For ambiance, hit the YouTube button - "Legend"

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Liam was floating, powerless to stop the swiftly flowing current from taking him. He knew he should move his head to get his bearings and figure out where he was. But he didn't care. It didn't matter anymore. There was nothing he could do to fight it. Nothing any of them could do.

He felt indifferent as he was swept deeper and deeper into an omnipresent gloom. Vaguely, he knew what was happening.

He was becoming.

How long had it been? Days? Weeks? He couldn't remember.

Liam knew he was supposed to care, but he couldn't muster the energy. Would it really be so bad to forget? His mind might not be his own, but he would still have his life. His worries would end, and he'd be safe. Better that than be pulverized by the shadow giant or eaten by shadow creatures.

He felt dark tendrils wrapping around him. They weren't real, of course, they couldn't be real. But they seemed real as they writhed around his body, covering him in a blanket of shadow. He could feel the suffocating darkness press deeper and deeper, trying to penetrate his skin, trying to consume him. He was going, almost gone.

Then unbidden and unwanted, Kami's face flashed into his mind, more beautiful than he remembered. She stared at him with pained eyes, a look of deep disappointment etched on her features. He could feel what she was thinking. She was hurting. She had believed in him, and he was letting her down. He didn't blame her for abandoning him in the cave. He'd seen the look in her eyes. She'd barely restrained herself from running to their aid.

If she was in his place, she would fight the darkness. Kami would give everything she had and never give up. She would never understand why he was succumbing to this deep and penetrating deadness.

He knew he should fight the darkness, but he had seen the shadow giant in action. It couldn't be beat. They would fight hard, no doubt, but in the end, it wouldn't make a difference. They would die. He wanted to show her and make her understand. The image of Kami turned in his head, shielding her eyes from him. She was ashamed of him, of what he was giving up and of what he was becoming. He reached a hand toward the mirage, but she melted away before he could touch her.

Liam's mind felt numb, and for a few moments he could think of nothing but the darkness. He was slipping away, but somehow a spark lit deep within reminding him for just a moment. It couldn't end this way. If he gave in he would live, but he would belong to the Shadow Queen. That wasn't really living at all. He would only be existing, a body. Nothing more than a mindless zombie. He could see what was controlling him now, what he had yielded to. Fear. He had allowed the fear to overtake him and drag him down.

Now that he knew, he didn't try to fight the fear. Somehow he knew it would only feed it. He knew the way to fight was to ignore it and redirect his focus. He summoned every last ounce of strength he had and pummeled the darkness with his thoughts.

We can do this.

We will fight. We will win.

The light will beat back the darkness.

Something hissed. The tendrils were weakening. They reached for him frantically and held him tighter. He drew courage.

I can do this.

I will fight, and I will win, or I will die trying.

I am not afraid to die if dying means saving.

I am part of the light. The light is stronger.

The tendrils quivered around Liam. They were losing power. For the first time in a long time, he started to believe. Maybe he could beat this. He let the belief wash through him, and he let the affirmations cleanse his mind. He repeated the words over and over, speaking over the darkness, and through it.

You have no place in me.

I am powerful.

I am strong.

I have hope.

The tendrils were weakening, weakening. They slipped around him frantically, trying to regain their grip. He pushed back. The darkness was receding. The light was growing, brighter and brighter. He could feel himself growing stronger. Summoning every bit of energy he possessed, he issued an order.

Leave me.

With a mighty wrench, the darkness pulled back and dissipated.

His eyes opened.

Liam was on the floor of his cell, and the queen was standing before him. She wore tight leather pants and a fitted purple jacket that narrowed at the waist and flared over hips. Intricate gold swirls were embroidered up the lapel, and her red hair fell over her shoulders in waves. In her arm, she carried the helmet with the ram's horns. She sauntered forward, her footsteps echoing through the cave.

"Admiring me?"

"In your dreams," Liam spat out.

She frowned, then crouched down and cupped his cheek, peering into his eyes for a long moment.

