by Hugo Damas
Her stomach clenched.
The city was half-enveloped in the dark supernatural mist. People were running, desperately fleeing, mostly towards the train station. Guards were running in the opposite direction, brave soldiers heading into the fray to try and buy the civilians time to escape.
There was no mistaking how the surroundings were awash with the yells of a city under attack.
Oh no…
The Shadow saw people climbing through the windows of her train. They frantically shoved and squeezed themselves below her and all the way to the front of the train. She was at the very back.
The mist was spreading. The Shadow saw one of the dark beasts coming into view, the dark metallic skin bloodied beyond belief.
“No,” she said to herself, shaking her head. Ayane stood up not really caring whether she was seen or not, and ran full speed towards the head of the train. While she ran, she caught sight of a clock and confirmed that it was past time for it to leave. That meant the conductor would be in there.
The man flinched in fright when she vaulted into his chambers through his side window. “What the?”
The Shadow shoved him against the open window. She just pressured his chest with her elbow and then pushed further, to press it against his neck.
“We leave.” She squinted her eyes, “now.”
“What? No! Not until we’re told to, we’re the only chance these people have!” the man argued, but he had no idea what was outside.
“The only people with a chance are the ones already inside,” the Shadow stated. “Go.”
“Why don’t you do it?” He frowned in anger, giving her such a look of defiance that she was sure she wasn’t going to convince him.
“Suh, suh!” They both turned towards the door to find a child standing there, out of breath.
The boy looked poor and homeless, and judging by the western clothes on top of him he was not a resident of the city. The Shadow recognized him after two seconds of confusion, and she had to stop herself from shivering as they met eyes.
The boy gave her that same smirk as before.
“Spit it out, boy! What is it?” the conductor demanded.
The momentary smirk fell so fast and believably she realized he had never smirked in the first place, it had only been his eyes.
The boy looked properly alarmed. “Is everythin’ awright?”
The conductor turned to the Shadow, frowning hard. “I don’t know, is everything alright, ma’am?”
Ayane looked back at the man, honestly flustered. All her momentum was now lost to her.
She let him go and stepped back. “Pardon my actions, we simply must leave,” she urged.
“We’re all afraid, lady.” He raised an eyebrow and adjusted his collar, “no reason to get violent.”
“A guard said to leave, suh, that’s what ahm ‘ere to tell ya!” the boy remarked.
“Which guard, son?”
“I dunno…” Tears came to the poor boy’s eyes. “He…he died. One o’ those things’s got ‘im. The guard’s…”
“Alright, son.” The man looked out the window one last time and shook his head, saddened. “What in the void is going on?”
With a heavy heart, the big man started working the levers. “You’ll survive the day, boy. Now please, both o’ you get off my cabin.”
In no way through her efforts, she was getting what she wanted. The Shadow followed the street urchin out of there, closing the door behind her.
“He’s already under threat of death,” the kid said as they walked by a couple gasping in relief at the sound of steam letting loose. The train was starting to move. “You think yours’d have a different effect?”
The boy’s voice was no longer afraid or traumatized.
“I had no other recourse than to try,” Ayane said. “To stay any longer would mean the death of us all.”
“Leaving will mean the death of a lot of people,” the child replied, not bothered at all by the fact.
Ayane looked away so the boy wouldn’t notice how it bothered her. She decided to vocalize her role for good measure. “They are not me.”
“They aren’t us,” he agreed, giggling a bit while they squeezed past a group of people. Everyone was relieved the train was moving. “It’d be quite the challenge to find someone who isn’t happy we’re leaving all those people behind, wouldn’t it?”
The Shadow gave no reply. She felt strange walking among people like normal, wearing what she was wearing. But in the midst of so much confusion and fleeing, few individuals were normally dressed as it was. There were a lot of foreigners, and a lot of suspicious persons wearing cloaks and hoods.
“Stop looking around. People will take notice if you keep gawkin’,” the boy suggested, sound as if he was offering a drink of water.
The Shadow looked ahead and down at the child.
“You are the Street Rat,” she stated in a muffled voice, which would go unnoticed in the middle of all the frantic conversations going on around them.
“And yer the Shadow. We’ve met,” the boy said, chuckling.
“I thought you were merely a child then,” Ayane said, not hiding a hint of embarrassment for having been fooled.
“Don’t think less of yourself for that,” he said with another chuckle, “it’s my thing.”
“I assume there was no guard?” Ayane asked.
“’Course not.” The kid pushed another kid aside, and finally stopped. “Ah, a corner we can use.”
The train was so filled with people that she was really uncomfortable. Ayane was not a fan of crowds, not even a little bit. Never had she been seen by so many people, let alone been among them.
“I must go,” the Shadow said.
“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” the voice delivered, in a way she couldn’t help but believe. Ayane turned again to see the Street Rat turn a basket around on its top, to make a bench out of. “Sit with me.”
He walked aside and sat just near the basket, on top of some blankets she assumed were his, but probably weren’t. He took his hat off and shook his head. His hair was wild and dirty, and his smile all the more so.
