A Shadow Around the Sun

by Hugo Damas

The Shadow shook his head, in his mind. What a fool. Like my clan, the House of Magni utterly controls their members, and they will never abide a match with such a common thief, no matter your skill. They will never abide a match at all, she is the Sorcerer.

  “Your lunacy is your own, Dark Runner,” the Shadow said. “While I searched for you, I ran into a vessel. It is very much like them and is hidden by the mist. It has an entrance and guards. I feel they plan to use it still. I fear Prusnia will fall and that it is only the start.”

  “Start of what?” The Dark Runner asked.

  The Shadow looked around in thought. “Unsure. I fear they may plan to attack other cities.”

  The Sorcerer nodded, following his train of thought. “You think this isn’t just a raid.”

  “I covered a good distance, they seem to be everywhere. They seem to be an army, and not one of them has fallen in battle,” the Shadow explained.

  “Uh, ok.” The Dark Runner frowned. “So what’s the use of knowing about their ship? We can’t fight them, nothing hurts them. Not steel, not fire, not any kind of magic she could think of.”

  “He must mean we know what direction not to go in,” the Sorcerer said.

  He hesitated for a second, eyeing the two in judgment. Would they really deny him the assistance he needed? Was the Shadow the only one there who valued something over his life?

  “You speak the truth, we cannot hurt them, much like with rulers, governments, and armies. True words. But that does not mean we cannot harm them,” the Shadow pointed out.

  The Dark Runner straightened his back and regarded the Shadow with a pleased smirk.

  The Sorcerer raised an eyebrow. “You mean to steal from them?” She asked.

  “They have eyes and ears, senses we can fool. Stealing is what we do. It is what we must do, guards are not posted if there is nothing to guard,” the Shadow proposed.

  “Get into the alien vessel, probably neck-filled with aliens we can’t touch, and steal from them?” The Dark Runner laughed, turning to the Sorcerer. “I like him,” he said.

  “Aliens?” The Sorcerer asked.

  “I disagree with that assessment,” the Shadow said, ignoring Dark Runner’s comments, “but at this stage, it is a valid explanation, even if irrelevant. It is clear we must harm them. Whatever we steal must be vital to them. But the task is difficult to predict, and so I decided I should procure your assistance.”

  “Wait.” The Dark Runner held up his hands in shock. “You decided? Since when does the Shadow think for itself? What happened to the body that commands you?”

  A valid question, Shadow thought. Indeed, the clan was the body that commanded the Shadow, but circumstances were such that he needed to exercise independence.

  There was no harm in explaining that. “I am severed from it, as you are from your house, and you your guild. You must have noticed we are cut off. Still, I think with the mind they have trained, and decide with the wisdom they have honed.”

  “I have never heard of thieves of our renown allying to a purpose,” the Sorcerer said.

  The Shadow nodded. “A necessary precedent to an unprecedented event. I know not what expects us, what we will steal, or how to steal it. Perhaps magic, or technology, will be of more use than my arts.”

  “No wait, I’m just hiding, I’m not doing anyth--AAAAGGHH!!!”

  The Dark Runner shrugged, grunting with interest. “I’m a first too, the first Dark Runner. I’m down for that, but I mean, unlike you two, I wasn’t grown into this thieving business by some family or clan. I’m the master of my own mind, of my own fate. Can you two really do anything that might be against their wishes? Huh?”

  “Insolence,” the Shadow immediately stated, offended, “I am proud to don my name.”

  The Sorcerer put her hands on her hips and leaned in, also offended. “Indeed! You don’t know what you’re talking about, Dark Runner, so be silent!”

  He immediately raised his hands in defense, smirking at them. “Eesh, fine, fine. All I’m saying is I’m in, and I’m asking if you are.”

  “I would not be convincing you two if I were not…in,” the Shadow said, allowing himself to emote a bit of sarcasm.

  “I shall go as well.”

  “Actually, the Sorcerer should just get out of here. At least someone needs to live to tell others about this,” Dark Runner proposed.

