As the craggy cliffs and canyons melted into forested plains, Dark guessed where the trail was leading them. There weren't many villages in this area of Hyrule, but the closer they came to the coast, the more populace there would be. Woods gave way to farmland, and from there the salty tinge on the breeze announced they were indeed coming closer to the Great Bay.
Dark hadn't spent much time in the region, but he recognized some local landmarks. The Hyrule coast of Great Bay on the southern side was dotted with farming villages, but the largest one—almost a town, a bit smaller than Kakariko—was Aboda. And in Aboda there was a decent-sized harbour for trade and travel.
Had Shaiya boarded a ship? Had she been in Termina all this time? The thought was both comforting and disappointing. If she had fled to Termina, likely she avoided the war in Hyrule. Yet it would mean she had been right under his nose while Dark himself was living in Termina.
Twisting in the saddle, Dark turned to his companions to explain his theory and provide his limited background information on Aboda. Silas nodded along, but his gaze was drawn to the farmers in their yards, tending livestock or working on repairs, their breaths crystallizing in the air. He waved or smiled at them as he passed, but their returning smiles were tight, wary. A nagging feeling in Dark's gut grew into a ball of dread when a farm wife standing in the doorway of her home caught sight of him and slapped a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. She hurried inside, shutting the door behind her.
Although the wintry sun was warm, Dark yanked the hood of his cloak over his head to shield his face.
Lym ushered her horse forward, obviously sensing the same feelings as Dark. "What's going on?" she asked him.
Damn her for being so observant, he thought. "Nothing," he hedged. "Sometimes people are frightened by my appearance. It's normal."
Her lips twisted and her eyes narrowed, telling him exactly what she thought of both his explanation and his assertion. He pretended not to notice, focusing on the road ahead.
Flat farmland spilled into scrubby grassland for grazing, and then the tall wooden gate of Aboda popped into view. Two guardsmen stood at attention on either side, their armor well-made but less impressive than the gleaming silver of Hyrule Castle's guards.
At their approach, Silas announced them as travellers passing through for the night. The guards regarded them with more suspicion than was warranted, since Aboda saw plenty of out-of-town visitors. When the blond guard's eyes landed on Dark, he knew there would be trouble. The man's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"You!"
If the accusation wasn't enough, the pointing finger was.
Three sets of eyes hit Dark. He sighed and lifted his hood off his head. The second guard, a redhead, sprang into action. Spear raised, the two guards surrounded Dark's horse. The mare pawed at the ground anxiously, so Dark laid a soothing hand on her neck, hoping she wouldn't bolt.
"You're under arrest!" the redheaded guard shouted, though his hands shook on his spear. "Dismount, now!"
Raising his hands, Dark swung one leg over and jumped down, allowing the blond guard to disarm him and ineffectively secure his hands behind his back.
"Why is he under arrest!?" Silas demanded, already on the ground. He towered over the two nervous guards. "We just got here!"
"He's been attacking Aboda every night the last week!" the blond guard snarled. "He's a bloody demon! It's even got red eyes!"
Dark just sighed, but Lym, also off her horse and fingers twitching for the dagger in her boot, rounded on the guardsman. "He is not a demon, you fucking idiot! He's been with us all the last week, we've only arrived in this area this morning!"
"You're mistaking him for someone else," Silas said firmly, crossing his arms.
Bristling, the redhead guard puffed out his chest in an attempt to look more intimidating. "We're not mistaken. The…creature that's been attacking us looks exactly like him!" He gestured at Dark, then paused. "Although, his eyes glow only at night, I guess…"
His suspicions confirmed, Dark decided it was better to play along. "Gentlemen," he said, causing the blond guard to jump behind him. "If you could escort us to the guardhouse in Aboda, I would be happy to clear things up for you. I know all about the creature of which you speak."
"You do?" the guard holding him asked.
"Yes. Does it only show up at night, move like smoke over water and have glowing eyes?"
"Yes," the other guard confirmed, his tone still suspicious.
"It's not a demon. It's a shadow, and I know a way to protect Aboda from it. If you'll take us to the guardhouse?"
The blond guard snorted in doubt, but he slapped shackles over Dark's wrists anyways.
"We can't take him inside the town!" his companion protested. "What if he escapes?"
"He's already been inside the town. It's not like the night guard has been able to stop him! Besides, maybe his freaky demon magic only works at night. I've heard of something like that."
"That's not true. Is it?" This was directed at Dark.
"Oh, definitely," Dark agreed guilelessly. "I'm powerless during the daytime."
"I still don't trust him," the second guard grumbled.
"I promise not to try and escape," Dark offered, trying for sincerity.
The second guard scowled at him. "Fine. I'm arresting your friends, too, then."
Dark protested, but Lym and Silas silently held out their wrists in compliance. Dark didn't miss the icy glares they sent his way. He looked back, hoping to convey sincerity and a promise to explain.
The redhead guard's shackles were fine for Lym, but they wouldn't fit over Silas's wrists, and they have no third pair. The guards improvised with rope, tying his wrists together in front of him. The group marched into town, and Dark immediately wished he'd flipped his hood back over his head. Even so, he thought, noting the accusatory and shocked glares of Aboda's townsfolk as he passed, this was still far from the worst welcome he'd ever had.
Within minutes they reached the guardhouse, where Dark was unshackled and pushed unceremoniously into the single jail. Silas and Lym were also freed, but they remained in the guardhouse, arguing with the blond guard while his fellow went to fetch the guard captain.
"Could I have a moment with my friends?" Dark asked. At the guard's suspicious look, he shrugged. "I can't very well do anything from in here, can I?"
The guard huffed. "Fine. Five minutes. I'll be right outside."
At the guard's departure Silas and Lym immediately rounded on him.
"What the fuck is going on?" Silas hissed.
Dark blinked. He'd rarely seen his friend so angry. "I think my Shadow is the one who's been attacking Aboda."
"Explain that," Lym said, crossing her arms, drumming her fingers on her bicep. "Are you sleepwalking? Have you been taking these nightly excursions without us knowing? Is it your curse?" This last statement was said in a whisper, in case the guard was listening.
"I'm not a sleepwalker," Dark said. "And I haven't been keeping anything from you, other than my knowledge of these attacks."
The twin expressions of hurt on Silas and Lym's faces gutted him. He hadn't even thought to tell them about the strange attacks Lieutenant Kearns had reported to Link, and his own theories about them. And yet he'd dragged them out here, to the middle of nowhere and into danger, ignorant of possible threats.
"I'm sorry," he began. "For the omission. I was being stupid. I'm sorry for bringing you both—"
"Stop." Lym speared him with those mismatched eyes. The dark one glittering, the light one sparking like contained lightning. "Tell us what's going on, you can grovel later."
"A few weeks ago Link received a report from one his lieutenants. Several villages in central Hyrule were attacked. The last one was a complete slaughter." He didn't go into details, but the shocked looks on his friends' faces told him they understood what he wasn't saying. "Link's lieutenant claimed he and his soldiers had actually seen the one responsible."
