Shadows Entwined (Shadows Descent #3)

31. Caine

31

CAINE

Disoriented by the sudden change, I stumble as the chaotic landscape shifts around me. One moment I was with Violet, the next I’m alone in a frozen wasteland. Jagged ice spires jut up from the ground, and a bitter wind howls around me.

“Violet?” I call out, but my voice is swallowed by the howling gale. “Flint? Thorne?”

No answer. I grip my ice spear tightly, trying to get my bearings in this alien environment. The cold doesn’t bother me, but the isolation is unsettling. I know the others are here somewhere - we came through together. But this place is playing tricks on us, separating us.

I start walking, my footsteps crunching in the snow. I need to find the others before we face the Old Ones. We’re stronger together.

A shadow flickers at the edge of my vision. I whirl around, spear at the ready, but there’s nothing there. Just more endless ice and snow.

“Show yourself!” I shout into the wind.

Laughter echoes around me, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. It’s a familiar laugh that sends chills down my spine.

“Hello, son.”

I spin again to find my father standing before me, impeccably dressed as always despite the harsh environment. His cold eyes appraise me with their usual disappointment.

“You’re not real,” I growl, tightening my grip on the ice spear. “You’re just another illusion of this place.”

Dad smirks, that familiar expression of condescension that always makes me feel small. “Oh, I’m very real, Caine. As real as your failures, your weaknesses.”

He starts circling me slowly, like a predator sizing up its prey. “Look at you, playing hero with your little friends. Did you really think you could escape your true nature? Your destiny?”

I grit my teeth, refusing to let his words get to me. “My destiny is mine. I’m not the person you tried to shape me into.”

He laughs coldly. “No, you’re certainly not. You’re worse. Weak. Sentimental. Unworthy of your heritage.”

“Shut up,” I snarl, feeling my temper rising. Ice crystals form in the air around me as my power responds to my emotions.

“Hit a nerve, did I?” He stops in front of me, his eyes boring into mine. “You know I’m right. Deep down, you know you’ll never be good enough. Not for me, not for your little vampire girlfriend, not for anyone.”

With a roar of rage, I lunge forward, driving my ice spear towards his chest. But he dissolves into mist at the last second, reforming behind me.

“Pathetic,” my father sneers. “Is that the best you can do?”

I whirl around, breathing heavily. “You’re not real,” I repeat, more to myself than to him. “This is just another trick.”

He smirks. “Am I? Or am I the truth you’ve been running from all this time?” He starts circling me again. “You left home thinking you could escape your destiny, but look at you now. Fighting ancient gods, risking your life for what? For people who will never truly accept you?”

I try to block out his words, but they hit too close to home. Doubts I’ve pushed down for so long start bubbling to the surface.

“Violet doesn’t love you,” he continues, his voice dripping with venom. “How could she? You’re a monster, Caine. A creature of ice and death. You’ll never be worthy of her.”

“Shut up!” I roar, unleashing a blast of ice in his direction. But he vanishes again, reappearing a few feet away.

“Face it, son. You’re alone. You’ve always been alone, and you always will be.”

For a moment, I falter. The isolation of this place, the constant tricks and illusions are taking their toll. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am fooling myself, thinking I can be anything other than what I was born to be.

But then I remember Ymir’s words. You are a god now, boy.

I stare at my fist as I clench it tightly and will the shift to come over me that I experienced during the trial.

As I focus on that power, I feel the energy coursing through my soul. My skin takes on a bluish tint, growing harder and colder. I grow taller, until I’m towering over him.

His eyes widen in shock. “What is this?” he demands, taking a step back.

I grin fiercely, feeling the full extent of my god-like power. “This is who I really am,” I growl, my voice deeper and resonating with power. “Not the weak son you tried to control, not the monster you claim I am. I am Caine, a descendant of Ymir, and I choose my own destiny.”

With a roar, I slam my fist into the ground. The entire landscape shakes, cracks lash out from the point of impact. Massive ice spires erupt from the ground, reshaping the environment to my will.

My father stumbles, looking around in panic as the world shifts. “Impossible,” he gasps.

“No,” I say, advancing on him. “What’s impossible is thinking you could control me any longer.”

I reach out, my massive hand easily encircling his throat. He struggles in my grasp, his eyes wide with fear.

“You’re not real,” I say again, but this time with certainty. “You’re just another illusion, another test. And I’m done letting you hold me back.”

With that, I close my fist. My father’s form shatters like ice, dissolving into a mist that quickly fades away.

