{Run, you idiot!}
The butterfly’s voice pierced Lawkey’s mind as he chased after it at full speed.
{You just had to get yourself in trouble again!}
“Hey! It’s not my fault they sniffed us out!” Lawkey shouted back, “Besides, let’s just fight them and be done with this!”
{You really are an idiot! I’ve used up too much of my energy already, and you can’t fight them alone! We have to try and lose them, or get to where we’re going!}
If it weren’t for the butterfly using some kind of telepathy to speak directly into Lawkey’s mind, he wouldn’t have been able to hear her from the chaotic sounds echoing behind him. The horde of monsters was getting closer and closer to him with every passing second.
For some baffling reason, he decided to glance back and saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance, quickly closing in on them. He immediately turned his head forward again, ignoring what he saw while swallowing his saliva.
“You sure are chatty all of a sudden, fine! Which way should we go then?”
{…}
“Oh, now you stop talking?!”
{If I wasn’t in this form, I would smack you so hard, kid! We’re in a valley, there are only two ways, forward and backward, which way do you think we should go, smartass?!}
As the tri-colored butterfly flapping its wings rapidly pointed out, they were in a straightforward valley. While it looked dark from the outside, the inner valley was lit up by the luminescent cliff rocks on both sides, a blue-ish pattern spanning over the entire rock surface and glowing as if to shine the way in that deep darkness.
Lawkey had seen nothing like it before and just mere moments ago, he was taken aback by the scenery as he fell down the ravine surrounded by those luminescent rocks from two sides.
After the reckless boy had jumped down suddenly, the butterfly had to quickly intervene to save him, and to make sure they made it to the bottom of the dark ravine safely.
However, it wasn’t long before they were surrounded by hordes of monsters, summoned by their scent.
“Well, I was hoping for some kind of secret passage or something! We’re screwed at this rate!”
{Just keep running! I can already see the gate in front of us in the distance!}
As he heard her response echo in his mind, he quickly side stepped a slight curve in the valley and looked forward toward where the butterfly was heading.
“!!”
His eyes suddenly widened as he saw it.
It looked pretty small from where he was standing, but he was sure it was going to be huge once he got closer.
“What the hell is a giant gate doing in the middle of a valley like this?!” He couldn’t help but question the strangeness of what he was seeing.
The valley itself didn’t show any hints of order or civilization, it was a place clearly governed by monsters. So, seeing an actual man-made gate in such a place stood out like a sore thumb.
{Just run towards it! And no matter what you do, don’t look back!}
“What? Why not-” He reflexively turned his head back again while posing the question.
But instead of seeing another cloud of dust in the distance, he was met with a giant silhouette coming down at him.
“?!”
He quickly jumped forward, barely managing to dodge the giant monster that crashed down where he was just standing.
{I told you not to look back! Run! Quickly! We can’t waste anymore time!}
Recognizing the situation for what it is, Lawkey avoided any further banter and quickly kicked the ground to launch himself after the butterfly.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“GRAWWWWWWRR!!!”
“!!”
A sudden ear-shattering roar from behind them forced them both to stumble forward. It came accompanied with a heavy shockwave that made the rocks around them shake and tremble.
“No!”
Lawkey quickly jumped and covered the butterfly with his entire body, all the while covering both his ears with his hands, trying to block his sense of hearing. The bellowing roar was on the verge of shattering his eardrums completely.
His sword was still on his back, while he held his chest box under his elbow.
As the shockwave grew stronger, the boy stumbled and crashed down, tumbling over the ground. He had quickly managed to crawl into himself and make his body smaller to protect the butterfly clinging to his chest.
The second the roar stopped, the gigantic silhouette of the monster jumped forward towards the two again, not giving them a moment to rest.
Without wasting a second, Lawkey did the same and immediately rushed towards the gate once more, ignoring the aching in his ears and body. It wasn’t much longer before he started seeing his destination getting bigger and bigger as the sounds of crashes reverberated right behind them.
Shit! At this rate, we won’t make it! The boy thought inwardly, sensing the distance between him and the monster quickly narrowing.
{Throw me to the gate, use your Sign!}
“What?! Your body won’t handle that kind of speed or impact! Not happening!”
{Just do it! I have a plan!}
He heard the sound of another loud crash behind him, this time a lot closer than the last one.
“Dammit! Fine! But don’t you go and die on me, you hear?! I’ve had enough of that for one day!”
{…}
Lawkey held the butterfly in his palm and quickly tightened his fist. He tried to be careful not to crush it between his fingers, and put most of his strength into his wrist.
He jumped forward and quickly landed again, screeching over the ground. He pulled his arm over his shoulder, and as shadows began to engulf it, he threw the butterfly forward at superhuman speed.
