In The Name of Shadows - A Darklina Story

Chapter 16: A Painful Regret

Publishing date: 04/15/2022

Mal couldn't believe his own eyes.

Sure, the brown-haired boy had sensed deep down himself that this would happen, but a part of him had been rebelling against this development anyway, believing that such terrible things couldn't have happened twice during one short human existence.

The Tracker had lost Alina before, and it was because of the same man who apparently had taken her away from him again. Mal had been deprived of Alina's closeness by the machinations of that mighty Grisha, with whom Malyen could not compete, realizing that everything about Aleksander Morozova was completely unlike him.

Mal had no might and no power. Mal didn't have that dark charm and mesmerizing confidence. Mal couldn't express himself as beautifully as him. The crowds did not kneel before Mal, ready to kiss his feet, like they did before him.

No.

Mal didn't have any of the things the Darkling had. Mal was just an ordinary boy, who was apparently cursed by his feelings for a wrong woman. And now the Shadow Summoner had taken his wife from the Tracker as well. And it happened again. Was it a greater irony of fate? Or was it the greater suffering and humiliation ever experienced by a wounded man?

"Alina!" The brown-haired boy shouted again, ignoring the expression written on Aleksander Morozova's face. The Shadow Summoner was now having some deadly fire burning in his eyes. It was also an unmistakable obsession showed in the way he was keeping Alina out of Mal's way, hiding her completely behind his back. "Alina! What are you doing? And why are you still with this man? Alina!"

Malyen did not think that he would feel like this at the sight of Aleksander Morozova. A wave of unbridled hatred filled his entire body, making the Tracker behave reckless and careless. Mal took no notice of the Darkling's dark army, which was waiting for an order to attack, and he was unaware of the deadly shadows now swirling around the brown-haired boy and creeping in a piercing chill beneath his thin clothing.

Moreover, Mal even had no interest in a group of dozens of Grisha who were ready to capture him as soon as their leader ordered them to.

It didn't matter for him anymore.

Malyen Oretsev was simply heartbroken. And his poor soul was hurt even more than his body.

"Alina!" The Tracker shouted again, knowing he would not be able to get through to his wife now. Admittedly, Mal was on horseback and had such an advantage over the Darkling's retinue that he could use the element of surprise, but he would not have had the slightest chance against the Heartrenders. Not to mention that Aleksander Morozova could for sure have killed the Tracker with his deadly shadow cut. Though, surprisingly, the Shadow Summoner still hadn't done this yet. The Dark General was clearly waiting for something, but he also looked like he was on the verge of his psychical endurance. "Alina! I just want to talk to you!"

The Havoc Summoner was shivering from various conflicted emotions that were now tugging at her. There were not only the boundless joy and fear of meeting her husband, whom Alina hadn't expected to see again, but also the shame and remorse.

As Aleksander was still holding the white-haired girl's hand tightly, she knew what Mal must see now. Her beloved man had just witnessed her power being awakened in her in more intensified and terrifying form than this which he had ever experienced. It was not the power of the Sun Summoner, but the power of someone much, much darker than this. It was a force belonging to a living legend written in some ancient Grisha's prophecies.