The Shadow Shifter

by Dahlia Leigh

  “We’re ready when you are,” Ashlynn said.

  “For my first demonstration, I will show you a simple concoction used for diversions.” He opened a stopper on a small glass vial. Pink smoke filled the room so thick no one could see. Some of them coughed and sputtered, but with a quick burst of magic, interceded on Ashlynn’s behalf, the smoke cleared the room. Taegen hardly stifled a laugh, but at Ashlynn’s glare, he shut up. Edmund nodded, encouraged by her participation and moved forward.

  “Apologies. A minor setback to newly stoppered potions, I’m afraid. However, still an effective diversion.”

  “Go on, Ed.” Ashlynn laughed at his ability to make light of a setback.

  “My friends from dark places may relate to my next demonstration.” Edmund spared a brief glance to Darien and Taegen to make sure they weren’t offended. He mixed one vial with a gray powder he had ground up and molded the now putty into a small sphere then threw the pliable mold onto his table. A dark gray smoke wafted up from the putty then formed into two smallish-sized reptiles. The creatures fought each other instantly on his tabletop until he waved his hand through them, shattering the illusion.

  “Illusions without the use of magic. Very handy, Edmund,” Ashlynn stated. And Edmund smiled at her appreciation.

  “True. We could each put on our own shows for each other at night to tell bedtime stories.” Taegen leaned his head up against the wall and appeared bored.

  Darien frowned. “We don’t need your smartass retorts, demon.” That shut him up.

  Ashlynn ignored them. “Edmund, can you make those illusions bigger? And can they be whatever you want them to be? Or do you stick to animals? For example: could you replicate a person?” She found great interest in his ability and thought about all the uses for illusions of such kinds for means of defense in the way of distractions.

  Ed lowered his eyes and mumbled something about how his father could then spoke up. “I will work on such a thing for you.”

  Sensing his discomfort, Ashlynn changed the subject. “Is there anything else you would like to show me?”

  Edmund held still and nervously bit his lower lip. Swiftly, he moved to the other table and glanced back at a book already opened, but then frowned and shook his head. “No that is all for today.”

  Ashlynn walked over to where he stood and leaned around him to get a look at the book. “An incapacitation spell? That would definitely be helpful in a fight. Go ahead and give it a try. I want to see.”

  Relief was evident in Edmund’s posture. “I wasn’t sure you would approve.”

  Ashlynn placed her hand on his upper arm. “This is where I want you to try things if you think they will help our defenses. Some will work, and some will not. But this is your space to find those that do.”

  He nodded and set about his work, gathering a chalkboard and several different colors of chalk. Glancing at the book from time to time to ensure he knew his next steps, Ed put everything in its rightful place. Satisfied he had everything, he nodded confidently to himself. On the chalkboard, Edmund drew various symbols—alchemical symbols, if Ashlynn had to venture a guess—each drawn in a different color. She glanced at the book every so often herself to see if she could follow along with what he was doing. Not understanding all the symbols made it a challenge, but the basic principle of the spell made sense.

  Finished, Edmund stood back from the chalkboard. Nothing happened. Then he proceeded to throw a black dust of some kind onto the chalkboard.

  “They’re moving,” Darien said with a hint of fascination in his tone as he watched. The symbols were indeed moving, swirling in a circle on the chalkboard until they joined together, creating one large symbol.

  “That doesn’t look right.” Edmund studied the symbol then quickly consulted the book, flying around the table, his white lab coat floating behind him. Ashlynn frowned and agreed, looking at the page of the book for herself one more time. The light in the room dimmed and darkness surrounded them.

  “What’s happening?” Ashlynn asked, her voice rising. She sought Darien and Taegen, gauging their responses as well. Darien folded his arms and scowled but moved closer to her if she had need of him. Taegen didn’t move from his position against the back wall, but Ashlynn noted any smirk he held was gone and he paid rapt attention to what was currently happening.

  “Get back, Ashlynn.” Edmund nervously motioned with his hands. “I’m not sure what’s happening. This isn’t right.”

