by Lynette Noni
According to D.C., Shadow Walkers were well known in Medora for being mysterious but also doing exactly what their name implied—walking through shadows to transport themselves to new places. Hearing that, Alex had asked D.C. how it was possible, and her friend’s answer had caused her head to spin.
“You know how the sun gives off energy?” D.C. had said. “Well, long ago there was a race of beings who discovered that darkness also has its own unique energy. They found a way to trap the energy of shadows and refine it to a point where they could use it. They became known as Shadow Walkers, because the first thing they learned was how to use the energy to walk through shadows.”
When Alex had pressed for more details, D.C. had shrugged and said, “I’ve never Walked before, so I can’t tell you much about how it works. But from what Bear told me, the ring you were given from Blake last Kaldoras has enough Shadow for three Walks, so you can see for yourself what it’s like if you figure out how to access the Shadow Essence inside.”
Even now, wandering around outside under the heat of the sun, Alex glanced down at the ring on her finger, repeating the conversation in her head. It looked the same as it had the day Bear’s brother had surprised her with the gift. The band was black and the onyx-like centre stone of the ring coiled with darkness. Knowing it was infused with Shadow Essence made Alex realise it was more mysterious than she’d originally thought—but she still had no idea what it could actually do.
“What do you want to see?” D.C. asked, reclaiming Alex’s attention from her ring as they walked casually along Tryllin’s harbour.
Alex was entranced by all the sights, sounds and smells surrounding them. Apparently Sunday was the local fish market day, or so she guessed from the not-so-pleasant aroma that came in wafts strong enough for her to wrinkle her nose and hold her breath.
“It’s your city,” Alex responded. “Surprise me. But, uh, let’s maybe go somewhere away from the fish.”
Alex was certain her friend was grinning beneath her Shadow-infused hood, but D.C. didn’t comment as she led them away from the harbour and up one of the well-travelled, cobblestone roads. It made Alex wonder about something.
“Why do you have roads if you don’t have cars?” Then, not sure if D.C. knew what a car was, Alex added, “Or, um, transport vehicles?”
With a shrug, D.C. said, “Back in the days before Technos invented Bubblers, we used horses and carriages to move people and things around. The roads were necessary then, but that was long before I was born. These days the roads are mostly used as large pathways for walking traffic.”
Alex nodded in understanding as the two of them continued up the cobbled street until they reached the outskirts of the city.
“This road will take us into the centre of the city and then right back to the palace,” D.C. said. “It’s my favourite street in all of Tryllin. There’s so much to look at, with so many people bustling around.”
True enough, the moment they turned around a bend in the road, Alex discovered exactly what she meant. It was as if they’d walked into a whole new world. The noises, the colours—it was overwhelming. There were people everywhere: children running and screaming, adults calling out to one another, street vendors bartering prices with customers. Alex had never experienced anything like it before. The entire street was a trade market. Even the buildings that lined the sides of the roads had salespeople calling out to promote their wares.
There were people everywhere.
“Come on, I need to eat,” D.C. said, dragging Alex forward.
They stopped walking after a few minutes and D.C. stepped up to one of the shopfronts on the side of the road and entered the doorway into the building.
Inside, Alex was hit by an aroma so incredible that her mouth instantly began to water.
“This is the best shop in the whole city,” D.C. said with a contented sigh.
Alex looked around the comfortable room with its cosy couches and coffee tables. She followed D.C. to a glass-fronted bench and her eyes widened at the cakes and slices on display behind the“It’s a bakery?” Alex asked.
“Mmm-hmm, and it’s amazing,” D.C. said.
Alex had visited plenty of bakeries and patisseries, but she decided to humour her friend and see what all the fuss was about. And it turned out that D.C. was right; Mrs. Gribble’s Cupcakes and Nibbles provided them with delicacies that, in Alex’s honest opinion, defined ‘ambrosia’. Food of the gods, indeed.
After half an hour of scrumptiously decadent binging, Alex’s moans of pleasure turned into groans of discomfort.
“I’m never eating again,” she said, pressing her hands to her aching stomach and following D.C. back outside. “But that was incredible.”
D.C. nodded emphatically and asked, “What now?”
“I’m the tourist. You’re the guide,” Alex reminded her as they set off again. The streets remained crowded with people but they seemed less congested than earlier.
“Yeah, but is there anything in particular you want to do before we leave?”
Alex thought about for a moment then said, “I’d like to see the parade your dad mentioned.”
“Sure, we can do that, so long as we keep out of sight. My parents will be able to recognise the cloaks, even if they can’t identify us through them,” D.C. said. “If we keep following this road, it’ll take us right to where we need to go.”
They picked up the pace and continued onwards, with Alex marvelling anew over the energy and vibrancy of the street vendors and their customers, but her focus shifted when the throngs of people became thicker the closer into the city they travelled. The congestion deepened until Alex and D.C. were forced to walk in single file as they pushed their way through the crowd.
“If we get lost, meet back at Mrs. Gribble’s, okay?” D.C. called over her shoulder. “Just follow the street back.”
