Chapter Thirty-Seven: Edge of Darkness
Beneath her paws the frozen lake creaked and groaned. It was thick enough to hold their weight, and she felt safe on it, but the feeling was bizarre. She was running across frozen water; a river flowed below, angry at being contained. The other apprentices didn't seem so concerned about it, gleefully sliding a mossball across the slippery ice. They laughed and giggled, paws slipping this way and that. Sunrise smiled, wide and happy, as she chased after the mossball.
The day was warm, the sun more so - shining brilliantly down onto the white valley. For once Sunrise didn't need her coat of shadows. Nor had anyone else except Icepetal's kits. They could always do with a little extra warmth. The mossball whizzed by her paws chased after by a determined Stripepaw. Grinning, Sunrise stuck out a forepaw as he dashed by and he caught it, tumbling head over heels until he landed in a heap a few rabbitleaps away. His sister, Splashpaw, cackled loudly at him. Satisfied, Sunrise batted the mossball between her own paws.
It was a simple game really: keep the ball away from the other team. Add slippery ice into and it became chaos. Spiderpaw crashed into Maplepaw, squawking at the chill of the ice against his skin. Distracted by that Sunrise didn't see Stonepaw creeping up on her till he was right beside her, forepaw sneaking in to fling the mossball away. "You give that back!" Sunrise shouted, giving chase to the gray apprentice.
Under the sun, playing chase with other apprentices, Sunrise could almost pretend she was a normal cat. The looming threat of Crimson seemed so far away.
On the shore Shiverlight played with her own kits - still a little too young to brave the frozen river - flicking pebbles and stones at them. Icepetal and Willowclaw emerged from the thin stretch of forest ringing the Isle, picking their way across the rocky shore to join Shiverlight, their own kits safe under Heathersky's watchful eye. Soon Tornheart would call them all back to the Isle for more training, more preparations. For now they could pretend Crimson didn't exist.
"Hey," Breezepaw had his head tipped back, nose twitching, "do you smell that?"
"Smell what? You?" Bumblepaw teased.
Breezepaw stuck his tongue out at her. "No. Not me. If anything, Spiderpaw smells worse."
"I do not!" Spiderpaw retorted.
"You still smell like that gross mud you fell in yesterday," Maplepaw laughed.
Spiderpaw huffed, "you're all mean and no longer my friends. Sunrise and I are best friends now, we don't need you." He trotted over and flung a paw over her shoulder, "right, Sunrise?"
Holding back a giggle, Sunrise pressed a forepaw to her nose. "No, no, not until you smell better."
He feigned great insult, toppling back against the ice. "I can't believe you'd treat me this way, Sunrise, after all I've done for you!"
"Done for me? All you've done is shake dried mud over me," Sunrise sniffed.
"Unbelievable. I get no thanks these days. No appreciation," Spiderpaw whined.
"While I'm always very excited to tease Spiderpaw, can you all really not smell that?" Breezepaw interrupted.
Stonepaw nosed at his brother's shoulder. "Smell what?" he asked.
"I don't know," Breezepaw replied. "I've never smelled it before."
Sunrise cocked her head to one side and scented the air. It all seemed normal, the fresh smell of snow, the other Clan cats further in the Isle, a faint whiff of stoat, the raw tang of Tornheart's magic that she was wielding nearby. Normal. The fur on the back of her neck bristled. A tingling started in her paws. No...Breezepaw was right. There was something on the air. She sniffed again. It was faint, almost not there; familiar too. What is it? A memory was niggling in the back of her mind. Where have I smelled this scent before?
"Nah, I don't recognise it," Stripepaw announced. "I wouldn't worry about it either. Tornheart's keeping us safe."
"She can't keep us safe from everything," Sunrise murmured, thankful that no one heard her. Unbeknownst to her, her unrest was dragging a few shadows across the ice towards her, tiny little things that were more for comfort than protection.
Splashpaw squeaked when one slithered by her paw. "I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing that," she said quietly.
"I think it's cool. Plus it's keeping us safe," Breezepaw huffed.
Spiderpaw pouted. "I want a cool power like that."
"No you don't," Sunrise said.
"What's it feel like?" Breezepaw asked.
Sunrise glanced at him then at the sliver of darkness winding up her legs. "It's amazing. I feel like I'm on top of the world when I use it. But it's dangerous too. There's so much of it, so much I can do with it, and if I'm not careful I could tip off the edge of good and become evil, and that's not something I ever want to do."
"Well...if it makes you feel better none of us think you could ever be evil," Breezepaw purred.
It did make her feel better but before she could open her mouth to answer him her name was shrieked at the same time a howl echoed. Her head snapped towards the opposite shore. Up the slight hill, through the thin trees, stood Eaglestrike, his face pinched with fear. Racing down towards them were wolves.
