Shadow Magic

by Joshua Khan

  “This one.” Lily picked up a mask made of glass. Trapped within it was black oil that constantly moved, sometimes hiding, sometimes revealing the face underneath.

  That was her mask for tonight.

  Mary nodded. “That’ll do fine.”

  Pan waited, shuffling uneasily, in the antechamber.

  “You are a vision, Niece.” He bowed.

  Lily returned his bow with a curtsey. “It’s been a while since I saw you in armor, Uncle.”

  He tapped the polished breastplate. “I could barely fit into it. Last time I wore it was at the Battle of Ice Bridge.”

  “Father told me all about it. He said you were a great warrior.”

  “Great? No, I was merely good. That was the day Tyburn made his name. Held the bridge against the trolls till dawn. Then your father arrived with reinforcements and banged out a spell or two, and that was that.” He tapped the sword on his hip. “Your father saved the day again and got all the glory. I just stood on the cliff edge and watched. As always.”

  She hated it when he spoke so bitterly. “Where’s your mask, Uncle?”

  He seemed to shake himself awake. Then, very carefully, he drew out a mask from under his cape. “Do you like it?”

  It was the mask she’d seen him with the night of Rose’s death, the broken one. He’d put a few more pieces together, but it was still ugly and deformed. She hated it but didn’t know why, exactly. It wasn’t just that it was riddled with cracks. “It’s…interesting.”

  “I’ve spent a long time repairing it. Bit by bit. It’s been a labor of love, in a way.” Pan caressed it with his fingertips. “Do you know what I love about masks? They let you be the person you want to be, rather than the one you are. Look at this.” He pulled at his jowls. “Look at it. Sagging, sickly. Pathetic.”

  “Uncle…”

  “But when I put this on”—he settled the obsidian visage onto his face—“I am transformed.”

  He stood straighter. He squared his shoulders and raised his head. “There, that’s better.”

  Even his voice was deeper, stronger.

  Cold, even. Enough to make Lily shiver.

  Pan held out his hand. “It would be an honor, Niece, to accompany you to the Halloween Ball.”

  The steward banged his staff upon the hard marble, and it echoed across the crowd. All the faces, all the masks, turned toward her.

  “Lady Lilith Shadow, heir to Castle Gloom. Lady of Dreams and Nightmares. Child of darkness and guardian of the Twilight.”

  Baron Sable bowed low. “M’lady.”

  This was a true dance of light and darkness. There were thousands here from Gehenna and Lumina, both in black and white.

  The Gehennish wore masks that were beautifully grotesque. They were grinning devils, ghosts, ghouls, and skeletons from the grave. They dressed in cobwebs and in bones and ancient shrouds.

  The guests from Lumina—Solar’s kinfolk—could not have been more different. Their costumes dazzled. Women wore gowns of silver, and the masks were all coldly perfect. They portrayed angels and handsome heroes and were of the finest porcelain and crystal. Some wore thin gauze, unwilling to hide their beauty beneath anything but the most transparent of materials.

  Pan cleared his throat. “Lily, they expect you to dance.”

  “I’ll dance when I feel like it.”

  “Lily…”

  Lily made her way down the steps to the hall itself. It was hot and stuffy in here. Too many people. Too many candles and too many mirrors, gifts from the duke. She wanted to escape.

  She missed her friends. She missed K’leef. She remembered how the two of them had whirled across this very floor. The shocked looks on the Solars’ faces. It had been brilliant.

  She missed Thorn. It surprised her how much she missed him.

  He was loud, cheeky, and independent. He did things his way and didn’t care what anyone else thought.

  He did what was right.

  Now they were gone forever. She only hoped they’d gotten away safely.

  A servant in a red demon mask offered her a drink. Lily pushed past and headed out one of the side doors into a small courtyard.

  Rose-covered walls enclosed it. Weeds and small flowers grew out of the cracks in the paver stones. Black petals floated upon the water of a small fountain basin.

  Lily removed her mask. She was tired of pretending to be something she wasn’t—ruler of Gehenna.

  I could stay here until it’s over. Who’d notice?

  They all would. She couldn’t escape who she was.