  Darien and Ash took a couple steps back from the table. Wind stirred inside the room.

  “What are you kiddies playing at down there?” Asteroth asked through the statue of a raven atop a book and ended with a squawk.

  “Hush, Asteroth. We don’t know yet. But be ready for something.” Ashlynn felt everyone’s nervous energy, including that of Asteroth’s, but she was also curious as to what would happen.

  Unexpectedly—even to Edmund if the surprise on his face was anything to go by—a small, but fast growing, golden circle formed in the air just over the center table. Edmund stumbled back, knocking his glasses askew.

  “Oh shit.” Ashlynn quickly realized what Edmund had inadvertently done. “Shut it down. Shut it down now!” She ran to the book and flipped pages, looking for something… anything to help.

  Edmund awkwardly dashed to the chalkboard then danced back to the book muttering. “I can’t figure out which symbol is wrong. What went wrong?”

  “Just shut it the fuck down!” Ashlynn’s eyes grew wide as the shimmering circle grew larger still. Bursting through the gold shimmering circle was a flying ghoul, black and shadowed, resembling a scavenger similar to a vulture. Ashlynn’s pendant warmed, and she saw through the shadows of the strange creature, revealing death and bone. This small and mindless minion of darkness was a cousin to the Unbound—or the shadow creatures—of Nightstead. “It’s a Griever!”

  Darien unsheathed his sword and began hacking at the menacing beast.

  “This is not good,” Taegen said, apprehensively moving closer, watching the circle closely to ensure nothing else came through.

  “Get it shut down now!” Ashlynn yelled.

  Taegen assisted Darien and used his own brand of magic to push the creature back through the circle. Finally, Darien rushed to the board and simply, yet crudely, wiped the symbols off with his sleeve, effectively shutting the spell down. The room fell silent.

  Taegen stalked forward and grabbed the front of Edmund’s collar, heaving him in the air in front of him. “You opened a damn portal, you fool! How did you even do that?” Taegen pushed Edmund away from him as he let him go then glowered, his breath coming and going in harsh staccato.

  Ashlynn cooled Taegen down, placing her hand on his arm. At first, he shot her a fiery glare, but his eyes snagged on hers and he found his rhythm then calmed down. Darien’s hand was at his waist and the other ready to grab his dagger again if needed, his eyes searching the lab for any unnatural changes to occur.

  She stepped closer to Ed who seemed shaken and dumbfounded in the same moment. “Did you know you could do that, Ed?” Ashlynn asked in a calm, smooth tone.

  His face had gone ashen and he shook his head. “No. I swear I have never done that before. I don’t even understand how I got the symbols wrong… or maybe it was the black dust.” His eyes widened, terrified at his revelation. “The dust… it was the wrong dust for that symbol combination. I’m sure that had to be it. I am so sorry. This was my fault.” He hung his head in shame.

  “Edmund, while it was not an appropriately timed demonstration to open a portal, it reflects a very rare ability. Not just any magician, or alchemist, for that matter, can open a portal. The spell needs work, so you can control it and make sure it is right each time, but that is an amazing talent. Isn’t that right, Asteroth?” Ashlynn was practically excited as she tried to encourage him.

  “Indeed. A very powerful and useful skill used in the proper setting and with the proper preparedness.” Asteroth confirmed what she had
said.

  Standing close, almost dumbfounded at her declaration, Taegen and Darien looked on with confused expressions. Darien was also covered in sticky, black goo from the Griever he sliced up.

  “Ed, can you explain the spell you were attempting to do and what it should have done?” Ashlynn asked to help smooth the transition.

  Edmund’s head bobbed up and down, still a bit shaken. “Uh… yes, I mean. The incapacitation spell would have rendered your enemy still as a statue for a segment of time, so you could then incapacitate them by whatever means necessary.”

  “Also, a handy tool. Please keep working on that one so the spell could be ready if we should need it.” Ashlynn moved away from the tables toward the door. “Oh, and Edmund? No more opening portals for now until we have proper safeguards up. I don’t want to find any unwanted beings getting into my castle.”

