The Shadows- Fire's Hope

by E Kathryn

  Sil stroked her breast and smiled when she eyed his burns, knowing something was wrong with him. Reaching up, he brought a hand across her wing on the opposite side of him and laid a layer of ice on it. Winter reacted by preening to get the ice off but refrained when he frosted over her speckled breast as well. She enjoyed it, and Sil loved both his ice and his hawk.

  Winter was wild, and Sil had befriended her with his powers. It hadn’t been that she was injured, or he had saved her, or that he had used his powers on her. In fact, it had been quite the opposite. He felt Winter had saved him.

  When Sil was seven, he and Kip had brawled, and like Mark, Kip accidentally overpowered him. Winter had come for him, to comfort and help him heal. Sil also considered that they had some sort of mental connection. He didn’t know how to use it or how to explain it, and he never spoke of it to the others, but somehow, Sil knew he was connected to Winter and he could understand her.

  Winter was a beautiful creature. He would never cage her, nor would he look for her if she didn’t return. Sil believed this was what Winter wanted, to stay free but to always return. Winter wasn’t a bird for show, she wouldn’t obey a master. She was a free wild animal, and Sil had sworn to her he’d honor that.

  Tenderly, Sil forced Winter in the one way she allowed him and laid her on her back in his arms with her claws tightly around his fingers. Her talons were very strong, and like this, Winter could easily slice off any of Sil’s fingers and get away, but the fact that she didn’t showed her devotion to him.

  Sil strode farther out into the courtyard and let Winter up on his arm. Promptly, Winter took off from this position and flew above the courtyard. He watched until he couldn’t see her anymore, then the ASO urged him to come back inside.

  Sil kept the leather guards with him except for the shoulder guard because it was scratching against his burns. He had made the leather guards himself. Keller had provided him with the materials, and in his interest, he sewed them together.

  He stepped into the ASH and down the halls, but not back to the mess hall. The ASO left him as he walked to the reception area and main entrance. Several times a day, when the Shadows where allowed to roam freely, these doors were left locked. For now, the Shadows were allowed to wander.

  Sil retrieved a project he had started a few days ago. Drawing it up, he sat in the reception area to continue the work. Until now, he had been able to ignore the horrible stinging pangs throughout his chest. His shirt brushed against the burns, and the bandages were only adding to his discomfort.

  As he focused on his hand project, the pain seemed to worsen. Things were going to change in the ASH. Sil knew that despite how inexperienced Mark was with any form of Shadows, he had already successfully reopened wounds in Sil’s heart.

  Sil’s project was making a right-handed glove to hold Winter. It was supposed to be like the ones trainers used, but it was going to be smaller with thinner material. Winter wouldn’t intentionally claw him, and Sil had no need to hold a leash. The glove would button up to his wrist to fit under the arm guard and the insides of Sil’s fingers, except for the tip would be open so he could still create ice and thread it into Winter’s feathers.

  “What are you doing?” A devious voice asked from nearby.

  Sil didn’t even look up to greet Emilie’s eyes as he threaded the thick needle through his leather material. “Working,” he answered. “It’s none of your business,” he murmured, attempting to turn her away. But he, like all the others, knew nothing could turn Emilie away when she wanted attention.

  Emilie placed a hand on Sil’s shoulder. She knew it irritated him, but he did little to make her stop. “Most of us are in the room. You should probably—”

  Sil flared his golden eyes at her, and she stopped. “Or you could stay out here all night…” she rambled, giving up. Sil’s focus returned to his work in the tight stitches of the glove. Emilie sighed. “Sometimes, Sil, even I wonder why you act that way…” she breathed.

  Getting up stiffly, Sil met eyes with Emilie, and with a cold hand, he took a loose hold of her throat with only one finger. His skin nearly turned blue as he imparted ice onto Emilie’s neck. “If I made you cold enough, you’d go numb, then slowly it would spread, and your heart would freeze, and even if your body is preserved in the ice, you won’t come back to life when you’re thawed, not with my ice.”

