Shadow and Wild Magic

Heavy footsteps rattled down inside the tunnel, right outside of the cell. In his dreams, they were rocks falling off a cliff. Shadow opened his eyes before the others.

The door flung open, and a giant green lizard stood in its place. He was tall, bulky, with yellowish eyes and tiny horns above his eyes. His crest was black and spiky. His square jaw was bearded with green and yellow scales.

“You,” he said as he pointed to Mielo. “We start with you.”

Mielo didn’t make a peep. He stood and followed the green lizard out of the prison cell. Shadow watched him leave, wanting to do something but blocked by his own hesitation. Wherever Mielo was headed, it wasn’t good, but at least it didn’t look like death. When the guard closed the door, Shadow turned to Ten Zin.

“Where are they taking him?” he asked urgently.

Ten Zin stood up and adjusted his filthy week-old tunic. “They will want to know about the operation. Prepare your might because it will be your turn soon.”

Shadow swallowed. He’d been lynched for disobeying. What would a sithrax interrogation even look like?

Time passed. Neither Ten Zin nor Khaleen spoke. Khaleen’s blue eyes were red and inflamed like she’d been sobbing all night. Shadow wondered for a brief minute where she had come from. Judging from her torn linen dress that barely covered her shoulders, the Ditch of Salek was his best guess. The poorest district of the poorest city. Maybe he should speak to her, coming from the Ditch of the capital himself.

An hour later, the door opened again. Mielo was thrown back into the prison cell. He cowered into a corner, weak, but he didn’t smell of blood. That was a good sign.

“What did they do?” Shadow asked in Sindawr so the lizard wouldn’t understand.

It didn’t look like Mielo was going to answer.

“You,” the lizardman said, pointing at Khaleen.

Ten Zin stepped in the lizard’s way. “Take me instead,” he growled.

“Very well.”

The guard didn’t care who went next as long as one went next. Khaleen tended to Mielo while Ten Zin was gone. The red lynx didn’t say a word and just yelped in his corner. Shadow was getting impatient. He was surprisingly good at keeping his cool in this desperate situation. Maybe that was why Khaleen and Mielo were looking strangely at him. They probably couldn’t understand how a child like him could cope with this all without needing any comfort. Fear and sadness weren’t emotions Shadow needed. And that was his strength. It was what had made him resilient to imprisonment, even in the Fortress of Stahl.

When Ten Zin returned, Shadow noticed the new bruise on his arm, even in the dark. The sithrax guard suddenly turned to Shadow. Something twisted in his stomach. Was that what fear felt like?

“You.”

That was it. It was Shadow’s turn now.

They carried him through the tunnel into a hall with six doors. They picked the second one on the left and led him up a spiral stairway. Fourth floor, first door on the right, and they opened a heavy iron door. Shadow was dragged into a small chamber lit by sunlight that blazed through the tiny barred window. Shadow made sure to take note of all the twists and turns that had led him from his cell to here.

One guard stood in the room in brown and red armor. He held some sort of sickle-shaped weapon in his hand. For the giant lizard, it was a mere dagger. For Shadow, it was almost half his size. The other guards left the room, shutting the heavy door behind them. Shadow was alone with the giant lizard.

This room was empty but smelled of blood. The floor was covered in dark sand. The rays through the tiny window created this clear divide between light and darkness.

The guard crossed his arm and took a few steps closer to Shadow. Both stood facing each other in this empty chamber. He remained silent, breathing deeply, so much so that Shadow became irritated.

“What do you want?” he asked in the lizardman’s language. Kwa wan doo?

The guard said nothing.

“Well, aren’t you going to interrogate me too? Ask me questions! Use that knife or something!” Shadow was taunting him.

“You are young,” the guard said. It took Shadow by surprise.

“Yeah?”

The guard uncrossed his arms and marched away. He knocked once on the iron door, which opened, and he walked out.

What is going on?

Minutes later, the door opened again, and a slender figure stepped inside the chamber. The creature, also reptilian, was a head shorter than the other guards. It was a female. Shadow rarely saw females in the capital. They were, like sindurs, confined to strict curfew rules. This one wore armor. This one carried a weapon.

The door shut again, and she came close to Shadow. Her eyes were grey, like her skin. Instead of a crest on her head, she had a large frill around her neck, folded around her shoulders. Her teeth were smaller and they didn’t stick out of her mouth. She didn’t have horns.

“They should have put you in the cages,” she said. “You are too young for the dungeon.”

Shadow had no idea how to react to that. He waited until she’d say more.

“If you behave well, you will be rewarded,” she began again. “If you don’t, you will be punished. That is reasonable, isn’t it?”

Shadow shrugged. “As long as I get out of here.”

She tilted her head slightly as if to examine Shadow. “Whose caravan was it?”

“What?”

“The caravan that brought you to the sandy plains. Whose was it?”

“I’m not answering that.”

Smack. Hit by surprise.

The lizardwoman had slapped Shadow. Surprise was quickly replaced by anger. It hurt but not enough to tame it.

“Ouch, what the—”

“I told you to behave,” she said. Her tone hadn’t changed. It was still dull and evident. “Whose caravan was it? How does one slave child become involved in a whole smuggling operation?”

“Ah, so that’s what you want to know,” Shadow said, stroking his furry cheek with his paw. “Because you don’t know how this all came together, don’t you? You sirtkes have no idea what’s happening in your cities, in the dark, when you’re not watching?”

She slapped him again. Shadow had attempted to block her, but she was too strong. She pushed right through.

“Watch your tone, catling,” she warned. “How does the mage choose who goes? Where are you collected? Who’s in charge?”

“You won’t get anything from me, I was just a passenger.” Shadow chuckled. It was a better alternative than yowling because of his burning cheek.

“Who’s in charge?”

“Someone who wants us all free.”

A thin smile stretched over the lizardwoman’s face. “So there is someone in charge.” Her eyes were glowing like she’d received the information she’d been after.

Shadow was left mute. Had he spilled information by accident? He wasn’t aware that he had!

The slender lizard walked to the door, knocked once, and turned back to Shadow. “You’ve done good, boy. Your reward is waiting for you.”

The door opened, and she let him out. Outside the chamber stood the same giant lizard with the sickle. Only this time, he carried a plate with a warm loaf of bread and handed it to Shadow.

“Eat quick,” the lizardwoman said behind Shadow. “You’re the only one who gets treats if you behave well. You wouldn’t want to make the others jealous.”

Shadow stared at the loaf, clueless. He had no idea what had just happened. His mind was blank and empty. He ate the bread mechanically. It tasted sweet.

Though, as he was eating, something caught his attention. At the end of the corridor sat a sithrax at some sort of desk. The creature wasn’t looking at him, and the desk was messy, crowded with weapons and shields. But the glow of an object attracted Shadow’s gaze. It was Master Khan’s necklace. This sight brought him back to reality, and his mind kicked off again.

Shadow recognized the amulet. It was the object that Master Khan would use to cross the Barrier. If Shadow could get to it, he’d have what he needed to leave this place Not the Fortress of Stahl, but Rallis entirely.. Shadow wasn’t fully aware of it just yet, but an escape plan had slowly begun to form in the back of his mind.