  The Sorcerer clicked her tongue and winced. “I have the best exit strategy out of all of us, and you know it. I am going, and that way, we’ll all live to tell of this!”

  “Very well, my lady,” the Dark Runner said, bowing to her a bit mockingly. Then, suddenly, he put his hand forward, all energetic. “Well then, let’s put it up for this shadow conclave, right?!”

  The Shadow was not alone in facing the Dark Runner duly perplexed. The Sorcerer, though, looked a bit more amused.

  “The what?” She asked.

  “Come on, legends need to be appropriately named if they are to be made at all!” Dark Runner pulled his hand and made a fist, dramatically monologuing. “On the day darkness swallowed the world, only those who live in the shadows rose to oppose it! Brought together, for the first time ever, by the great Shadow himself! The fiftieth!”

  “The twenty-third,” the Shadow corrected.

  “Whatever!” The Dark Runner put his hand back in, “let’s join hands and pledge to the success of this conclave of shadows!”

  The Shadow eyed him in utter silence, finding that whole attitude utterly ridiculous. Without a word, he turned his back to them and walked away.

  The Dark Runner moaned disappointedly. “C’mon! Don’t be such a stingy son of a blade, Shadow.”

  “Head in that direction,” the Shadow said, pointing ahead. “Avoid being seen.”

  And at that, the Shadow leapt out of the rooftop, leaving a bewildered Dark Runner to plead with the Sorcerer to help him save what little face he had left.

  “My fair lady, I know you won’t leave me hanging!”

  But she did, initiating instead a spell that would leave him alone.

  Even though the Shadow was the first to leave, he was the last to arrive at the vessel. While there were still hundreds of feet to cover, he saw purple light piercing through the thick air that made up the mist, a sure sign of Sorcerer’s teleportation.

  Meanwhile, the Shadow spotted the Dark Runner gliding by him using two make-shift wings that extended off his shoulder pads, with his vision goggles fully covering his eyes. He landed cleanly, retracting them, and threw a yoyo-like sphere at the ground, which was attached to the back of a pedal which, in turn, had a little vent attached to it. The pedal was supported by a spring. It wasn’t that Shadow could see such details, only that they needed to be present for it to do what it did, which was to fling the Dark Runner into a super jump. The Dark Runner pulled, and the steam was vented off as the pedal retracted to his hand, like the tip of a fishing rod. Then, the Dark Runner actually threw it again, only this time it didn’t go that far. He stepped on it in midair, and it sprung to throw him forward and up again. He retracted it and extended his small gliding wings so he could glide for a few dozen feet. He then ran across the wall of a tower before using the pedal to give him a bit of speed.

  All the apparatuses were quite ingenious, but it was the skill with which he used them that had awarded the Dark Runner his reputation.

  When the Shadow finally arrived, the Sorcerer was standing already facing the vessel, with her hands and arms hidden within her dark blue cloak. Next to her was the Dark Runner, crouching with hands on the ground between his feet, glaring ahead.

  “Have you spotted a way in?” the Shadow asked.

  “I think I can simply take us inside,” the Sorcerer proposed, “but all this teleportation is exhausting. Once inside, we cannot abuse it.”

  “I understand.” They turned to face him, sensing he was going to give them instructions, which he did. “We will be looking for anything of value. Anything that is hidden away or protected.
We will not talk once inside, we will use hand gestures. You will follow my lead.”

  The Dark Runner stood up with an exciting nod. “Alright, let’s get this legendary show on the road. Shadow, as the patron of this historic conclave, do you have any inspiring words for us?”

  The Shadow eyed him, silent and without expression. His thoughts lingered despite the lack of emotional involvement. Slowly, he nodded.

  “Honor and skill be with us. Glory to the Kagekawa. To the House of Magni and to the Tech Guild.”

  “Heh.” The Dark runner smirked, eyeing him with respect. “You’re a lot friendlier than I ever thought you’d be, you know that?”

  The Shadow ignored the statement and looked at the Sorcerer. She sighed evenly and touched the Dark Runner’s shoulder. He then grabbed onto the Shadow’s back, which made him turn on him questioningly.

