A Bit of Chapter 15

So, I was thinking, to maybe give myself some impetus to work some more on my story, that I'd upload a bit of it. This is from one of more recent chapters and I think it represents what the story feels like, while not being written so long ago that it seriously needs some red ink and not really spoiling anything major.

One thing I should note, because I don't remember if it's obvious from this. An asperan is an anthro and a calvit is a human. Those terms exist in my world because the word human just means someone capable of speech and abstract thought, more or less. So it applies to both species.

Sunday June 17^th, 2007

   It was early morning and the sun was beginning to peek through the crack in the curtains, illuminating Shadow’s face. Groggily, he began to stir only to find himself in a small, rustic room. His stomach was in knots, having only eaten one meal the day before and with all the walking he had done, he was sore all over and still exhausted. Shortly after being picked up by the investigators, Shadow had fallen asleep in the back of the car, but he vaguely remembered them carrying him out of it into the country inn, and onto the couch that he was now lying on. The curtains were closed, so most of the room was too dark to see, but there was no sign of the duo or his sword. As he went to get up, he found his movement restricted; his hands were handcuffed in front of him.

   “The hell . . ?” he said, jumping to his feet. Did they know he was now a fugitive? Panicked, he tried to break them with a burst of shadow magic only to experience a jolt of pain radiating through his body as soon as he tried to channel his spell. It was enough to make him collapse on the ground.

   His arms had landed in the sunbeam and he could make out the cuffs. They were black with odd angular shapes jutting out from the edges. On the chain, connecting the cuffs was a chunk of flat, black metal in the shape of a shield. Embedded in it was circle filled with purple static that was beginning to fade to a white and black, TV static color. It was a crest, a small magical disk that could be shoved into some physical matter and augment it with mana matter to alter its physical properties. This one must prevent spell casting. Normally, injecting some magic directly into the crest could dislodge it. But, in this case, even if Shadow could cast magic, there was a metal mesh that would just force the crest back onto the handcuffs. This type of handcuff was more expensive to make, but necessary for dangerous magic users; Shadow wasn’t going to be getting these off on his own anytime soon.

                With a growl of frustration, he pushed himself to his feet and began scouring the room for his sword. He was desperate to find it and started by pulling the drawers out of the dresser. Nothing was in any of them, nor the closet. For good measure, Shadow threw the sheets off the bed, but it wasn’t there. After, making a good angry mess of the room, it was evident his sword wasn’t there. Ignoring his hunger pains, Shadow shoved the door open and stepped out into the blinding morning light.

   He was on the outskirts of a rural Llordan town, situated in a valley in the mountains, that were quiet a distance from where he had been picked up. The inn was situated on the slopes of the valley, giving Shadow a view of the entire village. There wasn’t much to it; a few shops, some old houses, and open fields were all that there was too see, aside from a small castle situated further up the valley that must have dated from the 16^th century. From the name of the inn, Shadow assumed the town was Stanton, but he had no idea where it was in relation to the rest of the country. At least, it was unlikely the people here knew what had happened back in Rhodes.

   “Ah, I thought teenagers didn’t wake this early,” Andy said as he came walking up the street carrying coffee.

   “Where the hell am I?” Shadow snapped at the fox asperan. “And where the hell is my sword?”

   “We’re in Stanton; it’s near the Alban border and Donna has it. You seem a bit stressed,” he said as Shadow’s stomach growled loudly, “and I think you could use a nice breakfast.”

   Shadow grunted before saying, “You’re not going to let me go are you?”

   “Well, I don’t have the keys, so that’s not up to me,” he replied. “I mean, we are going to let you go if you cooperate, but Donna didn’t exactly feel easy with the state we found you in. You’re not on anything illegal are you?”

                Shadow merely grunted again in response.

                “How about this?” Andy offered. “I buy you breakfast and you answer my questions. Sound like a fair deal?”

   “Whatever . . ,” Shadow said.

   “I’ll take that as a yes,” Andy said, motioning for Shadow to follow him.

   The panther boy obliged, he may have been pissed at them for effectively kidnapping him, but his body certainly wasn’t too angry for food. As Andy led him to a local diner, Shadow remain quiet, not bothering to answer any of the fox’s questions with anything more than a grunt. Eventually, Andy decided to Shadow needed food first and let him be. When they arrived at the rustic diner, Shadow was acutely aware of the locals staring at him. Andy’s assurance, that he wasn’t a dangerous criminal and was just being cuffed in the case that he might try something, didn’t really help. The fox asperan was kind enough to not try to make any real conversation until the waitress brought them two full plates piled with sausages, bacon, fried eggs, potatoes, and tomatoes, baked beans, some mushrooms and toast alongside two cups of coffee. It was so much food; Shadow didn’t know what to do with all of it.

