Shadowguard

by Gama Ray Martinez

  “See,” Osmund said. “I told you he wanted us to break in.”

  “You’re looking in the wrong place, though.” Besis said.

  “We are?”

  “Oh, the library of secrets had general knowledge about demons and such, but to get information of specific demons, such as Marrowit, you need to research knowledge. Summoners are the ones who most need that information. Them and binders, that is.”

  “Do you know anything about Marrowit?”

  Besis shook his head. “He’s never been unleashed so far as I know. We have no knowledge of him.”

  Jez glared at Osmund. “Someone told me there wouldn’t be any information on specific demons in the library of knowledge.”

  The larger boy shrugged. Besis waved at him, and the fire in Osmund’s hand puffed out of existence. Jez blinked several times while his vision adjusted to the darkness.

  “It’s not in the main library. It’s in the secret one beneath the practice house.”

  “I didn’t know the knowledge district had a secret library.” Jez said. “Doesn’t that go against the philosophy of the dominion of knowledge? They want to be open about sharing information, don’t they?”

  Besis shook his head. “The dominion of secrets hides information and believes that anyone who can learn it deserves to know it. The dominion of knowledge knows that some information must be earned by learning what comes before it. Knowledge of individual demons is one of those things.”

  “But you can get it?”

  “I can get it. I’m not supposed to, not without Master Linala’s permission. That won’t stop me, though.”

  Jez was surprised, but Osmund simply nodded. “Shades of gray, remember?”

  They moved through the city trying to stay out of sight. Every time Jez stepped too hard or kicked a stray pebble, he thought the noise would wake half the Academy. He found himself wishing he had Atrius’s ability to reduce noise. It didn’t take them long to reach the district of knowledge. Unlike the district of secrets, this one had lanterns hanging every few feet, and Jez couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched. To his surprise, Besis walked right up to the front door of the practice house. He pulled an iron key ring out is robe and opened the door. He smiled at their surprised faces.

  “You have a key?” Jez asked.

  “Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like there’s anything in here that needs to be locked away.”

  “Besides a secret library, you mean.”

  “Yes, well, there are other more potent safeguards against unauthorized entry to that.”

  “Were you going to tell us about that?”

  “I didn’t find it particularly relevant.”

  “You didn’t?”

  Besis laughed. “I’m the protection master. I’m the one that placed all the wards on the most sensitive areas of the Academy.”

  He turned the key and pushed the door open. As soon as they stepped inside, lanterns around the room came alight. There were several circles similar the one Dusan had used and runes had been carved into the walls. Jez yelped and looked around, but the room was empty. Besis cursed and waved a hand, plunging the room into darkness. Only the moon shining through the windows provided any illumination at all.

  “I forgot about that. The dominion of knowledge tries to welcome all. I just wish it wouldn’t be so obvious about it. The secret library is this way.”

  Having never studied any magic in the dominion of knowledge, Jez had never been in the building. As they passed by one of the circles in the floor, Jez felt a profound sense of wrongness. He shook his head and continued after the protection master. Besis led them to a small office opposite the door, presumably where Master Linala would sit. The door was locked, but this time, Besis closed his eyes and mumbled a word. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

  “How...” Jez began.

  Besis cut him off with a wave of his hand. His fingernail clinked on the door handle. “Iron,” he whispered. He wiggled his fingers. “Terra magic.”

  The stepped into the office and Besis strode across the room. He ran his fingers along the back wall until he found something. He pressed in, and the wall clicked. The ground rumbled and pair of wooden planks parted, revealing stairs down. Besis waved a hand and said a few words. A wall of blue energy shimmered into existence before vanishing. He nodded at them and they started down the stairs. As with the chamber above, lanterns came to life as they approached, though this time, Besis left them alone.

