The Shadow Of What Was Lost (12 page)

The cavern was enormous. The wide
stone ledge she was standing on was at least fifty feet above the floor; she
could see distant walls to her left and right, but the space stretched back
further than she could make out. The smooth black expanse below was dotted with
sturdy-looking structures and people moving between them; everything was
illuminated by a warm yellow-white light, bright after the torch-lit
passageway.

The men and women below were all
Shadows, Asha realised after a moment; the cavern echoed with the sounds of
their conversation, laughter and the general hubbub of life. There was a row of
simple houses off to one side, with several more evidently under construction.
Fires dotted the vast floor.

Despite the strangeness of it
all, it was the source of the light that held her attention - a massive
cylinder that lit the entire space with its gently pulsing glow. As she focused
on it, she realised it seemed to be some sort of pipeline; the energy within it
was rushing upward, an unending torrent of power flowing from floor to ceiling.

"Beautiful, isn't it,"
murmured Jin, following her gaze.

She turned to him. "
What
is it?" She gazed around again, barely believing what she was seeing.
"What is this place?"

"This is the
Sanctuary," said Jin, a note of pride in his voice. "Somewhere
Shadows can come and be free to go about their lives in peace, away from those
who would abuse us. Here, people can live without having to be subservient,
without fear of Administration or the Gifted. Without having to be
less
."
He gestured to the pillar of light. "As for that - from what I understand,
it powers Tol Athian. The lights, the defences, all the things the Builders
designed. It's also deadly to anyone who isn't a Shadow, which is why the
Shadraehin chose this place to make a home."

Asha stared out over the bustling
scene below. "It's remarkable," she said softly.

Jin gave her a wide, approving
smile. "Administration don't think much of it, of course - they think the
Shadraehin is gathering a militia of some kind, planning to strike at them
somehow. They're wrong, obviously, but people like Gil don't know that. Which
can be useful, on occasion." He grinned, then headed for the stairs, beckoning
for her to follow. "I'll make some introductions, show you around. You'll
like the people down here. They're the ones who still have some spirit left in
them... or in other words, are nothing like the Radens of this world," he
added with a roll of his eyes.

Asha raised an eyebrow, thinking
of the conversation back in the Tol. "So Raden knows about the Shadraehin,
and wants nothing to do with him? With any of this?"

Jin made a face, nodding.
"He's not alone, either. When people become Shadows... a lot of them just
give up, to be honest. Raden and his ilk live miserable lives, and yet they act
as if it's nothing more than they deserve. As if because they get treated like
they're worthless, they really are." He gave a resigned shrug. "So
rather than seeing the Sanctuary as something positive, they just worry that
the Shadraehin is going to stir up the Administrators against us, draw
attention, make things harder. And maybe that's even true - but fates, in my
opinion, it's well worth it."

They reached the bottom of the
stairs, and Asha gazed around in astonishment. Appearances from above hadn't
been deceiving; disregarding the odd setting, there was little to distinguish
the scene before her from any other small village in Andarra. Somewhere out of
sight, the sound of hammering indicated that construction of some kind was
underway. Not all the structures were houses; one appeared to be a school, with
several young children listening attentively to a man in threadbare clothes.
There was even a building that seemed to be serving as a makeshift tavern.

They were closer to the torrent
of Essence now, and Asha craned her neck to look up at it, trying to see where
it disappeared into the cavern roof. She could make out the swirling threads of
energy distinctly now, crashing together and ripping apart again as they
hurtled upward. She felt as though there should have been a thunderous roar
emanating from the column, but it was completely silent.

Her gaze travelled downward, and
she frowned. Sitting what looked to be only a few feet away from the base of
the cylinder was a man, cross-legged, his face hidden by a deep black hood. He
was motionless as he stared into the streams of power rushing by.

"What is he doing?" she
asked, indicating the man.

Jin's cheerful expression slipped
a little.

"He is... not one of
us," he said slowly. "We don't know who he is. Sometimes he's here
for days, just staring into the light. Then he'll be gone for a few days, or a
week, or a month. No-one ever sees him arrive, and no-one sees him leave."
He frowned as he gazed at the motionless man. "The Shadraehin calls him
the Watcher. I get the impression the Shadraehin knows more about him than the
rest of us, but..." He shrugged.

Asha frowned. "I take it
nobody talks to him?"

Jin shook his head. "Nobody
can get that close to the light, and live. Not even Shadows." He shuffled
his feet. "Whoever -
whatever
- he is, Lissa, I would stay clear of
him."

Asha nodded, shivering slightly
as she tore her gaze from the black-cloaked figure.

They started walking again, and
soon the unsettling sight was blocked by a row of well-made houses, all built
from stone.

"Got a new one, Jin?"

Asha turned to see a man smiling
genially at them. He looked slightly older than Jin - was one of the oldest
Shadows she'd ever encountered, then, and probably amongst the first to fail
his Trials after the Treaty was signed. He stuck out his hand. "I'm
Parth."

Asha shook Parth's hand.
"I'm... Lissa," she said, only stumbling over the name a little this
time.

"I had to stop Lissa from
attacking an Administrator with her bare hands today," Jin told Parth with
a grin. "I figured she could probably handle seeing this place."

Parth grinned back as Asha
blushed. "Good for you," he said approvingly. Then he laughed.
"Though it's probably for the best that Jin stopped you. You're new to
being a Shadow, I take it?"

Asha nodded. "It's been
about a month."

Parth gave her a sympathetic
smile. "It gets easier." He gestured at their surroundings.
"Especially when there are those who are willing to help, and somewhere to
get away from it all."

Asha nodded. "I can see
that," she said. "So you decided to live down here?"

