Darkness in the Shadows

CHAPTER 34

The darkness around her faded, and Alana let out a sound of sudden exhaustion. She fell to her knees, looking at the empty area in front of her. Drax and the crystal were gone once again. Alana screamed in frustration and hit her hands on the ground.

Feeling the familiar cold wash over her, Alana closed her eyes and focused on Dante. She could not forget him again. Opening her eyes, she sighed at the empty space in front of her, pulling herself to her feet and letting her head fall back as she looked at the ceiling.

The only other place she thought he would go was Juroc. Alana moved to the side of the mine and sat down with her back against the marble. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she forced a laugh as thoughts rushed through her head. She had come here looking for Dante, only to forget about him. She had been tortured and betrayed, lost repeatedly, and was now traveling in circles.

More tears slipped down her cheeks as a feeling of loneliness and being overwhelmed washed over her. Was she ever going to get home? Was it even an option now? Alana let out a sob and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees and letting the tears fall. Her family and friends were lost to her, and she would never fit in here.

All her memories from her home came flooding back. The steller, the Selectives, the veil. Another tear fell when she thought of Nat, James, Lee, and Athena. Who knows if she would ever see them again? Brit must be going to school soon. Would she even remember her?

Alana cried as everyone in her life flashed in and out of her mind. The Death and Revival of Jake. What was he thinking? Joining someone like Layka. Alana sighed, her body weighed down with thoughts of her past and her forgotten world.

She felt her body grow heavy, her head nodding with exhaustion. She knew this was not the ideal place to rest, but the weight of weariness was too much to resist. Part of her didn't want to resist. As a gentle vibration spread through her, she succumbed to sleep.

When she woke, Alana found herself lying on the ground, surrounded by a blur of grey shapes. Confused, she rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. The mine still surrounded her. Yawning, she blinked several times, struggling to focus. As she turned her head, it bumped into something solid. Frowning, Alana glanced around, and gradually, her vision sharpened.

Large trolls sat around her, some lying down against the walls. Alana's eyes widened as she pressed her back against the wall, trying to put distance between them. She tried to steady her breathing, not wanting to alarm them. Slowly, she raised her head to look around, and her eyes met the gaze of one beside her.

Its features were stoic, small brown eyes meeting hers. Alana offered a weak smile, and to her surprise, the troll's mouth moved. Its lips lifted unevenly as it rolled its mouth into strange positions. After a while, the troll returned the smile in what seemed to be its first attempt at a smile.

The creature seemed as defeated as she felt, as if there was no way forward. Alana looked ahead, noticing the device wrapped around the troll's ankle. With a resigned sigh, she reached out to inspect it. The troll made no move to stop her, and she found that the device appeared to be a simple collar, devoid of any magical control mechanisms like Drax had claimed.

Alana frowned at the collar, running her fingers along its ridges. She applied pressure until all the points sunk into the device simultaneously. After several attempts, it fell off easily, landing with a loud clatter on the floor.

The troll beside her stood up abruptly, knocking Alana off balance. She braced herself before she fell. The troll's roar was deafening, causing her to instinctively cover her ears as she dropped to the ground. The movements of the trolls made the ground shake beneath her.