   “You’re from Sieros, so you’ve probably never had a full Llordan country-style breakfast before. Have you?” Andy asked as he began to dig in.

   “Not really . . ,” Shadow muttered. His usual breakfast consisted of whatever they were serving at school, which was often just scrambled eggs, some bacon, and maybe a pancake or waffle. If school wasn’t in, he usually only ate some fruit or something else cheap from a convenience store.

   “I know the joke that Dyon people are more Balkanese than Llordan, but your food really is,” Andy said, trying to make small talk before getting to anything serious.

   Shadow shrugged. “I guess.”

   Andy sighed some. “Look I’m sorry for holding you like this. It’s just when you find someone lying in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere, kilometers away from their hometown, you get a bit suspicious. Well Donna does anyway.”

   “I was attacked by a butterfly,” Shadow said bluntly, picking at his food. “. . , Where’s my sword?”

   “Why do you need your sword?”

   “I just do . . ,” Shadow raised his voice, but in truth he didn’t know. He just felt incomplete without it and that feeling made him nervous.

   Andy could see the worry in Shadow’s face. “So where did you get the sword’s crest,” he asked, trying to find the root of the problem.

   “There’s no crest in it.”

   “Oh there is definitely a crest in there,” Andy told him. “It’s full of black magics, well negative shadow magics to be specific. That sword is the main reason we locked you up; we can’t remove the crest and that thing is bad news. So I need to know, where’d you get it.”

   “I got the sword from my school . . , I didn’t put a crest in it,” Shadow didn’t know if he wanted to tell Andy about his encounter with Kage. He was unsure if the investigators were aware of what happened in Rhodes.

   “Come on, you’re not telling me the whole truth. You were actually a lot more talkative and helpful the last time we met; what happened?”

   “I . . ,” Shadow was fighting with himself. There was a part of him that was welling up with the fear of being found out.

   “Look, I’m not like the normal police. I can make value judgements for extreme situations,” Andy tried to reassure him by coming in and whispering. “If you’ve done something, no one has to know about it.”

   “I was attacked, I didn’t do anything!”

   “Okay, okay,” Andy said in a calming tone. “No need to bring attention to yourself, I just need to know who you were attacked by.”

   “I don’t know,” Shadow snapped.

   Andy stopped the conversation and got him, heading for the counter. As Shadow watched, uneasily, the fox paid for their meal and then grabbed a newspaper from a small bin on the counter. Before returning, he flipped through the paper looking for a specific page. He then came back and placed the paper in front of Shadow. Written across the page was the headline, ‘Shadow Man Assaults Academy Trials.’ Shadow’s heart raced as he read the article; the only thought going through his head was that Andy knew he had tried to kill Theolis.

   “You’re connected to that aren’t you?”

   “That man isn’t me!” he said, rather loudly.

   “No,” Andy nodded, “he attacked you, didn’t he?”

   “He – he said I was his cousin,” Shadow finally spilled the beans. “That we were the same, but I hadn’t been given the gift yet.”

   “And now you have,” Andy stated. “I was afraid of this; when we first met you I figured there was something off about you. Donna and I had done a case a few years ago where we met someone with your powers; they looked a lot like you too. She was nothing but anger and rage, and I’m sure she was cursed. Ultimately, we couldn’t contain her, and they locked her up.”

   Shadow’s heart jumped and quickly he got to his feet.

   “Now hold on, we’re not going to do anything to you. Come on,” Andy said, ushering him outside where they couldn’t cause a scene. “Look it’s likely that you’ve been cursed your whole life, and you haven’t done anything too bad so far. I’m going to bring you to Donna; if you can promise you’ll try to keep it under control she’ll let you go.”

   Shadow wasn’t optimistic as he followed Andy through the town. They were heading towards the castle on the far side of town and as they walked, Andy tried to fill the time by explaining what they were doing there. Since the trail with Kain went dead, Donna and he were investigating a series of incidences involving the supposedly animated dead. Stanton was the most recent in the line, and the locals claimed the old lord had come back to life and was now wandering the castle as a skeleton. Donna had left for the castle shortly before Shadow woke, so all they saw was the car when they arrived. It was parked on the near end of an old brick bridge that spanned a ditch leading to the castle’s entrance.

   The towering stone wall and wrought iron portcullis where decidedly impressive, but Shadow’s attention was drawn to the plain sedan as they passed. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was whispering from it. Noticing, the panther’s attention, Andy stopped. “Hey, I’m going to check on something real quick,” he said patting the kid’s back. “I trust you’ll find Donna right?”

   Shadow looked up at the imposing castle wall, then back to car.

   “She’ll be investigating the grounds,” he insisted. “You can find her.”

