The Wayfinder's Apprentice (Shadows of the Umbra Book 1)

by K Dezendorf

  "I’m not. It wasn’t my choice,” Rose explained. “I’ve had him since I was little. I had no part in whatever bargain was made."

  "So, this Guardian," Vikhail said slowly. "He means that much to you?"

  Rose nodded. "Very much. He's been with me my whole life."

  "Okay, seems like a fair enough reason." She nodded, facing away once more. "I'll tell you what. Let’s make this a fair exchange. You’re an apprentice Wayfinder, correct?”

  “That’s right.”

  “So how about some of my blood, in exchange for a short trip to the human world? I’ve always wanted to try human food.”

  Rose breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that the request wasn’t unreasonable. “That sounds fair.”

  “Great, then we have a deal.” Vikhail turned and held a hand out to Rose who grasped it in a brief handshake.

  Then, Vikhail pulled out a small knife with what looked like an antler handle. She reached into a pouch on her hip and pulled out an empty glass vial. Pulling the stopper out, she cut open the side of her hand and squeezed the blood out into the vial. After it filled, she healed her hand before putting the cork stopper back on and handed it to Rose.

  “Will that do?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Rose murmured, taking the vial and slipping it into her pocket.

  She caught sight of three other people who were all standing a ways off, staring. One of them, Rose noticed, had horns like Bal, only they were dark blue and probably male. Vikhail noticed her gaze and glanced over before looking at her.

  "Hmm, no, I can’t see you being an inferni,” Vikhail mused aloud, looking between Rose and the horned man. “Still… you might not want to let others know about your Guardian. Shades aren’t exactly the types to be trusted, and people will assume things about you, be they truth or not.”

  "So I've heard." Rose looked back at Vikhail, smiling at her. “Thank you again for this.”

  "Let me know how the business with your Guardian goes. I'll probably be in the combat area, popping some chops."

  Rose nodded and she headed back inside. Making her way up to Dimitri’s meeting room, she knocked on the door. It opened and Vindo appeared.

  "Y-yes, hello?" he said.

  "Hi, is Dimitri available?" she asked.

  "O-of course. Y-yes, come in." He stepped aside allowing her entrance. Dimitri was sitting at the table with Bal, and Rose did her best not to stare.

  Beside Bal was a young, slight looking man with light teal colored hair, fair skin, and a soft, round face that would have been beautiful, were it not for the gaping hole on the right side of his face where his eye should have been. While the wound wasn’t bleeding, it looked fresh and raw. Rose hurriedly looked away, feeling as though she intruded on a very private thing.

  “As you can see, Dimitri, it hasn’t been improving,” Bal spoke. “None of our healers here have been able to fix it.”

  “I see,” Dimitri murmured. Rose looked up and saw Dimitri was staring intently at the young man. “Bruce, was it? Have you recalled anything from your past?”

  The young man slowly shook his head. “No, sir.”

  Chancing another look at him, Rose saw his expression was one of light puzzlement, as though he was constantly wondering where he was and what he was doing. The one eye he did still have was a golden brown, and he looked… lost.

  “Very well.” Dimitri looked at the woman. “Bal, if you would, take him to see the Lady of the Light. Perhaps she can do something for him.”

  Bal inclined her head. “I trust you’ll provide the funds necessary?”

  “Of course. Will you need someone to accompany you both?”

  “I’ll ask Granger to accompany us.” Her lips quirked up into a smile. “It seems you have another visitor.”

  Dimitri glanced up. "Ah, Rose. How can I help you?"

  "Is it all right if I have a few minutes of your time?” she asked awkwardly. “It’s about… that thing."

  "Of course. Ah," he turned to Bal. "Was there anything else either of you needed?"

  “No, as usual, you’ve been very gracious.” Bal inclined her head, getting up and gliding past Rose. Something caressed the back of her knees, causing them to buckle. She looked to see Bal’s tail swishing coyly behind her as she exited the room. The young male followed after her, giving Rose a fleeting glance as he left.

