Memoriam ➳ The Darkling

[12]

Soundtrack: Nessa Barret - la di die

It was around noon when I left Baghra's hut with a wide smile on my face that I didn't bother hiding. For the first time since I had arrived in the Little Palace, I had enjoyed a lesson with Baghra. I knew she was trying her best not to show her amusement but I could simply see it in her blue eyes –she was amused by the way I used my power even though it had been only a few hours since I started summoning at will.

The more I used my power and the more I summoned at will, the stronger I began to feel. It wasn't hard to understand why the Grisha didn't age much compared to the Otkazat'sya –their power fed them. I was so happy that I went to the Little Palace literally bouncing like a bunny.

I didn't know where to find my friends so I checked out the dining hall at first but they weren't seated around the divans, hence I decided to go to the grounds once again and visit the lake. As I was expecting, I found them there, resting by the lake. When I arrived literally screaming and running towards them, Iwona was using her power to play with the frozen water of the lake.

"I CAN DO IT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and stopped for a moment to catch my breath upon arriving next to them.

Shura rolled her eyes at me. "You've finally lost your damn mind, Valkyrja." she muttered but Anita hit her shoulder. "Hey!"

Radoslaw was giving me a horrified look, Iwona looked worried, Anita was curious but Leon seemed like he had understood what I meant. With a cry of joy, he stood up from where he was sitting and took me inside his arms. As he made me turn around my own axis, I literally trod on air –my feet weren't touching the ground.

"I knew you had what it takes, Val!" he spoke excitedly as he put me down. "Now show us your moves."

With a wide smile on my lips, I raised my hands on top of my head and shadows gathered between my palms, taking the form of a dark sphere. Then, I threw it high in the air and the sphere exploded into a million shadow pieces, which rained onto us.

In the blink of an eye, everyone other than Shura began to shout happily as they literally jumped onto me to pull me into a group hug. At that moment, nothing seemed important enough to bother me: not my meeting with Evan the previous day, nor the truth about my mother's side of the family –nothing.

I was happy, I was with the people who cared about me and most importantly, I felt complete for the very first time in my twenty-two years of life.

We sat by the lake until it was lunchtime –Shura was creating dry places for us on the snow since she was an Inferni. It was quite enjoyable and my new, energetic personality seemed to lift up everyone's mood –I was so happy that I even acted nice to Shura despite all her efforts of trying to upset me.

"What will happen now that you can summon at will?" Anita asked me as we walked towards the dining hall. She was wearing her usual, red kefta with grey embroideries and she had her chestnut hair in a ponytail.

I pushed back a strand of raven hair falling in front of my eyes. "Baghra will teach me how to control and manipulate the shadows skilfully, then the Darkling's going to decide what shall come next." I responded; even though I knew that after my training with Baghra came training with the Darkling's shadows, I didn't want to share this piece of information with anyone.

Anita sent me a small smile, "He must be holding you at a special place since he never takes a close interest in any Grisha's personal progress." she said. I couldn't help myself but smile but I quickly wiped it off my face.

I shrugged, "Well, I'm the only Shadow Summoner other than him, so..." I said before we parted our ways for Anita had to sit with the Corporalki and I sat with the Etherealki. "It should be normal." Anita blew me a kiss and went to her seat next to Leon. I took mine as well and in a few seconds Iwona, Shura and Radoslaw came to the dining hall.