CHARACTERS:
Nox Parker - @Wolfy
Shaylen Torres - @Spirits
Rasfyr Rysfar - @Glyphynx
Camilla Hansen - @AJules
Yuki Izo - @Rounse
Minseo Sakimo - @cheriitea
Tsumi Don’Yoku - @Hyrotis
Zephyrine F. Aidos - @Bori
There are more worlds than one, there are thousands and they are all linked to the biggest. In Norse mythology we call it Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, but really it's called Dathern. A large island with many magical creatures upon it, elves, goblins and ect. To control Dathern is to control all of the worlds.
The Guardians are the ones to protect this island from threats, they fought against others many years ago to have the powers they have. But if they walk on the ground of Dathern again they will be humanised by a higher power, unknown to them, so they enlist the help from other worlds, who unwillingly are taken from. They take eight random people from that world. The eight Guardians call them Shadows, granting them with strength and much more to fight the battles they wish they could.
The first wave of Shadows were useless and unsuccessful against the forces of evil.
The second were successful but weren't given their praise.
And the third, have just begun their story.
The Guardians are the ones to protect this island from threats, they fought against others many years ago to have the powers they have. But if they walk on the ground of Dathern again they will be humanised by a higher power, unknown to them, so they enlist the help from other worlds, who unwillingly are taken from. They take eight random people from that world. The eight Guardians call them Shadows, granting them with strength and much more to fight the battles they wish they could.
The first wave of Shadows were useless and unsuccessful against the forces of evil.
The second were successful but weren't given their praise.
And the third, have just begun their story.
With a sigh, the hooded figure continued on their path, moving across the garden, and not caring for their white robes as the rain thundered down. Once they reached the opposite doorway, they took their hood down smoothly, revealing a woman’s pale green face and her bundle of short bone-white hair with wavy strands that blew softly in the wind. A pair of jade green eyes scanned the surrounding area, taking in the temple as she continued down her path, the lightest touch of pale yellow was embroidered into the depths of the sea of green. A smirk appeared on her rose lips as she approached the largest doorway, the vine-covered, white walls surrounding them acting as a guiding hand towards the door.
Upon the door, a symbol was etched into the dark oak door, eight symmetrical dots circling a large wolf head with a dagger held in its mouth. The hooded woman pushed the door opening, ignoring the large shriek from its old hinges.
She held her breath as she stepped into the large hall, it was gloomy and looked untouched with the only source of light being the dancing marigold flames that came from the torches along the walls. However, high above the gloom, a glass ceiling stretched above the circular centre of the room so that dimmed streaks of white light hit eight exact points, each one casting upon a different animal. Amongst the animals carved into the floor were a fox and a Mockingbird. A laugh burst out of the draped woman, the sudden joy bouncing off the hollow chamber’s walls.
‘Who goes there?’ A voice called from the other side of the hall. It was deep and commanding but tired all at the same time as if it had been awake for years with no rest.
‘I come with knowledge of your enemies, the Jinns, so I request a council meeting,’ replied the woman making sure her voice did not waver, she pulled up the silk of her hood back up before she was seen by the voice’s owner.
‘Could you allow me to ask a simple question?’ The voice replied.
‘As you wish.’
‘Will you lie today?’
A moment of silence, skip of a heartbeat and the beat of a fly’s wing, the woman relaxed and said in a calm but cold voice, ‘I shall neither lie nor tell the truth. I shall just, merely, speak my own knowledge.’
With a pattern of graceful movement the speaker revealed themselves, a man draped in emerald green robes, embroidered into the cloth were silver Roman numerals that glittered as he stepped into the light. The man had long black hair engulfed with silver ribbons that tied it into numerous braids, his rich amber skin clashed with his molten grey eyes that pierced through the hidden character, within these eyes the hints of centuries of age and knowledge depth deep.
‘I am Qaeten, Guardian of time and vision, state your name and business.’ Qaeten ordered, his voice booming with strength and pride.
‘I shan’t state my name nor my business till you call a council meeting, then I shall reveal whom I am and what I have to come to the knowledge of,’ the cloaked lady replied with a snap. Qaeten raised an eyebrow, astounded by the nerve of the stranger in front of him. Seconds of pure silence passed, neither of them uttered a word, both analysing the other person as much as they could. Qaeten sighed in frustration and walk to the centre of the hall, a point where the eight animals surrounded him. He stood in the centre and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath and let it go.
‘I SUMMON THEE, THE GUARDIANS!’ Qaeten yelled, the woman staggering back in surprise. There were four lashes of different coloured light, one a bone white, a mint green, another was a streamy blue and the last one a beautiful sunflower yellow. Four new strangers stood before the two, who stood in the heart of the room, with different styles of clothes. They all stood on different animals.
Upon on the lion symbol on the floor was a dominating man, his robes were sheets of coal black, the floor-touching ends had trails of bright yellow flames and the coal robes grew brighter then dimmer in a dance of embers. He stood tall and strong, with sunkissed skin that seemed to glow in the dim light that he emitted. Auburn hair that was undercut at the sides which clashed with his fiery red eyes. He analysed his surrounds, the other people three new people then Qaeten, his fiery flared with anger. With a deep breath, he said, ‘Lord Qaeten, why did you call upon us? Also, who is the stranger?’
‘Waraabe, an honour as always to be in your presence and the answer to your previous question is unknown to me as much as it is to you.’ Qaeten replied in a dull voice as if tired of everything Waraabe says.
‘It is truly strange for you to call upon us without having some sort of knowledge or advantage over us.’ A female voice interjected two symbols away from Waraabe, holding a stance upon a fierce looking tiger. She had wavy raven black hair that was tied in a small braid across her head, her hair had flowers woven within the strands, daisies, lilies and more, made a colourful display with the dark background. The lady was dressed in silver armour, imprinted on her breastplate was a tiger with mint gems for eyes, her gauntlets and greaves were decorated with vines and flowers that stretched across the shining metal. Underneath the armour, she wore a pink dress with metals appearing from the end in the petals of a lily flower the colours went well with the fair skin of the lady.
‘Lady Satella, I have seen her face and heard the melody of her voice but yet I cannot link it to this world but another, that is why I summoned you here on this day, my friends,’ Qaeten said coldly, gesturing the hooded woman in the centre, who was holding their posture with a lot of effort not to start laughing. Qaeten took his place on a symbol, a wolfish-looking creature sat etched into the stone, a coyote, and then turned to the rest of the group. ‘Where are the other three?’
‘Oh, Lord Sykaresh will arrive soon, I hope, and as for the other two, I am in the dark with that information,’ a sweet voice answered to the left of Qaeten, a small girl dressed in a sea green gown that swayed like waves softly as the girl happily looked up at Gaeten. Her skin was an olive that clashed with her ginger hair, the ends of her hair were clasped in a hundred different white gems that connected together to make ice. Large icy teal eyes that shone brightly, connecting her with the child persona the Guardian played.
‘I doubt bird-face or dog-breath will show their faces, Lady Erysta,’ Waraabe snarked. As if by fate, there was a vacuum of darkness which cast itself upon the room, a swoosh of robes and temperature seemed to drop rapidly. The hooded lady took an intake of breath, it was painfully cold to her teeth and she tasted a sour flavour amongst the darkness. With a scream of light, the room had colour again.
Everyone turned to the fox symbol that was engraved next to Qaeten, a man dress in all bone white and black. He wore a cloak, like many others amongst the immortals, this cloak did not have smoke escaping from the ends or plants drawn into the cloth. But creatures of dark colours escaping from the white background, made from leathering black skin and sunken features, they opened the holes that used to be their mouths and let out a silent plea for help. The man's hair was a platinum blond that shone in fire’s shaking light, as well as that, his skin was pale as sheets and his eyes were the colours of the forest floors in spring.
‘Ganz, I see you’re still breathing, unfortunately,’ Waraabe snarked.
‘Waraabe, a pleasure,’ his voice barely a hiss, Waraabe’s jaw clenched and the woman snorted. Ganz looked at the concealed lady, then the two space still empty and rolled his eyes. He looked expectantly at Qaeten as if expecting an explanation from him. ‘Where is my closest acquaintance and Golden Boy?’
‘I do not believe Lady Xan will make an appearance, as I previously cited, but Lord Sykaresh should be here soon,’ Satella pointed out with a frown. The strange perked up at the mention of Xan, presumably knowing the name, most noticed it.
‘You know of Lady Xan?’ growled the lady opposite Qeaten, who stood upon a gecko, a pair of cat yellow eyes that collided with the bronze skin around them and an array of cloud grey hair which was curled at the ends. Her dress was the colour of lighting, with black streaks that zig-zagged across the white.
‘I won’t answer until she is here,’ a smile appeared on her cloaked face, Qaeten straightened up and his grey eyes released a bright emerald glow.
‘You have Jinn coloured skin,’ Qaeten announced, the gem flash died down and the Guardians turned to the hidden woman who stood in the middle. Raising his arm, Waraabe flexed his hand so that his palm was exposed. Conjuring beneath his skin came a bright light of sun yellow, a fiery warmth was produced as the light grew brighter and larger. In a chance to save herself from immediate death, she lifted her arms in a cross position, the white cloak that concealed her seemed to wrap around her.
A sharp whistle broke through the building, the notes of a bird’s song. It was the whistle that saved the lady, the song resulted in Waraabe to lower his arm, the bright yellow glow from his palm died as he looked upwards to the glass dome. Thump. Thump. The flapping of wings and a chorus of the rain hitting the roof. Another melody with the flap of wings, a bird came from a spark of purple above the Guardians. With cobalt blue feathers, that released a trial of purple from the ends, the bird swooped down with the soft movement of wings. Circling the group ahead, not bothering to stop flying.
‘Xan, my friend, I am glad to see that you enlightened us with your presence,’ Ganz said to the bird.
Ganz, I was here before you, my friend, I just was waiting for you to show. And hello other companions. The whisper spoke into the ear as well as the lady in the centre, it caused her to twitch. Waraabe sighed, Satella rolled her eyes and Erysta smiled warmingly at the bird.
‘This reunion has gone on far too long, I believe we need to get started, I have things to do,’ the lady in the white dress snapped.
‘Quite right, Lady Lypros.’ Qaeten agreed, he turned to Ganz. ‘As second to the throne, you shall take the acting role as king.’
‘Why not me?’ demanded Waraabe.
‘Yes, why not him?’ Ganz cut in.
‘Because no one trusts Waraabe’s bigoted opinion.’ Satella growled, Waraabe glared at her.
‘So you trust mine?’ responded Ganz.
‘Yes Ganz, we do,’ Erysta grinned, making Ganz pull a face of nothing but confusion and opened his mouth to say something else before Lypros cut in.
‘Can we please just start?’ She pleaded.
‘Yes.’ Qaeten said with an exaggerated sigh. The room quietened and Xan in her bird form fluttered down to Ganz’s shoulder before taking her perch upon him, making the Guardian of shadows smirk. The amusement wiped clean off his face as he turned to look at the woman in the centre, her green eyes matching the shade of the man opposite her.
‘Reveal yourself, stranger,’ his voice, barely a whisper, hissed into her ears.
Rolling her eyes, she pulled her hood down again, revealing herself to the Guardians present. When they saw her skin, the Guardians acted out. Satella summoned a crossbow in a burst of mint green light and pointed the bolt it at the green-skinned woman.
‘I am soon-to-be Queen Mara, of the Jinns, former Shadow of Xan,’ Mara smiled cruelly, Xan fluttered her blue wings in agitated against Ganz's shoulders. Ganz rose a hand and stroked her feathers, still looking at Mara with curiosity. He beckoned her to continue, so she did. ‘The Jinns are tired of the disrespect and ignorance given from the Dathernians, we fought your war for you and won. Yet, we have not been mentioned in the saga of the Guardians but forgotten because we killed a couple more people than we needed to. Let me remind you, the previous Shadows failed in the mission to save every world, and the Jinns won.’
You massacred sixteen thousand citizens, who were innocent in the eyes of the Guardians. Snapped Xan.
‘Were they, Lady Xan? Or did you not tell them?’ Mara replied in a slow voice. Everyone looked at the Mockingbird.
Yes, they were.
‘Whatever you believe, my old friend.’ chuckled the female Jinn.
‘If you don’t mind me asking, how you still alive? The time you fought for us was a millennium and six centuries ago.’ Qaeten insisted. Mara laughed.
‘Has it been that long? I suppose you won't remember a simple fact like in Vieltyne, time is slower and we live longer than Dathernians.’ She informed the omniscient being that stood circled around her. Waraabe’s eyes flared in anger from the intended insult, Qaeten’s nose twitched and the others didn’t seem to care. Mara proceeded, ‘This information is not important, all you need to know is we will come back for our recognition.’
‘Which you won't receive. You murdered humans, goblins, mammoth wolves, fairies and multiple other creatures, and you ask for your recognition?’ barked Waraabe. He was smoking with anger, quite literally. Satella fiddled with the trigger of her crossbow which was pointed at Mara’s head, waiting for Ganz to command her to shoot.
‘It seems strange for the Jinn Queen to come to Ayumaia without any backup, especially since you were once a Shadow.’ Erysta observed. ‘Do you not remember how weak you were before you had the Gem of Illusions? Because you should now be the weak person as you were before.’
Xan released a melody of loud notes.
‘What is it, Lady Xan? Why do you still care for her, since this creature is no longer your Shadow?’ Waraabe snapped at the bird, Xan jumped off Ganz’s shoulders and flew towards Waraabe and pecked at his eyes before flying back to her perch.
Mara watched as Waraabe shouted in protest and arguments began, she glanced at Ganz, who was deadpanning at the floor. Her plan was working, making her smirk. As soon as the amusement appeared on her face, she wiped it off before anyone took notice but Lypros did. She called out, her voice booming over the others, ‘Everyone stop arguing, we have more pressing matters than the past.’
‘Technically, this is to do with the past, Lady Lypros,’ Qaeten chided. Lypros turned to him and gave him a soft glare.
Lypros turned to Mara and stepped closer to her, the white of her dress started to glow brightly. On Mara’s arms, her hairs stood on end, the tingling feeling of static ran through her body and a burst of wind swept across the room. Mara froze with fear, swallowing the saliva that formed in her mouth and took a deep breath.
‘Tell us what you want.’ Lypros hissed, the wind circling in bursts of howls and screams, the grey hair that sat upon the Guardian’s head flew outwards, flying in different directions.
‘I want justice, my Lady, justice,’ Mara cooed as if it was obvious.
Over my dead body. Squawked Xan.
‘You’re immortal, Lady Xan,’ Erysta said confused, Waraabe stared at the floor with a sigh, shaking his head and Satella looked across at her and facepalmed.
‘Well, it seems that the Council of Guardians has declined your request.’ Ganz flashed his pearl teeth with a smirk, which vanished as soon it appeared. His expression turned dark, staring at Mara. ‘You will leave Ayumaia and return to your world, if you come back here, you shall die and I do say this lightly, child.’
The Jinn looked at the Guardian of Death and the bird on his shoulder, which flapped her blue wings. Mara looked around at the piercing eyes of the immortals surrounding her, she sighed and glanced at Ganz, anger pouring out of her, she snapped, ‘That was the biggest mistake you could have made, Lord Ganz.’
‘You dare to threaten us?’ Waraabe roared, his eyes blazing.
Ignoring him, Mara continued, ‘You have twenty years. You twenty years to perform a requiem, if not, you will watch Dathern burn. You will watch as my race takes our place as amongst the stars, this is no Just war, we want our revenge. I hope you are ready.’ She grabbed her cloak and swept it across herself, the material covered her as she twirled. A bright blast of red magic ejected itself from the cloak shook the floor, the Guardians turned away to protect their eyes and when they gazed back, their foe wasn't there. With that, the future Queen Mara of the Jinns vanished into thin air and she was gone.
A blasting silence, even the tap of the rain above was decaying. Shuffling of feet and anxious gestures, the Guardians eyed Ganz, his eyes were still fixed on the spot Mara vanished. He swallowed, gazing at Xan on his shoulder before wiping his face with a hand. Looking up at his friends, he asked calmly, ‘What are we going to do?’
The rain and thunder had stopped, Amuyaia could only be described as quiet and calm, a mist floated above the temple and its surroundings and the sun appeared then disappeared behind the clouds. Violet robes and a crown placed upon his head, Lord Sykaresh walked into the Council Chamber, expecting to see his friends. Yet only a dark blue bird cleaning its cobalt to amethyst feathers in the centre of the circle, a mockingbird unlike no other.
‘Lady Xan, where are the others,’ he asked the bird with a nervous chuckle. Turning to Sykaresh, Xan fluttered her feathers in annoyance.
You missed a council meeting, how unlike you Sykaresh. The whispering voice said into the crowned man's mind. Also, the others have gone searching.
‘Searching? Why have they gone searching and for what?’ Sykaresh murmured, running a hand through a head of auburn hair. Then it hit him, he stiffened in shock, he gulped and glanced at the bird.
What do you think for, fool? Snapped Xan. The king flinched, his brown eyes twinkled with the fear of what could be a threat to the Guardians.
‘Shadows, they've gone looking for Shadows.’
Upon the door, a symbol was etched into the dark oak door, eight symmetrical dots circling a large wolf head with a dagger held in its mouth. The hooded woman pushed the door opening, ignoring the large shriek from its old hinges.
She held her breath as she stepped into the large hall, it was gloomy and looked untouched with the only source of light being the dancing marigold flames that came from the torches along the walls. However, high above the gloom, a glass ceiling stretched above the circular centre of the room so that dimmed streaks of white light hit eight exact points, each one casting upon a different animal. Amongst the animals carved into the floor were a fox and a Mockingbird. A laugh burst out of the draped woman, the sudden joy bouncing off the hollow chamber’s walls.
‘Who goes there?’ A voice called from the other side of the hall. It was deep and commanding but tired all at the same time as if it had been awake for years with no rest.
‘I come with knowledge of your enemies, the Jinns, so I request a council meeting,’ replied the woman making sure her voice did not waver, she pulled up the silk of her hood back up before she was seen by the voice’s owner.
‘Could you allow me to ask a simple question?’ The voice replied.
‘As you wish.’
‘Will you lie today?’
A moment of silence, skip of a heartbeat and the beat of a fly’s wing, the woman relaxed and said in a calm but cold voice, ‘I shall neither lie nor tell the truth. I shall just, merely, speak my own knowledge.’
With a pattern of graceful movement the speaker revealed themselves, a man draped in emerald green robes, embroidered into the cloth were silver Roman numerals that glittered as he stepped into the light. The man had long black hair engulfed with silver ribbons that tied it into numerous braids, his rich amber skin clashed with his molten grey eyes that pierced through the hidden character, within these eyes the hints of centuries of age and knowledge depth deep.
‘I am Qaeten, Guardian of time and vision, state your name and business.’ Qaeten ordered, his voice booming with strength and pride.
‘I shan’t state my name nor my business till you call a council meeting, then I shall reveal whom I am and what I have to come to the knowledge of,’ the cloaked lady replied with a snap. Qaeten raised an eyebrow, astounded by the nerve of the stranger in front of him. Seconds of pure silence passed, neither of them uttered a word, both analysing the other person as much as they could. Qaeten sighed in frustration and walk to the centre of the hall, a point where the eight animals surrounded him. He stood in the centre and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath and let it go.
‘I SUMMON THEE, THE GUARDIANS!’ Qaeten yelled, the woman staggering back in surprise. There were four lashes of different coloured light, one a bone white, a mint green, another was a streamy blue and the last one a beautiful sunflower yellow. Four new strangers stood before the two, who stood in the heart of the room, with different styles of clothes. They all stood on different animals.
Upon on the lion symbol on the floor was a dominating man, his robes were sheets of coal black, the floor-touching ends had trails of bright yellow flames and the coal robes grew brighter then dimmer in a dance of embers. He stood tall and strong, with sunkissed skin that seemed to glow in the dim light that he emitted. Auburn hair that was undercut at the sides which clashed with his fiery red eyes. He analysed his surrounds, the other people three new people then Qaeten, his fiery flared with anger. With a deep breath, he said, ‘Lord Qaeten, why did you call upon us? Also, who is the stranger?’
