Even the wolves don’t come out at night because they’re afraid of what hides in the shadows: being banished here is worse than a death sentence. In a place where the sun can’t even reach lies a place called Tyban Shadows or what some people call it “Paradise to beyond death” because banishment to this realm is a one-way ticket with no means of escape. Even time is scared of this place and for that reason has no place among the universe of reality. Satan is even scared to go to this place for he fears he might never come out, because what haunts this realm is something even our human brains can’t grasp.

I wake up here and I am already wishing I was dead. Our world is a horride place but there is a all-known, but never spoken, rule about the darkest place. The deep shadows. Now shadows don’t seem so bad. The silently follow and mimic you every move or anything casting it. You can’t just hop into a shadow and simply be in it; however, no knows how you get ejected into the abyss. Honestly, you have to do something pretty lousy to be in here. It’s foreboding and dull. You can’t see anything ever. Also I am starting to realize the clammy sensation never goes away. There is a reason the wolves don’t come out at night because they are afraid of what lurks in the shadows: being banished here is worse than a death sentence. Guess I’ll have to break out of here to.

The wind whistles through the trees, a haunting melody the forest had sung since the beginning. Above me, owls hooted, their low calls echoing back and forth in the dead forest.

The path I followed was tricky at best, deadly at worst. Small, winding, at times completely disappearing into brush only to reemerge some hundred yards away, it was a tedious and frustrating journey.

The guard prodded my back with the end of his rifle, urging me forward. First, in case anything emerged from the brush, hungry or feral.

Ultimately though, I knew to count my blessings while I was along this path, for what awaited me at the end would be infinitely worse.

After another several brutal miles of hiking that was more akin to rock scrambling, my captor barked the order to make camp. Wearily, I set up his tent, and my own, much more raggedy, lean to.

No fire was allowed, in case it attracted anything..unsavory. The guard had his rifle, and a short dagger strapped to his thigh, but nothing that would do much damage to any large game. I had nothing to defend myself, but wits and bare hands.

Curling up beneath a threadbare rag, I shut my eyes and attempted to block out the noise of the whistling wind, the odd creaking branches, shivering every time I thought I caught the sound of some animal. It was many hours before I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

It had been exactly one year since i had been thrown in this horrible place. As usual, I woke up and it was night, a full moon. It never changed. I missed the sunset, the sun, and the green grass. Here there was only black and white. I hoped It would not be nearby. I had only seen it once, but i hoped to never see it again. CRACK I whirled around, holding my breath, to see... Nothing.

It was here.

I pulled my camo jacket over me, hoping that the leaves and mud i had attatched to it would be enough to hide.

I recalled the first time i had seen It.

"You've been giving us too much trouble." "What should we do with him?" "If we let him go, he'll contact the police" "How about this."

Falling. Waking up to a world where color doesn't exist. Trying to find something, someone, to help me. Finding a bush with a few overripe fruit. A footstep behind me. A creature made of darkness. Pure white eyes.

I heard a sniffing sound. Please. Let this nightmare end!

Darkness.

Color.

A white room.

No- a hospital room.

"Welcome back." A doctor with a smile said, tears at his eyes. "Wh-where am I?" I respond. "A hospital. You've been in a coma for a year." "How did you wake me up?" "I haven't." As i peer at the doctors face, all i see are Pure. White. Eyes.

Even the wolves don't come out at night because they're afraid of what hides in the shadows: being banished here is worst than a death sentence.

"Newt! You can't keep doing this! You're going to end up dead one day!"

Newt skirted a bush and didn't stop running. Moonlight pouring down guided her path.

"I'm the boss of myself! Being in a pack is just holding me down!" Newt shouted back at the wolf chasing her.

"Being in a pack is the safest place you can belong, Newt! If you would just cooperate for two seconds without going out on your own!" The wolf growled.

Newt skidded to a stop and spun around. "Going out alone is how I work best!" she stormed up to the wolf and lifted her paw, forcing a claw against her chest. "Newt works alone. And if you can't understand that, sister Rose, then you and the rest of the pack never knew me at all."

Newt pushed Rose back with the paw and walked off again.

"You know I'll have to tell the alpha about this." Rose whispered.

"Yeah, yeah I know." Newt sat on a rock sticking out of the dirt. "Don't expect it to make me come back."