  A deep grin painted itself across her face as the color of Sil’s fingers became the color of her neck. “I could get away, and you’ll never hear the end of it from Keller if you kill another Shadow.” She laughed in a low voice. “If you really intend to kill me, which I know you don’t, you would have done it already. I haven’t done enough to irritate you to make you kill me, and this is no circumstance for you to kill someone, not when Kip injured you, and not when Mark burned you. You reacted just enough, and you have no intent to kill. That’s just who you are.”

  Sil drew his hand away from her, and a snowball formed in his fingers, which he proceeded to smash against her shoulder. Grabbing his work, he strode past her in a huff, frustrated for obvious reasons and with no desire to deal with Emilie any longer.

  However, Emilie naturally floated alongside him down the hallway until they reached the stairs, and then she shot up above him and ahead to the room.

  VII

  KIMBERLY’S ADVICE

  October 27, 2030

  Sweating hard, Mark woke up suddenly in the morning. His consciousness bringing him out of a flaming nightmare. Opening his eyes, Mark held himself from jerking up to prevent the others from hearing him.

  He hoped the room would be very dark when he glanced around and that it would be small and warm with no one else there. Alone in his own room. He had no such luck as he saw morning light streaming in from the skylight and the others were all still asleep.

  He missed his own bed. This room was too cold, the mattress beneath him was springy and sank too low, and the blanket he’d been given was completely useless. Most of the bed articles had mysteriously appeared, either given to him by the Shadows—mostly Kip—or in the case of the bed, he’d woken up in it.

  He kept his own room warm and dark, claustrophobic to some, but like a hug to him. How was he ever going to get back there? The Exodus? Somehow escaping this place? He just wanted to go home.

  A quiet twinge in his mind made him freeze. His mother hadn’t even hesitated to call the ASH and tell them he was a Shadow. She hadn’t shown the slightest pause in sending him off as quickly as possible. Why would she want to get rid of him?

  Mark seethed silently. His dad hated Shadows, at least that was his perception. January Halo glowered at the thought and every mention of Shadows, on the news, on the Internet, and especially in his own house. Surely his dad would want him to have nothing to do with the Shadows.

  Maybe in a few days when January caught wind of this, he’d find out what happened, what Marissa had done, and he’d come get his son. Mark prayed that could be possible. As much as his dad was always absentminded and introverted, surely, January would get him out of here. Maybe he just had to wait a few days, if he could survive.

  As quietly as possible, he sat up and set his feet over the side of the bed. His breath trembling, he shuddered, holding his head in his hands for a few minutes. He was still in the ASH with the Shadows, and everything he had hoped to be a dream was reality.

  Looking at each of the Shadows sleeping in the room on various bunks and beds, Mark glanced down at his feet to see his toes in contact with a pile of fresh clothes for him. Casual and somewhat dull, but clean, nonetheless.

  Without making much noise, for he was quite light on his feet, he dressed in the bathroom. Sleep had done him good, but thinking of Sil made his fear resurface.

  Tiptoeing across the room, Mark pushed the button for the elevator and left without waking anyone. He held on tightly to the railing, and with no one there to embarrass him with his fear, he exited promptly as the door opened.

  From the hall window
s, Mark saw from the balcony there was very little light touching the world and a clock he found in the hall stated it was nearly six o’clock in the morning. Across from him, the balcony overlooked the lobby and the front windows, and Mark leaned against the railing to watch as morning painted the horizon gold and the world became lighter.

  He looked down to see a lit, round reflecting pool in front of the ASH with a fountain that accented the front courtyard. At the bottom of the hill the ASH stood atop, Mark saw the headlights of cars passing below, and the distant city lights. He was right outside a bustling town he, and he guessed they knew nothing about the ASH or the Shadows hidden within.

  “Oh—I-I didn’t know anyone was…” a feminine voice started, and Mark turned and looked through the darkness to see Kimberly coming down the hall with a cart of food. She startled a little, when she spotted him. “Oh… Mark…” She frowned.

  Just his face disconcerted her, and she looked right through him. Not even seeing him, her thoughts were with the person she had lost that Ocie had told him about.

  “Kimberly,” Mark greeted her as brightly as he could.

