CHAPTER 61: THE SHADOW REALM

Ten minutes passed.

The shadows outside the cavern rippled again, and three figures emerged from the cave’s entrance. Emma, Evelyn, and Elunara moved quickly, their eyes immediately darting to Seralyth.

"Where is Lucy?" Emma asked, breathless.

Seralyth didn’t flinch. "Inside."

"What?" Evelyn’s tone sharpened. "You really sent her in there alone?"

"How long has she been gone for?" Emma pressed, her voice rising. "Why—why would you—"

Seralyth finally looked at them, her gaze calm but cold. "I don’t have time to coddle anyone. He’s in there, and someone had to go."

Emma’s fists clenched, trembling. Evelyn held her arm, restraining her from stepping closer. Elunara, however, only stared at her mother, something hard in her eyes.

"You knew what would happen," Elunara said quietly.

Seralyth didn’t deny or agree to it.

The cave groaned again, a heavy breath of air pushing from its depths. None of them moved.

[Inside the demon realm]

The air was thick enough to choke. Lucy pushed forward, every step fighting against pressure that gnawed at her skin. She didn’t know how long she had been walking—minutes? Hours? Time bled strangely in this place.

Her gut told her to keep going. Every time the urge to turn back grew unbearable, something in her chest pulled harder, leading her forward.

"Caelen..." she whispered into the dark, her voice bouncing back at her, empty.

She ran her hand along the jagged wall, breath short. The aura was everywhere, twisting, alive. She couldn’t track him with sight or sound, so she trusted instinct alone. Step after step, corner after corner, she did not stop.

And then—she froze.

Ahead, a body slumped against the stone.

She rushed forward, heart hammering, and saw him.

Caelen.

But not the Caelen she remembered.

He was taller—far taller. His frame cast a shadow even when hunched over. His skin was gray and cold. His hair hung long, purple strands catching faint light. Horns curled forward, longer and sharper than ever before, extending out like spears. His hands... claws, black and jagged.

Lucy swallowed, forcing herself closer. "Hey. Hey, Caelen. It’s me."

No response. His chest rose faintly, steady but slow.

She grabbed his arm. Even limp, it felt heavier than stone. With effort, she pulled, her body straining, step after step. It was like dragging a corpse, but she refused to stop.

The path wound back, her instincts pulling her the same way she came. She followed, dragging his body across the jagged ground, ignoring how the stone scraped at her legs and arms. Her lungs burned, but she kept going and did not stop, even though she wanted to fall on the ground with him.

And finally, after what felt like hours of carrying, light broke through the cracks ahead. The entrance.

She stumbled out with him, collapsing to her knees.

[At the Door Entrance]

Emma gasped when she saw them. "Caelen!"

Evelyn’s eyes widened, her voice catching. "He... he doesn’t look—"

Even Elunara’s lips parted. For once, words escaped her.

Caelen lay there, taller than Seralyth herself now. His claws scraped the stone. His face was calm, almost serene, but his new form screamed violence.

Emma reached him first, pressing her hands against his chest, shaking him. "Wake up. Please—wake up."

Nothing.

Seralyth stepped forward at last. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over him, and for the first time, her composure cracked. A flicker of irritation.

"...This is worse than I thought."

Emma shot her a glare. "Do something!"

"I am."

Her shadow surged outward, tendrils wrapping around Caelen’s body. Emma moved to stop her, but Elunara grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"You can’t," Elunara said softly. "I know where she’s taking him."

Emma looked between them, confused and desperate. "Where—where is she taking him?"

Elunara’s eyes stayed fixed on the shadows consuming them both. "To her master."

Seralyth and Caelen vanished into the dark.

[In the Shadow Realm]

Everything changed.

The world shifted to shades of black and gray, a landscape of endless void. The ground was solid but warped, shapes forming and dissolving in constant motion. The air was thicker, vibrating faintly with whispers that never resolved into words.

Seralyth didn’t pause. She walked through it as if it were a familiar path. The weight of Caelen’s body floated lighter in her shadows, carried with her.

The space bent again, folding in on itself. And then—she appeared before it.

Her master.

A disfigured creature of impossible form, humanoid and yet not. Its body stretched wrong, too long in places, collapsing inward in others. Its face was hidden beneath shifting shadows, but its presence pressed harder than any mountain.

The moment Seralyth appeared, it stirred. Its head—or what passed for one—turned toward her.

"...Seralyth." Its voice was deep, wet, crawling inside her ears rather than spoken aloud. "You bring something with you."

