Shadow and Wild Magic

Shadow had magic. What odd news. And he didn’t really know what to do with it. Perhaps he’d always been aware that something was different about him. Perhaps it was the reason his parents had urged him to leave Rallis. If they’d known, they would have wanted to keep him safe. If Master Khan had planned to take him to this Magi Academy, they must have known. Oh, how he dearly missed his parents right now. But Shadow knew the chance of ever seeing his parents again was as dim as moonlight.

Shadow stood on the sand gazing at the horizon. Mielo had stopped the rhinos for a short break. Everyone but Sno, who’d fallen asleep inside his cage, was staring at what was ahead.

It was like a trick of the lights. Waves of red and orange flowed through a curtain that fell from the sky onto the ground. They wavered gently without making a sound. Everything was silent here. They couldn’t see through this curtain, but gazing into it felt like watching a different world come into existence. This was the Barrier. This meant that their journey was close to its end.

Shadow took a few seconds to notice that his pendant was glowing. Master Khan’s amulet. When Ezra saw it, he motioned for everyone to return to the wagon. Mielo retook the reins, Ezra sat next to him. Khaleen and Ten Zin went back inside. Only Shadow stood there still in front of the rhinos. He glanced at Ezra, wondering what he should do.

“Focus,” Ezra said. “Just like you did earlier.”

Shadow nodded. He had little idea what he was doing, but he had to do it. Everything was up to him now. Shadow took a few steps closer to the Barrier. He felt that strange sensation again, the warmth. It was not dangerously hot, it was soothing. The closer he got, the brighter the amulet glowed. Shadow stood an inch away from the red wall, then he closed his eyes. He focused on that sensation, that warmth. It almost reminded him of his mother’s embrace. And then, as soon as his parents’ faces came into his mind, he felt peace. And a hint of sadness, because this was goodbye. Shadow briefly opened his eyes to look over his shoulder. Not at the wagon, but beyond, in the direction of Lahok, where his parents still were. He gazed meditatively at the dark horizon underneath the stars.

When Shadow turned back, he did not need to close his eyes or focus again. Right in front of him, the wall had cracked like a fracture. Actually, it was more like a curtain that opened to let him pass. Shadow took one step, and the fracture widened. He walked through the Barrier, dividing it in two. Behind him, the wagon rolled slowly, also passing through.

Once they’d crossed, the red curtain closed again, and the red and orange lights returned to their unending stillness.

Shadow had never expected the land of humans to be so vast. From jungle to plains, to woodland, to mountains. He’d never seen such green, such grey, such snow. He would have frozen hadn’t it been for Ezra, who’d found them food and coats at a village by the River Glade. In the same village, Shadow finally took a bath.

They’d been able to open Sno’s cage thanks to the village’s blacksmith. That same night, the cub devoured a whole boar—that was how humans called the animal—on his own. Everything smelled good here. Even the stables. The first time Shadow had smelled a flower had been like dancing on clouds. He then picked flowers every day and sprinkled them in his fur. He never wanted to smell anything else.

Shadow couldn’t get enough of the baker’s blueberry pie. One morning, she told them that many sindur refugees pass through this village. Some had made a home in the forest close to the highlands. The time for Shadow to say goodbye to his friends quickly came. Ten Zin, Khaleen, Mielo, and Sno, were not headed to the capital. Hearing about a sindur village drove them in that direction. It pained Shadow to part ways. They’d spent so little time together but had grown so close. He knew he’d eventually see them again, but he was summoned elsewhere for the time being.

The rhinos left with the sindurs. Ezra mentioned he wasn’t sure this was the right habitat for them, but the duo seemed happy regardless. Their lives here would be far better than in the heat and stench of Rallis. The wagon, a clean block of steel, was gifted to the blacksmith in exchange for a sturdy grey mountain horse. With that horse, Ezra and Shadow would reach Avahs in less than a week.

The two followed River Glade on their horse. They reached the lowlands, passed through the town of Oakan, and within just two days, they reached the entrance to the city of Avahs. For Shadow, who’d never seen anything like it before, this city was like a dream. It was clean, ordered, the streets were colorful, but most of all, they seemed so empty. No sithrax crowds, no manure, no waste, no corpses. The air smelled of flowers, and even if the weather was cool, the sun was like a warm blanket on Shadow’s fur.

When he reached the gardens of the Magi Academy of Avahs, Shadow feared he’d wake up. This city, this place, was coming straight out of a myth. This couldn’t be real.

Ezra was making fun of Shadow all the way. He told him Vanhaui was nothing compared to the beauty of Tazman and Bravoure, where he came from. Shadow didn’t believe him. Nothing could be more beautiful than this.

When they entered the Academy, Shadow twirled on his heels to scan the walls, the columns, the statues, the ceiling, the paintings. It was all so grand in the entrance hall that it was almost overwhelming. For a brief moment, Shadow let himself feel like a child again, learning this whole new world. Someone came to assist them a minute later. Ezra had sent a pigeon—another human animal—to Avahs a few days before to notify them. The woman, pale-skinned with sand-colored hair, wore a blue robe like Master Khan’s. She looked sad when Ezra told her of Master Khan’s fate. But when she looked at Shadow, her eyes brightened again.

“You must be Shadow,” she said with much affection. If flowers could sing, they’d sound like her. “The magi welcome you. You are safe here, and we promise to watch over you. You will get food, a room, and proper training, just like Sivan Khan intended.”

Shadow didn’t know what to say. Was he going to wake up now? Ezra thanked the pale woman, then he turned to face Shadow. He kneeled in front of him to come at his size.

“I’ll be going to the castle today,” he said. “I have a friend I need to meet. You stay there with this lady. She’ll take care of you.”

Ezra looked a little sad. Was it because they were parting ways now too?

“There are good people here, Shadow,” he said. “You’re going to have a good life from now on.”

Shadow felt all warm inside. Even if the idea of a good life still sounded like a dream, for once, he was hopeful. He’d succeeded in getting here after all he’d been through. He had the right to feel hopeful.

When Ezra left, he promised to come fetch Shadow in the evening. They’d go eat more boar together at a nearby tavern. Shadow sat on a bench in the entrance hall. The lady, Ilse was her name, had asked for him to wait while they prepared him a room. The Academy had many towers, and one was dedicated to the students’ quarters.

While he waited, he examined the complex mosaic on the ground. Following the patterns was like walking through a maze with his eyes. He was so caught in this little game he’d just invented that he didn’t notice the boy walking up to him. He only noticed him when the boy waved at him very close to his muzzle.

Their eyes met, and Shadow was surprised. The boy was sindur! He was red like Mielo with white paws like mittens. This boy-lynx was a little younger, and shorter, but he had a peculiar fire in his yellow eyes. This boy had definitely seen things in his short life.

“I didn’t expect to see another sindur here!” the boy exclaimed. He spoke perfect Common.

Shadow smiled awkwardly. “Me...neither?”

The boy chuckled, then he held out a paw in front of Shadow. Shadow wasn’t sure what to do with it. The boy’s chuckle turned into a laugh, then he reached out for Shadow’s paw. He took it, then began shaking it.

“My name is Luky. What is your name?”