“Sure thing,” Alex called back.
There were so many people that Alex began to feel claustrophobic. But she continued to follow D.C. and soon enough the noise of the crowd was drowned out by a loud voice speaking through some kind of amplifier.
“… is such an honour, and we hope you enjoy the rest of the festivities.”
Alex and D.C. finally pushed through to a clearer spot that gave them a view up to a platform in the distance where the king and queen stood addressing the crowd.
The sound of cheering and applause drowned out all else and Alex realised they must have just heard the end of the king’s speech. People began to surge towards the stage and Alex was hard-pressed to keep her feet on the ground in the mass of bodies.
“Bad timing, hey?” she called to D.C. over the noise.
D.C. didn’t respond and Alex turned around to get her attention, only to discover that D.C. was nowhere in sight.
“Dix?” Alex called out. But the cheering crowd was too loud for her voice to carry very far.
Despite the clearer area, there were way too many people nearby and D.C. could have easily been swept up in the crowd.
“Dix!” Alex called again, and she started moving forward with the people in the hope of finding her friend. She continued with the flow of bodies for a few minutes before realising that finding D.C. in such a large crowd was on par with finding a needle in a haystack. She knew her best course of action was to head back to Mrs. Gribble’s like they’d agreed and wait for D.C. there. Her friend might already be waiting for her, if she’d taken the wiser option and left straight away.
Alex managed to forge a path through the crowd until she was snugly against the wall of a building. The traffic was still flowing heavily, but the wall next to her made it easier to move than when she’d been in the middle of the mass. She fought to walk against the tide of bodies and slowly managed to break through the crowd.
“Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, excuse me…”
The apologies poured from her mouth as she pushed against the stream of people. They grumbled and glared, but she didn’t care since she was focused on
reaching her destination.
Finally the crowd started to thin out and her excuses were needed less and less. A few minutes later she could see the doorway to Mrs. Gribble’s store about fifty yards away on the other side of the street, and she was relieved to see D.C. standing out the front.
“Di—”
A hand reached out from the doorway she was walking past and covered her mouth, muffling her call. Too shocked to react fast enough, Alex was yanked roughly into the building, the door slamming shut behind her.
“I told you we’d meet again, Alexandra.”
Alex’s blood froze at the sound of Aven’s smooth voice whispering into her ear.
“Mmmfffnn!”
She struggled against his hold but was powerless against his Meyarin strength.
“Uh-uh-ah, we can’t have you calling out to your friend,” he said calmly as he tightened his grip on her. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, would you?”
Alex didn’t know why Aven was warning her now, when only a few months ago he’d intended to kill D.C. himself—or use Alex to do it. But despite her lack of understanding, she wasn’t willing to risk her friend’s life, so she stopped struggling. Her efforts weren’t getting her anywhere, anyway.
“That’s a good girl,” he said mockingly. “I’m going to let you go now, and you’re not going to scream, understand? If you scream, the princess will die before the breath has even left your mouth.”
Alex swallowed and nodded against his hand. The moment he released his hold on her, she jumped away and turned to face him, vaguely noting that they were in some kind of unused storage room.
“It’s good to see you, Alexandra,” he said, moving to lean casually against the wall of the empty room. “You’re looking well.”
Alex didn’t let her guard down. Regardless of his relaxed demeanour, they weren’t exactly old friends. Aven’s calm façade worried her, especially since the last time they’d seen each other hadn’t ended well for either of them. He’d been forced to flee, and she’d nearly died.
“What are you doing here, Aven?”
His golden eyes lit with amusement. “You’re not happy to see me?”
She wasn’t willing to play his game, whatever it was. Instead, she stood with her arms ready by her sides, waiting to see what he would do next.
Aven realised she wasn’t going to answer him, so he continued, “Imagine my surprise when I learned that Marselle had finally allowed you to leave the safety of his precious academy, knowing that you could so easily fall into my hands.”
“The security at the palace more than covered the risk,” Alex defended. “I was perfectly safe there.”
Aven’s mouth curled into a slow grin and Alex hated that, despite his inherent evilness, he was still devastatingly attractive. Apparently it was a trait that all Meyarins shared, but since he was the only one of his race she’d ever met, she had no one else to compare him with.
“The security you speak of wouldn’t have stopped me,” Aven said. “Those pitiful palace guards and their ridiculous Warden superiors would have merely been an annoyance and waste of my time. But I knew all I had to do was wait for you to come to me.”
“In case it escaped your notice, I’m not in this room by choice,” Alex told him. “You’re awfully confident for someone who happened to stumble upon me by chance.”
“Chance had nothing to do with it. Only a fool would believe you wouldn’t leave the palace to explore on your own. I just had to wait for the perfect opportunity to get you alone. Granted, your Warden friend is more talented than I gave her credit for, and she has admittedly made this day more tedious for me than I would have liked. But no matter, you’re here now.”
Alex didn’t know what he was talking about. “What Warden friend?”
