Cast A Shadow

7

Shadow Weaver continued to lead the group quickly down the hall that was lines with sorcerers of the past, faltering slightly at her own, that clearly hadn't been cleaned and cared for in a while. That's fair, she thought as the group ran by statue after statue. Eventually, we stopped after the last statue in the row.

"We're here. Follow my lead." Shadow Weaver stated to me. "Would a please kill you?" I responded as we began the spell. Shadow Weaver didn't respond, but I could sense that there was some form of a playful smirk underneath that mask. The others were scanning the area around us, making sure the hall remained clear. After a moment, patterns in the stone of the wall glowed blue, and the secret door roared open.

We took off running through the newly opened passageway within a spilt second, the door shutting just a few feet behind the last of the group to enter. Then we were left in a darkened hallway, but Shadow Weaver continued on, confident of where we were headed. "You're not bringing us to a nearly pitch black hall to kill us all one by one, are you?" I joked, speaking only loud enough that Shadow Weaver could hear what I say. "No. If I was going to kill you, I would have done it by now." Shadow Weaver responded. A small smile settled on my lips as we continued walking down the seemingly endless hallway, everyone's footsteps echoing around us.

Eventually, the hallway widened, and Glimmer sent a ball of light up towards the ceiling, giving us some idea of where we were. "Whoa," Glimmer murmured, glancing at the mural the group was walking past. After a moment, Shadow Weaver turned to the rest of the group, some of which, namely Catra and Adora, had stopped to talk to eachother.

"There's no time to waste. News of our presence will have reached the others by now after that..." She narrowed her eyes and leaned towards Catra in specific. "Disturbance." Catra glared right back at Shadow Weaver. "Come on, we need go keep moving." Adora said, drawing Catra's attention, who then followed after Adora.

Further down the hall, someone had once again stopped to examine the walls covered in artwork. "What is all this?" Bow murmured, running a hand along the wall that was lit by the ball of light Glimmer had sent up. "We're on the right path." Castaspella responded, placing a hand on the large painting. "The Crystal of Arxia was rumored to be the key to reaching powerful magic deep within Etheria." The rest of the group turned to Castaspella. "Many have tried, and failed, to find it. But those who hungered for more power have long sought other ways to obtain the magic," Castaspella took her hand off the mural and turned her head towards Shadow Weaver. "With disastrous results."

Shadow Weaver turned to face Castaspella. "The Spell of Obtainment was a mistake;one for which I've paid the price. I don't see why you keep bringing it up," She replied cooly, her eyes locked on Castaspella's. Castapella huffed slightly, forcing herself to loosen her hands from the fists they were currently balled into. "You roped my brother into your dark magic when he was only a child. You could have killed him." Glimmer appeared behind her aunt, but knew better than to interrupt the two women's conversation.

"The spell would've worked had he not broken the connection. Micah was an exceptional socerer, even then. I believe he would have been able to handle the spell, had he not let such naïve emotions get the better of him." Castaspella glared slightly and walked past Shadow Weaver. Part of her wanted to believe that the woman could change, but even if she could, it didn't seem very likely right now.