   The panther kid shrugged. “Whatever,” he said as he walked across the bridge. It took a great deal of will power for him to keep going. He knew his sword was right in the back of that car, but he had to keep telling himself the fox was right. That blade was no good, despite what the voice in the back of his head was telling him.

   Cautiously, he passed into the walled courtyard. In spite of its age and the thick mat of ivy covering it, the castle was still in great condition. The only thing missing from the courtyard where the large wooden doors to the keep. They were nothing but rotted wooden remains and the iron that kept them in place. Passing through the doors, Shadow found himself in a soil covered great hall. While the courtyard was intact, inside it was clear that the roof had collapsed in some places. Several varieties of plants, including some small trees where growing in the patches of soil open to the light and air and the whole place had an earthy musty smell.

   There was no sign of Donna or the undead lord, but several open passages lined the hall leading up to throne room. Keeping close to the wall, Shadow peered into the nearest passage. No one was there so he warily entered the narrow hallway. As he did, he could hear a soft clattering noise echoing from behind him. Turning, he saw no one there. Ignoring his pounding heart, he reentered the great hall to investigate. Making a circuit around the hall, he peered down the various corridors. Each passageway he checked was empty, but he couldn’t discern the source of noises he was hearing and they were getting louder. Something was coming and he was acutely aware of how vulnerable he was.

   Slowly, he started to make his way to the exit; Shadow had ended his search by the large iron doors that lead to the throne room, so he had to cross each passageway once more to leave. As he did, he peered down into the shadowy corridors looking for any hint of movement. When he was halfway to the exit a sudden sharp, tinny, tone made him jump. It took him a moment to realize it was the ringing of a cell phone. Frustrated and embarrassed at himself, he returned to the iron doors. They were closed, but he could hear the muffled voice of Donna from the other side. Shadow dared not draw attention to himself in his vulnerable state, so instead of calling to the woman, he tried to tug at the door. They were so rusted shut they wouldn’t budge. With a sigh in frustration, he turned to find another route and immediately jumped.

   Standing just outside of one of the passages was a gaunt lupine humanoid figure. It was easily six foot tall and covered in head to toe in what must have been fine linens and jewelry. Its eyes were nothing but black pits and looked more like a skeleton than a living human. As it moved towards Shadow, its necklaces and amulets clanked against each other, unnervingly matching the sounds he had heard earlier. The noise was soft, even in the same room and it must have been close by the whole time, waiting in the shadows for Shadow to be vulnerable.

   Shadow inched along the opposite wall, making his way towards the exit. Unfortunately, the thing followed him, keeping itself in between him and the doorway. It moved purposely, like a hunter tracking its prey. Shadow briefly contemplated backing down a hallway, but knew he’d fare better if he could make it outside. He had no idea what this thing was capable of, so, with little options left, he bolted. In response, the deathly figure raised a gnarled finger and screamed, as a violent, crackling, red energy shot from its finger and into the back of Shadow’s shield.

                It instantly created a small hole and with a scream of his own, Shadow fell face first to the ground. “Dammit,” he cursed as a small line of blood ran down his forehead from where he had struck a sharp rock. Scrambling to get up, Shadow was blasted with another bolt of death magic that knocked him to the ground once more. He could hear the jingling of metal on metal as the figure approached him. Desperate, he turned over and tried to blast it with his own magic only to be reminded of the crests in his cuffs. They left him, writing in pain on his side at the mercy of whatever was bearing down on him.

   Black, writhing magic charged in the things withered hand as it leaned over Shadow. The asperan boy was sure he was done for, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Donna rush into the room from a side passage. “Keep your head down,” she commanded with a raised pistol, covered in glowing magic, at the skeletal lord. With a pull of the trigger, a searing brand shot out and smacked right into the things back. It burned into the shield before exploding in a burst of swirling, bubbling energy, shattering the thing’s fragile upper body into bits of mana of bone fragments. “Just another monster, just as I thought!”

   Shadow was about to get up when a ghastly, glow began to grow out of the destroyed torso, forming a ghostly visage that matched the things original form. It quickly began to shake violently, as the bone fragments whirled around the room, returning to it. With an angry shout, the skeletal lord, now shrouded in ghostly energy, turned to the biggest threat in the room.

   Donna fired several more brands at the monster, but they were met with resistance from the blue aura doing little to slow the thing down. “Hey, this goes against my better judgement, but I may need help and Andy is busy,” she reached into her pocket and tossed the handcuff keys in Shadow’s direction just before she had to dodge a burst of spectral flames.

