Shadow Heart (A Shadow and Bone Fanfic)

"Murderer! Monster!" Alina's voice rang in the Darkling's head as Ivan dragged her out of his tent. A surge of memories filled his head. Those where very familiar words to him. Murderer! Monster!

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She was in the meadow, hands outstretched in front of her, summoning a ring of fire. Her long brown hair dishevelled as the wind blows through it. He creeped up behind her, slipping his hands around her waist. He summoned thin black coils of darkness and it whirled around her fiery ring. She turned her head to face him and a smile crept onto her lips. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. Their noses brushing. Her smile widened. "You know i hate when you disturb me practicing", she said playfully as she escaped his embrace. She giggled and ran, turning her head back only to give him a mischievous smile. He chased her all the way to edge of the meadow. Then he trapped her in an embrace, lifted her up and whirled her around. She was still giggling like a little girl after he set her back down. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips down onto hers. They laid down on the meadow together, her head resting on his chest. He summoned a thick cloud of darkness above them while she summoned tiny specks of embers so that it resembled beautiful starry night. He took her hand in his, bringing his lips to the ring on her finger. "This day next week, i shall the privilege of calling you my wife." That was easily the best day of his life.

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Murderer! Monster! The Darkling remembered that day as if it were yesterday. He woke up at the break of dawn to go to the woods. He practiced summoning darkness in the shade of the trees. His mother had always told him to be careful when summoning. "They'll cut you open like a frog or burn you like a witch!", she'd always warn him. His mother didn't like his fiancee very much. She says that she makes him act careless and foolish. And she would always warn him how it only takes one second of foolishness for him to be caught. But he just brushed her off. His mother tended to be over protective. It was probably because she had to raise him all by herself at such a young age. Constantly having to watch over their shoulders for the white bearded Fjerdan men who would burn them at the stake or the stealthy dark haired Shu Han men who would dissect them to learn more about their gifts. 

When the sun was high above the trees, he decided to pay his fiancee a visit. He gathered some flowers from the meadow behind his house and made his way to her cottage. When he arrived, he knock gently on the door. Nobody answered. He knocked again then pushed the door open. "Hello" he called out. "Anybody home?" He walked to the kitchen but found it empty as well. Then he went outside through the back door to see if she was doing laundry. He started to feel worried when he found it empty as well. He went back in side the house feeling puzzled. She is usually a home while her mother is working. Maybe she went into town, he thought to himself. Just as he was about to leave the door, he heard a sound come from upstairs. A loud thud followed by shouting. His eyes went wide with fear and he dropped the flower in his hands, trampling them as he raced up the wooden staircase. She's in trouble, he thought to himself. Somebody is hurting her or worse. Those thoughts swarmed his head as he slammed the door open with a loud thud. 

The scene before his eyes left him frozen in his shoes. His fiancee stared at him, wide eyed, hastily trying to cover herself with the sheets. There was a man in her bed, nobody he recognised. In that moment, he felt as if were detached from his body, watching the scene from above without emotion. And then it hit him like a tidal wave. First betrayal, stinging like poison in his body, then anger fuming from his soul then hurt and sadness and heart-break. So much emotion all at once. She rushed to him, the sheets trailing behind her as she walked. There were tears in her eyes and her lips were moving but he could not hear it past the buzzing in his ears. He did not care about what she had to say. He tried to push her away as he walked to the man who had ruined his life but she was still in front of him, begging him, her mouth forming the words I'm sorry over and over again. Before he could stop himself, he lashed out his hand and hit her. She stumbled away from him, hands to her face. He didn't care though. He only cared about the man standing in front of him. He was going to make him pay.The man stood up in front of him, his hands balled up ready for a fight.  He felt something cold and dark bubbling in side of him, something he had never felt before. He lifted both his arms up, summoning the darkness like a thick fog. He registered confusion in the man's face. There was something else there too; something that could only be depicted as fear. A humourless smile crept onto his lips. Good, he thought, let him be afraid. He lifted one of his arms and sliced it downward. Then the darkness disappeared and a scream shattered the buzzing in his ears.