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Julian squinted at the light surrounding him. His eyes were not used to its brilliance. Especially when he they had not been used for so long. And they hurt. Oh, the white-hot pain cut through his head with great speed. He gasped and reached for his head, his hand coming to rest on his forehead.

He had never thought that coming back into existence would be so hard. Of course, he had not really been expecting to be erased from that very existence as soon as he had been. All he had wanted was to protect Jenny from the others. It was always all for Jenny. Jenny.....he thought desperately as the pain sliced through his brain again. For just a slight second, Julian wondered where she was. Could they have caught her again? Is that why they had carved his name back in the runestave? To torture him with Jenny's sweet face? Nothing could be worse, Julian knew.

Slowly, still clutching at his head, Julian sat up from his position on the dais. He could hear the other Shadow Men clap and cheer around him. Something was amiss, though, Julian knew. He could sense it.

Julian stared out in the darkness beyond the light surrounding the table and waited for his eyes to focus. He squinted and slowly he could see the hulking shapes hiding along the parameter of the room. Aye, this was big, Julian realized. All of the Shadow Men were present.

The pain receded from his head slowly, and soon Julian felt more like he used to. He hopped off the table and felt pure satisfaction when his legs did not crumble underneath him.

Suddenly, it was too much for him. He still felt a bit weak. It wouldn't be too long, though. Julian could feel the strength starting to run through his rusty veins once more.

Julian leaned against the table and waited. They were bound to do something to him.

"Julian," a voice from his left side called.

Julian turned slowly, knowing the owner of the voice all too well. There had been a time many, many years before in which they had been friends. Of course, that was before......Well now, they were mortal enemies.

"Hello Julian," Ezra said calmly, looking at the boy before him. He could just imagine the millions of thoughts that would be tripping over each other in Julian's mind. And he smiled, knowing that he had been the cause of such chaos.

"Ezra," Julian said and then coughed. His throat was still dry from not being used in so long. Julian let go of the table and stood up to his full height.

The Shadow Men gathered closer and watched in fascination as Julian and Ezra simply stared at each other. It was a simple staring match. Whoever looked away first lost and was shown to be the weaker of the two. A child's game to some. But, to the Shadow Men it was amazing because the simple game was now being played between their present leader and their past leader. Who won would determine the course of the next game played.

Ezra had expected this. After all, would he have expected less from his worthy adversary? It is just like Julian to wake up holding a grudge, Ezra thought. And he smiled. Everything had been planned for.

Julian was still weak and if Ezra was going to bend him under his power, he would have to strike now. Ezra was not the kind of person that didn't mind losing a challenge. In fact, he hated it with his entire being. And he was not about to lose this one, especially not to Julian.

Ezra's brown eyes bore into Julian's icy blue ones. They said nothing, only stared at each other. Julian knew the stakes that this game held and he was wary of them. The pain had started in his head again and Julian could barely stand on his two feet. Just a few more seconds, he thought. If he could only think of some way to get Ezra to lose his focus, Julian could win. Yet, for some reason, Julian's mind did not want to think. The pain was just too unbearable.

"How do you feel?" Ezra asked suddenly, never taking his eyes off of Julian's own.

"What?" Julian gasped out as the pain suddenly increased. He tried not to let the pain show in his face, but it was hard.

"I said," Ezra replied calmly, "how do you feel?"

Julian could barely hold on. The pain was becoming too much for him. He reached up to touch his forehead and he gasped to find it white hot.

Ezra smiled.

Suddenly, a new line of pain arced across Julian's forehead and he gasped again, taking his eyes off Ezra to steady himself against the table. It had just become too much for him. Too late, Julian realized what he had just done.

The Shadow Men clapped, impressed at Ezra's force. They whispered amongst themselves, waiting for the next events to unfold. The whispering ceased, though, when Julian slowly looked back up at Ezra, the hate obvious in his eyes.

"I'm disappointed in you, Julian," Ezra remarked. " I thought you would last much longer than you did."

"Bow to your King, boy!" One of the Shadow Men called out from the crowd. The crowd mumbled their agreement.

Ezra waited, knowing perfectly well that Julian had no other choice than to bow down to him.

Julian, never taking his eyes off of Ezra, slowly let go of the table and knelt down on his knees. Then, ever so slowly, Julian looked away from Ezra and bowed his head as well.

The Shadow Men cheered again. Oh the game was a good one!

"Look up," Ezra commanded after a moment of triumph. Grudgingly, Julian obeyed. His eyes fell on the face of the one he hated with all his heart. A lock of white blond hair fell in front of his eyes, but Julian did not move in the slightest bit. He just stared at Ezra, the one person Julian truly would not mind killing right on the spot.

"Things have changed since you were here last, Julian." Ezra started, looking at the boy before him. "I am in charge now and I have a bit of a task for you to do."

"No," Julian said quietly. He was not about to play their games. Let them erase me again, he thought. I will not get caught up in this madness again.

"Oh, I think you will be very interested in this game," Ezra remarked, smiling. "You see, Julian, one thing we Shadow Men crave is light. A light to our darkness."