She bowed, uncharacteristically sharp. "Master."

Its gaze fell on Caelen. For the first time, the formless body stilled.

"...He is awake even in unconsciousness," it muttered. "Primordial energy... radiates from him."

Seralyth’s brow furrowed. "You can sense it?"

The creature leaned forward, tendrils curling. "I can feel the orb within him. Which I told you of its danger when I gave it to you."

Seralyth stiffened. "He ate it. I—I failed to stop it."

She expected anger. Punishment. But instead, the creature laughed. A horrible, broken sound.

"No matter. It was meant to be consumed. But not like this."

Its tone shifted, weightier. "His energy is chaotic. Unstable. He will not last long."

Seralyth clenched her fists. "How do I help him?"

The creature’s head tilted, twisting. "Stabilize him. Primordial energy is both his poison and his cure. He must be given more, enough to balance what tears him apart."

Seralyth looked at Caelen’s unconscious body. "He has it. The energy runs in him already."

"Too small," the master hissed. "Already drained. It saved him from a death he should not have survived. But now... it is gone."

Seralyth’s lips pressed thin. "...Then what do you suggest?"

The master’s body rippled. The void pulsed with each word. "If he does not receive it soon... his evolution will collapse. And when it does, he will not be himself. He will be nothing."

Seralyth’s chest tightened. She opened her mouth—

Seralyth’s voice broke the silence first."Is there a way... for someone else to transfer primordial energy into him?"

The creature’s head turned toward her again, the shadows making its form shudder and bend in unnatural ways.

A moment passed before its voice slithered through the void."...Another?"

"Yes," Seralyth answered firmly. "There are two more who carry the same energy as him."

For a heartbeat, nothing moved. And then—

The creature laughed.

The sound split the air, jagged and cruel, vibrating through the shadow realm itself. Seralyth’s body tensed.

The echo stabbed into her ears like shards of glass. She clutched her head and snapped, "Enough! Stop it!"

At last, the laughter withered away, fading into heavy breaths. The creature’s shifting form leaned closer.

"You are not making a joke."

Her eyes hardened. "I would not."

The shadows rippled again, like the realm itself reacting to its mood."...Then it seems," it said slowly, "I might be leaving this prison very soon."

Seralyth’s breath caught. "Truly?"

"We will see." Its gaze slid back to Caelen’s still form. "But do not rush. He is not stable. Eating more is not the option. That much, I am certain. Perhaps... another might give their magic to him. Perhaps it would help him stabilize. But—"

The air pulsed with hesitation. "...That has only a slim chance of working."

Seralyth frowned. "Only a chance?"

The creature did not look at her. Its warped body shifted closer to Caelen, almost towering over him. "Primordial energy is tricky. It has no rules. No balance. Not even I fully know. But..."

It lowered itself, stretching out a jagged limb. A flicker of black energy slipped free, barely more than a drop of shadow. It touched Caelen’s chest.

His body twitched. His eyes opened a fraction, unfocused, glowing faintly. His lips parted.

"He’s waking," Seralyth muttered.

The creature’s voice was sharp. "Ask him. Ask where he received the energy. And how he might draw more."

Seralyth knelt quickly, her hands cupping his face, pulling his gaze to hers. "Caelen. Listen. Tell me. How did you get this power? How can you take more of it?"

His head shifted slightly, barely there. His voice was a broken murmur, words scraping from the edge of consciousness. "...Lucy..."

Seralyth’s brows drew down. "Lucy?"

His lips parted again after a pause, weak and slurred. "...close..."

Her eyes flickered. She stared at him, not sure if he was delirious or revealing the truth. But the word lingered.

Behind her, the creature made a low sound, more confusion than amusement."...Through that?"

Seralyth glanced back, her expression unreadable.

The creature’s form twisted slowly, shrugging with movements that weren’t meant for a body. "What do I know? I am not him. But there is your answer."

Seralyth exhaled through her nose, steadying herself. She rose to her feet, her shadows curling tighter around Caelen’s body. "Then I need to hurry."

Without waiting for more, the darkness engulfed her and her charge, swallowing them both as they began to sink back toward the world of flesh and stone.

The creature did not follow. Instead, its amorphous form stretched, and for the first time since she had arrived, its voice lowered into something that almost resembled contemplation.

"...The era is changing."

It shifted deeper into the void, curling into itself as though returning to sleep.

"Elves aiding demons... Primordial rising again... Who would have thought?"

The shadows closed fully, leaving only silence.

-

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