The Shadow Realm

by James Galloway

  "So, Kerri, you're the resident sneak. What should we do?" Dar asked.

  Keritanima rubbed the side of her muzzle with the back of her hand, then slapped her hands into her lap. "We find things out," she said. "I think we should all go explore the house and talk to all the servants. At least any of them that will talk. The Sorcerers will go talk to the Sha'Kar, since they seem to ignore the rest of you," she said with a snort, "and see what we can find out from them."

  "What kind of questions should we ask?"

  "Absolutely anything you can think of, Dar," she replied seriously. "And I mean anything. What they eat, when the Sha'Kar like to get up in the morning, what they do for fun, what kind of jokes they tell, anything. We need to get an understanding of how they think, and we'll get it if we can learn enough about what they do and how they act. Even something as simple as this room can tell you alot about someone, if you stop and study it for a while."

  "I know it may assault your sensibilities, Dar, but maybe you should take that maid up on the offer she made you earlier," Miranda said delicately. "Women love to talk, and they talk more in bed. Maybe you can loosen her tongue a little bit."

  "Among other things," Camara Tal said with a wolfish grin.

  "And she'll say more than she would have said in another situation," Miranda finished, then she turned to the Amazon. "That goes for you too, Camara," Miranda winked. "Human men are just as gabby as human women in bed."

  Dar blushed furiously. "Are you serious?" he asked.

  "Actually, Dar, she is," Keritanima told him soberly. "I know it's something of a sacrifice, but think about it. You may be the one that finds out what we need to know, and trust me, it's actually quite an enjoyable experience," she said with a slow smile. "You're a very attractive young human, and you're young enough that they may not take you as seriously as they take the rest of us. They may tell you things they won't tell anyone else."

  "Well," he hedged, blushing purple. "I guess--I mean--oh, bloody Abyss."

  That made the more progressive people in the group chuckle. Kimmie reached out and put a paw on the young man's arm and grinned at him. "That's right, soldier, sacrifice for the cause," she jibed. "I know going to bed with those very pretty young ladies is going to be a terrible burden for you."

  "You're a big help," he grunted under his voice.

  "If I wouldn't kill the men that tried to mate with me, I would," she grinned. "You weaker races just couldn't survive a night with one of us. We'd tear you apart in the throes of passion."

  "That's a creepy image," Dar shuddered.

  "That does remind me of something," Tarrin said. "The Sha'Kar don't know about me and Kimmie, and what we're capable of. That's a trump card I'd rather not lose."

  "What should we tell them?" Dolanna asked.

  "That we're Were-kin."

  "And if they ask for specifics?"

  "They read about us in their books, so stick with the generals," Kimmie answered. "We're shapeshifters, we're contagious, and so on and so on. Nothing about our senses. I think that's what Tarrin wants to protect."

  Tarrin nodded towards his mate.

  "Even if they find out about you, I doubt they'll find out about me," Keritanima said. "For a Wikuni to have the senses I have is very, very rare. Even if they know about Wikuni, they'd never consider that."

  "Good point," Tarrin agreed. "Remember, we don't want a fight with the Sha'Kar, people. Kerri is right. Even if they may oppose what we're doing, they are our brothers and sisters, and when the seventh sui'kun is born, they'll be coming back to the world. So we'd better not make them hostile to the katzh-dashi, or we'll be dealing with a huge nest of angry hornets when that day comes."

  "This could get murky," Miranda frowned.

  "I know, but until we know enough to make some hard decisions, let's not stir them up. Let's do what Kerri said, and go out and learn as much as we can. If we can trick the information we need out of them, we won't have to put ourselves in a position where we may have to do something we'll regret later."

  "Aye," Camara Tal nodded. "I know we have to plan for possibilities, but I think Tarrin hit the mark. Let's try very hard to make these Sha'Kar friends. Even if we don't agree with some of the things we've seen so far."

  Azakar glared at her a short moment, then caught himself and nodded solemnly.

