The Keeper's Shadow

by Dennis Foon

  THE KEEPER’S

  SHADOW

  DENNIS FOON

  This book is dedicated to

  A. Von Brutical a.k.a. Ken Foon

  IN THE SHROUDED VALLEY, THE PEOPLE OF LONGLIGHT EVADED DESTRUCTION. FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS THEY QUIETLY THRIVED, ISOLATED FROM THE WORLD, NURTURING A SMALL FLAME OF HOPE. IT TOOK LESS THAN ONE HOUR FOR THEM TO BE ANNIHILATED.

  —THE BOOK OF LONGLIGHT

  The Keeper’s Shadow is the third and final volume of The Longlight Legacy.

  The first volume, The Dirt Eaters, tells the story of Roan—who, after failing to stop a raider from capturing his younger sister, Stowe, wakes to find his village destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered.

  Roan is soon discovered by Saint, the leader of a sect of warrior-Brothers devoted to a god known as the Friend. Under Brother Wolf’s tutelage, Roan begins training in the art of war, determined to wreak revenge on those who massacred his people. During this time, he has experiences on a separate plane of reality—the Dreamfield—where mysterious beings, Dirt Eaters, advise him and lead him to discover the dark truth Saint is concealing.

  Roan flees into the uninhabitable lands of the Devastation, where he meets Lumpy, a young man disfigured by Mor-Tick scars. Attacked by the Brothers, the two escape to the subterranean community of Oasis, where they forge friendships with Kamyar the Storyteller, Orin the Librarian, and Lelbit. But stirred by a new vision, Roan and Lumpy leave Oasis and journey to the village of Fairview.

  There a healer (and Dirt Eater) named Alandra enlists their help in saving fourteen special children from certain death. After a final battle that ends in Saint’s demise, Roan, Lumpy, Alandra, and their precious cargo reach a safe haven, Newlight.

  Freewalker, volume two, begins in Newlight, where Alandra has fed Dirt to the children. But after she takes them into the Dreamfield, they mysteriously fall into a deep coma. Roan, angry with Alandra and the Dirt Eaters, departs with Lumpy for the City in search of a cure for their young charges…and to find his sister, Stowe.

  Stowe has been adopted by the Keeper of the City, Darius, and made an icon, worshipped by the masses—a role invented for her by Master Querin, the City’s propaganda minister. Although her beloved mentor, Willum, does his best to nurture and protect her, Stowe’s consciousness is invaded by a Dirt Eater named Ferrell in a Dreamfield battle, and she becomes increasingly unstable.

  Meanwhile Roan and Lumpy meet a young shaman, Mabatan. A fellow Dreamwalker who also does not eat Dirt, she shows Roan how the Masters and the Dirt Eaters have partitioned the Dreamfield and built structures that have caused a huge rift in the Dreamfield itself. The fissure is tenuously held together by none other than the fourteen children. And the only way to save them is to stop the Masters’ and Dirt Eaters’ manipulations.

  Determined to contact his sister and enlist her help, Roan and his friends travel to the City. But the meeting between the siblings is a disaster—in an explosion of emotion, Stowe wreaks havoc and escapes from the City. Captured by a treacherous Brother named Raven, she is taken to Governor Brack in Fairview. But before Brack and Raven can exploit her, Stowe slays them both and collapses.

  Since Roan must continue his quest to heal the rift, he entrusts Willum and Mabatan with finding his sister. Sailing off on wings manufactured by the Gunthers, the techno-slaves of the City, Roan and Lumpy reach the secret mountaintop home of the Apsara, where Saint’s life partner, Kira, now lives. There, Roan journeys deep into the Dreamfield to a place where Saint himself is bound in torment. Revealing Darius’s Throne, he urges Roan to accept his fate and lead the battle against the Masters of the City.

  In The Keeper’s Shadow, Roan struggles to unite disparate peoples against the City, and discovers that in the face of unimaginable evil, it’s necessary to question everything you believe in order to hold out hope for a future.

  CHARACTERS OF THE LONGLIGHT LEGACY

  THE FARLANDS

  Roan: He and his little sister, Stowe, were the only survivors when raiders annihilated their peaceful village of Longlight. Befriended by Saint, leader of the Brothers, Roan violently broke with them when he found out that they were responsible for the destruction of Longlight. The mysterious Rat and the Dirt Eaters introduced him to the alternate reality called the Dreamfield, but after rescuing fourteen special children—the Novakin—Roan ceases to trust them also. He balks at prophecies that single him out as a leader, but now the war against the City approaches, and Roan has to choose.

