A Shadow's Tale (17 page)

‘Well, I'll happily admit that I am never going to get that smell out of my nose, ever.' Not the best of things to say, if his reaction was anything to go by. Fur erupted from his skin as he turned Kraferr, anger boiling up within him.

‘You don't get it Shadow! You don't get a damned thing, do you?' Bart shouted. I gritted my teeth, stamping down on my own emotions. Boy did I ‘get' it.

‘You think I don't get it? Oh, I get it all right. I thought I was the only one of my species until I was eleven! My supposed guardian sent me into a war at the human age of four! I had to learn to be indifferent to these things, or else I would have
destroyed the city by now! Death is an everyday occurrence. Get used to it and get on with your life.'

‘Get on with your life? That's all you can say? You're telling that to a guy who just failed to save a whole goddamned race from extinction! HIS race! This stupid necklace was supposed to save us, but now they're all dead! It's OVER! I'm the last one!'

Scowling, I grabbed his hand, projecting a memory of mine into his mind, the memory of my first ever battle, of losing control, my magic not distinguishing between friend and foe, of lying surrounded by the dead, pinned to the ground by a sword through my leg. He gasped, stumbling back. I nodded curtly, retreating to the shadows of the alley to get myself back under control. Running footsteps entered the alley in a flurry of cloak. Expecting Vrael or one of my other siblings, I rolled my eyes. They were never going to leave me alone, were they? But the person who stopped in front of Bart wasn't one of the clan. She wasn't a demon. It was Domina. I heard Bart growl low in his throat.

‘Why did you do it, Domina?' he snarled. I frowned slightly. It took me a moment to connect the dots in my head to figure out that he was referring to the killing of the Kraferrs, but there was something in the emotions of the female Kraferr. Something new and something missing.

‘Who?' the girl asked.

‘You, stupid. You killed the others! I know you did!'

‘I've never killed anyone! Any my name's Dominique, not Domina!'

‘I know you killed them! You're the only other person who could have known where they were!'

‘I didn't! I swear! I only just woke up in a forest! I don't know what happened!'

‘Bart,' I intervened quietly. ‘She's telling the truth. I can feel it.' Bart sighed irritably, looking down at the amulet still in his hand. He looked defeated, his shoulders slumped, head bowed.

‘Now what?' he asked softly. ‘All the Kraferrs are dead and this…thing is now useless. So much for it being able to save us.'

‘Not all the Kraferrs are dead,' I offered as consolation, ‘you're still here. Welcome to feeling like the last of your species.'

‘Ha, ha, very funny.'

I retreated to the shadows of the alley, watching as the two last Kraferrs in existence met each other properly. Dominique and Bart Kraferr. Two Kraferr Ones who, as Bart so vehemently put it, were definitely not going to try to recreate the Kraferr line together. I smiled slightly and teleported away, back to my family.

I had decided that I wouldn't run away from my family again, but after only a couple of days I had to. The heavy silences were too much to bear. Amarath still hadn't come home, and I was worried about her. I didn't want to lose my family ever again, not after Arellan. Merlas picked her way through the forest, playfully shying away from the woodland creatures. I sat bareback on her, not really paying attention. I trusted the doe absolutely. I sighed, playing with her mane. Both of us wanted to fly, but given the fact that hunting season had just started, I wasn't going to risk Merlas being shot by one of the humans prowling through the edges of the forest. She stopped, sniffing the air. Suddenly a gunshot shattered the air. Merlas took off at a full gallop. I came off her back almost immediately with a thud. For a moment, I lay in painful shock. Vrael may have insisted on healing my injuries once I had returned to the clan, but I still had the residual pain. Groaning, I picked myself up, heading after the pegasus. For all I knew, she was going to get herself into trouble.

I found her eyeing another being, a young man. At least, he seemed to be a young man. He smelt strange. Merlas lowered her head, having a good sniff. I copied her actions, although I did at least try to be a bit more discreet than the doe. There was blood
in the air, and not from Merlas or me. I noticed that he had his hand clamped over his arm, blood welling from beneath his fingers and I could sense his pain. I eyed him warily.

‘Who are you?'