"They said it was you," Lym guessed, shaking her head slowly side to side. "How is that possible? Is this Alatar's doing again?"
"I believe so," Dark agreed grimly. "An attempt to turn others against me and rouse suspicion against me. Link knows I have this curse, so it was a plausible explanation. But I haven't been having any blackouts or memory lapses, which I did last time I was under Alatar's control. So I think there's something else going on."
"That fucking bastard," Silas growled. "Using your face to do his dirty work."
"I appreciate both of you believing I had nothing to do with this."
Lym and Silas stared at him as if he'd just admitted to being a dragon in disguise. And speaking of dragons, Zara was poking her head out of Lym's backpack, now that the danger of being seen by the guards or the townsfolk was gone. She trilled experimentally, snuffling at Lym's ear.
"Stay in there, little one," Lym cooed. "It's not safe yet."
Grumbling, Zara kept her nose slipped through a gap in the leather satchel's top, but stayed hidden.
"However Alatar is doing this doesn't matter," Silas continued. "We need to figure out what to do about it and clear your name."
"What's more important is you and Lym continuing the search for Shaiya. I'll find a way out of here in the meantime." Silas started to shake his head in defiance. "I appreciate your support," Dark said, reaching through the bars to rest a hand on his friend's arm. "But I need you both to do this for me. If I can't talk my way out of here, I'll be able to slip out with no one the wiser." His lips curled into a smirk. "I can still use my magic in the daytime."
Silas allowed himself a small smile. He unclenched his arms, grasping Dark's hand in a quick grip. "Fine. Lym and I will look for clues around town to figure out where Shaiya went.
"Thank you—"
"And we'll look for clues about this shadow impostor and see what we can do to help."
Dark gritted his teeth. "Don't draw too much attention to yourselves. Aboda isn't the safest place right now."
"We'll be fine," Lym assured him. "Find out what you can from the guards and then come join us. I have no faith in their letting you go." Reaching for his other hand, she gave it a squeeze.
Lym and Silas let go of his hands just as the guards returned, the captain in tow. After a brief, conversation with the guard captain, he agreed to let Lym and Silas go free, on the condition that they wouldn't leave Aboda. Since they didn't intend to leave without Dark, this was an easy agreement.
Dark watched his friends leave the guardhouse with one last look over their shoulders. Then, the guard captain turned to him, eager to get on with his interrogation. Dark stared right back at him, for once grateful that his unusual eyes seemed to unsettle the man. For Dark had no intention of submitting to an interrogation.
A plan was taking form, and he had some questions of his own that he needed answered.
"Where do you think we should start?" Silas asked.
Lym was busy fumbling in the bodice of her shirt for her pendant. They stood in the alley behind the guardhouse, away from prying eyes. She wouldn't be able to hold the glowing pendant in plain sight—glowing, magical items attracted attention—but maybe she could keep it hidden in her clothes while it guided them. They would be the only two able to see Shaiya's trail from the past, anyways.
"It might be difficult to track her in a town," she explained. "Too many people. Too many intersecting paths."
Silas nodded, frowning at the entrance of the alley. Lym glanced at him.
"I'm surprised he didn't tell you about all this earlier."
Silas's annoyed look said everything. "Clearly he didn't think he could trust me with it."
"I don't think that's true—ah, here we go." Lym bundled the pendant in a scarf that she tied around her neck over her cloak. No glowing. Perfect. "Let's go back to the gate to make sure she came into Aboda."
They set off for the main gate, Silas still silently brooding.
"He trusts you," Lym assured him. "He's just an idiot. And I suspect he was ashamed or afraid of you rejecting him or something. Which is another reason why I believe he returns your feelings."
Silas groaned. "Not this again."
"When else will we have a chance to talk about it?" she asked, turning right down a side street.
"There's nothing to talk about."
Lym shot him a look over her shoulder. "I know you're in denial, but it's pretty obvious. I saw your little moment in the jail just now."
Silas's cheeks flushed.
"Uh hmm. Trust me, if you two stop dancing around the subject you might actually realize something. You can stop being afraid of being rejected."
"You're one to talk about being afraid," Silas muttered.
Lym halted so abruptly Silas ran into her back, causing her to stumble and Zara to yowl inside the pack. She rounded on Silas. "I'm not afraid. Dark did reject me, if you recall. So no, I'm not afraid."
Silas looked askance. "He still cares for you. He's just used to pushing people away."
"Then he's the most afraid of us all," Lym replied. "And I have no patience for cowards."
She started walking again, not waiting for him to catch up. They said nothing more until they reached the gate, where the faint blue trail of Shaiya's trail could be seen. It zigzagged through Aboda, getting lost in the murk of humanity and history. Eventually they conceded the likeliest places she would go were the inn, the tavern or the harbour. After striking out at the first two locations, they made their way to the harbour.
The sailors and merchants milling around the harbour were wary of strangers, it was clear, but willing to answer some questions. Lym started by asking the oldest and most grizzled sailors if they remembered seeing a young woman of Shaiya's description pass through around 25 years ago.
Not surprisingly, this didn't give them any leads. The pair stopped at a shop for something to eat, since it was now midday. The shopkeeper eyed them for a moment while he handed a package of dried meat to Silas.
"Ye's the two who're lookin' for a young woman that gone missin'?"
"What do you know about that?" Lym asked.
The shopkeeper shrugged. "Word travels fast here. And ye're not the first to come lookin' in Aboda for missin' folks."
"People disappear from here often?" Silas asked, frowning.
The shopkeeper, eyes alight with the prospect of sharing an interesting story, leaned over the counter. "Plenty," he told them. "Lately, the disappearances have been happenin' again, but the mayor, he keeps it quiet. Doesn't want people to panic, eh?"
"Who's taking them?" Lym asked. "Or are they simply fleeing on ships?"
"They're leavin' on ships, a'right. Pirate ships."
"Pirates?" Lym and Silas echoed.
"Aye. Been a problem in these waters for years. Lately pirates have been snatching up younger folks from villages on the coast. Use 'em as slaves, y'see."
"How long have this been a problem in Aboda?" Lym asked, her concern growing.
"Years," the shopkeeper said. "Sorry to say lass, if ye've lost someone, ye probably won't see 'em again."
"What about 25 years ago?" Lym pressed. "Were pirates active here back then?"
"Oh, yes. Why, when I was a lad, they was takin' folks. Every few years it seems there's some—"
"Thank you," Lym interrupted, slapping a red rupee on the counter. Grabbing Silas' arm, she hustled outside. "Pirates must have grabbed her," she panted once they reached the dock. "Her trail doesn't leave town, and even if she left on a ship, she might have been attacked by pirates and captured. It could also explain why she never returned to Hyrule after the war."
"It's looking likely," Silas replied, his lips pressed into a thin line. "She could be anywhere in the world by now. Even your pendant will have trouble tracking her across the seas. How will we find her?"
