Only I Can Weild A Forgotten Shadow Magic

The creature bore down on us, its jagged limbs tearing through the air with bone-crushing force. My instincts screamed at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. The subway station was a dead end, and the fracture point pulsed ominously behind the creature like a glowing wound in the world.

"Uh, any bright ideas?" Sparky shouted, vaulting over a crumbling bench to avoid the creature's swipe.

"Working on it!" I yelled, summoning the shadows around me. They responded sluggishly, like they were dragging me down instead of helping.

The creature roared, charging toward me. I rolled to the side just in time, the ground where I'd been standing shattering under the force of its attack. My heart was pounding, the whispers in my head growing louder, more insistent.

Use us, they urged. Let us take control. We can end this.

"No," I muttered through gritted teeth.

"What's that?!" Sparky called out, firing another blast of electricity at the creature. It barely flinched, the energy disappearing into its shifting form.

"Nothing!" I snapped, slashing at the creature with my dagger. The blade connected, and for a moment, the shadows surged, amplifying the strike. The creature staggered, but it didn't go down.

Instead, it turned its glowing eyes on me, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

"This isn't working!" Sparky yelled, darting around the creature to avoid its claws. "We need to regroup or—"

"We don't have time!" I shouted back. The fracture was pulsing faster now, its glow spreading across the platform like a spiderweb. If we didn't seal it soon, it would rip this place—and maybe the entire city—apart.

I clenched my fists, focusing on the shadows. They writhed around me, eager, hungry. The more I used them, the more they whispered, promising power, control… victory.

"Kai, don't do anything stupid!" Sparky warned, his voice cutting through the chaos.

I ignored him, stepping toward the creature. The shadows surged, forming jagged tendrils that lashed out at the beast. This time, they didn't just hit it—they tore through it, ripping chunks of its shifting form apart.

The creature howled, its movements becoming erratic.

"Kai, stop!" Sparky shouted. "You're losing it!"

"I'm fine!" I yelled, even as the whispers grew louder, drowning out everything else.

The creature lunged at me, but the shadows caught it midair, slamming it into the ground with enough force to crack the tiles. For a moment, everything was still.

Then I felt it—a pull, deep and insistent, like the fracture itself was calling to me.

"System," I said, my voice shaky. "How do I seal the fracture?"

[User must infuse the fracture with stabilizing energy. Caution: prolonged exposure to Void energy may result in critical corruption.]

"Stabilizing energy? What does that even mean?" Sparky demanded.

"It means I have to do this," I said, stepping toward the fracture.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sparky ran in front of me, blocking my path. "You're not seriously thinking about jumping into that thing, are you?"

"I'm not jumping into it," I said, pushing past him. "I'm stabilizing it."

"Yeah, sure, because that sounds way less suicidal," Sparky muttered, but he didn't try to stop me again.

The fracture pulsed as I approached, the shadows around it writhing like living things. I could feel its pull growing stronger, tugging at the edges of my mind.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out with the shadows, letting them flow toward the fracture. They wrapped around it like vines, their dark tendrils merging with the glowing light.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the fracture shuddered, and a wave of energy shot out, slamming into me like a freight train.

I screamed, the force of it driving me to my knees. The shadows surged, trying to pull me deeper, but I held on, focusing on the fracture.

"You're insane!" Sparky shouted, his voice barely audible over the chaos.

The fracture was fighting me, its energy wild and uncontrollable. The shadows around me strained, struggling to contain it.

Let us in, the whispers urged. We can end this. We can make you stronger.

"No," I said through gritted teeth.

The fracture pulsed again, sending another wave of energy through me. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I wasn't sure if I was still in the subway or somewhere else entirely.

The shadows twisted around me, forming shapes—faces. My mother, staring at me with empty eyes. My friends, their mouths moving silently.

You can't save them, the whispers said. You're too weak.

"Shut up," I muttered, forcing myself to focus.

The fracture's energy was overwhelming, but I couldn't stop now. If I did, it would consume everything.

"Kai!" Sparky's voice cut through the haze. "Whatever you're doing, hurry up! That thing's getting back up!"

I glanced back and saw the creature reforming, its body twisting into something even more monstrous.

"System," I said, my voice shaking. "Is the fracture stable?"

[Stabilization at 53%. Continued effort required.]

I clenched my fists, forcing more shadows into the fracture. The strain was unbearable, but I didn't let go.

The creature roared, charging toward me. Sparky jumped in front of it, firing off a barrage of lightning bolts. "I've got this! Just focus!"

The fracture pulsed again, and I felt something shift. The shadows around it began to calm, their movements less frantic.

[Stabilization at 82%. Warning: user corruption at 48%. Immediate disengagement recommended.]

I ignored the warning, pushing harder. The shadows wrapped around the fracture completely, sealing the glowing wound.

The platform trembled, and for a moment, I thought it was going to collapse. Then the fracture flickered and went dark, its energy dissipating.

The creature let out a final, guttural roar before collapsing into a pile of ash.

I staggered to my feet, the shadows retreating into my body. My vision swam, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

"Kai!" Sparky caught me as I stumbled. "You did it."

"Yeah," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "But at what cost?"

The shadows were quieter now, but I could still feel them, a dark presence lurking in the back of my mind.

"We need to get out of here," Sparky said, helping me toward the stairs.