The Books of the Shadows III- Silver Tiger

25

Silver went hunting with his mother at dawn.

Just the two of them. He did not feel too safe because he was afraid not to hurt her in any way, because of his lack of control over his demon. But he accepted anyway, because only she would have that power of persuasion over him.

They went together, alone, on the hunting grounds, near the western border. The lands belonged to the wild reservation owned by the Warchild House. The last king, his maternal grandfather, held the title of Lord of the Warchild House, and this title actually belonged to Silver at this time, as the first male born in his family. So as soon as he would get announced as the Lord of the Warchild House, these fields would be his.

The field was guarded by the huge forest that covered the mountains that protected the realm of shadows and were impassable, unless you could fly over them. There were only two passes in the mountains, into the West, and one into the North, guarded by the kingdom of Moutai people.

Silver was not a little surprised when he saw on the horizon the figure of his light brother, coming on horseback and making them with his hand happily.

His elder brother, Alane, was king over the Moutai people. He was not his brother by blood, because he was born from light parents, and adopted by his mother, as she was also the Queen of the Moutai people. Silver's mother was married to the former king of the Moutai people, and he had died, leaving her Queen over them. The king's sister, Ayla, had her first born adopted by their mother, in order to keep the kingdom's bloodline secure.

They all treasured Alane, even if he was not a shadow, he was raised and trained just like one. They were all treating him and feel him like a brother, no matter what other shadows would say. His mother made sure of it.

He heard of the change his brother was going through and came to be with him. Silver was delighted, Alane was a trusted friend and a wise counselor. He also defended the kingdom from the north, and was the only ally of the shadows, due to the treaty concluded between Iris and the former king of lights, Dai Hu. Alane came with news of the kingdoms of light from the far north.

Coming towards them, in the horse's chase, a shadow rushed from the forest, quickly, towards Alane. Silver's blood hunger was activated and his hunting instinct sharpened at the moment when he felt and noticed the rapid movement of the hunter aiming at his brother of light. He didn't know what it was, whether it was an animal or a shadow. It did not matter anyway because his face was fixed on him and his saruman flew quickly towards the target, while he, again, instinctively, used his demon's speed and allowed him to drag him to the figure on the horizon moving toward his brother.

Growling and transforming, Silver felt a breeze over him or next to him, as his instincts were not very precise at that point, and his eyes changed to dark while another shadow jumped from behind catching his target and slamming him down to the ground, while a dark saruman crawled out of his body. It was a shadow male and for the first time, Silver saw him in a way he could not recognize, as his eyes were playing tricks on him, letting him see in another kind of spectrum. The target was not moving anymore but he could see its organs and his heart pulsing inside of his body, he could even see the bloodstream inside, keeping the body alive.

-Silver! his mother shouted at him, while his head leaned to the right and to the left, as if he was trying to hypnotize the target.

The dark saruman raised above the body trying to deflect the threat, but his mother was shielded by another shadow who just made its appearance from behind him, and of course, he knew it must have been his father, as he would never leave his mother's sight. Out of a sudden, his mother screamed and fell to her knees, and his father's voice also he could hear near her, while a portal opened in that instant and they just disappeared from his line of sight.

-Mom!! Mom!!!! Silver screamed alarmed and Alane stopped his horse and jumped towards him, searching for them.

-Silver!!

-Moom!! Father!!

-Silver, where did they go?? What was that?? Alane grabbed his arm in order to stop the Silver's chaotic movements that seemed to see and hear.

The shadow that had earlier jumped Alane's direction rose from below and walked menacingly toward them, growling and salivating, asking him:

-Grr ... What are you? You smell ssso good ...

Alane, still holding Silver by the arm who was screaming for his parents without giving him a clear answer about what had just happened, drew his sword from its scabbard and aimed it at the shadow that obviously did not know him.

-Silver??!! Silver!!! Get over it!

Alane shouted at Silver who saw black in front of his eyes and turned mad at the shadow approaching them and jumped in front of him:

-Where are they??? What did you do to them???

Silver punched him hard in the face without him having the chance to defend himself, because he fell on his back and Silver would not stop punching him and yelling at him angrily. The shadow woke up from the hunger shock and tried bravely to defend Silver's fists, but his rage was blind and his power was so overwhelming that all he could do was duck the last fist and rolled him over, throwing him off of him.