Rose sighed and headed away in the direction of their camp. After a few minutes, a pained howl echoed through the forest.

"Rose!" Newt shouted.

The she-wolf leaped off the rock and ran as quickly as she could toward the howl.

"Rose!" she howled again.

Something moved in the trees above her. Newt looked up and ducked away before a shadow hit her. She dug her claws deep into the dirt and growled at the shadow.

"You are weak, wolf. You are no match for me. For any of us really." The shadow snarled.

"I could take on any of your kind any tim-"

Pain exploded in her back as the shadow leaped at her. Newt furiously clawed at the thing's face. It rolled away.

"Like I said, you are weak." The shadow sprinted away.

Newt took deep breaths and touched a paw gently to her back and jerked it back at a sting. She paced silently back to the camp.

A brown wolf greeted her with a small bark. "Newt, so glad you're back. Your mother was getting worried. Wait, wheres-" he stopped and noticed her wound. "Oh."

Newt padded into the camp and headed for the alpha's den. "I need to talk to you."

The alpha raised his head. The scar over his eyes glistened. "What? What has happened?"

Newt looked down at him. "Rose was...captured."

The alpha stood up and walked past her. Newt backed out of the way and stared after him.

"If she is truly gone, then there is only you to blame." the alpha whispered.

"What? Alpha, with all do respect, I didn't-"

The alpha spun around. "She went after you. We tried stopping her. She wouldn't be gone if you keep going out on your own!"

Newt backed away from him. His eyes were narrowed furiously. He stood straight and looked away from her.

"You are banished, Newt. A wolf like you just...cant be in a pack like this. We pride ourselves on teamwork, not working alone. Goodbye, Newt." Tha alpha went back into his den.

Newt growled and stormed away. "Fine, I always knew I didn't belong here." she left the camp without a word to her family.

Newt found a small cave to sleep in that night. The stone wasn't the most comfortable, but it would do.

"What is wrong with you, Pebble?" an stern voice awoke her.

Newt quickly turned her head around and saw a pair of paws round the corner behind her.

"Who's there?" she got into a defensive stance.

A brown and white and black wolf appeared.

"Sorry, we didn't know you lived here." the splotched one said.

"I don't, I just stayed here for the night." Newt explained. "The place is all yours if you want it."

The black wolf laughed. "Haha, want it? We're free floating spirits, Scarback."

"Excuse me?" Newt growled.

"You heard me, Scarback." The black wolf teased.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you, Pebble?" The splotched wolf bat her over the head with a paw. "Excuse me sister. She can be hot-tempered at times."

Newt narrowed her eyes. "You don't say. Names Newt by the way."

"I'm Stone and this is my little sis Pebble." Stone said.

"Only by two days." Pebble grumbled.

Newt laughed. "Firetemper."

Pebble glared at her. "I'll tolerate that nickname only because I gave you a pretty bad one, Scarback."

"Guys, please, you just met one another. You can't get into a fight that quickly." Stone stated.

Newt took a deep breath. "You're right, Stone. Maybe there will be a different time to fight properly. I haven't asked what you guys were doing alone yet. Did your pack kick you out too?"

Pebble rolled on her back and laughed. Newt folded her ears back.

"No, we've never had a pack. We were born out here, in the wild." Stone rubbed the back of his head with a paw.

"Stone, did you-" Pebble laughed more. "did you hear? She was kicked out of her pack!"

Newt put a paw on her throat. "Mock me again, and I'll have to think of a new nickname for you." she slowly dug her claws in further.

Pebble kicked her away. "Back off, Scarback." she growled.

Stone leaped in between them. "Guys, come on. We can talk this out."

Newt growled. "Control your sister next time. I'm outta here." she stalked away.

"Wait, wait!" Stone shouted.

Newt tried to block him out, but he was persistent.

"Newt, why don't you join us? We're on a quest to find out what the shadows really are. It can give you and Pebble a chance to get along." Stone said.

Newt stopped in her tracks. "Try and get along with that hothead? No thanks."

"But what about your sister?" Stone asked.

Newt raised her head and turned it to him. "How do you know about Rose?"

"I was there. I can help you get her back. If you won't come because of Pebble, then come for your sister. We could use a wolf like you." Stone whispered.