  Lumpy: A survivor of the Mor-Ticks, voracious insects that left him hideously scarred and reviled by people who assume he is a carrier of this plague. Roan was close to death in the Devastation when Lumpy saved him, and they’ve been fast friends since.

  The Novakin: Fourteen children who were saved from Darius by Roan, Alandra, and Lumpy, only to fall into a deep coma. While their physical bodies are maintained in the settlement of Newlight, their Dreamforms of rusting iron are bridged across the abyss, holding the Dreamfield together.

  THE WAZYA

  Also known as Those Who Wander, the Wazya are keepers of the earth and the Dreamfield. A very ancient race, they mostly travel alone, are well hidden, and are believed to be mythical. Their special relationship with the white crickets is also the stuff of legend.

  Khutumi (dreamform: Rat): In his human form, he is rarely seen and lives in a very isolated spot only known to Mabatan. In his Dreamfield form, he is well known to Roan and the Dirt Eaters.

  Mabatan (dreamform: blue rabbit): Friend to Roan and Lumpy. She knows and speaks the language of the Hhroxhi, and has explored much of this world and the Dreamfield. Like all Wazya, she does not require Dirt to travel. And having seen what has been done to both worlds as a result of its use, she has learned to despise it.

  THE BROTHERS

  Saint: Prophet of the Brothers and founder of the cult of the Friend. He hoped to join forces with Roan and topple the City, but he could never gain Roan’s trust, and died in a last-ditch effort to win him as an ally.

  Brother Wolf: Acting chief of the Brothers since Saint’s demise, he is their instructor of martial arts. It was Wolf who gave Roan his hook-sword; made by Wolf’s father, it is a twin of his own.

  Brother Asp: The healer. During Roan’s sojourn with the Brothers, Asp took him under his wing.

  Brother Stinger: Spiritual leader of the Brothers, he teaches sand-painting, a form of deep focus and meditation.

  Brother Raven: Sporting a bird mask and feathered cloak, he “negotiated” with towns for their children. Although he was in Saint’s inner circle, Raven was Darius’s spy, and ultimately betrayed the Brothers.

  Feeder: The Brothers’ cook, a failed novitiate.

  THE HHROXHI (pronounced Ha-row-she)

  Also known as the “Blood Drinkers,” the Hhroxhi dwell beneath the earth through a network of polished tunnels (thrusalls) that provide quick transport. They are blood-drinking albinos, who file their teeth into fangs and sever their ears in order to separate themselves from those they detest: surface-living humanity. They revere the white cricket and preserve the prophecies, although many have doubts.

  Mhyzah (Ma-hi-zeh): Friends with Lumpy, she taught him her language and enlisted him to be a Gyoxhip (zho-ship). Many Blood Drinkers are offended by her openness to humanity and violently resist her desire to assist Roan in the war against the City.

  Xxisos (She-soss): Leader of the Hhroxhi, he knows the myths about Roan and Stowe and the Novakin, and has lent his support to Roan’s cause.

  Qrixxis (Kree-shuss): The most vehement of the human-haters, he spearheads the opposition to helping with the war against the City.

  THE APSARA

  Descendents of one of the original four rebel armies, the Apsara were bel
ieved to have been exterminated by Darius. In fact, only the men were killed. The surviving women went into hiding, creating a secret warrior army and infiltrating key political positions through strategic marriages. Their children, both male and female, are raised covertly in their true home, the Caldera.

  Ende: Leader of the Apsara, sworn enemy of the City, she is a highly skilled warrior and teacher of martial arts and meditation to not only the Apsara but any warrior committed to bringing down the City.

  Kira: Second-in-command of the Apsara, for years she lived in a Farlands village as the chosen mate of Saint, Prophet of the Brothers.

  THE DIRT EATERS

  One of the four original rebel armies, most Dirt Eaters dwell in Oasis, hidden caves that give them and the other residents perpetual youth.