‘Waraabe, an honour as always to be in your presence and the answer to your previous question is unknown to me as much as it is to you.’ Qaeten replied in a dull voice as if tired of everything Waraabe says.
‘It is truly strange for you to call upon us without having some sort of knowledge or advantage over us.’ A female voice interjected two symbols away from Waraabe, holding a stance upon a fierce looking tiger. She had wavy raven black hair that was tied in a small braid across her head, her hair had flowers woven within the strands, daisies, lilies and more, made a colourful display with the dark background. The lady was dressed in silver armour, imprinted on her breastplate was a tiger with mint gems for eyes, her gauntlets and greaves were decorated with vines and flowers that stretched across the shining metal. Underneath the armour, she wore a pink dress with metals appearing from the end in the petals of a lily flower the colours went well with the fair skin of the lady.
‘Lady Satella, I have seen her face and heard the melody of her voice but yet I cannot link it to this world but another, that is why I summoned you here on this day, my friends,’ Qaeten said coldly, gesturing the hooded woman in the centre, who was holding their posture with a lot of effort not to start laughing. Qaeten took his place on a symbol, a wolfish-looking creature sat etched into the stone, a coyote, and then turned to the rest of the group. ‘Where are the other three?’
‘Oh, Lord Sykaresh will arrive soon, I hope, and as for the other two, I am in the dark with that information,’ a sweet voice answered to the left of Qaeten, a small girl dressed in a sea green gown that swayed like waves softly as the girl happily looked up at Gaeten. Her skin was an olive that clashed with her ginger hair, the ends of her hair were clasped in a hundred different white gems that connected together to make ice. Large icy teal eyes that shone brightly, connecting her with the child persona the Guardian played.
‘I doubt bird-face or dog-breath will show their faces, Lady Erysta,’ Waraabe snarked. As if by fate, there was a vacuum of darkness which cast itself upon the room, a swoosh of robes and temperature seemed to drop rapidly. The hooded lady took an intake of breath, it was painfully cold to her teeth and she tasted a sour flavour amongst the darkness. With a scream of light, the room had colour again.
Everyone turned to the fox symbol that was engraved next to Qaeten, a man dress in all bone white and black. He wore a cloak, like many others amongst the immortals, this cloak did not have smoke escaping from the ends or plants drawn into the cloth. But creatures of dark colours escaping from the white background, made from leathering black skin and sunken features, they opened the holes that used to be their mouths and let out a silent plea for help. The man's hair was a platinum blond that shone in fire’s shaking light, as well as that, his skin was pale as sheets and his eyes were the colours of the forest floors in spring.
‘Ganz, I see you’re still breathing, unfortunately,’ Waraabe snarked.
‘Waraabe, a pleasure,’ his voice barely a hiss, Waraabe’s jaw clenched and the woman snorted. Ganz looked at the concealed lady, then the two space still empty and rolled his eyes. He looked expectantly at Qaeten as if expecting an explanation from him. ‘Where is my closest acquaintance and Golden Boy?’
‘I do not believe Lady Xan will make an appearance, as I previously cited, but Lord Sykaresh should be here soon,’ Satella pointed out with a frown. The strange perked up at the mention of Xan, presumably knowing the name, most noticed it.
‘You know of Lady Xan?’ growled the lady opposite Qeaten, who stood upon a gecko, a pair of cat yellow eyes that collided with the bronze skin around them and an array of cloud grey hair which was curled at the ends. Her dress was the colour of lighting, with black streaks that zig-zagged across the white.
‘I won’t answer until she is here,’ a smile appeared on her cloaked face, Qaeten straightened up and his grey eyes released a bright emerald glow.
‘You have Jinn coloured skin,’ Qaeten announced, the gem flash died down and the Guardians turned to the hidden woman who stood in the middle. Raising his arm, Waraabe flexed his hand so that his palm was exposed. Conjuring beneath his skin came a bright light of sun yellow, a fiery warmth was produced as the light grew brighter and larger. In a chance to save herself from immediate death, she lifted her arms in a cross position, the white cloak that concealed her seemed to wrap around her.
A sharp whistle broke through the building, the notes of a bird’s song. It was the whistle that saved the lady, the song resulted in Waraabe to lower his arm, the bright yellow glow from his palm died as he looked upwards to the glass dome. Thump. Thump. The flapping of wings and a chorus of the rain hitting the roof. Another melody with the flap of wings, a bird came from a spark of purple above the Guardians. With cobalt blue feathers, that released a trial of purple from the ends, the bird swooped down with the soft movement of wings. Circling the group ahead, not bothering to stop flying.
‘Xan, my friend, I am glad to see that you enlightened us with your presence,’ Ganz said to the bird.
Ganz, I was here before you, my friend, I just was waiting for you to show. And hello other companions. The whisper spoke into the ear as well as the lady in the centre, it caused her to twitch. Waraabe sighed, Satella rolled her eyes and Erysta smiled warmingly at the bird.
‘This reunion has gone on far too long, I believe we need to get started, I have things to do,’ the lady in the white dress snapped.
‘Quite right, Lady Lypros.’ Qaeten agreed, he turned to Ganz. ‘As second to the throne, you shall take the acting role as king.’
‘Why not me?’ demanded Waraabe.
‘Yes, why not him?’ Ganz cut in.
‘Because no one trusts Waraabe’s bigoted opinion.’ Satella growled, Waraabe glared at her.
‘So you trust mine?’ responded Ganz.
‘Yes Ganz, we do,’ Erysta grinned, making Ganz pull a face of nothing but confusion and opened his mouth to say something else before Lypros cut in.
‘Can we please just start?’ She pleaded.
‘Yes.’ Qaeten said with an exaggerated sigh. The room quietened and Xan in her bird form fluttered down to Ganz’s shoulder before taking her perch upon him, making the Guardian of shadows smirk. The amusement wiped clean off his face as he turned to look at the woman in the centre, her green eyes matching the shade of the man opposite her.
‘Reveal yourself, stranger,’ his voice, barely a whisper, hissed into her ears.
Rolling her eyes, she pulled her hood down again, revealing herself to the Guardians present. When they saw her skin, the Guardians acted out. Satella summoned a crossbow in a burst of mint green light and pointed the bolt it at the green-skinned woman.
‘I am soon-to-be Queen Mara, of the Jinns, former Shadow of Xan,’ Mara smiled cruelly, Xan fluttered her blue wings in agitated against Ganz's shoulders. Ganz rose a hand and stroked her feathers, still looking at Mara with curiosity. He beckoned her to continue, so she did. ‘The Jinns are tired of the disrespect and ignorance given from the Dathernians, we fought your war for you and won. Yet, we have not been mentioned in the saga of the Guardians but forgotten because we killed a couple more people than we needed to. Let me remind you, the previous Shadows failed in the mission to save every world, and the Jinns won.’
You massacred sixteen thousand citizens, who were innocent in the eyes of the Guardians. Snapped Xan.
‘Were they, Lady Xan? Or did you not tell them?’ Mara replied in a slow voice. Everyone looked at the Mockingbird.
Yes, they were.
‘Whatever you believe, my old friend.’ chuckled the female Jinn.
‘If you don’t mind me asking, how you still alive? The time you fought for us was a millennium and six centuries ago.’ Qaeten insisted. Mara laughed.
‘Has it been that long? I suppose you won't remember a simple fact like in Vieltyne, time is slower and we live longer than Dathernians.’ She informed the omniscient being that stood circled around her. Waraabe’s eyes flared in anger from the intended insult, Qaeten’s nose twitched and the others didn’t seem to care. Mara proceeded, ‘This information is not important, all you need to know is we will come back for our recognition.’
‘Which you won't receive. You murdered humans, goblins, mammoth wolves, fairies and multiple other creatures, and you ask for your recognition?’ barked Waraabe. He was smoking with anger, quite literally. Satella fiddled with the trigger of her crossbow which was pointed at Mara’s head, waiting for Ganz to command her to shoot.
‘It seems strange for the Jinn Queen to come to Ayumaia without any backup, especially since you were once a Shadow.’ Erysta observed. ‘Do you not remember how weak you were before you had the Gem of Illusions? Because you should now be the weak person as you were before.’
Xan released a melody of loud notes.
‘What is it, Lady Xan? Why do you still care for her, since this creature is no longer your Shadow?’ Waraabe snapped at the bird, Xan jumped off Ganz’s shoulders and flew towards Waraabe and pecked at his eyes before flying back to her perch.
Mara watched as Waraabe shouted in protest and arguments began, she glanced at Ganz, who was deadpanning at the floor. Her plan was working, making her smirk. As soon as the amusement appeared on her face, she wiped it off before anyone took notice but Lypros did. She called out, her voice booming over the others, ‘Everyone stop arguing, we have more pressing matters than the past.’
‘Technically, this is to do with the past, Lady Lypros,’ Qaeten chided. Lypros turned to him and gave him a soft glare.
Lypros turned to Mara and stepped closer to her, the white of her dress started to glow brightly. On Mara’s arms, her hairs stood on end, the tingling feeling of static ran through her body and a burst of wind swept across the room. Mara froze with fear, swallowing the saliva that formed in her mouth and took a deep breath.
‘Tell us what you want.’ Lypros hissed, the wind circling in bursts of howls and screams, the grey hair that sat upon the Guardian’s head flew outwards, flying in different directions.
‘I want justice, my Lady, justice,’ Mara cooed as if it was obvious.
Over my dead body. Squawked Xan.
‘You’re immortal, Lady Xan,’ Erysta said confused, Waraabe stared at the floor with a sigh, shaking his head and Satella looked across at her and facepalmed.
‘Well, it seems that the Council of Guardians has declined your request.’ Ganz flashed his pearl teeth with a smirk, which vanished as soon it appeared. His expression turned dark, staring at Mara. ‘You will leave Ayumaia and return to your world, if you come back here, you shall die and I do say this lightly, child.’
The Jinn looked at the Guardian of Death and the bird on his shoulder, which flapped her blue wings. Mara looked around at the piercing eyes of the immortals surrounding her, she sighed and glanced at Ganz, anger pouring out of her, she snapped, ‘That was the biggest mistake you could have made, Lord Ganz.’
‘You dare to threaten us?’ Waraabe roared, his eyes blazing.
Ignoring him, Mara continued, ‘You have twenty years. You twenty years to perform a requiem, if not, you will watch Dathern burn. You will watch as my race takes our place as amongst the stars, this is no Just war, we want our revenge. I hope you are ready.’ She grabbed her cloak and swept it across herself, the material covered her as she twirled. A bright blast of red magic ejected itself from the cloak shook the floor, the Guardians turned away to protect their eyes and when they gazed back, their foe wasn't there. With that, the future Queen Mara of the Jinns vanished into thin air and she was gone.
A blasting silence, even the tap of the rain above was decaying. Shuffling of feet and anxious gestures, the Guardians eyed Ganz, his eyes were still fixed on the spot Mara vanished. He swallowed, gazing at Xan on his shoulder before wiping his face with a hand. Looking up at his friends, he asked calmly, ‘What are we going to do?’
*
The rain and thunder had stopped, Amuyaia could only be described as quiet and calm, a mist floated above the temple and its surroundings and the sun appeared then disappeared behind the clouds. Violet robes and a crown placed upon his head, Lord Sykaresh walked into the Council Chamber, expecting to see his friends. Yet only a dark blue bird cleaning its cobalt to amethyst feathers in the centre of the circle, a mockingbird unlike no other.
‘Lady Xan, where are the others,’ he asked the bird with a nervous chuckle. Turning to Sykaresh, Xan fluttered her feathers in annoyance.
You missed a council meeting, how unlike you Sykaresh. The whispering voice said into the crowned man's mind. Also, the others have gone searching.
‘Searching? Why have they gone searching and for what?’ Sykaresh murmured, running a hand through a head of auburn hair. Then it hit him, he stiffened in shock, he gulped and glanced at the bird.
What do you think for, fool? Snapped Xan. The king flinched, his brown eyes twinkled with the fear of what could be a threat to the Guardians.
‘Shadows, they've gone looking for Shadows.’
Fovea woke to the sound of a screaming, she recognised it as one of the many children she tutored. Swinging her legs off the bed, she rubbed her eyes and stood up, before stepping across the freezing floor out of her bedroom. Wandering down the corridor, the moon’s gloomy light cut through the darkened windows to Fovea’s left. The cold stone floors bit at her feet, ice seeping deep into her bones. Passing two sets of dark wooden doors, she made it to her destination, the sign above the door translated to, “Children’s Ward.”
She turned the large handle with a click, pushing against the wood with effort that made the door swing open. A wave of warmth flooded out the room, a calming spell of tranquility washing over Fovea as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
“Lady Fovea, the new child is screaming again, it won't allow us to sleep,” the eldest child in the Ward reported, coming up to her as soon as she entered, their voice heavy with tiredness and annoyance.
“Alex, what have I said about using those pronouns?” Fovea demanded, receiving only a murmur for an answer. She strode across the room, Alex trailing her, as she passed the resting children. Fovea reached the bed of question.
A small child sat upon ruffled covers, their legs tucked tightly close to their chest as they shook violently.A torch nearby illuminated the pale green tinge of the child's skin, unusual to say the least, yet Fovea placed her hand on a soft head of hair and stroked it.
“Child, what’s wrong?” a calm whisper escaped from her mouth. The child looked up at her, their big eyes full of fear, making Fovea’s heart ache.
“I had a- a night- nightmare, I was sur- surrounded by bodies of the oth- other kids,” the child stammered. Fovea cast a knowing look at Alex, ordering them silently to leave before turning to the child once more.
“It was just a nightmare, my darling, just a nightmare. It will all be okay,” Fovea pulled them into an embrace, brushing their hair gently. A moment passed and the sniffling died down. The child pushed out of the embrace and began to lie down on their bed, Fovea safely tucking them in with a small smile.
With the child under the thin covers, Fovea rose, eyes remaining on the child. Every child in the room stared at her with darkened eyes, gripping their covers tightly.
Calmly, she spoke to them all, her eyes never leaving the child she had just comforted, “One day you will be given the choice to stay or leave. That day will be the day you will grow to be greater than ever, my child, no matter what path you choose. Every child is destined for greatness, it is just the child who needs to accept this and do something about it.”
Fovea left the room, hoping the child would rest well.
Near the bed of the child who cried, another child was awake, a pair of silver blue eyes staring at the dark ceiling above them.
"Get your hands off me, estias pedos!" screamed Shaylen. Her hair flew as she struggled, the cinnamon strands flew revealing a worn out purple dye. The two guards who had grabbed her struggled to keep their grip as her hair flung into their faces. Shaylen shook her head as she tried to stop the duo grabbing her from behind, they shoved a rough and gritty cotton bag over her head, crying out as the feeling of prickles from the bag along her skin.
"You’re under arrest, kid, so stay quiet," one of them ordered, pushing her to God knew where. Shay kept struggling, the fear pushing her to try to escape from the clutches of the strangers. Her breathing pattern became a mix of panting and desperate breaths through the fabric of the bag. She was tiring. Shaylen’s caramel legs began to ache from pushing against the ground but she was still fighting on. One of her captors cursed colourfully and yelped when Shay stomped her foot on hers, "Can we just sedate her?"
"Tha’ would be a lot easier, can ya hold her for a second?" replied the other, Shaylen went limp, an idea forming in her head. With only one of the guards holding her, Shay threw her head back like they did in films where they were trying to escape. Instead of a nose, she hit metal. A dull thud sent vibrations down her body, a sharp spike forming the area she had hit. But the act had done its job, the guard gasped and loosened her grip on the seventeen-year-old. Shay pushed through the guard’s arms and pushed off with a sprint.
The pounding of her feet and cobblestones below sent familiar jolts up her legs and spine. She ripped the bag off her head and let her hair fly out, the wind whooshed in her ears. Shay looked over a shoulder, the two guards ran after her, their silver blades in hand and the dulled yellow gems on the silver helmets glittered in the light of the sun.
Shaylen turned back at the last second, a tall figure stood in her way. A lady dressed in silver armour stood before her, a violet cape strapped to her back revealed her power. The Royal Commander. Her face was pale and unforgiving, the platinum grey of her hair was tied into a ponytail with a large but silver band keeping it together, and stormy eyes that sunk into Shay as she skidded to a halt. The lady in front of her was well known to everyone, a lady who murdered elves right where they stood and the best friend of the Lady of Assassins. Someone who ought not to be reckoned with. Gela Adolpha.
She slipped as she stopped herself, landing on her tailbone with a painful smack. Shay became winded, heaving as the Commander tutted, now glaring at the guards who were now bowing to her behind the fallen Shaylen. The duo had rosey cheeks as they tried to catch their breaths, they quickly straightened themselves.
‘Kyle and Laventia, what went wrong?’ Gela said, a posh voice coming from her thin lips.
‘We thought it would be easier to sedate her, ma’am, clearly we underestimated the will of the girl because she hit the back of her head against the front of my helmet, a clever move we didn’t expect,’ reported the female guard, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.
‘Thank you for the honesty, Lav.’ Gela responded with a tight smile, glancing at Kyle who was not meeting her gaze but was staring down towards Shay. Gela’s face turned serious again, ‘Now, take the prisoner to the cart, you can go off duty after you give them to the guards inside the dungeons.’
Shay’s visions swirled, she felt the thumping through her head before she even knew she was going to pass out. When she realised this, she said to the three people who stood above her, ‘Can you pick me up and not drag me next? Gracias, pedos.’
The world went dark.
The sounds of the carriage’s creaking wheels woke Shay up with a start. In taking the cotton bag’s stench made her head pound, it was vile. She tried to move her hands but they were tied behind her. Shay pulled on the rope and winced as it sliced her wrists. Sucking in a breath, Shay tried to shake the bag off her head before she suffocated in the smell. A bitter taste formed in her mouth as they rode on, anxiety and curiosity filling her as she pondered on.
If she was truly going to the main city of Dathern, she would be hung for a murder she didn’t actually mean to commit.
“Does anyone know where we're going?" whispered a posh and male voice from the shadows. It was so unexpected Shaylen had to stop herself from yelping. She was about to open her mouth when the wagon jolted and Shay was flown to side, crashing into a someone next to her, who yelled angrily in language that could passed as Shaylen’s common tongue, Spanish.
"What was that?" gasped a muffled voice from outside the moving carriage, Shay recalled his name, Kyle, one of the guards who had arrested her,
“Kyle,” the other guard, Laventia replied snarkily, "if I knew, I would have told you." With the carriage stopping, Shay pushed off the person she collided with her elbow, pushing into probably a rib. She heard a thump from outside and the crunching of pebbles indicating that one of the guards were now off Shay’s ride. To Shay’s left, she heard the clunking of the lock as the guard opened the door and light flooded into the wagon, which Shay could see glimpses of through the thick fabric on her head. Laventia wasn’t wearing her helmet, so her long red hair was tied in a ponytail. She glared at the prisoners, hatred in her eyes.
“It had to be a snag in the roads, the wheels are not damaged and none of the prisoners have done anything strange,’ Laventia reported, about to shut the door before a shadow dropped behind the guard. Shay leaned forward and squinted her eyes to get a better look at the figure now standing there. Through the holes of the bag, she observed the stranger. A dark purple hood shadowed their face and a matching cloak swept across their back and most of their front. Laventia turned, hand on her hilt of sword. A flash of a silver blade from under the cloak and a sweeping motion.
"HOLY SH-" the female guard screamed before being hit in the face with the blunt side of the blade.
"Swearing is not tolerated, sorry." the stranger said, his voice heavily accented as he flipped the blade in his gloved hand, and sheathed the blade. He picked up Laventia by under her arms and dragged her off to the side, most likely next to the road, Shay guessed. Kyle ran into her eyesight, sword wielded as he stopped in front of the wagon and he pointed the tip into the back of the stranger.
“You are breaking a Dathernian Law, drop any weapons you have and fall to your knees, or may Lady Satella vouch for me,” snarled Kyle, his opponent lowered himself to his knees, stilling facing away from Kyle. “Drop your weapons, now.”
