by Hugo Damas
In one horrifying push, he detached himself from his arm.
The Circus Freak landed on his back, and rolled around to her side. “All they want is you!” Laughing some more, he used his good arm to pull her up. “All I want is to piss ‘em off!” He cackled again, pulling her along to start a run, half-against her will.
The Shadow ran along, shocked by a mix of fear and confusion. It was the gush of blood drawing a trail that called her to attention.
“Stop!” She demanded, all while not really stopping. “We need to tie your wound, at least. You will bleed to death otherwise!”
Laughing, the Circus Freak raised his arm in response, and kept running.
The Shadow couldn’t find words.
The Circus Freak kept giggling, laughing. He was saving her and, at the same time, scaring her further than the beasts had. While dragging her along, he kept his half forearm up and forward so that with their running speed, most of the blood would stay inside the piece of arm he had left. It looked ridiculous, his running stance, and it was mind-boggling he could handle the pain so much as to do that.
It didn’t work, of course, not even to spare the Shadow from taking droplets of blood to her face, further worsening the impression of it all. The Circus Freak was truly indifferent, though.
They ran into a guard.
“Slide, pajama girl, SLIDE!” The Circus Freak pulled, flinging her forward. Her instincts kicked in, and she used the momentum to indeed slide under and past the beast’s limbs, spinning mid-slide to dodge a claw that thrust after her. Coming up on the other side, she saw the Circus Freak jumping off the beast’s head with a kick. He slapped the ceiling yelling “chicken!” and landed just as she was standing up.
“Keep up now, pajama girl!”
The Circus Freak used his good arm to hold the other up, no longer pulling her along. The fact he couldn’t hold the arm up on its own was so far the only legitimate piece of evidence she had that he was even a bit human.
A couple of minutes went past and they just kept running. The alarm still sounded so piercing that the crazy man’s mad cackling was actually becoming soothing in comparison. It was at this point she began to wonder if he even remembered the way.
“Hey! Do you know where you are going?” the Shadow asked.
“I always know where I’m going! Might just not know how to get there!” He laughed, but that didn’t really relieve her concern. Gulping, the Shadow decided not to question him further, preferring not to know how bad her best chance really was.
After a few more minutes, it became evident that he did know how to get there.
The Circus Freak led the Shadow to an exit in a corridor. There was a standing guard there, but she used another surprise smoke bomb to overcome it and finally escape the damnable structure .
Once outside, the mists were thick with shadows once again. The mist itself was still supernatural and strange, but the rest was normal. Normal buildings, normal light, normal shadows.
The Shadow felt a lot more at home, but for some reason, she kept following him. She felt responsible for him losing the arm, and potentially bleeding to death. If she could help--
“What are you doing?” the Circus Freak suddenly asked, hopping into a walking-speed. He waved his bleeding arm at her dismissively. “Go! Hide away and leeeaaave! They’ll be so angry!” He laughed out loud.
The Shadow regarded her peculiar savior, concerned about his gaping, bleeding wound. “But what about you? How will you be able to escape in such a shape?”
“Me?” The Circus Freak suddenly had a serious look on his face, his voice turning dramatic. “It is alright, my fair lady.”
The Circus Freak stopped, making her also stop, and approached her. He suddenly looked very serious. “I shall be remembered by those who matter… and forever shall I live on… inside of you.” He laid his hand on her shoulder, pausing for effect.
The Circus Freak looked her in the eyes and squeezed her shoulder thoughtfully. Intimately. She didn’t know how to react as he whispered, “deep and forever in your--” then he shoved his face in hers, squeezing his hand menacingly, and closed his eyes to show those crosses. The Circus Freak formed a hideous grin, one that made her sense of trust in the world sweat. He did it all in one quick moment, adding to it a voice contorted into a monstrous throat noise. He somehow whispered a yell, or yelled a whisper.
“Nightmares!”
The Shadow couldn’t help but shiver hard inches, widening her eyes in a terrified look. In reaction, he pulled away with a single cackle, then abruptly pushed her off so hard she tripped and fell down on her butt.
“You’re fun!” the Circus Freak said, sincerely happy.
Then he ran off laughing out loud.
The Shadow stood there until the laughter had fully dissipated. The laughter sounded like it was more for show than anything anyone would realistically sound like, but even still, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it wasn’t his actual laugh
Loud crashing noises snapped her out of her befuddlement. They were signs that the chasing Beasts were approaching. But now, she had nothing to worry about. Sighing with relief, she darted into action, running right into a wall.
Once inside the shadow streams, she finally felt safe. The Shadow closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the void. Even if for just a few seconds, she wanted to allow complete silence to envelop her. Utter peace and safety.
The Shadow had lived around two years as a thief. She had been all over the world and robbed all kinds of places, but never had she been in the midst of so much danger with the stakes being so high.
That last hour had been insane, and she really needed a breather.
From what she had observed, assassinating their leader had caused no real consequence, other than to make them even more motivated. That all but clarified how much of a failure their mission had been.