  “I was just… coming through to set up breakfast,”

  “I see that,” he murmured, masking the shakiness in his voice. He could easily see she was fretting over something and he pinched his arm to ask, “So, who do I remind you of?”

  Kimberly grimaced, her knuckles on the cart turning white. “I’m sorry, Mark, I really don’t want to talk about it…”

  Mark sighed, still wanting to pry because he knew she didn’t mean it. “Would you like me to help you?”

  Hesitating again, Kimberly pushed the cart forward. “If you like,” she said, her hands shaky on the cart’s handle, and proceeded to open the elevator door to the room Mark had just come out of. When she stepped inside, Mark followed her, light-footed. Gulping, Kimberly mustered a smile and asked, “So, why are you awake at this hour?”

  Mark eyed her with a little sarcastic smirk, and Kimberly forced a small laugh. “All about what happened to Sil?” she confirmed, and Mark nodded in response. The door opened, and Kimberly pushed the cart into the center of the room. “Do you see those handles on the wall over there?” Kimberly asked, pointing them out to Mark.

  Mark nodded when he saw them, and Kimberly instructed, “Pull on them.” He did as told and out came long sturdy plastic slabs, which Mark found to be a table and two benches.

  “The legs are underneath,” Kimberly stated, and Mark reached underneath to pull out the supports for the table and the benches. Kimberly rolled the cart closer, and adopted a pleasant smile as she whispered, “I remember when Fliiy got in this room a few weeks ago.” Mark met eyes with her briefly encouraging her to continue. “Her powers are really difficult for her to control, and they’re more unrefined than even yours are. Twice already since she’s been moved to this room, her powers have gotten out of control, and she’s been taken out to be alone,” Kimberly explained.

  She took out a stack of eight bowls which she set on the table near the wall, “You’re by far not the first one who’s had a run-in with Sil. Last time Fliiy’s powers went off, she was trying to be nice to him, to sort of get him out of that act of hatred he puts up for everyone.

  “Sil threw ice at her, and she tried levitating it to stop it. Whatever she did triggered her powers to go nuts, and she had to be taken out of this room for a few hours until her powers calmed.”

  Mark took the second stack of bowls and set them next to the first. He listened while Kimberly set out a warm covered bowl. “Sil has always gotten into trouble. When his powers were unrefined while he was younger, he nearly stopped his own heart with ice like you nearly burn yourself with fire. He’s fought with every Shadow in the ASH.

  “He’s dealt with more Shadow related problems than anyone here, and it’s fair to say his powers are more refined than anyone’s here. If he learned to control that temper, the ASH might even allow him to go home, but…We don’t know who his parents are.”

  Mark’s attention piqued hearing this. “He’d be allowed to go home?” he inquired with hope in his heart. Kimberly had the knowledge he desperately wanted.

  She laid out the rest of the breakfast with a chipper, light step. “I’m sure Keller has told you at least once that unrefined Shadows are very dangerous, and it’s very true. One of the main goals of the ASH is to contain unrefined Shadows and keep them from hurting people, and most Shadows here are unrefined.

  “Another goal is bringing the Shadows together so the interaction with others of their kind to help them get used to their powers. Spend time in the Realm, that’s probably how Sil has such an acute control over Frost.”

  Mark sat on the bench. He’d already spent countless hours in the Realm before he’d come here. It had been his safe place, and even still, he used the Realm. He was wary since he was no longer alone in there. “You seem to know a lot about Shadows.” He kept his voice low to not wake the others.

  Kimberly nodded with a sorrowful smile. “Well, that tends to happen when you’ve been here as long as I have,” she whispered.

  Mark accepted it and asked in return, “Are you a Shadow?”

  Eyeing him long and hard, Kimberly’s eyes grew a bit wide as she stared at him. Shrugging, she answered, “Sort of…” she whispered and then gulped before she continued, “I can use the Realm, but I can’t use my Shadow anymore. For some reason, a while ago… probably before you were born, I woke up one day and my Shadow had gone completely dormant. I’ve been trying to find out why since before the ASH even came into existence.