-Nothing!! He woke up. I did not do anything to them!

-You liar!!! How did you open the portal?? Bring them back!! Nowww!!!!!

Silver was out of control and his rage transformed him into a berseker, under the horrified eyes of the shadow who, trying to fall backward, fell on his back and began to crawl on his back, failing to get up.

-It was not me!! I did nothing!!

Silver completed his transformation, and having no order from the king, who vanished through the portal opened a few moments ago, the Berseker was devoid of the filter of judgment, but only the prey of the primary instincts he felt deep down. He raised his hands like claws and aimed them at the retreating target and felt a rush of energy like a thread, leaving that shadow's body and coming towards him and looked at it with some wonder because it was the first time that he experiences such a thing.

-Silver, stop!! another figure appeared in front of him and another surprise ... this was not a shadow, but a strong light that bothered his eyes. So his face turned to the new target and also felt the same rush of energy like a thread, and raised his hands like claws towards the light target now, calling on the thread to come to him. The target fell to his knees, still screaming his name.

He felt a burn at the back of his head again, and again, before he blacked out.

Silver woke up in his cell, but this time he was all locked up behind the bar door, that was chained with a heavy chain. His sister, Moon was standing behind those bars looking at him oddly and also worried.

He let out a groan of pain from the depths of his chest, for his head was pounding with pain.

-Haurts!!

-So good! You are awake! I thought I killed you. I should have done it!! What happened to you?

-What the??

-You almost killed Alane!! What did you have in mind?

-What are you talking about? I would never hurt Alane!

-Well, it's too late, that's what you did!!

- What the??

-That's what I told her, that you wouldn't have hurt me ...

Alane's voice was heard from somewhere behind Moon and his figure appeared in the dark. Silver was shocked that Alane looked older than he was, and in his hair, he had a white strand on his right that Silver did not know how to have.

-What ... Is that what I did??

-You fed on its essence, Silver!!

Moon was very upset with him. Alane just seemed worried about him.

-I did this? Silver almost collapsed between the bed and the wall, and squatted with his hands clenching his knees. No, I would never hurt you, Alane!! Seriously ... No ...

-I know, little brother, I know that. But you are out of control and we can not have that right now. Mom and Dad have gone through the portal and the portal is closed now. And we just got this shadow here, that I did not know about... Silver! Silver!!! Brother, this is not the time to play the child. You are the crown prince and if you can not step up on the rank, I will take the throne and keep you locked up until you can! Are you up to this??

-He is not! Moon answered in his place. Wake up, brother!

-We can not afford to be apart right now, Alane told Silver. The king has gone missing, the War Council is going to vote for a substitute and you will be challenged for the throne soon if you do not step up. Do you want me to do it?

-I will challenge any challenger, Moon said.

-You know this is not how it works, sister. He needs to face his challenger and I am not sure he can like this. You can challenge the winner later. And we don't want him dead yet. Silver!! You need to step up now!! Do you hear me?

Silver looked at his brother. He was 21, but he looked like he was now about...28 maybe? He took some of his precious years; he took from his life essence. He was just like his mother, but he could not control it when he was like that and she did not have time to teach him that.

-I am so sorry! Alane, Silver jumped in front of his brother, grabbing the bars between them, I am so sorry!!

-Deal with it, brother! You will owe me a life! Are you up to this?

-I think so...

-He is unstable, brother! Moon was not going to forgive him, Silver looked at her and did not see his loving little sister anymore. He would not forgive himself either, he looked down at the ground, how could he?

"Use it", his mother would have said. "Use it!!" her voice almost clear made him instantly recover. He straightened his posture, raised his head, and his gaze became as cold and calculated as his mother's. Now he understood what he had to do. He couldn't control anything. He just had to use what he felt and do his best.

His attitude did not go unnoticed. But two people watching him from behind bars looked at him carefully and mercilessly, and he knew that and agreed with them. It was exactly what they were expected to do and it was exactly what they deserved. He needed to recover so that he could do everything in his power to get things back on track.

-Looks better, Moon looked at him coldly.

-Looks just like Mom, Alane said to her in a low voice.

-I am ready to take the rank until Mother comes back, Silver said, and grabbed the bars snatching them from the wall with inhuman force, startling the others.