Free Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) by Danielle Q. Lee Page A

frustration.
    Kane eyed her carefully, thinking of
his people.
    “ Then we shall name you
Fate…for that is what you hold in your hands.”
     
    Torn
     
    Seated on a large geode sharpening his
sword, Kane chuckled as he watched the shade’s child-like behavior.
She’d found the fallen pod, the catalyst of their earlier dispute,
and latched onto it like a child with a new toy.
    It was surprising to see her act
so—human. Kane hadn’t been around a newborn shade for any length of
time, he’d only witnessed the horrors they were capable of when
they matured.
    Deme had gone into the forest to hunt,
leaving Kane and Fate to rest in a clearing. While she had offered
to find them food, Kane wondered if Deme was displeased with him
for freeing the shade and needed to be alone. He wasn’t sure if
releasing the shade was the right thing to do, but he felt
something he couldn’t quite explain. A building trust? An alliance?
He didn’t know for certain, but ever since she healed him, he’d
felt the quickening of something he couldn’t name growing inside
him. A seed germinating within his soul.
    He knew he should be concerned about
allowing her to run freely, what with her apt ability to kill, but
she’d proven she didn’t mean to harm him and with the mask
disabling her from eating, he didn’t have to worry about losing his
soul.
    “ I wouldn’t touch that if I
were you,” Kane warned as Fate knelt down and poked at the
basketball-sized pod with her finger.
    “ Why?” Fate asked, rolling
it around. “Is it dangerous?”
    Kane smirked. She’d find out soon
enough.
    “ What’s in there? Will it
hurt me?” An innocent wonder danced behind her illuminated eyes as
she nudged the oddity.
    “ Not exactly,” he responded.
“I just wouldn’t play with…”
    Before he could finish his
warning, she prodded the shell one last time and it split wide open
with a loud snap .
Slimy green ooze sprayed in all directions, large globules landing
on her head, face and shoulders.
    “ Uhh!” she shouted, quickly
backing away from it.
    “ I warned you,” he
said.
    “ You didn’t tell me it was
going to explode!”
    She ran her fingers through her long
white hair, now streaked lime, and scowled at Kane when he laughed
at her.
    “ How am I going to get this
stuff off?” she whined, holding her hands out and examining the
sticky substance. “Ick!”
    “ Ick,” a tiny voice mimicked
her from within the cracked pod. “Ick.”
    “ What the…?” Fate’s eyes
narrowed, peering into the fractured cocoon.
    At first, the only features visible
were the eyes—large, round, glowing green eyes—then a furry, white
face poked out.
    A triangular pink nose resided in the
center of a short muzzle, reminiscent of a Persian cat. Slitted
pupils dilated mischievously within emerald orbs. Then the rest of
him tumbled out, revealing the creature’s arms, legs, hands and
feet, all covered with soft, white hair. Fluffy wings stemmed from
the center of its back to its wrists. The only things that
distinguished it from being a cat, other than the wings, were its
enormous pointed ears and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
    “ What is this thing?” Fate
asked, mesmerized by the little beast.
    “ A gargoyle,” Kane replied,
nonchalant. “You can eat it if you want to.”
    “ What?! I could never hurt
this little guy,” she replied, holding her hands out to the
gargoyle who in turn toddled towards her, his winged arms open
wide.
    Kane ceased what he was doing and tried
to suppress the look of shock on his face. She didn’t want to eat
it? All he’d ever known of shades was their insatiable hunger for
souls, it didn’t matter who or what they stole it from. He’d never
seen one show mercy—until now.
    As Fate scooped the baby gargoyle up
into her arms like a kitten and cuddled it, Kane felt a sensation
in his chest that he hadn’t felt for a very long time. Warmth
curled around his heart, seeping into his soul. He shook his