  There wasn't much more to say at that point, so they broke up and scattered through the huge place. Tarrin wandered its passage aimlessly, gaping at the stunning works of art and sculptures, each more dazzling and breathtaking than the last, until he finally managed to bump into a Sha'Kar. It was Iselde, who was carrying a large book with her. "Oh, honored one!" she said with a curtsy. "I was looking for you, but you weren't in your room."

  "Why did you need me, Iselde?" he asked.

  "I wanted to give you this," she said, holding out the book to him. "It's a book of our history on the island. I thought you might like to learn what we've done while we've been here waiting."

  Iselde handed him the book, and Tarrin was sure she had just put a gold mine of information in his paws. He tucked it under his arm, trying hard to feign only mild interest. "I'm sure I'll find it interesting, Iselde," he nodded to her. "Could you show me where the kitchen is? I'm a little hungry, and truth be told, I'm lost. This place is too big for me."

  "Our house? Big?" she said, then she laughed. "You tease me, honored one!"

  "To me, this place isn't just big, it's damn big," he told her bluntly as she started leading him along the passages. "I live in a cottage, Iselde. My entire cottage can fit in your uncle's bedchamber. In fact, I think you could get two of them in there," he amended after a moment.

  She gaped at him. "How do you stand it? You'd have no room for anything at all!"

  "I don't have much need for things, young one," he told her. "I can carry everything I own in a backpack, and I rather like it that way. Don't forget, girl, I'm not Sha'Kar, or even human. Were-kin don't need much space to be happy, and we don't need things to fill what space we need."

  "I'll try to not judge you by our standards, honored one," she promised. "I can already see that you're nothing like what I imagined a sui'kun to be."

  "What did you expect? And be honest. I won't be insulted or embarassed, no matter what you say."

  She flushed slightly. "Well, I expected a handsome human to ride in on a magic chariot, or on the back of an Elemental, and sweep us away," she said in a slightly distant tone. Tarrin smiled slightly. The girl was a daydreamer. "And we'd go back to the towers and do what we did before the Breaking."

  "What was that?"

  "Serve the Goddess," she said simply. "Most of the adults were alive before the Breaking, and they tell us stories of how things were then. About the seven towers, and how we served the will of the Goddess. I think it would be a great thing to be able to do that again," she sighed. "I'd like to see her, just once, the way the da'shar have. But until the Ward fails, we're stuck here. Not even the da'shar can breach the Ward with Travelling and reach the Heart, except for Lady Delande."

  They had trained her rather well, even if she wasn't da'shar. "You said you're stuck here. You can't get out?"

  She shook her head. "The Ward destroys a Circle if it comes into contact with it, so only a sui'kun would have enough raw power to breach the Ward with Sorcery. Isn't that how you got in, honored one?"

  He was impressed. This girl had seemed a little scattered at first, but she was proving her intelligence to him now. "A sui'kun came with you?" he asked curiously. She said only a sui'kun could breach the Ward. If they got in, then someone had to open it for them.

  She shook her head. "Actually, it's still quite a mystery how we managed to get inside. Several tried to breach the Ward with Sorcery, but all of them died trying. Then a woman nobody knew tried, and she managed to succeed. Nobody's seen her since then, and what happened to her is still a topic of debate. She was on the ship with the others, they say. One moment she was there, and then the next moment
, as soon as they came through the Ward, she was gone. Some say the magic of the Ward absorbed her and trapped her within itself, some say the Ward disintegrated her, and some say the Ward wouldn't allow her to pass through. The ones that say that think she died on the outside, and that her ghost is still out there, haunting the seas surrounding the Ward. It's in the book, honored one. The very first chapter."

  A woman opening the Ward? Only sui'kun could do it...could it have been Spyder? She was Urzani, and she'd be virtually indistinguishable from a Sha'Kar. That was probably why Iselde called her a woman instead of a human.

  "Was this woman Sha'Kar?" he asked curiously.

  Iselde nodded.