"One problem at a time." Zara poked her nose out Lym's satchel, having smelled the package of meat. She began to yip hungrily and tried to crawl onto Lym's shoulder. "Shh, Zara. Hang on." Taking a chunk of dried meat, Lym shoved the morsel into her pack where the baby dragon could happily munch on it.
"Someone here must have information on these pirates. Where they operate out of, where their hideout is. That's if they're the same group who kidnapped Shaiya, which is a big assumption" Silas said, his positivity deflating a bit.
"It's worth asking around. Let's start with the shadiest-looking merchants and work our way from there."
Lymira and Silas spent the next few hours digging for more information on Aboda's pirate problem. While most of the dockside merchants and sailors had little else to add except opinions varying from complaints to appreciation for the black-market goods the pirates frequently brought into town, a few corroborated the rumours that the pirates supposedly held a hideout on the Termina side of Great Bay, as well as an island stronghold far in the Southern Ocean.
With the dusk approaching, Zara restlessly squirming in Lym's pack and no sign of Dark, the pair switched their focus to hunting for an inn for the night. They hadn't traveled two streets away from the harbour before Lymira picked up the sound of footsteps treading too close behind them.
Stopping and pretending to look into a pottery shop window, Lym nudged Silas, and they sized up the three rough-looking men tailing them.
"Run-of-the-mill thieves or allied with the pirates, d'you think?" Silas asked casually, turning to continue walking down the street, sliding his arm over Lym's shoulders. His arm pressed against her rucksack, causing Zara to yip in protest.
"Maybe neither," Lym muttered, frowning. "I'm worried someone caught a glimpse of Zara and thinks we're hiding something valuable. Or they just assume we have something worth taking since we're out-of-towners."
"Either way." Silas shrugged. "Should we lose them?"
"Cut left."
Silas followed her abrupt turn, then squeezed into an alley behind her to confuse their pursuers. Behind them, the footsteps quickened, pounding dully.
Lym zigzagged through the streets, grimacing when she realized two things: Aboda had comparatively fewer streets and fewer nooks to hide in than Castle Town. Even with a quickened pace and winding path, the men caught up to them. Now shouting, they dropped the pretenses and started to give chase.
"Come on!" Lym took off, heading for the guard house. Silas was close on her heels, blocking sight of her with his body.
The men following them sprinted after them, not willing to give up, even as the chase drew attention from the villagers heading home. As the streets grew more clogged, Lym was forced to slow her pace, but it helped them shake their tails just a few minutes away from the guardhouse.
Slowing to a stop, she looked over her shoulder to confirm they were gone. "That was—"
Earsplitting shrieks erupted. The sounds of crashing feet and panicking citizens filled the air. The streets that were at once filled with tired villagers moving towards home in anticipation of a hot meal were now roiling with a stampede of people running away from danger. Lym and Silas whipped around, momentarily caught in the crush of fleeing villagers before Silas ushered them into an empty alley. After a tense few seconds, the street was once again empty, but the shouts of alarm and panic were growing louder.
They exchanged a single glance before taking off in the direction of the screams.
Hearing the screams even inside the jail cell, Dark turned to the single, barred window. Peering through, he could see only a rush of stomping feet as Aboda's villagers fled from some unseen threat. Dark tilted his head to gauge the position of the sun. It was half-hidden behind the horizon. Twilight.
Damn it. The Shadow must have chosen tonight to strike again. Bad news for Aboda, but since he and the others were already here, they could do something about it. If only he was let out of the damn cell.
"Unlock the door!" he commanded the guard, still confused by the commotion outside. "Now!"
The guard glanced at him nervously. "It's that thing again, isn't it?" he stammered, his hands wringing his spear. "But y-you're in here still…"
"Damn right I am!" Dark growled. "Obviously, I'm not the one who's been attacking your village. Now let me out and give me back my sword!"
When the guard still hesitated, he shouted and gripped the bars of the cell door, shaking the metal in its hinges. "I know how to fight that thing outside! LET ME OUT!"
Startled into action, the guard fumbled for his keys, dropping them to the floor. Resisting the urge to strangle him, Dark waited for the door to swing open before he sprang for the chest where the guard captain had stored his weapons. Tying his sword belt and bow back on, he turned to the guard, only to find the man shaking with fear, still clutching the keys in one hand and his spear in the other.
"Stay here and bring in any villagers who need shelter," Dark instructed, deciding the anxious guard would only get in his way. "Barricade the entrance."
With that, he pushed past the remaining guards in the other room and ran into the street. He headed in the direction people were fleeing from, shouting at anyone who would listen to get inside and take shelter. A cold, clammy hand of dread was trailing down his spine, and he knew without a doubt that tonight's attack would be worse than any assault before.
Rounding a corner, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of a ReDead, crouched low over the body of a young man. The villager's eyes were vacant—too late to save him. Sensing the approach of a living being, the ReDead lifted its bowed head, a horrific shriek echoing from behind bared, gritted teeth.
Now Dark was truly frozen to the spot, unable to escape the nightmarish monster as it stepped slowly, deliberately, towards him. Cool sweat broke out on the back of his neck. The appearance of the monster unearthed memories of his capture under Alatar. The necromancer had imprisoned Dark in a cell smaller than the jail cell he'd just left. Small enough that lying on the floor, the ReDeads in the adjacent cells could nearly brush Dark's skin with their fingertips through the bars. If they stretched, they could reach.
Dark jolted back to the present, surfacing from memories of terror and sleeplessness, panting hard, willing his arms and legs to move. The creature now moved with preternatural speed. Its breath wafted hot and humid on his face, a contrast to its dead-cold flesh, as if the creature only moments ago finished devouring a wriggling, warm meal. Dark gripped the hilt of his sword, his hand trembling with the effort to unsheathe it.
The ReDead lowered its head towards his throat—and another scream erupted, piercing Dark's ears.
The ReDead's spell dropped so abruptly as it collapsed, dead, that Dark also fell to his knees, shaking with relief and fear. Looking up, he saw Lym and Silas running towards him. Another arrow was already primed in Lym's bow.
"Thank you," he gasped, allowing Silas to lift him to his feet again.
"Anytime," Lymira replied, casting a sharp eye around. "There are more of them. We killed the ones we could find, but I hope everyone is heading inside."
Dark strained his ears, listening for the sounds of screams and the low groans of ReDeads on the hunt.
"They're being summoned here from somewhere," Dark told them. "If we find the source, we can close it and stop any more from coming through."
Lymira checked on Zara, who was huddled inside her pack, afraid but calm. "Stay put, Zara. Let's go."
Aboda wasn't the largest village, but it took several minutes of following the sounds of the ReDeads to track their origin point to somewhere in the woods on the town's outskirts. They passed a few more of the foul monsters, but easily dispatched them.
All three of them could feel the change of energy when they reached the clearing where a portal waited, like a black scar slashed into the air, allowing even more of the creatures through.
"I can close it!" Lym announced, stowing her bow and outstretching her hands. "I need you to hold them off while I do."
