Isolated in the Shadows, Harald leaned against the wall of the secret antechamber. Head back. Lips parted. Eyes squeezed shut as though he was in pain.

Grasping him by the shirtsleeve, Kara drew his attention. "What in the Shadow was that? You don't leave a lady in the middle of a cursed dance! It's rude and impertinent."

"Oh, really?" Harald yanked his arm away. "And what's this? Polite ladylike behavior?" He pushed the linen shirt unceremoniously up his arm, revealing his toned forearms. "You almost tore the fabric!"

"And what of it?"

"It's a...very good shirt." He jutted his chin and brushed past her. "As it so happens, one of the few acceptable ones I own that actually covers my flesh."

"I'll admit it." Kara held her head high. "It looks good on you. Better than the others."

Harald turned to face her. "Did you just give me a compliment?"

"Never."

"Ha!"

"You should stay sober more often," teased Kara. "It improves your speech."

The ale had given her a strange confidence as she sauntered toward him. After she'd given him a playful push, Harald stumbled backward. Not from the force. The wizard had touched him much too gently for that to happen. 

Surprise, maybe?

Kara drew calculated steps nearer to him until his back ended up against the wall. Until the Shadow concealed them both.

"Tonight is the last carefree night I have." 

She took his hand and pressed it against her cheek. Harald caressed it without a word.

"Tomorrow I have the weight of the adult world on me," said Kara. "Light knows what they'll ask of me in the Guild. Let me enjoy it."

Harald traced her cheek with a feather-light touch. "What...do you wish of me?"

"Perhaps..."

Her voice trailed off.

"Tell me, little sparrow."

"Perhaps..." She gazed into his eyes. "Perhaps I want to tear some fabric."

He lowered his hand. "You're drunk."

She marched two fingers along his muscular chest over the white linen shirt. "No, I've had only four tankards of ale."

"It's your first time." Harald shook his head curtly. "The ale hit your head too fast."

"I'm warm, but I know what I'm doing."

He snatched her fingers gently with his own. "I don't play games, Katharina. I know what you think of me, but I'm not that man. And you're not that woman. You told me yourself."

"I told you I want to connect before I touch." She clasped his hand against her heart and a thrum vibrated between them with waves of pulsating moonlight. "Don't you feel it?"

"I—I feel it." The notch bobbed in his throat. "It's strong, but I want more. More than you want from me."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too soon...I can't say. You'll get scared, and—"

"What do you want?" She turned his face until his intense gaze met hers. "Is it so terrible?"

"Don't make me say it."

"Tell me." After Kara had spoken the words, her lips brushed along his chest where the lacing had loosened. "Please?"

He swallowed audibly. "I want..." His exhale sounded almost anguished. "I want your light to brighten my darkness. I want to immerse myself in dreams with you beside me."

Kara's breath caught in her throat. She took a step back in surprise. Never had someone vocalized what she wanted from a man. No one had actually put it into words. And—of all people—it had come from Harald! A giant who'd only ever chased after beauty.

This man has more depth than I'd ever imagined.

"There I said it." He stared out the window at the full twin moons, which had peeked out from behind what had been solid cloud cover. "Now this is the part where you slap me."

Slap you? Did Astrid do that to you? 

If so, you're better off without her.

Wrapping her arms around the giant, Kara nestled her head against his chest and listened to his frantic heartbeat.

"Show me your dreams," whispered Kara. "I want that too."

For a while neither of them spoke. Reaching down, Harald squeezed her tight and nestled his face in the crook of her neck.

"You don't know what you're asking."

"I don't court anyone because it never feels real." Kara laced her fingers through his rugged shoulder-length waves. "I don't know what this is. It has never happened to me before."

He ran the tip of his nose along the length of her shoulder, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. "My dreamscape...it's private."

"Take me upstairs."

"No." Harald planted a tender kiss on her neck that made her knees weak. "True bonding is too sacred for those rooms." He inhaled deeply and pulled back. "Be strong for me. Wait until the time is right."

"What if I take you somewhere that's sacred to me?" she whispered, taking a step back to meet his dark gaze, warm as a hearth. "A place where we can be alone? Would you show me then?"

Again he fell silent with a heavy thoughtfulness Kara didn't think Harald could keep. When she reached for his cheek, he leaned into her touch. 

"Please?"

After a long pause, he said, "Lead the way."

Harald followed her agile footsteps as Kara ran through fields covered in frozen dewdrops. Her breath came in heavy pants while she led him deep into the evergreen forest beside a burbling stream, the dark water shining in the pale moonlight.

"I come here to think...to dream." She lay her woolen overcoat on the frosted ground and patted the space beside her with a smile. "Sometimes the deer come and graze nearby. In the sunshine little squirrels chatter at me while the birds sing little songs."

The giant sank onto the coat beside her and wrapped his arm around her, draping his fur-lined woolen cloak around her shoulders. Kara trembled with cold and anticipation. Warmth radiated from the giant's body and enveloped her like a comfortable blanket.

"You have a beautiful heart," he whispered. "I cannot taint you with my darkness."

Kara scrunched her face. "Harald?"

"Yes?"

"What's wrong?" asked Kara. "You're different. You have been for weeks. I haven't said anything, but I've felt it. You try to keep a brave face, but you're full of anguish."

Harald remained silent.

"Tell me I'm imagining things," she said. "Or tell me what happened. Did Astrid hurt you so very badly?"

Silence.

"Is it the pressure of the Guild?"

"No, it isn't that."

"Then what?"

