The Shadow King by Matthew R. Davis (bts book recommendations TXT) 📖

hands.
“Come here.”
Pen did as instructed. She grabbed his hands and said “Whatever you see, you can’t let it change how you feel about me...or about anything. Remember, I didn’t choose to be my father’s daughter. And i don’t want to be.”
He agreed. She nodded and bit her bottom lip.
She reached out with her mind and blanketed Pen’s conscious, a move she had done several times before. And again, Pen welcomed the warmth and comfort her mind brought. She pulled him from his body and into her mind. He saw all of what she saw and all of what she heard, felt, or smelled. She rushed through her memories, going back further than Pen. Before she joined the resistance and to the time she ran from her father’s grasp. She stopped on the memories of her house. It was magnificent. Four stories high the house stood. Green grass in the lawn. Something right out of a fairy tale. The interior was even more outstanding. Gothic styled pillars supported the roof, and a complex design of spider webbing lips sprawled out from the pillars and intertwined in the middle of the room.
A chandelier hung down in the center. And under the chandelier was placed a table. At the table sat a woman Pen was not familiar with. Across from her sat Elva, to his surprise her hair was blonde. Next to Elva was a boy much younger than himself. And at the head of the table was what Pen froze on. The very being he resented more than anything else. Methias sat there with his fingers locked and a grin on his face that chilled Pen to the bone. He spoke. “Do you have the dinner ready yet, dearest?” His voice was cold and heartless, just as it had been in his dream.
“Yes father...” Elva said softly, as if to not offend him. She looked terrified of the man. And Pen knew she had every right to be.
“Please tell me this isn’t real.” Pen said without thinking. He knew it was hard enough for her to accept that Methias was her father, and that she didn’t need him questioning her.
“I wish it wasn’t. Pen i hate my father, you must understand this. But if you kill him, i will die as well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The only reason my father kept me alive instead of just killing me, is because of my mother. The night my father was going to kill us, she used her own soul to cast a spell, to assure that i would live on. The spell bonded my life force with his. And to counteract her spell, Methias used his own magic to assure i could not kill myself to end him and this war.”
“Then how the hell am i supposed to stop that psycho?!”
“I don’t know Pen. Maybe i have to die. Maybe that’s how it will have to be.”
She let the memory fade and returned Pen to his body.
“I can’t let you die for him. We will find a way to counteract his spell with one of our own...”
Elva smiled uneasily and kissed Pen’s cheek.
“I’ve tried, and if such a spell did exist, the resistance would know of it. I’m set to be executed upon my return. I can’t kill myself, but anyone else can. The resistance knows this and they are going to use me to end the war.” Tears streamed her face as the words slipped passed her lips.
“We will find something Elva, I promise you.” He said as he embraced her.

