One moment, Annika was staring at Serena in awe as black wings seemed to form from nothing, and the next, she was watching a man fall from the sky on top of the girl. The pair of them crashed to the ground, groaning and moaning while onlookers gasped. In the distance, Annika could make out the first sounds of sirens. 

She flipped her knife back and forth, shifting her stance into a more relaxed position, but Annika held her dagger with the blade resting up her forearm. Ready to slice forward if she needed to.

Jack’s words startled Annika, and she stared at him in bewilderment. [color=#663399]”You want me to practice on them?”[/color] Annika was more used to shadow targets or, at the very least, non-living targets.

She looked back at the father and daughter as they made their way back to their feet, throwing obscenities in their direction. Annika frowned. Her father had called them criminals. However, Annika wasn’t an enforcer of the law, but she could be a protector.

Thinking about her home and the shadows that brought her comfort, Annika shut her eyes and thought of something that would ensure their assailants remained quiet and immobile. After all, what was more stifling than the shadows?

Annika opened her eyes, a purple hue had taken over the normal brown colour, and she threw out her hand. Manacles clamped down on the wrists of Serena and Salem, pinning their hands behind their backs, while a band of shadows covered their mouths. 

Annika dropped her hand, the purple in her eyes fading, but the manacles she brought forth solidified and held true while the shadows on their mouths tightened into black cloth.