  “I take it you wish for another meeting with Galleon?” Dimitri asked. When Rose nodded, he motioned for her to sit. "Of course. I can send for him at once."

  Vindo walked over to the painted door, while Rose took a seat. She watched as Vindo did his thing. The wall rippled for a second and the room got warmer. Moments later, Rose saw Galleon sitting across from her again, wings fully expanded.

  "Much quicker than I was anticipating from a lesser human."

  Wordlessly, Rose reached into her pocket, pulling out the vial of blood and setting it on the table. He picked up the vial, his one eye scrutinizing it. His gaze shifted to her for a moment before returning to the vial again. Rose just waited quietly in anticipation. He placed it on his hand, put his other hand over it, and the vial of blood slid between them and disappeared.

  "So, your Guardian. You want to investigate where he is?"

  "Yes, and bring him back to me,” she said firmly.

  His left wing curled in and then unfurled and a smaller Shade, tattooed head to toe, was standing there.

  "Yes, sir?" he said to Galleon.

  "Read this one's aura," he commanded. "She is bound. Find the mutt and bring it to me."

  "Yes, sir." Rose saw a flash of smoke as the Shade dissolved away into ash.

  Galleon looked at her. "I will summon you when he is found."

  Rose nodded.

  His wings extended and came down to wrap around himself before he vanished. Moments later the room returned to a normal temperature.

  "Well, that was a pleasant visit," Dimitri commented. "I will assume he's going to reach out to me to reach you. Which is fine, there's no problem. I'll make sure to send Billy for you."

  "Thank you, and... I'm sorry for all this trouble."

  "What trouble?"

  "I know you have more important things to be dealing with than… my problems.”

  "Do not worry yourself, my dear,” he assured her. “Was there anything else I can assist you with?"

  Before she could answer, the wall rippled and Billy stepped through. He looked tired, but straightened up when he saw Rose and Dimitri there. “Ah, perfect. Are you ready to go, child?”

  “Before that, Billy. I have a few patrons in need of your assistance,” Dimitri spoke up.

  Billy’s shoulders sagged. “Right, of course. Child, let’s get you back. I won’t be long.”

  Rose nodded in agreement. While she’d much rather stay at the castle, Billy didn’t appear in the mood for arguing. After Billy opened the portal for her and she stepped through, she found she was back in the warehouse. There was a note on the table. She picked it up and read:

  “Child, there’s food in the fridge. Help yourself. -Billy.”

  Well, she supposed in the meantime she could eat, and practice her mana breathing and magic casting. She had a couple of Billy's sandwiches, adding extra mayo on them. After eating she practiced her magic, and after a couple hours of that, she decided to kill time by doing laps around the warehouse.

  When that didn’t help to relieve her stress, she tried sketching. She was halfway through a picture of Galleon, when she stopped, worried finishing the drawing might summon him or draw his attention somehow.

  Much to Rose’s dismay, it was night time before Billy finally showed. He apologized for taking so long, explaining to her that he had several people needing his assistance. They were only able to get in a little practice before Billy sent her to bed.

  ************

  The next morning, Rose woke up to find Billy was already gone and a note telling her an emergency had happened and he’d be back as soon as he could. She foun
d herself missing his fresh home cooked breakfast. However, she did find several wrapped sandwiches in the fridge.

  Rose was in the middle of scraping the mayo jar clean when she heard the front door open. She set her food down and hurried out into the main warehouse area.

  Surprisingly, she saw Edward half carrying another man who was unconscious and covered in blood. Once he was inside the building and the door was shut behind him, he dropped the man to the floor.

  “What happened?” she exclaimed.

  Edward glanced up at her. A myriad of emotions flickered across his face before settling into one of awkwardness. “I didn’t expect you to be here. Not now anyway.”

  “Never mind that.” Rose gestured to the unconscious man. "At least get him to a bed!"

  Edward’s head tilted to the side. "There’s no need."

  "Is he dead?"

  "No."

  Rose wasn't sure why he was being so blithe about the situation. "Then to make him more comfortable at least."