"Pity. The fever was upon you so strong. I was sure you'd joined us. Never mind. It's not too late. Take my hand. Open your mind to me and release your fear. We fear what we don't understand. So understand me, and you will lose your fear. Become one of us."

She stretched out her hand with those nasty nails and he clenched his fists.

"I don't want this. I don't want to understand you," Liam said. "I am not afraid of you; I'm afraid of what you are. I'm afraid of what you can do to me, what you can take from me. I'm afraid if I begin to accept you, I will no longer be a man I can respect."

She threw her head back and laughed.

"So precious. A man? How old could you possibly be? Seventeen? Eighteen? You're just a puny boy," she taunted. She unsheathed a dagger. He recognized it as the one that had been stolen by the shadow creature at the museum.

"Now this, this belonged to a real man. Alexander the Great. By the time he was your age, he'd killed his cousin, two princes and one of his father's commanders to secure the Macedonian throne. What great accomplishments have you attained? Graduating secondary school?"

"If murder is considered an accomplishment, I think I'll pass," Liam said.

"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. Many are too weak to understand that. I'm sure you've wondered what this place of death is, whose bones these are. The answer is found in a secret record of Alexander's detailing what happened here. It's common knowledge that between his campaigns, Alexander traveled to Egypt for a period of time. What the historians did not record was the struggle that took place here.

"While at the Temple of the Oracle, he was gifted a helmet-this helmet. A gift proving the gods accept one as their own. What Alexander failed to understand was that he was being given a gift, the power of the shadow. In war he was strong, killing all those who could someday oppose him and selling the women and children into slavery to prevent them rising against him. But there was a power even greater than the sword. If he had understood, the great warrior wouldn't have been stricken down. He wouldn't have succumbed to disease. Disease would have had no power over him if he would have embraced the shadow instead of fighting it.

"He called in reinforcements from the North, warriors who trained in secret and had the ability to fight the shadow. The Khayal Muharib. They beat back the shadow and thought they had contained it, but the shadow remained in Alexander. Thus the warning inscription on the jar.

"He ordered his men to travel to Babylon. After crossing the Tigris, Alexander was met by the Chaldeans who warned him not to enter the city because their deity Bel warned them if he did so, it would be fatal for him. He entered the city anyway. When the fever struck, everyone believed he would survive it just like he had survived every other obstacle. But men do not live through fevers such as these. In a little over a week he died.

"He should have done as I have done. The power wanted me. I resisted at first, much like you. It's in our nature to resist. But when I finally gave myself to it, it granted me a gift precious beyond all others."

She paused for dramatic emphasis.

"Immortality."

"Congratulations," Liam said sarcastically.

The woman cocked her head to the side.

"I don't think you comprehend the magnitude of what I said. I'm on a path following those who went before me. Alexander. Cleopatra. The ancient pharaohs. I have that power. I am a god."

Liam said nothing.

"When you look at me, what do you see?" she asked.

"A girl who's lost her humanity," Liam said, emphasizing girl mockingly just as she had boy. "Or at least her marbles."

"You're right about one thing. I am no longer human. I am more, so much more. Your mind resisted the shadow, which indicates great strength. If only I could show you how it works. Stop resisting, and you will find a strength you can scarcely imagine. If you will use your strength for me, I will take you to the path. Just imagine what you can do and become. Command armies. Rule people. Amass great treasures. Together we will be even greater than Anthony and Cleopatra. All this can be yours if you choose me."

"I'd rather die," Liam said

Her face hardened.

"Enough! My patience has come to an end. You will die, but not before you watch the ones you love die first. Guards, prepare the girl and her grandmother."

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I feel very honored to be chosen for the Wattpad Block Party - Summer Edition. Born of Shadow will be featured on July 13. The Wattpad Block Party is an epic online event featuring all time favorite Wattpad Super Stars, New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling Authors, and up and coming Wattpadders. Each author will be featured for a full day in July. I will share a special post and interact with you in the book. There will be awesome giveaways! Everything from signed paperbacks, to naming a character after the winner, to book reviews.

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