  “We need to be touching,” the Dark Runner clarified, and the Shadow nodded.

  “Ready?” The Sorcerer asked.

  They nodded, and so she lowered her head and held her staff tightly. Focused, the Sorcerer spoke her words of magic in a low whisper.

  The Shadow had expected the world to twist or his perceptions to suffer discrepancies. He expected the world to bend or start refracting, which is what he saw from the shadow streams. Instead, in an instant, he simply went blind.

  Birth of the Shadow Conclave

  The Shadow was blind for one second, and then they were in a misshapen corridor. The first thing they did was let go of each other and get up against one of the walls. Only then did they look around to take in their surroundings.

  The corridors were circular and its walls, ceilings and floors, seemed to be made of a much thicker form of the mist that enveloped the city. Veins of dark, as black as the shadow lenses, ran through them like cables pulsing in size as if they were breathing. Standing within the thick mist, though, the Shadow could feel actual walls. A sort of smooth metal actually made them and he was shocked by the fact that they blocked his vision, much like the outside had, and the beasts themselves.

  The shadow lenses had been fashioned using a very powerful shadow art so that they could see into the realm of shadows. It was an ethereal place mostly composed of void, but possessed of streams that he could navigate. If something cast a shadow, it could be used as an entry and an exit point, for all shadows were connected. As all things are, in some way, shape or form.

  The shock came from seeing and feeling the proof that contradicted that sage understanding of nature. It was not only a trick on his vision. While the Shadow could dissolve himself into the mist, and inhabit in the shadows cast by it, the metal seemed to create a block. It was a wall that existed even in the shadow realm, and that was a thing that the Shadow had never before witnessed.

  Most of all, breathing was difficult. Akin to a sandstorm, there were things in the air that were solid and not friendly to his lungs. However, he was trained enough not to cough, and there really was no use talking about it.

  The Dark Runner smacked his shoulder, gesturing at him questioningly.

  The air is potentially poisoned and I cannot use my arts to their full potential. This is grave, the Shadow considered. But there is no way I can explain to them. I must focus on the task at hand.

  It was a terrible disadvantage to suddenly be aware of. Just like that, his chances of survival had gone from the usual to near impossible. He didn’t show it. Instead, he quickly motioned for them to start moving.

  He gestured at Dark Runner, pointing at the end of the corridor, where it split into two others which ran off to each side. The Dark runner nodded and, in long striding and silent steps, he moved ahead of them. He retrieved a pen and clicked on its butt, making it so its sides opened up to show tiny mirrors. He used them to make sure the turn was safe.

  The shadow motioned for him to give him the mirrors.

  “Wha--” he tried, but the Shadow immediately shushed him with a firm and strong movement that sounded loud for just half a second.

  The Dark Runner pointed at himself to say he could continue taking the point. The Shadow pointed to his eyes to mean he could see better. In response, the Dark Runner rolled his eyes and put his goggles on, rotating some dials that were on its sides. The Shadow saw the lenses switching through different hues until they stopped on a dark blue tint, at which point he smiled all cocky before proceeding without permission.

  Shadow eyed the Sorcerer, as she followed, and she offered only a shrug. Her facial features hidden within her hood.

  Holding back a bit of frustration, the Shadow shook his ego away and followed them. Whatever mode of vision Dark Runner was using, it could certainly be blinded, which was what would never happen to the Shadow. That is why he wanted to take the lead, he had the better senses, but he supposed it was just needless paranoia to insist. Not to say more of a risk to try than to let him continue.

  They kept exploring the ship, running into almost no enemies. Taking careful care, looking into rooms, but finding nothing that was guarded, or looked shiny and glowing. The ship was remarkably empty of anything worthy of mention, even things resembling furniture or other living arrangements.

