Whispers Between Shadows

CHAPTER 5

The path to the abandoned hut was overgrown and barely visible, winding through the dense trees like a forgotten memory. The farther they walked, the thicker the air became, as though something unseen was watching them. Clara’s skin prickled with a feeling she couldn’t quite place—unease mixed with something else.

She glanced at Asher, who held her bracelet tightly in his fist, his gaze forward and intense.

“So,” Clara broke the silence, “how exactly is this supposed to work?”

“Dark magic has a scent,” he replied quietly, his voice softened with caution. “Most people can’t sense it, but once it’s touched you, it’s like a shadow that never leaves.” He glanced down at the bracelet, then added, “Anything that Eli owned carries a piece of his energy. It should lead us to wherever he’s been… or wherever he’s hiding now.”

They walked in silence again, the weight of his words pressing on her. Clara’s thoughts drifted to Eli—the memories they’d shared, the way he’d changed, and now, the strange, unsettling reality she found herself in. If Asher was right, Eli was dealing with something darker than she’d ever imagined.

As they approached the hut, Clara felt her heart begin to race. The small, decaying structure stood in a clearing, hidden by the shadows of the forest. She felt a pang of pity as she imagined Eli spending his nights here, alone, enduring the pain that came with his curse.

The closer they got, the more she felt an inexplicable pull—almost as if something was guiding her forward.

“This is it,” Asher murmured, stopping just a few steps from the hut. He opened his hand, and Clara’s bracelet glowed faintly, pulsing with a dim, otherworldly light.

Clara took a shaky breath, clutching her hand to keep it steady. “Are you… are you sure about this?”

Asher hesitated, glancing at her before giving a subtle nod. “We won’t get another chance to find him, Clara. If we leave now, Jake and Duncan will find him first—and I don’t think I need to tell you what they’ll do.”

Reluctantly, Clara stepped forward, pushing open the creaky door to the hut. Inside, the smell of damp earth and burnt wood lingered, filling the air with an acrid scent. Her eyes adjusted to the dimness, and she saw what looked like scratch marks on the walls, some of them deep enough to reveal the wood underneath.

“Asher, look at this,” she whispered, running her fingers over the marks.

Asher peered over her shoulder, his expression darkening. “These aren’t just marks… it’s a symbol.” He traced a shape, something that looked like an eye with jagged lines extending from it, burned deeply into the wall. The longer she looked, the more it seemed to pulse, like it was alive.

“What does it mean?” she asked, fighting the urge to step back.

“It’s the Mark of the Shadowed Eye,” Asher replied, almost reverently. “It’s rumored to belong to those who dare to control dark magic. Those who wear the mark are bound by their choice—and by the consequences.”

Clara swallowed hard, feeling the weight of his words. She’d seen enough tonight to believe that this was more than just legend. “So… Eli made a choice. But why?”

Before Asher could respond, her bracelet pulsed in his hand, glowing even brighter. Clara felt a sharp pull, her arm instinctively reaching toward the doorway as though the bracelet was leading her somewhere.

“There’s something else here,” she said, letting her feet follow the invisible path.

Asher stayed close behind her as she stepped out of the hut, her eyes focused on a shadowed area at the base of a nearby tree. There, half-buried in the soil, was a tattered, leather-bound notebook. She picked it up carefully, wiping away the dirt to reveal a small, hand-drawn symbol on the cover—the same eye-shaped mark she’d seen on the hut’s wall.

Opening it, she saw pages filled with sketches, strange markings, and Eli’s handwriting scrawled in tight, erratic lines. Her heart sank as she read the words.

The darkness is alive. It whispers secrets, it offers power… but at a cost.

The last entry was barely legible, the ink smeared as if written in a hurry:

I can’t control it anymore. It’s taking over. If anyone finds this, know that I tried to contain it. But if I fail, Lunaris will be the one to pay the price.

Clara’s hand shook as she closed the notebook, clutching it tightly. “He… he knew he was losing control,” she whispered.

“Which means we’re running out of time,” Asher said, his voice tight with urgency. “Jake and Duncan are after him for the wrong reasons. If they push him over the edge… it won’t just be Eli we’re dealing with. It’ll be something far worse.”

Clara took a steadying breath, her mind racing with the implications. “So, where do we go from here?”

Asher glanced back at the hut, his gaze falling on the scorched symbol on the wall. “There’s an old legend in Lunaris,” he began slowly. “They say that dark magic can be bound—but only by someone with a pure intent and… a mark.” He glanced at her hand, the faint outline of her own mark barely visible in the dim light.

“You think I can… help control this?” Clara asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

“It’s a risk,” Asher replied, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. “But right now, it might be our only chance.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a faded map, marked with inked paths and symbols that seemed to twist and shift as she looked at them.

“This map,” he explained, “was passed down in my family for generations. It’s said to lead to a place where the darkness can be contained… or destroyed. If we can get there before Jake and Duncan find Eli, we might be able to end this.”

Clara stared at the map, her fingers tracing the jagged paths, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and determination. She didn’t know what lay ahead, but one thing was clear—she couldn’t turn back now.

With a deep breath, she looked up at Asher, steeling herself. “Then let’s go find him.”