  Tarrin chuckled in spite of himself. "You sneaky girl," he mused in Sulasian, reverting back to his native tongue. That had to have been Spyder. She'd never told him about this. Then again, she hadn't told him about just about anything. She was a woman of endless secrets, it seemed. He had a sneaking suspicion that Spyder knew absolutely everything about this place, and had chosen not to tell him for some reason. Whatever that may be. But whatever it was, from what little he knew of the Urzani, he trusted her. If she didn't tell him, she had to have had a good reason to do so. After all, it was in her best interest to keep him, a fellow sui'kun, alive.

  "Excuse me, honored one?"

  "Nothing, Iselde. Nothing. Lead on."

  She continued to prattle on as they walked, but her chatting became more and more relaxed with him, and started making more sense. She had been almost awestruck by him earlier, and now that she was getting to know him, to find out that he happened to be an intelligent being as well as a sui'kun, she was starting to calm down a little. And he started to learn about the Sha'Kar from her ramblings. She talked on and on about how everyone was so excited about his arrival, how the entire island was on its toes, waiting feverishly for the feast, for their chance to meet him. It was going to be held outside, she told him, the tables already being made and set up in the center of their loose community, on the fenced grounds of the House of the Goddess, the estate home of Syllis and meeting place for the Council of Elders. She talked about how all her young friends had all but begged to be invited into the house to meet him privately, but her uncle Arlan had forbade visitors without his personal approval beforehand. She admitted that her being lucky enough to meet him first had made her very popular in the talking circles of the youngest Sha'Kar females, of which she was part. She also admitted that it was a new experience for her, for she was from a poor family that lived on the edge of the community, and that made her not very popular.

  It seemed strangely like the Arakites and the Wikuni...they attached social standing to how close their houses were to the center of their town. Those who lived on the outside edges were seen as socially inferior to those who lived in the center. Strange that three races would exhibit a similar social trait.

  That statement also told him much about the concept of social standing among the Sha'Kar. Social standing was something of a universal custom among most civilized societies, but the Sha'Kar sounded strangely like the Selani on that point. To a Selani, standing was honor, and honor was everything. To the Sha'Kar, he guessed, it dealt with more than that, probably family history, wealth, and probably ability with the Weave. In the social circles of the katzh-dashi, the ones with highest social standing were the ones with the most power. He knew that the modern katzh-dashi did have some traits of their Ancient forefathers, and that was probably one of them. Tarrin suspected that Arlan's house was poor and his family not very socially connected because their powers in Sorcery were weaker than everyone else's. The fact that there were only three of them in the house may also have an impact of some sort.

  The way the Sha'Kar treated him certainly backed up that assumption. They were all absolutely fawning all over him, even the Council of Elders. It was strangely annoying, though he felt that a human may have enjoyed that kind of attention. He suspected that right now, he had higher social standing than anyone else on the island, even Grand Syllis. Because he was sui'kun.

  From what little he heard so far, he guessed that in this place, where they were cut off from the outside world and had little to do, the matter of social standing had become a cornerstone of their society. And if that were so, then the methods by which one improved social standing were the most commonly pursued goals. If they prized Sorcery, then much of their time was probably spent improving their powers. If it was a question of wealth or prestige, then he figured that they'd be as deep into political games as the Wikuni noble houses.

  She led him into a huge kitchen, which had no less than four strange metal plates on counters that radiated heat of varying degrees. Tarrin could sense the magic of them, yet another way the Sha'Kar had adapted Sorcery to serve them in everyday life. They had five large ovens, also magically heated. They also had a large room that was magically chilled. That reminded him of his own home, with the small cellar that had that strange magical object that radiated that constant intense cold. It was almost unheard of for such a rare magical object to be in the possession of a frontier family. His father had found it a long time ago, before he met his mother, and had kept it as a curiosity. After he got married, it served them well as a means to store food for very long periods without it spoiling. The Sha'Kar had obviously thought the same thing, so they used their magic to create a room for storing perishables, preserving the food by freezing it. There were about ten humans in the kitchens working hard to make Sha'Kar dishes, which were almost exclusively vegetarian. The only meat he saw them working on were strange birds with long-feathered tails, some of them already cooked.