Dark and Silas glanced at each other, then Silas lifted his sword, ready to catch any stragglers, while Dark sheathed his sword and raised his hands in front of him. A blast of pure white lightning shot from Lym's hands, striking the portal, ringing it in light. The magical veil rippled, its dark energy resisting.
Dark summoned Din's Fire, letting it build in his chest and arms before unleashing it in a torrent of flames towards the portal. Screeches spilled out from the other side as the flames slid through. Clawed hands reached through, trying to escape into the world of light and living, but they were pushed back by Lym's will and Dark's fire. Silas hacked at any creatures who managed to force their way into the channel, mercilessly severing skeletal limbs.
With a pulse of power, the portal crumbled on itself and vanished into nothing. Lym's hands dropped to her knees and she let out a wheeze. Dark sighed, letting the flames of the spell extinguish. Silas swung his sword in a lazy arc, then hefted its blade on his shoulder.
"A job well done," he said with a grin, then turned to face them. His smile disappeared upon seeing whatever was waiting behind Lym and Dark.
Dark spun around. Standing in the clearing was a perfect copy of himself. Only this double exuded the same malevolent energy as Alatar himself, and its eyes glowed brilliantly red. Even without this startling feature, it didn't appear human. Features that were at once a mirror image of Dark's and then shifting into incomprehensibility glared at the three of them. The edges of their clothing and skin rippled like smoke, as if the thing's very aura physically projected malice and evil.
For a horrible moment, Dark thought the double was Kai, his shadowy other self, manifesting from the effects of Alatar's curse. He dismissed the thought just as quickly. Kai hadn't appeared to him even once since he'd escaped Alatar's prison. Even then, Kai had never appeared like this.
As if hearing his thoughts, the Shadow-Dark's features changed, like water disturbed by a sinking object. When the shadow's face solidified again, it was another face entirely. One Dark was intimately familiar with.
"Sienna," he breathed.
Pain nearly drove him back to his knees. The fury in her accusatory gaze reminded him of the heavy stone of guilt weighing him down.
Sienna stared back at him, her face completely unchanged from when she was alive, save for those bright red eyes. She was dressed in a black shroud, an ebony knife clutched in her hand. The sight of the knife pierced Dark. It was the same knife Alatar had used to enact his curse. Unconsciously, Dark touched the scar on his chest.
"It's not possible," he whispered, more to himself than anything.
"What now?" Silas asked, his sword still raised. He didn't recognize Sienna, but the continued danger was obvious, like smoke in the air.
Dark didn't answer Silas' question. He allowed the element of Shadow to awaken in his blood, letting the magic course freely. In seconds, he could feel invisible strings tugging at him, urging him to slip between the veils dividing worlds and emerge into that in-between plane—the thin membrane separating their world, the World of Light, from the Dark World.
He allowed the magic to envelop him. It started as the electrified twinges of warp magic but soon became fluid and malleable. A molten metal that he could form and shape to his heart's desire. Shadow was the element of change, and now it allowed Dark to change his form and slide between layers of reality.
To Silas and Lym, he was no longer a figure but a literal shadow moving along the ground. But with the sun having vanished, so too, did Dark's new form.
Dark's eyes took in his new view of the forest. In the Shadow realm, places aligned with Light, the element of preservation, such as the Great Fairy's fountains or the Temples, appeared frozen and timeless.
In the woods, there was a juxtaposition of change and constancy.
The Aboda forest was a place that moved naturally in the flows of time, and was under constant change, so to Dark's eyes in the Shadow realm, it burst with the life it held. And yet, as a sanctuary it possessed glimmers of Light. All around Dark, threads of gold spread out like a spider's web, touching each tree root, every moss-covered stone, every silent nocturnal creature waking for the evening. The clearing was the pitch-black spider in the centre of the web, awaiting its next meal. Sienna stood in the middle of the black mark, nothing more than a wisp of inky smoke and smoldering eyes here—a true shadow.
She reached out a hand, palm out. There was nothing but air beneath her palm, and yet it flattened against some unseen surface. Her fingers tensed. Magic frothed to the surface, fighting to burst through the veil and into the World of Light.
Dark cursed. She was trying to open another portal.
Sizzling heat danced across his knuckles. Looking down, he saw the bright orange lightning bolts of his magic begging to be released. Could he stop her from ripping open another hole to the Dark World? Allowing more monsters through?
Throwing himself forward, Dark released a bolt from his hand. It zigzagged, sliced through the air. Struck by the bolt, the shadow shrieked and stumbled back. Where her hand had been, a crack split the air, pulsing with dark magic. Recovering, she rounded on him with inhuman speed. Around her, a torrent of wind and ink-black sand swirled, snatching him like a helpless insect and throwing him aside.
Dark landed on his back. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the Light World. Silas and Lym's concerned faces leaned over him.
"What happened?" he asked, scrambling to his feet. Thankfully, he still held his sword in his grip.
"Another portal opened," Lym shouted in alarm. "Incoming!"
Shadow beasts surged out of the new portal, flanking their group. There were half a dozen of the beasts, and while two to one odds weren't impossible, Dark remembered facing the monsters in the attack on Zora's Domain.
"Can you close it again?" he asked Lym, nudging closer.
"I can try," she said, reaching back to protectively touch her rucksack, where Zara was hiding. "Keep them away from me and I'll try."
Dark and Silas had fought few real battles together, but over their years of friendship had become regular sparring partners. While Silas cut right, Dark charged left, tackling two of the shadow beasts closest to him. Slow but powerful, the beasts swung, slamming their hands into the earth, shaking the ground and sending tremors of alarm throughout the forest. Insects trilled, owls hooted and creatures scurried. Silas shouted, and Dark glanced his way, momentarily distracted. One of the shadow beasts caught him with a swipe to the stomach, tossing him like a ragdoll.
Dark landed painfully next to Lym, who was concentrating all her magic at the portal. "I can't close it," she gasped, her arms out, sweat beading on her forehead. "There's more coming."
Dark's gaze snapped to the portal. Sienna was countering Lym's influence with her own, keeping the portal open. Three more shadow beasts clambered through. He blanched even as Silas fell back to their position, panting with the effort of defeating the two shadow beasts.
He considered their options and could only come to one conclusion.
"Run!"
Silas and Lym both cast him incredulous looks, but after a second look at the portal—where yet more shadow beasts were crawling out—they came to the same conclusion. The three of them sprinted into the woods, with Lym in the lead and Dark bringing up the rear.
"Head for the guardhouse!" Dark shouted over the howls of the shadow beasts. They hadn't given chase, but he didn't slow down. "I need to get something!"
Sienna so far had said nothing, but Dark recognized the look in her eyes. Torment. He'd thought the shadowy doppleganger attacking villages in Hyrule had been a creature summoned by Alatar to lure him out, or turn Link and Dark against one another. Now he saw it was an even crueler trick.
The shadow wasn't wearing Sienna's face to taunt him. It was Sienna's spirit, trapped inside the shadow conjured by Alatar's magic. Whatever the evil mage had done to poison Sienna's spirit, Dark had to believe he could undo it. For all their sakes. He wouldn't—couldn't—allow Alatar to keep torturing Sienna, even from beyond the grave.