Taking out an arsenal of weapons, knives, two swords, five darts and more knives, he laid them on the road’s floor next to him in a pile. Shay tried to scoot closer to the door, so she could see more but as she pulled on her wrists, someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Frozen with fear, she glanced at the hand with the corner of her eye. It was gloved, with black silk that clung to the owner’s fingers, long and slender and a navy wrist gauntlet that collided with the glove.
The hand released itself and its owner moved past Shay with a swift movement, a cloak of feathery blue and black, every step releasing no sound as they crept behind Kyle. Shay did not know who to trust, the weapon-wielding cloaked strangers or the Kingdom Guard who had a right to arrest Shay. It was one or the other.
Shaylen made her decision as the cloak stranger reached the edge of the prison wagon, “Watch out!”
Kyle turned as the hooded stranger and raised his sword as the hooded figure threw themselves down onto him with a small knife in hand. A clang of metal made Shaylen’s ears ring. Kyle pushed on his opponent with immense force, and his opponent keeled backwards. Shay felt a spike of hope fill up in her chest. Then the stranger kicked him the stomach.
Kyle staggered backwards, the sword in his hand dropping with a clang onto the cobble road, falling as he vomited up his latest meal. Shay turned away as she listened to the sounds of the chunks hitting the stones and looked at the other prisoners.
“That’s disgusting, man up” an accented voice rang out, Shaylen turned back to the purple hooded stranger and their blue companion They stood before Kyle, who was still puking.
“The first time you were kicked in the stomach you stayed in bed for three days.,” the blue one replied.
Purple hissed a reply in their native tongue.
Blue turned around and stalked over to the pile of weapons, picked up a knife and examined it. Shay still couldn’t see their face. Purple walked up behind Blue, placing a hand gently on Blue’s shoulder who stood like stone, still fiddling with the silver blade. Shaylen heard a murmur in reply.
Blue swirled around, grabbing Purple’s arm in a flash of movements. Shay could not believe her eyes as the character threw Purple to the floor and bent their arm in an odd angle behind their back.
“You had an order, follow it, or else you’ll fail your assessment and I’ll have to throw you to the Slums,” snapped Blue, Shay understanding every word. Purple tried to resist but the person upon him kept their firm grip, uttering a series of strange words. After a minute, he stopped struggling and cursing. Blue got up and brushed off the dirt that attached itself on their clothes. Cursing, Purple propped himself up and moved into a sitting position.is hood had fallen when being beaten by Blue.
A young adult by observation, he looked around twenty and was very good looking. The male had an angular face with a softly shaped jaw and defined cheekbones. A thin nose crooked slightly to the side unnaturally. His raven hair was undercut, cut in a way to make the quiff of black on the top of his head poof. Jade eyes that shone in the sun’s dim light, they were narrow and glistened with pain as he stood up. He was tall, standing around five feet and seven inches. The movement caused the clothes are his cloak to reveal a flash of black and silver.
Blue handed the boy his weapons and turned to Shay and the other prisoners in the covered wagon. Shay caught a pair of silvery blue eyes under the shadowing hood, staring into Shay’s mahogany pair. A dark feeling passed through her, making her shiver and squirm in her already uncomfortable wooden seat. Blue froze and kept on examining Shaylen. “Filip, go back to the Valley, report to the Lady that I am taking the seven back myself.”
The boy, Filip, replied in the language, interrupted, staggering over to his accomplice.
“Do as I say, brother, I will tell the Lady that there was a snag and hopefully we don’t get caught,” Blue still stood staring in Shay’s eyes as they spoke. Shay broke the staring competition to stare at Filip, who sighed, pulling up his hood up again and muttering his odd language again, Shay could barely hear it:
“Esie gis poad.” The purple cloak around him shimmered, it hurt to gaze upon, the purple fabric seemed to merge with his surroundings, camouflaging him. With that, Filip disappeared into nothing.
Purple glided over, every step was quiet and graceful. The dark blue snood covered everything but their eyes that analysed everything and observed anything. They reached the open door of the wagon, looking around at the prisoners, Shay sucked in a breath, picking up the courage to say, “Quien es- I mean, who are you?”
Without uttering a reply, the blue-eyed stranger drew a vial, a swirling pink gas was trapped inside, pushing against the glass, as if trying to escape. A boy Shay elbowed beforehand and spoke, “Cos'è quello?”
Yet again, Blue-Eyes did not respond. They removed the cork from the top of the vial, quickly stepping onto the wagon and placing it.he gas poured out of the vial like wasps from their nest that had been struck. With that, Blue slammed the wagon’s door, leaving the inside darkness once again. Shay lashed her foot out, kicking against the door, trying to smash it open. After a minute, Shaylen tired and gave up. Her eyes were drooping and Shay leant against something behind her, her body aching with exhaustion. Shay kept blinking, trying to keep them from closing, yet they did.
The world went dark.
Never had Rasfyr been more confused, well, except maybe GCSE Physics lessons, but being arrested for going through a library, even if the books were actually ancient manuscripts, was the most confusing thing Rasfyr had done. Then Rasfyr had to endure the painful day of sitting patiently in the Prisoner Wagon, or at least that is what he named it, listening to the other criminals being shoved into the wagon.
The weather outside of the wagon had shifted quickly from the light grey skies of the morning to a dull grey of the evening, rain falling heavily outside in bursts. When the strange person in blue placed down that vial and shut the doors, Rasfyr didn’t know what was to come.
He woke hours later, the rain outside music to his ears, as his eyes flutter open, revealing the bright colours of the sky dancing that were embroidered in his eyes. The bag once on his head was gone, allowing him to breathe more pleasant air than before, he looked around and saw darkness.
It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, six others sat on the uncomfortable seats of the prisoner wagon. He saw forms of ragged clothes and tangled hair, the slumping bodies leaning against the wood of the wagon or each other, Rasfyr slumped and he waited.
Pat, pat, pat. The rain’s poetry gave in beats, the sounds of wheels rolling across the road beneath, a drum of thunder and then a bright flash between the small cracks of the wooden walls. Rasfyr was not scared, he was calm. Rasfyr did not care for the destination or what would happen to him, for he has been so lost in a land somewhere he didn’t know for three years. So, he listened and waited.
Rasfyr watched as the others began to stir, he watched the girl opposite him, a girl with dark hair opened her eyes. She leant upon a boy with a mop of dark placed upon his head, who was still slept. The girl noticed Rasfyr’s gaze and spoke in Rasfyr’s own language, her voice was accented, “Do you know where we go?"
“No, sorry.” He replied stiffly, his posh voice seeping out. With a nod, the girl glanced around, taking in the darkness, leaning upright. She spoke again, this time her voice quivered.
“Do you think we go to the prison? The persons who arrested me said that we are, but the clothed two took control,” She pointed out, Rasfyr her English was good but still faltered.
“I don’t believe so.” silence, before he asked her a question instead, “How do you know English so well?”
“I teached myself whilst my father-” she paused before continuing, “my father was away on work, he always told me English was the language of the businesses.” Rasfyr didn’t think that initially true, but he didn’t pry and once again, they lapsed into a silence. A silence that lasted for a long time? How long? Is something Rasfyr didn’t know. Some of the others had awoken and were staring around into darkness. The rattling stopped of the wheels stopped, the rain continued, causing the girl and him to lean up in anticipation, others who had finally awoken were also leaning up and staring at the door.
It swung open, light flooding in, revealing the stranger from earlier, still around in the colours of sadness, their gloved hands clenched the doors as rain splashed down from dark clouds above. The cloak that hid them had droplets of water running down it as if it were waterproof. Rasfyr felt uneasy as the spits of water flew into his face, the wind pushing against his cheeks, the figure stared at him with those silver-blue eyes, calculating something.
Rasfyr looked around at the others, their faces representing only fear, then he turned to the girl opposite him. She had dark brown hair and mahogany eyes and wore worn clothes like the rest of us. The girl was in a staring contest with the blue figure, almost challenging them, she spoke in a quivered voice, "Who are you?"
This stranger didn't answer, they seemed to be good at that, but instead, they pulled out another water flask and handed it to the girl, speaking in their own language. Nodding, the caramel-skinned girl opened the flask and took a sip, appearing like she understood the weird person.
"Drink." The girl said, in a strong voice, looking at Rasfyr and holding the flask out, he glanced at the criminals in the wagon, now noticing they all looked like young adults. He shrugged and took the flask from her, taking a sip. A sour mixture ran down his throat, making him gag, reminding him of Toxic Wastes. His throat and mouth burnt, a weird feeling ran down his body, his ears popped uncomfortably.
Rasfyr shoved the flask into the person’s hands next to him, who took a sip, whilst looking at the floor and gagging still. In the corner of his eye, he saw the boy from earlier walking towards the wagon, dressed in purple like before. He asked in a raspy voice, “What did you give us..?” The unpleasant taste dimmed but the weirdness, “And who are you?”
“I would like to know that too,” a feminine voice rung out behind him, he turned to see a girl with dark ginger hair. She narrowed a glare at the duo, her brown eyes burning holes into them. A moment passed, neither of the cloaked strangers answered. Instead, the girl opposite Rasfyr spoke once more.
“The one in purple, his name is Filip and the other I don’t know,” their kidnappers turned to her, the one in purple clearly shocked at how she knew, yet he replied with a nod.
“I am called Filip, yes,” he informed the group of criminals, side glancing at his companion before saying, “and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Valley of Assassins.”
She turned the large handle with a click, pushing against the wood with effort that made the door swing open. A wave of warmth flooded out the room, a calming spell of tranquility washing over Fovea as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
“Lady Fovea, the new child is screaming again, it won't allow us to sleep,” the eldest child in the Ward reported, coming up to her as soon as she entered, their voice heavy with tiredness and annoyance.
“Alex, what have I said about using those pronouns?” Fovea demanded, receiving only a murmur for an answer. She strode across the room, Alex trailing her, as she passed the resting children. Fovea reached the bed of question.
A small child sat upon ruffled covers, their legs tucked tightly close to their chest as they shook violently.A torch nearby illuminated the pale green tinge of the child's skin, unusual to say the least, yet Fovea placed her hand on a soft head of hair and stroked it.
“Child, what’s wrong?” a calm whisper escaped from her mouth. The child looked up at her, their big eyes full of fear, making Fovea’s heart ache.
“I had a- a night- nightmare, I was sur- surrounded by bodies of the oth- other kids,” the child stammered. Fovea cast a knowing look at Alex, ordering them silently to leave before turning to the child once more.
“It was just a nightmare, my darling, just a nightmare. It will all be okay,” Fovea pulled them into an embrace, brushing their hair gently. A moment passed and the sniffling died down. The child pushed out of the embrace and began to lie down on their bed, Fovea safely tucking them in with a small smile.
With the child under the thin covers, Fovea rose, eyes remaining on the child. Every child in the room stared at her with darkened eyes, gripping their covers tightly.
Calmly, she spoke to them all, her eyes never leaving the child she had just comforted, “One day you will be given the choice to stay or leave. That day will be the day you will grow to be greater than ever, my child, no matter what path you choose. Every child is destined for greatness, it is just the child who needs to accept this and do something about it.”
Fovea left the room, hoping the child would rest well.
Near the bed of the child who cried, another child was awake, a pair of silver blue eyes staring at the dark ceiling above them.
14 YEARS LATER
"Get your hands off me, estias pedos!" screamed Shaylen. Her hair flew as she struggled, the cinnamon strands flew revealing a worn out purple dye. The two guards who had grabbed her struggled to keep their grip as her hair flung into their faces. Shaylen shook her head as she tried to stop the duo grabbing her from behind, they shoved a rough and gritty cotton bag over her head, crying out as the feeling of prickles from the bag along her skin.
"You’re under arrest, kid, so stay quiet," one of them ordered, pushing her to God knew where. Shay kept struggling, the fear pushing her to try to escape from the clutches of the strangers. Her breathing pattern became a mix of panting and desperate breaths through the fabric of the bag. She was tiring. Shaylen’s caramel legs began to ache from pushing against the ground but she was still fighting on. One of her captors cursed colourfully and yelped when Shay stomped her foot on hers, "Can we just sedate her?"
"Tha’ would be a lot easier, can ya hold her for a second?" replied the other, Shaylen went limp, an idea forming in her head. With only one of the guards holding her, Shay threw her head back like they did in films where they were trying to escape. Instead of a nose, she hit metal. A dull thud sent vibrations down her body, a sharp spike forming the area she had hit. But the act had done its job, the guard gasped and loosened her grip on the seventeen-year-old. Shay pushed through the guard’s arms and pushed off with a sprint.
The pounding of her feet and cobblestones below sent familiar jolts up her legs and spine. She ripped the bag off her head and let her hair fly out, the wind whooshed in her ears. Shay looked over a shoulder, the two guards ran after her, their silver blades in hand and the dulled yellow gems on the silver helmets glittered in the light of the sun.
Shaylen turned back at the last second, a tall figure stood in her way. A lady dressed in silver armour stood before her, a violet cape strapped to her back revealed her power. The Royal Commander. Her face was pale and unforgiving, the platinum grey of her hair was tied into a ponytail with a large but silver band keeping it together, and stormy eyes that sunk into Shay as she skidded to a halt. The lady in front of her was well known to everyone, a lady who murdered elves right where they stood and the best friend of the Lady of Assassins. Someone who ought not to be reckoned with. Gela Adolpha.
She slipped as she stopped herself, landing on her tailbone with a painful smack. Shay became winded, heaving as the Commander tutted, now glaring at the guards who were now bowing to her behind the fallen Shaylen. The duo had rosey cheeks as they tried to catch their breaths, they quickly straightened themselves.
‘Kyle and Laventia, what went wrong?’ Gela said, a posh voice coming from her thin lips.
‘We thought it would be easier to sedate her, ma’am, clearly we underestimated the will of the girl because she hit the back of her head against the front of my helmet, a clever move we didn’t expect,’ reported the female guard, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.
‘Thank you for the honesty, Lav.’ Gela responded with a tight smile, glancing at Kyle who was not meeting her gaze but was staring down towards Shay. Gela’s face turned serious again, ‘Now, take the prisoner to the cart, you can go off duty after you give them to the guards inside the dungeons.’
Shay’s visions swirled, she felt the thumping through her head before she even knew she was going to pass out. When she realised this, she said to the three people who stood above her, ‘Can you pick me up and not drag me next? Gracias, pedos.’
The world went dark.
~
The sounds of the carriage’s creaking wheels woke Shay up with a start. In taking the cotton bag’s stench made her head pound, it was vile. She tried to move her hands but they were tied behind her. Shay pulled on the rope and winced as it sliced her wrists. Sucking in a breath, Shay tried to shake the bag off her head before she suffocated in the smell. A bitter taste formed in her mouth as they rode on, anxiety and curiosity filling her as she pondered on.
If she was truly going to the main city of Dathern, she would be hung for a murder she didn’t actually mean to commit.
“Does anyone know where we're going?" whispered a posh and male voice from the shadows. It was so unexpected Shaylen had to stop herself from yelping. She was about to open her mouth when the wagon jolted and Shay was flown to side, crashing into a someone next to her, who yelled angrily in language that could passed as Shaylen’s common tongue, Spanish.
"What was that?" gasped a muffled voice from outside the moving carriage, Shay recalled his name, Kyle, one of the guards who had arrested her,
“Kyle,” the other guard, Laventia replied snarkily, "if I knew, I would have told you." With the carriage stopping, Shay pushed off the person she collided with her elbow, pushing into probably a rib. She heard a thump from outside and the crunching of pebbles indicating that one of the guards were now off Shay’s ride. To Shay’s left, she heard the clunking of the lock as the guard opened the door and light flooded into the wagon, which Shay could see glimpses of through the thick fabric on her head. Laventia wasn’t wearing her helmet, so her long red hair was tied in a ponytail. She glared at the prisoners, hatred in her eyes.
“It had to be a snag in the roads, the wheels are not damaged and none of the prisoners have done anything strange,’ Laventia reported, about to shut the door before a shadow dropped behind the guard. Shay leaned forward and squinted her eyes to get a better look at the figure now standing there. Through the holes of the bag, she observed the stranger. A dark purple hood shadowed their face and a matching cloak swept across their back and most of their front. Laventia turned, hand on her hilt of sword. A flash of a silver blade from under the cloak and a sweeping motion.
"HOLY SH-" the female guard screamed before being hit in the face with the blunt side of the blade.
"Swearing is not tolerated, sorry." the stranger said, his voice heavily accented as he flipped the blade in his gloved hand, and sheathed the blade. He picked up Laventia by under her arms and dragged her off to the side, most likely next to the road, Shay guessed. Kyle ran into her eyesight, sword wielded as he stopped in front of the wagon and he pointed the tip into the back of the stranger.
“You are breaking a Dathernian Law, drop any weapons you have and fall to your knees, or may Lady Satella vouch for me,” snarled Kyle, his opponent lowered himself to his knees, stilling facing away from Kyle. “Drop your weapons, now.”
Taking out an arsenal of weapons, knives, two swords, five darts and more knives, he laid them on the road’s floor next to him in a pile. Shay tried to scoot closer to the door, so she could see more but as she pulled on her wrists, someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Frozen with fear, she glanced at the hand with the corner of her eye. It was gloved, with black silk that clung to the owner’s fingers, long and slender and a navy wrist gauntlet that collided with the glove.
The hand released itself and its owner moved past Shay with a swift movement, a cloak of feathery blue and black, every step releasing no sound as they crept behind Kyle. Shay did not know who to trust, the weapon-wielding cloaked strangers or the Kingdom Guard who had a right to arrest Shay. It was one or the other.
Shaylen made her decision as the cloak stranger reached the edge of the prison wagon, “Watch out!”
Kyle turned as the hooded stranger and raised his sword as the hooded figure threw themselves down onto him with a small knife in hand. A clang of metal made Shaylen’s ears ring. Kyle pushed on his opponent with immense force, and his opponent keeled backwards. Shay felt a spike of hope fill up in her chest. Then the stranger kicked him the stomach.
Kyle staggered backwards, the sword in his hand dropping with a clang onto the cobble road, falling as he vomited up his latest meal. Shay turned away as she listened to the sounds of the chunks hitting the stones and looked at the other prisoners.
“That’s disgusting, man up” an accented voice rang out, Shaylen turned back to the purple hooded stranger and their blue companion They stood before Kyle, who was still puking.
“The first time you were kicked in the stomach you stayed in bed for three days.,” the blue one replied.
Purple hissed a reply in their native tongue.
Blue turned around and stalked over to the pile of weapons, picked up a knife and examined it. Shay still couldn’t see their face. Purple walked up behind Blue, placing a hand gently on Blue’s shoulder who stood like stone, still fiddling with the silver blade. Shaylen heard a murmur in reply.
Blue swirled around, grabbing Purple’s arm in a flash of movements. Shay could not believe her eyes as the character threw Purple to the floor and bent their arm in an odd angle behind their back.
“You had an order, follow it, or else you’ll fail your assessment and I’ll have to throw you to the Slums,” snapped Blue, Shay understanding every word. Purple tried to resist but the person upon him kept their firm grip, uttering a series of strange words. After a minute, he stopped struggling and cursing. Blue got up and brushed off the dirt that attached itself on their clothes. Cursing, Purple propped himself up and moved into a sitting position.is hood had fallen when being beaten by Blue.
A young adult by observation, he looked around twenty and was very good looking. The male had an angular face with a softly shaped jaw and defined cheekbones. A thin nose crooked slightly to the side unnaturally. His raven hair was undercut, cut in a way to make the quiff of black on the top of his head poof. Jade eyes that shone in the sun’s dim light, they were narrow and glistened with pain as he stood up. He was tall, standing around five feet and seven inches. The movement caused the clothes are his cloak to reveal a flash of black and silver.
Blue handed the boy his weapons and turned to Shay and the other prisoners in the covered wagon. Shay caught a pair of silvery blue eyes under the shadowing hood, staring into Shay’s mahogany pair. A dark feeling passed through her, making her shiver and squirm in her already uncomfortable wooden seat. Blue froze and kept on examining Shaylen. “Filip, go back to the Valley, report to the Lady that I am taking the seven back myself.”
The boy, Filip, replied in the language, interrupted, staggering over to his accomplice.