  “I used to be pretty powerful. I had refined powers, and then one day I just…” She hesitated, clearly hurt from the loss. “I came here. I’m helping Keller because I know something is wrong with me and my Shadow, and I have spent almost fifteen years trying to learn how to control it again.”

  Mark let off, starting to wonder how old Kimberly was. She could have been in her late twenties, but he couldn’t be sure. Kimberly had a look in her eyes as if she had seen eons. She had the eyes of someone old, but maybe that was her recent loss clouding her demeanor. Mark sighed, certain it was related to what made Kimberly so upset when she looked at his face. Restarting, Mark asked sensitively, “What is your Shadow called?”

  Kimberly took hold of the cart’s handles again, closing her eyes before answering. “Shadow Love. I was once able to briefly control people’s minds,” she explained. Kimberly gazed at Mark as the thoughts of her powers ran through his head several times, processing, and grasping it. She fought herself and stepped up to Mark. Forcing him to stand, Kimberly met Mark’s eyes. “You want my advice?”

  Mark nodded, and Kimberly’s pink eyes flared. “Spend time in the Realm. Practice with your Shadow as much as possible without hurting anyone. Maybe have some of the other Shadows stick with you and help you,” she suggested in a firm voice. “If you want to fix what’s between you and Sil, try not to say anything to him today. Ignore him altogether if you have to. Sil will resolve his problem with you on his own, and there will come a time when he’ll confront you again. Sil’s slow to trust others and that makes him prudent. You’ll just have to get used to him.”

  Kimberly laughed a little with a truly brilliant smile. “I could keep going,” she joked, “all the dos and don’ts and precautionary advice about Sil,” she mused and started pushing the cart back to the elevator.

  When they were inside, she raised her voice. “Above all, don’t come between him and the few things he cares about, like Winter, Emilie, or anything he sets his mind to. But he’s not impossible to get through to.”

  The elevator opened and the two stepped out. Kimberly turned, her demeanor brightening. “Do you want to know the good news?” she offered. Mark nodded but stared beyond her at how the world was lightening, and a sparkle of pink set the sky ablaze. “After Fliiy came back from her room alone, Sil apologized to her and they made up. Now they’re very close. I think Sil has a liking for her,” she joke
d.

  Mark chuckled but didn’t find it as funny as Kimberly. He sighed and gathered courage to ask again as she started down the hallway without him. He gulped heavily. “Kimberly…” She turned to him, and he fought himself to continue, “You still haven’t told me, and I’d like to know. Who do I remind you of?”

  Kimberly gulped hard, fighting off tears. “Another Shadow,” she whispered sorrowfully, “But he died several months ago. That’s all you need to know…” She finished and solemnly continued down the hall leaving Mark and the sunrise behind.

  He sighed heavily and grimaced. How can I look so much like this person for Kimberly to cry just looking at me?

  “I’d listen to her,” someone said from the open elevator door. Mark reeled around as a Shadow left the Realm and holding the elevator door open by her presence. Elise.

  He tensed and jumped. “Just watch,” he threatened, pointing at her. “You Shadows appearing out of nowhere like that is going to really freak me out.” He turned toward the window, sulking. “What? Did you sneak into the elevator with us to eavesdrop?”

  Elise affirmed from behind him. “Pretty much,” she murmured.

  Mark sighed and put his head to the window pane. “Could you hear my thoughts in the Realm too?”

  Laughing, Elise denied the accusation. “It doesn’t work that way. You’d have to be open in the Realm for me to hear it. I’d assume that means I missed a good one.”

  Mark mustered a false laugh at this, and Elise cut him off. “You really should listen to Kimberly. She’s been around Shadows all her life. She once helped me solve my problem with Goran. Now, he and I are good friends.” Her feet tapping lightly upon the stone, she joined him by the window. “So how did you sleep?”

  Mark raised a brow, flaring his crimson eyes when he shouldn’t have. “With what happened yesterday, how do you think?”

  “Thought so.” Elise giggled slightly. “You should probably get down to the room before the Shadows wipe out all of breakfast. It tends to be a favorite around here.”