  “Yes, Sentinel. You have my word.” Edmund bowed his head. Ashlynn sent him a wink to let him know his actions weren’t the end of the world.

  She stopped at the door and announced the individual times she would be spending tomorrow, as promised. “I’ll be training and spending one-on-one time tomorrow, first with Edmund.” Ashlynn shot a smile to Edmund then paused while the other two grumbled under their breath. She addressed Darien and Taegen specifically. “During that time each of you may use the time for your own training then free time to use as you wish.”

  They followed her out the door, leaving Edmund to his lab.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Darien

  Darien stepped out of the castle into the bright, sunshine filled day. The air was warm with a slight breeze to keep the heat at bay, and birds sang in the nearby copse of trees. Darien was to check the grounds, looking for major castle destruction from the earthquake, and observing the boundary. The fact he had not come up with the basic idea for perimeter checks right off the bat rankled him, but the idea was still good, and he had to respect that.

  His thoughts drifted to the other candidates for Ashlynn’s team. Why the castle chose a demon from the Void, he still couldn’t understand. Coming from Nightstead, a realm connected to the Void, Darien knew more about the demons than he’d like to. He didn’t think he knew Taegen, but something about his essence was familiar. Perhaps they had crossed paths long ago. Either way, he didn’t trust him. Edmund wasn’t much competition as far as he was concerned, but he had to give him credit for his ability to produce interesting demonstrations. They certainly kept things lively. Darien chuckled to himself, remembering Ed’s face when he realized he had opened a portal and Taegen tore into him—he thought Ed was a goner. But still, he wouldn’t underestimate him. Ashlynn seemed impressed with Edmund’s knowledge, so he was still in the competition.

  Thinking of Ashlynn made him smile, but he caught himself and shook it off. He knew why his father sent him to the castle, but when he looked at Ash, his father’s purpose faded to the background. Darien saw all that made her—her fiery, long, red hair, her smooth, light skin and freckles, her bright, blue eyes, and her strong sense of duty coupled with her capacity to care for—and fight alone for—a castle who raised her. She was a fierce guardian. Something within him wanted to be close to her and know her better. She had such a fierce ability to love and she didn’t even know it yet. He wanted to protect her. She drew him in and called to his soul. Hell, she was even able to reach him in his shadow form—he couldn’t fathom what that meant yet, but his inner beast, his soul, begged him to find out. He just didn’t know if he could go against his father and the pack to follow his heart.

  As he walked the perimeter, he thought of his father and the pack and wondered what it would mean for him if he chose to go his own way. Then a very familiar feeling crept up his spine and he paused in a patch of sunlight just inside the natural shadows of the trees. He searched out, past the boundary, where the extension of trees encroached upon the magical border, leading into the dense forest beyond. The Unbound wasn’t trying to hide from Darien, but he had been sneaking around the castle’s exterior border. Darien had felt a handful of them since he stepped outside.

  Grumbling, Darien stalked forward to meet the Unbound. Most likely, he had a message from his father. He shouldn’t be surprised the alpha had sent the Unbound to check on him, but still… seeing them stirred Darien’s disappointment and frustration with his father. The alpha was nothing but loyal to the old traditions of the pack—at the expense of all else. His father’s belief in the archaic ways he brought with them from Nightstead was a point of contention ever since Darien was young and they first arrived top-side. He was pretty sure his father held onto tradition because of his mother—she had been the daughter of the ruling alpha in Nightstead—and he honored her memory by strangling the shit out of the old ways. Darien, however, felt the pack could evolve in their new home and move into more progressive ways of dealing with situations, but his father wouldn’t stray from tradition. He didn’t even think his father truly wanted Darien to be the next alpha but, because tradition demanded it, his father would be loyal to what was expected for the pack.

