A Shadow's Tale (7 page)

‘Thanks for the great timing. You saved me from giving a presentation on the relations between unicorn herds,' he said, flashing a grateful grin at me. I found myself speechless, unable to formulate a reply. I opted to smile and nod. ‘I'll take you to your room so you can dump your stuff.'

I turned around to speak to Miss Featherstone, only to find that she had disappeared, the only trace of her left being an open window. I frowned slightly in confusion. The boy laughed at me, shaking his head.

‘You'll get used to that, trust me. I'm Jamie, by the way.'

Jamie escorted me to the dining room that evening, making sure I knew how everything worked. I never believed that Earthen food could taste so good! After the frozen, precooked stuff I was used to back at the home, my taste buds felt like they were in heaven. I tugged absent-mindedly at my pendant, feeling the need to take it off, but with eight years of pent up magic lingering under its protection, I was scared of what might happen. Jamie seemed to notice.

‘Do you need to let it out?' he asked. I looked at him quizzically. ‘I get fidgety when I need to cut loose on my magic. What kind are you? Demon or angel?' I blinked, trying to figure out how he knew. He sighed. ‘The profs always pair newbies with someone who has similar powers or species. I'm half demon and half angel, so it makes sense that you're at least one of those.'

‘Demon,' I murmured, looking down at my plate. ‘Half demon.' Jamie must have sensed my discomfort at the admittance. He reached out and touched my hand, his expression soft and understanding.

‘It's okay, you're not alone here.'

At his kind words, a wave of unfamiliar emotion washed over me, leaving me feeling weak and a little confused. For the first time in years, I felt accepted for who I was. Here, I was no longer an outsider. Here, there were people here who were just like me.

The next morning, I looked in the mirror in the tiny bathroom attached to my room in the girl's wing of the school, the angel pendant lying next to the sink. For the first time in eight years, I was looking into my own purple eyes instead of the blue irises projected by the illusion charm. They seemed a little weird and alien on me now. A second white streak had grown in my hair alongside the first, contrasting with the deep violet. My appearance seemed strange to me now, as if I was staring at a familiar stranger. I had once more donned a cloak like I used to in Synairn, hoping that it wouldn't be sneered at here. I touched the brooch holding the garment around my neck. An intricate spiral of white metal holding in place a purple gem, upon which was etched the likeness of a dove. It had been Arellan's. She had used it to hold up her own cloak. Now it was mine. Swallowing hard, I tore my eyes from the strange reflection in the silver glass and grabbed my books, heading for Miss Feather's office. I was supposed to report to her secretary to get my timetable.

I was a little put off by the secretary to be honest. She was a sort of humanoid dragon and more than a little scary. I cast an eye over the timetable. At the top, my class and species had been written, but it was the species that caught my eye. Demon/Angel. I took out the note that had been attached to the timetable.

Angel is the closest thing we have to your ‘Synari'. Enjoy!

I was the same as Jamie! That thought made my heart swell up in joy. A passing girl raised an eyebrow at me. I quickly quietened down my emotions. I had to remember that I wasn't the only empath here any more. And an even more sobering thought: I couldn't let anyone get close to me. Not with Karthragan still out to get me. I could sense him searching, seeking, hunting me. Putting someone else in the line of fire between him and me was not going to happen. Not ever. I was going to have to live a solitary life until I was sure I could defeat him on my own. I wouldn't put anyone else in that kind of danger ever again.

The Academy encompassed both junior and senior school, all seven years. I had been put into the third year. Classes started at nine o'clock and finished at five to give us plenty of time to relax and eat before the night students came out to play. According to the rules, day students are allowed to mix with the night, but for our own safety, it was better not to. Student knowledge was that some of the vampires in the night class weren't really in control of their blood lust. I didn't care. I spent most evenings in the library, researching every single thing I could for my school work. I desperately wanted to succeed here. I also wanted to avoid Jamie, and the library was one of the rare places he wouldn't venture into unless he had no other choice.