  The library was not what Jez had expected. The stairs came out into a hall lined with half a dozen bookshelves, though only two of them had actual books. Two others held scroll containers made of wood or ivory. The rest contained clay tablets and carved wooden disks along with a number of other writing mediums. Besis led them to the end of the hall and into a large room, nearly as big as the practice house above. A large circle encompassing the entire room had been carved into the ground. Besis walked over it and into a small room lined with books and tablets. He pulled a book out and handed one to Osmund. Then, he turned to Jez.

  “Do you read any ancient languages?”

  Jez started to shake his head, but then paused. “I don’t know.”

  Besis raised an eyebrow. He handed Jez a set of wooden slates tied together with a white chord. Strange writing was painted on them. It had faded, but he could still make out the characters. Even so, they were incomprehensible. Jez shook his head and handed it back.

  “That would’ve been too much to hope for. Even I can’t read that one.” Besis gave him a leather bound tome. “Look in this one.”

  After three hours of searching, they’d still found nothing. Osmund had fallen asleep, and Jez was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open. He stared into a book and realized he hadn’t turned the page in several minutes. He closed it and put it back on the shelf. He looked up at Master Besis who was running his fingers over a flat piece of wood covered in lumps. Besis stopped his examination.

  “Tired?” Jez nodded. “Well, Master Linala will open the practice house in a few hours. We shouldn’t let her find us here.”

  Jez nodded again and shook Osmund. The other boy groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked several times.

  “Sorry,” he said. “What happened to the lantern?”

  “What?” Jez looked up at the lantern hanging from the ceiling. It was as bright as ever, but shadows swirled around it.

  “Master Besis?”

  “Yes?” Besis followed Jez’s gaze. “Oh. How is your binding?”

  “My binding?”

  “Yes, you haven’t had someone teach you, have you?”

  “No, you said that was too dangerous. Why?”

  “Those are living shadows.” His voice was completely flat. “They’re about to try to kill us.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Jez didn’t have time to respond. The shadows broke apart. Each piece grew darker and expanded until they were the size and shape of a small dog. There had to be at least thirty of them. They growled, and Jez could feel their combined sound vibrating against his skin. Besis waved his hand and bands of energy shot out, wrapping one of the shadows. It squealed, but the others leapt forward. Jez screamed and punched at the air. The area rippled as energy rushed out of him, and the three shadows closest to him screamed and faded as if someone had suddenly shone a bright light on them.

  One of the shadows bit into his arm, but rather than hurting, all sensation beneath his elbow ceased. He looked down and tried to shake the shadow free. Suddenly, fire enveloped it, though the flames didn’t touch his skin.

  The shadow screamed for just a second before it dissolved. Another jumped at Jez, but a glowing sword sliced it in two. Ziary stepped between Jez and the shadows. His sword moved through the air with inhuman grace, cutting shadow dogs from the air. When more than one creature approached him at once, he threw out his hand, engulfing them in fire or lightning. With every move he made, a shadow died. Jez could only look on in awe as Ziary mowed his w
ay through them in a deadly dance. Even those who tried to come at Jez or Besis fell before they came anywhere close. In just a few heartbeats, the living shadows had been destroyed.

  Ziary turned to look at Jez, his features twisted in anger, and Jez took a step back as he realized what the scion was thinking. Osmund had said Ziary was a creature of absolutes. He couldn’t comprehend shades of gray. All he knew was that they had broken into a place where they did not belong. He cared nothing for the why.

  “Take control, Osmund.” Besis had his arms raised. “Don’t let him do something you’ll regret.”

  “I am not Osmund!” The flames around Ziary’s sword pulsed as he cried out. “You will suffer for your crimes.”

  “No.”

  Osmund’s voice cut him off. Ziary closed his eyes, but when he opened them, they were still the twin points of fire. He lifted his sword and took a step toward Jez. Then, the air around him rippled. His eyes brightened as he tried to take another step forward but couldn’t.

  “You are Osmund.” Besis’s voice was calm and steady. He held his hand up, and Jez could see muscles straining against the binding that held Ziary. “You determine how to use your power, not him.”