******

Chapter 4
Elder of Earth

Pen grabbed the branch in front of him and used it to hoist himself up to further into the tree. He was almost to his goal. He reached out and again, climbed higher.
“You know Pen, we could have just used magic to grow and apple if you want one that bad!” Rien yelled from below. But Pen paid no mind to him. No apple could ever look as delicious as the apple before him. It was the biggest apple he had ever seen. Then again, the tree he climbed also was the biggest he had ever seen. It splintered up above the rest a good hundred feet. The base of the tree was wider than Apophis was long. It truly was a sight to behold.
Getting into the tree was a challenge in itself. He had to use magic to do it. For the first branch was several feet above his head. But none the less, he made it. And now as he climbed the final branch in his way, he was before the apple. It was almost equal to the size of his head, and twice as heavy.
“I made it guys!” He exclaimed as he reached out to grab it.
“WHO DARES TO PICK FROM MY FRUITS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?” thundered a voice from within the tree. The sudden explosion of noise nearly knocked Pen from the tree’s branches.
“Did that tree just...talk?” asked Pacco.
“Yes, i believe it did.” Rien responded.
“ANSWER ME, OR SHALL BE FORCED TO CRUSH THE INSECT CRAWLING IN MY BRANCHES.” the tree yelled again.
One of the trees branches turned and wrapped around Pen. He yelled out as the tree’s crushing strength squeezed the air from his lungs.
“Wait! We are only travelers! We have no food and would be grateful if you would allow us to have an apple from your branches.” Elva said. The tree swayed back and forth, shaking Pen as if he were nothing but a doll. His face turned purple and dots of color swirled in front of his eyes.
“We meant you no harm great tree.” Rien pleaded. “Please release the boy!” But the tree paid no mind. Everything they said seemed to only anger it further. Then, without warning, it stopped and loosened its grip on Pen.
“You miserable fool. Your gross misunderstanding of how the world and the universe must coexist makes me sick. Should you go up to a woman and steal from her virginity? Should you ever go up to an animal and steal their young from them? No you shall not. Then why do you humans think it is okay to tear a piece of me away without my consent?” the tree inclined.
“We were wrong and we apologize. Hunger has gotten the best of us. It’s been days since our last meal.” said Apophis
And for a minute the tree was quiet. Then, “I can smell the meat on your breath dragon. Do not patronize me. I am no fool. And you are greatly out matched. For even a mighty dragon could not hope to defeat me. Not even and army of dragons. No, i am commensal and you are abrupt and consume all in your path. I grow eternally, and you will one day die and rot back into the earth that feeds me. I will last intact this way. Do you understand what i am trying to say?”
“You-your one of the Elders!” Rien stated excitedly.
“That i am. Elder of Earth. I’ve been residing here in this forest for many years. More than the human language has number for.”
“Oh great Elder! Forgive our foolishness.” Rien said calmly as he bowed, motioning to Urie, Apophis, Pacco, and Elva to do the same.
One by one they presented their apologies. And one by one they bowed to the mighty Elder. Even Pen, who was still in the grips of the tree apologized.
“You are wise to worship me mortals. That does not repent your fault though. You must each supply me with half of the energy you possess. I know you can each use magic. I can sense it around you. Especially the female. There’s something special about you. Though i do not know what it is, i am sure it is magic related.”
“If that is what you wish Elder of Earth. That is what you shall receive.” Rien said.
Almost immediately the Elder’s powerful conscious tore into them and stripped all of them of half their life force. From Pen though, he took more, nearly killing him.
“As you are the one that caused me the most offense, i shall take two thirds of your energy. And i shall put it to good use in growing the forest even more.”
Pen’s eyelids became as lead as the power drained from his body. He felt his heart rate drop drastically and his breathing slow. The Elder sat him next to Apophis. Pen fell to his knees and dropped to his stomach, where he lay.
All became dark and silent, except for Elva’s voice. Her, he could hear.
“You’ll be okay Pen. Don’t worry. And when you wake up, the Elder gave you one of his apples. He said that although you wronged him, he loves all life and he wanted to show it by giving you what you came to him to get.”
Though he could not respond, Elva knew Pen would laugh at the thought.

******

Chapter 5:
Closing In

Hours passed before consciousness returned to Pen. He was still starving. His stomach growled as he sat upright in Apophis’s saddle. Pen’s head throbbed. He guessed it was the result of the Elder ravaging through his mind. He felt weak. Just how much power did the Elder steal from him?
“Ah, I see you’re finally awake. I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake back up or not. You’ve been out for nearly two days.” Rien said from somewhere behind him.
Pen tried to speak but found that he wasn’t fully in control of himself yet. His eyelids were heavy. Keeping them open was a challenge all itself. Rien chuckled at Pen.
“You look rough. The Elder really had at you, did he not?”
Once again, Pen was unable to react, or respond in anyway. He felt like an empty shell.
Apophis yawned, his maw wide open. The thunderous sound of his voice filled Pen’s foggy conscious.” You really gave us a scare little one. I was beginning to worry about you.”
“Apophis, why can’t I talk...or move for that matter?” Apophis was quick to answer.
“We think that the Elder has actually taken more than just energy from you. The rest of us recovered within minutes. But you, slipped into unconsciousness almost immediately. We assumed he took more energy and as a result, your body shut down. But when any of us try to enter your mind, we, ourselves are nearly killed.”
What was Apophis talking about? What exactly did the Elder do to him? He tried to speak but still couldn’t. So, instead he tried to contact Rien. But even that was beyond him.
“Apophis, I can’t even leave my body. What is happening to me?”
“I don’t know. Elva and Urie have flown ahead, to the town coming up to get us a room where you can rest. Maybe you just need some time to reconstruct yourself.”
Pen remembered the soul eater, and how it had immobilized Elva for nearly two full weeks. He hoped that would not be the case for him. It was crucial for them to get to the resistance HQ. Every, minute they spent out in the open allowed the king to close in on their location. The dark lord wanted Pen, for reasons unknown to him.
“Can’t we just keep going? I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“We tried to reason with her, but she is stubborn. She won’t be persuaded otherwise, believe me.”
Arguing with Elva was pointless. Pen knew that.
“We could always tell her something insane, like there is something following us!”
Pen had completely