They reached the edge of Aboda, and sprinted through empty streets. The people of the village were wise enough to keep inside this night after the ReDead attack. Dark took over the lead, heading straight for the guardhouse. His other belongings were still being kept there, though his sword was returned. There was something crucial in his pack he needed to retrieve if his plan was to work.
Years ago, after Link returned from his travels in Termina, he'd taught Dark a strange, soothing melody. He'd played the song for his brother on his ocarina, hoping the mystical notes would heal some of Dark's pain. After Dark confessed that his burdens did seem lighter than before, Link admitted he'd used the song many times before to soothe tormented and anguished souls.
Looking into Sienna's pain-filled gaze in the clearing, Dark remembered that song.
"Open the door!" Silas boomed, his fist crashing into the door of the guardhouse. "We need help!"
The door creaked open hesitantly. The guard on the other side immediately tried to close it upon seeing them, so Dark shoved himself half-through the opening. "Bring me my rucksack," he commanded. "Now!" he added, when the guard didn't immediately move to obey.
There was shuffling inside, and then Dark's pack was thrust through the door before it was slammed shut again. Dark ripped open the ties, digging through it until his fingers closed over a smooth, cool object. From a side pocket he withdrew a pearly white ocarina—his mother's.
A cold voice washed over them. "That trinket won't save you."
The shadow stood behind them, blocking another escape. It still wore Sienna's face, spoke in her voice.
"Whatever you're trying to do, Sienna," Dark said, "You need to stop now."
"Sienna?" Silas stage-whispered to Dark, as Lym also stared at him in shock. "The shadow is Sienna?"
"It's not really her," Dark insisted, but he didn't lower his sword from its ready position. "This is Alatar's doing."
Sienna's expression twisted with rage. "This is your doing!" she screamed at Dark. "It's all your fault!"
A sonic blast of dark magic hit him in the chest. Dark flew backwards into a stall behind them, smashing the support beams. He landed in a crumpled heap.
Silas and Lym turned to help him and were yanked off their feet. Tendrils of shadow shot out from around Sienna's feet and shackled their ankles, dragging them backwards. Lymira curled up, whipping her body around so she could slice at their bonds. But her blade passed straight through the shadows like smoke.
"Damn it!"
Sienna, now haloed in a pool of darkness, seemed able to control the sentient magic at will. It formed into six long arms, a menacing black spider. With Silas and Lym incapacitated, she turned back to Dark, who was climbing out of the wreckage.
"Sienna—"
One of the shadowy limbs slammed into Dark, throwing him into the street. Sienna advanced on him, shrieking like a banshee. The shadows whipped out, striking Dark over and over, lifting him and then smashing him against the cobblestones. He gasped as his ribs cracked against the stones, trying desperately to stop himself but any efforts against the shadows were futile. With every strike Sienna hurled more accusations.
"You did this! You killed me! It's your fault I'm trapped here and I can't forget!" Sienna's hysterical screams bordered on sobs. "You killed me!"
"That's not true, Dark!" Silas bellowed, freeing himself when all of the shadows converged on Dark. "You didn't kill Sienna! It's a false memory Alatar gave you! You know the truth! Don't listen to her!"
The shadows dropped Dark, and he limply wheezed in air. "Silas…." He croaked.
"Lies!" Sienna howled, now turning on Silas. "It's lies!"
"It's the truth," Silas insisted, but was stopped from saying anything more when a wall of darkness steamrolled him into the guardhouse. Stone creaked under the impact.
"Silas!" Lym loosed the arrow she'd armed in Sienna's distraction. It sailed through the air, straight through the shadows and Sienna's shoulder. Lym's jaw slackened. If she couldn't hit their enemy, how were they supposed to stop her?
A flicker of movement drew her eye. Several rooftops away, a cloaked figure stood watching their scene, his hands moving, fingertips tracing through the air. He was summoning magic.
"Hey!"
The figure's head tilted, but he ignored her. Despite not being able to see his face, Lym knew who he was. Alatar's mysterious sidekick from the attack on Zora's Domain. He was the one controlling Sienna, she was sure of it.
Lym knocked another arrow. She couldn't hit a spirit or shadow. She could hit a man.
She released the arrow. It flew straight at the cloaked man, who dissipated into a pool of shadow to avoid it. Lym ground out a curse. She'd watched Dark pull the exact same trick in the forest clearing. Whoever this stranger was, he and Dark must have similar magic.
Dark and Silas, shaking off the attacks, were trying to get close enough to Sienna to subdue her. Without her having to move, the shadowy cloud around her protected her, keeping the men from attacking her.
Her fury grew and manifested in another windstorm of sand and gloom that blotted out the sky, the buildings around them, everything but the four of them. The winds became a roar in their ears, the swirling sand ripping against exposed skin, half-blinding Lym. With a growl, she lowered her bow. She commanded her brain to think. What could they do?
Realizing their blades were useless against this enemy, Dark shouted something at Silas over the winds, then sheathed his sword. He grabbed the white ocarina, raising it to his lips. He was at odds with the chaotic storm around him, playing calmly and slowly. Even over the noise, the slow and sorrowful notes of the melody he played could be heard.
Sienna froze, her eyes pinning Dark. He kept playing, even as Silas and Lym dodged and distracted the shadows that flew at them like dark specters. The notes of Dark's song grew fainter, fading into the air.
Sienna's gaze was almost regretful. "That won't work," she said, her voice a hiss of breath. "Not anymore."
Dark lowered the ocarina, his mouth a tight, grim line. "It can," he said softly. "But there's something else I need to do first."
"Dark, no!" Silas stared at him in horror. "You can't!"
Lym's eyes narrowed. "What's he planning?"
Silas dodged a shadow tendril that tried to impale him. "He's going to try and draw her darkness into himself! He told me he's done it before!"
Lym gaped at him. "You realize this plan is suicide, right Dark?"
"There's no other way."
"Why do men always say that as if it's true!?"
Dark slammed his hands to the cobblestones, forcing magic through his veins and into his fingertips. Pools of ink engulfed his hands—he reached into the Dark World and willed his power out towards Sienna. Though he couldn't see, he could feel the shadow's malevolent energy, like lightning prickling nerves.
"Come on, Kai," he growled. "I need your help. Where are you?"
Lym's hand landed on his shoulder, wrenched. "Dark, stop!"
A connection snapped into existence between Dark and the shadow being, still whipping the air around them into a deafening frenzy. Lym's attempts to pull him free were useless now as the magic kept him rooted in place.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
It wasn't Lym's voice Dark heard now. It was Kai's. His own.
Dark looked up, peering through the gritty haze to see Sienna. Her arms were raised above her head while the dark magic wreaked havoc around them, wailing and howling. Her face was contorted with rage, pain and fear.
Dark grabbed hold of the connection and willed it towards him, like a game of mental tug-o'-war. "Yes," he answered.