  “Evil must be destroyed!”

  Besis grunted as Ziary took another step forward. Jez heard a sound like glass breaking in his mind, and Besis gasped and fell forward. Ziary stood over the binding master and prepared to strike. His sword was halfway down when it vanished. Osmund fell to the ground next to Besis, gasping.

  “I’m sorry,” he said between heavy breaths. “I tried to stop him.”

  Besis stood up and offered Osmund a hand. “No lasting harm was done. Without your help, I doubt we would’ve survived.”

  “What were those things?” Jez asked

  “Living shadows,” he said. “They’re not really demons. They’re creatures born from the nightmares of man. Which of you were sleeping?”

  They both looked at Osmund who looked away. “I was dreaming about the time I was attacked by a stray dog. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Besis said. “If it hadn’t been you, an attack would’ve come for some other reason. These things don’t appear naturally. They have to be sent.”

  “Dusan?” Jez asked.

  Besis nodded. “Very likely. Come, the two of you need to get some rest, and I have to give examinations in a few hours.”

  “But we didn’t find anything.”

  “I’ll keep looking when I have a chance. If I don’t find anything by tomorrow night, we’ll try again then.”

  CHAPTER 29

  “Can you turn into Ziary whenever you want?” Jez asked.

  They had both slept for several hours and were now eating in the common room of the Quarter Horse. They had been fortunate to find an empty table, though it was large enough to seat six. Every once in a while, someone would approach, intending to sit at one of the empty seats as was common at an inn like this. When they saw who was already there, however, they turned and walked in the other direction.

  “I’ve never really tried unless I was in danger,” Osmund said. “Why?”

  “He’s good at battle magic,” Jez said.

  “He’s a Darkhunter,” Osmund said, “or at least he’s a scion of the Darkhunters.”

  “I wonder if he can teach me.”

  Osmund’s head snapped toward Jez. “No. It’s too dangerous. I could teach you what I know. I’m not exactly weak in that area.”

  “But you’re not as strong as he is. It’s not just that. Actual pharim can’t interfere with human affairs, but that rule doesn’t apply to him, and he has pharim magic. He might be the only person who can teach me to use my power.”

  “Person?” Osmund asked.

  “You know what I mean.”

  Osmund shook his head. “Jez, I could barely hold him back last time. If you make any mistake, if he sees you be anything less than perfect, he could kill you.”

  Jez took a bite of chicken and chewed it slowly. He washed it down with a gulp of fruit juice. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby before he answered. Even then, he spoke softly.

  “And if he does, I go back to being a pharim.” Jez tried to sound like the idea didn’t bother him, but he didn’t know how well he succeeded. “Then, we don’t have anything to worry about, and I can face Dusan while I’m much stronger than he is.”

  “I’ll think about it.” The tone of his voice said he’d already made up his mind. “Have you remembered anything else about Marrowit?”

  “He’s a nightmare demon, high up in their hierarchy.” Jez spoke the words before he realized what he was saying. Osmund was gaping at him, and his own response surprised him so much he wasn’t able to speak for several seconds. “It was on those wooden slates Master Besis gave me, the ones I couldn’t read.”

  “If you couldn’t read them, how do you know what they said?”

  Jez sighed. “I’m getting really tired of saying this. I don’t know.” He glanced at a nearby table. A student had a star chart laid out in front of him. For a second, Jez was enthralled by it. It seemed important. The memory was just beneath the surface. Then, he slammed a fist on the table. “Come on. We need to go find Besis.”

  “We should wait until night.”

  “We don’t really have a lot of time to waste.”

  “We don’t?”

  “I really don’t know. You know, Master Rael did a really bad job of giving me back my memories. They all come in patches.”

  “Maybe we should talk to her.”

  Jez shook his head. “She said she’d done all she could. We can’t leave the city until the morning, right?”

  “Why are we leaving the city?”

  “To stop Dusan. We need to hurry.”

