Shadow of a Shade

Chapter Twenty-Nine

[A/N yo kids there's TW: blood and swordfighting and death in this chapter, just saying]  

Addiane had been a bit surprised that Halt didn't notice her slipping silently to the side so he walked past her. She didn't worry about it too much though, waiting until he disappeared out into the open before racing down the tunnel again.

She knew she didn't have much time, they would notice almost immediately that she was gone and they would want to stop her. She needed to cover as much ground as possible.

At first, Addiane could hear the group talking above her. For a minute or two she could make out specific words, but after that it slowly dissolved into random murmurs and sounds that couldn't be distinguished one from the other.

Once she was completely confident that no one on the surface would hear her, Addiane let out a raw, raging scream, sending a fireball flying down the corridor ahead of her. Drawing her sword, she ran after it, ready to intercept the first living being that she saw. With each step, she let the energy inside her build. It pushed her on and kept her moving, and as the fireball began to die out she waited for an attack that she knew was going to come.

Unfortunately, it was just a foot soldier, leaping at her but looking entirely too terrified for his own good. Addiane cut him down easily and kept moving.

She screamed her mother's name, calling her into account for the horrors she'd performed. A pit in her gut kept whispering that she could have been that horrible, and she pushed it away. Even if she had been raised by Srerrafe, this situation would not have been her fault, it was the Shade that had started this.

How fitting that a Shade would finish it too.

More soldiers tried to appose her, but Addiane didn't think twice. She could feel the Shade energy thudding in her chest, stretching out to her limbs and piling on her stamina and speeding up her reactions. She sent two more fireballs, hearing faint screams from below her. A terrifying madwoman's laugh ripped itself from her throat and bounced off of the stone walls, multiplying and sounding as if a whole team of insane women were rushing into battle.

Suddenly another light blazed ahead, much brighter than any of the fireballs she'd summoned. Addiane didn't think twice about it as she kept sprinting forward, even though she didn't recognize the color at all and it clearly wasn't a werelight. It wasn't any magic, actually, it looked completely natural.

She burst into a huge underground cave with a raging red river of fire running through it. Several soldiers were dragging fallen companions, covered in burns and scars, as far from the opening of the cave as possible, while Srerrafe stood in the middle of the room, arms outstretched as she chanted in the Ancient Language.

She was creating a barrier for the fireballs, but Addiane slammed through it easily and tackled her. Without even thinking, she sent two more fireballs at the teams of soldiers. Their screams told her that she'd made hits, then the only sounds ringing through the cave were the swords clashing together aggressively.

"I'm impressed, daughter dear." Srerrafe kicked her away and shifted her grip on her sword. "It seems you have more of your father in you than I thought, and it's quite a shame he couldn't teach you what he knew when he was alive."

"I'm going to kill you." Addiane snarled, driving her sword down on her mother over and over. Srerrafe laughed, parrying each attack easily. 

"I admire your determination, daughter, but you're untrained and weak. You could never kill me. No one can."

"I- am- going- to- kill- you." She repeated determinedly, ducking under an attack and shoving Srerrafe back.

The Shade sighed, shaking her head. "I wish I had that determination when I was your age. I'd only just come into my powers, it was around the time I became what I am today. I was scared, and even with my power and capabilities, I could not have matched this."