Escape Artist
Kym & Angel during the Shadow Eclipse
If you have not met Kym yet - Listen to her backstory
The wind rushed past Kym's ears as she and Angel leapt across a ravine, pursued by the silhouettes of Shadowcast scouts. Just as her feet touched the opposite edge, the world plunged into unnatural darkness. Angel's squeal pierced the sudden silence as Kym stumbled, hands scraping against rough bark.
"Shh," she whispered, her fingers fumbling to find Angel's trembling form. The air turned thick and cold against her skin, carrying the metallic tang of magic gone wrong. "This isn't right."
Around them, the forest transformed. What had been dappled shadows beneath trees became liquid darkness that moved with purpose. Kym's large ears twitched, catching sounds that shouldn't exist—whispers that seemed to come from the darkness itself.
Angel pressed against her leg, whimpering softly. The tiny creature's warmth was reassuring against the sudden chill.
"We need to move," Kym murmured, straining her eyes to see through the blackness. Her cerulean skin seemed to absorb what little light remained, making her nearly invisible—a blessing for once.
A scream echoed from the direction of the learning grove, high-pitched and unmistakably young. Kym's heart lurched.
"The children," she gasped, already calculating the fastest route. Angel tugged at her pant leg, clearly wanting to flee in the opposite direction.
"I know, I know," Kym knelt, meeting Angel's gaze. "It's dangerous. But you're my brave one, remember? We can't leave them."
With reluctance visible even in the darkness, Angel nuzzled against her hand. Kym felt a rush of affection for her mischievous companion.
They moved silently through the underbrush, Kym's practiced footsteps making barely a sound. Angel, somehow sensing the gravity of the situation, contained its usual boundless energy. Together they navigated by feel and memory, guided by occasional frightened cries.
The learning grove appeared before them—or rather, the darkness around it shifted in a way that Kym recognized from countless escapes. She could make out small forms huddled beneath the ancient teaching tree, their teacher nowhere to be seen.
"Stay close," she whispered to Angel before approaching the group. "Hello? Children?"
Ten pairs of eyes, reflecting what little light remained like tiny mirrors, turned toward her. The oldest, a girl named Pebble, stepped forward protectively.
"Miss Kym? Is that you?" Her voice quavered. "Master Twig was taken by the shadows. They just... grabbed him and pulled him away!"
Kym felt her throat tighten. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe," she promised, her mind already rushing ahead to map their escape route. "But you must be absolutely silent. Can you do that?"
The children nodded, eyes wide with terror. The youngest, barely old enough to leave his mother's side, sniffled quietly.
"Good," Kym said, forcing confidence into her voice. "We're going to play a game. Follow exactly as I do, step where I step. Angel will lead us."
As if understanding the assignment, Angel puffed up importantly, eyes gleaming with determination.
They'd barely made it twenty paces when Kym's sensitive ears caught the sound of movement—strange, sliding steps that belonged to no creature she knew. She froze, motioning the children to crouch behind a fallen log.
Through the darkness glided three Shadowcast elites, their forms partially dissolved into the unnatural night. What terrified Kym most wasn't their appearance, but what they dragged behind them—the struggling form of a troll, suspended in tendrils of living shadow.
"The vessel is imperfect," one hissed, voice like dry leaves scraping stone. "Too old. The darkness cannot inhabit such a form completely."
"The young ones will serve better," another replied, sending ice through Kym's veins. "Their essence is... malleable."
Kym felt the small hand of the youngest child clutch her own. She squeezed it reassuringly, though her mouth had gone dry. They were hunting children specifically.
"We need a diversion," she whispered, an idea forming. She reached into her ever-present satchel of tools and trinkets, fingers closing around a mechanical noisemaker she'd stolen months ago.
Kym leaned close to Angel's ear. "When I throw this, I need you to run in that direction, make noise, then circle back to us. Can you do that?"
Angel's ears twitched with understanding. Clever, so clever—her perfect partner in mischief, now in something far more important.
She waited until the Shadowcast moved slightly further away, then hurled the noisemaker deep into the forest. It clattered satisfyingly against rocks, and Angel shot off after it, barking and growling with convincing ferocity.
The reaction was immediate. The darkness rippled as the Shadowcast turned, dropping their victim to pursue the new sound.
"Now," Kym urged, guiding the children toward the massive root system of the ancient oak that marked the entrance to the underground warren—a network of tunnels Kym had mapped during less dire adventures.
"One at a time, slide down between those two big roots," she instructed. "It's not far, but it'll be dark. Hold hands."
The children obeyed with remarkable discipline, the oldest helping the youngest. As they disappeared into the earth, Kym kept watch, heart hammering in her chest. Where was Angel?
A familiar weight suddenly landed on her shoulder as Angel returned, breathing heavily but clearly pleased with itself.
"Perfect timing," Kym sighed with relief, scratching behind Angel's ears. "Let's—"
A cold tendril wrapped around her ankle. Kym gasped as darkness began to climb her leg, numbing everything it touched. From the ground, shadow hands reached upward, clutching at her clothes.
"Get the children," she choked out to Angel, fighting the paralysis spreading through her body. "Lead them to Lucky's den. Go!"
Angel hesitated, distress evident in every line of its small body.
"GO!" Kym shouted, using her free leg to kick Angel toward the root entrance. With a mournful cry, the creature finally obeyed, disappearing into the earth.
The darkness pulled Kym downward, her clever fingers scrambling for anything to hold onto. Her mind raced with possibilities, calculations, escape routes—but the cold was spreading too quickly.
As her consciousness began to fade, Kym's hand closed around a small object in her pocket—a light crystal she'd stolen from a merchant months ago. With the last of her strength, she crushed it in her palm.
Brilliance exploded outward. The shadows retreated with a horrible screaming sound, and Kym found herself suddenly free, gasping on the forest floor.
She didn't wait to see if the light would last. Scrambling to her feet, she dove between the roots, sliding down into the earth as darkness rushed in behind her.
In the tight confines of the tunnel, surrounded by frightened children and with Angel pressed against her chest, Kym finally allowed herself a moment of trembling fear before pushing it aside.
"We're not caught yet," she whispered, as much to herself as to the children watching her with desperate hope. "And they don't call me the Sly Escape Artist for nothing."
Even as she navigated the dark tunnels, listening for pursuit, Kym couldn't shake the image of the trolls being dragged away by living shadows. For the first time, she wondered if there were some things even she couldn't escape from—but that was a fear she would keep to herself.
The children needed her confidence now, not her doubts. And Angel, pressed trustingly against her, deserved the clever, fearless companion it had always known.
"This way," she said, leading them deeper into the warren. "I know every twist and turn. They'll never find us here."
Behind them, something whispered in the darkness. Kym pretended not to hear it.
Read what happened to other trolls in Troalkind during the Shadow Eclipse
