Shadowborn

Chapter Two: Shadows Awaken

Sky woke to the soft crackling of firewood, the smell of smoke filling her senses. For a moment, she lay still, disoriented and aching. Her mind was struggling to piece together what had happened. The eclipse… the fall… the suffocating darkness. She shot upright, her eyes scanning the unfamiliar room. It was cold, with cracked walls and boarded-up windows. The only light came from the fire in front of her.

She wasn’t alone.

Sitting across from her was a boy around her age, dark-haired, with striking blue eyes that caught the firelight. He was silent, watching her intently, as though waiting for her to speak first. His gaze wasn’t hostile, but there was something unreadable about him. He seemed older than his years, like someone who had seen too much for his age.

"Where am I?" Sky asked, her voice raspy. The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, her heart pounding as she searched for answers.

The boy leaned back against the wall, his expression unreadable. "You’re in the shadow world," he said quietly, his voice steady, as though he had explained this many times before. “You saw the eclipse, right? That’s how you got here.”

Sky frowned, her mind racing. She remembered the eclipse. She had been in the woods, drawing, when it happened. The strange sensation, the ground shifting beneath her, and then—darkness. "What do you mean ‘shadow world’?"

He sighed, as though tired of explaining. "The world you know, the one you live in—it’s not the only one. This place is a reflection of it, a darker version where things go wrong." He paused, letting that sink in before adding, "And it’s dangerous here. Deadly."

Sky stared at him, trying to make sense of everything. It sounded insane, but something deep down told her he was telling the truth. "How long have you been here?"

"Five years." His voice was flat, almost emotionless. There was no bitterness, just a simple statement of fact.

"Five years?" Sky repeated, incredulous. "How have you survived?"

Rowan looked down at his hands, flexing them briefly as though testing their strength. "I’ve had time to learn the rules here. Time to learn how to fight."

The reality of his words began to settle in. This wasn’t some dream. She wasn’t going to wake up from this. "How do I get back?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Rowan’s eyes flicked to hers, his gaze hardening. "You’ll wake up in your world when the sun rises. But you’ll come back here every time you sleep."

Sky’s stomach twisted. Every time she slept, she would return to this place? The thought was terrifying. "But why… why me? Why us?"

Rowan shrugged, his expression detached. "I don't know"

Sky ran a hand through her hair, trying to steady herself. "And you? Why are you still here?"

Rowan’s eyes darkened, and for the first time, she saw something flicker behind his calm exterior. "I was bitten. By a zombie, five years ago. That’s the rule here—if you get bitten, you’re stuck. Permanently." His voice was cold, almost as if he had accepted his fate long ago.

A chill ran down Sky’s spine. She didn’t know what to say. The weight of Rowan’s situation, of her own, settled heavily on her. She was lucky she hadn’t been bitten yet. "So, what now?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Rowan stood, dusting off his pants. "Now, you survive. We’re not alone in this place. There are monsters out there. And trust me, they’re worse than anything you've ever seen" He walked toward the boarded-up window, peering out into the night. "You need to be ready to fight. Because it won’t be long before they find you."

Sky got to her feet, her legs still shaky, but determination building inside her. She couldn’t afford to fall apart. Not here. Not now. "Then teach me," she said, her voice firmer than before. "If I have to survive this, I want to know how."

Rowan turned to face her, studying her for a long moment. There was something in his gaze respect, maybe? Or perhaps he saw a reflection of himself in her stubbornness. "What?" he said, his voice low. "But if you want to survive, you’ll have to be ready for what’s coming."

Sky swallowed hard, "if I want to survive, I'll have to be ready for what's coming,so teach me,and then we can part ways"

"Fine" was all he said.

She didn’t know what lay ahead, but one thing was certain there was no turning back now.

The night passed in tense silence, the fire crackling softly as Rowan taught Sky the basics. He showed her how to handle the makeshift weapons he had scavenged over the years, how to move without drawing attention, how to stay alert for the sounds of the creatures lurking in the shadows.

By dawn, Sky felt a mixture of exhaustion and determination. She wasn’t ready for what was out there not yet but with Rowan’s guidance, she knew she had a chance.

As the first rays of sunlight pierced the darkness, Sky felt a strange tug, like a rope pulling her back. The room around her faded, and the sound of the crackling fire was replaced with the distant hum of early morning birdsong.

She gasped, her eyes snapping open to the familiar sight of her bedroom ceiling. She was back. But for how long?

Sky lay there, staring at the ceiling, her mind still reeling from everything she had learned. The shadow world, Rowan’s fate, the monsters waiting for her return. This wasn’t just a nightmare. It was real.

And it wasn’t over.