  At one point, though, their luck ran out. The Dark Runner looked through the mirrors and gestured a four, indicating four of the beasts were on their way. The corridor was too long to run back and the walls too round to hide them, so by the time the beasts came by, they were all stuck to the ceiling. The Shadow was half-submerged in its darkness, the Dark Runner and the Sorcerer were hovering against the ceiling by some kind of magic that kept them there with such security even their clothing pulled tightly against their skins. That especially accentuated the Sorcerer’s curves, a factor the Shadow noticed only by catching the Dark Runner staring.

  After the beasts had passed, they got down and continued looking for something that might look suspicious. Eventually, they found a massive door which seemed to be made out of dark onyx and was framed by equally dark gems of different types, most of them unknown to the Shadow. They glowed, surprisingly, shining tiny beams of light across the corridor. The door was opened.

  The Shadow motioned for them to wait at the beginning of the corridor, and continued on his own. He was the uttermost expert in matters of stealth so he would do that alone. Slowly and carefully, under the darkness of the curved walls, he crossed the corridor and made it close enough to see what was inside.

  The room contained a large rectangular table made of solid black rock, like the door but less well crafted, and that table was surrounded by a group of very odd-looking men who weirdly resembled the beasts. They were more human-sized and showed no fangs. They stood upright just fine, with their feet shoved in boots, and most of them were dressed in rags, all dirty and fashioned off materials that the Shadow did not recognize. The only face he saw, when he finally made it to the door, was of the larger and broader one who was talking. The face was scaly, foul and full of hair, but definitely humanoid, however twisted and monstrous. His eyes were just like the ones sported by the giant beasts, white with pitch-black irises.

  However unintelligible a sound they were making, they were indeed communicating with each other. And on the table, there was a large map that, unlike everything else in room, the Shadow could easily recognize. It was a map of his continent.

  This is a war room. The Shadow had to admit it all but confirm his fears.

  There was nothing in the room of value, though, and so the Shadow submerged as much as he could and returned to his temporary companions. The Dark Runner was quick to motion a question, to which the Shadow simply shook his head to communicate that there was nothing to steal. They moved on.

  They spent nearly two hours cautiously moving across corridors, checking inside rooms, avoiding a total of four patrols and otherwise meeting with disappointment after disappointment.

  However, they were thieves, the world’s best, and any thief worth his salt has the patience to keep their blood cold and their breathing calm no matter h
ow many setbacks and delays they suffer. And so they just kept moving, all of them mapping the terrain in their mind, all of them aware they were not going around in circles, nor checking places they had already checked. They were patient, careful, never letting their guard down because they knew patience and care always made a job pan out.

  When the Dark Runner made them stop and informed them there were four beasts in the following corridor standing guard, it was clear they had found their mark.

  A standing guard, the Shadow noted, looking at the Sorcerer who nodded back at him, squeezing her staff. Does not stand idly.

  They teleported into the guarded room. Immediately, and silently, they rolled to the side and successfully hid behind some kind of big panel. Only then did they properly survey the room.

  There was a tall obelisk at the center, three or four times a man’s height, with something glowing on its tip. The obelisk itself was surrounded by four more beasts standing guard, but the room was quite large.

  The Dark Runner motioned for patience and then used his mirror pen to peer over at the beasts. He looked back at them gravely, but then formed a cocky grin, eyes wide with excitement.

  The Shadow nodded in agreement and stretched out his hand to have the pen. Dark Runner finally parted with it, and the Shadow observed the set-up. He then allowed the Sorcerer to do the same while he thought of the gestures he would need to explain the plan.

  Seemed everyone already agreed with the plan, so it didn’t take long to explain. Within a minute, the Sorcerer and the Dark Runner were well positioned to run from the panel to one of the walls, and the Shadow was retrieving a pellet from the small pouch he had concealed on his left leg. The pellet seemed made of modeling clay.

  With a flick of the wrist, he sent it flying to the opposite side of the room. It fell into a roll before it came to a stop, at which point it popped in one very loud instant so it could dissolve itself into a small puddle of transparent liquid.

  The guards reacted immediately, grunting unintelligibly and turning to face the noise. The Shadow couldn’t help but notice how the grunts had a peculiar echo to them that he had not heard in the war room, even while that was an inconsequential observation. He motioned the other two to go.