Sunrise flung up a wall of inky black without even thinking, feeling it shudder when those two wolves careened into it. "Run!" she screeched at the apprentice, teeth gritting together against the weight of Atsiya's power. The Elemental was on the opposite side of that wall throwing all she had at it to break it. No one but her could still be here when Atsiya broke through. They'd be killed. "Go!"
"No! We can't just leave you here to fight alone!" Breezepaw protested.
"Yes, you can. This is my duty, Breezepaw. I was born for this. Get out of here!" Sunrise shouted, nearly buckling under the weight of a sheer ice wall crashing into her own shadow wall.
Stonepaw shoved his brother. "Now is not the time to play hero. Sunrise knows what she's doing. Come on, we gotta get to safety."
Through the stifling silence in Sunrise's head she heard the patter of their paws as they left the ice, and the screaming coming from the Isle. Her shadow wall shattered. Impossibly sharp, little pieces of ice rained down on her, slicing through her skin. She bit back a yelp and channeled her pain into a shadow cat. It launched itself at Atsiya, ragged snarl ripping free. Her shadow cats had gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. Atsiya tore its head from its shoulders, claws dripping darkness. Fear curled in Sunrise's belly.
"Hello again, little Shadowstalker," Atsiya purred. The frozen river groaned. "Though not so little anymore. You've grown."
Sunrise shrugged. "Does it matter if I've grown?"
"Of course. Now no one will be able to tell me I won because you were weak. They'll tell me I won because I was stronger," she spat.
"You won't be walking away from here alive, Atsiya," Sunrise snarled.
Atsiya laughed. "Oh no, Shadowstalker. I am afraid you are mistaken. You will be the one dead by nightfall." She tapped the ice with a claw and the ground beneath Sunrise buckled, ice giving way, slipping into the churning water below. Her hindpaws dipped into the freezing water and went numb. Frantically Sunrise thrust out her shadows and they became the ground underneath her. At the same time she sent spears, hooked and brutal, shooting towards Atsiya only to have the Elemental throw up a jagged wall.
Within her body the fire thrummed. It could sense purpose. It could sense a danger. It wanted out. Not yet, not yet, not yet. It was too early for that reveal. That was to be kept for the very last moment, when either she or Atsiya was on the brink of death and a final push was needed. Only then could her awful secret be shown.
Safe from the roaring river and above the ice, Sunrise crushed Atisya's wall. Icicles flew at her the second the wall crumbled, glinting in the sunhigh glare. She only just managed to curl a shield of darkness around herself before they struck and still they bruised her. It felt like Atsiya was stronger. But that wasn't possible. Atsiya didn't have anything left to learn or show, she'd been in control of her power for seasons.
"You're looking tired already. Want to give up?" Atsiya leered.
Her answer came in a barbed shadow to the hindleg. Sunrise felt it sink into skin and grate passed bone. It filled her with glee. This is what I was born to do. A scraping sound filled the air and a cloud of frost burst from the frozen river, clouding her vision, plunging their part of the river into murk. It became bitingly cold inside the cloud, harsh winds whipping over Sunrise, little ice shards biting into her skin. She rolled a coat of shadow over her, plucking it from the darkness the cloud brought, and sent out a shadow cat in search of Atsiya. Closing her eyes she flicked her ears around, straining for the sound of claws against ice but all she could hear was the howling of the wind and the scraping of more frost lifting from the river. It reminded her of the battle against Wind when thick fog had filled the forest.
She'd beaten Wind then. Yet this time she had no blood power. There was no heart beating nearby, no thrum of warm blood. That part of her mind was impossibly silent. Crimson had stripped that advantage from her. If Atsiya won it would be Crimson's fault.
There. The skitter of claws. Sunrise whipped around but Atsiya was quicker, frost-tipped claws ripping across Sunrise's neck. Howling, Sunrise reared back and swiped at her face, hurling shadow at her, wrapping them around anything she could reach. She wanted to haul Astiya towards her and make the Elemental scream. But Atsiya was quicker and her little frost-storm sliced the shadows into pathetic ribbons. In Atsiya's storm her shadows were useless, but her claws and teeth still worked just fine. Hopefully Icepetal's teachings had stuck.
The next time Atsiya struck, teeth plunging into her haunches, Sunrise tore herself free and pounced at her, sinking claws into her shoulder and anchoring them together. "You won't get away from me this time," she snarled, curling her lip. Her teeth found the side of Atsiya's neck and tore into it, savaging the skin, splattering blood over her face. If she had her blood power...oh the things she would be able to do. Instead she settled for dragging the claws she had imbedded in Atsiya's shoulder down, carving jagged red lines through white fur. Burning pain erupted from her flank and she glanced down to find Atsiya's claws, tipped with vicious icicles, plunging deep.
