Chapter 35: The Shadows Awaken
The night pressed down heavy over the shrine.
Riku stood up slowly, brushing the dirt from his pants.
His body was still buzzing from the dream — a dark premonition he couldn't shake.
Kaoru turned, sensing his movement.
"Something wrong?" he asked in a low voice, hand tightening around his spear.
"I don't know," Riku admitted. "But... something's coming."
Before Kaoru could respond, a low, resonating hum echoed through the clearing — like a drumbeat deep underground.
The air grew cold.
The fire sputtered and died, snuffed out by an unseen force.
Airi woke with a startled gasp, Toma sitting up beside her, blinking in confusion.
Sera stood, face grave.
"They're here," she said simply.
And then the shadows moved.
---
From the treeline, they emerged —
figures cloaked in tattered robes, their faces hidden behind grotesque masks of wilted flowers.
Their presence felt wrong — like an open wound in the world.
The plants around them shriveled as they passed.
At their center was the tall man from Riku's dream —
his mask carved into a permanent, mocking smile.
"You must be the new 'hope' of the Bloom," he said, voice rich with contempt.
Sera stepped forward.
"You have no place here, Shadeborn," she said sharply.
"Leave before you are destroyed."
The man laughed.
"Brave words... from a dying breed."
He raised a hand — and the ground itself twisted.
Black vines erupted from the earth, forming monstrous beasts — half-plant, half-nightmare.
"Prove your worth, 'Bloom King'," he sneered.
"If you can."
---
The battle began.
Riku barely had time to throw up his shield as a creature lunged —
all snapping jaws and thrashing tentacles.
Airi spun to his side, summoning her petal storm —
the razor petals slicing through the first beast.
But for every monster they cut down, two more seemed to take its place.
Kaoru fought like a demon, spear flashing, always staying between the enemies and Toma, who fought with shaky but determined strikes.
Sera wove through the battlefield, her movements sharp and precise, her power crackling like lightning.
But it wasn't enough.
The Shadeborn were relentless.
And worse — they learned.
Each time Riku blocked an attack, the next came faster.
Each time Airi cut down a creature, the next adapted to her petals.
---
A sudden shriek tore through the air.
One of the creatures — a massive, centipede-like horror — barreled toward Toma.
Riku saw it too late.
"TOMA!" he shouted, running.
But Toma didn't flinch.
He threw himself sideways —
just as Kaoru lunged, impaling the beast with a savage thrust.
The creature writhed, shrieking — and exploded into black mist.
Toma coughed, rolling over.
"I'm fine!" he shouted hoarsely.
Riku's heart hammered in his chest — but he turned back to the battle.
No time to think.
No time to feel.
Just fight.
---
And then the Shadeborn leader moved.
With a lazy wave of his hand, the masked man summoned something different.
Something worse.
The mist coalesced into a figure — a boy, no older than Riku, but twisted and hollow.
His eyes were black voids.
His body leaked shadow like smoke.
But it was the necklace around his neck that made Riku freeze.
A pendant.
Identical to the one Riku wore.
"No..." Riku whispered.
The Shadeborn laughed.
"Recognize him?" he taunted.
"One of yours, Bloom King."
"One of the many you failed."
The twisted boy let out a broken, wailing cry — and charged.
---
Riku braced for impact, raising his shield.
But the boy was fast — impossibly fast.
Their clash sent a shockwave through the clearing.
Riku gritted his teeth, pushing back with everything he had.
But it wasn't enough.
The boy's fist cracked against his side, sending him flying into a crumbling wall.
Pain flared through Riku's ribs.
He struggled to rise.
The others tried to help — Airi launching petals, Kaoru charging forward —
but the Shadeborn creatures swarmed to protect the Hollowed boy.
Sera shouted something — but it was drowned out in the chaos.
Riku staggered to his feet.
He looked at the boy — the Hollowed — and saw not a monster.
He saw a victim.
Someone who had been devoured by the darkness.
Someone who could have been him.
Or his brother.
Or any of them.
And he made a choice.
---
He lowered his shield.
He stepped forward, unarmed.
The Hollowed boy hesitated, a flicker of confusion crossing his shattered face.
Riku met his gaze.
"You're not my enemy," he said quietly.
"You're still in there."
The boy trembled.
The Shadeborn leader barked a command — but the boy didn't move.
Slowly, painfully, Riku reached out.
"I know you're scared," he said.
"I was scared too."
"But you don't have to fight alone."
"You're not alone anymore."
For a moment, the world held its breath.
And then — the boy screamed — a raw, broken sound.
Darkness exploded from him — a roiling storm of shadow and pain.
Riku was flung back —
but even as he fell, he smiled.
Because he saw it.
A glimmer.
A flicker of light, deep inside the boy's chest.
Hope.
---
The Hollowed collapsed, unconscious.
The storm of darkness faded.
The other Shadeborn snarled and shrieked — but the leader only laughed, low and dangerous.
"You're interesting," he said, stepping forward.
He threw off his cloak — revealing a body covered in writhing black tattoos.
"You'll make a fine offering."
Riku gritted his teeth, raising his shield again.
Sera stepped beside him, her power flaring.
Airi and Kaoru moved to flank.
Toma, battered but standing, brandished a broken branch like a sword.
Together, they faced the enemy.
Together, they would fight.
---
The battle to come would not be easy.
But they had each other.
And that was enough.
For now.
---
Far away, unseen, a figure watched through a mirror of water.
A woman in silver robes, her face obscured by a veil.
She touched the surface of the water with one pale finger, smiling faintly.
"The Bloom stirs," she whispered.
"And the world shall tremble."