  Darien knew when the Unbound sensed him. The creature moved with soundless ease, directly for him, then waited in the shade of a tree at the edge of the magical dome barrier. The Unbound was harder to see in the shade, but Darien could see him. Darien stepped closer in order to hear what the shadow creature had to say. The one before him was Shado-Heim, an old friend of his father’s, and was quite loyal. In shadow form, the beast was several feet taller and slightly wider than Darien.

  “What brings you to my neck of these woods, Shado-Heim?” Darien pleasantly asked still in human form.

  The Unbound spoke in hushed whispers, his words traveling with the wind. “What findings of the castle and the Sentinel do you have for me to pass on to the alpha?”

  His father’s interference sent Darien’s hackles high. He was no errand boy. “Please inform my father, the situation at the castle has changed and I will not be handing over information. And tell my father not to send anyone else. I will return to the pack when my time here is complete.”

  The Unbound impassively stared at Darien. The shadow smoke flared over his body in spurts of rage, expressing his discontent but then ultimately nodded. “He will not be happy. The Unbound will back him, whatever his choice.”

  “I know.” Darien turned his back on the creature named Shado-Heim and returned to the castle, feeling a weight lift off him he didn’t realize he carried. He wondered where Ashlynn was.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ashlynn

  Ashlynn entered Edmund’s lab after lunch to spend some one-on-one time with him. After the demonstrations that morning, Ashlynn’s excitement grew with all the possibilities for Edmund’s knowledge.

  “Edmund? Could you set up some different types of illusions like you created this morning for me to practice seeing through them using my pendant’s magic?”

  Ed’s smile reached his eyes. “Of course!” He grabbed a similar glass vial to the one he had used before, but Ashlynn noticed he did a double take on the label to ensure he used the right one. “Do you mind me asking about your pendant?”

  “The necklace belonged to my mother, she left it for me when I passed my Sentinel’s trial.”

  “It is important to you then.”

  “Yes.” Ashlynn lifted the necklace off her chest, her eyes filled with expectation. “I need to learn how to harness and control the powers within the pendant, however, before I take my place as the Sentinel Queen.”

  Edmund stood next to her and gestured to the necklace. “May I?”

  Ashlynn didn’t remove her treasure but nodded and placed the pendant into his hands. Edmund’s touch was gentle and precise as he examined the stone from several directions.

  Edmund sharply inhaled. “Amazing. Your pendant radiates an energy signature similar to the castle’s.”

  “Do you mean the two were born of the same magical energies?”

  Ed’s eyes sparked with excitem
ent. “That’s exactly what I mean! Most people don’t understand me.”

  Ashlynn smiled. “So, what does that mean to you?”

  “Well, it makes sense that the pendant connects and responds to you—or any future Sentinel Queen, for that matter—in the same way the castle does. I think it would stand to reason that in the same way you have learned to be in sync with the castle, you will be able to align yourself and your magic with the pendant.”

  Ashlynn observed the confidence he gained when he spoke of something he felt strongly about—and when he wasn’t in competition with the others. He released the pendant back into her care and returned to his table.

  “Really, it’s more of an observation… and my opinion.” Edmund shrugged and went about adding pinches of various ingredients to the base powders he had ready for the illusions.

  “Your observation makes sense to me. What are you doing to those vials?”

  “In the last few hours, I made up some generic illusion bases and then will add enhancements to them, if you will, for specific types of illusions. I still have some tweaking to do to get them up to battle-ready standards, but I think I’m close.” He winked at her then held a vial up to look at in the light.

  Heat crawled up Ashlynn’s neck. She craned her neck to see whatever he saw in the liquid through the light. Then smiled. “Let’s try some out, then!”

  Edmund set the first illusion up and threw the putty to the ground. Dark smoke floated up, transitioning into a small bear standing on hind legs.

  “Oh, it’s cute.” Ashlynn smiled.

  “The illusion is not supposed to be cute. Try to see through it.”

  She gave a succinct nod then held her amulet in her hand and focused her magic. Her eyes cleared then she saw tendrils of smoke dissipating into the air. “Got it. Try another one… a harder one.”