The connection pulled taut—something was yanking back. He sank into the pool of blackness up to his elbows. Alatar's apprentice. He must be the one controlling the spell. He was the one responsible for doing this to Sienna.
"Take him out!" Dark shouted to Lym, who still stood at his side. "Get rid of him and the spell will break!"
Lym's eyes narrowed as she scanned their surroundings. "I'll find him." She darted into the darkness, bow in hand.
Silas crouched next to him. "What can I do?"
"Take the ocarina," Dark gritted out. "You'll need to play the song again."
His hands were slipping further; he was being pulled by the force of the mage's spell. Dark clenched his jaw with effort. He felt as if he were clawing through tar and trying not to let it seep into his skin. But every time he tried to pull the darkness away from Sienna, it latched onto him like a starving animal, and he was a feast. A perfect host for evil.
Pain split Dark's skull. The scar on his chest throbbed with new life. He couldn't take the spell away from Sienna without pulling it into himself. If he saved her, he could doom himself.
He plunged his arms into the blackness all the way up to his shoulders. The other side of the connection was wavering—Lym must have found Alatar's apprentice and divided his attention. He had to take advantage. Dark closed his eyes.
The winds, whipping sand, Silas' hand on his shoulder—all of it disappeared as he entered a semi-meditative state. He was seeing through Kai's eyes now. Sienna lay in front of him, kneeling on the ground, her head lowered. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs.
"Sienna." Dark knelt in front of her.
She looked up, her eyes still glowing red but filled with tears. "What's happening?" she whispered. "Why won't this stop?"
"It will," Dark promised her, pushing down the lump in his throat. "Let me take it for you." He held out his hand, palm up.
Sienna stared at his hand. "What will happen?"
"You'll be free of this."
"What will happen to you?"
Dark diverted his attention to his body in the Light World. He focused on Silas's hand on his shoulder, on moving his lips to speak. "Play the song."
"I don't know," he said to Sienna. "But I won't fail you this time."
Sienna met his gaze while she slid her palm across his. As if eager to be rid of her, the shadows swarming her jumped on Dark. He knew he was screaming, as the splitting pain in his head became blinding, and magic scorched its way from his palm up his arm and towards his heart. Instinctively, he tried to pull his hand back and couldn't.
Somewhere, the soothing sounds of the ocarina could be heard. Dark may as well have been deaf as well as blind as he battled the evil magic surging through his entire body. Sienna's hand slipped out of his grip. All he could see was whiteness now. Everything burned; it felt like his skin cracked open.
The connection snapped apart. Dark flew backwards. He couldn't breathe—something wound tighter and tighter around his chest, squeezing his lungs.
"Dark!" Lym's face appeared above his, then she was ripped away with a scream.
"Lym," he wheezed, trying to sit up.
Crumpled on the ground, he managed to roll to his side. Lymira lay a few feet away, knocked down by a blow from Alatar's apprentice. The cloaked man stalked closer, his hands still raised, ready to hurl more offensive magic.
"Lym…" Dark coughed. The pressure wouldn't let up; his heart was on fire. His head was exploding.
The man bore down on Lym, murmuring, summoning another spell. Still lying on her side, Lymira whipped around, swinging her body into a defensive crouch. Her hand shot out, slamming into the cloaked man's chest. He recoiled with a scream of pain, quickly knocking aside the arrow Lymira had embedded in his chest, a few inches shy of his heart and too shallow.
With a furious wail, he threw the arrow aside. He hissed another spell, and promptly disappeared in a flash of blinding, green light.
Dark sighed in relief, dropping to his stomach on the cobblestones. Tilting his chin to the right, he could see Silas lowering the ocarina, staring, mouth agape, at Lymira.
"Sien…na…"
When he turned his head back, she was kneeling in front of him, and she placed a hand over his heart. Immediately the pressure eased, the scorching ceased. Dark gasped in a breath. Under his seeking fingers, the scar was a throbbing bump of flesh. Somehow, he knew some of the darkness remained, and would keep growing.
Sienna's fingertips brushed his cheek, and he looked up. He let himself meet her lovely green eyes for the precious moments before her spirit vanished.
Dark managed to lift his head enough to smile weakly at Lym and Silas. Then he passed out cold.
Lymira barely resisted the urge to smack Dark when he finally opened his eyes again. He blinked up at her, craning his neck to look around the clearing she and Silas had carried him to after he'd blacked out.
"Are we safe?" he asked, sitting up.
With a wince, he pressed a hand to his scar, then dropped his hand, his expression falling into a neutrality that made Lym's blood boil.
"We are," she gritted out. She lost her grip on her patience. "What in hell were you thinking?!"
Dark had the grace to meet her eyes. "There was no other way to break the spell on her."
Lym's fists clenched in her lap. But her words worked almost as well as her dagger. "Stupid, selfish, self-sacrificing idiot!" she shouted, throwing her hands up. "It's a wonder you can talk and walk at the same damn time without a brain in your head! What were you thinking!? You nearly killed all of us! You nearly killed yourself! Don't you care? Don't you realize how much Silas and I care? What is wrong with you!?"
Dark was staring at her in the oddest way. Like he'd never been so fascinated by her features. As if her seething fury was somehow entrancing. He was tilting towards her again. Was he really thinking of kissing her at a time like this? He was a bigger idiot than she thought.
"I love you," he blurted.
Lym's eyes bulged. Her jaw dropped. He wasn't an idiot. He was insane.
She wasn't sure if she reached for him or he for her, but in the next instant their mouths crashed together in a wild jumble. Lym's hand speared through his hair, swept his shoulders and chest as she assured himself he was indeed alive. They were both alive. He was here, in her arms.
Once again, he ended the kiss so fast she was left breathless—and pissed.
Dark's declaration still rang in her ears after he released her. Put some space between their bodies.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have."
Lymira gaped at him, thinking her shock had paralyzed her ability to form a sentence for the first time. "You love me?" she asked, spluttering it like an accusation. "You love me?!"
Silas' heavy footsteps sounded in the dry underbrush. "Guys, I hate to interrupt, but we don't want to tell everyone where we are," he shushed them.
"Dark told me he loved me," Lymira said, still reeling.
Silas shifted. "I heard."
Guilt flashed across Dark's face. "I shouldn't have done that," he said to his friend. "And I'm sorry."
Before Silas could respond, Lym snapped, "I can kiss who I like!"
Dark frowned. "I said I was sorry."
"Stop apologizing for kissing me. It's so aggravating!"
"It doesn't matter," Silas cut in, swiping a hand through the air for emphasis. He walked closer until they formed a loose triangle in the clearing. "I have no claim on Lymira, and she can do as she pleases. And if she returns your feelings, I have no intention of standing in the way of the two of you. I know you both have love for each other."
"Love is a bit strong," she protested quickly. "I wouldn't say—"
"And I know you and Lym care for one another, too," Dark argued. "I didn't want to put myself between you, and I should have kept my mouth shut."
When the two men devolved into an argument, both fighting to be the more honourable, Lymira sighed in frustration.
