Page 49 of Marked

Without being directly there, she could feel it.

Another presence that seeped into the cavern.

She didn't have to look at Blake to know his demeanor had shifted, his body in a defensive stance.

From the crevice behind the first Phantom, a second one emerged.

This one was leaner, almost skeletal, with black veins glowing beneath the skin that was stretched too tight.

Its eyes were voids. Its grin was that of a nightmare.

A burned symbol underneath his right eye.

"Great, another one.." Blake bit out, blood on his lips.

The second Phantom raised his lips in a snarl, extending both arms as his shadows erupted outward toward Damien.

The second Phantom rose his arms up, black wisps pouring from his wrists, creating a web of thick, dense shadows that moved and spread around them.

The shadows settled, creating a fog that thickened the air around the dome.

Moving together, the phantoms stepped toward Damien, who braced for impact and was thrown against the stone wall.

Blake tried to shadowstep around the Enforcer to help, but the air was so thick he struggled to conjure his shadows.

Tendrils spilled out from the Enforcer's back, sliding across the floor and crawling up Blake's legs.

He quickly swung his sword, but it only swiped through the black mist as it locked on him.

Blair tensed as she watched them continue to fight.

Damien had recovered quickly, a black array of swirls pulsing down his face, neck, and chest. He swung a variety of raised weapons forged from his shadows.

They seemed to move in every direction, but ultimately not inflicting any damage on the monstrosities around him.

Blake's shadows stopped opening under him as he fought to get the shadow claw off of him that was clamped around his calf.

A piercing cry filled the air as the claw protruded spikes, puncturing Blake's leg.

Blood began to pool around him as the attack continued, and Blair watched it all, helpless.

Blake was the first to fall. The shadow tendril that had impaled his leg dragged him forward and hung him upside down.

He roared in pain as he finally managed to cut the shadow holding him, causing him to fall to the ground with a sickening thud.

Shadows from the floor rushed over him, and his screams intensified as they carved into his body.

Within a mere second, a soundless roar filled the tunnel.

The sound was not heard but felt. A pulse of shadow erupted from Damien's chest, sending a ripple of energy through the entire corridor.

The force smacked into everything it touched.

The torches blew out. The air crackled, producing a darker black haze that took the place of the one that had lingered.

Damien's form twisted, cloaked in the void.

Wings of darkness unfolded from his back, lashing the walls.

Multiple black runes manifested on his arms, bleeding silver.

His shadow engulfed everything around him.

The phantoms faltered.

Damien descended upon them, a god of ruin, his shadows wrapping around their form and pushing them together.

Then, in one swift motion, he tore into both the figure's chest, bleeding them of the shadows he controlled.

A deformed cry made of multiple voices ripped from their throat.

As the shadows were pulled out, they rapidly swirled high above the scene before surging into Damien.

His head snapped back, and his body tensed as he absorbed them.

His eyes opened, the darkness starting to leak out, creating black tears rimmed in silver.

As the last bit of black smoke was forced out, the bodies disintegrated into a pile below Damien.

More Hunters who had entered the corridor watched in horror, the Phantom's dehydrated body in a ruined pile.

Immediately, they tried to run, but Damien's shadows surged, his wings lifting him to the center of the room, above Blake.

Each shadow acted as a spear, driving into each body and lifting them into the air as their screams filled the room.

As he unleashed his power, the movement appeared in the dark, different sigils of glowing light illuminating and identifying the new phantoms that had just entered the room.

"There's too many!" Blake screamed. "Damien, We need to leave!" he yelled again, mustering up what energy he had to try and make himself stand. He then turned to Blair, still hidden, "Run, Blair, get out of here!"

Damien landed in front of Blake in a defensive stance as the shapes circled in, three in total. The largest one, well over six feet and wrapped in coiling shadows, opened his mouth, his voice thick and full of menace. "The king sends us with his warmest regard."

Damien narrowed his eyes, anticipating their next move.

Throwing a barrage of shadows at him and moving in closer, Damien moved around Blake to protect him.

Soon, the Phantoms worked together, hitting from different angles simultaneously.

Lifting himself back up into the air, Damien had managed to impale one with blades of darkness, killing him on the spot.

As he moved to the next, his wings were clipped by a shadowed Tomahawk.

His eyes shifted to Blair as he careened to the floor.

Shadows instantly formed, creating a protection bubble around him and Blake, who was kneeling on the ground next to him, clutching his leg.

Damien's face was solemn as the Phantoms bombarded his shield.

His eyes shone with regret, and his voice boomed toward Blair, amplified by the shadows, "Get out of here.

" At that moment, one Phantom sickle struck through the barrier, hitting his chest and cleaving through his armor.

He collapsed to his knees, coughing red.

Blair's breath caught. Her heartbeat was in her chest, and as their eyes turned to her, her mind reeled back to that memory in the market. The face of a fortune teller, her booth, and the message she gave. The crone's words echoed in her mind:

".. turn it inward.."

Tears blurred her vision as she took a step and looked down at the dagger in her hands. With trembling hands, she gripped the hilt and raised it. With no hesitation, she drove it into her own stomach. On impact, the dagger shattered, and the pieces turned into dark threads, weaving into her body.

