The Shadow | A Crystal Empire Short

And before you ask ‘why’, it’s because you have kept us weak Danen. Starved us. If you won’t take care of us, I must.

Set hundreds of years before the events of The Crystal Empire, witness a dark truth buried under a millenium of secrets.

The full version of The Shadow is available on Patreon

Danen opened his eyes to a splitting pain in his head and blinked blearily through tears in the bright morning sun. That was a bad sign for how his day was going to go. Rolling himself up out of the puddle of sewage and rainwater he’d made laying his tired, emaciated bones down to rest last night, he realized he recognized the alley, and even remembered choosing it last night because he could stop at Rose’s for a drink when he woke. Silver linings there.

He had tucked himself into a narrow gutter between two old buildings that forked off a larger alleyway, but he hadn’t figured the sun would have risen right in line. The morning sun in Mena’hir was so bright it made his head hurt and his ears ring when he hadn’t had enough to drink the night before to wake up drunk. Groaning, Danen crawled out into the alley toward the far wall and its shade where he could collect himself and…

Something moved in the shadows and Danen froze. How many drinks had he had the night before? Five? No, four. He’d dropped a glass and they made him pay for the replacement. At the time, he’d told himself it would be enough to stave off the darkness only he could see.

It wasn’t, Yizarathiraz mocked in a voice he heard even with his hands clapped over his ears. This unseeable tormenter had followed him ever since that night years ago, haunting his dreams and whispering in Danen’s waking thoughts, making him do monstrous things. The only thing that stopped it was getting drunk. Being covered in piss was better than blood.

Danen sucked in a breath and pushed himself to his feet. His head be damned, he needed a drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw glimpses of motion in the shadows. He patted himself down, starting in his chest and then down to each leg, making sure he still had everything. His purse was alarmingly light, but he was comforted by the familiar weight of the lucky stone in his left pocket. It was the only thing that had managed to hold on to for more than a few days since the Eclipse.

…

The full version of The Shadow is available on Patreon