  Tarrin noticed something about them. All the humans were attractive. Not quite as pretty as the five maids, but they weren't ugly.

  He also got his first view of the tattoo. It was on their chests, over their hearts, a small black tattoo that was the glyph of the family name. He saw it on a slender male who wore nothing but a pair of breeches, working to cook strange tube-like vegetables in a pan over one of the heated plates. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached out and put two fingers on the back of the man's neck, assensing him. The man jumped slightly, and Tarrin had to suppress a sudden impulse to strike at the movement, to drive his fingers into the man's neck and kill him to prevent an attack. He still had a long way to go to fully conquer his feral nature. But he had to know. These Sha'Kar used Sorcery the same way the Wikuni used technology. He suspected that they were using Sorcery to control or intimidate their servants into utter obedience. It was the only rational explanation for how afraid they seemed of their Sha'Kar masters.

  He was right. The magic was exceedingly subtle, but it was there. The tattoos were magical, set down by Sorcery, and he'd bet that that was why the humans were so afraid of the Sha'Kar. He couldn't quite make out what the glyph's function was, but he was sure that it wasn't entirely pleasant.

  Dolanna had been right. These humans, they were literally slaves to the Sha'Kar.

  That hardened Tarrin to them. Tarrin despised slavery, having been on the wrong side of the whip himself once. That they would use Sorcery to control these humans, that they would defile the gifts granted to them by the Goddess in such a hideous fashion, it filled him with a towering contempt, and he had to literally fight himself to prevent him from turning on Iselde and ripping out her throat.

  His paws visibly shaking with suppressed rage, Tarrin forced himself to calm down, fell back on the tricks of concentration that Allia had taught him. He pulled the Cat around himself in that moment, for it didn't care one way or the other about these humans, and lacked the moral outrage that the human in him felt at what he had discovered. Shaking his head, shivering his tail, Tarrin got himself under control, and found he could look at Iselde without killing her.

  "Honored one? Are you well?" she asked in concern.

  If only she knew how close she came to dying. Tarrin turned and looked at her, feeling the distance the Cat put between his human outrage and her, and was g
lad of it. "What is his name?" he asked, pointing at the human he touched.

  "I don't know," she shrugged. "He's just a servant. I'm not sure they even have names."

  Her casual attitude nearly got her killed yet again. She could tell she said something that offended him, staring up into his narrowing eyes, seeing his cold expression. A worried look passed over her face, and she addressed the cook in a firm tone. "You, servant," she called. "Do you have a name?"

  Tarrin sensed a very subtle spell pass from Iselde, and touch the magic latent in the tattoo. No wonder she didn't know his name. She could somehow summon or get the attention of any servant bearing that tattoo with her magic. The man turned from the cooking and bowed to her quickly. "They call me Kur, Mistress," he said in a trembling voice.

  "Go back to your duties," she told him, and he bowed again and returned to his cooking. "Does that satisfy you, honored one?" she asked in a small voice.

  It didn't, not in the slightest. It actually made him even more furious. But he didn't want to alienate Iselde quite yet. He knew she knew something about the Firestaff, and he had to find out what it was. He was quiet a long moment, as Iselde looked up at him fearfully. This was not the time, he told himself. Not the time. Not now, not yet. "Why are they cooking? Aren't we going to that feast?"

  "Each family prepares food when we have such a celebration," she said. "As much as we can spare. Each house makes its finest dishes for everyone to enjoy."

  "Oh. That bird is the only meat you have?"

  "I'm sorry, but yes, honored one," she said with a small curtsy. "Uncle Arlan thinks eating red meat is unhealthy."

  "But it's not a custom of all Sha'Kar?"

  "No, honored one. Just a peculiarity of our house, nothing more. Some houses that are near the hills raise sheep. I eat with their families when I can," she said with a conspiratorial whisper. "When Uncle Arlan isn't paying attention. I love mutton, and I think he's wrong about it not being healthy."