Prologue – An Evening of Shadow
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Prologue - An Evening of Shadow

The wind howled outside the small cabin on the western edge of the Seles Plains. The lights flickered, and the windows buckled. Rain hit the roof, and lightning crashed out front of the house. The tree just outside the front window was rocking back and forth so much that one would have been worried that it would uproot and destroy the cabin. The storm was one the likes of which many people didn’t see their whole lives.

But for the figure in the cabin, it was nothing special. It was an annoyance.

The figure left their bedroom and walked to the front of the cabin to peer out the window there. The storm was nothing if not consistent. The last time it happened, the tree actually did uproot, and the figure had been forced to use plenty powerful spells to repair everything. And even then, the tree itself had to be replaced with another, so the figure had to leave the comfort of their home and venture into the nearest town all for a tree. Granted, it wasn’t the tree’s fault, but that changed nothing in the figure’s mind.

The figure flipped the light switch and began to light candles. The candlelight bounced off the walls, creating bright spots and dark shadows. The figure laughed at the symbolism. Bright spots, dark shadows. That had been the figure’s life story.

The figure sat down in a chair by the front window. Though annoying, the figure often felt calmed by the sounds of rain, thunder and lightning. The figure poured themselves a cup of cider and opened a book they’d left on the end table for weeks.

The figure remained in the chair for hours, struggling to keep reading in the fading candlelight. But that was not a real problem, for the figure was purely waiting for time to pass. The figure wasn’t awake because they chose to be, and they weren’t awake because of the storm. The figure was awake because they were expecting someone. Someone they hadn’t seen in days, or weeks, or months or perhaps even a year.

The figure took a sip of the cider they had poured and realized now that they’d let it get too warm. It had been hours since the figure sat down to read, and still the one they waited for had yet to arrive. The figure began to wonder if they would need to wait another set of years for their friend to arrive.

The storm outside began to die down. A good sign, the figure felt, as it meant that the tree would stop shaking in the wind. The figure stood and took their cider to the sink to pour it down the drain. They would return to bed, their friend would understand with all the lights off and return at a later time, certainly. Nothing was lost, nothing missed.

But as the figure reached the sink, they were aware that they were in no way alone in the kitchen. The figure spied the other standing in the darkest shadows. They were not afraid of this shadow, however, no matter how dangerous the other seemed to common people. The other didn’t move from the shadow, nor make any noise.

“It’s taken you some time,” the other said.

The figure shook their head. “Not at all. You’re the one who took too long. I’ve been in the other room, reading by candlelight. Quite peaceful.”

The other nodded its head. “So it is.” It took a step out of the shadow. “I trust you’ve been well?”

The figure nodded now. “Very. Quiet life out here. No one to bother me, unless I need something from town.”

“That can't be often. Not a mage of your talents.”

The figure smiled. “I’m not as strong as I used to be, and you know that.”

The other brought itself fully out of the shadow and took the cup from the figure. It turned the cup this way and that, examining it. If the figure didn't know, they would have assumed the other had never seen anything resembling the cup. “You demean yourself, Misane. As humans go, you’re the strongest of the lot. Regardless, you’re too young for your power to have diminished.”

The figure - Misane - smiled once again. She took the cup from the other’s hands and placed it in the sink, where it would sit until she did what few dishes she’d have the next day. She returned to the living room and took her seat in the chair once more, and motioned for the other to take a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the room. When the other entered the room, what few candles remained blew themselves out. Misane was not surprised.

Shadow surrounded the other.

Misane crossed her legs and laid her hands in her lap. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” she asked.

The other leaned back in the chair and smiled. “It’s been over a year since last we spoke.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is that all it’s been? I was certain at least two years had passed.”

“Where is the child, Misane?”

She knew that was what the other was there for. It broke her heart to know that the other was looking for the child, but of course he was. It was all he could think about, wasn’t it? Where the child, her child, his child, their child had been taken. She had expected this from the moment she discovered she was pregnant, the second the child was born.

She would not let him have the satisfaction.

“I don’t really know,” Misane said. It wasn’t a lie, she truly didn’t know. She had given the child to a friend and told that friend to go as far as they could. If she could hold the child in her arms, she’d be a happy woman again. Then again, just knowing that the child was safe from harm was enough for her.

The other didn’t move. “So you claim.”

She waved him off. “Please, do you think I’d allow myself to have that information knowing how easily you could get it out of me? I’m not stupid, my dear.”

He smiled. “No. You’re not.”

Misane leaned back in her chair. “Now that that’s settled, shall I pour you some cider? It’s quite good, if I say so myself.”

He shook his head. “Your cider is how we got into this situation in the first place, Misane.”

“I was rather hoping we could be a normal family. You, me, our child.”

He tsked. “You knew that was never going to be a possibility.”

She nodded. “I knew. But I hoped.”

He stood. “And that hope led us here. You’ve hidden our child from even yourself and now there’s little else to do but to deal with the situation.”