  There was a splash from behind her.

  “Who’s there?” Lily asked. Typical. She couldn’t get away for even a minute.

  Her heart sank even lower when Gabriel appeared from beside a tree.

  “Shouldn’t you be in there, dancing?” He tossed another stone in the fountain. “Oh, I forgot. You only dance with prisoners and traitors.”

  “What do you want?” Lily asked.

  Diamonds had been sewn into his tunic, and his cuffs were ringed with pearls, hundreds of them. A necklace of platinum hung from his neck with a golden centerpiece of a blazing sun.

  They sat face-to-face. He sneered as he saw Thorn’s acorn amulet. “How typically cheap and nasty. There is nothing beautiful in Gehenna. Don’t you have anything like this?” He touched his own necklace.

  What would Thorn say? “You can dress it in silk and jewels, but a pig is still a pig.”

  Gabriel clenched his jaws as a blush rose on his cheeks.

  Heirs to rival houses. Enemies for generations. A thirteen-year-old girl and boy.

  “Where’s your mask?” Lily asked.

  “I’m wearing it. Can’t you tell?”

  He was perfectly handsome with skin smooth and unblemished, his hair lustrous. His suit shimmered. The buttons were diamond studs clasped in silver and gold.

  But it was the way he spoke, softly and without that usual sneer, that made Lily pause. “What do you mean?”

  “This isn’t what I really look like,” he said in a serious tone. He pointed at the water in the fountain basin. “Look in there.”

  Lily couldn’t trust that he wasn’t playing her for a fool, but he had piqued her curiosity. “What will I see?”

  “The truth?”

  Lily peered down.

  In the reflection, Gabriel’s hair was mostly missing. His skin was not smooth, but pockmarked and sickly. His clothes hung loose over bony limbs and a sunken chest. Small shoulders and a thin neck seemed to struggle to hold up his head; his jaw was big and held crooked, tarnished teeth.

  Seeing Lily’s reaction, Gabriel laughed, and it was harsh and sad. “If you think I’m ugly, you should see my sisters.”

  “I didn’t say you…Wait, it’s all an illusion?”

  “Yes. The Shadows command the magic of darkness; we Solars command light and can make you see only what we wish you to see. This…trick has become as automatic as breathing—it doesn’t even fade when I’m asleep. But it takes all my power to maintain it.”

  “Why do it, then?”

  “I…need to be the sort of son my father wants,” said Gabriel.

  “He’s not happy with you as you are?”

  He huffed sarcastically, but before he could say anything, Pan appeared at the door. Gabriel straightened his tunic and swept his fingers back through his thick, shiny blond locks. “And don’t keep me waiting much longer,” he said dismissively before he reentered the hall.

  “Getting along as famously as ever, I see,” said Pan. “It would be helpful if you at least tried to make friends with him.”

  Friends? Lily doubted that would ever happen. But now she saw Gabriel in a new light—literally. Or perhaps she just pitied him now.

  She kept staring at the water, watching it gently ripple back and forth.

  Pan joined her. In the reflection, his mask looked like a real face, real but horribly scarred.

  She frowned, suddenly uneasy but not sure why.
r />   What will I see?

  What had Gabriel just said?

  The truth.

  She saw another face in the water. Rose. Reaching up toward the surface as she drowned…

  A man’s face looked on, impassive. With scars—no, cracks—and a pair of black holes for eyes.

  The scarred man.

  Lily gasped involuntarily.

  Pan grabbed her arm. “Anything wrong, Niece?”

  I’ve got to get away.

  Lily tried to smile. “No, everything’s fine. I think we should get back. I…feel like dancing. Gabriel’s waiting.”

  His grip tightened. “I don’t think so.”

  “Uncle, you’re hurting me.”

  He laughed. “Yes, yes, I am.”

  The blackness thickened around Pan, pouring out from the folds of his long cloak. Tendrils rose up and clasped Lily’s limbs, lifting her and pushing her against the wall.

  “What—what are you doing?” she asked, panicking now.

  He whispered in her ear. “Lily, I thought you were smarter than that.”

