The Beast of Shadows
The jug shattered against the stones, water spreading across the ground like spilled silver.
Talia's heart pounded so hard she thought her ribs would break.The thing in the treeline moved with slow, jerking steps, as if it had never learned how to walk. Smoke curled from its limbs, fading and re-forming, the way threads fray and knot again. Its eyes—black hollows—fixed on her, unblinking.
Her throat locked. She couldn't scream. Couldn't run.
The world was silent. Completely, crushingly silent.
Is this… the Null? The thought rose unbidden, and it chilled her worse than winter wind.
The creature took another step forward.
Talia stumbled back, feet slipping on wet stone. I have to move—I have to—
But before she could, a sharp crack split the silence.
"Stay down!"
A figure darted between her and the creature, cloak flaring behind them. Steel gleamed as a long, curved blade slashed through the air, scattering sparks of light against the shadow-beast's form. The silence broke—just enough for Talia to hear the hiss of something burning.
The creature recoiled, shrieking without sound, its body unraveling where the blade had struck.
The stranger didn't hesitate. They lunged again, movements quick and precise, as if they'd fought such things before. The beast writhed, shadows twisting in fury. It lashed out with a claw of smoke and bone—
—but the blade flashed, and the claw shattered into nothingness.
The air quivered. Then, like a torn cloth losing its last threads, the creature collapsed inward and vanished, leaving only a thin black stain on the grass.
Silence lingered for one heavy moment. Then the sounds of the village returned all at once: birdsong, distant chatter, the creak of carts.
Talia gasped, finally able to breathe again. She was shaking so badly she nearly collapsed.
The stranger lowered their blade, the metal still glowing faintly with pale light. Slowly, they turned toward her.
Under the hood, Talia saw eyes the color of storm clouds—sharp, searching, and far too knowing.
"You saw it," the stranger said quietly. Not a question. A statement.
Talia swallowed hard. "…What was that?"
The stranger studied her for a long moment. Then they sheathed their sword and offered a hand.
"That," they said, "was only the beginning."
Talia opened her mouth, then shut it. A dozen questions burned on her tongue— Why did it come here? Why me?—but she couldn't force the words out.
The stranger glanced at the black stain where the creature had vanished. For a moment, their expression tightened, as if seeing it pained them. Then they pulled the hood lower, shadowing their face.
"You shouldn't linger here," they murmured. "The silence spreads."
Before Talia could ask what that meant, the stranger stepped back, cloak swirling around them. The morning crowd at the market bell began to stir, voices rising in chatter and laughter.
And just like that, the stranger was gone—vanished into the bustle as though they had never been there.
Talia stood trembling by the broken jug, staring at the empty road.
Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
The beast had been real. The silence had been real.And now, someone else knew she had seen it.
"Chosen…" The whisper from last night stirred again in her chest.
She pressed a hand to her pounding heart. What's happening to me?
The village returned to its routine as if nothing had happened. The market bell rang. The bread sold out by noon. Children laughed, chasing each other across the square.
But Talia never forgot the black stain at the well.
When the letter came—stamped with the seal of the Grand Academy—her mother cried with joy. Every year, only a handful of youths were accepted, chosen to study under the kingdom's greatest masters. For Talia, it should have been a dream come true.
And yet, as she packed her things, she kept glancing at the treeline. At night, she still woke to silence, hearing the echo of snapping threads.
On the morning of her departure, she stood at the edge of the road, clutching the letter in trembling hands. Around her, other chosen students gathered, chattering with excitement about dorms and classes and the life ahead.
None of them knew what she had seen. None of them felt the Loom's whisper in their bones.
To them, she was just another face in the crowd.
To herself… she wasn't so sure.
And somewhere, far above the Academy towers, threads continued to fray.