Harald held his head in his hands. The giant ran his fingers through his waves and tugged mercilessly until Kara thought he might rip them straight from the roots.

"Please tell me what's going on." She touched his forearm. "Maybe I can help?"

He rose to his feet and stumbled away downstream.

"I have made a terrible mistake, Katharina." He spoke in a bass voice that did not belong to Harald. His ethereal rumble hurt her eardrums and echoed through the woods. "One for which you'll never forgive me."

Her heart sank into her stomach.

"Who are you?" Her mind flooded her with a thousand different images at once as it all began to fall into place. His speech. His behavior. His personality. "You aren't Harald, are you? You haven't been...for a long time."

Even the brook couldn't silence the rushing in her ears.

"It started when you broke up with Astrid, didn't it?"

Silence.

"Light above! Why didn't I see it?" Kara stumbled to her feet, aghast. "You're that wraith, aren't you? The one they're talking about? The one who takes over fresh..."

Harald! Oh, Light! Kara pressed her hand to her twisting heart. Oh, my Light! No!

"Kara, please! I didn't realize—"

"What have I done? What was I thinking?" She flashed him an angry glare and snatched her coat. "Was I next? Was that your plan? You needed a fresh body, so you thought you'd take me?"

"No, I would never hurt you."

"Why would you pretend to be him for so long? What could you possibly want with a—?" Kara shuddered. "Light above, you're working with them, aren't you? The Shadowfolk."

He reached out to her. "Kara, please, if you would let me explain—"

"Get away!" she roared before lowering her voice to a deadly calm. "Don't touch me! And don't you dare use the name reserved for my family and friends."

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Katharina, I beg you, please..."

"You don't get to beg." She began to shake with a rush of fear and anger. "You used us. You spied on us. You killed my friend."

A pained groan fell from his lips. "It may have started out that way, but—"

"If I had a weapon right now, I would hurt you." Kara spoke through gritted teeth. "And I would keep on—hurting you—until you begged me for mercy."

"Trust me...you don't need one."

Every muscle tensed until they ached and spasmed. "At least have the decency to show me your true form. Let him go."

She spat the word like venom.

"If I did, you couldn't see me," he said. "Or hear me. Only my people can."

"Do it!" she commanded. "If you mean no harm, leave him. Before I do something I regret. If you ever come near me or anyone I love again, I will kill you. Do you hear me?"

The monster bent his head. "As you wish..."

Without another moment's delay, Harald's body slumped to the ground, his eyes staring lifeless at the moon. Kara cupped her mouth with both hands and ran to him, shaking him. Willing him back to life as she cried out his name.

But there was no life to be found.

"No, no, no! Harald, I'm sorry." She cradled the dead body while bitter tears stung her eyes. "I didn't know. I swear, I didn't know. Forgive me, please."

Her breath came in ragged gasps.

"Oh, Light, what have I done?" She pressed him close. "Forgive me, Mother Sun, giver of all life. Forgive me, blessed moons. Blessed be the Light that dispels all Shadow."

She groaned, her heart clenching upon itself.

"Take your son's spirit back into your embrace." Her lower lip trembled as she continued the prayer for the dead. "Guide him to Elysium. May Harald walk with his ancestors in the splendor of your grace and beauty. May he always walk in the Light."

"Kara!" Hilda's voice shouted from afar. "Light above, you'd better not be dead, or by the Shadow, I will kill you! Kara!"

"I'm here," she croaked. "Hilda! Come quick! Hurry!"

"Cursed be the Light and Shadow, woman!" growled the dwarf under her breath. "What have you done now? I swear by—" Hilda fell silent and ran toward Kara. "Curse me!"

"Harald's gone," exclaimed Kara. "He's been gone for weeks. It was a wraith. A Shadow wraith. He took him over and left...and Harald's dead."

Hilda grasped onto Kara and held her tight. "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?"

Kara shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Curse all the damned Shadowfolk on Paxus," she snarled. "This can't be happening."

"How didn't I see it?"

Hilda ran a trembling hand over his locks. "I thought he was upset because of Astrid. Or because he was falling for you. This whole time I didn't see it, either."

Kara gave her a disgusted look. "Falling for me?"

"Who gives a damn now?" she snarled. "So much for the cursed Guild. The rogues are doing secret spy stuff for Lord Staufen. They keep the clerics locked up doing busy work. The damned sorcerers won't be seen with brainbags. And now Harald's dead? What's left of us?"

"You and me," whispered Kara. "It's like they're picking us apart. They took the best and brightest of us. Made us fight against each other and tear one another to shreds."

"But why?" Hilda shrugged off her fur overcoat and draped it over Kara's trembling body. "What good would it do Lord Staufen to have a weak-ass group defending Minningen?"

Silence fell like a pall upon the forest until a wolf howled in the distance.

Kara pursed her lips. "Unless he's fallen to the Shadow..."

"Sis!"

"I'm serious."

"You're drunk and mad with grief," said Hilda. "Lord Staufen has served this land for decades with honor, loyalty, and integrity."

"So did Harald!" cried Kara, grasping Hilda by her lapels. "And we didn't realize."

Hilda helped the wizard to her feet. "We need to tell my father what happened before you go anywhere tomorrow."

"What about rule number one?" Kara gulped. "I don't want you sent to the dungeon. Let me deal with it. I'll take full responsibility."

"Screw your mentor. Screw my mentor." Hilda sighed. "He might love his sword more than his life, but I know we can trust my father." 

___

Word count: 1,938
Total word count: 26,030/40,000 (max)