"Stop!" she growled, pushing between the two of them. She arched a brow in Silas' direction. "If we're being honest about our feelings now, maybe we should ALL be honest, don't you think?"
Silas glowered, his mouth tightening. Dark glanced between the two of them.
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you going to tell him or shall I?" Lymira asked, her challenging stare meeting a stone wall. "Very well."
"Mira," Silas warned.
"Dark," she turned to him, batting Silas' hand away from her shoulder. "Do you love Silas?"
Dark's brows shot up. His gaze bounced between them, trying to decipher the silent communications occurring. "Yes…" he said slowly. "Why?"
"Silas is in love with you."
Red flushed Silas' face and neck. His expression morphed into one Dark had never seen before. He wouldn't meet his eyes.
"You are?" Dark asked, half-disbelieving it, but also taken aback by his friend's reaction.
Lymira had taken a small step back, but Dark was able to meet Silas' eyes over her head. He finally looked back at Dark, lips pressed together, and nodded once. They stared at each other a second until Silas averted his gaze again, rubbing a hand over his mouth.
"Good," Lymira proclaimed. "It's all out in the open now. Doesn't everyone feel better? I know I do." She breathed deeply to prove this point, feeling her tumultuous emotions recede. It was so much better when the emotional focus was on someone else.
Silas shot her an annoyed look that was only half-hearted, then blew out a forceful breath. The tension left him like a deflated balloon. "It feels a bit better," he admitted begrudgingly.
This was followed by interminable seconds of the most uncomfortable silence ever experienced. Silas broke it with a short laugh.
"What now?" he asked.
Dark and Lymira started laughing too, the three of them devolving into fits of cathartic giggles.
"Come here," Lym said at last.
She threw her arms around both of them, drawing them into a tight embrace. She let her head rest against theirs, breathing softly, enjoying the moment of calm relief and comfort.
"I care about both of you," she admitted, avoiding declaring her feelings so outright, as Dark had. "But I don't want to stand between two friends."
"You are standing between us," Silas pointed out.
Lym whacked him with her arm. Dark stifled a laugh.
"You knew very well that I was speaking metaphorically." She said pertly, with a raised eyebrow. "I don't want to ruin your friendship, as much as you each individually drive me mad. And I don't want to choose between you."
"I meant what I said." She looked to Dark in surprise. "I do love you, despite all the reasons I shouldn't that I can see going through your mind," he added with a wry smile.
"This feels like a terrible time to say this, but I love you, too." Silas laughed self-consciously. "We don't want to make you choose. I don't think either of us want to lose you." Dark nodded in agreement.
Lym sighed. Neither was going to give any ground here. Lifting to her toes, she tilted her head and leaned towards Dark, seeking a kiss. He met her halfway for a short, sweet kiss. Then, she reached for Silas, and he obligingly leaned further down so their lips could meet.
When they separated, she pulled back to meet both their gazes. They stared back, and said nothing. She huffed an annoyed sigh.
"Did you forget what you're doing or something?" she asked Dark, lifting an eyebrow and pointedly looking down. "I didn't realize it had been that long."
Silas covered a laugh with a cough. Dark glared at him. "No," he said, defensive. "I just haven't been in this…situation…before."
"You haven't!?" Silas' eyebrows shot up.
Dark shot him another venomous look. Then they both turned to Lymira, and her ire rose again.
"What makes you think I'm an expert!?" she demanded, glaring at both men. She silenced their instant protests with a raised hand. "Look, I think this calls for a little improvisation."
"Possibly liquor," Silas muttered. "A great deal of it."
"Wine?" Dark suggested with a wicked smile.
Silas arched a brow. "Do you actually have any wine?"
"Do you really feel the need to be drunk before you—"
"Come here," Lym interrupted, holding out her left hand to Dark and her right to Silas. Together, they grasped her hands in theirs, their palms rough and warm.
"We don't need anything," she told them, meeting their gazes. "Just each other."
Lymira drew them both into her arms.
Lymira collapsed on Dark's chest with a lusty sigh. He cupped the back of her head, tucking it under his chin, idly stroking her hair. Her soft breaths landed on his neck; her dewy skin warm against him. A strange numbness was battling with the lingering frissons of pleasure running through him. It was mild shock, Dark thought, with a tinge of awe. Above him he saw only the star-studded canopy, but in his mind he recalled the intensity of her gaze, the soul-searing intimacy of looking into Lymira's unusual and beautiful eyes. He hadn't been able to bear it with any of his other lovers. Hadn't wanted to risk seeing what he knew was there.
But Lym's eyes were calming. Their strange colours an echo of the moon's eternal cycle. The left bright and full and pale. The other as black as a moonless night. Underneath her unapologetic brashness and stubbornness and fierce bravery, Lymira held a secret stillness. An oasis Dark was happily drowned in.
Beneath her, his heartbeat thrummed slowly, his hand tracing patterns on her bare back. Murmuring, she nestled closer, her fingertips sweeping the scar over his heart. Dark didn't flinch this time. Her determination to accept all parts of him, no matter his protestations, would have knocked him down were he not already prone. True to her word, she wouldn't settle for anything less than all of him.
Tilting his chin, Dark looked to see her curled atop him, black hair a tousled mess, eyes closed, full lips slightly parted. She'd fallen asleep. His heart squeezed in his chest. Very gently, he pressed his lips to the crown of her head, shifting her so she'd be more comfortable. She murmured in her sleep again, one hand curling protectively over him.
"You okay?"
Next to him, Silas caressed her back, leaning over to press a kiss to her shoulder. She hummed, stirring, and they both stilled until she fell back into deep sleep.
"Yeah," Dark said. "Just thinking."
Silas' eyes briefly lifted to his in silent understanding. He grinned, then settled back in the grass, locking an arm behind his head with a deep sigh.
Holding her in his arms, Dark rested his head back in the grass and stared up at the heavens. The moon was an oblong pearl amidst thousands of diamonds, her luminous face peeking down at them. As he held her, he whispered nonsensical reassurances in her ears she didn't hear, one hand clasped on her waist, the other sifting through her long hair.
Dark knew he had fallen in love with her. Somehow, this obstinate, maddening, incredible woman had speared her way into a heart he'd thought long lost. Like the moon, she'd brought a soft light to the darkness in him.
The realization had crept up on him, as it had with Silas years ago. He experienced a strange weightlessness, a relief, that he no longer had to pretend his feelings weren't there. Silas was his closest, loyal friend, but there was always that twinge of bittersweetness that he couldn't be more.
Dark twisted his head to the side. Silas was asleep, his bare chest rising and falling evenly. Even asleep there was the slightest curl of his lips, the hint of a smile. Always joyful. The sun breaking through the clouds of his past.
Carefully, he reached out his free hand to clasp Silas', intertwining their fingers. The rightness of having Silas at his side in this moment pricked his heart.
Feeling her weight on top of him, the spices and roses scent of her around him, he sighed. When sleep finally came, it was the best one he'd had in years.
