The Shadow Of Magic(first draft)

Chapter 21

Vincent or Eliza? That was the question wasn't it? And who was keeping them from saying anything else? And why didn't Eliza say anything about it? Maybe she isn't affected by it because she was the first Shadow? Or maybe...No. It couldn't possibly be her. She is the first. What if it is her? Is Eiran really going to just trust Vincent, someone who tried to wipe out the nomadges? But what if he was telling the truth about them?

"Eiran! Where are you?"A voice echoed from above. Didn't June say only Eiran could let people in the cave? Eiran ran back up the stairs to find Felix roaming aimlessly in the room.

"How did you get here?"Eiran asked frantically, setting the heavy book down on the table. "I honestly don't know. I was June walk out of here and the door just kind of appeared so I came in assuming you were here. Oh! And Josephine is looking for you."He added, his face lighting up when looking at Eiran.

"Umm...what is this place?"Felix looked around the space like he had just realized where he was. "June said it is the cave of the Shadows or whatever. But in short, the lives of every Shadow ever is here in writing." Eiran explained, picking up Vincent's book and sending it back to it's rightful place.

"Who was that? Also why would someone need all of this? How many are there? Oh my God I have so much to tell Lola." He said in a very jumbled up and quick way but Eiran could tell he was excited. "I think you need to slow down for a second." Eiran claimed, grabbing Felix's shoulders to stop him from practically running around due to overexcitement.

He quickly pulled away, both their faces flushed a bright red color. "Sorry. Ummm...you said Josephine needed me right?" Eiran blurted, trying to change the subject.

"Oh uh..ya she is. Can't really remember why actually." He admitted. "Well then I should probably go see...what she wanted." Eiran added stepping towards the large door on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh okay...well, I should probably leave here then." Felix remarked, following Eiran slowly out the door, clearly wanting to stay where he was. "You can stay and look around if you want. I don't mind. I know you like it in here. I'm not blind you know." Eiran smiled at him, granting him an absolutely happy Felix.

"Really!? Oh thank you! I want to learn so much. There is so much information here we would never have access to otherwise. Oh I'll meet you guys later. Tell the others where I am for me okay?" He exclaimed, running to the lower shelves that held scrolls and placing them on the table. That was the day Eiran realized just how big of a nerd Felix was when it came to history. A cute nerd, but a nerd none the less.

He could only live in that thought for so long though due to Josephine standing right outside waiting for him. "Oh hey, Felix told me you were looking for me." He explained, stepping towards her. "Ya I wanted to talk with you. I know what that place is you know? I was in there a couple times. Raellyn trusted me so I could go in and out as I pleased back then. Anyways, I wanted to ask if it was possible for me to read her journal. I always wondered what she put in there. She never did want to show me though." Josephine smiled, remembering her past. It was nice to know someone who knew a thing or two about this whole Shadow business.

"Of course. Well that is if I can get to it before Felix does. He's on a spree reading half the scrolls and books in there." Eiran chuckled with Josephine at the image popping up in their heads of Felix running around a small room speed reading. "Ya, I'll see about it a bit later. I'd just like to have a piece of her past you know? Know how she felt about some things." Josephine's expression fell, her eyes glued to a small rock on the ground she was kicking.

"I think that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be sure to get you that later."He reassured her. "Thank you...Also-"She was interrupted. "Lord Shadow! The prisoner requests your presents. He won't speak to anyone else."A man entered the cave shouting. Lola trailed behind him, looking concerned.

Josephine and Eiran both gave each other a quick glance before following them into  the town, through the castle that was still under repairs, and down a dark staircase. Eiran quickly wondered just how many of these he would walk down in the next 24 hours. The man stopped very abruptly in front of a wooden door. He fumbled a ring of keys before opening the door with a loud creak. Eiran stepped into the room he had created once more, seeing the man in the middle of the island,head in his hands, not bothering to acknowledge any of them. 

"Lord Shadow. That's what they call you, correct?"He whispered, barely audible. "Yes it is. Why do you want to see me so badly?"Eiran questioned him. "Your mission right now is to stop the president right? I just wanted to make sure you knew it would never happen."He finally lifted his head, a sinister grin plastered on his face. Eiran caught a glimpse of his eyes, he wished he didn't. He was looking all around the room in a crazed panic. His eyes were wild and Eiran could have sworn he could see the gears in his head turning and more importantly, the demons behind them. He was crazy. Not even 24 hours into being in captivity and he was already loosing his mind.

"And just how are you so sure about that?"He asked, trying to remain calm, even in the presence of the pure chaos  that was this man. "He'll kill you before you can get close. He already knows you have trapped me here. He's not happy about that. He knows I've failed! I have nothing left! He's going to kill me so you don't get answers! I'm a loose end! He doesn't like those!"His breathing got heavy, his voice and hands shaking, He grabbed the sides of his head, shaking his head. 

"What do you mean 'He's going to kill you'? He doesn't know anything. He can't reach you here. The president doesn't have access here. No one that works for him can get in here."Eiran explained, trying to calm him down. "They already have! You really think we just happened to find you!? He knows everything about everyone here! There's no stopping him now! We were just the decoy! The one who is really here to kill you is- Ahhh!"His sentence was cut off by a blood curdling scream that ripped through Eiran like a  spear. Then all he saw was red. Bright crimson red.