THE CODEX OF SHADOWS: AWAKENING OF DERICK GREENWOOD

CHAPTER 4 — AWAKENING LIGHT

The alley twisted unnaturally as the shadows crawled toward them, clinging to the brick walls like living ink. Derick stumbled back. “Aria, what do I do?!”

Aria didn’t look at him. Her eyes locked on the mass of creatures slithering downward. “You’re going to do exactly what I tell you,” she said. “First, don’t panic.”

Derick pointed wildly. “They’re crawling out of the WALLS, Aria! I’m pretty sure panic is the correct reaction!”

“No,” Aria snapped. “You panic, you die. Understood?”

Derick swallowed hard. “Noted!”

The shadows grew thicker, hundreds of twitching limbs branching from the darkness. Aria drew her silver blade with a clean metallic whisper. “Derick, listen carefully. These things can’t survive direct light.”

Derick held up the Codex. “This thing made light before, but I don’t know how I did it!”

Aria grabbed his shirt collar. “You’re going to learn. Right. Now.”

The shadows screeched, the sound shredding the air. Derick staggered back. “Aria, I'm NOT a flashlight!”

“No,” Aria said, stepping between him and the swarm, blade raised. “You’re a weapon.”

One of the larger shadows dropped from the wall and hit the pavement with a sickening splatter before lifting its elongated face toward them.

Its voice came in a broken rasp. “Awaken… heir… awaken…”

Derick’s pulse exploded. “Okay, that is officially the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”

Aria lowered her stance. “Derick. Focus. Remember what you felt before. The heat.”

“I was panicking!”

“Then panic smarter!” Aria barked.

The largest shadow lunged. Aria intercepted it, slicing its limb clean off. The severed piece dissolved into smoke. She shouted, “NOW, DERICK!”

Derick glanced at the Codex. “Fine—book, help me out here!”

The Codex didn’t scream this time. It didn’t pulse. It glowed. A faint thread of light seeped between the pages. Derick gasped. “Aria, it’s happening!”

“Good! Don’t fight it!”

“I’m not fighting it, it's fighting ME!”

The glowing intensified. Derick felt a burning pressure in his chest, like something beneath his ribs was begging to break free.

Aria sliced through another creature, stepping closer to him. “Let it out, Derick!”

Derick clutched the Codex tighter. “I don’t know HOW!”

“YES, YOU DO!”

The shadows converged. Derick shut his eyes. He remembered the moment in the store: panic, pain, fear, and something beneath all of it. A pulse. Like a second heartbeat.

Derick whispered, trembling, “Please… not again… don’t let me lose myself…”

A voice, not external, but deep inside, answered him. “Awaken.”

Derick’s eyes snapped open. Light burst out of him so violently that the alley exploded in white radiance. Shadows shrieked in agony, disintegrating mid-lunge.

Aria shielded her eyes, shouting, “Derick, stop! You’re overloading!”

But Derick couldn’t stop. He couldn’t even breathe. The light poured out of his hands, his arms, cracks along his skin, pure, blinding power.

The Codex snapped open, pages whipping violently. Handwritten lines appeared as Derick watched through the haze: “Control it. Don’t let it control you.”

Derick screamed, “HOW?!”

Aria grabbed his shoulders from behind. “Derick! Listen to me! You’re burning too hot, pull it back!”

“I CAN’T!”

“YES, YOU CAN!”

Derick clenched his teeth and forced himself to breathe. The light trembled… then gradually dimmed. The alley darkened. Aria kept a grip on him until the glow faded entirely. “Derick, are you with me?”

Derick collapsed to his knees, gasping. “I… I think so…”

The last remnants of shadow hissed, retreating into cracks along the pavement as if terrified of him. Aria turned toward the retreating creatures. “That’s right. Run.”

Derick held the Codex with shaking hands. “Aria… what… am I?”

She sheathed her blade. “Not here. We need to move before more show up.”

“Aria, please.” Derick’s voice cracked. “I just lit up like a nuke. I deserve an explanation.”

Aria sighed, rubbing her temples. “Fine. Short version.”

She crouched in front of him. “You’re not human.”

Derick stared at her. “I’m… sorry… WHAT?!”

Aria held up a finger. “Not fully human.”

“Oh that makes me feel so much better.”

“Your mother wasn’t human either. You inherited something ancient from her line.”

Derick blinked rapidly. “What, like magic? Superpowers? Alien mojo? What?!”

Aria frowned. “Light.”

Derick gestured at the alley. “Yeah, no kidding.”

“No.” She pointed at his chest. “You’re born of an ancient caste called the Luminar. They were wiped out centuries ago. The Eclipse Order made sure of that.”

Derick’s mouth went dry. “So they’re trying to kill me because… I’m one of the last?”

“They’re trying to kill you,” Aria said slowly, “because your power is the only thing strong enough to destroy them.”

He stared at her in horror. “And the Codex?”

“It’s your inheritance. A guide meant to awaken your power… but it’s incomplete.”

“Incomplete?”

Aria pointed at the glowing remains of ink on his skin. “You broke a seal tonight. But there are more.”

Derick grabbed her arm. “Then tell me how to stop this! I almost fried both of us!”

“You need training,” Aria said, pulling him to his feet. “And answers. I can give you both. But we need to leave, now.”

“Where are we going?”

She stepped back, scanning the alley. “A safe house,” she said. “And there, we talk about your mother.”

Derick’s breath caught. “You knew her.”

Aria didn’t deny it. Instead, she holstered her weapon. “Come on.”

They took three steps, and a voice echoed from the end of the alley. “Going somewhere?”

A tall figure stepped from the darkness. Handsome. Sharp smile. Eyes cold as obsidian. Lucas Vale.

Derick had never seen him before, but the Codex reacted violently, pages slamming shut, then flipping open to a single sentence: “RUN FROM HIM.”

Aria froze. “Derick… stay behind me.”

Lucas grinned. “Oh, come now, Aria. Is that any way to greet an old colleague?”

Derick stiffened. “You… know her?”

Lucas tilted his head. “We all knew her. Before she betrayed the Order.”

Aria hissed, “Don’t listen to him.”

Lucas gestured casually. “Derick, was it? You’ve awakened early. Fascinating. Your mother lasted far longer before she broke.”

Derick’s heart flipped. “You know my mother?!”

Lucas smiled wider. “I know exactly where she is.”

Derick’s voice cracked. “Where?!”

“Come with me,” Lucas said softly. “And I’ll tell you everything.”

The Codex pulsed violently. “DON’T TRUST HIM.”

Aria lifted her blade. “Derick, step back. Now.”

Lucas chuckled. “Oh Aria… still pretending you’re the hero? How adorable.”

Derick felt the light inside his chest stir again, angrier this time. He raised the Codex slowly. “Tell me where she is. Now.”

Lucas’s smile sharpened. “Dead,” he whispered. “Because of you.”

Everything in Derick’s vision went white.