A Walk Amongst Shadows (Book 2)

On my days off from the apothecary, I typically ventured further in and around the city. Today, however, was different. Aris had told me the night before that he wanted to take me to a special place to help me practice magic. He did not specify much about it or what exactly we would be doing, but I was excited nonetheless. I dressed comfortably and tied my hair back, out of my face. I had taken to tying my hair in this way over the traditional braids I was used to in Wren’s Glen as it was far more common here in the city.

“You ready?” Aris asked as I finished brushing out my hair.

“Yes,” I answered excitedly, spinning around to face him.

He smiled, and I followed him out of our house and back into the world. We walked deeper into the woods and further away from the city than I had been since arriving here.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

“Somewhere special.” He winked at me and then grabbed my hand, “Come, we’re almost there.”

We walked a little further and I heard the familiar sound of running water. Breaking through a thicket of trees and shrubs, we came upon a clearing. What I saw next was something out of a fairy tale. Sunlight streamed through the trees and lit up the ground. Wildflowers sprouted up everywhere dotting the forest floor with brilliant colors. The water in the stream sparkled like glass and bobbed along gently. I walked around the clearing in awe at the beauty of the nature around me. It was magical.

“This is amazing,” I mused as I took it all in. I turned and saw Aris looking, not at the clearing, but at me. I walked back towards him. “How did you ever find this place?”

“My sister found it.”

I smiled. I saw the familiar look of adoration in his eyes as he spoke of his sister. “Nadia found this?” I asked.

He nodded proudly. “She was a lot like mother. She adored being outdoors…” He paused. “I don’t know if I told you, but my mother and father did not always have the best relationship.”

I shook my head. Aris had never mentioned anything about this to me before.

“It wasn’t uncommon for them to argue,” he continued. “On days when it got really bad, Nadia would run away.” He sighed. “This place was her sanctuary,” he waved his hand, gesturing around us. “She would come here whenever she would get scared, angry, or sad. It was her favorite place.” He smiled solemnly at her memory.

I smiled warmly at him and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you for sharing it with me.” I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as I pulled away.

“Are you ready to get started then?” he asked, shaking himself from his thoughts.

I nodded eagerly and followed Aris. He led me to the center of the clearing and sat criss-cross on the ground. He gestured in front of him and I did the same.

“You already have practice in sensing life energy, but today I want you to focus on how far you can extend your reach.”

I nodded. “How do you want me to do that?” I asked.

“Let’s start slow. Close your eyes and tell me what all you can sense around you.”

I nodded and shut my eyes. I tried to block the sounds around me to focus on sensing. Almost instantly, the world around me began to come into view. “I can sense the life in the grass, the trees, the flowers. I can sense where they cease near the stream.”

“What about animals?” I heard him say in the recesses of my mind. I shifted my focus and tried to find any wildlife around me.

“Um, there are a few beyond the stream.”

“What are they?” he asked.

“I-I’m not sure,” I focused harder, “they are small, rabbits? squirrels maybe?”

“Push harder. What else do you see?” he prodded calmly. I stretched my mind. Slowly, I was able to distinguish between the different life forms I was sensing.

“I see rabbits, and even a few deer. A doe and her two babies,” I asserted.

“Good,” I heard him praise. “Can you tell me how far away they are from us?”

I paused. “The rabbit is closer. Maybe a few paces back towards our house. The deer are deeper in the forest behind me.”

“Correct,” I heard him confirm.

“Wait-” I said, “why am I just now sensing you?”

“Because I only just now started using magic. I wanted to see how accurate you were.” As he spoke, I noticed I could no longer sense him in front of me.

I opened my eyes and met his gaze.

“Shadow walkers don’t have their own life force,” I remembered out loud.

He nodded.

“But as long as you are using magic, I can sense you.”

He nodded once again. It made me sad remembering that Aris was not technically alive, at least not in the same way I was. After all the time we have spent together, it was increasingly easy for me to forget he was not mortal.

“No need to look sad,” he chided. “I am going to use this to help you.”

“How so?” I asked.

“I am going to walk towards our house. As I go, I will stop periodically and use magic. I want you to sense and count how many times I do so we can see just how far you can reach. Sound good?”

I nodded. It made perfect sense. “Let’s do it!” I agreed eagerly.

“We’ll practice here before I go. Close your eyes.”

I did as he told and began sensing again. I felt the same things I had before. I waited patiently for a signal. It didn’t take but a second when I felt him.

“You’re behind me!” I exclaimed.

“Why, yes, yes I am,” I heard him tease. His life signal vanished again. I waited patiently again.

“To my right,” I called out.

“Right again,” he answered.

We did this a few more times before he left me entirely. I sat quietly still, waiting patiently for his next signal. It was maybe five minutes before I felt him. He was heading back towards the house.

“That’s one,” I whispered under my breath. I waited a little while longer before I felt it again. It wasn’t quite as strong but it was Aris all the same. Two, I thought to myself. A little while more and his third signal came. He was moving in the same direction. I wondered if he had reached our house yet. Over the next hour I counted five more signals, each one fainter than the last. By his ninth signal I could feel him moving closer to me. He kept a steady signal the rest of the way back to me that grew incrementally clearer until he was close enough for me to see clearly.

“Welcome back.” I grinned as I watched him close the remaining gap between us.

“How many did you get?” he asked eagerly as he pulled me to my feet.

“I counted eight signals of you moving away from me. The ninth felt stronger, and then it was a consistent signal after that... Was I close?”

He raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed. “Not too far off. I gave ten signals moving away and one when I started heading back.”

I nodded. Not too bad for my first try, I suppose, I encouraged myself. “So how far did you walk?” I asked.

He grinned. “I walked to the royal city.”

I arched my eyebrows. “How? You weren’t gone long enough.”

“What do you mean?” he asked incredulously. “I can travel wherever I like in an instant, you know that.”

I shook my head feeling stupid. “And here I was imagining you walking this whole time.”

“Rose, your reach is a lot further than I had realized!” he exclaimed excitedly. “I thought we’d be lucky if you picked up on half of those signals. But you nearly got them all.”

I smiled.

“Do you realize what this means!?” he put his hands on either side of me.

I shrugged. “I have a bigger reach than we realized?”

“And you can affect any and all life forces within that range,” he elaborated. “That level of influence is unprecedented in a mortal! And to think we haven’t even begun to extend it. Who knows how far you’ll be able to reach with practice!”

I grinned. Am I really that strong? “So you’re saying I can get stronger?”

“Maybe not stronger, but you can definitely finesse the power you have. Remember the first time you ever used magic? How messy it was?”

I nodded and laughed, remembering that night in my family’s apothecary. “I passed out,” I added.

“Exactly,” he said chuckling with me. “You wouldn’t break a sweat now. Not because you’ve gotten stronger, but better at controlling what you have.”

I nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Hungry,” I answered, and I honestly was. Using magic for that long had worked up quite an appetite. Aris laughed at me. “We can fix that. Come, let’s get you home.” He took my hand in his and we made our trek home.