"What do you mean you were there?" Newt spun around and got close to him. "Did you see her get taken?"

"She wasn't taken, to be honest, but yeah I was there. I could barely see what happened, but I think she faked getting taken by the shadows." Stone answered nervously.

Newt sighed and backed away a step. "You know what, fine. I'll go with you two. But just because of my sister and to find out what in the world is actually going on."

"That's all I need. Pebble! We're going now." Stone shouted over his shoulder.

Pebble emerged from the bushes. "For the record, Scarback, it'll be good to have a new member of our small group. Now, toward the horizon!"

"Pebble, if we want to find the shadows, we have to go into the cave where we saw one enter." Stone pointed in the direction.

"But you know I'm scared of the dark!" Pebble whined.

"It's the only way. And you have two wolves here with you." Stone soothed.

"A little further." Stone crept through another bush.

"You've said that three times now, Stone." Newt sighed.

"This time it's true. Look." he pointed toward a dark opening in a rock.

Pebble and Newt stopped on either side of him. The trio peeked over a bush. Nearby, undergrowth rustled and a dark figure emerged. Another a second later.

"Remember the orders. We have to find alpha's sister before she finds us." the two figures went into the cave.

"Alpha's sister...? Is she talking about Scarback? Could Rose be their alpha or whatever?" Pebble whispered.

"Rose isn't foolish enough to join the darkest force in the forest let alone be it's alpha. They have to be talking about someone else." Newt growled back.

"I'm sure. Wait till I'm right." Pebble smirked.

"I'm ending your life when this is over." Newt growled.

"I'd like to see you try, Scarback." Pebble laughed.

"Guys, quiet. We have to get in there before someone catches us." Stone slipped away.

Pebble and Newt glared at each other before heading after him. The trio went into the cave. It felt like forever before they reached a large cavern.

"Keep to the shadows." Stone whispered. "And no bickering."

Newt headed in the opposite direction as the siblings, keeping herself against the wall.

"Shadows! Have you found my sister?" a voice shouted.

The two figures from before shook their heads. "Sorry, Alpha R. We were unsuccessful. Next time, we will find her."

Alpha R sniffed the air from on top her large rock throne. "Too late, fools! She has already found us. Search everywhere! Leave no space unchecked."

The figures nodded and immediately left.

Alpha R leaped from her throne. "My dear sister, I am truly sorry about this. It was not meant to come to this. Newt."

Newt froze. Alpha R sat in the center of the cavern.

"If you reveal yourself, you will not be hurt." Alpha R said.

Stone suddenly emerged from his shadow. "She's over there, in that corner, Alpha R."

Newt widened her eyes. "Stone..."

Alpha R walked over to where he had motioned. She leaped with a growl at Newt. Newt yelped as her sister's claws broke skin.

Rose laughed. "Weak. Pathetic. Wolves are meant to work together. Never alone."

Newt gasped and backed away as much as she could. "You attacked me?! Rose, I-"

Rose slashed her muzzle and Newt tumbled over. "Silence. This is not the time for apologies." Rose dug her claws into Newt's throat. "It is, however, time to knock some sense into you!"

"Get off of her!" Pebble barreled into Rose and sent her staggering away.

"You fool! Newt deserves to die for what she did!" Rose growled.

Pebble narrowed her eyes. "What did she do that was so bad?"

"She killed father!" Rose shouted. "She started the fire that killed him!"

Newt flinched. Pebble forced her to her paws.

Newt sighed. "That might be true, sister, but I didn't think you were so desperate for revenge that you would turn on everyone."

Rose laughed. "How else would I have gotten revenge, huh? There's no better way then use the most feared force in the entire forest!"

Pebble glanced at Newt. She quickly tossed Newt over her back and ran toward the exit.

"Get them!" Rose shouted.

The two figures blocked their path. Pebble didn't stop running and slipped between their legs. She sprinted down the tunnel and into the fresh air.

"I'm getting you somewhere safe, Newt. Just hang on." Pebble said.

She raced far away from the cave and quickly ducked into a bush to hide. Newt rolled off her back and groaned.

"We have to...go back." Newt whispered.

"Not before you're healed again. Since Stone is with Rose, we need more wolves. What's your plan, Newt?" Pebble wondered.

Newt looked up at her in surprise. "Well, I can probably convince my old pack to help. And we also need a plan if we want to take Rose down for good."