“Do as I say, brother, I will tell the Lady that there was a snag and hopefully we don’t get caught,” Blue still stood staring in Shay’s eyes as they spoke. Shay broke the staring competition to stare at Filip, who sighed, pulling up his hood up again and muttering his odd language again, Shay could barely hear it:
“Esie gis poad.” The purple cloak around him shimmered, it hurt to gaze upon, the purple fabric seemed to merge with his surroundings, camouflaging him. With that, Filip disappeared into nothing.
Purple glided over, every step was quiet and graceful. The dark blue snood covered everything but their eyes that analysed everything and observed anything. They reached the open door of the wagon, looking around at the prisoners, Shay sucked in a breath, picking up the courage to say, “Quien es- I mean, who are you?”
Without uttering a reply, the blue-eyed stranger drew a vial, a swirling pink gas was trapped inside, pushing against the glass, as if trying to escape. A boy Shay elbowed beforehand and spoke, “Cos'è quello?”
Yet again, Blue-Eyes did not respond. They removed the cork from the top of the vial, quickly stepping onto the wagon and placing it.he gas poured out of the vial like wasps from their nest that had been struck. With that, Blue slammed the wagon’s door, leaving the inside darkness once again. Shay lashed her foot out, kicking against the door, trying to smash it open. After a minute, Shaylen tired and gave up. Her eyes were drooping and Shay leant against something behind her, her body aching with exhaustion. Shay kept blinking, trying to keep them from closing, yet they did.
The world went dark.
*
Never had Rasfyr been more confused, well, except maybe GCSE Physics lessons, but being arrested for going through a library, even if the books were actually ancient manuscripts, was the most confusing thing Rasfyr had done. Then Rasfyr had to endure the painful day of sitting patiently in the Prisoner Wagon, or at least that is what he named it, listening to the other criminals being shoved into the wagon.
The weather outside of the wagon had shifted quickly from the light grey skies of the morning to a dull grey of the evening, rain falling heavily outside in bursts. When the strange person in blue placed down that vial and shut the doors, Rasfyr didn’t know what was to come.
He woke hours later, the rain outside music to his ears, as his eyes flutter open, revealing the bright colours of the sky dancing that were embroidered in his eyes. The bag once on his head was gone, allowing him to breathe more pleasant air than before, he looked around and saw darkness.
It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, six others sat on the uncomfortable seats of the prisoner wagon. He saw forms of ragged clothes and tangled hair, the slumping bodies leaning against the wood of the wagon or each other, Rasfyr slumped and he waited.
Pat, pat, pat. The rain’s poetry gave in beats, the sounds of wheels rolling across the road beneath, a drum of thunder and then a bright flash between the small cracks of the wooden walls. Rasfyr was not scared, he was calm. Rasfyr did not care for the destination or what would happen to him, for he has been so lost in a land somewhere he didn’t know for three years. So, he listened and waited.
Rasfyr watched as the others began to stir, he watched the girl opposite him, a girl with dark hair opened her eyes. She leant upon a boy with a mop of dark placed upon his head, who was still slept. The girl noticed Rasfyr’s gaze and spoke in Rasfyr’s own language, her voice was accented, “Do you know where we go?"
“No, sorry.” He replied stiffly, his posh voice seeping out. With a nod, the girl glanced around, taking in the darkness, leaning upright. She spoke again, this time her voice quivered.
“Do you think we go to the prison? The persons who arrested me said that we are, but the clothed two took control,” She pointed out, Rasfyr her English was good but still faltered.
“I don’t believe so.” silence, before he asked her a question instead, “How do you know English so well?”
“I teached myself whilst my father-” she paused before continuing, “my father was away on work, he always told me English was the language of the businesses.” Rasfyr didn’t think that initially true, but he didn’t pry and once again, they lapsed into a silence. A silence that lasted for a long time? How long? Is something Rasfyr didn’t know. Some of the others had awoken and were staring around into darkness. The rattling stopped of the wheels stopped, the rain continued, causing the girl and him to lean up in anticipation, others who had finally awoken were also leaning up and staring at the door.
It swung open, light flooding in, revealing the stranger from earlier, still around in the colours of sadness, their gloved hands clenched the doors as rain splashed down from dark clouds above. The cloak that hid them had droplets of water running down it as if it were waterproof. Rasfyr felt uneasy as the spits of water flew into his face, the wind pushing against his cheeks, the figure stared at him with those silver-blue eyes, calculating something.
Rasfyr looked around at the others, their faces representing only fear, then he turned to the girl opposite him. She had dark brown hair and mahogany eyes and wore worn clothes like the rest of us. The girl was in a staring contest with the blue figure, almost challenging them, she spoke in a quivered voice, "Who are you?"
This stranger didn't answer, they seemed to be good at that, but instead, they pulled out another water flask and handed it to the girl, speaking in their own language. Nodding, the caramel-skinned girl opened the flask and took a sip, appearing like she understood the weird person.
"Drink." The girl said, in a strong voice, looking at Rasfyr and holding the flask out, he glanced at the criminals in the wagon, now noticing they all looked like young adults. He shrugged and took the flask from her, taking a sip. A sour mixture ran down his throat, making him gag, reminding him of Toxic Wastes. His throat and mouth burnt, a weird feeling ran down his body, his ears popped uncomfortably.
Rasfyr shoved the flask into the person’s hands next to him, who took a sip, whilst looking at the floor and gagging still. In the corner of his eye, he saw the boy from earlier walking towards the wagon, dressed in purple like before. He asked in a raspy voice, “What did you give us..?” The unpleasant taste dimmed but the weirdness, “And who are you?”
“I would like to know that too,” a feminine voice rung out behind him, he turned to see a girl with dark ginger hair. She narrowed a glare at the duo, her brown eyes burning holes into them. A moment passed, neither of the cloaked strangers answered. Instead, the girl opposite Rasfyr spoke once more.
“The one in purple, his name is Filip and the other I don’t know,” their kidnappers turned to her, the one in purple clearly shocked at how she knew, yet he replied with a nod.
“I am called Filip, yes,” he informed the group of criminals, side glancing at his companion before saying, “and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Valley of Assassins.”
Everyone rubbed their wrists, Rasfyr included, as the group of criminals filed out of the wagon after Filip and ‘Blue’, rightly dubbed by the caramel-skinned girl who introduced herself as Shaylen, cut the ropes that tied them to a long strip of wood. Filip told Rasfyr and the others that the potion his acquaintance gave them gifted the seven the ability to understand every language in the land.
“Wait, how will others understand us, we all speak different languages?” pointed out a boy with sandy brown hair, tanned skin and a pair of liquid gold eyes filled with questions and no answers.
“To everyone else, you shall be speaking their language, but only Datherian and Asanish, you won’t be able to speak Goblish or Elven.” Filip stretched his arms over his head which lifted the hem of shirt upwards, Rasfyr’s eyes quickly taking a peek before darting to look at the interesting pebble by his foot and his friend stood on a rock to the side of the road sharpening a silver blade.
“Are we still able to speak our own languages?” asked a girl with a mop of short but messy black hair that swayed in the wind, strands of hair stuck to her forehead as the rain continued.
“Did you not listen to a word I just said? No, you probably are going to have to learn your tongue again, if you wish to.”
Rasfyr rolled his eyes and then analysed his surroundings, the rain falling lightly upon his face in a tranquil state, the prisoner wagon sat upon a byroad that sat next to a ledge that uncomfortably dropped downwards, a rock pile at the bottom. Trees grew along the bottom of the stones, they spread to where they reached the horizon, a series of hills stretched out making a ridge and making Rasfyr remember England, where he grew up.
Sadness washed over Rasfyr, three years ago he woke up in a place he didn’t know and people who stared at him when he ran down the streets of the Porta Empire’s capital, he thought of his parents, who raised him to love. Yet, were they thinking of him? Did they miss him as he missed them? Rasfry’s mind wandered as he stood staring at the same spot, he ignored the sound of chatter behind him, his thoughts clouding everything he did.
A click in front of his nose, he jumped back to reality, blinking as he moved to look at Shaylen who stood beside him. Shaylen lowered her hands, smiling softly before inquiring: “Are you okay?”
“Yes— I mean I think so, just a lot to process,” fumbled Rasfyr, his hands fidgeting.
“I understand,” Shaylen smiled, brushing her hand through strands of damp hair, a purple became a visible sea of dark brown.
“When did you dye your hair?” Rasfyr pointed at a loose curl that fell down her shoulder, Shaylen instinctively started playing with it.
“Before I appear—” She stopped herself from saying anything else, making a quick lie— “years ago and it faded due to time.” She looked nervously at Rasfyr, who nodded with a face that read ‘I-know-you’re-lying’ but smiled anyway. Shaylen grinned then sighed, “I dyed it before I woke up in this strange place.”
“Wait, you woke up here? Around three years ago? Unsure how you got here?”
“Yes? Should I not have… I mean did receive a lot of stares, but I didn’t know what was happening at the time so I panicked and ran down the streets screaming about there not being pige—”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rasfyr cut in, “I woke three years ago as well… do you think it’s connected, that we just arrived here?” Shaylen frowned, her gaze moving to look at the horizon as a flock of birds flew over the woodland.
“We should as the others when we get to wherever we’re going,” she finally decided. She and Rasfyr fell into a comfortable silence, which was rudely interrupted.
“You two, get over here! We’re leaving!” called Filip from behind them, the duo spun around to look at the cloaked ones, both readying to leave. Rasfyr’s heart melted as he watched as Filip stood up with ease and strolled over to his companion, chatting to them in a hushed voice, with a cocky grin plastered on his face. In his head, he yelled to snap out of it.
The two walked down the path winding up the valley’s slop, not caring to check if the others were following.
“Do we follow them or do we just run for it?” a girl with almost peroxide blonde hair and dark azure rimmed with blueish grey eyes. A tut escaped from another, a thin figure around the height of five feet and seven inches with pale skin and short sooty hair. Then he strutted off, following the two.
“How long have we been walking for?” whined the boy with sandy blond hair from earlier.
“Three hours, we just have two more bends till we reach our destination,” Filip replied cheerfully, he and his friend were thriving, not slowing down and not complaining about pain.
Shaylen, or Shay as she preferred, weakened her stride so she could be walking next to Rafyr, “So you mentioned earlier we’re walking the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and I was wondering—”
“The valley of what?” Filip butted in, confusion written all across is way-too-attractive face.
“Shay, I think he said Valley of Assassins and not the bible one,” Rasfyr sighed, wiping a face across his face with a shake of his head.
“Yes, we are in the Valley of Assassins,” Rasfyr chuckled, “It’s not as bad as it seems, my friend.”
“What if assassins come and try to kill us?” croaked the peroxide-haired girl who heard what Filip said, her chartreuse full of intense worry.
A scoff from the snarky boy from earlier, his eye roll, irritating Rasfyr, he then said, “They are obviously assassins themselves, the cloaks make it so obvious.”
“Yes, we’re assassins,” Filip admitted before noticing all their faces, “but we do not kill everyone we see before you get all worried.”
“Whom do you kill then?” asked Shaylen cautiously.
“Who we are ordered to kill.” A voice snapped viciously from the front, it was Blue, they had turned around to look at the others, their eyes piercing through them. “Now move or else we will be late.”
With that exciting message, Blue spun around and stomped on.
The rest of the journey was in silence, Blue halting in front of a base of a tall mountain, where a small door was carved into the stone. When everyone was present, Filip wandered to the door and opened it to reveal a passage going through the mountain, Filip smiled at the others and then gestured to the passage.
Sharing a glance with Shaylen, Rasfyr walked forward and went through the passage, Shay following. The passage was carved into stone, its walls were covered in large symbols and drawings, causing Rasfyr to stop to analyse them. One of the drawings told a story of a bird attacking a lion, the lion won and the bird was thrown into a cage and whilst in the cage, the bird was visited by a fox-like creature, who freed the bird. What a strange story, Rasfyr thought.
Shay pushed him to continue walking.
At the end of the passage, they appeared in outside area where the rain once again pounded down upon the nine, a white building with a large door made from a dark wood. At a closer look, Rasfyr noticed a giant bird in flight pattern carved into the wood, with numerous animals underneath its’ wings. Blue turned the doorknob and pushed their shoulder against it, with a click it swung open.
Rasfyr wiped his face, removing the freezing water from his cheeks and lips, then looked around the room they walked into. His mouth fell into a gape.
A hall, large enough for his whole school to fit in, it looked like a church with the high ceiling, but instead of greys and browns, pure whiteness, a caste of beauty and strength. Quartz floor that reflected the multiple flaming torches’ glow, a pattern of flowers was mixed into the stone. Large pillars either side of the hall, reaching to the ceiling far above, bone stained glass windows sat in between each pillar, every window with a different animal. Strangers draped in cloaks wandered around the hall, the purple cloaked ones leading children with excited faces through doors and smaller hallways, they all had their hoods down revealing them to be mostly young adults and adults. Some groups stopped to stare at the nine that walked in, making Rasfyr shudder and so he looked elsewhere.
“This is the Hall of Ancients,” informed Filip, his eyes bored as he glanced around the room, as if he was no longer captivated by the beauty of the room.
His eyes wandered to the patterned pillars that had a series of birds carved into who rested on trees, each bird a different colour, most a pale purple and each with a different name etched into their bellies, Rasfyr caught the sight of the name on the bird nearest him Fovea Dagrues at the base of a tree, as if starting a new tree. Looking up the pillar, he saw the name Filip Rose appeared on a pale purple bird with a pale blue bird next to Filip’s, the name Nox Parker inscribed into the belly.
Filip ushered the group through the hall, Blue leading them in powerful steps, the groups of children moving out of their way, still not lowering their hood. Reaching the end of the hall, Rasfyr noticed a group of five people, four with the same dark blue cloak as Blue and one with a cloak of pure white and her back turned to the nine, each with their hood down.
Blue coughed into their hand, catching the attention of the five in front of them.
The lady in white turned from the ones she was with and analysed the seven and the two assassins who had just arrived. Rasfyr felt a snake of cold air slither down his back. Hair the colour of her enemies' blood swept down her back in a waterfall, her fern coloured oval eyes spiking thorns into the bodies of the seven. She had a pointed face with a sharp nose, her mouth flattened as she finished her assessment of the seven and moved forward towards Filip and the other assassin. Her cloak wrapped around her swayed in the light wind that leaked into the room from the grand open windows, its snow coloured fabric comusing the light of the torches.
“Take the hood and bandana down, My Heir, you shan’t make a fool of yourself in front of others,” the lady snapped at Blue, her voice cold and commanding, but Blue did as they were ordered and pulled off the hood. The hood fell, unravelling a dark brownish-grey head of hair, swept into a tight high ponytail, kept together with a metal band. Blue reached up and started to remove the bandana that still covered their face. In Rasfyr’s opinion, Blue was gorgeous, from the side at least, they had olive skin which shone in the light of the fire, a sharp nose and jaw. The lady smiled, “there we go, wasn’t hard was it?”
“No, my Lady, sorry for any inconvenience I must have created,” Blue responded, her voice sharp and tight.
“There was no inconvenience, just slight rudeness, My Heir. Now go consult with the other four and take Filip with you.” She waved a gloved hand, dismissing Blue and Filip, who nodded in submission and stalked over to the group of blue cloaks. She then turned to the seven, a thin-lipped smile appeared across her face.
“My name is Fovea Dragues, Lady of Assassins in Dathern, meaning I control every assassination upon these mortal places, or as you would prefer, the whole world.” Fovea stated, glaring spikes to anyone who dared to meet her gaze. Then she smiled warmly, noticing how the group shivered in their soaked raggedy clothes, she raised her hand and clicked her fingers. Blue glided over, her face emotionless as she reached the group and Fovea.
“Yes?” Blue asked.
“You are to take the seven to their assigned rooms and get them some food, I shall explain why they’re here tomorrow at breakfast, you shall wake them at rising-hour, don’t be late,” Fovea instructed Blue, who nodded before adding:
“Anything else, my Lady?”
“Report to my chamber after they have settled, the Heirs need to discuss their positions today. I shall see you later, Nox,” Fovea bid the seven goodbye then spun on her heel and striding away, the other blue cloaks and Filip following after her. Rasfyr looked up at Nox to see her frowning.
Something about the tall and strange girl who led them ticked Tsumi for doing nothing, she gave off an uncomfortable aura that annoyed him. The pretty girl with the caramel skin seemed to be fond of her, walking alongside her and chatting enthusiastically, the girl’s mahogany eyes full of happiness as if she was with a long lost friend.
Ten minutes later, the eight stopped in front of a large door with a sign above it that read “Private ward” and went inside. Instantly, Tsumi felt a wave of warmth brush against him. A crackling fire was placed in a fireplace in the far wall, four beds sat on the side of the room, vertically parallel to the opposite bed with puffed up pillows and purple duvet covers. Upon the wall hung a mirror and two paintings. It was comfortable.
“Choose a bed, you shall stay here for about two weeks before moving into separate bedrooms, I shall go get you some food and better clothes. Stay here for now and choose yourself a bed, no fighting, first come, first served,” Nox instructed the seven, walking over to the fire and placing another log in it. When they got back to the door she turned to the group and said, “Before anyone loses their minds, I am not female nor male.”
With that, they left.
“What do you think she meant?” Tsumi asked, he had heard of someone who doesn’t identify as the gender they were born as, but it was illegal and not tolerated in any country, other than Canada.
“Does it matter?” snapped the girl with caramel skin, “They don’t need to explain anything.” Then she sulked over to the left bed closest to the fire and sat down, another boy with ridiculously long brown hair following after her and claiming the bed next to hers.
Tsumi rolled his eyes and turned to Zephyrine, whispering to her, “What do you think Nox meant?”
"Who?” Zephyrine asked, their eyes drifting off to the right, trying to recall a memory.
“Nox? The assassin in blue? The one that led us up here?” Tsumi said, baffled by how easily Zeph forgot. Zephyrine frowned and then bit her lip.
“I’m sorry, I forgot,” she said quietly, Tsumi rolled his eyes and dismissed the thought, claiming the bed nearest to the door on the right, Zeph sat down to one next to him and instantly stood up again, her back facing towards the mirror.
“What’s wrong?” Zephyrine gestured behind her, shaking her head, Tsumi looked at the mirror and just saw his own reflection, “Do you not like mirrors?”
“It’s called catoptrophobia,” whined Zephryine.
“Bless you.”
“I’m not lying, please take it down or move it!” Tsumi got up and tried to pull down the mirror, it didn’t budge, placing his hands on his hips to think for a second. He tried to lift it up and then away, wondering if it was on a hook.
“The hell? What are you doing?” wondered the boy with dark brown hair, his electric blue eyes burning Tsumi, the others looked around him, except for Zeph who was staring at the ceiling.
“Trying to move the mirror,” Tsumi slurred, the other boy was about to open his mouth when the door opened, revealing Nox and two others. The new people were young, around eleven or twelve, a blond-haired boy and a brown haired girl, both carrying a pile of clothes. Nox carried a tray of food in one hand and a jug of water in the other, she placed it upon the unclaimed bed opposite Tsumi and allowed the children to do the same. Upon the plate, there were chicken wings, slices of bread and some butter on the side, some cheese, apples and oranges, and a bowl of salad.
“Thank you, that is all,” Nox tightly said to the children, who nodded and left the room without another word. Nox then turned to the seven, “Change into some dry clothes then give me your dirty ones.”
“Where?” asked a girl with blonde hair and greyish blue eyes.
“What do you mean, where?” snarked Nox, her face still stoic.
“Where should we change, I haven’t seen a bathroom nearby,” she replied, not meeting Nox’s gaze and playing with the hem of her shirt instead.
“Do you need to relieve yourself?” Nox asked, starting to get confused.
“No! So I can change in private!” yelped the girl.
“Well you are going to spend two years together, it would be best to get used to each other—” Nox turned away from the shocked faces— “and if you want to know so desperately, the bathroom is down the hall, the single door to the left.”
She moved to leave but was stopped by Tsumi’s crying out voice, “Can you remove the mirror— or at least move it?”
“Why?” she asked dryly.