It was agony. It was burning fire and chilling cold all at once. It was pain that lodged itself in her throat and choked her, pain that suffocated. It was cruel claws sinking further and further into her gut, chasing blood up her throat and out of her mouth. It was the torture of serrated edges sliding back out, catching flayed skin and brutalised muscle.
Her claws fell from Astiya's shoulders. Her jaw went slack. She could feel blood gushing from the puncture wounds left behind. The ground was cold and hard against her side when she fell, and more pain raced through her. Blood bubbled at her lips. Through the cloud she saw Atsiya standing over her, those cruel claws lifted once more.
So this was to be it. Beaten so quickly and efficiently. It went to show just how unprepared she was, how little time she'd had. No other Shadowstalkers had been able to kill Atsiya and they'd had seasons to prepare. Sunrise had only ever had mere moons. Why had anyone ever thought she'd be able to do what they hadn't? She coughed up more blood.
"You were born weak, Shadowstalker," Atsiya crooned by her ear. "I'm almost tempted to keep you alive long enough to watch me destroy these Clans you love so much, to watch your friends realise you failed them." She laughed, low and harsh, "maybe I'll start with Icepetal's kits, hm?"
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
It was boiling inside her.
The fire wanted out.
The shadows were angry.
The wind waited.
A brutal anger pooled in her. Fuelled her. Threw kindling to that roaring fire and turned it into an inferno that couldn't be contained by anything. It wanted out. No longer would it be contained while an enemy flaunted itself so beautiful nearby. It asked permission, and Sunrise gave it. The fire rocketed out of her. It burst into Atsiya's face, molten hot. It burned away that disgusting cloud of cold. It took the power of the sun beating above it and roared.
Sunrise heaved herself to her paws, blinking in the sudden light of the sun, ignoring the pain in her gut. The fire - her fire - wreathed itself around Atsiya, scorching the Elemental; the smell of singed fur heavy in the air. She threw up a wall of ice against it only to have it whisk around to the other side and start all over. A cruel tongue of flame.
"What is this!?" Atsiya spat, plunging the temperature around them to near freezing. Still the fire surged on. "How are you doing this!? This is Cyrith's power!"
"I took it from him," Sunrise said calmly. Her shadows shot across the ice turning it black, seeking out Atsiya and coiling around her legs. There was so much power. From the trees blew a wind so strong it would have bowled Atsiya over should the shadows have let her go. "I took Wind's too." It was calling to her, tempting her. More, more, come further, come closer, there is more. She fell deeper. The fire burned hotter. The shadows grew darker. The wind howled louder. "Maybe I'll take yours."
A chunk of the frozen river tore free and rose up, wrapping itself round Atsiya. Sunrise blasted more fire at her, made it hotter, watched it melt the thick shield into a puddle at the Elemental's paws. The two icicles that tore open skin along her spine didn't even make her flinch. She was beyond pain now, diving deeper and deeper into an endless pool of beautiful power. Faintly she could hear the wind shrieking above, could see that the sunhigh sky looked more like a bubbling thunderstorm.
"You're an abomination," Atsiya hissed, standing tall despite the singing fire that had melted bits of her skin from her bone. "You aren't a Shadowstalker."
"Aren't I?" Sunrise murmured. She could see everything, feel everything; the chill her shadows felt when they slithered along the ice, the unbridled joy the fire felt to be set free, the sense of pure freedom that came from the wind soaring high above her head. Still she plunged deeper. She couldn't stop now even if she wanted to.
There was an edge coming. She could see it faintly in her mind's eye, a place where the darkness was even darker, a place that called to her. If she went beyond it what would happen? If she let herself fall further would she be able to save everyone?
She shuddered. The fire turned from red to black. Atsiya screamed. It was so hot and so cold, a fire that burned and chilled. Sunrise felt a smile curl on her muzzle. This was what a true Shadowstalker could do. This was why none of the others had ever been able to defeat the Elementals, because they had never been able to let go long enough to fall passed the point of no return; a point where their powers became unstoppable. Impossibly black clouds, spurred on by that howling wind, slipped over the sun and plunged the Isle into darkness at sunhigh. Sunrise breathed in. Her eyelids fluttered. Her body felt strangely loose, airy, almost...shadow-like.
The dark world before her eyes flickered, turning golden then back to black. Someone was shouting her name. No, more than one cat was shouting her name. Who was it? What did they want? Couldn't they tell she was busy?
Atsiya scrambled to her paws and made another attempt at victory, icicle-tipped claws slashing cruel scars into Sunrise's face. shadows wrapped around her hindlegs, lifted her up, and threw her into the surface of the frozen river with a cracking sound that echoed. It was music to Sunrise's ears.
"Sunrise! Sunrise, stop! Can you hear me!?"