  Pan had practically raised Lily. He’d taught her to read and write and looked after her when she’d been sick and her parents were too busy. He’d told her stories of his adventures as a young man.

  He was her hero.

  Now he wanted to kill her. Like he killed Rose. It was—

  “Let her go!” Gabriel’s shout interrupted her thoughts. He locked his arm around the earl’s neck and wrenched him back.

  Gabriel trying to save her. Her uncle wanting to kill her. The world had gone insane.

  The shadowy forms holding her vanished, and Lily dropped to her knees, gasping for breath.

  Pan twirled around, grabbed Gabriel’s head, and slammed it against the wall. He did it again, then let the unconscious boy drop to the ground.

  Lily fled toward the door to the Great Hall. Shadows surrounded the doorway and slammed it shut. She grabbed the handle and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s no use,” said Pan.

  Lily banged her fists on the door. “Help! Help!”

  “Who’s going to hear you, Lily? No one. They’re all too busy enjoying themselves. Come now, I will make it quick and painless.” He looked down at Gabriel. “For you both.”

  “Uncle, you’re not making sense.” Lily couldn’t fully grasp what was happening. Pan was using real magic. How? “I don’t understand.”

  Stall him. Someone will come out here soon, looking for us. They have to….

  “What’s to understand? I am merely claiming what is rightfully mine. I will be Lord Shadow, as I was always meant to be. Tonight begins a new reign, Lily. The reign of Pandemonium.”

  “You can have Gehenna. I don’t want to rule. I never have.”

  He shook his head as he stepped closer to her. “It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. No one will see me as legitimate ruler while you still live.” He flexed his fingers, gave Gabriel a kick. “Strangled by Duke Solar’s son, while you bashed his head against the wall. How utterly perfect.”

  “There’ll be war,” said Lily, forcing herself not to cower.

  “Exactly. All of Gehenna will rally around me. Your death will inspire them. Then I will reveal the extent of my power. Armies of undead. Legions of zombies and skeletal troops. All-conquering. The age of the necromancer will return.”

  “No one has that power, Uncle.”

  He tapped his mask. “Astaroth has.”

  “Astaroth?” She stared at the deformed, cracked face before her. She’d said it herself, back in the Shadow Library. How a common farmer could be a great sorcerer, just by wearing the mask. “You found the Mask of Astaroth?”

  “You have no idea how many years, how many fortunes I spent looking for it. To think I found it in a box of junk. Broken, to be sure, but I recognized it instantly.” He caressed his stone cheek. “He’s still here, Lily. He tells me things. He gives me power, all the power I ever dreamed of.”

  “Did Father know you’d discovered it?”

  “I gave him a chance, Lily. I really did. But he wouldn’t listen. He said the mask was evil and I should destroy it.” He slammed his fist against the stone wall. “He was jealous. Jealous that I would be more powerful than he was. He would not let me reclaim my right to rule Gehenna. He would not step aside, so I removed him.”

  Removed him? She felt a wave of dizziness as shock, rage, and sorrow swirled inside her.

  It was Pan all along.

  “I will make Gehenna great again. All the other houses will bow before me. Your death will ignite the flame, Lily. You will achieve more by dying than you ever could have by living.” He chuckled. “After all, you are just a girl.”

  Gabriel moaned softly and blinked. He was regaining consciousness, but he still looked shaken and weak. Whatever happened next was up to her.

  “My father loved you, Uncle.”

  Pan twitched. There was a savage jerk and his hand jumped to his mask. His fingers trembled against the straps.

  Was he trying to take it off?

  Was the mask controlling him?

  Pan threw his head back and groaned.

  He’s fighting it.

  “You won’t hurt me, Uncle.” She said it forcefully, trying to believe it herself. “If you really wanted to do it, you would have killed me by now. But you can’t. We share the same blood.”

  Her words seemed to give him renewed strength. Pan straightened and gave a hollow, dreadful laugh. “I’m afraid you are dead wrong. I already did kill you. Only it turned out to be your foolish maid, Rose. I have been aching to kill you for months now, ever since I slew the rest of your family.” His face took on a hideous leer. “Your brother and I shared the same blood, too.”