‘I am Ahrach, Ahrach Lusari.' I allowed my expression to soften a little as I gestured to his arm.

‘Do you want me to help you with that?' I offered him a brief smile. ‘I'm Shadow, by the way. Shadow Roth.' He watched me for a moment, as if gauging how much he could trust me. He took his hand off his wound, showing me. I probed it as gently as I could. The pellet was still lodged in the tissue, and he was definitely not human. For a start, his bones were hollow. ‘This is going to hurt,' I warned him before using my magic to extract the fragments of metal and seal the injury into a neat scar. The drain on my energy was immediate, but not overwhelming. Ahrach jumped away with a yelp as he looked at the scar. He watched me with new wariness in his eyes.

‘Who are you?'

I let one corner of my mouth tug up in a half smile. ‘The question you're looking for is
what
am I. Half demon would be the answer. How come you're here?' As soon as I had told him my species, I realised that I had taken a momentous risk. What if he told someone in the Milita? I had just put my whole clan at risk! My family! Was I getting so scared of the prophecy that I cared so little for my own life? For the lives of my brothers and sister?

‘I was out flying and got shot by some hunters,' Ahrach said. I felt a wave of panic surge through him. I guess he had said more than he intended to say. Then again, so had I. I have to admit that I was put on edge by his statement as well. Who was this guy, really? I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready to draw if I had to. His eyes flickered to the sheathed blade. ‘I'm a shapeshifter,' he admitted. ‘I can change into an eagle.'

I felt happier knowing that. Okay, so the last shapeshifter had been a right dirt bag, but I couldn't expect Sither to be representative
of his race. I dropped my hand from my sword, much to Ahrach's relief if his emotions were anything to go by. ‘I know your race,' I answered, hoping to put him further at his ease. It unfortunately had the opposite effect. He grasped a weapon he carried strapped to his back. I cursed in my mind. I hadn't noticed that. It wasn't even a particularly friendly looking weapon; a long staff, one end topped by a curved, scythe-like blade, the other a vicious looking spike.

‘My race isn't known by many others, and we've never consorted with demons.'

I raised my hands a little to show him that I wasn't a threat. Okay, so I was always going to be a threat as long as I wasn't confined to a human body, but he didn't know that. ‘I met one recently.'

‘What was his name?'

‘Sither Moonspike.' Ahrach grunted in response, sitting down on a tree stump. I relaxed as well, leaning against Merlas's shoulder as the doe grazed quietly. She raised her head, looking out across the forest. Her ears were pricked up, listening. Her ears flicked back, lying flat along her neck. Not a good sign. I gripped the hilt of my sword again, eyes following Merlas's line of sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ahrach take on a battle-ready position, watching me.

‘Peace!' Called out a woman's voice. My blood froze. That voice…No, surely she wouldn't come here. Would she? As she stepped out of the tall bushes that had concealed her, I saw that she hadn't changed at all, not in the slightest. High Priestess Arias stood there, watching me with her silver eyes. I gritted my teeth, tightening my grip on my sword. ‘Alexai,' she crooned.

‘Don't call me that,' I snarled in response. She had no right to come calling me that now. She was the one who took that name away from me. I glared at her through narrowed eyes, trying to keep myself under control. She sighed heavily.

‘You must get over this aversion…'

‘Who are you to tell me that? Oh yeah, High Priestess Arias. Well, you may rule Synairn, but you don't rule me!'

‘Alexai…'

‘I said DON'T!'

‘Enough!' Ahrach thundered. I turned a surprised gaze to him. He looked angry enough to kill someone. I hoped he might go for Arias and get her out of my hair. ‘Who are you guys? I mean, I know almost nothing about you apart from your names!'

‘Arias used to be my guardian,' I explained, throwing a dirty look at her.

‘I came to fetch you back.'

‘Well you're barking up the wrong tree!'

‘Need I find Meran?' Now that was just a low down, nasty trick. She knew that he wasn't allowed anywhere near me. But then again, she was High Priestess. I guess she was capable of rescinding the Senate's orders. I may be stronger, faster and bigger now, but the thought of him still scared the living daylights out of me.