  Alandra (dreamform: goat-woman): A young healer, raised by the Dirt Eaters and placed by them in the town of Fairview to await the coming of Roan and the Novakin, she was instrumental in their escape and helped establish their safe haven, Newlight. But following the instructions of the Dirt Eaters, she fed the Novakin dirt, and lost Roan’s trust.

  Sari (dreamform: mountain lion): Spokesperson for the Dirt Eaters of Oasis.

  Haron (dreamform: wolverine): Leader of one rebel army that fought Darius, he brought his people to Oasis.

  Ferrell (dreamform: lizard): The Dirt Eaters’ greatest architect, he is responsible for building both the Foresight Academy and Dreamfield construction known as the Wall. He invaded Stowe’s Dreamfield form in an attempt to control her.

  Orin: Historian and librarian at Oasis.

  THE STORYTELLERS

  Although based in Oasis, they mainly travel the Farlands, undermining the authority of the Masters through their tales and plays. Book lovers, they adore the library of Oasis, but do not trust the Dirt Eaters.

  Kamyar: Leader of the Storytellers, he travels with a small group.

  Talia: The most hot-tempered of the band, she loves a fight.

  Mejan: The actress, spy, and diplomat.

  Dobbs: Gentle, large, and warm-hearted.

  THE GOVERNORS

  Governor Brack: Ruler of the eastern Farlands. Lived in Fairview until he was killed by Stowe.

  Governor Selig: Ruler of the southern Farlands. Does not know his beloved wife is an Apsara.

  THE PHYSICIANS

  Othard and Imin: Former Dirt Eaters, they now tend to the residents of the Farlands.

  THE CITY

  Stowe: After the fall of Longlight, Stowe was taken to the City, where she became the adopted daughter of Darius, the Keeper of the City, and a beloved icon for all. Fed excessive amounts of Dirt, Stowe’s powers—and instability—grew fast. In a Dreamfield encounter with the Dirt Eaters, she was possessed by the Dirt Eater Ferrell. Fighting for her sanity, Stowe escaped from the City only to be abducted by the insidious Brother Raven and Governor Brack.

  Willum: After a spiritual search in the Devastation, he went to the City, where he worked his way up, slowly gaining the Masters’ trust until he achieved the position he was destined for: to become Stowe’s Primary—her protector and teacher.

  THE MASTERS OF THE CITY

  Also known as the “Turned,” the Masters are very old, kept alive by transplanted body parts obtained from the children of the Farlands. After the wars, they came to power in Year 1 A.C. with the formation of the Conurbation, and it is now Year 111 A.C. The Masters’ Dreamforms are raptors, carnivorous birds of prey.

  Darius, also known as Keeper of the City, Archbishop of the Conurbation, the Eldest: Together with Roan’s great-grandfather and namesake, Roan of the Parting, he rebuilt a city destroyed by wars and an asteroid impact. After Roan of the Parting discovered the Dirt, they had a violent disagreement on its use that led to a civil war. Darius ruthlessly destroyed the four armies that rebelled under Roan of the Parting’s influence and has ever since been intent on megalomaniacal control of both the earth and the Dreamfield.

  Kordan: Stowe’s former tutor and Darius’s most devoted henchman. Frustrated by Kordan’s failures, Darius maimed him in the Dreamfield, resulting in the paralysis of half his face.

  Master Fortin: Head of COOPERATION UNLIMITED, the Enabler Factory. Enablers are a kind of mind control device developed by Darius to be used extensively on the Clerics, but lately more and more on the public at large.

  Master Querin: Master of Inculcation, he oversees the City’s propaganda and created the cult of Our Stowe as a means to control the population. Believed by many to be equal in power to Darius, Querin is deeply feared by all, including the Keeper himself.

  Clerics: The City’s police force/army.

  THE GUNTHERS

  Their ancestors were the survivors of one of the four rebel armies defeated by Darius. They went into hiding in the City, becoming the bespectacled drudges who maintain its power grid. Unbeknownst to the Masters, they have secretly established a great underground library and research facility.

  Gunther Number Six: A leader of the Gunthers, he is short, balding, and rumpled, and a great friend to both Kamyar and Willum.

  Gunther Number Seventy-Nine: Inordinately curious, she is a bit of a silent rebel and studies white crickets.

  Gunther Number Fifty-One: An ill-tempered traditionalist.

  Number One Hundred Twenty-Six, also known as Algernon: A multitalented and long-missing Gunther, he has committed the major offense of taking a name.

