Shadows in His Wake
The moment the scent of the Deadwater marsh reached them — that faint mix of salt, silt, and something older that didn’t belong in any normal ecosystem — Trixie knew they’d run out of time.
Not the kind measured on watches or ward clocks.
The kind measured in heartbeats.
Because Nolan’s were getting uneven.
They moved quickly but not steadily, ducking branches and pushing past brambles that seemed to shift out of their way one moment and try to snag them the next. The Charterwoods weren’t helping, but they weren’t trying to stop them, either. The forest seemed… indecisive. Conflicted.
Like it wasn’t sure which part of Trixie it was aligned with anymore.
Nolan stumbled for the third time in as many minutes.
“Easy,” Trixie whispered, gripping his arm. “Lean on me.”
“I’m fine,” Nolan said — then immediately pitched sideways.
Trixie caught him again. “You are not fine!”
He exhaled through clenched teeth. “Okay… slightly less fine.”
Dixie hissed. “If you fall on us one more time, I’m dragging you by your ear.”
Nolan gave her a shaky grin. “Love you too, fuzzball.”
Dixie paused mid-stride.
Her tail froze.
Her pupils narrowed all the way down.
“I do not love you,” she said stiffly. “I tolerate you. There is a difference.”
“Sure there is,” Nolan muttered.
Trixie gently touched the side of his face, her fingers trembling. “You’re burning up.”
“No,” Dixie corrected sharply. “He’s cold.”
Trixie flinched. “That’s worse.”
Way worse.
Void exposure wasn’t like being touched by magic.
It wasn’t like being hexed or cursed or stunned.
Void touched the blueprint of a person. Their pattern. Their memories. Their shadow. Nolan had blocked a manifestation pulse with his shadow.
That wasn’t supposed to be survivable.
And yet… here he was.
But for how long?
“Trixie…” Dixie said softly. “Look.”
Trixie followed Dixie’s gaze.
Nolan’s shadow was lagging.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
A fraction of a second behind his body.
Like it wasn’t fully attached.
She felt her breath seize.
“Oh gods,” she whispered. “No.”
Nolan blinked down at the ground. “Huh. Okay. That’s new.”
Dixie marched in front of him, tail whipping in fury. “Nothing about this is ‘okay.’ This is void?drain. A shadow-fracture. It’s how the Hollow King gets his foot in the door.”
Nolan’s jaw clenched. “Then tell me how to close it.”
“If I knew,” Dixie snapped, “we wouldn’t be RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES!”
Trixie’s hands hovered helplessly over Nolan’s chest. “I can try to stabilize you again, but—”
“But you’re nearly spent,” Dixie said gently. “If you push your magic too hard again, the Hollow King will feel it. And he’ll exploit the opening.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Trixie squeezed her eyes shut. “So what do we do? Let him fade?!”
Nolan shook his head and grabbed her hand, squeezing weakly. “Hey. I’m not fading. I’m right here.”
Trixie shook her head, tears burning behind her eyes. “You’re slipping.”
“I’ve slipped worse,” he lied.
Dixie snorted. “No you have not.”
“Okay, well, I feel like I have.”
They kept moving.
Slow at first, then faster as the trees thinned and the ground grew softer beneath their boots. Fog rolled in — low, thick, almost luminous.
Deadwater fog.
“Careful,” Dixie warned. “Deadwater territory is unpredictable. Things wash up here that… don’t belong.”
“Great,” Nolan muttered. “More nightmares.”
“That’s the spirit,” Dixie said. “If you die, I’m taking your boots.”
Trixie shot her a look.
“What?” Dixie protested. “They’re good boots.”
But the humor evaporated instantly when Nolan stumbled again — this time dropping to one knee.
Trixie yanked him back up. “Nolan! Nolan—hey—stay with me!”
His eyes fluttered. “Can’t… can’t feel my left hand.”
Dixie inhaled sharply. “Void creep.”
Trixie’s heart hammered. “We’re losing him.”
Nolan managed a weak smile. “You never had me.”
Trixie glared through tears. “Shut up.”
He chuckled — soft, breathless — then swayed again.
This time he didn’t catch himself.
Trixie lowered him carefully onto a half-rotted log. His breath came shallow. His skin — cold. The shadow behind him — thinning.
Dixie’s voice trembled. “We have to anchor him.”
“How?” Trixie begged. “HOW, Dix? Tell me how!”
Dixie hesitated.
For the first time since Trixie had met her familiar, Dixie Bell hesitated out of fear.
“There is… one option,” Dixie whispered. “And it is dangerous.”
Trixie leaned in. “What option?”
Dixie’s ears flattened. “You anchor him with your own pattern.”
Nolan blinked sluggishly. “Is that… safe?”
“Absolutely not,” Dixie snapped. “It’s reckless and stupid and guaranteed to attract void attention. And if your patterns aren’t compatible—”
“We’re doing it,” Trixie said.
Nolan managed to focus on her. “Trixie… what if it hurts you?”
She cupped his cheek, tears finally spilling. “Then it hurts me. But you don’t get to die. Not here. Not today.”
Nolan swallowed. “Trixie—”
She leaned her forehead to his.
Her voice shook.
“I’m not losing you.”
Dixie climbed onto both of them, linking her paws over their joined hands. “Fine. Fine! Idiots, both of you. Absolute imbeciles. But I’m not letting either of you do this alone.”
Trixie took a steady breath.
Closed her eyes.
And let her magic rise.
Bell?blue light glimmered beneath her skin.
Nolan’s flickering shadow quivered.
And the Hollow King’s whisper curled through the mist—
<
Trixie gasped.
“NO,” she snarled. “Stay OUT.”
Dixie hissed, claws digging into Trixie’s pant leg. “Ignore Him! Anchor to each other, NOT Him!”
Trixie pressed her hand to Nolan’s chest.
Their patterns touched—
Sparks.
Pain.
Connection.
Something deeper than either of them expected.
Nolan gasped.
Trixie cried out.
The night shuddered.
For a moment, the Hollow King’s influence crashed down in a cold wave—
<>
Trixie roared:
“NO.”
Blue light burst outward from her, tearing through the fog, slamming into Nolan’s fracturing shadow—
reweaving it reclaiming it anchoring him to her
not permanently not safely but enough
Nolan gasped sharply.
His shadow snapped back to his feet.
Dixie collapsed across both of them, panting.
Trixie trembled violently, nearly collapsing into Nolan’s chest.
His arms wrapped around her, instinctive, fierce.
“Still here,” he whispered. “Still here, Trixie.”
She sobbed into his shoulder.
Dixie whispered, exhausted:
“Congratulations. You two idiots just performed a half-bond anchoring without a ritual circle. I hope you’re happy.”
Nolan kissed the top of Trixie’s head without thinking.
Trixie let him.
But far beneath the ground…
The Hollow King laughed.
A slow, hollow sound rippling through the Deadwater fog.
<>
Trixie’s blood went cold.
Nolan held her tighter.
Dixie bared her teeth at the empty air.
They had saved him.
For now.
But at a cost they had not yet begun to understand.