  “We can if we have to, but the path down is dangerous in the dark, and you can’t fly.”

  Jez stood up and started walking toward the door. Osmund caught up with him just before he stepped outside.

  “Come on. There’s something else we can do until Master Besis is ready for us.” Jez patted his pockets and smiled when they jingled. He drew out a few coins. They might just be enough to get the supplies he needed.

  “What’s that?” Osmund asked.

  Jez grinned. “I’m going to paint something.”

  CHAPTER 30

  The supplies he was able to buy weren’t nearly as extensive as what he’d used in the intermediate painting class he’d been placed in. He could only get a few colors and two brushes. He wouldn’t be painting a masterpiece. Hopefully, he wouldn’t need to. He sat down in his room at the Quarter Horse and stared at the canvas he had set down on his bed. He held the larger of the two brushes and waited for inspiration to hit him, but nothing happened.

  “Say something,” he said to Osmund who was standing just inside the door.

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “I don’t know. Anything. The last time, I was too busy talking to you to pay attention to what I was doing.”

  “What were we talking about?”

  “I don’t really remember. Just pick something. Tell me about your family.”

  Osmund turned away. “I’d really rather not.”

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t exactly have a happy childhood. My parents were both limaph, but they didn’t understand what that meant. Neither of them could transform, and it wasn’t as obvious with them as it is with me. My father is a small man, and my whole life, people have been asking me if he really is my father. More than once, I had bullies threaten to run me out of town.”

  “When did you leave?”

  “A few years ago. Master Rael came to the Narian Isles. He recognized me for what I was, and offered to fund my first year. With how hard my life was, I jumped at the chance. I didn’t realize how much there was to learn until I got here.”

  “What will you do now?”

  “I’m not sure. Now that the baron disowned you, I suppose I’ll go back home.”
r />   He obviously wasn’t looking forward to that. Jez reached over to put a hand on Osmund’s shoulder, and the paintbrush in his hand left a black smear on the other boy’s face. For a moment, they both stared at the brush before turning to look at the canvas.

  The depiction of Dusan was crude, being made of lines that were too thick, but it was obviously him. He had his arms stretched out in an unnerving gesture. Green runes floated in the air above him, and the ground was made of red stone.

  “What is it?” Osmund asked.

  “It’s from when Dusan bound me.”

  “Didn’t he bind you in Randak?”

  Jez closed his eyes for a second. Images flashed in his mind, but they were gone before he could get any details. “I thought so, but no, it was somewhere else.” He shrugged. “I still don’t think this helps us.”

  “Maybe it does.” Osmund put a finger on a rune made of wavy lines. A second later, he pulled back and scowled at the green splotch on his finger. “This one is an air symbol. It can only be used where the air is thin. This is on a mountain somewhere.”

  “There are a lot of mountains.”

  “It narrows it down from the entire world.”

  Jez nodded in concession. Without access to the library, they couldn’t look up the rest of the runes, and they spent a nerve-wracking day in the inn. As the sun neared the horizon, they rolled up the painting and headed back into the Academy grounds. As they neared the protection district, Jez found his steps quickening. The smell of sulfur grew so gradually, he didn’t notice until it overpowered everything else. By then, he was running. Osmund was right behind him, and other students rushed to get out of their way. Jez’s eyes focused on the practice house, and his body pulsed with power. He lowered his shoulder and charged into the door, somehow using his power to strengthen his body. The door shattered into splinters.

  Both of Jez’s hands flew in complex patterns. Four bursts of energy shot out from him almost simultaneously. A web of darkness engulfed a bat made of fire. A sword of ice impaled a smoke man. A line of blue fire split a floating ice ball, and a spinning disk of yellow light exploded, vaporizing a lion with an iron mane. The room went silent as the four students who’d been working to bind their demons gaped at him. Osmund’s jaw dropped and he stared at Jez. At one end of the room, Master Besis cleared his throat. He glared at Jez before glancing at the other students and waving toward the door.