Sealed inside the towering city walls of Acadia, magic users known as Wielders are feared and hunted for the abilities they have been blessed with. They're living in hiding, terrified of revealing themselves to the Authorities that hunt them.
But w...
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"We are nothing but shadows, fading away, trying to hold on to this bittersweet life that we call our own."
-Ricky Mears
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Soren breathed in deep.
Her serenity. Her loneliness. Her unraveling.
He drank in her emotions, feeding on them, trying desperately to make himself whole again.
He didn't know why they were connected. Maybe something had happened when he dove into her mind that day seven years ago. Whatever had happened, those moments that Soren connected with her mind made him human for just that fraction of a second. But the flicker was just enough to give him that relief—to bring him out of the darkness.
That was the thing about darkness. No matter what swept the shadows away, darkness was never obliterated. It was always there to swallow him once more, an abyss that wouldn't let him go. He was forever drowning in the shadows, his blind reaching for the light futile.
Soren was allowed those single moments to breathe and then they vanished. He never knew the cause of her feelings, but somewhere inside of him, he was thankful. Whether it be bliss, despair, or pain, he didn't care. He let it course through his veins like a drug.
On this particular morning in Orica, he stared out of his window as a tide of peace and a spark of freedom lit him up. His eyes grew wide, taking in the sight below his window, at the city that normally looked dull and gray. During this moment, everything was filled with color.
The buildings of Orica would never be as beautiful as the mirrored towers of Acadia, but seeing the city through her eyes made Soren rethink his memory of the walled city. These streets were filled with color, each building with its own personality. Grimm's complex was a splotch of rust among the sea of amber, chartreuse, and gold. Vehicles drove through the streets below while Wielders and humans walked down the sidewalks, not caring that they were different. A red cardinal flew by the window, catching his attention, disappearing from his vision as it flew towards the sun. The sun was so bright that Soren squinted his eyes and he smiled. Warmth spread through him. Damn, it felt good to smile.
