Within the Shadows Ep. 12

He looked over to where Holly had been chained to find a large black cocoon covering the entire area where she had once been chained.

"Her journey's just begun," Riggan explained as she approached him from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What does all this mean for us?" Eliza asked.

Kyle turned to see his wife rubbing her hand over the statue of Katey with pure curiosity painted over her face.

"It means we are expanding our reach," Riggan teased before stepping back toward the center of the circle and waving her hands around.

The circle, bed, and symbols melted into the ground leaving the statues and the cocoon still standing. Riggan approached the cocoon and rubbed her hand down the center before stopping with an open palm. Fire engulfed the entire cocoon and it faded away.

Something small dropped to the ground and Kyle walked over to inspect it. He leaned down and brushed some ash away before his eyes went wide in shock.

Holly lied on the ground, curled in a ball. She had shrunk down to just a few inches tall. Her body structure and skin tone were exactly the same. She had butterfly wings sticking out of her back and they flittered a few times as she shifted around.

"What happened to her?!" Eliza asked.

Kyle looked over his shoulder to see his wife had approached and was kneeling down next to him with her wide eyes locked to the tiny woman.

"She has been turned into a pixie," Riggan said in a happy tone. "I kind of envy her to be honest."

"Pixie?" Kyle asked as he scooped the tiny woman in his hand and stood up. "Why?"

"It's part of the ritual," the demon queen explained as she walked over to him and studied Holly. "The gods that allow the ritual to be placed ask a price for such power. They want pixies to flourish within the realms. The species almost died off completely at one point until the price was made. There are still very few because making them is difficult."

"What's she going to do?" Eliza asked incredulously. "Once she awakens to find herself in this tiny form, she'll lose it."

"That's not our problem," Riggan laughed. "We have done our part for the gods. Now it's all on her for the rest. She will be teleported away from this world and into another where her mission will be made clearer to her."

A bright light from his hand startled Kyle almost to the point of dropping the tiny woman. When the light had faded he looked in astonishment to find that Holly was gone.

"You saw the visions yes?" Riggan asked as she looked up to Kyle, bringing his attention back to her.

"I did," he answered with a sober nod. "I have seen enough to understand."

"Good," the demon said with a satisfied nod.

"Visions?" Eliza asked.

Kyle explained what he had seen and what he knew about Riggan's sister and her current situation. Eliza seemed to take it all in with simple nods as he went on.

"We will begin testing our expansion of power soon," Riggan explained as she smiled at the both of them. "You two have the power to conjure things. I suggest creating a better home than an open field with a couple of stone seats."

The demon queen spread her wings and with a simple bend of her legs, she sprang into the air and disappeared into the sky, leaving Kyle and his wife alone.

"She's right," Eliza stated as she looked around. "Let's build our home."

End of season one.

*****

Note from Author.

I really hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any critiques, whether they are positive or negative then please leave them in the comments, for the only way for me to become a better writer is to hear from those outside of myself.

The character Holly isn't finished within the universe. I'm planning on starting a new series about her struggles as a newly formed pixie.

The second season of Within the Shadows will slowly begin to merge the stories of this season with an earlier story that I have submitted to this site entitled Lustful Energy. Going back to read the earlier story won't be necessary. I'm planning on explaining the important details as they become required knowledge to understand the story's path.

I want to leave you with a few questions to help with my curiosity.

Who is your favorite character? What was your favorite scene? How did you feel about where the story lead by the end?

Okay, enough rambling from me. I want to thank the readers for giving me the time of day. I know how tough it is to filter through stories in hope of finding something that you want to stick with. And I want to thank the ones who read through the stories before accepting them for submission. I know it must be pretty annoying as I tend to release five or more episodes at a time and seem to have a difficult time getting the Ep. 10 parts of my titles correct. I appreciate you going out of your way to make sure my works are labeled in a correct manner.

Now it's time to work on season 2 of Lucky.

Cheers!