‘You wouldn't…'

Arias simply smiled at me before she vanished. I swore under my breath. I had no way of telling if she was going to make true on her threat or if it had been empty. I didn't want to think about it. I leant against a tree, trying to look as nonchalant and carefree as possible. No need for this Shapeshifter to think that there was a real danger on the way. After all, Meran wouldn't attack him. Not unless he did something to really piss the Senator off. I glanced to my left as a twig snapped, terrified that she had already come back. Relief flooded through my as I saw the familiar silver hair of Vrael coming towards me. Ahrach huffed in annoyance.

‘Okay, so who are you?'

‘I am Vrael Mercian.'

‘This is one of my brothers.' I explained shortly.

‘But,' Ahrach continued, ‘there's something I don't get. How
can you to be brother and sister, if you don't have the same last name? I mean, Vrael Mercian, okay, but then, wouldn't it have to be Shadow Mercian too? Instead of Shadow Roth? Or is this some kind of demonic thing?'

‘We are semi siblings,' Vrael explained. ‘We share the same father.'

‘Yeah, ‘one same father' who hates our guts.' I muttered under my breath. Vrael shot me a dirty look. I raised an eyebrow, tapping the half circle scar. He rolled his eyes in return. I turned away from the two males as Vrael made some comment on the knife Ahrach was carrying in a sheath on his belt, leading the pair off into a discussion about weaponry. Merlas's pushed her soft nose into my hands, snuffling. I rubbed her forehead absent-mindedly. Arias's threats concerned me. I didn't want her to get wind of my family, or at least the bits she didn't know about. While I was certain that she was aware of Amarath's existence, I wasn't so sure about Shaeman and Vrael, even less so about Archangel and Onyx. The thought of my twins falling into her hands terrified me. I wound my fingers into Merlas' mane, trying to calm myself. I was so concerned, I nearly believed that I could sense Arias nearby again!

‘Shadow? Are you okay?' Vrael's gentle voice broke into my imaginings.

I hadn't realised that my thoughts had mirrored themselves in body language. I stood rigid, staring past the pair. Vrael glanced at me, but I took no notice. There were people moving in around us. I threw my mind out, trying to identify them. I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly. Ahrach took hold of his own weapon. Silence reigned. The bushes rustled.

‘Don't think I don't make true on my threats,' Arias stepped out from the trees, accompanied by a group of soldiers. Meran stood to one side of her, but on the other side…

‘Amarath!' I exclaimed, wondering what she was doing there, dressed for battle none the less. She didn't look up at me. Shame
came off her in waves. Vrael froze beside me, muttering under his breath in the language of the dead that I couldn't understand. He only ever spoke that language when the situation was too grave to be expressed in Demonic or English. That did not bode well.

‘Well, Shadow?' Meran asked. ‘Are you going to come? In fact, your friends here can all help us too.'

‘We have units from the army here. We will take you by force if necessary, along with your friends if we have no other alternative,' Arias warned.

‘You're not going to take me anywhere!' Ahrach exclaimed fiercely.

I gritted my teeth, realising that they had backed me into a corner. Either I went with them willingly, or I risked being dragged back
anyway
, and the others taken as well. ‘Leave them out of it,' I growled.

‘I have another idea, Arias,' Vrael suggested. ‘Perhaps we could agree on a different manner of settling this. A duel, perhaps? If I lose, you take us and Shadow to Synairn. If I win, though, you let us, including Shadow, depart.' His silver eyes glinted a little in the dappled forest light. ‘Do you accept?' I frowned at him, trying to think of what he could be up to. This wasn't normal for Vrael. He usually stayed out of fights as much as he could. Arias considered the proposition for a moment. She nodded once to Meran, who stepped forwards. Amarath glanced at Vrael before she came forwards, her characteristic limp noticeable only to those who knew it was there, placing herself in as the designated duellist for the clan. Oh goddess, Amarath was going to be fighting Meran. I tried not to think about the outcome, but rather concentrate on not running to either side's aid. All I could hope for was that they wouldn't kill each other. Amarath stepped into position standing opposite Meran in the centre of the small clearing. She drew her two-handed sword, preparing herself to fight. Vrael stood next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I flashed him a brief smile, glad for his support.