Shadows Over Arcadia Chapter 86: 84. Nightmare

Read chapter 86 of Shadows Over Arcadia by Zacheas on NovelPedia.

I am Ren Drakemore, and I can’t give up. https://shadowsoverarcadia.com/api/storage/objects/uploads/94d9f12d-768f-4ec3-a12d-51b487be4617 Branches rake across my body as I run between trees and over uneven soil, demonic cackling echoing all around me. Vicious growls chase me through the dark, joined by the heavy thump of countless paws. Several things crash through the underbrush behind me, large, fast, and gaining. “ Night Sight, ” I say, desperately trying to cast the spell over myself again, but the world remains dark. I don’t remember how I came to be here, or even know where here is. Only a vague memory, some kind of fight, then this. Running through a dense thicket with barely any light, twigs snapping underfoot, I am surrounded by the scent of rotted leaves. I keep one arm raised to shield my face as the thorns cut deep. Behind me, unseen beasts snarl and howl. “Fire Bolt!” I yell, aiming with my other arm at the first thing that rounds the tree behind me. It dodges with unnatural deftness, slipping around the spell, moving more like a shadow than a beast. A twisted abomination with glowing yellow, pupilless eyes and an elongated, sharp-toothed maw, just like its creator. What are these things? Wolves? Fae? Some twisted mix of both? Where did they come from? How did I get here? Too many questions without answers. The only thing I know for sure is that I have to keep running. Monstrous jaws snap at where my ankle had been a half-step before. “Stone Spike!” I shout to summon one up from the ground beneath it. The wolf dodges, but the spell gives me precious distance before it bounds after me once more. I push myself to my limit, running as fast as my legs can carry me through the pain and shifting soil. But they keep gaining on me. “It’s a bit different facing them yourself, isn’t it, boy?” Lilith chides. “No more hiding behind powerful friends.” I ignore her words—I need to focus. Half my attention is on my footing as I leap over fallen logs and duck under branches. The rest I devote to pushing against Lilith’s intrusion. I feel her grip loosen, just a fraction, for just a moment. And in that smallest moment, I hear the distant voices of Shadow, Envy, and Wrath. Not clear enough to make out their words, but unmistakably them. Still there, still fighting. I am not alone. Her grip tightens, yanking their voices away. Claws slash across my Barrier, and I force it outward, shoving one wolf back before sending a Fire Bolt at another. Again, it dodges, but my flame lights the beast as it passes. For one brief moment, I see its face clearly. It sneers at me like no wolf ever would, its maw moving with Lilith’s voice. “And no more hiding behind this borrowed bravery .” Her words echo through the woods, spilling from every tree, until the whole forest seems to be mocking me. Midstep, my chest tightens, my breath catches in my throat, and the forest begins to tilt. In an instant, the steady rhythm of my heart becomes the thunder of galloping horses. The clear mind granted by Lion’s Heart is ripped away, seized by a dread so vast I can see and feel nothing else. My foot catches on a stone, sending me tumbling headfirst. Jagged stones and brush cut at me as I slide, the ground giving way beneath me and sending me rolling down a steep embankment. I grasp desperately, loose gravel and soil slipping through my fingers as I fall into the dark. My back strikes something hard with a crack, followed by the back of my head. Pain lances through my spine. Stars flicker across my vision, and I gasp for the air knocked from my lungs. I claw at the dirt, breathless and shaking, until my lungs finally open with a painful gasp. Shakily, I try to regain my footing, but my boots slip and I catch myself against the tree that stopped my fall. What do I do? I look around frantically for answers. There is no sign of the wolves. Where did they go? Are they waiting for me to climb back up? My boot slips again. Can I climb back up? I ask myself, my gaze shi