring at the corpse, not with love but anger. He was angry at her for dying. According to him, Divine Beings shouldn’t die and fight for him instead.

  Alejandro couldn’t control himself any longer and kneel beside Mia Riley. I quickly got up and took a few steps back. I respected his pain because I knew he was in love with her. I’ve never seen him look at someone like that before. He pushed back a hair that fell on Mia Riley’s face. He smiled bitterly and held her hand.

  “You can’t die. You shouldn’t. You’re The Divine Being, please don’t leave me.”

  However, his expression didn’t give out anything. I couldn’t tell if he was going to cry or shout out in anger.

  “Yes, she can’t. She can be immortal like you. We can save her,” the Goddess Freyja said from the threshold. Alejandro and Rio nodded with hope. After a little quarrel, Alejandro took Mia Riley in his arms. She was a corpse for now, but even though I didn’t want to admit it, she was definitely created for Alejandro. Perfect for the perfect…

  As I said, The Divine Being was supposed to be immortal. We all hoped to witness that in a moment. Did one of us have to die in order to resurrect her? What would bring her back?

  Only one thing was certain in my mind: This wasn’t the end of Mia Riley. It was only the beginning of the end…