Pebble smiled. "Pretty good plan. And for the record Newt, I was hoping I wasn't right."

(Shoutout to Kade! This is draft #33. I wanted to write in this world again so here it is! This is within the universe of the Real Truth and Breakable Barrier.) ———

Sprion is a prison.

That’s precisely why Sprion is just the word ‘prison’ in a different order. Even the first ones banished to this land knew it wasn’t going to be enjoyable.

Raven surveys Sprion from her vantage point from a jagged rock. It is the very definition of a wasteland. A gothic dessert.

The ground is cold and rocky. A smog fills the air, the sun just barely showing. No greenery or plants. Not alive ones at least. Barren trees and crumbling leaves. Everything is in greys and blacks and in between those two shades.

A monochromatic existence.

The only reason Raven knows that there is more colors is because of the vibrant hues seen through the barrier. Forest greens. Pastel flowers. Bluest waters. It all looks like a canvas, the pigments painted in heavy strokes and ran out by the time it got to Sprion.

A bubble like dome protects Lillia from the banished witches. The fairies just push out anyone they don’t like. Raven imagines that fairies fear doing anything wrong because being banished here is worse than a death sentence.

If you ask Raven (which no one does), she bets that fairies and anything inside the barrier are also afraid of what they created. They created Sprion or what would become Sprion. And because of the unbreakable barrier, they don’t know what has festered here. Not just dark magic but anger. Bitterness. Hatred.

They may hide in their protective bubble, terrified about what lies in the shadows, but Raven lives in reality. While no one is happy to be in Sprion, they all coexist, facing the negative things in life because they have to. The fairies of Lillia put all the bad things they can’t handle here.

Someday that will be everything and everyone until there is no one left in Lillia.

——— (This is the last of my draft shoutouts! Maybe I’ll do another one, but right now, I think I’ve got enough inspiration to work on recent writings. It was a nice way to make myself revisit and finish some of my early drafts! Thanks to all that gave me draft numbers!)

Even the wolves don’t come out at night because they’re afraid of what lives in the shadows: being banished here is a fate worse than death.

Yet here I am, treading through these dangerous woodlands all because of a stupid dare.

“There you go, guys! I did it!” On the narrow path, I make my way back to the end ge of the clearing, to the place shadows don’t dare to reach. The bright echos of my friends’ laughter cease to be heard as I realize they are nowhere to be found. “Hello? Taylor! Dakota!”

No answer. Silence is left to remain.

“Come on out! You’re not funny!”

A loud snap is heard. Not from the bushes or the dark undergrowth, but from below my foot. A small, plastic hair clip in the shape of a strawberry breaks beneath my weight. The shards of the cheap material scatter in the dry dirt.

My heart pounds in my chest as I cry, “Taylor! Dakota!”

I run further into the clearing, my knees ready to give way. Whispers slice through the air, speaking unintelligible words.

“Who’s there?”

The whispers continue.

Why did I have to play truth or dare? We could have done anything else, anything that wouldn’t risk putting innocent children in danger. My eyes dart every which way until I see two silhouettes standing in the distance as if waiting for someone.

“There you are! Didn’t you hear me calling you?”

No response. Not even a movement.

“Earth to Taylor and Dakota!”

They inch closer, revealing their true form. Nothing but shadow from head to toe. Chills run through me, constricting me of movement. Their bony claws slash through me, then pull out before I can blink.

The sight of my blood oozing onto the grass sends me into a dark unconsciousness.

I awaken to nothing.

What lurks in the shadows You’ll never know Living in the hallows Proves difficult to show

Not needing your family No one to care What is right for me Devil beware

Then one day Reason abounds Proceed on my way What was lost now found

Darkness surrounded the comfortless soul. He tried to claw his way out of the shadows of his confinement. His fingers were cold, so very cold, and though his skin peeled away with every scrape against the wood containing him, he did not bleed. Death could not even save him.

The sounds of wolves crying towards the moon made him pause. If he listened closely, he could just make out the songs they sang to the bright sphere in the sky. Some say the wolves howled to the moon to communicate with one another, to assure they were safe and in their boundaries. But he had been alone for long enough to know the truth. He heard it every night and knew their words by heart. It was his way of knowing the sun was dipped far below the horizon in humble retirement for the moon.