Again the dark valley flickered away, becoming that honey-gold beach. There were five shapes, felines, facing her on the beach. Were they calling her name? Who were they? What did they want? They turned from her, two of them, and began shouting at a third, a pretty cat with beautiful golden fur and stunning green eyes. Why were they familiar? Why did this body remember them?
"Sunrise, please, it's Soran! You have to stop! Cut yourself off from it!"
"No!" The pretty cat, the she-cat...what was her name? "Don't stop her, Soran. She can do it! She can destroy the Elementals with this! Don't you see? This is what we've been waiting for!"
"What do you mean this is what we've been waiting for? For Sunrise to nearly die? For her to lose herself to the darkness that waits inside all of us? We have to stop her, Sheara!"
"Soran is right."
Sheara. Soran. The others….Leon, Reyn, Murai. Shadowstalkers from long ago. Why was she in their afterlife? Had she died? Had she failed? No, no that wasn't possible, she was too strong to fail. All she had to do was reach that edge, reach it and plunge passed it. Then everything would be okay. Then everyone would be safe. Icepetal's kits would be alright. Everyone...everyone.
"No!" Sheara shouted. "I will not let all my hard work go to waste. All I've done, all the pushing and guiding, it's led to this. Don't you see? We have to go beyond that point, way beyond that point, to kill them. We can't do it with our normal powers!"
Leon curled his lip. "What do you mean 'after all you've done'?"
"You made Sunrise kill Hope," Soran growled. "You forced her into using that blood power in the hopes that it would trigger this. Did you make her absorb those Elemental powers too? She's not some toy for you to play around with, Sheara! She's a cat! Like us!"
"She's whatever I want her to be. This is the last chance we'll ever get to destroy the Elementals. Did you really think I was going to leave it in the paws of a weak apprentice!?" Sheara laughed, "don't be ridiculous. She will go beyond that edge. She will fall further into the darkness and she will do what none of us could."
Soran roared, "and she will take the valley with her! She will kill all of her friends, all of her family, and she will destroy herself. Not kill, destroy. Can't you see? She's becoming shadow. There will be nothing left of her!"
"Then so be it," Sheara said dismissively and the world flickered back to the valley, bathed in beautiful darkness.
Atsiya trembled at her paws, pitiful, beaten, and bloody. "Bow," Sunrise demanded in a voice that was not quite her own, one that rasped and hissed. "Bow to the Shadowstalker that beat you."
"Never!" Atsiya screeched, defiant even to the end.
"That was the wrong answer." Who was she? She was a cat wasn't she? An apprentice? What was her name...Sunrise? Maybe. Perhaps. Nothing was quite right. Everything was jumbled. Her body felt so far away, her mind even further. Everything was focused on that point, that edge, getting closer and closer.
Spitting blood from her mouth Atsiya said, "why would I ever bow to a weakling like you? You look like you're about to blow away with the wind."
Fire flashed in Sunrise's eyes. The wind shrieked louder and stirred the black clouds in circles, bringing them swirling down to the ground in a tornado of darkness. Red hot flames streaked the black, blue ones too. It paused just above her head, a horrifying thing that howled and screamed, and spilled over her, burning the ground, stirring the frost on the ice. The edge was so close. It was within reach. Just a little further. She was a creature of death and darkness and blood, and it was time the whole world knew that.
Soran's voice was screeching at her again. "Please, please, stop, Sunrise! Once you go beyond that point there is no going back. You're walking the edge now, and on one side there is light and good and wonder, and on the other there is darkness and death and evil. Stop, Sunrise. Come back to us."
There was no going back. She touched that edge and the world went silent. She walked that knife's edge, that tiny bit of rock. She paused. Then she stepped over and plummeted.
Atsiya's eyes went white with fear before the fire and shadow rolled over her in a writhing mess. Her screams echoed, awful things filled with complete terror and pain. Sunrise, or what had once been Sunrise, grinned. Her body was dissipating, tail turning to shadow. She was far beyond that edge now. The power surging through her was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was going to consume her and then the valley and then come back for her soul when it was done; and Sunrise was going to let it. Why wouldn't she when its siren call was so strong?
Then jaws wrapped around her throat and sharp teeth punctured the skin. Her plummet came to an abrupt stop. The teeth sunk deeper. She choked and wriggled and writhed, gasping in their grip. But whoever it was held tight. Her hold on her power weakened. The sun slipped through the clouds. Her head spun and her lungs screamed. They ripped their teeth free from her throat and let her drop to the ice, blood spilling from the mess left behind. It pooled out onto the ice. She wheezed, red bubbling from her throat.
Amory leaned down and whispered in her ear. "No one takes advantage of me."
Sunrise took a final, shuddering breath, and closed her eyes.