I managed to keep this up for a month before Jamie started to follow me even in the library. He and an orange haired girl about the same age. She was the reason I knew Jamie was following me. She just couldn't keep her mouth shut. I soon learned that her name was Holly, a hurricane on a sugar-high in human form. In
the silence of the library, I could hear her comments all too loudly, and it seemed to annoy the other half demon.

She came to me once, in the canteen, sitting next to me as if we were friends. I edged away as she attacked her food like a starved bear. She started to speak, a never-ending stream of questions while shovelling rice into her mouth. I gaped at her, trying to keep up as she asked me about every single personal detail under the sun, from name to favourite colour to species to family. Strangely enough, despite rocky beginnings and personalities that were so far apart they were polar opposites, she became one of my best friends. A friend I will always hold dearly in my heart.

Holly introduced me to Natalie, who she affectionately referred to as her ‘smarter' half. Both were sorceresses who used wands to channel their energy. They were blissfully unaware of exactly what I was. I, for my part, was perfectly happy to let them continue on in their delusion that I was completely human, like them, just a sorceress on a different level. Only Jamie knew, but he kept it as a secret. He regularly hung out with us, getting up to the same shenanigans. I was glad he did. It saved several awkward questions, but ultimately, it would lead to their downfall four years later, but, for now, they were my best friends.

Holly was a prankster. Thankfully, Natalie warned me about this early on, so I was always on the lookout for her tricks. Of course, this doesn't mean I didn't get caught out from time to time, but hey, she could have done a lot worse to me than adding Tabasco to my food. To her credit through, it was hard to keep a straight face around her. We stuck together like glue, the three of us. Even though she was deathly terrified of horses, she came to watch Natalie and me in our weekly pegasus class. Natalie stood next to Merlas and I on a pretty brown pegasus she had fallen for as we waited for the teacher to arrive. Holly leant on the fence, waving at us. Nat and I grinned, waving back. The teacher arrived, and the class groaned. We had two teachers for pegasus flying: Mrs Fletch, who was nice enough, although she could be
a little absent-minded, and Mrs Steel, who was pretty much a drill sergeant and was unable to believe that her ‘baby', a really nasty piece of work for a pegasus called Snowdrop, could do any wrong. Merlas had already told me about a run in she had with the white pegasus. Thankfully they had both escaped unscathed, although I was sure that Merlas would have won any fight she got into with Snowdrop. After all, pegusi like her hadn't been chosen as war mounts for nothing.

Mrs Steel strode out of the barn with Snowdrop prancing on the end of his reins, which she thrust at Holly. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from giggling at the sight of Holly holding the pegasus' reins. She looked absolutely terrified and pissed off at the same time. But that expression evolved slowly into one I had grown to know and fear. She was plotting something. I glanced at Nat. She looked slightly scared as well. She must have seen the subtle glint in Holly's eye as the prankster started fiddling with Snowdrop's saddle. I schooled my face back into an appropriate expression when Mrs Steel reappeared, looking down at my hands in an attempt not to burst out laughing. Mrs Steel cast a disapproving eye over the whole class. I was waiting for a scathing remark from her, and she didn't disappoint me.

‘I expected the lot of you to be turned out better than that. Sarah, your horse is filthy. Ira, you could at least have made an attempt to tame your hair. Natalie, I despair whenever I see you sitting on that poor creature. Shadow, I don't care if you own your steed, I expect you to sit properly!' I gritted my teeth, winding my fingers into Merlas's mane. For a start, I didn't ‘own' Merlas. She owned herself. Secondly, I had never got the hang of the strange saddles they used here. For me, the proper leg position was the heel tucked under the rider's backside, not dangling down, getting in the way of the pegasus' wing. Mrs Steel sniffed, grabbing her reins back from Holly without as much as a thank you. She started to swing herself up into the
saddle. The saddle slipped, sending her into the mud. The entire class and Holly fell about laughing. I gripped Merlas's mane hard as I tried not to fall off her back. It was such a typical Holly thing to do.