“You better not blame me if this hurts!” He added to avoid a repeat of last time he let go of it.
The tri-colored entity zipped across the air, closing the distance quickly towards the giant gate. Its wings were being stretched by the wind force, but just then, a quick change began to take place.
Its color and shape began to slightly distort and transform as it got closer and closer to the destination.
What…?! Lawkey couldn’t believe his eyes as he resumed running after it.
The butterfly he had met, fought alongside with, bantered with, and the very one that saved his life…
It had turned into a humanoid figure.
He couldn’t make out any specific details, as if she was completely made from shadows, simply a silhouette glowing with a pink and green hue as it hovered in front of the giant gate.
The only thing he could say for certain, and finally confirm, was the alluring female figure that he had vaguely glimpsed after passing out fighting the Leviathan.
“You made me use so much of my energy that I don’t have much left for this, but it should at least be enough to get you inside.” The shadowy woman muttered out loud as waves of shadows exploded from under her and wrapped around her entire body.
How long had it been since she had spoken out loud? Or summoned the shadows to heed her call? She didn’t know exactly, but she relished the feeling nonetheless.
What little hair Lawkey had on his body stood up straight, cold shivers crawled down his spine as he sensed the power that was hidden within that small butterfly, now on full display.
“You… you had that much power all along?!”
The moment he shouted that, Lawkey felt the steaming breath coming down at him. The air around him suddenly became denser as his pupils shrank so thin they resembled needle points.
This time, he knew in his very core that he wouldn’t be able to dodge. His body was petrified in place.
“This shouldn’t surprise you, dear. It doesn’t hold a candle to your true potential.”
The corners of her obscure mouth curled up as she stood in midair, aiming one arm on each side, one toward the giant monster creeping over Lawkey and the other pointed at the giant gate behind him.
Her command over shadows was masterful to say the least. They responded to her every whim, as if it was the most natural thing for them to do. Tendrils of pinkish black shadows crawled up and wrapped around her arms.
“Duck!”
Hearing that, Lawkey dived forward, sensing an even greater deal of shadows being manipulated in the surroundings.
As the shadows swirled around the valley and merged in a small spiral in front of the woman’s hands, a second of silence followed. It made even the enormous monster question the sudden change in the atmosphere and environment, forcing it to halt its assault for a moment.
“!”
Its instincts kicked in, it felt the ominous presence in front of it. Having survived in the Shadow Valley its entire life, it could recognize danger at the slightest change of tension.
The monster knew death was coming.
“For putting his life in danger, and making me use all the precious energy I had accumulated over the centuries…” She paused, her glowing pink eyes glared straight into the monster’s soul.
“Die and become one with absolute darkness!”
Suddenly, chaotic bursts of shadowy waves burst out from the woman’s hands in both directions at such speed, that the sound of it all was delayed by a few seconds.
Time stood still as shadows engulfed the valley, crashing the ancient-looking gate on one side and threatening to swallow the monster whole on the other.
To the Shadowy Woman’s surprise, as if to save their Alpha, a horde of wolves that had just caught up, jumped in front of the giant monster, even if it meant delaying their Alpha’s death by a mere few seconds.
Having already destroyed the gate behind her, the Shadowy Woman repositioned herself, facing the monster with both arms up, and doubling the power, and increasing the output of the shadows.
The entire valley shook and trembled. Rocks crumbled from the top of the ravine from the intense vibrations. It had been almost a millennia since it experienced this level of power.
To the Shadow Valley itself, this phenomenon was all too familiar.
After all, it was this same power that created it, its very origin.
image [https://i.imgur.com/eqWbZv8.jpeg]
“To think that after such a long time, I would protect this clan again and destroy its gates at the same time. What irony…” The Shadowy Woman narrowed her eyes as she talked to herself, she was getting serious.
As Lawkey laid spread-eagled on the ground, watching the wave of shadows travel over him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe welling up inside his chest.
“This… this is it… If I had this much power… I’m sure I’d be able to…” He unknowingly grinned from ear to ear, realizing the level he needed to strive for if he wanted to keep his promises.
Mere moments later, there was no trace of any monsters anymore, simply a burst of controlled and refined shadows.
Whatever had been in its way before, must be miles away by now, most likely ripped into pieces.
As the remnants of the blast flickered around above him, Lawkey stood up, still fascinated by the spectacle he just witnessed.
“...”
For her part, the Shadow Woman, having spent most of her energy on that blast, looked down at her hands and watched as they started to fade away into nothingness.
She narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the grinning boy filled with enthusiasm.
She had only just found him today, and yet…
So, this is it then…
This is as far as I can bring him now…
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]