Hidden in the Shadows by Chris Wilson (the beginning after the end novel read .txt) 📕

fell to the ground unconscious. There was cold water all over the floor, and all the ice in the room had melted. She ran up to Lance and turned him over, to find his exposed skin covered in burn marks. He was unconscious, but alive, and not bleeding too badly either. As she examined him, she began to sweat. This struck her as odd, and she guessed it to have changed to about 90 degrees fahrenheit.
She moved him against the wall, and pressed cold water against his injuries. He groaned, but seemed to be alright. She then stood, took the magnificent bow off her back, and pulled an arrow from the quiver. She loaded and readied the bow in a quick, fluid movement, and had it aimed at the door with complete stillness. Something wasn’t right, and it was coming from the door. Her eyes scanned the walls for traps, and tried to figure out how someone had set up this temperature change. But her eyes found her little to go on, and she decided her best move was to open the door somehow.
She loosened her bow, and began unraveling the rope strung around her waist. She tied one end to the arrow, then let it loose into the door. It sunk into the door a ways, and she had landed the shot perfectly inside of the handle. She lightly tugged on the line, and the arrow slowly came loose, and fell to the floor, still through the handle. She crept up towards the door slowly, then fast as lightning grabbed the arrow and fled back to where she had been. Nothing had happened.
By pulling on both lines of the rope, she lifted the handle, and pulled the door open a ways. Nothing had happened. But all she saw beyond the door was a giant dark room, with nothing moving. With a glance at Lance, she loaded her bow and crept inside the door, leaving the torch behind on one of the walls. Then she poked her head in and glanced around. It was too dark to see anything, but she could tell there was only one person in the room, in the very centre. She then retreated back through the door, and lit the tip of an arrow she loaded into the bow in place of the original. She then ran to the door and immediately shot toward the back of the room. She had guessed correctly. She hit dead-on to a torch, which illuminated the entire room. She stopped dead in her tracks.
The entire room was made of some kind of fire-resistant wood. She could tell that, because she had run into it before. But this wood had clearly gone through a nightmare of seasons, being frozen and thawed and frozen again. Currently it was thawed, but this act had twisted the wood into strange shapes. Hundreds of chains hung from the ceiling, and many of them bound a lone figure in the center of the room. The chains had scorch marks and all were dripping with water.
The figure was almost entirely encased in chains. Only the staring eyes could be seen, dark brown in color. They were locked unblinkingly onto her. At first she was speechless, because something in the figure’s eyes froze her in place, like the way a snake would stun its prey. Then her mind began working again, recalling details of her mission. Then she spoke, after remembering what she should say to the prisoner.
“Fear is the enemy,” she said with a shaking voice. What was wrong with her? She catches glimpse of somebody’s eyes and she’s suddenly scared? That was no way to think.
The eyes blinked. Then morphed. Aurelia couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but she watched as the eyes went from dark brown to lime green. Then, a deep guttural voice arose from the figure. “Free me, from these that bind me,” the man growled. Then, the eyes blinked again, and looked away, at a corner of the room. After a moment of two, she stepped forward, but then began to walk towards him. She began to untangle the chains, but found the were being bound in place by an unknown force. This unnerved her.
“إن روح روحك كسر الربط.,” He said.
She looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. He paused, then spoke again.
He said, “The Spirit in your soul can break the binds,”
She nodded, but was still pondering what that could mean. The Spirit in your soul...

echoed his voice. So what do I do? Will the binds to be gone?

Aurelia wondered. In a way, yes.

He answered her. She jumped. He hadn’t answered aloud, but in her head. She looked at him once more, fear showing in her eyes. His eyes remained locked unblinkingly at a corner of the room. She began to attempt to untangle to vines of chains again, and was surprised when she saw a symbol glow fiercely on the ceiling.





She recognized the symbol as the one she and Lance had talked about earlier. It glowed very brightly on the ceiling, rather than the dimly glowing symbol outside. Then, she felt a sudden fleeting feeling of a warm breeze. Just as suddenly, the mysterious bind that held the mass of chains together disappeared. It didn’t take much unraveling to reach the huge man they bound.
She couldn’t judge much of him through the chains, but as they fell away, she realized this was not a person to get on the bad side of. He wore dark, dark blue-colored armor, though the armor itself didn’t seem very heavy. The man was huge in height and bulk; he was at least a head taller than Lance, and a little stronger if she was any judge. Strong odors of smoke and flame came off him as she freed him from the chains. But, he didn’t move as she was taking off the last few chains. She’d think after being trapped in there, you’d immediately want to stretch and move around. But he stood just as still as when the mass bound him.
Then Aurelia exclaimed, “Ouch!” and quickly let go of the final chain she was taking of him. It was dimly glowing red, and it was as hot as a fireplace. Her hand had some burn marks and soot on it. She wondered how he could stand to be next to this chain, and it looked like it bound him tight. But though the man smelled of fire and smoke, he looked untouched. In fact, after she let go of the chain, he slowly put his hand on it and pulled it off of him. She was sure his flesh would be mangled and burned, but it looked untouched by the heat.
But she realized he had been hit with a lot of other things. His skin was covered in scars and lightly bleeding injuries, and the very skin seemed rough and leather-like. He seemed unfazed by the injuries. However, a moment after he let go of the last chain, he collapsed. All his joints seemed to pop and crack, and it sounded painful. She was stunned, and then began to walk towards him in an increasing pace.
Just before she reached him, he was on his feet in a flash. The mountain of muscle was oddly graceful, and stood with perfect balance to the sound of more joints popping and complaining. Aurelia halted just before colliding with him, and looked up at him with a question in her eyes. However, he didn’t speak, and moved around her slowly. She watched him walk, before realizing he was heading towards the door. She began to follow, wondering what he would do when encountering an injured Lance outside the door.
But she was surprised. When he walked through the door, his footsteps stopped, but only for a moment. She quickly followed him, to find him carrying the sleeping Lance like a sack of potatoes. “Where are you going? Wait for me!” Aurelia called out, while hurrying to gather her things and follow him towards the spiral staircase.

Imprint

Publication Date: 12-16-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To those who still know the honor of the Samurai.