“The one who has been following you and the princess all day,” Aven informed her with a smirk on his face.
Alex was shocked. If what he’d said was true, then she and D.C. were going to be in so much trouble when they got back to the palace.
… If they got back at all.
“Wait,” she said, thinking fast. “How can a Warden have known who we were? And for that matter, how did you recognise us? You shouldn’t be able to identify me through this cloak.”
She fingered the material that covered her head and Aven barked out an incredulous laugh.
“I’m Meyarin, Alexandra,” he said, as if that was an answer in itself. Maybe it was. “A touch of Shadow Essence isn’t enough to fool me. But I can’t speak for your Warden. And I don’t care to.”
Alex frowned and hoped D.C. was all right. But it was also a relief knowing that there was someone out there watching over them, despite the problems the Warden might cause for them later.
“Do you plan on telling me why we’re here, or are we just going to exchange small talk all afternoon?” Alex asked. She wanted to get out of there—preferably in one piece—and to do that, she needed to know what Aven was after.
“You still have no patience, I see,” Aven said.
She shrugged unrepentantly. “Patience is overrated.”
Aven raised his left hand and looked at his scarred palm thoughtfully. “Perhaps it is a virtue you lack, but you certainly do make up for it with your strength of will.”
Alex had to resist a shiver of apprehension when she felt her own palm tingle along the line of her identical scar. She would never forget the terror of being subjected to Aven’s commands and stripped of her freedom. If she’d been born with any gift other than her willpower, she would have been Claimed as his slave for the rest of her life.
“You haven’t answered my question,” she said, forcing the fear from her mind. “Why did you pull me in here?”
In the blink of an eye, Aven pushed off the wall and stepped directly in front of her, trapping her in his gaze. His casual attitude was gone and the dangerous look on his face caused Alex to inhale sharply.
“Why do you think you’re here?” Aven asked, his voice soft but with a harsh edge.
Alex refused to step back despite the fact that he was well and truly invading her personal space.
“If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t have asked,” she stated. “It’s not like I can help you get into the Library and to Meya from here. We’re nowhere near the academy.”
Aven laughed derisively. “If I wanted to get into the Library today, I would have waited until you were back at Akarnae. No, that isn’t why I sought you out.”
He leaned closer and she struggled to hold her position. He looked even more amused, as if he knew exactly how uncomfortable he was making her feel.
“What I want is for you to know that at any time, in any moment, I can and will appear,” he whispered into her ear. “I want you to live with the knowledge that I’m watching you and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I want you to know that when that time comes, my plans will succeed. And I want you to know that you will be the reason for my success.”
Alex shuddered, but before she could reply, the door burst open and Aven pulled away. She whirled around to see D.C. and another cloaked figure standing in the doorway.
“Alex!” D.C. cried, running towards her.
Alex spun back to face Aven, but it was too late. He was already gone.
barri er.
Four
“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” King Aurileous said, pacing around his private meeting room. “I explicitly told you not to leave the palace today. You disobeyed my direct order, and because of that, you could’ve been hurt—or worse.”
“Father, please—”
“No, Delucia,” the king interrupted. “You need to understand how serious this is. If Warden Jeera hadn’t followed you into the city, who knows what might have happened!”
D.C. dropped her head, remaining quiet.
The king hadn’t taken the news of their visit into the city very well at all. Nor had he reacted calmly to the news of Aven’s threat. But something had to be done to
tame his wrath before he decided to lock them both in the dungeons and throw away the key.
“It was my fault, Your Majesty, not Dix’s,” Alex said, attempting to defend her friend. “She knew how much I wanted to see Tryllin. We didn’t mean to cause any problems.”
King Aurileous stopped pacing and turned to face both girls.
“Your loyalty is once again commendable, Alex,” he said. “But my daughter should have known better—especially with the Meyarin on the loose.”
“I’m sorry, Father,” D.C. said quietly, looking at the floor.
The king sighed and opened his arms. “Come here, sweetheart.”
D.C. hesitated a moment, but then stepped forward into her father’s embrace.
“He almost took you from me once, my darling girl. I can’t bear the thought of it happening again,” he whispered.
Although the words weren’t meant for her, Alex had to swallow back tears at the raw emotion in his voice. Before she could decide if she should give them a moment alone, they ended their hug with watery smiles.
“We’re due to leave for the academy soon,” D.C. told her father, “but will you keep us updated about Aven?”
“My best Wardens are searching for him now,” the king said, looking at Alex thoughtfully. “I can’t believe he approached you in the middle of the day like that. And then just let you go. It’s… concerning. But I promise to let you both know if we find him or learn anything more.”
Alex thanked him, relieved that he seemed to have calmed down.
He kept his eyes steady on her and asked, “You’ll look after my baby girl this year, won’t you, Alex?”
She blinked with surprise. “Um, sure. I mean, yes, Your Majesty. As much as I can, anyway. When I’m with her—which is most of the time.” She snapped her mouth shut in an effort to keep the words from continuing to spill out, but it was too late, and both the king and D.C. were already laughing.