“My friend is afraid of mirrors, it’s called catro- catoptoe- catoptrophobia,” he gestured to Zephyrine, hoping it would persuade Nox to do so, she looked at Zephyrine then at the mirror.
“It stays. Eat and change, remember to leave the dirty clothes outside the door, I shall collect them later.” Nox strode out of the room, pulling the door shut.
“They’re pleasant,” sighed Tsumi, turning to the plate of food.
“Could be worse,” admitted the boy with brown hair.
“That is true, whatever-your-name-is,” replied a different girl with ginger hair and a lot of freckles.
“My name is Rasfyr Rysfar, thanks for asking,” Rasfyr snarked.
“What kind of name is that?” Tsumi but in and then taking a bite of bread, causing Rasfyr to frown deeply.
“What if we all tell each other our names instead of guessing?” quirked the annoying tanned girl from earlier, Rasfyr nodded his head, agreeing with the idea and Tsumi had to also agree. Zephryine and the emo looking boy shook their heads. The girl that spoke sighed and said, “Well, my name is Shaylen Torres, I am Spanish and I claim the bathroom first!”
She ran down the room and grabbed a pair of trousers and a shirt from the pile then left the room, leaving dramatically by lifting a leg in the air and twirling. Tsumi was mentally chuckling. Rasfyr sighed and took some chicken from the plate, smiling at the taste.
“This is really good,” he said finishing the wing and taking another, the group all descended upon the plate.
“What are you doing?” Tsumi looked to his left and saw Nox, who stood frowning at him, she wasn’t wearing her cloak and wore a leather chestplate over a dark grey shirt, with black leggings and dark brown boots.
“Seeing what the howl noise is, because I mean, it was a very startling noise,” Tsumi mumbled, Nox rolled her icy blue eyes and pushed him back into the room. “You will all follow me and try not to talk with any of the children."
“What’s wrong with the children?” the blonde girl muttered.
“Nothing is wrong with the children, there’s something wrong with you,” Nox replied.
Nox had led them across to the Hall of Ancients, it was unnaturally barren, not filled with the voices like yesterday made the footsteps of Tsumi and the others echo. Turning into a large corridor, they met a large number of the children lining the walls, waiting in a queue for their food. Nox walked through the middle of them, ignoring the complaints of how she skipped the queue, Tsumi felt a bit giddy as he walked down them, receiving sour looks. The group turned into a hall, passing the canteen were young ones were getting food.
A dining hall that could make a private school’s one looked common, a circular shaped room with large windows that allowed the morning light to be used instead of torches. Wooden tables scattered around the room, the largest table stood in the centre, it was already set and had food already upon the plates. Filip sat in a chair around it. Nox led them to the table and made them take a seat.
The seats of the dining hall were surprisingly comfortable, the back rest were wooden but lined with a soft cushion and the cushioned seat part sank down as Tsumi sat down. A clatter of cutlery as children moved to sit on different circular tables with their friends and eat their breakfast, chatting with smiles on their faces, laughter being the main sound in the large hall.
On the table Tsumi and Zephyrine sat next to each other, Shaylen and Rasfyr next to them, the others sitting down wherever a free sit was and Nox, about to take a seat by Filip when he moved in the way of her and sat next Rasfyr, decided to take the one Filip previously claimed. He winked at Rasfyr, who spluttered, and causing Tsumi hold down a belly of laughter. The four blue-cloaked assassins from yesterday took a seat on the side of the large circular table opposite Nox and Filip, leaving three seats left.
Fovea turned up a minute later, apologising for her lateness and taking her place next to a Nox, Filip rolled his eyes as another woman showed up beaming, one of the blue-cloaked assassins from yesterday called out, “Why, hello excuse.”
Filip let out a chuckle, many upon the table did as well, except Nox who kept eating her breakfast. The woman sat down upon the seat next to Fovea, she had dark skin which glowed in the light of the sun beaming through the windows and her wirey, dark brown hair tied in braids that swept in a ponytail. She nodded at the seven newbies, “Hello, I am the First Lady of Assassins, Fovea’s wife and I must admit, you are all very young.”
“I’m 18, I’m an adult in my country, yet still a teen,” Rasfyr told the First Lady, Nox sighd, causing him to frown, “What?”
“I didn’t expect you all to be so young, from what I found out, you are one of the oldest of the group, are you not?” Nox looked up them, biting a piece of egg of her fork, Tsumi wanted to punch her.
“How old are you then?” blonde hair girl asked, confused.
“I believe I am 20 years of age,” answered Nox, sharing a glance with Fovea, then looked at the girl, “What age are you, Minseo Sakimo?”
“You know my name?” Minseo’s voice wavered.
“Shadows, enough talk, let’s get to business,” Fovea cut in sharply, Nox’s mouth closing quickly.
“What are ‘Shadows’?” Shaylen questioned, taking a sip of orange juice and making Rasfyr gag.
“You.” Fovea took a swig of wine, “You are the chosen Shadows of the Guardians, omnipotent beings that control everything and anything. You are to lead us into battle when the time comes for you to do so.”
“Wait, how will others understand us, we all speak different languages?” pointed out a boy with sandy brown hair, tanned skin and a pair of liquid gold eyes filled with questions and no answers.
“To everyone else, you shall be speaking their language, but only Datherian and Asanish, you won’t be able to speak Goblish or Elven.” Filip stretched his arms over his head which lifted the hem of shirt upwards, Rasfyr’s eyes quickly taking a peek before darting to look at the interesting pebble by his foot and his friend stood on a rock to the side of the road sharpening a silver blade.
“Are we still able to speak our own languages?” asked a girl with a mop of short but messy black hair that swayed in the wind, strands of hair stuck to her forehead as the rain continued.
“Did you not listen to a word I just said? No, you probably are going to have to learn your tongue again, if you wish to.”
Rasfyr rolled his eyes and then analysed his surroundings, the rain falling lightly upon his face in a tranquil state, the prisoner wagon sat upon a byroad that sat next to a ledge that uncomfortably dropped downwards, a rock pile at the bottom. Trees grew along the bottom of the stones, they spread to where they reached the horizon, a series of hills stretched out making a ridge and making Rasfyr remember England, where he grew up.
Sadness washed over Rasfyr, three years ago he woke up in a place he didn’t know and people who stared at him when he ran down the streets of the Porta Empire’s capital, he thought of his parents, who raised him to love. Yet, were they thinking of him? Did they miss him as he missed them? Rasfry’s mind wandered as he stood staring at the same spot, he ignored the sound of chatter behind him, his thoughts clouding everything he did.
A click in front of his nose, he jumped back to reality, blinking as he moved to look at Shaylen who stood beside him. Shaylen lowered her hands, smiling softly before inquiring: “Are you okay?”
“Yes— I mean I think so, just a lot to process,” fumbled Rasfyr, his hands fidgeting.
“I understand,” Shaylen smiled, brushing her hand through strands of damp hair, a purple became a visible sea of dark brown.
“When did you dye your hair?” Rasfyr pointed at a loose curl that fell down her shoulder, Shaylen instinctively started playing with it.
“Before I appear—” She stopped herself from saying anything else, making a quick lie— “years ago and it faded due to time.” She looked nervously at Rasfyr, who nodded with a face that read ‘I-know-you’re-lying’ but smiled anyway. Shaylen grinned then sighed, “I dyed it before I woke up in this strange place.”
“Wait, you woke up here? Around three years ago? Unsure how you got here?”
“Yes? Should I not have… I mean did receive a lot of stares, but I didn’t know what was happening at the time so I panicked and ran down the streets screaming about there not being pige—”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rasfyr cut in, “I woke three years ago as well… do you think it’s connected, that we just arrived here?” Shaylen frowned, her gaze moving to look at the horizon as a flock of birds flew over the woodland.
“We should as the others when we get to wherever we’re going,” she finally decided. She and Rasfyr fell into a comfortable silence, which was rudely interrupted.
“You two, get over here! We’re leaving!” called Filip from behind them, the duo spun around to look at the cloaked ones, both readying to leave. Rasfyr’s heart melted as he watched as Filip stood up with ease and strolled over to his companion, chatting to them in a hushed voice, with a cocky grin plastered on his face. In his head, he yelled to snap out of it.
The two walked down the path winding up the valley’s slop, not caring to check if the others were following.
“Do we follow them or do we just run for it?” a girl with almost peroxide blonde hair and dark azure rimmed with blueish grey eyes. A tut escaped from another, a thin figure around the height of five feet and seven inches with pale skin and short sooty hair. Then he strutted off, following the two.
~
Walking for hours will destroy your legs, especially up a mountain on a path of wobbly rocks and stones, Blue led them and Filip trailed behind, making sure the seven stayed upright and didn't crash to the floor. Rasfyr’s own legs started to ache by the third hour and his stride slowed, the rain worsening further up the mountain they went.
“How long have we been walking for?” whined the boy with sandy blond hair from earlier.
“Three hours, we just have two more bends till we reach our destination,” Filip replied cheerfully, he and his friend were thriving, not slowing down and not complaining about pain.
Shaylen, or Shay as she preferred, weakened her stride so she could be walking next to Rafyr, “So you mentioned earlier we’re walking the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and I was wondering—”
“The valley of what?” Filip butted in, confusion written all across is way-too-attractive face.
“Shay, I think he said Valley of Assassins and not the bible one,” Rasfyr sighed, wiping a face across his face with a shake of his head.
“Yes, we are in the Valley of Assassins,” Rasfyr chuckled, “It’s not as bad as it seems, my friend.”
“What if assassins come and try to kill us?” croaked the peroxide-haired girl who heard what Filip said, her chartreuse full of intense worry.
A scoff from the snarky boy from earlier, his eye roll, irritating Rasfyr, he then said, “They are obviously assassins themselves, the cloaks make it so obvious.”
“Yes, we’re assassins,” Filip admitted before noticing all their faces, “but we do not kill everyone we see before you get all worried.”
“Whom do you kill then?” asked Shaylen cautiously.
“Who we are ordered to kill.” A voice snapped viciously from the front, it was Blue, they had turned around to look at the others, their eyes piercing through them. “Now move or else we will be late.”
With that exciting message, Blue spun around and stomped on.
The rest of the journey was in silence, Blue halting in front of a base of a tall mountain, where a small door was carved into the stone. When everyone was present, Filip wandered to the door and opened it to reveal a passage going through the mountain, Filip smiled at the others and then gestured to the passage.
Sharing a glance with Shaylen, Rasfyr walked forward and went through the passage, Shay following. The passage was carved into stone, its walls were covered in large symbols and drawings, causing Rasfyr to stop to analyse them. One of the drawings told a story of a bird attacking a lion, the lion won and the bird was thrown into a cage and whilst in the cage, the bird was visited by a fox-like creature, who freed the bird. What a strange story, Rasfyr thought.
Shay pushed him to continue walking.
At the end of the passage, they appeared in outside area where the rain once again pounded down upon the nine, a white building with a large door made from a dark wood. At a closer look, Rasfyr noticed a giant bird in flight pattern carved into the wood, with numerous animals underneath its’ wings. Blue turned the doorknob and pushed their shoulder against it, with a click it swung open.
Rasfyr wiped his face, removing the freezing water from his cheeks and lips, then looked around the room they walked into. His mouth fell into a gape.
A hall, large enough for his whole school to fit in, it looked like a church with the high ceiling, but instead of greys and browns, pure whiteness, a caste of beauty and strength. Quartz floor that reflected the multiple flaming torches’ glow, a pattern of flowers was mixed into the stone. Large pillars either side of the hall, reaching to the ceiling far above, bone stained glass windows sat in between each pillar, every window with a different animal. Strangers draped in cloaks wandered around the hall, the purple cloaked ones leading children with excited faces through doors and smaller hallways, they all had their hoods down revealing them to be mostly young adults and adults. Some groups stopped to stare at the nine that walked in, making Rasfyr shudder and so he looked elsewhere.
“This is the Hall of Ancients,” informed Filip, his eyes bored as he glanced around the room, as if he was no longer captivated by the beauty of the room.
His eyes wandered to the patterned pillars that had a series of birds carved into who rested on trees, each bird a different colour, most a pale purple and each with a different name etched into their bellies, Rasfyr caught the sight of the name on the bird nearest him Fovea Dagrues at the base of a tree, as if starting a new tree. Looking up the pillar, he saw the name Filip Rose appeared on a pale purple bird with a pale blue bird next to Filip’s, the name Nox Parker inscribed into the belly.
Filip ushered the group through the hall, Blue leading them in powerful steps, the groups of children moving out of their way, still not lowering their hood. Reaching the end of the hall, Rasfyr noticed a group of five people, four with the same dark blue cloak as Blue and one with a cloak of pure white and her back turned to the nine, each with their hood down.
Blue coughed into their hand, catching the attention of the five in front of them.
The lady in white turned from the ones she was with and analysed the seven and the two assassins who had just arrived. Rasfyr felt a snake of cold air slither down his back. Hair the colour of her enemies' blood swept down her back in a waterfall, her fern coloured oval eyes spiking thorns into the bodies of the seven. She had a pointed face with a sharp nose, her mouth flattened as she finished her assessment of the seven and moved forward towards Filip and the other assassin. Her cloak wrapped around her swayed in the light wind that leaked into the room from the grand open windows, its snow coloured fabric comusing the light of the torches.
“Take the hood and bandana down, My Heir, you shan’t make a fool of yourself in front of others,” the lady snapped at Blue, her voice cold and commanding, but Blue did as they were ordered and pulled off the hood. The hood fell, unravelling a dark brownish-grey head of hair, swept into a tight high ponytail, kept together with a metal band. Blue reached up and started to remove the bandana that still covered their face. In Rasfyr’s opinion, Blue was gorgeous, from the side at least, they had olive skin which shone in the light of the fire, a sharp nose and jaw. The lady smiled, “there we go, wasn’t hard was it?”
“No, my Lady, sorry for any inconvenience I must have created,” Blue responded, her voice sharp and tight.
“There was no inconvenience, just slight rudeness, My Heir. Now go consult with the other four and take Filip with you.” She waved a gloved hand, dismissing Blue and Filip, who nodded in submission and stalked over to the group of blue cloaks. She then turned to the seven, a thin-lipped smile appeared across her face.
“My name is Fovea Dragues, Lady of Assassins in Dathern, meaning I control every assassination upon these mortal places, or as you would prefer, the whole world.” Fovea stated, glaring spikes to anyone who dared to meet her gaze. Then she smiled warmly, noticing how the group shivered in their soaked raggedy clothes, she raised her hand and clicked her fingers. Blue glided over, her face emotionless as she reached the group and Fovea.
“Yes?” Blue asked.
“You are to take the seven to their assigned rooms and get them some food, I shall explain why they’re here tomorrow at breakfast, you shall wake them at rising-hour, don’t be late,” Fovea instructed Blue, who nodded before adding:
“Anything else, my Lady?”
“Report to my chamber after they have settled, the Heirs need to discuss their positions today. I shall see you later, Nox,” Fovea bid the seven goodbye then spun on her heel and striding away, the other blue cloaks and Filip following after her. Rasfyr looked up at Nox to see her frowning.
*
Nox was hard to keep up with, Tsumi had to use a quick pace to stay close enough to her, he assumed she was a her, to stop him from lagging behind, she led them down corridors and around the open area of a roman style courtyard which had vines snaking up its pillars. Tsumi walked with Zephyrine, a girl with crazy black hair that stuck out in all directions and peach skin tone, she was nice to be around so Tsumi and her became friends quickly.Something about the tall and strange girl who led them ticked Tsumi for doing nothing, she gave off an uncomfortable aura that annoyed him. The pretty girl with the caramel skin seemed to be fond of her, walking alongside her and chatting enthusiastically, the girl’s mahogany eyes full of happiness as if she was with a long lost friend.
Ten minutes later, the eight stopped in front of a large door with a sign above it that read “Private ward” and went inside. Instantly, Tsumi felt a wave of warmth brush against him. A crackling fire was placed in a fireplace in the far wall, four beds sat on the side of the room, vertically parallel to the opposite bed with puffed up pillows and purple duvet covers. Upon the wall hung a mirror and two paintings. It was comfortable.
“Choose a bed, you shall stay here for about two weeks before moving into separate bedrooms, I shall go get you some food and better clothes. Stay here for now and choose yourself a bed, no fighting, first come, first served,” Nox instructed the seven, walking over to the fire and placing another log in it. When they got back to the door she turned to the group and said, “Before anyone loses their minds, I am not female nor male.”
With that, they left.
“What do you think she meant?” Tsumi asked, he had heard of someone who doesn’t identify as the gender they were born as, but it was illegal and not tolerated in any country, other than Canada.
“Does it matter?” snapped the girl with caramel skin, “They don’t need to explain anything.” Then she sulked over to the left bed closest to the fire and sat down, another boy with ridiculously long brown hair following after her and claiming the bed next to hers.
Tsumi rolled his eyes and turned to Zephyrine, whispering to her, “What do you think Nox meant?”
"Who?” Zephyrine asked, their eyes drifting off to the right, trying to recall a memory.
“Nox? The assassin in blue? The one that led us up here?” Tsumi said, baffled by how easily Zeph forgot. Zephyrine frowned and then bit her lip.
“I’m sorry, I forgot,” she said quietly, Tsumi rolled his eyes and dismissed the thought, claiming the bed nearest to the door on the right, Zeph sat down to one next to him and instantly stood up again, her back facing towards the mirror.
“What’s wrong?” Zephyrine gestured behind her, shaking her head, Tsumi looked at the mirror and just saw his own reflection, “Do you not like mirrors?”
“It’s called catoptrophobia,” whined Zephryine.
“Bless you.”
“I’m not lying, please take it down or move it!” Tsumi got up and tried to pull down the mirror, it didn’t budge, placing his hands on his hips to think for a second. He tried to lift it up and then away, wondering if it was on a hook.
“The hell? What are you doing?” wondered the boy with dark brown hair, his electric blue eyes burning Tsumi, the others looked around him, except for Zeph who was staring at the ceiling.
“Trying to move the mirror,” Tsumi slurred, the other boy was about to open his mouth when the door opened, revealing Nox and two others. The new people were young, around eleven or twelve, a blond-haired boy and a brown haired girl, both carrying a pile of clothes. Nox carried a tray of food in one hand and a jug of water in the other, she placed it upon the unclaimed bed opposite Tsumi and allowed the children to do the same. Upon the plate, there were chicken wings, slices of bread and some butter on the side, some cheese, apples and oranges, and a bowl of salad.
“Thank you, that is all,” Nox tightly said to the children, who nodded and left the room without another word. Nox then turned to the seven, “Change into some dry clothes then give me your dirty ones.”
“Where?” asked a girl with blonde hair and greyish blue eyes.
“What do you mean, where?” snarked Nox, her face still stoic.
“Where should we change, I haven’t seen a bathroom nearby,” she replied, not meeting Nox’s gaze and playing with the hem of her shirt instead.
“Do you need to relieve yourself?” Nox asked, starting to get confused.
“No! So I can change in private!” yelped the girl.
“Well you are going to spend two years together, it would be best to get used to each other—” Nox turned away from the shocked faces— “and if you want to know so desperately, the bathroom is down the hall, the single door to the left.”
She moved to leave but was stopped by Tsumi’s crying out voice, “Can you remove the mirror— or at least move it?”
“Why?” she asked dryly.
“My friend is afraid of mirrors, it’s called catro- catoptoe- catoptrophobia,” he gestured to Zephyrine, hoping it would persuade Nox to do so, she looked at Zephyrine then at the mirror.
“It stays. Eat and change, remember to leave the dirty clothes outside the door, I shall collect them later.” Nox strode out of the room, pulling the door shut.
“They’re pleasant,” sighed Tsumi, turning to the plate of food.
“Could be worse,” admitted the boy with brown hair.
“That is true, whatever-your-name-is,” replied a different girl with ginger hair and a lot of freckles.
“My name is Rasfyr Rysfar, thanks for asking,” Rasfyr snarked.
“What kind of name is that?” Tsumi but in and then taking a bite of bread, causing Rasfyr to frown deeply.