“And how should we do that? Knowing you, your choices would be to either kill me or let me live in my peace and solitude and craft a spell around my land so that our child can never find me. Which would you prefer?”

He walked over to her chair, his toothy grin almost a source of light in the shadow with which he draped himself. “Anything magical I did you would be able to break. Your mana was always more powerful than mine, Misane, you know that.” He reached out and ran his hand along the back of her chair. “And killing you would be a disservice. Our child will need its mother eventually, even if it’s come of age by the time it meets either of us.”

Misane nodded. “I believe that leaves us at a standstill.” She stood and walked to the door. “Now, if you’ll be so kind as to leave, I believe our slight lovers’ reunion has come to an end.”

His hand moved from the chair back to her face. She felt a chill as he touched her cheek. “Now, now, Misane.” He brushed past her mouth. “Your mother taught you better than that.”

She wanted to reach out and send him across the room. She had been weaving herself just such a spell most of his visit, but something about him kept her hands still, incapable of movement. She surmised he was weaving a similar spell, keeping her from hurting him. She kept herself calm. Not easily, but she managed it.

The other removed his hand from her face and walked back over to the chair he’d been sitting in, but he didn’t sit down. “No harm will come to you today, my sweet. Nor any other until the child is old enough.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “At least none of my doing.”

“How kind of you,” she said, ready to spit at him. “Now, I think I asked you to leave.”

He nodded. “You did. And I’ve said my words.” He walked back to her and reached out for her chin, but she leaned her head back. He simply sighed out a laugh. “You’re a beautiful woman, Misane. I was lucky to have met you when I did.”

“And you’re a monster. If I could change history, I would gladly erase you from it.”

“And our child as well?”

Of course he would say that. She felt a sting in her heart at her own words. “Your one act of kindness doesn’t erase everything else you’ve done.”

He nodded again. “No. But the child won’t be like me. The child is a light on this world.”

“I’m so glad you can recognize that.” She motioned toward the door. “Leave.”

“It was wonderful to see you again, Misane.” With that, he walked through the door and disappeared into a mist that had begun to shroud the cabin. After a short time, the mist itself faded away, almost as if it were simply covering the tracks of its master.

Misane shut the door and returned to her chair. She felt tears streak down her cheeks. Never in her life had she felt that afraid of the other, that worried. She knew it was because of their child, of what he might do when he found it. She reached up to wipe the tears from her face but it was no use, more simply took their place.

The world was in danger, now. More than it had ever been.

She stood and walked to the desk in the corner of the living room. There, she retrieved a notepad and pen and started writing a note. She had many, many things she wished to tell her child, but she wrote one very, very important thing, folded the paper and placed it in an envelope. She held the envelope to her chest for a moment, as if the words being near her heart would change everything.

She walked into the yard and watched the sun rise on the horizon. The orb in the air shone red that morning, a sign of a coming storm. She couldn’t think of that, however. She grabbed a shovel from her garden shed and started digging until she found the small metal box she was looking for.

The horn within the box was shaped like a coiled dragon, the mouthpiece being the tail and the other end the head. It had been a couple years since she last used it, so Misane hoped she was still capable of calling her old friend. She took a deep breath, put her lips to the mouthpiece and blew as hard as she could.

And much like the beast it was designed to resemble, fire came out of the open end of the horn.

Please, Orcos, come.

She didn’t have to wait too long. The dragon known as Orcos was old, older than most other living dragons. He wore signs of his age, from his graying scales to his dull claws to his withered teeth. Even Misane’s father looked better than Orcos did on any given day. That didn’t stop her from hugging the dragon as soon as he landed.

“It’s been too long, child,” Orcos said.

“I know, and I’m sorry for that, but this is urgent.”

“So I gathered.”

She held out the envelope and held it to him. “I need you to keep hold of this.”

He took the envelope between two of his large fingers. “It’s for the child?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He knelt down to look her in the face. “Was he here?” He obviously spoke of the other.

She closed her eyes and nodded again. “Yes.”

He drew himself to his full height. “Is the child in danger?”

She shook her head. “Neither he nor I know where it is.” She felt that sting in her heart once more. “It was for the best.”

Orcos nodded. “I understand.” He knelt down again. “I’ll take it. I’ll keep it safe until the child is old enough.”

Another tear slid down Misane’s cheek. “Thank you.”

He reached out, but unlike when the other was there, she didn’t stop him. “You won’t be here when the child comes of age, will you?”

She shook her head. “I need to be at Laotok.”

He nodded again. “I’ll take you.”

“Thank you,” she said, “I’ll just be a moment.”

“Take the time you need, child.”

It didn’t take Misane long to prepare what she needed. She took one bag, nothing more. And in that one bag, she had one book. The ancient laws of Laotok permitted one personal item, one reminder of the world one was leaving. It would be the only thing binding them to the Earth.

She chose the journal she’d kept since she was little. If necessary, it would be the one thing left of her to remind her child who she was.

Misane said goodbye to Orcos at the gate to Laotok. She said goodbye to her parents, to her friends, to the other.

But she did not yet say goodbye to her child.

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