DWC November 2025 Day 7 Premonition/Drop
Spoilers: Midnight Expansion, maybe, possibly
While Tycil worked at patching the wall, the dark-haired hunter had stripped down to simple linens. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, her face streaked with off-white plaster where she’d brushed a dusty hand across her cheek.
Shadow stopped watching her and slipped free. It was easy, Shadow had done it many times before. Around the hill, down into the Ghostlands, along the coast, and then through the small portal hidden in a window of Windrunner Spire.
The transfer was effortless. It was home, after all. Shadow shifted from a cute fox into a drifting dark wisp, gliding through an archway to stop before its Master.
“You have done well,” the echoing voice intoned, layered with something like pride… or awe. “She is realizing her power. Happening upon her here was lucky for us, or perhaps for her. She is a creature of luck who has not yet reached the potential I built into her.”
Shadow remained silent; its Master disliked interruption.
“That she was delivered to my doorstep at the moment when I was not distracted, leaving Maqiri to fade back into existence without her… a perfect vessel.” He continued speaking as he ascended the stairs toward his tower in the Nether. Depending on his mood, the staircase could stretch on forever or end after a single floor. Today, lost in thought, the steps spiraled endlessly.
“Healing her with my magic let it seep beautifully into her. Now she is my hunter. The journey into the stars awakened her, and you guide her well.”
At last, the stairs opened into the library. A book lay open on a pedestal, its pages breathing faint light.
“There is a passage written long ago by the Oracle.” Why he insisted on reciting what Shadow could plainly read was beyond its understanding, but the Master always had his reasons, and Shadow had been made to obey.
“The Harbinger will shatter its cage, and the foundations of the Place of Sun will tremble.”
He rested a hand on the tome. “It is coming. She must prepare. Guard her well, guide her well. She fell into my lap, and a pleasant surprise she was. Now, we shall see how what lies planted in her withstands what approaches.”
He turned toward the dark wisp. “Go now.”
Shadow drifted out the window. Traveling in this form was easier than the four-legged one, though it would frighten her more. Near the house, it shifted back into the fox. Slipping inside, it curled against the wall opposite her and sighed.
Life would be better without Master. It liked it with her.
@daily-writing-challenge