“What if we all tell each other our names instead of guessing?” quirked the annoying tanned girl from earlier, Rasfyr nodded his head, agreeing with the idea and Tsumi had to also agree. Zephryine and the emo looking boy shook their heads. The girl that spoke sighed and said, “Well, my name is Shaylen Torres, I am Spanish and I claim the bathroom first!”
She ran down the room and grabbed a pair of trousers and a shirt from the pile then left the room, leaving dramatically by lifting a leg in the air and twirling. Tsumi was mentally chuckling. Rasfyr sighed and took some chicken from the plate, smiling at the taste.
“This is really good,” he said finishing the wing and taking another, the group all descended upon the plate.
~
It was a bloody wolf howl that woke Tsumi, he jerked up, a sharp pitched melody of different vocals and intensities coming from outside the door. Tsumi’s eyes darted around the dimly lit room, he saw the others had awoken too, some scrambled out of bed and walked towards the door, fear and confusion in their eyes. He got up as well, being closest to the door he arrived there first, opening it slightly and peeking outside. The hallway was filled with children of all different ages, none wore the purple cloaks of the assassins, but they were wearing the same uniform like outfit. Black long sleeved shirts with cotton jackets covering it and dark grey trousers, some wore gloves whilst others didn’t. They all stalked the same away, passing the door Tsumi stood staring out from, he received some strange looks.“What are you doing?” Tsumi looked to his left and saw Nox, who stood frowning at him, she wasn’t wearing her cloak and wore a leather chestplate over a dark grey shirt, with black leggings and dark brown boots.
“Seeing what the howl noise is, because I mean, it was a very startling noise,” Tsumi mumbled, Nox rolled her icy blue eyes and pushed him back into the room. “You will all follow me and try not to talk with any of the children."
“What’s wrong with the children?” the blonde girl muttered.
“Nothing is wrong with the children, there’s something wrong with you,” Nox replied.
Nox had led them across to the Hall of Ancients, it was unnaturally barren, not filled with the voices like yesterday made the footsteps of Tsumi and the others echo. Turning into a large corridor, they met a large number of the children lining the walls, waiting in a queue for their food. Nox walked through the middle of them, ignoring the complaints of how she skipped the queue, Tsumi felt a bit giddy as he walked down them, receiving sour looks. The group turned into a hall, passing the canteen were young ones were getting food.
A dining hall that could make a private school’s one looked common, a circular shaped room with large windows that allowed the morning light to be used instead of torches. Wooden tables scattered around the room, the largest table stood in the centre, it was already set and had food already upon the plates. Filip sat in a chair around it. Nox led them to the table and made them take a seat.
The seats of the dining hall were surprisingly comfortable, the back rest were wooden but lined with a soft cushion and the cushioned seat part sank down as Tsumi sat down. A clatter of cutlery as children moved to sit on different circular tables with their friends and eat their breakfast, chatting with smiles on their faces, laughter being the main sound in the large hall.
On the table Tsumi and Zephyrine sat next to each other, Shaylen and Rasfyr next to them, the others sitting down wherever a free sit was and Nox, about to take a seat by Filip when he moved in the way of her and sat next Rasfyr, decided to take the one Filip previously claimed. He winked at Rasfyr, who spluttered, and causing Tsumi hold down a belly of laughter. The four blue-cloaked assassins from yesterday took a seat on the side of the large circular table opposite Nox and Filip, leaving three seats left.
Fovea turned up a minute later, apologising for her lateness and taking her place next to a Nox, Filip rolled his eyes as another woman showed up beaming, one of the blue-cloaked assassins from yesterday called out, “Why, hello excuse.”
Filip let out a chuckle, many upon the table did as well, except Nox who kept eating her breakfast. The woman sat down upon the seat next to Fovea, she had dark skin which glowed in the light of the sun beaming through the windows and her wirey, dark brown hair tied in braids that swept in a ponytail. She nodded at the seven newbies, “Hello, I am the First Lady of Assassins, Fovea’s wife and I must admit, you are all very young.”
“I’m 18, I’m an adult in my country, yet still a teen,” Rasfyr told the First Lady, Nox sighd, causing him to frown, “What?”
“I didn’t expect you all to be so young, from what I found out, you are one of the oldest of the group, are you not?” Nox looked up them, biting a piece of egg of her fork, Tsumi wanted to punch her.
“How old are you then?” blonde hair girl asked, confused.
“I believe I am 20 years of age,” answered Nox, sharing a glance with Fovea, then looked at the girl, “What age are you, Minseo Sakimo?”
“You know my name?” Minseo’s voice wavered.
“Shadows, enough talk, let’s get to business,” Fovea cut in sharply, Nox’s mouth closing quickly.
“What are ‘Shadows’?” Shaylen questioned, taking a sip of orange juice and making Rasfyr gag.
“You.” Fovea took a swig of wine, “You are the chosen Shadows of the Guardians, omnipotent beings that control everything and anything. You are to lead us into battle when the time comes for you to do so.”
When Camilla heard Fovea say the word Guardians, her mind immediately went to ‘Rise Of Guardians’, a film she had to watch in English class with Norwegian subtitles. A silence stretched out across the table, the chatter from other tables dulled down as the kids sensed a tension being emitted from the largest table, it caused Camilla to shudder. Camilla glanced around at the others, they were either confused or unbothered.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl Nox called Minseo fidget before asking, “What are Guardians?”
“They are omnipotent deities with immense power, deities who guard every single world, including your Earth,” Fovea explained, swirling her glass of wine in one hand while prodding her food with a fork in the other.
“There is more than one Earth?” Shaylen asked, the seven non-assassins all stared at Fovea in disbelief. A smirk emerged from her lips as she gestured to Nox.
They put down their knife and fork and placed it next to their finished food before answering, “There are fourteen versions of your Earth, each with different histories and cultures but they are all related in their own way. For example, your Earth is an Earth where certain people are not allowed to be themselves and love whoever they want, whereas another Earth is a place of freedom and equality, skin colour and who you love is not an issue.”
Camilla paused for a second, swallowing the information before murmuring, “So we got the bad version of Earth.”
“No, Nox didn’t mean it like that, they meant that there are nicer places than your Earth, but it isn’t the worst,” Filip blurted out, everyone casting him a series of looks.
Nox rolled their eyes, answering for themselves with a drawl, “Yes, it is truly horrible to live in your Earth, but there are worse things.”
Filip scowled at his friend. Noticing the chatter from other tables had risen again, Camilla put herself at ease once more as she looked down at her food and took a bite of the fried eggs, her mouth erupted with a familiar flavour: the taste of morning breakfast at home. She continued eating fervently, each bite bringing back a much missed memory of her old life. Once she finished her food, she looked back up and saw everyone else was indeed eating their food, Camilla smiled.
“I believe someone should show them around the Valley, it would be a shame not to,” stated one of the blue cloaked assassins who had finished his food, he leaned back in his chair, allowing Camilla to study him. He looked to be in his late twenties, with a chiseled face and a short and scruffy beard along his jaw. His jet black hair was brushed backward, revealing dull brown eyes. The blue-cloak sat two places from Camilla, giving her the opportunity to notice all the scars that scaled up his neck and along his hands.
“Of course you would,” muttered Nox, earning a glare from scarred man.
“Suggesting something, Heir Parker?” he growled.
“Yes, Heir Gednai,” Nox said point blankly, their icy eyes staring straight into Gednai’s own.
“Heirs—” Fovea butted in, raising a single hand— “do remember we have guests, and if you want to settle this petty feud, do so on the Training Grounds. Do we understand, Dolion and Nox?”
“Yes, M’Lady,” they replied in unison, Camilla assumed their arguments were constant, for Fovea seemed quite bored of shutting them down by her expression, without looking up she continued, “Filip will give you the tour.”
Filip looked up, startled at being addressed, Fovea and him met eyes. Camilla’s eyes flipped between the two, noticing the silent conversation spoken between them, and how it slowly turned into an argument. Brown eyes flickered to meet Nox’s icy-blues, who was shaking their head subtly.
“Alrigh’, I’ll do it,” he stated, scooping up the last of his plate onto his fork and eating it, throwing his napkin on the plate he stood up. “I need to go to the lavatory, after you have done discussing whatever you need to discuss. Shadows, stay behind after everyone has left.”
He left quickly, walking out the door and earning glances from the children and assassins. Fovea frowned and tried to catch Nox’s eye but they were busy cleaning up the plates near by them. Camilla shook the chills off her spine created by the awkwardness now resting above the table like a smothering blanket, her eyes flickered at everyone who sat at the large table, how they all sat agitated and aware of the tension.
“Well, I’ve had enough to eat, Nox, would you walk with me?” the First Lady stood up and her hand gently placed upon her wife’s shoulder.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Nox answered, standing as well
Camilla and the six stood waiting for Filip at the large table, most looking elsewhere, except for Shaylen, who ate a peeled orange whilst shaking her head in disappointment at Rasfyr.
“I can’t believe you don’t like oranges, Raz, they’re a good fruit,” Shaylen argued, Rasfyr shook his head.
“Who doesn’t like oranges?” A voice came from the door, it was Filip, he emitted a cheerier mood compared to at breakfast. He strolled over to the table, smiling slightly.
“Rasfyr!” Shaylen cried in reply, “Can you believe it?!”, throwing her hands in the air and exaggerating a little more than she needed to.
“It is strange,” admitted Filip, turning to Rasfyr “Why do you not like them?”
“They’re too sweet and they get under your nails, making them smell the whole day,” Rasfyr complained, Filip smirked mischievously at the response.
“But I would imagine you are fueled on sweetness,” he flirtatiously murmured, “since you are so sweet yourself.”
Everyone reacted. Shaylen started to choke on her piece of orange, her eyes watering. Rasfyr’s faced went a bright red, his cheeks the colour of roses and his mouth opened and shut it repeatedly like a fish in a cartoon. Minseo’s, who sat next to Camilla, eyes widened, along with her own. Camilla had never witnessed a boy flirting with another boy and it not being just a joke.
“You shouldn’t do that, it’s wrong,” murmured a quiet voice to the right of Camilla, everyone turned to him, it was the happy but rude boy with sandy hair and gorgeous gold eyes. Shaylen’s face scrunched up in fury, as did Rasfyr, she opened her mouth to protest but Filip slipped in before any words were said.
“It’s fine, you all grew up believing you had to fall in love with the opposite sex,” Filip explained calmly. “As Nox mentioned at breakfast. Here, we are taught to love whomever we desire if but only if they reciprocate the feelings you possess. It took about thirty years for men to be as equal of women, whereas in your world the men have power over women, for Datherians we believed women were the stronger sex and we were wrong to do so.”
His words hung in the air, they were all true, every last word cutting deep. The boy with the trophy eyes had fallen silent, his eyes looking shamefully at the floor, as if trying to imagine himself not there. Camilla took notice of the many different expressions that now plagued the room, how some stood baffled and how some leaned on chairs looking sad.
“Now the mood has been killed, this is not a time to be sad but a time to be happy because you’re in one of the best places to live in the Porta Empire, which says something about this empire.” Filip acknowledged before spinning on his heels and striding towards the large door and called out. “Follow me!”
So they did.
They walked through the corridor outside and took a turn away from the corridor that led to the Hall of Ancients.
Camilla saw how the corridor ended, and how there were two doors on the right wall but only one on the left. Filip continued on, leading them towards the first door on the right, it was featureless, beside from the shining plaque that read: Class 2 - History.
“So you teach children who come to whatever this place is?” Rasfyr asked Filip, who smiled at him.
“Though this may be a haven for the Kin of Xan, we also take in children who are orphaned, many of whom leave when eighteen to lead a new life in the towns but some stay and become fully fledged assassins,” he explained, using his hands to talk alongside his voice.
“You and Nox both stayed, correct?” Camilla found herself saying, brushing a strand of red hair behind her left ear.
“Yep, we both stayed.” Filip walked on, Camilla noting his quiet bitterness.
“Who is Xan?” Minseo called after him, raking fingers in her hair.
“The Guardian of Assassins, Illusion and Reality, Justice and Shapeshifters,” he answered casually, Camilla guessed the guardian title was important.
“And what are Guardians, I have heard many children say ‘Oh my Guardians, look at them’,” a girl with crazy hair that was being blown by as small draft of air, who stood next to her friend, the sandy-haired boy who pointed out that they grew up in a horrible world earlier after lunch.
“Zephyrine, is it?” Filiped replied, the girl nodded, smiling brightly. “It is not me who can tell you that information, you need to find out yourselves.
“Awfully anticlimactic, don’t you think?” Emo Boy hissed.
“Yep! Anyway, come on, we need to show you the rest of the valley.” Filip spun around and wandered towards the large door on the left. Opening it with his shoulder and sliding inside, the group following after him awkwardly.
Gasping, Camilla stared across the library. Books sat on large bookshelves that lined the walls, creating a pleasant smell in the room The spines were all different colours, but many were browns and reds. A banister rimmed a large gap revealing two more floors in the curved corners’ rectangle. Torches hung upon the wooden beams that seperated books from each other. On the far side of the room, a stone staircase ran down the sides, all the way to the bottom, where there were tables to sit at and glass displays revealing knives and many other weapons.
“This is beautiful,” Camilla whispered to herself, Filip gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement.
“Best place to be in the Valley, it is calm, and in the winter they light a fire to keep it cosy whilst during the summer they put a block of ice hanging from the ceiling and ending at the floor where they have to put a large tub to collect the water.”
“Sound like you’ve been here for a long time,” Rasfyr noted, sharing a sad look with Filip.
“Fourteen years is nothing compared to some,” admitted Filip, his hand stroking the smooth banister.
“You’ve been here since you were six?” Rasfyr gasped and Filip nodding, leaving everyone in a quiet state.
“Let’s go.” Filip left the room.
They crossed the Hall of Ancients, taking them to another corridor, one they have already tracked, Filip stopped on the first door to the left, this was one was special, Camilla could tell from the large bird carved into it and how the bird’s eyes were made from an amethyst.
“Lady Fovea and First Lady Morgana’s quarters, if there is an army approaching or someone has died you must go to them, no matter the time,” Filip said, then turned to the opposite three doors before walking off. Passing many large windows that displayed a scene of green, mostly hidden by the large trees in front of the window. The group stopped at yet another door that sat just before it turned a corner, a dog look creature carved in the wood. “This is towards the Wolf Keep. Before you ask, we are not allowed to take a look at it without an Heir or Lady Fovea.”
“Why do you have wolves?” Sandy-haired boy wondered.
“Well, Tsumi, the wolf is the symbol of all the Guardians, it represents loyalty and unity within the Guardians’ power. To kill a wolf is to be cursed for life,” Filip said as if it were a speech he had said it many times. “Your world fears them, so they kill the wolves, not knowing they are there to protect humans.”
“So we are so destructive, that we are destroying the one thing protecting us?” Tsumi replied, a frown appearing upon his face.
“Yes.”
Filip strode away from the Wolf Keep’s door and down the corridor, gesturing to each door, each had a plaque above the door, the nearest door had the plaque Heirs with multiple birds etched into the wood.
“This is the Children Ward and opposite is the Adult Ward,” Filip moved to the next set of doors, and the next, “this is the Teen Ward and the Hospital Ward, if you mess up in training or get injured on an assignment, you are sent to this ward. It is by far the nicest ward but it is the most hectic.
“Lastly, this is the Departure Ward and Undecided Ward, meaning if you are going to leave you go move in that ward, so we have space for new arrivals and Undecided is where the seventeen-year-olds are taken if they don’t know where to go but at the moment, you guys are inhabiting it,” he finished.
“What next?” Camilla asked, smiling kindly, trying to hide the amazement of how big the Valley was.
Filip gestured to the door at the end of the long corridor and let the seven go in front of him. Minseo got to door first by speed walking, Camilla close behind, and then heaved at the door until it screeched open.
They walked through small dark corridor which opened in a square area where children were standing in a line with one of the Heirs, who was lecturing them. The Training Square was a large room with a colosseum-like feel, a square area in the centre was surrounded by seats and booths. The walls were made of marble, like most of the building, however these walls had large animals carved into them, words etched under the artwork. There were eight animals, each wall had two animals, all equally the same size and height. Camilla’s eyes were caught by the animal that resembled a wolf-dog creature, the name Qeaten carved underneath.
Within the square, the kids turned to look at the group, some whispered to their friends and pointed slyly at them. The Heir, who Camilla recognised as Dolion Gednai from breakfast, snapped at the children to pay attention.
“Be nice to the kids, Dolion,” Filip called to him, smiling as he strode towards Dolion.
“Wouldn’t be a lesson without pain, my friend,” laughed Dolion, the children shifting on their feet nervously.
Camilla’s eyes unintentionally explored the Training Square, the glass roof distorted the light which shone through it, creating patterns upon the ashen grey stone that was being bruised by the fifty or so kids who ran around on it. Over on the far side, Camilla saw a tall figure practicing archery by themselves with a quiver full of feathered arrowed, shooting at four different targets each varying in height and distance from where they stood. With close examination, she noticed the colour of the figure’s hair was familiar as well as the way the stood.
“What is Nox doing by themselves?” Shaylen asked, answering her question.
“How did you know it was Nox? I could only notice them beforehand from their cloak,” murmured the Emo Boy who stood away from the group, his arms crossed protectively over his chest.
She frowned, “I don’t actually know. I just knew straight away who it was.”
A moment of time passed as they watched Nox raise their bow, pull the string but not release, changing into different stances and trying out each of them. They stopped and lowered their bow, looking slightly over their shoulder.
Nox rolled their shoulders and went back to aiming. As the group advanced, they passed the groups of children and receiving confused looks from the mentioned kids. When they were a couple feet away, Nox spun on their and pointed the bow at them, letting the arrow fly. Camilla yelped and fell to the floor. A gasp came from behind her and subsequently an argument.
“Why did you do that!” Filip screamed at Nox, Camilla swiveled to look at him, her eyes immediately falling to the gash across his left cheek, a crimson waterful leaking down his cheek from where the arrow had grazed his skin.
Without a hint of emotion, Nox replied, “Do you know how many times I’ve had to vouch for you now?" Filip opened his mouth in an attempt to reply but was cut off, “Go and leave me with the seven Earthlings, I have to discuss training with them.”
Grumbling, he held a hand against the wound on his cheek and Filip walked out of the room. The 'Earthlings' were left appalled at what they witnessed, Rasfyr looked ready to attack Nox, same with most of the others, but Shaylen seemed to be torn between shouting or saying something to end the silence. Camilla was frowning at Nox, who watched him leave with arms crossed, before catching her eyes. For a brief second they stared at one another, Nox remaining stoic whilst Camilla struggled not to shy away from the cold harshness of their eyes.
"Why did you do that?" Shaylen finally asked, fidgeting with the seams of her shirt and glancing at Nox.
"I already said why I did it," Nox murmured. "Not to mention, I shall be punished for Filip's sloppiness because I'm supposed to be tutoring him into being a better assassin."
"Weren't you raised together?" pushed Shaylen, Nox lowered their crossed arms, "isn't it hard to train a person who is like a sibling."
"Emotion is nothing but a weakness," Nox hissed, finally showing a reaction, "specially for assassins, if Fovea ordered me to kill Filip, I would. His problem is that he would never be able to do the same. That is why he isn't an Heir."
“So you could kill a child?” Rasfyr snapped, Nox narrowed their eyes.
“Did I say I would kill a child?” Nox said coldly, “It is my duty to kill the ones I have been ordered to kill, but I will never kill a child. Children do not deserve some of the lives they live. Being beaten and attacked by their so called ‘guardians’. Also, Fovea has ordered us, if we see a child on the streets or living in a poor household to bring them here. So no, I would not kill a child. Unless ordered, which is never going to happen.”
“Good protocol,” Emo Boy sarcastically hissed.
“Now, I am not here to discuss my job, I am here to discuss your training.” Nox sighed, lifting their bow and shot at the targets again. The group took a step back and allowed Nox space to shoot, they hit the nearest target in the bullseye and then the next, in between shots Nox talked. “You shall be trained for five months and then you shall perform in a series of tasks set by Fovea and the Royal Family. Afterwards, you shall be claimed by the Guardians. This event is known as the Shadow Ceremony. Training will be done by the Heirs and Filip, Filip shall be teaching you history of the Guardians whilst the Heirs shall be teaching you combat. I shall be teaching you self-defence and maintaining stamina. Heir Gednai, will be teaching you sword fighting and resistance.”
