Shadow Holder
Chapter I
Introduction
Once upon a time, there was an old knight who protected the kingdom. Although he was old, he still defended his kingdom well, and this was because of the stone he carried. This stone was no ordinary stone; it contained magical properties which gave the knight a shadow. This shadow was special; it could move, dance, run, and even jump. This shadow was useful because it fought with the old knight, but now that knight has gotten too old to fight and has disappeared from the kingdom. Without the knight, the shadow exists without a master, so one day the shadow left the kingdom and planted the stone inside a boulder. After this, the shadow faded away as the night fell, and the stone lay untouched for many years. Now, many years later, the kingdom has been demolished and a new place has been born, and this town is called Rockwall. Rockwall is a very average town in the center of Texas, but this all changes when one kid unravels the dark secret of his grandfather’s past.
Chapter II
The bracelet
The first thing I remember when I was born was seeing a bunch of doctors huddled around me like a college football team trying to figure out what play to use, but after that, it feels like a blur. After I blink, it seems I have time to travel to my 12th birthday party. When I approached my presents, I heard a familiar voice say, “Are you ready to open your presents?” When I turned around, I saw a woman I presumed was my Mom. She had curly, reddish hair and hazel eyes. I answered “Yes” and smiled, then hugged her and walked away with my presents. In my first present, I got a Lego set of my favorite car, which was pretty cool. In my second present, I was given a book titled “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which was one of my favorite books to read. Next was a nice laptop that was given to me by my older brother, who had gotten a new one the year before. All my other presents were simple things like clothes and gift cards for various places. But in my last present, I got something a little different from all my other presents. It was a strange-looking bracelet with a large stone on it. At first, I was a little confused, so I asked who had given it to me, and someone answered, “I did,” said an older man who looked to be in his mid-60s. I could tell this man was most likely my grandfather, so I walked over, hugged him, and said thank you.
Chapter III
The talk
After the party, my Grandpa said he wanted to talk about the bracelet he gave me. I was slightly worried, but I complied and sat beside him on the couch. He asked me how it fit and told me it was his from a long time ago.
I asked, “How long ago?” and he said, “Over 200 years.” I laughed and said it was a good joke, but when I looked up, his face was stone cold. I wondered how old he had been, but then I realized he did act a little differently than most people, whether it be eating or even just sitting around the house, almost like he’d been from the medieval period. I couldn’t be sure, though; maybe he was just joking and made it seem true, so I asked him again.
“How long?” and he replied, “I know it seems like I’m lying, but I’ve been waiting to tell you this since you were born.”
“Tell me what?” I responded.
“They call me the shadow holder.”
“The what?” I asked, confused. “Are you trying to play a prank on me?”
“No. I’m one hundred percent serious, and you need to believe me. I’ll meet you at my house later, and your Grandma will cover for you. Just show up.”
“Okay,” I said nervously and walked to my room.
While I was sitting in my room, I was thinking about what my Grandpa had said about Grandma covering for me and meeting him at his house. I was so confused and almost didn’t want to go, but at the same time, I had this burning feeling that I needed to go with him.
Chapter IV
Meeting The Thing
Later that night, when Grandma was still at the house talking to Mom, I took it as my chance to meet Grandpa. I crawled out of the small window in my room and landed on the trampoline that I received on my last birthday. I grabbed my bike and rode towards Grandpa’s house. Grandpa’s house was only three blocks away, so I made it there and knocked on the door. When he answered, he hastily shoved me through the door as if he didn’t want anyone to see me enter the house.
He sat me on the couch and said, “I want you to see it.”
“Who?” As I spoke, a shadowy figure that resembled a woman walked down the hallway, and I said, “Really, now you’re trying to scare me.”
I went to pat the figure on the shoulder, but I fell straight to the floor. My eyes widened, and I yelled, “WHAT IS THAT THING?”
“Calm down; that’s it,” Grandpa said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Let me explain. About 200 to 300 years ago, I made a deal with a god of shadows who made me immortal, and now I’m stuck with it.”
“Does he have a name?”
“I don’t know, he never really says anything other than slight hand movements and grunts.”
“Well, maybe if we do some research, we can find his name through Greek mythology books at the library.”
“Good idea. I’ll pick you up tomorrow to look, but you should probably go home before your Mom notices you’re not there.”
So I went home, climbed back through my window, and tried to fall asleep, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about that thing in Grandpa’s house. I had so many questions, like: How does he live with it? Where does it sleep? And where in the world did it come from?
Chapter V
Surprise
The next morning, Grandpa showed up at the door, telling my Mom we were going to the aquarium. She said it was ok. Then we went straight to the library from my house, and then we got to work. After about three to four hours, we had gone through what seemed like a million books, but we still found nothing—not even a single hint of a Greek shadow god. But then I read one last book and found it. The thing that had been living in my Grandpa’s house was the Greek goddess Nyx. Now that we had found its name, we went to Grandpa’s house to see if it could speak after using its name. Once we got there, we searched the house looking for the shadow, but we couldn’t find anything. We lost hope until I looked at the bracelet Grandpa had given me on the table, and it was glowing bright purple. This gave me the idea to put it on and say its name, Nyx. After I said the name, all of a sudden the beam of purple grew brighter, and then the shadow appeared. In the bright light, it said, “I am the goddess of shadows, and until defeat, I will serve you in battle.” After the light faded, the ground started shaking. We didn’t know what was happening, so we stepped outside. When I looked into the air, there was a giant ship with creatures ranging in size from small to large jumping out of it. I was stuck staring at the ship until one monster the size of an elephant fell and crushed a car. Luckily, there was no one in it, so we ran to my house, seeing the mass amount of monsters fall from the sky. After we got to my house, we found my Dad, Mom, and Grandma huddled in the corner of our basement, trying to hide from those things outside. We started asking if everyone was safe, but I was interrupted by a monster falling through the roof of the house. It tried swinging its large arm at me, but after I flinched, it was on the ground, cut in half, so I assumed it was the god inside my bracelet. After I was out of my daze, I heard a familiar voice come from above that sounded like my Dad saying, “Hey, Bud, it’s time to go to school,” and it turns out it was all a dream.
THE END
Photo by Jaanus Jagomagi on Unsplash
