The Tyzee

"Honey, I don't think-" but Sharisa was already out of earshot, running toward the nearest Tyzee that had just lurched into the street. Her mother's eyes followed her daughter closely, and when Sharisa neared the Shadow she let out a scream. "No! Sharisa, no, come back! Please." Her voice trailed off as Sharisa turned to wave, a smile on her face. "Please Sharisa, no." Just then the Master came around the corner, took one look at what Sharisa was doing and sprinted forward.

Sharisa's mother shrieked toward the Master, desperation clear in her voice. "You should have been with her! Use your magic, kill the Shadow!"

Sharisa no! I didn't mean like that! The mind with magic! Come back, you won't make it. Please Sharisa, you're not safe! With Magic! He and Sharisa's mother raced after her, but Sharisa only continued on toward the Tyzee. They both knew there was nothing else they could do.

Sharisa stepped up to the Tyzee. It stood looking at her, its black form swaying and hissing, and for the first time Sharisa noticed that it looked almost human in form. She dropped her knife in shock, and watched as the Shadow began to advance. Sharisa stepped back a pace, and doubt crept over her. But the Tyzee only advanced. A grin crossed its face then, a satisfied grin that suddenly made her realize she was wrong, and that she was no match for a Shadow. The Tyzee sprang the rest of the distance toward her, and she came face to face with a monster. Sharisa breathed deep, took one look into the thing's deep, desperate eyes and knew for a fact that it was not human, knew for a fact it was going to kill her, and knew for a fact it was-.

As the Master and Sharisa's mother watched, the Tyzee seemed to step directly into Sharisa's body, the form of the Shadow beginning to shimmer as it did so. A gasp escaped Sharisa's lips as a searing pain ripped through her, every nerve in her body sensing her anguish. Sharisa turned around slowly, she and the Tyzee intertwined, shimmering, together, and cast her eyes toward her mother.

Sharisa's eyes were open wide, large and green and innocent, as she knew what was happening; what was going to happen. Suddenly Sharisa let out a agonizing scream, long and heart wrenching as it tore through the women and children standing in the village center, as it tore through the Master and his guilty soul, and as it tore through her mother and left her thoughtless and empty.

Sharisa's back arched, her arms straight down at her side, and finally fell to her knees, she and the Shadow still entwined. Her body jolted again and again, the Shadow feeding on some unknown part of her, draining the life from her as it gave strength to the other. And then, for one brief instant, time seemed to slow, the fires and the women to hold in place, as Sharisa, or a Shadow of her, shot from her body in an explosion of extreme light and extreme dark. So intense was it that, as time began to speed up, everyone had to look away, shielding their eyes; everyone except for the Master and her mother. In the blinding light, the Tyzee, along with the Shadow of Sharisa, shot into the air, intertwined, and was soon lost in the night sky, a star among billions.

As the Master and Sharisa's mother stood desperately watching the sky, a small, insufferable voice came through their minds.