“Heir Tuhnol shall be teaching you shooting and knife throwing, Heir Faen will teach you flexibility and swimming, and finally Heir Ginda will teach Strategising and Computation. When we find out who the candidates of the Shadow of Xan is, they will join you in training.”
"What do you mean, candidates? There’s more than one!?” squawked Tsumi.
“There’s only one, but technically there are two potentional Shadows of Xan. All we know is that they’re an assassin.” Nox explained.
“How?” Tsumi continued.
“Because Xan told us.” Nox replied with a sigh, as if it were so simple.
“Wait, do the Guardians speak with people?” Camilla inquired, but Nox shook their head.
“How do you know then?” Emo Boy asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Fovea had a dream of a mockingbird saying that Xan’s Shadow is one of her children,” clarified Nox, walking to the targets to collect their arrows, the group following after them. “The Shadow Ceremony is the day where we find out which of the candidates is truly the Shadow of Xan. The mockingbird warned Fovea that there shall be two candidates for Xan’s Shadow, two of her children.”
“Fovea has children?” Shaylen questioned, taken aback.
“Yes.” Nox said quickly.
“Who?” she continued to ask.
“The Heirs and all assassins under the age of thirty are all considered the children of Fovea, if she had actual children they would be the only Heir, but since she hasn’t, it falls to those she nominates.”
“So,” Rasfyr started slowly as he began to process everything. “You barely know who the Shadow of Xan is, only that it’s one of Fovea’s children… How many does she have again..?”
Nox finished retrieving the last arrow with a decisive tug before answering. “Fifteen.”
Shaylen couldn’t help but smirk, “Looks like you’ve got a lot on your hands, eh?”
“You’ve seemed to have forgotten that you’re in the middle of this. You know, the end of all worlds? This is on your hands too, so suck it up."
She didn’t have a reply for that, only crossing her arms while Nox's eyes twinkled, Camilla couldn't have stopped the slight smile that appeared on her face.
Emo Boy did however, as he drawled, “Well, I just can’t wait to see us all get killed. Anyone want to make bets?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl Nox called Minseo fidget before asking, “What are Guardians?”
“They are omnipotent deities with immense power, deities who guard every single world, including your Earth,” Fovea explained, swirling her glass of wine in one hand while prodding her food with a fork in the other.
“There is more than one Earth?” Shaylen asked, the seven non-assassins all stared at Fovea in disbelief. A smirk emerged from her lips as she gestured to Nox.
They put down their knife and fork and placed it next to their finished food before answering, “There are fourteen versions of your Earth, each with different histories and cultures but they are all related in their own way. For example, your Earth is an Earth where certain people are not allowed to be themselves and love whoever they want, whereas another Earth is a place of freedom and equality, skin colour and who you love is not an issue.”
Camilla paused for a second, swallowing the information before murmuring, “So we got the bad version of Earth.”
“No, Nox didn’t mean it like that, they meant that there are nicer places than your Earth, but it isn’t the worst,” Filip blurted out, everyone casting him a series of looks.
Nox rolled their eyes, answering for themselves with a drawl, “Yes, it is truly horrible to live in your Earth, but there are worse things.”
Filip scowled at his friend. Noticing the chatter from other tables had risen again, Camilla put herself at ease once more as she looked down at her food and took a bite of the fried eggs, her mouth erupted with a familiar flavour: the taste of morning breakfast at home. She continued eating fervently, each bite bringing back a much missed memory of her old life. Once she finished her food, she looked back up and saw everyone else was indeed eating their food, Camilla smiled.
“I believe someone should show them around the Valley, it would be a shame not to,” stated one of the blue cloaked assassins who had finished his food, he leaned back in his chair, allowing Camilla to study him. He looked to be in his late twenties, with a chiseled face and a short and scruffy beard along his jaw. His jet black hair was brushed backward, revealing dull brown eyes. The blue-cloak sat two places from Camilla, giving her the opportunity to notice all the scars that scaled up his neck and along his hands.
“Of course you would,” muttered Nox, earning a glare from scarred man.
“Suggesting something, Heir Parker?” he growled.
“Yes, Heir Gednai,” Nox said point blankly, their icy eyes staring straight into Gednai’s own.
“Heirs—” Fovea butted in, raising a single hand— “do remember we have guests, and if you want to settle this petty feud, do so on the Training Grounds. Do we understand, Dolion and Nox?”
“Yes, M’Lady,” they replied in unison, Camilla assumed their arguments were constant, for Fovea seemed quite bored of shutting them down by her expression, without looking up she continued, “Filip will give you the tour.”
Filip looked up, startled at being addressed, Fovea and him met eyes. Camilla’s eyes flipped between the two, noticing the silent conversation spoken between them, and how it slowly turned into an argument. Brown eyes flickered to meet Nox’s icy-blues, who was shaking their head subtly.
“Alrigh’, I’ll do it,” he stated, scooping up the last of his plate onto his fork and eating it, throwing his napkin on the plate he stood up. “I need to go to the lavatory, after you have done discussing whatever you need to discuss. Shadows, stay behind after everyone has left.”
He left quickly, walking out the door and earning glances from the children and assassins. Fovea frowned and tried to catch Nox’s eye but they were busy cleaning up the plates near by them. Camilla shook the chills off her spine created by the awkwardness now resting above the table like a smothering blanket, her eyes flickered at everyone who sat at the large table, how they all sat agitated and aware of the tension.
“Well, I’ve had enough to eat, Nox, would you walk with me?” the First Lady stood up and her hand gently placed upon her wife’s shoulder.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Nox answered, standing as well
~
Camilla and the six stood waiting for Filip at the large table, most looking elsewhere, except for Shaylen, who ate a peeled orange whilst shaking her head in disappointment at Rasfyr.
“I can’t believe you don’t like oranges, Raz, they’re a good fruit,” Shaylen argued, Rasfyr shook his head.
“Who doesn’t like oranges?” A voice came from the door, it was Filip, he emitted a cheerier mood compared to at breakfast. He strolled over to the table, smiling slightly.
“Rasfyr!” Shaylen cried in reply, “Can you believe it?!”, throwing her hands in the air and exaggerating a little more than she needed to.
“It is strange,” admitted Filip, turning to Rasfyr “Why do you not like them?”
“They’re too sweet and they get under your nails, making them smell the whole day,” Rasfyr complained, Filip smirked mischievously at the response.
“But I would imagine you are fueled on sweetness,” he flirtatiously murmured, “since you are so sweet yourself.”
Everyone reacted. Shaylen started to choke on her piece of orange, her eyes watering. Rasfyr’s faced went a bright red, his cheeks the colour of roses and his mouth opened and shut it repeatedly like a fish in a cartoon. Minseo’s, who sat next to Camilla, eyes widened, along with her own. Camilla had never witnessed a boy flirting with another boy and it not being just a joke.
“You shouldn’t do that, it’s wrong,” murmured a quiet voice to the right of Camilla, everyone turned to him, it was the happy but rude boy with sandy hair and gorgeous gold eyes. Shaylen’s face scrunched up in fury, as did Rasfyr, she opened her mouth to protest but Filip slipped in before any words were said.
“It’s fine, you all grew up believing you had to fall in love with the opposite sex,” Filip explained calmly. “As Nox mentioned at breakfast. Here, we are taught to love whomever we desire if but only if they reciprocate the feelings you possess. It took about thirty years for men to be as equal of women, whereas in your world the men have power over women, for Datherians we believed women were the stronger sex and we were wrong to do so.”
His words hung in the air, they were all true, every last word cutting deep. The boy with the trophy eyes had fallen silent, his eyes looking shamefully at the floor, as if trying to imagine himself not there. Camilla took notice of the many different expressions that now plagued the room, how some stood baffled and how some leaned on chairs looking sad.
“Now the mood has been killed, this is not a time to be sad but a time to be happy because you’re in one of the best places to live in the Porta Empire, which says something about this empire.” Filip acknowledged before spinning on his heels and striding towards the large door and called out. “Follow me!”
So they did.
They walked through the corridor outside and took a turn away from the corridor that led to the Hall of Ancients.
Camilla saw how the corridor ended, and how there were two doors on the right wall but only one on the left. Filip continued on, leading them towards the first door on the right, it was featureless, beside from the shining plaque that read: Class 2 - History.
“So you teach children who come to whatever this place is?” Rasfyr asked Filip, who smiled at him.
“Though this may be a haven for the Kin of Xan, we also take in children who are orphaned, many of whom leave when eighteen to lead a new life in the towns but some stay and become fully fledged assassins,” he explained, using his hands to talk alongside his voice.
“You and Nox both stayed, correct?” Camilla found herself saying, brushing a strand of red hair behind her left ear.
“Yep, we both stayed.” Filip walked on, Camilla noting his quiet bitterness.
“Who is Xan?” Minseo called after him, raking fingers in her hair.
“The Guardian of Assassins, Illusion and Reality, Justice and Shapeshifters,” he answered casually, Camilla guessed the guardian title was important.
“And what are Guardians, I have heard many children say ‘Oh my Guardians, look at them’,” a girl with crazy hair that was being blown by as small draft of air, who stood next to her friend, the sandy-haired boy who pointed out that they grew up in a horrible world earlier after lunch.
“Zephyrine, is it?” Filiped replied, the girl nodded, smiling brightly. “It is not me who can tell you that information, you need to find out yourselves.
“Awfully anticlimactic, don’t you think?” Emo Boy hissed.
“Yep! Anyway, come on, we need to show you the rest of the valley.” Filip spun around and wandered towards the large door on the left. Opening it with his shoulder and sliding inside, the group following after him awkwardly.
Gasping, Camilla stared across the library. Books sat on large bookshelves that lined the walls, creating a pleasant smell in the room The spines were all different colours, but many were browns and reds. A banister rimmed a large gap revealing two more floors in the curved corners’ rectangle. Torches hung upon the wooden beams that seperated books from each other. On the far side of the room, a stone staircase ran down the sides, all the way to the bottom, where there were tables to sit at and glass displays revealing knives and many other weapons.
“This is beautiful,” Camilla whispered to herself, Filip gave her a small smile and nodded in agreement.
“Best place to be in the Valley, it is calm, and in the winter they light a fire to keep it cosy whilst during the summer they put a block of ice hanging from the ceiling and ending at the floor where they have to put a large tub to collect the water.”
“Sound like you’ve been here for a long time,” Rasfyr noted, sharing a sad look with Filip.
“Fourteen years is nothing compared to some,” admitted Filip, his hand stroking the smooth banister.
“You’ve been here since you were six?” Rasfyr gasped and Filip nodding, leaving everyone in a quiet state.
“Let’s go.” Filip left the room.
They crossed the Hall of Ancients, taking them to another corridor, one they have already tracked, Filip stopped on the first door to the left, this was one was special, Camilla could tell from the large bird carved into it and how the bird’s eyes were made from an amethyst.
“Lady Fovea and First Lady Morgana’s quarters, if there is an army approaching or someone has died you must go to them, no matter the time,” Filip said, then turned to the opposite three doors before walking off. Passing many large windows that displayed a scene of green, mostly hidden by the large trees in front of the window. The group stopped at yet another door that sat just before it turned a corner, a dog look creature carved in the wood. “This is towards the Wolf Keep. Before you ask, we are not allowed to take a look at it without an Heir or Lady Fovea.”
“Why do you have wolves?” Sandy-haired boy wondered.
“Well, Tsumi, the wolf is the symbol of all the Guardians, it represents loyalty and unity within the Guardians’ power. To kill a wolf is to be cursed for life,” Filip said as if it were a speech he had said it many times. “Your world fears them, so they kill the wolves, not knowing they are there to protect humans.”
“So we are so destructive, that we are destroying the one thing protecting us?” Tsumi replied, a frown appearing upon his face.
“Yes.”
Filip strode away from the Wolf Keep’s door and down the corridor, gesturing to each door, each had a plaque above the door, the nearest door had the plaque Heirs with multiple birds etched into the wood.
“This is the Children Ward and opposite is the Adult Ward,” Filip moved to the next set of doors, and the next, “this is the Teen Ward and the Hospital Ward, if you mess up in training or get injured on an assignment, you are sent to this ward. It is by far the nicest ward but it is the most hectic.
“Lastly, this is the Departure Ward and Undecided Ward, meaning if you are going to leave you go move in that ward, so we have space for new arrivals and Undecided is where the seventeen-year-olds are taken if they don’t know where to go but at the moment, you guys are inhabiting it,” he finished.
“What next?” Camilla asked, smiling kindly, trying to hide the amazement of how big the Valley was.
Filip gestured to the door at the end of the long corridor and let the seven go in front of him. Minseo got to door first by speed walking, Camilla close behind, and then heaved at the door until it screeched open.
They walked through small dark corridor which opened in a square area where children were standing in a line with one of the Heirs, who was lecturing them. The Training Square was a large room with a colosseum-like feel, a square area in the centre was surrounded by seats and booths. The walls were made of marble, like most of the building, however these walls had large animals carved into them, words etched under the artwork. There were eight animals, each wall had two animals, all equally the same size and height. Camilla’s eyes were caught by the animal that resembled a wolf-dog creature, the name Qeaten carved underneath.
Within the square, the kids turned to look at the group, some whispered to their friends and pointed slyly at them. The Heir, who Camilla recognised as Dolion Gednai from breakfast, snapped at the children to pay attention.
“Be nice to the kids, Dolion,” Filip called to him, smiling as he strode towards Dolion.
“Wouldn’t be a lesson without pain, my friend,” laughed Dolion, the children shifting on their feet nervously.
Camilla’s eyes unintentionally explored the Training Square, the glass roof distorted the light which shone through it, creating patterns upon the ashen grey stone that was being bruised by the fifty or so kids who ran around on it. Over on the far side, Camilla saw a tall figure practicing archery by themselves with a quiver full of feathered arrowed, shooting at four different targets each varying in height and distance from where they stood. With close examination, she noticed the colour of the figure’s hair was familiar as well as the way the stood.
“What is Nox doing by themselves?” Shaylen asked, answering her question.
“How did you know it was Nox? I could only notice them beforehand from their cloak,” murmured the Emo Boy who stood away from the group, his arms crossed protectively over his chest.
She frowned, “I don’t actually know. I just knew straight away who it was.”
A moment of time passed as they watched Nox raise their bow, pull the string but not release, changing into different stances and trying out each of them. They stopped and lowered their bow, looking slightly over their shoulder.
Nox rolled their shoulders and went back to aiming. As the group advanced, they passed the groups of children and receiving confused looks from the mentioned kids. When they were a couple feet away, Nox spun on their and pointed the bow at them, letting the arrow fly. Camilla yelped and fell to the floor. A gasp came from behind her and subsequently an argument.
“Why did you do that!” Filip screamed at Nox, Camilla swiveled to look at him, her eyes immediately falling to the gash across his left cheek, a crimson waterful leaking down his cheek from where the arrow had grazed his skin.
Without a hint of emotion, Nox replied, “Do you know how many times I’ve had to vouch for you now?" Filip opened his mouth in an attempt to reply but was cut off, “Go and leave me with the seven Earthlings, I have to discuss training with them.”
Grumbling, he held a hand against the wound on his cheek and Filip walked out of the room. The 'Earthlings' were left appalled at what they witnessed, Rasfyr looked ready to attack Nox, same with most of the others, but Shaylen seemed to be torn between shouting or saying something to end the silence. Camilla was frowning at Nox, who watched him leave with arms crossed, before catching her eyes. For a brief second they stared at one another, Nox remaining stoic whilst Camilla struggled not to shy away from the cold harshness of their eyes.
"Why did you do that?" Shaylen finally asked, fidgeting with the seams of her shirt and glancing at Nox.
"I already said why I did it," Nox murmured. "Not to mention, I shall be punished for Filip's sloppiness because I'm supposed to be tutoring him into being a better assassin."
"Weren't you raised together?" pushed Shaylen, Nox lowered their crossed arms, "isn't it hard to train a person who is like a sibling."
"Emotion is nothing but a weakness," Nox hissed, finally showing a reaction, "specially for assassins, if Fovea ordered me to kill Filip, I would. His problem is that he would never be able to do the same. That is why he isn't an Heir."
“So you could kill a child?” Rasfyr snapped, Nox narrowed their eyes.
“Did I say I would kill a child?” Nox said coldly, “It is my duty to kill the ones I have been ordered to kill, but I will never kill a child. Children do not deserve some of the lives they live. Being beaten and attacked by their so called ‘guardians’. Also, Fovea has ordered us, if we see a child on the streets or living in a poor household to bring them here. So no, I would not kill a child. Unless ordered, which is never going to happen.”
“Good protocol,” Emo Boy sarcastically hissed.
“Now, I am not here to discuss my job, I am here to discuss your training.” Nox sighed, lifting their bow and shot at the targets again. The group took a step back and allowed Nox space to shoot, they hit the nearest target in the bullseye and then the next, in between shots Nox talked. “You shall be trained for five months and then you shall perform in a series of tasks set by Fovea and the Royal Family. Afterwards, you shall be claimed by the Guardians. This event is known as the Shadow Ceremony. Training will be done by the Heirs and Filip, Filip shall be teaching you history of the Guardians whilst the Heirs shall be teaching you combat. I shall be teaching you self-defence and maintaining stamina. Heir Gednai, will be teaching you sword fighting and resistance.”
“Heir Tuhnol shall be teaching you shooting and knife throwing, Heir Faen will teach you flexibility and swimming, and finally Heir Ginda will teach Strategising and Computation. When we find out who the candidates of the Shadow of Xan is, they will join you in training.”
"What do you mean, candidates? There’s more than one!?” squawked Tsumi.
“There’s only one, but technically there are two potentional Shadows of Xan. All we know is that they’re an assassin.” Nox explained.
“How?” Tsumi continued.
“Because Xan told us.” Nox replied with a sigh, as if it were so simple.
“Wait, do the Guardians speak with people?” Camilla inquired, but Nox shook their head.
“How do you know then?” Emo Boy asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Fovea had a dream of a mockingbird saying that Xan’s Shadow is one of her children,” clarified Nox, walking to the targets to collect their arrows, the group following after them. “The Shadow Ceremony is the day where we find out which of the candidates is truly the Shadow of Xan. The mockingbird warned Fovea that there shall be two candidates for Xan’s Shadow, two of her children.”
“Fovea has children?” Shaylen questioned, taken aback.
“Yes.” Nox said quickly.
“Who?” she continued to ask.
“The Heirs and all assassins under the age of thirty are all considered the children of Fovea, if she had actual children they would be the only Heir, but since she hasn’t, it falls to those she nominates.”
“So,” Rasfyr started slowly as he began to process everything. “You barely know who the Shadow of Xan is, only that it’s one of Fovea’s children… How many does she have again..?”
Nox finished retrieving the last arrow with a decisive tug before answering. “Fifteen.”
Shaylen couldn’t help but smirk, “Looks like you’ve got a lot on your hands, eh?”
“You’ve seemed to have forgotten that you’re in the middle of this. You know, the end of all worlds? This is on your hands too, so suck it up."
She didn’t have a reply for that, only crossing her arms while Nox's eyes twinkled, Camilla couldn't have stopped the slight smile that appeared on her face.
Emo Boy did however, as he drawled, “Well, I just can’t wait to see us all get killed. Anyone want to make bets?”
“Anything else we should know?” Rasfyr queried.
“Yes,” Nox began, “in the event of a fire please go to the Outside Courts, the door is just over there. There is another way to get there but that is on the other side of the Valley, opposite the Dining Hall and across a courtyard. For safety reasons please leave any items in the place you are currently at, you should hear a loud ringing of a bell multiple times a second.
“Other than that, please note when you are up late and you see a stream of younger kids coming in or out of the Teen Ward, they are allowed to do that as long as they don’t get caught by the First Lady, the kids go into the Teen Ward because underneath one of the beds is a trapdoor that leads to a secret bunker which was recently found by them. Kids go in that bunker because apparently there is a lot of Earth technology which they have fun playing or watching.”
