Only I Can Weild A Forgotten Shadow Magic

We barely made it two blocks from the warehouse before Sparky doubled over, hands on his knees, panting like he'd run a marathon.

"Hold up. I need—just—two seconds to not die."

I rolled my eyes but slowed my pace, scanning the empty street. The freight yard was behind us, but the tension in my chest refused to loosen. My hoodie stuck to my back, damp with sweat, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Two seconds is all you're getting. Because if whatever that thing was has friends, we need to be long gone."

Sparky let out a breathless laugh, sparks crackling weakly between his fingers. 

"Friends? That thing didn't exactly strike me as the social type."

"Doesn't mean we're safe." 

My eyes darted to the sky. The stars were barely visible through the city smog, but the shadows on the rooftops felt heavier, sharper, like something was watching us.

Sparky straightened, rubbing his shoulder. 

"Alright, boss. What's the plan now? Because I'm pretty sure playing shadow tug-of-war with hellspawn wasn't on the itinerary."

"Plan? Nah. We survive. Figure out who's behind this mess. Stop it before anyone else gets dragged into it."

He gave me a flat look. 

"Solid. Super vague. I feel so much better."

I ignored the sarcasm, pulling out the crumpled map from my pocket. My fingers were still trembling as I unfolded it, the coordinates glowing faintly in the dim light.

"Next site is here. We check it out tomorrow."

"You're kidding, right? After what just happened, you wanna walk into another death trap?"

"If we don't, someone else will. And they might not make it out alive."

He stared at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his white hair.

"Fine. But if I die, I'm haunting you."

---

Back at my apartment, the adrenaline finally crashed, leaving me feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I peeled off my hoodie, tossed it onto a chair, and collapsed onto the mattress.

The shadows in the room flickered uneasily, shifting like restless animals.

"System. What the hell was that thing? And why was it after us?"

[The entity encountered was an unstable magical construct. Likely a byproduct of the containment breach at the warehouse.]

"Yeah, I got that much. But why was it there in the first place? And why now?"

[Analysis suggests the entity may have been deliberately released to create chaos or eliminate targets.]

I sat up.

"Deliberately? You're saying someone let that thing loose on purpose?"

[Correct. Probability of coordinated sabotage: 87%.]

"Great. Because rogue enforcers weren't bad enough. Now we've got saboteurs too."

The System was silent for a moment, then its voice returned, colder than before.

[Host should be aware: heightened activity will attract attention. Remaining unnoticed is no longer viable.]

I frowned. 

"What kind of attention?"

[Multiple factions are likely monitoring recent events. Host should prepare for potential contact.]

"Contact? From who?"

The System didn't answer.

"Of course. Super helpful, as always."

I leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. My apartment felt smaller than usual, the shadows pressing in like they were alive.

I wasn't stupid. I knew I was in way over my head. But what choice did I have? The enforcers weren't going to stop. The Council wasn't going to stop.

And now, whoever had unleashed that shadow thing… they weren't going to stop either.

---

The next morning, I woke to the sound of someone banging on my door.

My heart shot into my throat, and I grabbed the knife from under my pillow before creeping toward the door.

"Who is it?"

"Relax, it's me." Sparky's voice came through, muffled by the door. "Let me in before someone sees me out here."

I exhaled, unlocking the door and pulling it open. Sparky stepped inside, his white hair sticking up in every direction. He was holding a greasy paper bag that smelled like breakfast sandwiches.

"You didn't have to knock like you were the cops." 

I locked the door behind him.

"Force of habit," he said, tossing the bag onto the table. "Figured you could use some food. And before you say it, no, I didn't poison it."

I gave him a look but grabbed one of the sandwiches anyway. My stomach growled as I unwrapped it, and I realized I hadn't eaten since the night before.

Sparky flopped onto the couch, watching me as I wolfed down the sandwich.

"So, what's the plan for today, fearless leader?"

I swallowed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. 

"We check out the next site. Quietly this time. No fighting unless we have to."

"Sounds boring."

I ignored him, pulling out the map again. The next site was an abandoned hospital on the edge of the city—a place no one would go unless they had a death wish.

"Hospital, huh?" Sparky said, peering over my shoulder. "That's not creepy at all."

"It's the closest site. And if the enforcers are targeting these places, we need to get there before they do."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

---

The hospital was exactly as awful as I'd expected.

The windows were shattered, the walls were covered in graffiti, and the air reeked of mold and decay. The kind of place you'd see in a horror movie, right before everyone got eaten by zombies.

"Lovely," Sparky muttered, stepping over a pile of rubble. "This place just screams 'bad idea.'"

"Stay sharp. If anything feels off, we're out of here."

The shadows clung to me like a second skin as we moved through the building. Every creak of the floorboards, every gust of wind through the broken windows, set my nerves on edge.

We found the glyphs on the third floor, glowing faintly in the dim light. They were similar to the ones at the warehouse, but these looked older, more intricate.

"System. What are we looking at?"

[Glyphs indicate a containment ward. This site was designed to house multiple entities.]

"Multiple?" I glanced at Sparky, who was frowning at the markings. "As in more than one of those shadow things?"

[Correct.]

My stomach twisted. 

"Please tell me none of them are still here."

The System's response was instant.

[Residual energy suggests two entities remain active. Host should exercise caution.]

Before I could react, a low growl echoed through the hallway.

Sparky froze, his eyes wide. 

"Uh… was that your stomach?"

"No," I whispered, my grip tightening on my knife.

The growl came again, closer this time.

I turned toward the sound, the shadows around me stirring like they were alive.

"Looks like we're not alone."

Sparky's hands crackled with electricity. 

"What now?"

"Now," I said, the shadows coiling around my fingers, "we fight."