Page 2 (1/2)

Unless… Unless, my parents had fallen

I froze for a moment, my hands clenched at my sides, my chest a shallow cavity filled with a heart that refused to beat and lungs that refused to breathe and played through that possibility in one for several weeks, on a mission that specifically required their skill set I hadn’t heard from them since they left, and so it was entirely possible that they failed

That they fell

I gazed into the sky, willing the clouds to one, I would be able to tell ihts would be blank in a sky full of their fellow soldiers The sky was too overcast though, even with h darkness, the clouds were too heavy and clustered to see through

I cursed uncharacteristically under ain when I realized my phone was still soed one of my booted feet into the space of my car, where the hood made room for one, there was no amount of torture or distress that would have proive up my location They worked their whole lives to keep me a secret, to prepare me for the day when I would remain here alone, and on top of that, they lovedDarkness as I pushedfor er’s side door The Shadoeren’t trying to hide any aroundfor the coainst the rough edges of the broken windshield, but I ather at least the i it back withdown from the Jeep

I tossed the purse that now only held ed to survive the spill, onto the snowy ground and lifted my head to meet my enemy They moved around me like a slow tornado of darkness As separate entities they appeared like slender gusts of black wind, but united they becaht could not see through the beyond their oppressive iciness

I had never seen so anizing themselves into a unified attack They worked separately and secretly; their purpose was to influence mankind, to spread the Darkness like a disease to every corner of this planet, not to outright attack it The deer had to be them And even in that instance, their as not soso unheard of that I was htened

The wall of Darknessto be threatening I re to reveal my identity even in this frontal attack I wishedthat my parents were here, on planet and nearby, but this was a battle I alone would have to fight or figure out how to outmaneuver

One Shadow broke free froressive sweep It sliced againstmy jeans where it made contact My skin burned from the unreal cold that I could feel even inand hout ainst the strain of the cold and o numb from contact My first instinct was to cry out in pain, but I bits held no air to expel

I couldn’t see beneath h to know that my skin would be marked with the deathly blue lines that looked like raised, swollen veins froerlike vines until every inch of my body was covered in them It was at that point, when the frozen effect of contact with the Darkness covered every inch of ered breath and depart from this world It would take less than thirty seconds, but in that ti than should ever accompany a soul on their way to the afterlife

The s from the pain of it I wasn’t human And I wouldn’t die froly than any human ever could This touch, this evil, was in direct opposition to everything I was As dark and evil as the Shadoere, I was light and goodness As painful as their touch could be,

Ithe pain aside; I decided, rationally, that I couldn’t stay out of this fight The wall of Darkness surroundingfor me to die If I was hu on the ground right norithing in pain, ony, I knew they already figured it out

My parents hadn’t even started eapons training yet, beyond the casual swing of a sword and so I was left with only one option Unfortunately it was also the option that would give this Darkness exactly what they were looking for: the answer to my identity

I was a Star

And not just any Star The next Protector of Earth I was a very important Star

With swiftit from my arms I moved into a battle ready stance and let the warmth, the warolden toned skin ly and it spread acrossht leave my skin and pour outward into the heavy obscurity around me

I couldn’t help but slowed, literally Blinding, supernatural, burning light radiated around me until ht left me in waves of self-protection, the Darkness desperately fled froht that would cause them as much pain as their cold blackness caused er for only a lers; they shrieked an ear-piercing sound that rang painfully in ent escape from a battle they were hardly prepared for