ShadowWalker: Part II

ShadowWalker: Part II

ShadowWalker and Shallen met in secret one dark night. There was not a star in the sky to offer the least glimmer of light. ShadowWalker knew that she could very well be walking into a trap, but she also knew that if it was not a trap, it would be her saving grace. Shallen watched warily as ShadowWalker approached, worried that she might not have come alone and that his days would be numbered if that were the case. He saw the gentle sway of her long ebony hair melding in with the blackness of the night. In that moment, in the dark empty hole in his chest where his heart should be, he felt a stirring. When she finally reached him and stared up at him with eyes so emerald that even the grass would be jealous of their purity in color, Shallen knew he had lost all hope of turning away from her. He knew that she was a werewolf and he was a vampire. Their joining was illicit and would mean they would be shunned and turned out by their clans. But, he was willing to sacrifice everything for her. ShadowWalker realized what it would mean if she gave herself over to Shallen. It would be the end of her and the darkness would at last consume her. Her love for Shallen was so great, however, that she willingly decided to sacrifice it all. She loved Gaia, but she loved Shallen more.

When they announced their love, the recriminations were harsh. The werewolves threatened ShadowWalker and promised retribution. The vampires went after her, hunting her, trying to remover her from their midst, but Shallen would not allow it. After all, he was the most powerful vampire. He protected her from her own kind as well as his, taking care of her and not allowing her to be destroyed because of their love. Eventually, the other werewolves began to accept Shallen in their midst. Gaia welcomed him because She could see the flame of pureness that ShadowWalker had fanned in his soul.

When this began to happen, a vampire even greater than Shallen began to take notice. He had been asleep for several years, but the cries of his people would not allow him to slumber any longer. He rose to the surface to see his most powerful vampire turning. His most powerful weapon against Gaia was now following Gaia! He would not have it. His wrath and hatred came pouring forth. He called upon every dark one that walked the realm. He would need every able body to take on Shallen, his greatest vampire, yet his hugest disappointment. The demons arose to do his bidding, the vampires cried out their support, even the dark magi agreed to follow his will. Shallen could not defeat them all. He fought valiantly with Gaia on his side, trying to protect him, but it was not enough. As Shallen lay in the healing earth of Gaia, feeling his very lifeblood trickle from his veins, he realized that he had failed ShadowWalker. He had promised her happiness and love and brought her pain and death. Shadowwalker could not bear to see him hurting and tried to staunch the bleeding with the nurturing soil. She offered her own blood to him, cutting her wrist and pressing it to his mouth, but is wasn't enough; there was no saving him. As ShadowWalker cradled Shallen's head in her arms, she vowed to never allow such torment to happen again. When Shallen finally gave in to the death that sought him, ShadowWalker took into her the very darkness she had been eradicating from Shallen's soul with her love. She vowed to never forget all that Shallen had given her. And she vowed that Gaia would pay for failing to save her love.

Over the days that had passed since Shallen's death, ShadowWalker lost her spirit, lost her will to live. She no longer wished to inhabit such a place that wuold tear her very soul from her. She called to the darkness within for assistance and the Wyrm beckoned to her. ShadowWalker vanished from the Ethereal Mists into the Wyrm's waiting arms, vowing never to return to the land that had taken her love. ShadowWalker faded into the shadows from whence she came.

As the months past, so did Taelanus' longing for his sister's return. He loved her more than life itself and had promised to protect her. Yet again, he had failed in his duty. He fought to carry on hers and Shallen's desire for peace between the Wyrm and the followers of Gaia. At last, an understanding was reached. The Wyrm had greatly decreased in number and they no longer felt the need for the death of Gaia. They wished to replenish their fading resources and work on increasing their numbers. Taelanus decided it was time to seek out ShadowWalker and bring her back to the land she had once loved so greatly. He called to her, using his powers of the magi, beseeching her to return to him, reaching out for her and pulling her back to him.

ShadowWalker heard his call and arose from the darkness that had consumed her. She returned to Taelanus and to the land that had given her so much, yet taken from her more than she could bear. Taelanus was ready for her return. He helped her come to terms with the darkness within her, helped her see that she could use that stain upon her soul to help combat the forces without. Showed her that she had not lost everything when she lost Shallen. Taelanus proved to her that there was life after death and ShadowWalker had indeed died, only to be reborn as a werewolf who would follow her soul's calling. She would no longer follow Gaia, the one who had failed her, but she would follow the calling of the Wyrm, the one who had received her in her pain. ShadowWalker would give herself to the Wyrm gladly and completely, bringing others into her fold, aiding the Wyrm and aiding the darkness within herself. Death had finally come to ShadowWalker and she accepted it and welcomed it, giving it possession over her soul.