  CONTENTS

  1. The Living and the Dead

  2. Threshold

  3. The Awakening

  4. The Rat

  5. Homecoming

  6. An Uneasy Alliance

  7. The Price of Dirt

  8. A Story Worth Telling

  9. The Exorcism

  10. The Foresight Academy

  11. The Curatrix

  12. Roan of the Parting’s Journal

  13. Remembrance

  14. A Brother Returns

  15. The Mark of the Hhroxhi

  16. Brother and Sister

  17. The Two Councils

  18. Ties That Bind

  19. The Apogee

  20. Daughter of the City

  21. The Burden

  22. The Execution

  23. A Friend in Need

  24. The Lieutenant’s Dilemmas

  25. The Vapor

  26. A Pain in the Head

  27. The Primary’s Interrogation

  28. Masks

  29. The Overshadower

  30. Saboteurs

  31. The Mad Masters

  32. The Fall of Oasis

  33. Prisons

  34. The Prophecy

  35. Preparations for the Eclipse

  36. The Gorge

  37. The Wrath of Darius

  38. Khutumi

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

  BEND EVERY SENSE TO THE KNOWING OF WHAT HAS PASSED AND WHAT IS ABOUT TO COME. READ THE LINES OF ENERGY THAT TRAVEL BENEATH YOUR FEET FOR ALL THE TRUTHS THEY ARE ABLE TO REVEAL. THEN YOU WILL FIND WHAT YOU SEARCH FOR.

  —THE WAY OF THE WAZYA

  HUNGER SNAPS AT THE EDGE of Willum’s consciousness. Unwilling to allow anything to distract him from his search, he has not eaten since before the last full moon. Watching it waver now at the edge of the western horizon, the curve of the earth’s shadow almost slicing it in half, he hopes he has not arrived too late.

  He feels Mabatan slip silently beside him. He could not have accomplished the journey so quickly without her. It had taken her only a day to track him and since then it is she who has kept watch, steering him clear of any danger, so that he might chase, without interruption, the clouded stream of energy Stowe has left behind.

  In the cold night air, a fetid stench wafts up from the lake. Here the trail ends. Standing hidden amongst the red stick trees of this forest, he assesses the gates of Fairview.

  “There, on the south side, the guard sleeps,” he whispers. And without hesitation he slinks
across the open field to scale the wall spiderlike, trusting Mabatan to follow close behind.

  The town slumbers and under the steady hum of its street lamps they easily navigate Fairview’s web of streets unheard. As they approach the small cottage Willum has been seeking, he sees that its door has been left ajar. He stops, signals—two dead, two alive—and Mabatan takes out her knife.

  The door is jammed against two dead men sprawled across the entryway behind it. Squeezing through the narrow gap, Willum silently maneuvers past the first of the bodies, but the second stops him. A feathered robe, a beaked mask: Raven. Acting on Darius’s orders? Dried blood trails from the men’s ears: Stowe’s work.

  Someone in the room has sensed him. A woman, crouched over Stowe. Before she can so much as turn her head, Willum leaps past a fallen table and seizes her by the waist. He hurls her toward Mabatan, who instantly pins her to the wall, dagger at her throat. The young woman, terrified, does not speak.

  Willum holds the palm of his hand just above Stowe’s forehead. Neither she nor Ferrell are awake but both are alive. Alive. Steadying himself, he opens his mind to the room and to the girl who only seconds ago occupied the space he crouches in now. Her scent and that of the house are similar…she lived here once.

  “Hello, Alandra,” Willum says, rising to face her. “Why have the Dirt Eaters sent you here when you are so needed elsewhere?”

  The girl’s terror hardens to a glare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You stink of Dirt,” Mabatan grumbles as she reaches into a hidden pocket on the girl’s sleeve. Pulling out a small satchel, she opens it.

  “No!” the Dirt Eater cries, as Mabatan leans out the open door and scatters the satchel’s contents into the wind. She watches coldly as Alandra desperately falls, wedging herself in the blocked door, frantic to scoop up what few particles remain.

  A light goes on in the house opposite. Before curious eyes can spot them, Willum pulls Alandra back inside.

  The Dirt Eater whirls on him. There is still the possibility that the girl may fight. “You don’t know what you’ve done, how hard it is to get, how precious. Who are you people?”