Book One – Chapter 10

Now it was her darkness against his. A surge of emotions coursed through her, a volatile blend of euphoria, determination, and tension. As the shadebeast now tore and forced his rippling darkness into her, Midnight pushed into him with equal ferocity. Alongside the aggression, Midnight felt the insatiable hunger that the DΔϢΠΙΠƓϛ had instilled in her.  
   

Little shad-ow,  ^{little shad-ow}

Nothing to nobody we owe

He could have ripped you apart

He could have killed from the start

You would not’ve be spared

If we hadn’t shared

You were but half-darkness

With your phantom sprite amiss

Too full of yourself to survive

The darkness within needs to thrive

Little shad-ow,  _{little shad-ow}

Now wasn’t that something you didn’t know?

The cavern echoed with the clash of silence, as Midnight and the shadebeast remained ensnared in a savage struggle. Both embodiments of darkness, they tore, ripped, and clashed against each other, each vying for dominance. Despite her efforts, he still overwhelmed her, delivering massive strikes with his powerful paws that ripped right through her. Each blow tore her form asunder, distorting her senses and wrenching fragments away from the darkness that was her. Once severed, these fragments eluded her grasp, slipping beyond her reach and ability to reclaim.

With each assault, she weakened, diminished by the loss of her own darkness, while she lacked the mass and speed to retaliate with equal force. Whenever her darkness lacerated him, he seamlessly merged back into his form, the clefts closing instantaneously before she could sever any part of him. He was too fierce, too fast, and undeniably powerful. Struggling to keep pace, Midnight broke free, propelled herself backward, and surged upwards alongside the cavern walls. Distance. Initially erratic, her movements swiftly gained purpose, as intuition amplified by necessity revealed that she required no footholds or ledges, no contact with the walls at all. For hundreds of meters, she ascended with unprecedented speed, liberated from the constraints of physical weight.