If she was honest, the Shadow really just wanted to sleep. To let her consciousness slip into that nothingness until both her mind and body had rejuvenated enough, at which point it would slip back to her. And she would yawn, and stretch, and feel wonderful.
The Shadow opened her eyes and focused her very tired mind. Slowly but surely, she slid her head out of a roof, peeking around. She could hear the alarm in the distance and flinched as something crash-landed nearby. She held her nerves and waited until it launched itself away.
As long as I am careful, there is no chance they will find me, she thought, more for her own benefit than any other reason, I am intangible, untouchable, and invisible. I am The Shadow.
She emerged and ran along.
Her next plan of action seemed obvious. She could not hope to find the Sorcerer, the easiest means of transportation, so she would have to leave that place the same way she had arrived. She had left her mount tied to a tree, up in the mountains that circled the valley the city was built on.
It took her around half an hour to get her bearings back since most of the houses looked the same.
Leaving the actual city proved troublesome. The Beasts were everywhere, and while the Shadow hardly ever saw them, because of the mist, they were ever-present in her ears. Avoiding them took time.
And time took stamina.
The alarms were eventually so far behind her she could no longer hear them, but all that time running was getting to her. Her breathing became hard, and her body grew heavier, which was an odd feeling she wasn’t sure she had felt before. Well, certainly during her training, but not during a job. On the other hand, the Shadow had never spent so long exerting herself like that, so she did not concern herself that much.
Until she left the city, about three hours later.
Once outside the mists, the Shadow noticed how much better she could breathe. Her body felt normal again, rested and strong.
She looked back inquisitively. Without a word, she walked back to take a closer look.
Once she was inside the mists, the Shadow pulled her mask down to uncover her mouth
and nose and took a sniff. It burned her nostrils a little and her lungs a lot. In a fright, she immediately put the mask back on and held her hand over it.
It’s like… she knew that feeling. It wasn’t poison. Sandstorm!
Several months ago, the Shadow had found herself accidentally lost in the middle of a sandstorm. She had experienced the same lack of visibility, and the same difficulty with breathing. That mist was definitely the Beasts’s doing, and it would have a specific purpose.
The Shadow looked carefully at the ground and wall of the nearby building, finding both surfaces were becoming coated with something dark and metallic. It reminded her of the material the walls on the ship seemed to have been made of, the ones that blocked the shadow streams.
So the beast mist carries little specks of this stuff, she realized, and it is probably not good for our health, but it is for theirs? The Shadow then realized something scary.
She jolted to a stand and pressed her hand on a patch that was fully covered in the stuff. She focused.
It is blocked. She concentrated, she made sure of what she was feeling. She opened her eyes and pulled away in fright. The Shadow looked around at her surroundings, seeing the mist for what it was for the first time. They are blocking it!
The Shadow ran off at full speed.
Kagekawa needed to know, as soon as possible.
They are robbing the land of its shadow!
Was that even possible? What were the repercussions? What did it all mean? The Shadow hoped the clan masters would know.
It took her another hour to get back to her horse, and once there, she spurred the horse into a mad rush. She had to reach Sputzna, the nearest city, as fast as possible.
As the Shadow galloped around the cliffs, she looked back at the doomed city resting far below in the middle of the valley. Despite how the mist occluded most of it, the Shadow could discern how it began rumbling. She saw the vessel she had been in creeping out of the mist enveloping the city.
The great vessel was moving out, slowly yet noticeably, like a moving cloud.
All of that reminded her there were actually means to communicate with others immediately. The Shadow Conclave scroll!
Hurriedly, the Shadow pulled it out and opened it, finding that it was already in use.
This is the Street Rat. I have escaped.
That was the last line. While trying not to fall off the horse, the Shadow read up until she reached the last line she had already read. And then proceeded to catch up.
We are registering deaths in our contracted patrols.
Cease immediately, they are part of the competition.
This is the Eye. Are the dark Beasts of legend also part of the competition?
How did she even do that? The Shadow wasn’t aware they could write back on the scroll, the Shadow Conclave had blocked it initially.
We have activated two-way communication. Competitors, report your status.
This is the Mad Genius, the Eye, and the Circus Freak. We will be infiltrating their forward base of operations. You have all earned what follows.
Competitors, flee the city immediately and regroup at your point of contact. Keep us updated.
The Don here, I’ve escaped. I want an explanation for all of this!
The next line made her heart sink almost as fast as her throat dried.
The Sorcerer has perished. The Eye too. I, the Hunter, have escaped.
Oh no, the Shadow thought, slumping forward dejectedly. She brushed her horse’s mane with her forehead, eyes closed in a shock she really had not anticipated. On top of everything that had happened, the Sorcerer was dead.
The woman had really stepped forward to take responsibility for that whole mess. To lead them in a mission to save the whole world, an endeavor that she couldn’t even properly frame in her mind. She couldn’t grasp it.
And now the Sorcerer was dead. Ancestors… give me strength.
