Born of Shadow - Book 1 (complete)

Chapter 28

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Liam and the others followed the man down the stairs to the Antiquities Museum. A sign on the front door indicated the exhibit was closed to the public.

They passed by an Isis exhibit with its headless draped bodies and writhing snakes, past ancient Egyptian antiquities, including statues of Thoth and Nes-Amun, the head of a sphinx, and tablets bearing hieroglyphics.

At last they came to the Alexander exhibit. There, in a gleaming glass case, lay the objects Yasmin had spoken about. The dagger. The papyri fragment. The map.

Liam studied the photograph taken at the dig site. Kami and Yasmin’s grandfather stood in the middle, looking proud and stern. Students and other members of his team crowded around him.

His eyes skimmed over the photographs documenting the discoveries. In one picture, he saw one artifact he didn’t recognize: a jar with a lion on the side. It seemed like an important find, important enough to warrant space in the exhibition, but it wasn’t on display. He wondered why Yasmin hadn’t mentioned it.

He drummed his fingers against the glass case impatiently. He wanted to pick Yasmin’s brain about the map. He wondered if it could have been the strategic plans for one of Alexander the Great’s battles. Except he hadn’t fought any battles in Egypt, not that Liam was aware of. The location wasn’t labeled. It might have been at one point, but a portion of the parchment was torn.
   
Liam, like probably a lot of boys, had gone through an Alexander obsession when he was younger. He’d wondered what it would be like to be in charge of a vast army at the age of 18 and to have so many people follow your every command.
   
A quote attributed to Alexander was engraved on a metal plate. It read, “I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity.” It seemed almost prophetic. Alexander had died at 32, but he had left a deep imprint on the world.

As he’d grown older, Liam had come to realize that Alexander’s success had come at a terrible price. He’d been shocked to read of the slaughter of Thebes, the killings and subsequent selling of 30,000 people into slavery in Tyre, the murder of all the Sogdian men of military age that resisted being ruled, among many other atrocities. Discovering these facts had done more than tarnish Liam's romanticized view of war, it had upended it.

Still, ancient weapons were fascinating. His eyes lingered on the dagger. It was remarkably well preserved with an interesting wavy pattern. It was made of grey metal, possibly steel. The blade curved up in a tanto style, with serrated edges along the bottom. The dagger’s pommel was also intriguing. It was carved from a dark green and crimson splattered stone, much like Kami’s scarab necklace. A thin band of steel spiraled up the hilt, and finger grooves were carved into the handle. It was probably a long shot, but it would be mind-boggling if it was the one Alexander kept under his pillow next to his copy of the Illiad, a gift from his mentor Aristotle.

Liam glanced down the hall. No Kami or Yasmin. He wished the girls would hurry up. He was still feeling wound up after seeing those shadow creatures at the dig site. He couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that something was still chasing them. He felt a wave of emotion and was surprised when he identified it. He wanted to protect Kami. He wasn’t used to feeling this way about a girl. Maybe it was just because she seemed so vulnerable? Or maybe it was the danger surrounding them?

He hoped she understood all the teasing was just his personality and didn’t take it personally. His mum had told him enough times that he didn’t have an off switch and if he wasn’t careful, it would come back to bite him. He’d laughed it off, but now he wondered if he should have paid a little more attention to her advice. Kami was too much fun to tease, and so easy to talk to. She seemed completely unaware of how gorgeous she was. It was refreshing.

Most of the girls he’d met on his vacation were the opposite. His cousins had been proud to show off their English cousin to all their friends. For some strange reason they’d been fascinated with his accent, not that he minded, of course, but he did find it bewildering that they made such a fuss over something so commonplace.

They were a fun enough group to hang out with, but even as he flirted with them, he felt something was off. They never let him see past their shallow veneers. Kami was different—warm, real, and kind. He’d seen her reaction to the woman with the crying baby and it pleased him. His cousin’s friends would probably have been irritated. They were a self-absorbed bunch.

He sensed a depth in Kami that he didn’t typically feel around someone so young, a depth probably gained through a lifetime of struggle. He knew a bit about her. Her father had died. He suspected something was off with her relationship with her mother. Her grandparents had rejected her family. He was still just scratching the surface, but he wished he knew why although kind, she was so contained, so reserved, so careful. He occasionally glimpsed her pain, raw and tangible. He wished he could take it from her, but he knew from experience that pain was one of those things that couldn’t be taken away. It could only be released.

He was surprised how close he felt to her after knowing her for such a short time and how easy she was to talk to. He couldn't deny it did still sting a little bit that she'd thought him capable of working with those shadow things. He'd had plenty of time to think about it since, and he realized they had both been under a lot of stress and lack of sleep. Considering the circumstances, it had been brave of her to walk up to those shadow eels and rescue him. He hoped they could just put the whole experience behind them, since he clearly wasn't possessed.

Liam tapped the glass again thoughtfully. Out of the corner of his eye, something dark flashed by the door. It was there, then gone again. The hairs on his arms stood up and a shiver went up his spine. He’d felt this before, back at the dig site. If it was a shadow creature, that meant they could come indoors. Maybe they had followed them here.
 
He moved swiftly toward the doorway. Nothing. He shook his head. All this crazy talk had him on edge. Now he was imagining things.

As Liam turned away, he heard a woman’s scream reverberating down the stairs. He sprinted up them two at a time. At the top, the woman Yasmin had spoken to earlier was sprawled on the ground, still screaming, holding her leg. Several others came running too, forming a loose circle around her. He noticed an oozing black spot the size of a fist on her leg, as if she’d dropped oil on it. But this wasn’t oil. He could smell her burning flesh. That stuff was eating into her skin like acid.

“Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!” she screamed in Arabic.

Liam froze, then forced himself into action. As he pressed forward to help, a burly security guard with a mustache pushed them back, shoving him into a plump woman wearing a blue robe. Confusion reigned as patrons turned this way and that, colliding into each other, some running toward the danger, others away.

“Move! Give her space,” he bellowed. “The paramedics are coming.”

A stout, muscular man accidentally shoved an elbow into Liam’s side, and he backed away, rubbing the sore area. Back, back, until he backed into the wall, and then suddenly the realization hit him.

The shadow creature had done this to her.

He had to warn the others. He sprinted back down the stairs to the exhibition room. An image of his friends covered in black splotches and writhing in agony flashed through his mind, and he pushed himself faster. He had to get there in time.

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The dedication this week goes out to a fab Wattpad buddy and dedicated reader @ILuvThemFries! So we have been good buds for awhile now over the course of this story. We mourned together as Neymar became injured and Brazil lost its mojo in the World Cup. Honestly, isn't @ILuvThemFries such a cool profile name? Thanks so much!