“Let’s talk,” the Street Rat proposed, making it sound like a business arrangement.
He leaned back on his arms, taking it easy.
People rummaged through the train all around her, and the train itself was already well in motion. She could hear the repeated noise affiliated with a train running across the tracks.
“So what’s your name?” the Street Rat asked.
“I will not tell you,” the Shadow replied.
“We shouldn’t be using our titles in public. Mine’s Jamie.”
He was probably lying, and it occurred to her that she might also lie. He wasn’t telling her to because ears might be listening, but he should be expecting it.
“Ayane,” she said, not able to think of a fake one fast enough. However, she said it with some hesitation, hopefully giving the impression she had invented it.
It was her given name, though.
“Well, Ayane. I’d like us to trade impressions on what we saw in the city,” he skillfully said, actually referencing Prusnia.
They talked, and through that, got the sense that that child she was talking to might still not be who he really was, even though it might be who he truly was. The Street Rat. His eyes moved with running thoughts as he asked questions, detailed and sharp ones. That mind was more attentive and complex than his mannerisms seemed to indicate.
In fact, the whole conversation helped the Shadow realize something she hadn’t considered yet.
The Shadow Lenses were special.
The previous, and original, leader had kept them on his person. The one who followed him immediately sought to destroy them. So, certainly, there was something about them that was important to the Beasts, perhaps dangerous.
Also, to her surprise, the Street Rat had actually been the first to leave the city.
“I had a meetin’ with
the Sorcerer that convinced me I was at a large disadvantage back there,” he commented. “It’s a ghost town, I can’t pass as a resident or anything, n’ that kills my skills, don’t it? The Don and I were completely outclassed in there, but especially me.” He yawned, “I also noticed it was gettin’ hard to breathe? And the mist was weird, so I was like, eh, I’ll just leave.”
“But you were the last one to write an update,” Ayane remarked.
“Well yeah.” Jamie shrugged. “I want to be kept in the loop, I don’t want ‘em thinkin’ I bolted before the Beasts even showed up properly. They might think I quit on the whole thing.”
Why was he telling her that? “In the loop?” Ayane asked.
“Yeah. You saw, they summoned us. My guess is they wanna fight back, n’ I want in.”
Ayane looked away, thinking how she had no plans whatsoever of being ‘in’ with anything. She was heading back home, not back to the conclave. “Why?”
“Why?” Jamie raised an eyebrow. “You did see what they were doing, right? What else am I gonna do? Go back home and wait for them to get there? Plus, big opportunity to make contacts and get people to owe me.”
The Shadow shrugged. “I mean no offense when I say this…but I see no way in how you could stand against the Beasts.”
“Nah, I getcha, that’s okay. They hardly seem like the type to act compassionate towards kids, right? I’ll agree.” Jamie smirked. “But according to the Hunter and that Falk guy, they talk. And so they will listen. And even if they don’t, hey, normal people do.” He opened his arms to indicate the rest of the world. “If they need people, and I’m pretty sure they will, I can help with that.” He smiled mischievously, as well as confident.
The fact Jamie only used pronouns made his statements hard to follow but she understood what he meant. Even if the invaders will brook no chance of argument or conversation, other people would still be accessible, people that could be used, and the Shadow Conclave might see the usefulness in that.
The boy was already thinking about tangential circumstances that could indirectly affect the worldwide struggle against the spreading of the Beasts. In essence, he was thinking way farther ahead than she was. All she wanted was to get home and pass on the lenses.
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Ayane asked.
“I like you,” Jamie said, making her flinch back in near fright. He snickered at her reaction. “Not like that, relax. I mean I get a good vibe from ya, Ayane, yer a good person.”
“You do not know me at all,” Ayane said with squinted eyes.
“Heh.” He smirked at her claim. “I guess not,” he said, looking away with no intention to even pretend like he meant that.
The Shadow frowned and also looked around.
People around them had calmed down and settled themselves, even if they were still nervous. Most were sitting around and throughout the train, which was too packed as far as she was concerned. She just wanted to go back to the cargo hold and dive into the dark and silent solitude again. Being seen by so many people, and talking to someone so sociable like the Street Rat, it was all exhausting her.
Unfortunately, that would be a bad idea. Odds were she would miss her stop, especially seeing as the train might not even perform its usual route. The Shadow might have to exit while it’s moving.
“Do you think the train will still go through all the stations?”
“I’d think so, even if a bit delayed. If not, I’ll just pay the cabin another visit. Where’re you headed? Back to Kagekawa?”
Ayane looked back at the Street Rat, unable to hide a bit of a scare. How had he guessed she wasn’t going with him? How had he guessed she was going back to Kagekawa?
Apparently, he read her look well enough that she didn’t need to ask.
“You got back your mythical lenses, but you haven’t put them on,” Jamie explained, shrugging with only one shoulder. “That tells me you want to report it back to your masters.” He pulled back the hand and scratched his head, a bit absentmindedly.