Warmth filled her from the inside out, stretching from the top of her head to…well, not her toes. Or her fingertips. Those were chilled. And damp. Lymira wiggled the digits, feeling dewy grass tickle her. Something warm enveloped her body, but where her lower legs and left hand trailed in the grass, she was pleasantly cool, the paradoxical sensations making her feel oddly content. She didn't want to move, wanted to luxuriate in her wonderfully comfortable position forever.
Lymira sighed, her bones ready to melt in relaxation. Her source of wondrous warmth shifted, grumbling something unintelligible. A male hand landed heavily on her thigh. She opened her eyes with an irritated sigh.
Morning sunlight, doused by the trees, speckled the meadow. Lymira blinked groggily, hoisting up onto one elbow as she looked around. Another masculine protest sounded underneath her. She looked down. Dark and Silas slept side by side in the grass, providing a rather comfortable sleeping platform.
Dark, still asleep, reached blindly for her, frowning. Plopping back down, Lym set her chin against his sternum, watching with amusement as his expression changed from consternated back to the natural ease of sleep. His hands were scorching brands on her back, his body warming her chilly extremities.
Slipping her hands under her body, she inched them up his chest, tracing patterns over his collarbones and lower. There were some faded pink marks there she couldn't be less sorry for. Pausing at the scar, she delicately followed the irregular edge all the way around. Last night, he'd been hesitant to let her see, let alone touch, his scar. But she didn't find it ugly, as he clearly did. Scars were nothing to be ashamed of. Her own body was far from flawless.
Heat flooded her as she remembered the way he'd drank her in with his eyes. Memorizing, cherishing every inch of her skin with his hands, his mouth, his body. The unbridled desire in his gaze when he looked at her.
Lymira carefully brushed the pad of her index finger over his closed eyelids. Like his scar, his eyes fascinated her. No one else had eyes like him. Not due to their colouring, but for their quiet intensity, as though they held back a dark and secret power. Even now, she felt the hum of energy beneath his skin, conserving itself until it was time. A sleeping dragon waiting to wake.
Lym smiled at her comparison. It was his complexity that drew her in. His dualities. Quiet yet fierce. Damaged but unbowed. Hesitant and distant at times and confident to the point of arrogance in others.
And under that, the qualities she so treasured in herself. Loyalty, bravery, a determination to forge ahead no matter the circumstances, no matter the odds. The drive to fight and keep fighting despite any obstacle.
Since her childhood, Lymira had insulated herself in her armour. Reinforcing it until nothing could crack her defenses. She hadn't thought anyone strong enough to break it. Thought no one worthy enough to challenge her.
Dark didn't just challenge her. He fought her. Fought with her. Fought for her.
Pig-headed male. Lymira snorted, reaching up to brush a lock of black hair behind his ear.
"I like you," she said, mild accusation on her tone. "Even though you're irritating." The sound of her voice didn't wake him, so Lymira inched a little closer, waiting, breath held. "And," she added in a whisper. "I'm also mildly in love with you, but I don't think I'll tell you just yet."
Laying her head back down, she turned to look at Silas, placing a hand on his broad chest. Silas hadn't broken through her armour as Dark had. He'd simply disarmed her with his charm and wit and smiles. He'd made her feel safe enough to not put her mask on.
The two of them were two sides of a coin—the shadow and the light. Her moon and her sun. She wondered how she'd live so long without either of their light on her.
"You already know I love you," she whispered to Silas, thinking of how he'd looked at her last night with so much warmth and affection, a hint of the possessiveness she felt for him, too.
She traced her fingers over the identical marks on his chest, which she was also not sorry for. Grinning impishly at the voiced secrets, Lymira propped her head on her hand, her elbow on Dark's shoulder. She was content to admire Silas' strong jawline and impressive chest, but the jostling broke through, and Dark's eyes opened on a low groan.
"Lym?" he muttered. His gaze focused on her, and her smile grew. "Morning, beautiful."
"Flatterer," she accused.
Dark let out a short laugh, dislodging her elbow. He reached up and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Have you been awake long?"
"Not long," she answered. "Just watching you two sleep."
His answering grin was crooked. "Did my snoring wake you?"
"You don't snore." She smirked. "That loudly."
Dark chuckled and wrapped both arms around her, flattening her against him. "Neither do you," he assured her, pressing a quick peck to her pouting lips.
"I do not snore."
"Mmm."
She thwacked him. "Dark," she drew out warningly, her voice honeyed with sweetness. "Don't make me hurt you."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he answered, lifting one hand to cover a yawn.
Lymira rolled her eyes. "Think I'll take myself off now…"
His arms tightened around her waist, stilling her escape, trapping her arms beneath her. "Not yet."
"You can't keep me prisoner forever," she taunted, eyes gleaming wickedly.
His eyes lost all trace of sleepiness as they narrowed. "Watch me."
Lymira threw her head back, rocking her weight. His grip on her held, and he trapped her legs with his when she tried to wriggle free. Giggling, Lymira bared her teeth and aiming for any bit of skin she could reach from her position.
"Ack, quit biting me!"
Lym snickered. "Then let me go!"
"And admit defeat?"
Lymira wiggled back and forth, trying to squirm out of his hold. In answer, his arms clamped down and he shifted, rolling them so she was on her back, using his weight to press her down in the grass. Their wrestling finally wakened Silas, who groaned and covered his face from the morning sun.
Panting, she stared up at Dark with narrowed eyes. "I can get out of this, you know."
He arched a brow. "Do try," he offered. "Can't say I don't enjoy your attempts," he added, rolling his hips against her, causing her to groan at the friction. Silas snorted at Dark's comment.
"Flattery and lustful inclinations?" Lym said, raising her brow. "If you're not careful, you'll give me a very poor impression of your intentions."
Dark lowered his face until their noses brushed together. His mouth ghosted over hers for a teasing moment before he drew back.
"I promise my intentions are only good," he said, a smile curving the corner of his mouth.
Looping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down until his lips met hers. "I wouldn't say 'good,'" she began, giggling at the mock outrage on his face. "More like 'fair' or 'acceptable'."
Silas barked with laughter, advising Dark to surrender while he still had his dignity. Dark snorted as her laughter overtook her. Planting his elbows on either side of her, he framed her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss her more deeply, feeling the answering parting of her lips and sweeping his tongue against hers, savouring the sigh she made.
"Well, I'll have to improve upon my first attempt," he told her, trailing his mouth from hers down her neck to the hollow of her throat.
"Yes," she agreed, moaning softly when his tongue darted out to taste her skin. "I think you should try."
"I'll just go get started on breakfast, will I?" Silas asked sarcastically, sitting up to stretch out the stiffness of sleeping on the ground.
Lymira wriggled an arm free and held out a hand to him. "Absolutely not. Come here."
Silas rolled over so he was on his side beside the pair. "Better?"
"Much," Lym agreed, pressing a thorough kiss to his mouth.
Silas sighed when she released him. "Who needs breakfast anyways?" he asked, leaning down for a second kiss.
She was inclined to agree.