I passed many a happy year at the Academy. Going to classes a lot stranger and more exciting than regular classes, avoiding doors that weren't really there, (courtesy of Holly), trying not to get too involved in the many food fights that broke out in the school canteen. I managed to get to my seventh year without too much of an incident, if you didn't count the run in with the dragon in the forest. And the possession of a couple of the students by Karthragan's demons, and…well, let's just say they were eventful and leave it at that. But we had fun, Holly, Natalie and I, always embroiled in danger. Of course, things started to go wrong in my seventh year. Very wrong indeed. And it started with Arias.

I was walking with Holly and Natalie, heading back to the dorms after a long day. I had gone through Magical Manipulation and combat practise that day. I can tell you, having those two subjects in one day is not a fun thing. I was sore all over and exhausted to boot. I paused. That feeling, like jumping into cold water. I realised a split second before I found myself face down on a marble floor. Oh, my head! It felt as if Merlas had seen fit to dance the fandango on it. I pushed myself to my knees.

‘Welcome back, Shadow.' Oh goddess, I knew that voice. I looked up to see Arias sitting on her throne, an old book in her hands. My eyes narrowed into slits as anger boiled up in my mind. I jumped to my feet, struggling to control my demonic side. How dare she? How dare she! She no longer had any control over my life!

‘Why did you bring me back? And did you have to poof me out right in front of my friends? It's hard enough to keep a low profile!'

‘Shadow!' Arias snapped, slamming the book shut. ‘You will not answer back. You will not ask reasoning. You will not take that indignant tone with me. I do not care where you have been for the last number of years! I remain your superior, as does every being in this dimension! You will show nothing but grateful and gracious respect to us!'

I bit my tongue to keep from making another comment. Instead, I got to my feet and bowed low. ‘Why have you seen fit to rip me from a life I was actually starting to enjoy?' Okay, so I couldn't stop myself from making a remark. I must have been hanging around Holly too much. She was starting to rub off on me. Arias narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't tell me off.

‘Synairn is at war again. We need you on our front lines.'

‘Oh no!' I clenched my fists, battling down my magic. ‘I battled for you once. I'm not doing it again! I'm not going to war!'

‘You will do as you are told!' I swear the white pillars shook with the force of her voice. I flinched. ‘You will report to the armoury immediately.'

I had no choice really but to obey. I turned tail, stalking out of her receiving room, my cloak billowing out behind me. One day, I was going to punch her. My superior indeed. She didn't command me anymore!

Synari scattered as I walked through the halls, heading down into the underground floors of the Senate Towers where all the weapons and armour were stored. I felt the genuine streaks of fear as they remembered who I was. Shadow Roth, daughter of the late Senator Arellan and Karthragan the Demon. No longer was I the frightened girl who hid in her room for fear of being the target of people's hatred. Years on Earth had taught me that you shouldn't cower. I was as strong as, if not stronger, than the Synari. I had nothing to fear from them. I could hold my head high and let them challenge me if they dared. Then I felt a
familiar presence. I smiled slightly. One of the many Synari stepped out from the horde and held out his arms.

‘Armen!' I called, running forwards and hugging him tightly.

‘My, my, Shadow, how you have grown tall. I take it our beneficent ruler has brought you back for the battle?'

I pulled away from him, my smile fading into a scowl. ‘Yes, she did.'

Armen accompanied me to the armoury, where Rai still stood chief over all he surveyed. He greeted Armen as an old friend before he cast an eye over me, nodding in approval.

‘At least this time, the armour I give you will actually fit!' he said with a smile. I tried to smile back, but I think all I managed was a pained grimace. My stomach was starting to tie itself into knots as I thought of the coming battle. He said nothing more, digging into his piles of metal plate. I found myself, much to my dismay, outfitted in much the same manner as before. The leather shirt, although this time with a matching pair of trousers, with the plates covering shoulders, arms, torso, back and legs, although this time, he handed me a long scabbard attached to a belt, which I wrapped around my waist. I drew the blade, a heavy, unwieldy thing made for two-handed swordplay. With another grimace, I sheathed it again. I clipped my cloak over my shoulders once again to keep away the cold as Rai handed me a helm. I ran my hands over it, feeling the slightly dented metal of the helmet, which looked a little like the Roman helmets I had seen in my human history book. I jammed it on my head before nodding once in thanks to Rai and heading out of the armoury.