Parth shook his head, sobering a
little. "Wasn't really much of a decision. See the boy in the green top,
third row from the front?" He pointed towards the group of children in the
school. Asha quickly located the child, a curly-haired boy who couldn't have
been older than four. She nodded.

"That's my son, Sed."

Asha's brow furrowed as she
studied Sed, along with all the other children. None of them had marks on their
faces. "Being a Shadow isn't inherited?" she asked eventually.

"Our children are able to
survive down here, so we think
something
must be passed on,"
conceded Parth. "Otherwise? Not as far as we, or anyone else, can tell.
That's why we're here. Administration don't want non-Shadows being raised by
Shadows."

Asha stared at him in disbelief.
"But he's your son."

Parth gave a resigned shrug.
"If you're a Shadow, and someone -
anyone
- else isn't,
Administration will do what they believe is in the best interests of the person
who isn't," he said quietly. "Remember that, and you shouldn't be
surprised by much."

He sighed, glancing over his
shoulder and then turning to Jin. "I have to go and help Feseith, but if
you've got time before you leave, drop by and see Shana. Maybe you can stay for
dinner." He clapped the other man on the back. "But if not, it was
good to see you again. And it was very nice to meet you, Lissa." He nodded
to them both, and then was on his way.

Jin seemed to be on good terms
with most of the Sanctuary's occupants, and they were stopped for several other
friendly conversations after that. As Asha heard more stories, she began to
understand why these Shadows had taken refuge underground. Many had children in
the same situation as Parth. There was a woman who had been working at House
Tel'Shan, and had left to escape the too-close attentions of Lord Tel'Shan's
younger son. One man had lost fingers after being attacked on the street by a
drunken soldier; he'd been immediately thrown out by his employer, and now
could not find work anywhere. A few others were simply looking for relief from
the constant hatred of those in the city above, searching for a sense of
community.

And yet all of them seemed happy,
now. Free. Asha watched them as they talked, and found herself more than a
little envious.

Time passed; it was hard to tell
exactly how much, but Asha suspected it was at least a few hours later when she
and Jin found their way to Parth's house. Parth was still elsewhere but Shana,
his wife, turned out to be a bubbly young woman who immediately insisted they
stay for dinner. Soon they were seated in the kitchen, chatting amiably as they
waited for Parth to arrive.

Asha smiled as she leaned back,
enjoying both the conversation and the cosiness of the room, which had old but
comfortable furniture and a fire crackling in the hearth. It felt like an
eternity since she'd been able to sit down somewhere safe and warm and just
enjoy other people's company. To
relax
.

"Lord si'Bandin wasn't too
happy about our being together," Shana was saying, her back to them as she
started preparing dinner. "That made it tricky for us, especially back
then. He tried getting Administration involved at first, but they weren't too
interested at that stage. And then we -"

She turned to face them.

Her eyes went wide, focusing over
Asha's shoulder. The pot she'd been holding clattered to the floor, and a
second later she let out an ear-piercing shriek.

Asha and Jin both leapt to their
feet, spinning to see what Shana was so afraid of.

A man stood in the doorway;
Asha's stomach lurched as she took in the black cloak and the deep,
face-concealing hood.

The man she'd seen before. The
Watcher.

There was a scuffling sound as
Shana fled through the back entrance. Jin's face had gone deathly white, and he
started to edge in the same direction, indicating Asha should as well. She
started to move around the table.

"Halt." The man's voice
sent a chill down Asha's spine. It was deep, whispery. Old.

Not quite human.

Then it turned to Jin.
"Leave us. I must talk with this one."

Jin swallowed, looking for all
the world as though he wanted to do as the stranger had said, but he shook his
head. "I'm not leaving Lissa alone."

"As you wish."

It happened in an instant. The
figure glided forward, faster than Asha would have believed possible. Its hand
flicked out, and suddenly it was holding something dark and insubstantial.
Little more than a shadow, but elongated and shaped. An ethereal blade.

It sliced silently across Jin's
neck.

Jin stared at the man in
disbelief, hands frantically trying to seal up the gaping wound in his throat.
Blood, red and bright, seeped out between his fingers.

Then he collapsed, a bubbling
gasp the only sound he could make as he died.

Asha watched in mute horror, her
limbs leaden as fear paralysed her. The black-cloaked man - if it truly was a
man - turned to her, ignoring the corpse at his feet.

"Do not run, Ashalia
Chaedris," he said, his voice raising the hairs on the back of Asha's
neck.

Asha gritted her teeth and
nodded, sinking back into her seat, trying not to look at the growing pool of
crimson on the floor. "What do you want with me?" she whispered, fear
making her voice catch.

"I wish to know if you are
here to kill me."

Asha blinked, then forced her
gaze up. She couldn't see beneath the man's hood, but she could feel his eyes
on her.

"No." She shook her
head slowly, clenching her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.
"No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Because your presence marks
the beginning. It means death is coming, for all of us. It has been Seen,"
said the man quietly.

Asha swallowed. "What...
what do you mean, 'all of us'?"

"For myself, and my
brothers. Four hunt. One hides, cognizant of what he is. A true traitor. An
escherii
."
The man gazed at her. "And I Watch."

Suddenly shouts echoed from
outside, and the hooded figure rose.

"I must go." He leaned
forward. "I ask only one thing of you. When the time comes, do not let
Vhalire suffer."

Before Asha could respond, he was
gliding out the door.

Once she was certain she was
alone, the crushing fear that she'd been holding at bay finally came crashing
down on her. Trembling, she leaned forward and tried to steady herself against
the table, light-headed. From the corner of her eye she could see Jin's body
lying motionless, the pool of red still slowly spreading outward.