Nox finished, picked up a quiver from the side of the nearest target, Yuki didn’t notice it before, sliding in each of the arrows.
The group nodded and had started to turn around when Nox called out, “In two days, Filip and I have been ordered to take you out to the Kingdom, which is a rough six hours there and back when walking. However, if we have permission to use another means of travel, it will take three hours.”
“What’s the other means of travel?” asked Tsumi, standing next to the crazy haired girl, Nox seemed to have not heard them because they trudged passed the group and out of the Training Square.
A moment silence as the group watch Nox glide out of the room, Yuki looked at the others, “So what are going to do?”
“I’m going to explore,” Shaylen said. “Anyone want to join me?”
“I’ll come,” Rasfyr responded, striding over to the door with Shaylen following close behind. Tsumi and the crazy haired girl looked at each other, Tsumi sighed and walked after the other two, the girl jogging behind him.
The pretty ginger girl glanced at Yuki, who looked away with a roll of his eyes, turning to gaze at the large glass ceiling. Behind him he heard the girl say, “Hey, Minseo, is it? Wanna go to the library with me?”
“Sure.” The two walked off and left Yuki with his thoughts.
Yuki stood alone. A presence loomed over him, reminding Yuki of someone who was supposed to be on his side. His brother. The one person who had been there since the start, through thick and thin, had been separated from Yuki when he was arrested. So he stood there, alone.
A group of three students who were to ones to talk to him, approaching nervously and whispering furiously to one another. Yuki tried to ignore them but they continued forward but their loud babbles of chatter aggravated him.
“Hey, how are you?” stammered one of the teenagers, they had messy brown hair and a scar over one eye, Yuki faced them with a scowl and received a frowning face in return. Yuki rolled his eyes and wandered away, only to be followed by the group, the teen called after him, “I don’t know where you’re going but there isn’t a door that way.
“Wolfia!” whined their friend, Yuki glanced back at the voice, the boy with pale hair had told Wolfia off. Yuki stopped after realising they were corrected, he was cornered.
“See it worked,” they chirped, “he turned around and realised I was right.”
“You don’t have an off switch don’t you?” snapped the boy.
Yuki spun to look a them, irritated from the annoying children. Wolfia whispered to their blonde friend and the third friend, a girl with dark mahogany hair tied in braids and chocolate skin, rolled her eyes.
“What do you want?” snarled Yuki, gritting his teeth roughly and trying to think of an excuse to leave.
“He speaks,” commented the blond boy, Wolfia gasped dramatically with him.
“Isaac!” hissed the dark skinned girl, she swatted him on the head and stomped on Wolfia’s toe before smiling sweetly at Yuki, “Hi, I’m Zoe Grey from the Buhedas region of Dathern and you are?”
Yuki didn’t reply, still frowning at them.
“Dude, I would reply or else I will probably bribe Nox to tell me your name.” Wolfia strutted in front of the other two, gesturing vigorously with their hands, Yuki noticed how there were covered in long white lines that chittered all over the place, then crossed their arms.
“Just because you’re Nox’s favourite doesn’t mean you can just demand something,” said Zoe, rubbing her forehead, Wolfia opened their mouth to speak when Yuki spoke.
“I’m Yuki Izo, I was born in the Japan region of Earth,” he murmured to the trio, who looked at him in confusion. They shared a look, a second passed as they figured out what he meant. Wolfia gasped and clicked their fingers, pointing at Yuki.
“You’re one of the potential Shadows, aren’t you?” Wolfia asked him, smiling slightly.
“It seems so,” Yuki replied, looking away from the mentees. His thoughts screaming at him to ask for his own shadow, a shadow that loomed over him, following his every move and helping him. He was about to ask about his problem when the Heir name Dolion strode over.
“Wolfia, Isaac, Zoe, what are you doing pestering this Shadow? Shouldn’t you be training?” Dolion asked grinning, Wolfa’s head dropped and they started fiddling with their hands, Isaac tugged on their shirt and stood a bit closer to them, glaring at Dolion whilst Zoe remained calm.
“We were wondering why Yuki was alone, so we decided that we should investigate for his benefit and the last I checked,” Zoe looked around the room. “Everyone is on a break. So naturally we are as well.”
Dolion’s face tightened, his smile faltering before he said, “I suppose so.”
“Wonderful, whilst on this break, we shall guide Yuki to the library,” Isaac said, releasing Wolfia and grabbing Yuki to pull him along. Dolion put his hand in the air, stopping the group from leaving.
“I’m sure Yuki knows the way, since he was just on a tour,” Dolion emphasised.
“Well, I went on tour my first day and I forgot where it is,” Wolfia spoke up in a cold sneer, Isaac and Zoe shared an anxious glance. Dolion and Wolfia had a staring competition. Yuki shuffled his feet, becoming very interested in the floor and how stony it was.
Wolfia won the fight and they moved to leave. “Don’t forget to tell Nox that we have a duel in the evening, I doubt they will remember with all that’s happening with them.”
Dolion swirled back to his students, barking a command at them to stand in line and begin a sequence, Yuki frowned at his back, looking back down at the trio. Wolfia’s face went stoic, they left without another word, Yuki following them. He wondered who he should tell about his shadow.
Lying on his back, Yuki stared at the ceiling and wondered where he last left his shadow. He left the trio of mentee assassins at the end of the corridor, slipping into his room with a small smile and bidding them goodbye. He appreciated the teenagers’ help, they cheered him up despite feeling so numb,and he even managed to crack a smile.
Right now, he just wanted to lie in his bed and not interact with anybody, Yuki was tired and he didn’t know why, but he did. He knew why but hated to think about it.
A bell rang in the distance, chiming slowly and in a steady rhythm, causing Yuki to rise from his bed and wipe a hand down his face to remove the sleep from his blue eyes. The ocean woven within them was a dull chaos, waves clashed in his mind, roaring, screaming even, as he tried to rest.
Something stirred in his mind, causing him to lean upwards from his bed and rub his hands across his eyes again. Ruffling the mop of black on his head, Yuki rose and began to walk to dinner. He was stared at by many of the kids that walked in the same direction, Yuki lowered his head and kept a low profile, hoping that this would put people off when staring at him.
Soon enough, he walked through the Hall of Ancients, not bothering to look up in wonder at the beauty of the hall. Yuki felt distant from the world in stood on, his mind was far from the present, it dewled on the past.
He recalled the moment he rose to consciousness after being transported to Dathern, waking up with the same clothes but with his pockets empty and no money. At least he had his shadow with him. Through thick and thin the shadow stayed with him, helping him up from the floor after being knocked so many times he felt like giving up. A voice in the darkness, a shiny pearl in a dark sea, a ship sailing home. But in a wave, it was gone.
“Hey,” a voice called out, making him jump out of the smothering thoughts and into the river of reality. Yuki looked around to see the owner, Camilla walked towards him, she held a piece of parchment, and with her was Minseo, who listened to Camilla as she explained something.
“Hi,” he automatically answered, surprising himself for a second before snapping out of the daze of emotion that he was consumed by. The two gave him a patient but small smile as they approached, noticing his ruffled hair and large dark rings under his sea eyes.
Camilla turned back to Minseo. “So it makes sense right, why there are two candinates for Xan’s Shadow?”
“I suppose, but it doesn’t explain why Nox is so uptight,” Minseo replied, stroking a strand of blonde.
Yuki, who stood confused, butted in, “What about two candinates and Nox?”
Excited that Yuki was interested, Camilla showed him the piece of parchment she held, giving it to him to hold as she explained in further detail.
“On this, it describes the history of Shadows and how their personalities were similar in many ways,” She said over him reading, the parchment crinkle under Yuki’s touched as he tired to read, listen and walk. A hand shot out and pointed at the top paragraph, “there is the general knowledge of Shadows and the power they process, but down there is what is really interesting.”
As mortals, we do not know much of Shadows, but with the knowledge of past Shadows we have come up with similar characteristics that a certain Guardian Shadow has. In the efforts of knowing this information, philosophers have struggled, for the most knowledgeable people are either the Assassins of Xan or the Dathern Goblins, both known to be very reserved with the power they have known to protect.
First we have the Shadows of Sykaresh—
Yuki skimmed through the writing, Erysta was known to have calm and kind Shadows whilst Satella’s Shadows were usually fierce and reserved, they stretched out the paragraphs by adding information about the Shadows, names and powers. Very tedious. He eventually read the last paragraph, the smallest one.
Xan’s Shadows are tricksters, lying effortlessly and turning one friend against another with a sentence. As many know, the second Shadow Generation were corrupted beyond belief but the most corrupted was Mara Thornflower, a Jinn Princess with a ruthless heart and murder on her mind. She killed hundreds of innocent lives, rumoured that she believed it was “a sacrifice in the name of her Guardian.” Xan’s Shadows are not to be trusted. If another Generation is needed, Lady Xan must choose wisely and seek the help of Lord Qaetan.
“So you’re saying Xan is paranoid about her decision?” Yuki asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Camilla pursed her lips with a pause before answering, “Yes, that is what I am saying. So having two candidates, it evens the odds of them making a mistake, a fifty-fifty.
“I’d be sorry for the one who doesn’t get it,” murmured Minseo, stopping as the trio reached a line of people waiting for food. Children sent them puzzled looks as they joined the queue.
“Ok, but which Guardian would you want to be Shadowed with, serious question,” Camilla spoke up with an amused face.
“Definitely Erysta, her powers sound great,” replied Minseo, smiling as well, Camilla turned to Yuki with an eyebrow raised.
Yuki thought for a second, “I would like Ganz because his powers are dark… like my soul.”
There was a silence, then, “Did you just quote a vine?!”
“Maybe. By the way, I'd rather me Waraabe’s Shadow because fire is cool,” Yuki forced a nervous smile.
Minseo and Camilla burst out laughing, causing Yuki to relax for the first time in a week.
“Yes,” Nox began, “in the event of a fire please go to the Outside Courts, the door is just over there. There is another way to get there but that is on the other side of the Valley, opposite the Dining Hall and across a courtyard. For safety reasons please leave any items in the place you are currently at, you should hear a loud ringing of a bell multiple times a second.
“Other than that, please note when you are up late and you see a stream of younger kids coming in or out of the Teen Ward, they are allowed to do that as long as they don’t get caught by the First Lady, the kids go into the Teen Ward because underneath one of the beds is a trapdoor that leads to a secret bunker which was recently found by them. Kids go in that bunker because apparently there is a lot of Earth technology which they have fun playing or watching.”
Nox finished, picked up a quiver from the side of the nearest target, Yuki didn’t notice it before, sliding in each of the arrows.
The group nodded and had started to turn around when Nox called out, “In two days, Filip and I have been ordered to take you out to the Kingdom, which is a rough six hours there and back when walking. However, if we have permission to use another means of travel, it will take three hours.”
“What’s the other means of travel?” asked Tsumi, standing next to the crazy haired girl, Nox seemed to have not heard them because they trudged passed the group and out of the Training Square.
A moment silence as the group watch Nox glide out of the room, Yuki looked at the others, “So what are going to do?”
“I’m going to explore,” Shaylen said. “Anyone want to join me?”
“I’ll come,” Rasfyr responded, striding over to the door with Shaylen following close behind. Tsumi and the crazy haired girl looked at each other, Tsumi sighed and walked after the other two, the girl jogging behind him.
The pretty ginger girl glanced at Yuki, who looked away with a roll of his eyes, turning to gaze at the large glass ceiling. Behind him he heard the girl say, “Hey, Minseo, is it? Wanna go to the library with me?”
“Sure.” The two walked off and left Yuki with his thoughts.
Yuki stood alone. A presence loomed over him, reminding Yuki of someone who was supposed to be on his side. His brother. The one person who had been there since the start, through thick and thin, had been separated from Yuki when he was arrested. So he stood there, alone.
A group of three students who were to ones to talk to him, approaching nervously and whispering furiously to one another. Yuki tried to ignore them but they continued forward but their loud babbles of chatter aggravated him.
“Hey, how are you?” stammered one of the teenagers, they had messy brown hair and a scar over one eye, Yuki faced them with a scowl and received a frowning face in return. Yuki rolled his eyes and wandered away, only to be followed by the group, the teen called after him, “I don’t know where you’re going but there isn’t a door that way.
“Wolfia!” whined their friend, Yuki glanced back at the voice, the boy with pale hair had told Wolfia off. Yuki stopped after realising they were corrected, he was cornered.
“See it worked,” they chirped, “he turned around and realised I was right.”
“You don’t have an off switch don’t you?” snapped the boy.
Yuki spun to look a them, irritated from the annoying children. Wolfia whispered to their blonde friend and the third friend, a girl with dark mahogany hair tied in braids and chocolate skin, rolled her eyes.
“What do you want?” snarled Yuki, gritting his teeth roughly and trying to think of an excuse to leave.
“He speaks,” commented the blond boy, Wolfia gasped dramatically with him.
“Isaac!” hissed the dark skinned girl, she swatted him on the head and stomped on Wolfia’s toe before smiling sweetly at Yuki, “Hi, I’m Zoe Grey from the Buhedas region of Dathern and you are?”
Yuki didn’t reply, still frowning at them.
“Dude, I would reply or else I will probably bribe Nox to tell me your name.” Wolfia strutted in front of the other two, gesturing vigorously with their hands, Yuki noticed how there were covered in long white lines that chittered all over the place, then crossed their arms.
“Just because you’re Nox’s favourite doesn’t mean you can just demand something,” said Zoe, rubbing her forehead, Wolfia opened their mouth to speak when Yuki spoke.
“I’m Yuki Izo, I was born in the Japan region of Earth,” he murmured to the trio, who looked at him in confusion. They shared a look, a second passed as they figured out what he meant. Wolfia gasped and clicked their fingers, pointing at Yuki.
“You’re one of the potential Shadows, aren’t you?” Wolfia asked him, smiling slightly.
“It seems so,” Yuki replied, looking away from the mentees. His thoughts screaming at him to ask for his own shadow, a shadow that loomed over him, following his every move and helping him. He was about to ask about his problem when the Heir name Dolion strode over.
“Wolfia, Isaac, Zoe, what are you doing pestering this Shadow? Shouldn’t you be training?” Dolion asked grinning, Wolfa’s head dropped and they started fiddling with their hands, Isaac tugged on their shirt and stood a bit closer to them, glaring at Dolion whilst Zoe remained calm.
“We were wondering why Yuki was alone, so we decided that we should investigate for his benefit and the last I checked,” Zoe looked around the room. “Everyone is on a break. So naturally we are as well.”
Dolion’s face tightened, his smile faltering before he said, “I suppose so.”
“Wonderful, whilst on this break, we shall guide Yuki to the library,” Isaac said, releasing Wolfia and grabbing Yuki to pull him along. Dolion put his hand in the air, stopping the group from leaving.
“I’m sure Yuki knows the way, since he was just on a tour,” Dolion emphasised.
“Well, I went on tour my first day and I forgot where it is,” Wolfia spoke up in a cold sneer, Isaac and Zoe shared an anxious glance. Dolion and Wolfia had a staring competition. Yuki shuffled his feet, becoming very interested in the floor and how stony it was.
Wolfia won the fight and they moved to leave. “Don’t forget to tell Nox that we have a duel in the evening, I doubt they will remember with all that’s happening with them.”
Dolion swirled back to his students, barking a command at them to stand in line and begin a sequence, Yuki frowned at his back, looking back down at the trio. Wolfia’s face went stoic, they left without another word, Yuki following them. He wondered who he should tell about his shadow.
*
Lying on his back, Yuki stared at the ceiling and wondered where he last left his shadow. He left the trio of mentee assassins at the end of the corridor, slipping into his room with a small smile and bidding them goodbye. He appreciated the teenagers’ help, they cheered him up despite feeling so numb,and he even managed to crack a smile.
Right now, he just wanted to lie in his bed and not interact with anybody, Yuki was tired and he didn’t know why, but he did. He knew why but hated to think about it.
A bell rang in the distance, chiming slowly and in a steady rhythm, causing Yuki to rise from his bed and wipe a hand down his face to remove the sleep from his blue eyes. The ocean woven within them was a dull chaos, waves clashed in his mind, roaring, screaming even, as he tried to rest.
Something stirred in his mind, causing him to lean upwards from his bed and rub his hands across his eyes again. Ruffling the mop of black on his head, Yuki rose and began to walk to dinner. He was stared at by many of the kids that walked in the same direction, Yuki lowered his head and kept a low profile, hoping that this would put people off when staring at him.
Soon enough, he walked through the Hall of Ancients, not bothering to look up in wonder at the beauty of the hall. Yuki felt distant from the world in stood on, his mind was far from the present, it dewled on the past.
He recalled the moment he rose to consciousness after being transported to Dathern, waking up with the same clothes but with his pockets empty and no money. At least he had his shadow with him. Through thick and thin the shadow stayed with him, helping him up from the floor after being knocked so many times he felt like giving up. A voice in the darkness, a shiny pearl in a dark sea, a ship sailing home. But in a wave, it was gone.
“Hey,” a voice called out, making him jump out of the smothering thoughts and into the river of reality. Yuki looked around to see the owner, Camilla walked towards him, she held a piece of parchment, and with her was Minseo, who listened to Camilla as she explained something.
“Hi,” he automatically answered, surprising himself for a second before snapping out of the daze of emotion that he was consumed by. The two gave him a patient but small smile as they approached, noticing his ruffled hair and large dark rings under his sea eyes.
Camilla turned back to Minseo. “So it makes sense right, why there are two candinates for Xan’s Shadow?”
“I suppose, but it doesn’t explain why Nox is so uptight,” Minseo replied, stroking a strand of blonde.
Yuki, who stood confused, butted in, “What about two candinates and Nox?”
Excited that Yuki was interested, Camilla showed him the piece of parchment she held, giving it to him to hold as she explained in further detail.
“On this, it describes the history of Shadows and how their personalities were similar in many ways,” She said over him reading, the parchment crinkle under Yuki’s touched as he tired to read, listen and walk. A hand shot out and pointed at the top paragraph, “there is the general knowledge of Shadows and the power they process, but down there is what is really interesting.”
As mortals, we do not know much of Shadows, but with the knowledge of past Shadows we have come up with similar characteristics that a certain Guardian Shadow has. In the efforts of knowing this information, philosophers have struggled, for the most knowledgeable people are either the Assassins of Xan or the Dathern Goblins, both known to be very reserved with the power they have known to protect.
First we have the Shadows of Sykaresh—
Yuki skimmed through the writing, Erysta was known to have calm and kind Shadows whilst Satella’s Shadows were usually fierce and reserved, they stretched out the paragraphs by adding information about the Shadows, names and powers. Very tedious. He eventually read the last paragraph, the smallest one.
Xan’s Shadows are tricksters, lying effortlessly and turning one friend against another with a sentence. As many know, the second Shadow Generation were corrupted beyond belief but the most corrupted was Mara Thornflower, a Jinn Princess with a ruthless heart and murder on her mind. She killed hundreds of innocent lives, rumoured that she believed it was “a sacrifice in the name of her Guardian.” Xan’s Shadows are not to be trusted. If another Generation is needed, Lady Xan must choose wisely and seek the help of Lord Qaetan.
“So you’re saying Xan is paranoid about her decision?” Yuki asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Camilla pursed her lips with a pause before answering, “Yes, that is what I am saying. So having two candidates, it evens the odds of them making a mistake, a fifty-fifty.
“I’d be sorry for the one who doesn’t get it,” murmured Minseo, stopping as the trio reached a line of people waiting for food. Children sent them puzzled looks as they joined the queue.
“Ok, but which Guardian would you want to be Shadowed with, serious question,” Camilla spoke up with an amused face.
“Definitely Erysta, her powers sound great,” replied Minseo, smiling as well, Camilla turned to Yuki with an eyebrow raised.
Yuki thought for a second, “I would like Ganz because his powers are dark… like my soul.”
There was a silence, then, “Did you just quote a vine?!”
“Maybe. By the way, I'd rather me Waraabe’s Shadow because fire is cool,” Yuki forced a nervous smile.
Minseo and Camilla burst out laughing, causing Yuki to relax for the first time in a week.
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