The Shadow looked at the scroll again.
The Sorcerer has perished. The Eye too. I, the Hunter, have escaped.
Incompetent fools! The Mad Genius has slain their leader! And has escaped! We must prepare the world for the oncoming invasion! The best of the Shadow Conclave shall be appearing forthwith!
This is the Street Rat. I have escaped.
Oh hey, I’d forgotten about this thing! Hey, does anyone have a spare arm?
She snickered.
Bastard Circus Freak had made her laugh in such a situation as that.
However, even if she was happy to be alive, the tragedy was still real. Of the three original founders of the Shadow Conclave, only the Sorcerer had been the real deal, but even the Dark Runner had, at least, a good number of years under the title. Now they were both dead and she, bearing the title that had given the organization its name, the title of the man who had sacrificed himself and his legacy to push back the invasion. Ayane had but two years to her name.
Almost two years.
The Shadow would not head to the meeting point, she would run straight back to her masters in Kagekawa.
They would surely give the shadow lenses to someone more experienced and more worthy of the title and responsibility. The circumstances in which it had been given to her were, after all, not the most ideal. She was certain that now was the time to really show the title the proper respect and award it to someone who really deserved it, but more importantly, who could live up to it.
Because Ayane? She was putting forth considerable effort just trying not to cry. Near six hours had passed since she had almost died, and yet the whole ordeal was still weighing heavy on her heart.
The Shadow rode non-stop towards Sputzna, trying to race the dawn itself, and it still took too long. Her thoughts and memories haunted her through a mind too exhausted to control its own thinking. She thought back to the Sorcerer coughing blood, to the invading leader being shot in the head, to the Circus Freak’s arm being squashed like jello, and to the bones cracking as he ripped himself apart from it.
All the close calls Ayane had experienced were still stifling her lungs.
When she saw the city, however, she finally convinced herself to do it. She should report back on the scroll.
The Shadow could imagine what the Hunter would think of it, what kind of ill thoughts she would have for Ayane, but the Shadow Conclave was most likely in contact with all the guilds already. That included her clan, so it would be helpful to all if she reported back.
Ayane took a calming breath and found motivation in doing what would make her master proud. She opened the scroll and wrote in the way Kagekawa would like her to write.
The Shadow lives.
Always save face. The Shadow shredded the scroll apart and let it fall behind, happy to be done with all of it.
The Shadow pushed herself off the horse, slapping it as she left so it would run through the city’s streets, causing a commotion. Instead, it stumbled for a few feet and then collapsed from exhaustion. The people near the entrance reacted to it, and would have caught sight of her, had she not slipped into a tree’s shadow.
Damnation. Ayane felt guilty about using the poor thing’s suffering as a diversion. She told herself a good new owner would soon take good care of it
The Shadow stole her way into Sputzna, using the shadow streams to traverse the town. As long as it was not noon, shadows were aplenty and predictably placed.
The Shadow made her way to the train station and checked the hours and train she would need. Fortunately, that was a terminal station, which meant that a lot of trains were already there and waiting for the time to leave. She saw which one she needed and infiltrated it.
The Shadow went straight to the cargo hold, her eyes heavy and her heart so yearning for the rest she was about to get.
Everything else was a blur. The people, their talks, all the life going about around her as the day was starting out. It was all a melancholic, half-perceived, groggy blur of images and sounds. And even that little was tumultuous enough that she wan
ted it to go away.
Once in the cargo hold, she slipped into the shadow that was being cast by a large box, which had the signs of holding some kind of animal within. She expected the animal would wake her up as soon as the train started moving.
Or not, maybe she would just sleep forever. That wasn’t an unwelcome prospect at that point. She had been up for what? A day and a half? It was the day before, the night, and now all of the morning. It really felt like it was much longer than that.
Floating in the void, she took a deep, restful breath.
Ayane loved the silence of the shadow streams. The solitude of it. Within, she curled up with eyes closed and a pair of ears, and a nose, that couldn’t hear or smell anything in that world. Finally, her conscience dissipated into a place where its complaints and stressful worries couldn’t be heard.
That had always been her favorite part of the shadow arts, the true silver lining of becoming the Shadow. It was the ability to completely and utterly detach herself from the world…and all its noise.
* * *
Ayane woke up to the distant sound of barking. Making out the breed of the dog, she also realized that that was what she had expected to happen. The train was moving.
The Shadow was too stressed to try and sleep until she arrived at her destination, she wanted to stay awake for the journey to make sure she didn’t miss her station, so she promptly left the isolation of darkness.
Other sounds crept into her mind as she surged into the physical world. First, there was a lot of barking even though her equilibrium told her she wasn’t moving. Then, a scream grabbed her attention.
Fully alert, the Shadow jumped and grabbed onto the shade in the ceiling. There was no stream to the train’s roof, only to its side which was opposite to the city. She emerged there and climbed onto the roof the old-fashioned way, and then crawled her way to get a better view of things.