Agony tore through her like lightning as she heard Damien scream for her, but then her mind went black, a smoke screen of shadows blurring her vision.

A wave of darkness erupted from her body, swallowing the mounded room in pitch black.

When it cleared, she stood in the center, next to Damien, a pillar of obsidian fire.

Her eyes glowed a bright violet. Her hair whipped around her like a living thing.

Lavender cracks raced across her skin, glowing from within as if molten power now ran through her veins.

She raised her hands, and the shadows obeyed. Not just the ones around her but every dark fragment, even the shadows controlled by the phantoms. They turned, betraying their hosts, and moved toward her.

The Phantom next to her lunged, but Blair didn't flinch.

With a flick of her fingers, the scythe turned to ash in his hand.

She clenched her fist, and his body folded in on itself, crumpling into a pile of steam.

The second Phantom tried to finish the job and went after Damien, but she was there before he blinked.

Her hand plunged into his chest, fingers wrapping around the thing where his heart should've been.

"You will not harm them," she whispered, her voice deepening as her arms ripped back. A black film sprayed across the walls. The Phantom shrieked one last time before falling silent, a hollow husk.

And then the tunnel was quiet.

Blair stood still, her chest heaving. A mixture of blood and shadow streaming from her wound, running down her hip. Her skin began to crack in multiple places along her body, peeling and flaking like burnt paper. The glow in her eyes flickered and started to dim as she fumbled backward and coughed.

"Blair?" Blake's voice was hoarse, his hands pushing against the floor as he crawled toward her.

She looked up slowly, her body trembling. "It's okay," she whispered with a small smile. "I found a way to help…"

And then she collapsed.

" No! " Damien shouted, moving to catch her just before she hit the ground.

Her skin was disintegrating in his hands, softening to ash.

Damien, bleeding and staggering in and out of consciousness, dragged himself into a sitting position.

"Her body is rejecting it," he murmured.

His voice cracking, "It's fighting the shadows. "

Blake's voice was void of his usual humor as he started to wheeze. "I don't care what's happening... Fix it."

Damien gripped Blair's waist, pulling her weight into him.

Her breath was coming in shallow gasps, the wound in her abdomen gaping.

Damien closed his eyes, his body becoming unnaturally still.

Then, he moved, lifting his hand to Blair's forehead.

A pulse of energy shot into her skull. He repeated the process at her heart and stomach, anywhere that an open injury lay.

His shadows act as a bandage. He then moved lower, drawing a line with his finger on her thigh, just above another open wound.

His mouth opened, and whispers of something ancient poured out, his fingers tracing a design on her thigh over and over again.

A ripple of shadow bled from his palm, curling into her skin .

The shadow fed into her, willingly transferring from him to her, and then, with a dark neon light, it seared itself into her skin. A black, dagger-shaped mark pulsing once with illuminated light.

Laying Blair down and sitting up on his knees, Damien continued chanting, and then his words turned to mumbling and then something even quieter.

The energy dissipated from him as it finished funneling into her.

Blake watched as the black aura that had swarmed him retreated back into his body.

The shadowed black webs receded from his face and eyes, highlighting his blue eyes.

They bore into Blair’s as his chest slowed, and hers picked up speed.

As the shadows riled around her, inside and out, the physical injuries hindering her body slowly started to heal themselves.

Her stomach closed as tremors continued to wrack her body.

Damiens's voice echoed around her, chanting words in a foreign language.

Finally, Blair stirred. Her fingers, at first, twitching in response to something.

Then her body stopped, and she stilled. After a few moments, she started to completely convulse, her mouth slightly opened, a black ooze trickling out.

As the shadows from Damien's body finished into her, a black mist entered through her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

It shrouded her skin, laying a thin veil of glistening black webs that sunk in and absorbed themselves.

Underneath her skin, it weaved through her veins, stitching her wounds from the inside.

His own life force poured into her. Her chest continued to rise. The cracks slowed, forming together and moving to the dagger shape on her thigh. A natural color returned to her skin, but Damien’s dimmed. His eyes rolled back. Blood seeped from his nose.

" Enough! " Blake cried, reaching up and grabbing Damien's shoulder, yanking him back.

Damien collapsed, slumping over while Blair lay still, her breathing steady.

Blake's attention shifted back and forth as his body began to turn cold. Just as his vision started to fade, Damien opened his eyes.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Blake asked, his throat dry, his eyes closing.

Damien straightened and put her hand into his, leaning to skim his lips over her fingers.

"Yes. She'll be better than okay." Tracing the dagger mark that was now seared into her skin.

An exact replica of the one that she had carried, the one that fractured apart.

As he moved his fingers, a visible, black static electricity rose from her skin and followed his movement.

"How.. how do you know that?" Blake asked, his eyelids lowering.

Setting Blair's hands down, Damien turned his attention to Blake. He willed his last remaining shadows to cover Blake’s body. They obeyed, wrapping around the injuries and healing him.

"Because... she's been marked ." was Damien's only reply. Blair‘s eyes opened on his last word, an abyss of swirling black and purple.