As soon as he’s gone, the frozen landscape around me changes. I brace myself, but this time, I’m ready for it. I am in control of my power now, not the other way around.

The world spins, and suddenly, I’m somewhere else entirely. I’m back to my usual self. The ice and snow are gone, replaced by a strange, shifting landscape of shadows and muted colours, and standing in front of me, looking just as disoriented, is Thorne.

“Caine?” he says, blinking in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s me. You okay?”

Thorne nods, but I can see the tension in his shoulders. “This place is seriously messed up. I’ve been seeing things. People from my past, moments I’d rather forget.”

“Tell me about it,” I mutter. “Have you seen the others?”

He shakes his head. “No, you’re the first one of us I’ve seen since we got separated. We need to find Violet and Flint.”

“And fast. I don’t know how time moves here, but we are running out of it either way.”

“Agreed. Enough messing about.”

I nod in agreement with Thorne. “Enough messing about is right. We need to find the others and face these Old Ones before this place drives us all insane.”

Thorne’s eyes narrow as he scans our surroundings.

“Any ideas on how to find them?” I ask. “This place doesn’t exactly seem to follow normal rules of physics or geography.”

Thorne frowns, thinking. “The book mentioned something about our connection being an anchor. Maybe we can use that somehow?”

I consider this. “Worth a shot. How do you think we should?—”

My words are cut off as the ground beneath us suddenly lurches. The shadowy landscape around us shudders.

“Not again,” I growl, reaching out to grab Thorne’s arm. “Hold on!”

But it’s too late. The world spins, and Thorne vanishes before my eyes. I’m left alone again in yet another bizarre environment.

This time, I find myself in what looks like an ancient temple. The climate is hot and humid. Massive stone columns stretch up to a ceiling I can’t even see. The air is thick with incense, and strange symbols are carved into every surface.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I growl as I see Violet writhing around naked on the altar with some guy I’ve never even seen before with a dick the size of a fucking cucumber. “Not on my watch, pal.”

Marching over to them, I clamp my hand around the male’s neck and squeeze tightly. “You keep your dick away from my girl. Got it, arsehole?”

“She is mine!” he snarls and slams his hand into my chest.

I stumble back, but clearly not as far as he thought I would. His surprised look makes me smirk. “You want to fight for her? Come on then.”

I square off against him. He’s tall and muscular and still completely naked. His eyes glow with an unnatural light as he glares at me.

“You dare challenge a god?” he snarls.

My grin widens, feeling the icy power coursing through my veins. “Funny, I was about to say the same thing.”

We clash in a furious exchange of blows. His strength is immense, but I’m faster, dodging most of his attacks while landing quick jabs of my own. Each time my fist connects, a layer of frost spreads across his skin.

“Caine, stop!” Violet cries out from the altar. “This isn’t real!”

I falter for a moment, glancing at her. That’s all the opening the god needs. He slams his fist into my chest, sending me flying across the temple. I crash into one of the stone columns, feeling ribs crack on impact.

Groaning, I push myself to my feet. The god is advancing on Violet again, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Get away from her,” I growl, feeling my power surge.

I shift into my Frost giant form, growing until I tower over both of them. The temperature in the temple plummets as I unleash a blast of arctic wind.

The god stumbles back, shielding his eyes from the icy blast. Frost spreads rapidly across the temple floor, creeping up the columns.

“Impossible,” he snarls. “You are no match for a god!”

I laugh coldly. “You have no idea who you’re fighting here, do you?”

With that, I unleash the full extent of my power. The temperature drops to levels even further. The god struggles against the cold.

“Caine, wait!” Violet calls out. I look over at her. She’s shivering violently on the altar, her breath visible in the frigid air.

“This isn’t real, remember? We need to focus on what’s real!”

Her words cut through the rage and jealousy clouding my mind. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. As I do, I feel my form shift back to normal and turn around. “Violet.”

She rushes to me, and flings her arms around me, Flint is close behind her. I look over my shoulder to see the naked Violet, dissolve on the altar along with her cucumber-dicked god.

“Thank fuck that wasn’t you,” I murmur into her hair when I turn back to her.

“Eww,” she says. “As if. Not my type.”

“Giant dicked guys aren’t your type?” I ask with a smirk. “I feel dismayed.”

She snorts and squeezes my dick through my pants as Flint chuckles. My cock grows hard under her touch, and she tightens her grip, making me groan. “I’d say this is the perfect size for me.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” I say before I plunge my tongue into her mouth, wasting time with a kiss I desperately need after this encounter.