   The keys landed not far from Shadow, but as he went to grab them, they floated up out of his reach, bathed in ghostly flame. Other stray objects, rocks, and debris, were being levitated into the air with the same magic all around the room. Shadow had to duck under a stray rock as get up, it went whizzing through the air in Donna’s direction, but for her credit, the calvit woman was agile enough to dodge the assault. Snatching the keys out of the air, Shadow attempted to free himself when they were almost yanked from his hand as part of the monster’s attack. Thrown to the ground again, Shadow desperately shoved the keys into the lock.

   Free from the crest, Shadow’s first instinct was to disappear into the relative safety of the Shadow Realm. He got to his feet and ran to the door, trying to avoid being struck by the debris whipping through the room. When he made it to the door, he found himself hesitating, looking back at the fight scene. Through the tinted lenses of the Shadow Realm, the undead thing appeared as a burned black flame sucking the light out of the room. It was bearing down on Donna, and while she was holding her own for now, it looked like she would need help.

   “This is insane,” he muttered as he returned to the physical world and lobbed a ball of sticky dark magic at the skeletal figure. Shadow’s spell, stuck to the monstrosity’s body and began to eat at its aura, emitting a steady stream of mana into the air. It was enough to allow one of Donna’s attacks to break through and burst apart its body once again. While, not enough to destroy it, she was given the opportunity to duck out of the corner she was driven into.

   “Oi, step back kid,” she told Shadow as she ran between him and the monster. “I’m out of ammo and this should buy me time, but it might get messy.”

   She raised a hand, channeling energy into the air in front of her. Various, bright flaming brands rapidly flashed in front of her. They went by so quickly, Shadow had difficulty keeping track of any pattern, but Donna seemed to recognize one and when one specific brand flashed, she clenched her fist through it, shattering it. Bright, burning bands now floated in the air, between them and the undead. The monster quickly collided with the wall of magic, and a massive shockwave caused the entire building to shudder as bright balls of magical energy burst from each brand, engulfing the room in bubbling orange energy.

   When it all cleared, Shadow found himself on the ground once more. His heart was beating as if he had just run a mile and he could still feel the warmth of the magic permeating his body. In front of him, Donna was repeating her spell on the gun, generating another batch of brands to cover it. Across the room, all that was left of the undead was a mass of burning spectral energy. It must have been on its last legs. Shadow began to get himself back up when Andy finally entered the fray. He was wielding some sort of flashlight-like device that had multiple lenses on a rotating disk. Together, with Donna’s gun, he pointed it at the spectral remains and fired. An intense beam of light burst from Andy’s device as Donna’s brands immolated what remained of the undead, finally finishing it off.

   “Well it almost seems silly that I brought this then,” Andy said, looking at the device and slinging it over his shoulder by a strap. “Did you at least get some use out of the ring?”

   Donna glanced at her hand, “Some. The monster had a barrier that resisted the life magic, it seems lucky you sent Sidney in here. The barrier didn’t stop dark magic.”

   “Am I free to go?” Shadow interrupted them, panting and sweaty from being too close to the errant magics Donna had unleashed.

   “No, I can’t risk it,” Donna said as she retrieved the handcuffs from the cold stone floor and looked at them, as if she was thinking of putting them on Shadow again. “I want to keep an eye on you – and it’s not exactly a good idea to let a kid wander around in the wilderness. That was your plan, wasn’t it?”

   “No . . ,” Shadow lied. “You better not handcuff me.”

   “I’ll do it if I have to,” she told him as she and Andy made to leave the castle.

   With no other options, Shadow followed them to the car where they began discussing their investigation. Leaning against the vehicle, he barely listened in to their conversation. Instead, he was distracted by the desire to find his sword. The feeling had built as they exited the castle, and had only grown as they approached the car. It wasn’t as strong as when he and Andy first approached the vehicle; Shadow figured the fox had disposed of the blade somewhere nearby. He was glad to be rid of the cursed blade, but like an addict, he wanted it back.

   “Sidney, we’re going,” Donna said, motioning for him to get into the car. When he hesitated, she grabbed his arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

   Before he could stop himself, Shadow pulled his arm away and gave Donna a nasty look.

   Unintimidated, she merely folded her arms. “Oi, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

   She didn’t need to threaten him; he obediently got into the back seat and strapped himself in. It terrified him how much control the magics in that blade could have over him in such a short time. He was grateful to be leaving it behind, as they pulled out off of the bridge and back into town.

   As the car pulled out of sight, something disturbed the water and muck down in the moat, beneath the bridge. A shadowed form had manifested above the algae coated waters. Vaguely human sized, it reached an appendage down into the murky waters. Dark magics dripped into and fouled the waters, as it fished around until it reached its target. Slowly, it pulled the dark steel of Shadow’s blade out of the muck, before suddenly disappearing into the Shadow Realm.