“Lucky guess,” Ayane accused.
He smirked again. “I’m lucky like that, aren’t I?”
The Street Rat leaned back against the wall, grabbing hands behind his head so he could rest it on them. The first time she had met him, he had been just a scared little boy, too afraid and curious to run away from a thief in the night. The second time, he had been a youngster, traumatized by seeing death and horrified by the Beasts. Now, he looked like a true master of deceit and cunning, with an unknown number of unknown type of gears turning behind his eyes.
The Shadow shouldn’t retreat into the shadows, but that didn’t mean she had to stay amidst the crowds. She left the Street Rat and moved to the roof.
The Shadow was well enough alone up there amidst the silence created by the speeding winds. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, and was resting on her arms.
The Shadow sat there for hours, waiting for her station, which would be the fourth. When the train stopped on the first stop, it took an hour to move again. It was such a long wait it got her stressing about whether it would move at all.
It did, though, and within the hour, they reached the second. People left and came into the train in a much more regular fashion. It almost made her forget what they had left behind in Sputzna.
Then he came into view.
The Street Rat, walking pleasantly in the middle of the crowd, smiled up at her and waved. The Shadow didn’t react and simply kept watching. He shrugged and looked away and ahead, stepping in front of an adult. She lost sight of him after that.
The little brat was really good, Ayane had to admit.
It wouldn’t help against the Beasts, though. Nothing did and nothing would, they were impossible to damage. But then again, the Mad Genius had killed their leader.
Ayane pulled the cloth of her mask from her mouth and nose, setting them free. She took a deep breath and rested her head over her arms once again, watching the landscape begin to move.
She realized then that a moment had gone by when she didn’t expect to hear the crashing sound of the Beasts rampaging.
Safety, good scenery, and fresh air? The train could take however long it needed.
* * *
When the Shadow finally arrived at Kazajsh, the fourth stop, she hard already stood up, so her muscles had a chance to warm up. She pulled her mask back into position and waited for the train to stop moving.
It was afternoon, and the sun had yet begin setting, but there were enough shadows for her to be able to avoid further contact with people.
The Shadow stole another horse and rode to the city of Yanszou. There, she caught a train to Japien territory, and once there, she grabbed yet another horse so she could reach the palace-fortress all the faster.
Many believed that the fortress wasn’t in the mainland but on an island to the east. That was part of the deceit. The fact was that right there, by the coast in the middle of nowhere, stood her home.
Setting eyes on it warmed her heart in a way she did not expect. It was a foreign concept, or perhaps a forgotten one, that of yearning for home.
Kagekawa was situated across a face of a hillside, and as such, part of it was actually hanging in mid-air, held into place by the rest. The hillside would cover the whole fortress in the shade throughout the entire day, the Sun rising and setting on its other side.
And it was very much a fortress. Painted with dark colors, it boasted a watchful guard of men and women, active and on point. Structurally, it sported all the notorious signs of oriental styled construction: hardwood, straight triangular roofs, ceramic concave shingles, no chimneys or vent pipes of any kind, for the exception of some bamboo gutters to help with when it rained.
It included the palace, some towers, a couple of parks, a garden which was technically part of the palace, and a snake-like two-floor building where people were housed, servants and otherwise.
Finally, it was completely walled off. A wall trailed its exterior boun
daries, up and down the cliffs, providing a verticality that was nigh-impossible to overcome.
As the Shadow, she had permission to infiltrate it at will, as well as to contact one of the masters at any time. This is what she did, by traveling the shadows. There was a veritable ocean of them there, in her home.
Ayane found him drinking tea in his living quarters, which were considerably fancy. They were filled with pillows and silk and such things many around the world knew little to nothing about, and the rest envied. She emerged from the ground only half-way, following contact protocol.
“Master.”
The broad shoulders did not turn, nor did the chonmage-styled head, which always looked funny when seen from behind. It was as if the hair was giving a standing ovation. Not that she would laugh out loud, Ayane wouldn’t even dare to visibly smile.
“I am pleased by your swift return, Shadow.” The voice betrayed no judgment or emotion, something she was used to. “There is much you need to report.”
“Yes,” she simply said.
He would ask the questions, she would answer. “The Shadow Conclave had three rounds?”
“Yes.”
“You did not suffer defeat,” he stated.
Was that a trick question? Ayane had to keep her answers obvious, however, and true. She assumed he already knew about the Beasts.
“I did not,” she said.
He grunted with a nod. “The Shadow Conclave has contacted us and made us aware of the situation. They say you were the last to escape the city.”
“As my predecessor before me, I allied with two others with the intent of pushing the Beasts back into the void beneath the earth. We failed.”
He remained in silence, and in response, so did she. “Are you holding what I think you are holding?”
Ayane bowed lower and reached inside her uniform, retrieving the shadow lenses. She pushed them forward and then shuffled back, always crouched and bowed.
“I alone noticed their leader was holding on to them. When the Sorcerer made her escape, I remained behind so they would not know of it. I went to retrieve them.”