✧ ♥ ✧

Swirling shadows surrounded Katya, blocking out all light. Blindly she went on, feeling soft sand under her feet and dry, dead air fill her lungs. In the distance thunder rolled.

Something warm pressed against her leg. Laika had returned, sending amplifying strength to her mistress.

"Thank you," Katya whispered.

Close together, they continued.

It was a difficult walk. The sand was littered with rubble; boards from broken sandskiffs, old rocks, and the skeletal remains of the forest that once stood here. Every now and then Katya stubbed her toes or accidentally cracked a dry branch.

Yet, to her surprise, she no longer found the darkness so frightening. On the contrary; it felt familiar and safe. Like Aleksander's arms around her.

She missed him, she realized. After everything, she missed summoning together and having him close.

But that was in the past. They were over.

Katya had been tired after her journey, but after a little while in the Fold she began to feel invigorated. There was power, a huge source of it, lingering just outside her reach. What could it be? Neither Mal, nor Aleksander were present, yet it felt like there were several amplifiers nearby.

Then she heard a shrill shriek echo across the emptiness, and another one soon afterwards. The volcra had come.

"This is it," she murmured. "Now we either defeat them, or we die." The thought filled her with a strange calm.

A darker shade against the clouds swooped down, cool air brushing against her.

Katya tried to summon, but the darkness remained compact and unrelenting. Perhaps she was too tired, after all. Had she come this far just to die here, alone and defeated?

The screech returned, very close now. When the creature flew past, its wing hit Katya's cheek, slapping her so hard she fell to her knees. She rubbed her aching face.

Laika howled, no longer at her side. Had the volcra taken her?

A searing pain shot up Katya's shoulder as the beast returned, sinking its long talons into her flesh. She screamed, desperately trying to rip the monster off her. Its skin was smooth and dry like snake skin.

Then suddenly Laika was back, growling and snapping after it.

Katya didn't miss the opportunity. Adding her pain and desperation to the mix of jealousy and anger she had used to create black fire before, she tried to draw from the elusive power source she had felt entering the Fold.

A flame appeared, glowing eerily in the darkness. It was strong. Less bright than it had been with Mal, but hotter. Scalding hot.

The gruesome pain eased slightly as the volcra pulled in its claws, but it didn't fly away.

In the faint, red light Katya saw what it looked like for the first time. It was huge and ugly, twice her height even when crouching on the ground. Like a strange hybrid of a mole and a giant bat, with sharp, cruel teeth extending below its maw.

It had no eyes, yet Katya could have sworn it watched her fire intently. Not afraid, but hungry.

That was when she understood. It was the volcra that helped her summon. They were the hidden power source! Amplifiers. All of them were amplifiers!

How could she use that to her benefit?

More shrieks filled the air as the firelight attracted a whole flock of them. The monsters hovered above her dark flame on outstretched wings, circling around – but they didn't attack yet. Instead they watched without eyes, just like their fellow on the ground.

She glanced at her upper arm, wincing at the bloody mess. She didn't think she could survive another attack. She had to hurry; before they woke up from their trance and decided her flesh was more important than their fear of the blaze.

Reaching out to grab the perched volcra's wing with one hand, while pulling Laika close with the other, Katya increased her fire. It pulsed powerfully and began to radiate, a sullen globe of reddish black growing larger and larger.

It was the opposite of light, yet it was not darkness, either. An impossibility.

Above, the circling volcra hooted and flapped higher, out of reach of the expanding corona.

Suddenly the one Katya touched began to change. Before her shocked gaze it stood on its hind legs, its wings shrinking but the other limbs elongating, turning more shadowy. It was becoming almost humanoid. A giant, shadowy man, made up of billowing clouds.

What was it? Was it dangerous?

Instinctively she knew it was, but perhaps not to her. Though she didn't touch it anymore she still felt its amplifying power feed her flame.

Rising on her feet, she took a hesitant step. The shadow creature followed. She stopped. It stopped too. She turned around, and so did it.

Then, it bowed.

The sight filled Katya with a thrill of jubilation. It had become her servant! This was it; this was how she could take control over the Fold!

Focusing the power once more, Katya sent a flash of fire towards one of the flying volcra, enveloping it in a sphere of dark light. Slowly it began to sink, gradually falling to the ground like a black leaf.

When it touched the sand it turned its eyeless head in her direction, watching her expectantly. It needed something to transform, she realized. But what?

Looking at her arm again, blood still gushing, she decided it was worth a try. Wincing in anticipation of the pain, she held it out towards the hulking shape.

With a hungry screech its maw latched onto her flesh as it tasted her blood.

It worked. Like its fellow, the volcra began to change, and within moments there was a second shadow figure in her company.

Its additional amplifying power enlarged the flaming sphere and made it a lot easier to uphold.

Katya repeated the action, catching two more volcra and transforming them, but then she had to stop. The blood loss was making her weak.

But it didn't matter. Not anymore. Her four shadow men would protect her; the volcra was no longer a threat. She could rest for a while, eat and drink to regain her strength. And then she would create more.

She had won. She had arrived before Aleksander, tamed the volcra, and created a personal shadow guard. The Fold was hers now.

Hugging Laika, she dried her happy tears on the black fur. "Thank you. Thank you for believing in me, and for leading me here."

✧ ♥ ✧

Katya made her home in an old, wrecked sandskiff, where she spent the following days sleeping, eating, treating the wound and creating more shadow men. Her increasing power was intoxicating.

Unlike the remaining volcra, Katya found that the shadow people could leave the Fold, following her outside to help hunt for food.

They did everything she wanted them too, becoming an extended arm. Watching her new army surrounding and bringing down a herd of deer was both horrifying and exhilarating.

Every now and then sandskiffs traveled through the Fold, as usual driven by Squallers and protected by Inferni. On these occasions Katya remained hidden in her skiffwreck, commanding her army to stay close. She needed to bide her time until her strength was absolute.

But then... Then they would see! All of them.

Aleksander, in particular... He would regret everything he did to Katya, and beg her for forgiveness.

But would she give it? She was no longer so sure about that.

A/N:

The next chapter will be the final one. Thank you for votes, comments etc. It's super appreciated!