  Lily was nauseous; it felt as though Pan—no, Astaroth—had punched her in the stomach. She realized she truly was facing her own death.

  Before she could catch her breath, he continued. “Tonight I have the entire Solar family here along with their relatives. Once I’ve killed you and Gabriel, I will summon an army of undead to destroy our greatest enemies.”

  “What army?”

  “This is Halloween. The night when the barrier between the land of the living and dead is at its thinnest. I’ve tested my powers already, by raising zombies and ghosts in villages and graveyards throughout Gehenna. Tonight I’ll do something not seen in hundreds of years: I shall summon thousands.”

  But where could he hide so many? Oh no. It was obvious. The biggest graveyard in all of Gehenna was just a stone’s throw from here.

  “The City of Silence. That’s where they are.”

  “Yes, I will use our own ancestors.” Pan flexed his fingers. “It is time to die, Lily.”

  Tentacles of black spread over her. She tried to scream, but the cries were absorbed by the darkness enveloping her. Lily tore at the living shadows, ripping them off like cobwebs. Pan forced her down to the ground, where she couldn’t prevent their spread.

  She saw that Gabriel was awake, held down by tendrils of blackness only a few feet away from her.

  She had to get away. Otherwise she was dead.

  The Mantle of Sorrows rippled, as if sensing her fear, her confusion. It rolled over her, back and forth like waves upon the night’s shore. Pinpricks of power dug into her skin.

  Lily forced her mind to be calm. She concentrated on the darkness. It was Pan’s weapon, but it could also be her salvation. And escape.

  She didn’t know the way. She could be lost forever, but she had to risk it.

  Lily clutched Gabriel’s hand. “Hold on. Do not let go.”

  The darkness thickened until there was nothing else. It entered her; she entered it. They merged into one.

  And Lily slipped into the Twilight.

  Something was wrong with Hades.

  Instead of sailing the winds, he was fighting for every yard, gasping for each breath. Foam was dripping from his mouth.

  “What is it, boy?” The bat was drifting left—
south—his right wing working harder than the left. Then Thorn saw the blood.

  “Down, boy, let’s have a look. There, by that pond.”

  Hades hissed, as if reluctant to admit his weakness, but in the end, he relented and swerved downward.

  Boy and bat landed. Hades tripped and skidded out awkwardly as his wings failed to reduce his speed. Thorn was almost thrown over his head, but he grabbed Hades’s big ear and managed to hang on.

  Hades screeched with annoyance.

  “If you’re going to crash, then what do you expect me to do?” Thorn soothed the irate bat and ran his hand over his chest. “Let’s see what’s wrong.”

  Blood matted the fur.

  Suddenly anxious, Thorn examined the beast’s chest more softly. His fingers touched a stump, almost buried into Hades’s left shoulder. Hades growled but let him continue inspecting.

  The blood was thickest here, and he probed as gently as he could.

  One of the crossbow quarrels was wedged deep in the shoulder. It had snapped, so only a few inches of the shaft still stuck out. The flying must have made it worse, the rolling action actually pushing the quarrel in deeper.

  “You stupid bat! Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” Thorn looked closer. He tried to get a decent grip but could only get two fingers to the stump. It wasn’t enough. The quarrel was too far in and too slippery with blood. He needed a knife to cut the wound open and pliers to ease out the broken shaft.

  Hades coughed. His whole body shook violently, and blood sprayed out of his nostrils. Thorn hugged him and through his thick fur felt the heart struggling, not steady and heavy, but fluttering. “Stupid, stupid animal…”

  Hades licked his face, smearing it with slime and blood. Thorn didn’t care. The bat and boy rested head against head, and Thorn felt each breath weakening and the gaps between them getting longer.

  They were miles from anywhere. It was too far to fly back to his dad, and Castle Gloom was nowhere in sight.

  He’d never reach Lily, not now, and not even on the fastest horse in the world. Thorn’s chest trembled with a held-back sob. He wasn’t going to save her, or Hades.

  Thorn washed the wound and padded it with leaves. He tore off his shirtsleeve to make a bandage, but as soon as he finished wrapping it around, the cloth was soaked with blood.