  He raised an eyebrow. "There's only one bed here, I won’t stain it with his blood."

  "Oh my gawd, move out of the way.” She went over to the unconscious man and carefully laid him on his back to examine his wounds.

  “You’re wasting your time,” Edward informed her before heading to the kitchen.

  Rose shook her head, unable to fathom Edward’s behavior. If this man was an enemy, why bring him here? And if he was not an enemy, but an ally, why just dump his bloodsoaked body to the floor? As she examined him, she found there were several lacerations on his skin oozing blood.

  Before Rose could begin doing anything for him, the door to the kitchen opened and Edward stepped out looking annoyed.

  "You used up all the mayonnaise."

  She gaped at him in momentary disbelief. "I’m so sorry I crushed your world by using the mayo," she said, laying the sarcasm on like concrete.

  He made a noise of irritation before going back into the kitchen.

  Once more, Rose shook her head as she returned her attention to the unconscious man. Looking him over, Rose considered she probably should have been more freaked out by the situation. Instead, there was a feeling of calm clarity similar to what she felt whenever she was around Billy or Edward. She gave the unconscious man a few taps on the cheek. He didn't respond, but he was at least breathing steadily.

  Getting up, she went to the bathroom, grabbing several sheets of paper towels and dampening them with water. She went back to the man and began very carefully cleaning the blood off his wounds. As she did, she noticed most of the wounds had started closing up. She watched as a particularly nasty one on his neck slowly sealed shut. It then clicked in her head.

  This man was like Edward.

  Once she finished cleaning him up, Rose grabbed a pillow from the back room, ignoring Edward as she went. She carefully placed it under the man's head and sat with him, examining him further. There was one injury that didn’t fade; burn scars that ran from the corner of his eye, stretching down his jaw and ending on his neck. The ear on that side was slightly shriveled, like a raisin.

  On his back was a sword, but it was busted. He had dark hair and looked human like her, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He was wearing ordinary clothes, a knitted sweater and khakis. Things you’d find in a thrift store, not in the Umbra. Besides the sword she'd assume he was just some random guy on the street.

  After another minute, he started grunting and coughing up blood. He opened his eyes and halfway sat up, glancing around.

  "Where am I?"

  "In a warehouse."

  His gaze focused on her. "Who are you?"

  "Just a passing stranger," she said with a smile. "Edward brought you here."

  He reached for his sword. "Is he still here?"

  "Uh, I believe so. I'm pretty sure he's still in the kitchen groaning about mayonnaise."

  The man drew his sword, or what was left of it, and tried sitting up with a pained expression.

  "Uh, sir, you really shouldn't be getting up right now," Rose told him, concerned he was going to hurt himself more. He coughed some more, breathing heavily. "What even happened to you?"

  "Edward happened," he replied darkly.

  Before Rose could ask what he meant by that, the kitchen door opened and Edward stepped out again. "Ah, you’re finally up."

  The man got to his feet, holding his broken sword at the ready.

  Edward looked unabashed. "And you still haven’t learned your lesson. You know you can’t beat me, you idiot human."

  Rose's eyes widened as she looked up at the man. He really was human, then.

  He gave a yell and charged at Edward. Edward just turned towards him, reaching his arms back, and two blades came shooting out. He brought up the first one, clashing with the man's sword, then the other blade slashed the guy's stomach.

  Rose's hand clapped over her mouth as there was a gush of blood.

  Edward pulled his arm back, and the blades retracted, before he punched the guy in the face. The man fell backwards and his sword went spinning across the concrete floor towards Rose. He was unconscious again.

  "And stay down," Edward told him.

  "What the hell was that about?" Rose demanded, glaring at him.

  "It doesn't concern you, you don't have to worry about it," he said, looking the guy over. "You shouldn't even have bothered cleaning him up. I just wanted a sandwich. After that I was gonna take him back."

  "Take him back where?"

  "To his temple. It doesn't concern you," he repeated as she opened her mouth to ask.

  Rose huffed. "Excuse me for being curious after watching you butcher another guy with no explanation whatsoever."