Julian bowed his head as Ezra's last words crashed into his brain. Those were the same words he had said to Jenny so long ago. It had seemed like such a good reason at the time for her to stay with him in the shadow world. She would be his light. But, now, as Ezra said the same words, Julian couldn't help but cringe inwardly. Finally, he could feel how Jenny must have felt. And it did not feel good at all.

"I have found my light," Ezra said, watching as the look of hatred passed over Julian's face. Aye, Julian knew exactly what Ezra meant.

"Alyx has grown up since you last saw her," Ezra added.

A look of pure horror closed over Julian's face. No not Alyx, anyone but Alyx, he thought desperately.

Alyx was the reason Julian hated Ezra. She had been only eight when the two young Shadow Men had come upon her, lost in the woods of her own world. She was frightened and crying, pleading with them to help her find her way home. They had not known what to do with such a mortal child. They had argued- Ezra to take her back to the Shadow World and Julian to leave her in her own world. After all, what good was a mortal child to them?

Finally, the two boys decided to leave her where she was. They had no use for her. They had made a pact, neither of them would touch her and take her anywhere. Julian, himself, had been so young then and he had not understood the full importance of what Ezra had done next. Ezra had touched Alyx's cheek lightly and she had calmed down. Then he had leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead, sending her into a deep sleep. The young Shadow Men had then laid her down in the soft grass and disappeared to their own world.

Time had gone on and Julian had been so caught up in Jenny and everything that happened with her, that he did not keep an eye on Ezra. This, it would prove, would be his mistake.

Ezra had returned to the mortal world and had kidnapped Alyx, bringing her back down into the shadows with him. And he had kept her locked away from everyone. Julian had had no idea of what had taken place until one night he was awoken from his dreams by a piercing scream that seemed to rip through his mind. He had followed the scream until he had reached a prison that Ezra had constructed. Sitting in the only cell, was fourteen year old Alyx, scared to death.

Julian had been paralyzed by the look of sheer terror in her eyes. All he had been able to do was stand there and stare at the poor figure huddled in the back of the cell.

Ezra had appeared moments later, and Julian berated him for bringing the girl to their world. They had fought, both saying things that were meant to hurt the other one. Ezra said that he would kill Jenny and Julian both if Julian did not stay away from Alyx. Julian had laughed. Ezra might have been mean, but he was still not as strong as Julian had been.

Of course, Julian's laughter had made Ezra even madder and he had lashed out with all his power. Julian had fallen to the ground in front of the cell, and had not moved as Ezra bent down to whisper words into Julian's ear. "I marked her years ago," he said.

And all of the sudden, Julian knew what Ezra had done when he had kissed Alyx's forehead. He hadn't just put her to sleep then, he had marked her to be his!

Julian had been furious; no Shadow Man broke a pact with their leader. He had released Alyx into her own world, breaking any ties of friendship he had ever had with Ezra. Later on, when the Shadow Men decided to cut Julian out of the runestave, Ezra thought it only proper that he should do the cutting. Then Alyx was all his.

Presently, Julian grimaced. This could not be happening, it just couldn't be. "You monster." He whispered, and in a few short seconds he gathered all of his strength within him.

Julian could feel his hate for Ezra burn deep within his stomach. "You monster," he said again, louder this time.

He lunged from Ezra, meaning to kill. But, he never even touched the other Shadow Man as hands, many of them, pulled him back to his where he had stood before. They pushed him down until he was forced to kneel on both knees. They held him there even as he struggled against their tight grips.

Aye, the Shadow Men were loyal to their new leader.

Ezra smiled. He had seen the look of pain that had settled in Julian's eyes and he knew that Julian was remembering. Remembering how he had been the one in command, the one to save Alyx before. Well, Ezra thought, not anymore. Julian was no longer in charge. Alyx was Ezra's and it was time that she knew it.

"Your task, Julian, is to go get her and bring her back here to me."

"And if I refuse?" Julian asked, the hatred burning in him like a raging fire.

Ezra smiled and walked over to where the Shadow Men held onto their new game piece so tightly. He leaned down so that he was on eye level with his foe. "Then you and Alyx will both die," Ezra said slowly.

Julian clenched his jaw and looked away from Ezra's cold eyes. It scared him to think that he had once been like that. That he had once been ready to kill anyone for Jenny, even Tom. In the end, he had realized how important Tom was to Jenny and he had not been able to do it. It scared him to think that he had once been so ruthless. Sure, the Shadow Man blood still ran through his veins, but it was not as thick as it had been in the past. Allowing the Shadow Men to kill him in order to save Jenny had really taught him something.

And it killed him to think that he would have to bring Alyx back down into the shadows. To Ezra, who would be just as evil to her as Julian had been to Jenny in the beginning of his games. But, then again, what choice did Julian really have? If he brought Alyx down to the shadows, at least she would still be alive. He wished mightily that Ezra had never carved his name back into the runestave.

"I'll do it," he said and then everything went black.


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