_“They lie under block-shaped _ Stone, brothers and sisters, Make this known, __ _Where the bright does not greet _ Them, is now where they rest —where tell tales are remnant, __ __ _Stay clear, fellow four-leggeds _ Of fur, _Take heed, and remain far from _ The gate concealing the cursed Grass, __ If fellow fur strays beyond, never To cry again, then alas!” __

They would sing this once more, and then again and again, until every four legged creature was alert. He used to be blind to their heed, but that was before he closed his eyes and was lane in a strange place never to be seen again.

Sometimes he could hear footsteps from above — _far above. _The sniffles and bittersweet adulation of familiar tones. The praise would have made him smile once, but all they did now was make the space around him feel darker with every word they uttered next, with every cry they let out. At some point — and he didn’t know quite when — they had stopped visiting him. It was a rather cruel thing to do, and he would cry if only he could.

Bugs crawled from the corners of his eyes as they slowly ate him away. Slowly, he became weaker and weaker until no limb could move. Parts of him remained. His clothes had rotted away and the beautiful hair that used to rest atop his head was almost gone. He could feel it in the way the cold nipped at his skull. Or was it the little insects that had come back once more?

He tried to scream. No sound left his lips, if he could even call them as such. The lips that used to press against a very special someone were no more. He couldn’t remember who that person was, what their appearance was. But he did know he had once loved someone. Fiercely.

Eventually the wooden cage slowly worn away, what with the many bugs and erosion. Dirt filled his hollow body and consumed the last remnants of himself. That was when he finally realized it. It was just before the final sleep was about to overtake him. He was gone. He had died years ago. The last sounds he heard were the wolves and then the distant sounds of many voices whimpering and crying from above. Another had fallen. He could tell. He could feel the despair of this person as the ground softly rumbled and a new victim was placed beside him.

This person was familiar, though. Perhaps it was a last, longing thought before he thought no more, but he knew this person. This was the person he had loved. She had loved him as well. They had a happy life together, he guessed. Or was it more of a hope? At least he wouldn’t be alone.

With one final stretch of his arm (he had supposed Death had allowed him this much) he reached through the dampness of the ground until his fingers grazed her box. He felt her shake and claw at the wooden planks just as he had.

Don’t fight, love. Then he was gone.

The pack of wolves lingered the land, death waiting inside as she watched them move. Slowly and silent, their paws made it through the tribal land where nobody lived but the last Navajo tribe.
She could see a fire with smoke filling the air, curled up and hoping the night would end soon. The moon was full and something just wasn’t right. She could feel her soul stir with emotions she wanted to hide.
Where her father had been, god only knew, but knew his spirit was among the land where a single wolf lingered away from the pact. Its nose picked up something she couldn’t quite tell. A dead dear, or maybe a snake. God only knew what could be found in the land outside of Vegas.
Clara watched as the wolf then stopped and circled around something she couldn’t quite see. Then, it howled for at least a minute as the moon was full and a flock of birds suddenly flew overhead as though something was chasing them away from the land.
Then at once, the pact full of wolves came running near, past the tribe as the Indians hustled onto their horses, chasing and chanting for the wolves to be caught. But what they saw made everyone stop. Even Clara stopped breathing for just a split second.
A dead woman was found, naked and bruised with a single scarf around her neck. Her head was turned to the side, eyes still open with her ankles apart and bruises formed on the inside of her thighs. Her clothes were gone as the tribe stood still, but the wolves kept running as the chief came down off of his horse.
“She must be covered” Chief Buffalo said, as the others agreed, shaking their heads as eyes watched the chief pick her up.
Her hair was blond with deep green eyes, but what chief noted was that a small tattoo was on her right arm. An angel’s wing with a tear underneath, as the chief rubbed over it with the tip of his finger.
The others just watched, uncertainty appearing as they followed Chief Buffalo back to the tent where he took her inside and laid her down, releasing her corps as a gentle soul. Her covered her body with Buffalo fur, all eyes watching as the moon was then covered by a single cloud.
“Do not leave the sacred land” Chief Buffalo said, knowing that death was more to come. For where there was one, there would be more. His tribe had lost the ones from the east, and now they stayed closer than air inside their lungs. He wanted no more to become extinct; a faint memory that no one could see.