  "He started it."

  Rose stared at him. What is he, five? She shook her head. "Okay, you need to explain to me what’s going on.”

  Edward folded his arms across his chest, looking at her silently.

  “Every time I see you, you act weird. It’s like you…” Rose trailed off, the pieces beginning to line up. “...lose track of time.” Rose swallowed, looking him in the eye. “You’ve been time jumping.”

  “It’s called time-shifting,” he corrected her.

  “Whatever,” she said, motioning to the fallen man. “I want to know why you’ve been time jumping-”

  “Time-shifting.”

  “-and why are you cutting down another immortal? Help me understand what’s going on with you.”

  Edward sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I’m so tired of explaining this.”

  The man on the floor stirred and started to get back up. Rose went to the man's side as he struggled to stand. "Sir, I really think you should just lay down and relax for a bit."

  "I can't," he said heavily, glaring at Edward. "Not while this blonde freak runs around." Rose frowned before glancing at Edward. His hair was pitch black, nowhere even close to blonde. The man coughed as he got to his feet. "I don't even need my sword. With His help, I can take you down."

  Edward smiled mirthlessly. "Such confidence."

  The man took one step towards him and Edward just raised his hand. The man went flying back, slamming into one of the support pillars, and collapsing back onto the ground.

  “Time for you to go back.” Edward stepped towards him.

  Rose, however, blocked the way.

  Edward stopped and stared down at her. "This isn’t your concern, Rose."

  "I am concerned,” she said, not budging. “About you.”

  His steel gray eyes softened for a brief instant, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. He took a deep breath, and she felt a pull in the air. Then the floor underneath her turned to liquid.

  Realizing too late what he was doing, her legs dropped by about a foot into the floor, like she’d dropped into wet concrete, and it hardened instantly.

  Edward looked down at her. “Matter magic. Consider it the next part of your training.”

  "You jerk! Get me out!" Rose shouted, trying to pull free but havi
ng no success.

  Edward just walked around her, going over to the unconscious man. He grabbed him by the nape of his shirt and hefted him up. "Hope you're ready to go."

  As he began heading to the small room, Rose shouted at his back. "Edward!"

  Edward paused, glancing over his shoulder to look at her. His expression was remorseful, but whatever contrition he was feeling wasn’t enough to keep him there.

  Without a word, he disappeared into the backroom. There was a momentary stir in the air, and then stillness. Just like that, he was gone again.

  Chapter 19

  Rose smacked a fist against the ground, cursing her frustration at Edward. So much for talking to him. Fruitlessly, she tried to pull herself up, but she was solidly stuck in the floor. Next part of her training, he’d said. Just what the hell was she supposed to do?

  Calming herself, Rose tried to recall the few times she had seen Edward and Billy use matter magic. It was very different from mind magic. Minds, on the whole, were much more flexible, whereas matter was set and rigid. Matter magic required force, and a lot of it.

  Well, since she was literally stuck here, what did it hurt to try?

  Taking a deep breath, Rose focused what little mana she could get, visualizing what she wanted. She placed her hands onto the floor and forced the mana through her hands into the floor. The ground gave a tiny tremble beneath her fingers, but nothing more.

  She tried again, and again, and again. Repeating the process of casting, then taking the time to restore her mana, which was difficult since the portal was a room away.

  After a dozen or so attempts, Rose was sweating and feeling light headed from breathing so hard, trying to suck in as much mana from the air as she could. Deciding to give it one last try, Rose focused and cast, willing the concrete around her leg to move. The ground around her leg shifted and started to turn viscous. She pushed a little more, and then a little more, just a little more...

  A sharp, burning pain shot through her fingers, like she pressed her hands against a hot stove, and Rose stopped. After shaking her hands out, she noticed the very tips looked burnt. She’d come very close to mana burning herself.

  “Dammit,” she muttered. By this point Rose’s legs were getting very tired and cramped from the unnatural position. At least she could still get to her pockets which held both her journal and tin of pens. Silver linings and all that.