I had originally planned to just bring Harlow, but the second I told her she’d be using her Shade ability for something possibly dangerous, Brazen insisted on coming. Shadow was tagging along as well, in case we needed a Glower to counteract the shadows. So instead of one companion, I had three, and two of them could not see. Not to mention one hated the shadow part with a passion and had never met Chaiyn before. After the third time Brazen ran into me, I sarcastically suggested he turn into a bat. He obliged, and a few seconds later felt a soft thud on my shoulder. I turned my head just enough to see a bat on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and bit back a smile. I almost threw Brazen off my shoulder a few moments later. “Brazen, do /not/ shift on my shoulder,” I snapped. I looked at the hitchhiker on my shoulder, who blinked back his red dragonet eyes innocently. Harlow was not trying to hide her laughter at all, cracking up beside me. Shadow was at least trying to hide her amusement, but failing miserably. Before I lost my mind from the prankster of a baby dragonet on my shoulder, we arrived at the Seer’s lair. I heard voices inside and immediately recognized Elena and Chaiyn’s voices. Brazen flew off my shoulder and landed beside me, shifting back to human as he did. I dramatically pulled aside the curtain of vines. “Welcome to the Seer’s lair,” I told Brazen, walking inside after making sure Chaiyn and Elena weren’t having a private conversation. “I told you he’d be back. He comes every day,” Elena told her brother. Chaiyn rolled his eyes. “Did I ever say you were wrong?” I looked around at the clearing. “Chaiyn, is it darker in here now?” He nodded. “Yep. Shadows are spreading. I think it would be a good idea to try to find a way to stop the monsters from using this place. Also, hello, Shifter.” Brazen blinked. “How did you know that-” “I’m a Sight-Seer.” “Oh. Cool.” “How do you think we should stop the monsters?” Harlow asked, pacing around the clearing, studying the shadows and trees. “I don’t really know, but I have a few theories. My guess is that if multiple Shades come together and try to disband the shadows, it might work. But we might need someone who once had the monster,” Chaiyn said. Surprisingly, he wasn’t writing down anything right now. He was tinkering - holding up his end of the promise that he’d try to make a new ring to counteract the old. “Well, we have two Shades and a former monster here right now. When do we want to try?” I reminded him. “Um, I think daylight would work better. That’s when the shadows don’t have as much ground.” I almost smacked myself as I remembered a conversation that happened yesterday. “What about Dusk?” I asked. “Well, I suppose we could do it then but I’m not sure why we’d want to do it then since you guys have to be inside for dinner,” Chaiyn said absentmindedly. I laughed. “No, Mr Sight-Seer, I meant the person.” Chaiyn blinked, then nodded. “Oh. Right. Sorry, I was distracted. What about them?” “The shadows are spreading to their part of the woods. Shadows that shouldn’t be there. They live on the other side of these woods, so the fact that the shadows have spread there is probably not a good thing,” I explained. Chaiyn nodded. “That’s not good. Are you guys free tomorrow after your classes? It’d be best to do this then when we’ve actually prepared.” Harlow and I nodded in unison. “We’re free,” she said. “What are you tinkering with?” Brazen asked, just able to see here. “Magical ring. At least, that’s what it should be,” Chaiyn replied, clearly annoyed at the small contraption in his hands. “Need help?” Brazen asked. Chaiyn shook his head. “No. I’ve got this. Mostly,” he added quietly. Brazen nodded. “Suit yourself.” “Brazen, you’re a Shifter, right?” Elena asked quietly from over by one of Chaiyn’s many bookshelves. He looked over in her direction and nodded. “Yeah. Why?” “Can you shift for us? There’s not many Shifters in our village at home and I’ve never seen one in action,” she said shyly. He smirked. “Sure. What do you want me to shift into? I can do people, animals, things…” Elena put some thought into it, then smirked. “Chaiyn.” Brazen nodded and looked over at the Seer, who was furiously trying to get the ring he was tinkering with just right. He didn’t look like he was paying any attention whatsoever, but I knew he was listening in. Brazen closed his eyes. A few seconds later, his features rippled and then turned into Chaiyn’s, spot on, right down to the length of his hair. Brazen-masquerading-as-Chaiyn looked over at the real Chaiyn along with Elena and the rest of us. He looked up. “Impressive. But change the eyes.”
Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 23 Pt 1. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Chapter 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655621072/ Chapter 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/656955201/ Chapter 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657580423/ Chapter 8: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657583863/ Chapter 9: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657586191/ Chapter 10: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657668860/ Chapter 11: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/658404211/ Chapter 12: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659115920/ Chapter 13: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659116659/ Chapter 14: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659117186/ Chapter 15: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659420154/ Chapter 16: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661425573/ Chapter 17: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661428771/ Chapter 18: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661974554/ Chapter 19: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/662108449/ Chpt 20 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663144219/ Chpt 20 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663156194/ Chapter 21: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663760516/ Chpt 22 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674644356/ Chpt 22 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674648505/ Chpt 22 Pt 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674658226/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC: Do you think they'll be able to stop the monster-shadow-part?
