Page 75 of Bound By Wishes

His smoky magic billowed in a desperate attempt to intercept her shadowy tendrils, but the Nightshade’s power was too strong. Her shadows, now thick and suffocating, coiled around me, searing against my skin like acid. A scream tore from my lips as they ate away at my flesh.

The shadows twisted around me, consuming every inch of my exposed skin. I could feel the darkness seeping into my veins, gnawing at my strength and will. The pain was excruciating, a fiery sensation that felt as though it was burning through my soul.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, only to be licked away by the ravenous shadows. Each drop seemed to vanish into the dark tendrils, as if they delighted in my sorrow and were determined to consume every bit of my desperation.

My weakness, pain, and fear seemed to fuel the shadows and the Nightshade. Her strength swelled with eachagonized cry, her magic becoming darker and more oppressive, feeding off my suffering and increasing her power.

Ranen’s eyes blazed with an intensity that could have set the world on fire. He moved with speed and precision born of desperation, his smoky magic colliding with the Nightshade’s dark shadows. Each clash sent ripples through the air, but the Nightshade’s power seemed endless, her shadows weaving and converging, a dark plague that refused to die.

Her evil laughter echoed through the throne room, a sound that crawled under my skin, filling me with a deep, suffocating dread. “You cannot protect her forever, Ranen,” she taunted. “The darkness is my domain, and she is mine to consume. I will make her pay for everything her people put me through. They cost me my throne, my power, and my life. I will make her pay for each offense.” I wailed as a shadow brushed across my cheek, welting the skin. “My shadows will devour her slowly, until she is nothing but bones, as grotesque as her people made me to be.”

Ranen’s response was a fierce roar, his cry swelling through the space. He thrust his hands forward, sending waves of smoky energy that pushed against the Nightshade’s shadows. The room trembled under the strain of their duel, the walls groaning as if they protested the assault.

The Nightshade was thrown from her feet, her shriveled, skeletal body crashing to the floor with a sickening thud. Bones cracked and snapped under the impact, her form sprawling as she skidded across the marble. She laid there, stunned for a moment, her twisted body barely moving. But with a grimace of renewed rage, she forced herself up. Hereyes, sunken and seething, locked onto Ranen as she unleashed every ounce of her dark power. Shadows whipped and coiled violently through the air, seeking to crush him with the weight of her wrath.

I struggled to stay conscious, each breath a battle against the searing pain and lurking darkness. My vision blurred, and I could barely make out the figures of Ranen and the Nightshade as they fought.

Ranen’s face was a mask of hard determination as he tried to shield me from the Nightshade’s deadly darkness. His magic surged with an intensity that shocked even his own mother, pushing against the shadows that were trying to consume me.

Malik staggered through the writhing shadows, his skin melting from his bones as he braved the darkness to reach me. He collapsed beside me, his face twisted with pain.

“Get the staff,” I gasped as a shadow tightened around my throat, searing the delicate skin. My voice could barely be heard over the agony that gripped me. Malik nodded through clenched teeth and scrambled toward the staff.

I watched in horror as Malik's body was ravaged by the darkness. Blood oozed from his pores, pooling and dripping onto the pristine white marble, leaving a gory crimson trail in his wake. His face contorted in a silent scream as he fought to reach the staff. The swirling dark shadows and vivid red of his blood heightened the horror of it all.

I screamed when Malik collapsed, inches away from the staff. My heart felt like it had ceased to beat as I desperately willed him to rise, willed him not to be dead. My wailing caught Ranen's attention, and he followed my frantic gaze to Malik. With a fierce burst of smoky magic, Ranen shovedthe staff toward Malik. With trembling hands, Malik reached for the staff, wrapped his fingers around it, and twisted his body to face me. He hurled the staff in my direction before collapsing again, his body falling limp and motionless.

The staff landed less than a foot away, but the Nightshade's shadows surged forward with a vengeful hiss, closing in like a living, choking fog. They pinned me down, engulfing me before I could reach for it.

I had conquered a fear that had haunted me for years, proving I was stronger and braver than I'd ever believed. I wouldn’t surrender now, not to a nightmarish mummy and her nasty shadows. I refused to let her or her twisted magic break me.

I managed to get to my hands and knees, struggling to crawl toward the staff as the shadows gnawed at my flesh. Each inch I gained sent fresh waves of agony through me, but sheer determination kept me from collapsing. I was so close. I reached out, my fingertips barely brushing the cool metal of the staff. It flared to life, cutting through the shadows. I gripped it tightly and used it as support, forcing myself to stand despite the searing pain that clawed at my skin.

Blood dripped from my fingers, seeping into the silver metal of the staff. A blinding burst of light erupted from the staff, its power a concentrated force of all the light and hope I had left. It surged through the room, a white-hot tide that swept away the Nightshade’s shadows with a deafening roar.

The Nightshade’s scream of fury and frustration echoed through the throne room, her form dissolving into theshadows from which she had come. Her power was broken, at least for now, and the darkness that had filled the room was replaced by the bright glow of the staff.

Ranen rushed to my side, his face pale and drawn. With trembling hands, he reached out and gently touched my scorched skin. I whimpered, and his expression twisted with rage and horror.

“You think this is over?” The Nightshade hissed. “I will have the power that was stolen from me.”

Terror seized my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs as the Nightshade’s jaw unhinged with a sickening crack. Her mouth stretched impossibly wide, and a flood of darkness surged from within her as endless as an abyss. The overwhelming blackness consumed everything in its path and swallowed me whole. I couldn’t breathe as the shadows closed in, their icy grip tightening around my throat. I fell to my knees, gasping for air, my hands clawing desperately at my neck.

Ranen bent down and grasped the staff, which snarled in warning. Its ancient power pulsed against his fingers, thrumming with raw energy.

“No,” the Nightshade gasped, her voice trembling with disbelief. “You wouldn’t!”

Her eyes widened in horror as Ranen’s resolve hardened. The shadows around us recoiled in fear, releasing their deadly grip. I gasped for air, teetering on the edge of consciousness. My vision swam as I struggled to stay upright.

The evil smile that spread across Ranen’s face was more terrifying than the dark shadows themselves. It was a chilling, deadly expression, as though he had embraced thedarkness completely, becoming something far more fearsome than the Nightshade.

Ranen raised the staff, and his forearm muscles flexed as he broke it in two. Darkness oozed from it, pooling at Ranen’s feet, so at odds with the silvery pure metal on the outside.

The Nightshade’s scream pierced the air, an agonized wail that echoed through the room. Darkness exploded around her, bending violently, breaking her apart like fragile glass. Her shadows, once loyal and bound to her, turned cannibalistic. They coiled around her, devouring her inch by inch in a grotesque swirl of hunger and death. The shadows writhed, consuming their creator until nothing of her remained.

In my daze, I saw the enchanted cuffs around Ranen’s wrists fall to the ground. They clanged against the marble floor. I swayed, barely able to stay upright, as people rushed into the room. It felt as though a hazy veil had been lifted. They crowded around Ranen, dropping to their knees and pressing their foreheads to the cool stone. His genie curse was finally broken, his brother was dead, and he had reclaimed his throne.

My vision swam as I glanced back at Malik, who lay motionless. The world around me dissolved. My senses dulled as though I were sinking into an endless night. Everything faded. The edges of my vision darkened until there was nothing left but an all-consuming blackness.

---