There was no time to think. No time to grieve the loss of a long friendship. No time to be confused. All Elshana could do was focus on defending herself. Caldor was a formidable opponent, and it didn’t help that the training grounds were filled with unprotected weaponry. It didn’t take long for Caldor to grab a few swords and send them flying toward Elshana.

Mazidi used an ice wall to stop the swords from reaching Elshana. Seconds later, Elshana produced a shadow to protect Mazidi from an incoming sea of slingshot stones. They fought hard, but they were clearly outmatched by Kerrim and Caldor. Just when Elshana thought she could fight no more, Isidro and Vashti arrived at the training grounds.

“Duck,” Isidro said to Elshana as he shot a dozen arrows at Caldor. Caldor dodged all of them except one, which lodged n his right shoulder. Isidro expected him to be incapacitated, but Isidro simply pulled the arrow from his shoulder like it was a splinter. The wound turned black before closing up as if it had never been there in the first place.

“What should I do next?” Caldor asked. A few seconds later, he nodded and made a beeline for a display of throwing knives. “Okay. Whatever you say.”

“Who is he talking to?” Elshana asked.

“Who cares? He’s clearly insane,” Vashti replied.

“He’s talking to Kerrim.” Isidro realized. “I think…I think Kerrim is inside his body.”

Vashti used her flames to melt the throwing knives before they hit her. “Who the hell are you talking about?”

“Wait—I think I know Kerrim somehow,” Elshana yelled over the chaos. Her memory of meeting Kerrim had been mostly erased, but a memory was never fully gone. “I know it’s going to sound crazy, but I think I met him in a dream.”

Vashti groaned. “You’re right, that does sound crazy.”

Mazidi stepped forward and defended them against an onslaught of daggers. “Now is not the time for conversation, children.”

“He’s running out of weapons,” Elshana said. “He can’t fight forever.”

Caldor grinned. “Believe me, I’m just getting started.”

The suits of armor that were spread around the training grounds began to tremble. The slits in the helmet’s eyes glowed red, indicating that shadow creatures had sprouted within the armor. Caldor controlled them like a twisted puppet master and used the suits of armor to corner Elshana.

With Elshana trapped and nowhere to run, Caldor descended to the ground. “Since we were once friends, I will make this quick.”

“Caldor, what’s going on? This isn’t you. Snap out of it.”

“This is me.”

He raised his hand to strike Elshana but was intercepted by Isidro. He’d used his wheelchair as a battering ram and had taken out the suits of armor. “Your little shadow creatures are fragile,” Isidro said. “Even though they were protected by metal, I defeated them easily.”

Caldor tilted his head. “Oh, you want me to kill all of them?” He asked Kerrim. “I get it. Four birds, one stone.”

Caldor made a circling motion with his finger and a shadow tornado began to form. It grew and grew, and Elshana’s attempts to diffuse it only made it grow stronger. When he released the tornado, it wreaked havoc on the training grounds. Weaponry blew every which way. A storm from hell.

The same feeling Elshana had when defeating the shadow wolf returned. Her muscles tightened as she tamed the tornado. She had no idea how she did it. All she knew was that the tornado was within her control. She offered Caldor a look of pity and said, “I’m sorry” before sending the tornado straight toward him.

Caldor wailed as the tornado ripped through his flesh. It was a sound Elshana hoped she neve had to hear again. While writhing on the ground, Caldor whimpered, “You’ll pay for this.”

The sky opened back up and Caldor disappeared through the inky black portal. It was at that moment Elshana’s adrenaline slowed down and she realized the immense pain she was in. A knife had embedded itself inside of her during the tornado and she hadn’t even noticed. With a shaky hand, she reached her hand toward the wound and felt a sickening amount of blood.

“Dammit,” she whispered before falling to the ground.

The last thing she saw before passing out was Vashti running to get a medic.

…

Elshana awoke to a throbbing pain in her side. She tried to move and let out an audible yelp disrupted the bandages on her wound. Isidro was sitting nearby and rolled over to her. His green eyes held an emotion Elshana had never seen in him. Was it pity? Fear? She couldn’t tell.

“You’re awake,” he said as if Elshana didn’t know it. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Actually, I quite enjoyed getting stabbed in the side,” Elshana said sarcastically. “There’s nothing like shooting pain to really add some flavor to your day.”

“I’ll go get a nurse,” Isidro said.

A nurse came in to inspect Elshana’s wound. There would be a scar, but it would be nowhere as bad as the one that was already on her forearm. As the nurse applied a soothing oil, Elshana finally recognized the emotion in Isidro’s eyes. It was worry. But was he worried about her as a person or worried because she was a precious shadow mage?

When the nurse left, Elshana said, “You need to tell me what’s going on. I deserve to know.”

“You do,” Isidro agreed. “As soon as you recover, I will show you everything.”

“Just tell me now,” Elshana said. “I’m going to be stuck in this bed for the next few days. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“I can’t tell you; I have to show you.”

The pain medicine Elshana had been given began to kick in. She let out a yawn. “It’s a good thing I’m in a hospital bed right now, because if I wasn’t, I’d punch you for being so annoying.”

“Try to get some rest,” Isidro said.

Elshana’s eyes fluttered open and shut. “Do you care about me or only care about my magic?”

Elshana fell asleep before she got her answer.