Adda sat cross legged on the grass mats, her back propped against the provided trunk, too wary to sit upon the bed. The wood was rough, and there was a knot on one of the boards that dug into her shoulder. The fire had fluttered into non-existence, and with the curtain covering the opening, the little space was almost completely black. The only hint of light came from the distant communal fire, and it danced weakly around the door-frame. She watched it as she sat and contemplated her situation.
It felt as though Scet had left her hours ago, though she had no reference to compare the time. She had the thought, earlier, that she might sneak out and follow them, but it wasn't just Kiskan out there any longer. A guard of three alert Shifters stood without when she peered from the dome last, and the way they looked at her encouraged her to retreat inside once more. She supposed she should be happy that this imprisonment included the comfort of a bed and captors who at least pretended they weren't going to harm her. It wasn't so with the Quatori.
You would rather be lied to?
She allowed herself a deep sigh. Nex had returned from his long suffering silence, but she was not in the mood for his twisted reasoning. Sleep pulled at her, the pile of skins looking ever more inviting, but she worried about sleeping, about presenting such an easy target. So she sat, wishing that Scet would return and they might be allowed to leave peacefully...and knowing that was nothing but delusion.
Her eyes followed the construction of the shelter, the tight weave of woody stems and other plant material. If she became desperate, she could destroy one of the walls. It would be useless to do so at the moment, however. When she explored the possibility an hour ago, she had heard yet another guard shuffling around out back. The Alpha, it seemed, had trust issues, and Adda didn't like it. The man was trickier than the Quatori. She had spent much of her time alone replaying what had happened in the clearing, and she kept coming to the same conclusion. These Shifters hadn't come to the spot to rescue the humans that had been there. So why were they there at all?
There's a way to find out.
Ignoring Nex was difficult when he was listening in on her thoughts and responding to them. The only way to avoid a conversation was to stop thinking altogether.
How is that? Infect them all so that you have control? I don't think so demon.
Your mind is dark for one supposing I am the demon. There is a way to investigate your captors without harming them or that beast you travel with.
And you're just going to help me from the urge to be kind? I don't believe that.
Of course not. A favor for a favor. That is the way of the world, Adda. No one gives without expecting some return.
You always do that.
There was a few breaths of silence.
Do what? Nex sounded almost...perplexed.
You always make it seem like the Quatori are so natural, like this possession is just the way that a normal race behaves. I see through you, Nex.
There is nothing to see through, of all the contacts you've had since we joined together I am the only one who hasn't led you to believe what isn't true.
You want to destroy my soul.
I want to displace it, so that I might have a physical body of my own. I fight for my survival and the survival of my kind in the exact same sense that you fight for yours. It is not evil to do so. Nex's tone grew frustrated. Once there was a system in place, so that my kind did not have to steal bodies like unwanted parasites. You would have been honored, then, privileged to give such a gift to the Gods.
Adda shut out what he was saying. The idea that people would willingly seek this situation was absurd. Even the humans that brought the Quatori to the physical world to begin with had done so out of desperation. Stupidity, but also desperation.
And you think history begins there? Nex huffed in her head. That everyone just appeared with all their anger and prejudices at the beginning of the war of mortals? The world is ages and ages old, Adda. The Quatori ruled this forest before your race even crawled out of their caves.
That surprised her. She knew vaguely the story of the great war. The Dragons, greedy for their treasures and women, stole and took whatever they wished, and it finally pushed the humans to revolution. It was a great battle, with countless losses on both sides. At first, the Shifters were on the side of the humans, for they, too, had lost women to the Dragon's greed. But when the Quatori were summoned, the dynamics changed and it became a battle of survival. All races against the demons. Adda had never put much thought into what the Quatori had been before that took place.
We were Gods, honored and revered.
Sure, she snorted. That seemed about as likely as her sprouting wings.
Adda sighed again. At least with wings she could flee from there, maybe find Scet and make sure he was safe, or go and fetch Strale. The Dragon Lord still hadn't returned and she feared if he did so now he would never find them. She wanted to bring the fact up to Scet, but he had determinedly avoided the subject. She assumed he didn't want the Alpha aware that they had a Dragon Lord on their side. A secret boon if things were to turn sour...if they hadn't already.
She really needed to spy on that Alpha, it seemed he had the answers to all of her questions.
I told you, there is a way.
But at what cost? I am not willing to give my soul to you, Nex.
Your soul is inconsequential, as I have explained, I need this body. However, what I ask is nothing so dramatic. We need sustenance, Adda. I have not eaten since I awoke and I grow weak.
Adda frowned. He didn't sound weak, but his words made her wonder if she could starve him out.
You will die before me. It would be less painful to commit suicide in another manner, if that is what you decide.
No. She didn't want that, either. Wasn't she fighting for life? She rubbed at her face, it was getting difficult to remember.
I do not want to harm anyone to eat.
You won’t have to, these people have kept the old traditions. In the morning they will feast, to honor that thing you travel with. At this feast, they will offer two dishes: Pritusca and Golvani. All I ask is that you accept either. We don't need much, a sip or two will last for days.
She tapped her fingers together, focusing on the sensation. It was too easy, she couldn't see the downside, the part where she lost. That made her nervous, because she was certain there was a part where she lost. Yet lingering in her decisions would have her lose, as well. She knew for certain her time was limited.
Why help me at all? Isn't this delay better for you?
Only until these Shifters figure out how to end your life without raising the ire of your brute. They will seek to earn his trust, but they will not allow me under any circumstance. Indeed, it would be foolish of them to do so...in fact, it was stupid enough to bring us here at all. They must be desperate for your companion's aid.
But why? Adda needed to know. She was tired of being at a constant disadvantage. It seemed everyone around her knew more about what was going on in the world and even with her own situation.
Fine. She relented at last. How is it that I can discover these things without harming anyone? There are several guards outside, they are not inclined to let me just walk around.
Nor would you want to, the mountains are not friendly at night. You must use the shadows to do your spying.
He must have sensed her confusion, for she had the odd sensation of something inside her rearranging itself.
Close your eyes, he commanded.
Adda did so, though not without discomfort. Closing her eyes was like shutting the door on a small room where now she was trapped with him.
You must focus on the darkness, the shadows. Feel how they conceal, they are safe. We are friends with the shadows, family. If we ask, they will do our bidding, and they will carry our awareness with them.
How could she focus on the shadows with her eyes closed? She took a deep breath, until her lungs pushed against her ribs and let it out slowly, repeating the process. Then she imagined the darkness of the shelter, the way the flickering from the fire pushed them back from the curtain-door.
You are thinking about the light. Focus on the dark.
Right. She imagined the inky blackness of the shelter's back and night in the forest outside. It crowded the village, seeping in wherever it was allowed. Nex's words echoed in her thoughts. They conceal...they are safe, and somehow she could feel them. It was a surprisingly pleasant sensation, like the one warm blanket she would hide beneath when she was a child in the Onyx Aerie, and the Dragon's filled the sky with their terrifying sounds.
She wasn't sure how it was possible, but the darkness, each puddle of night, had a sort of awareness. With Nex's help, she could feel its attention; the shadows had their own consciousness, yet they were also part of the bigger whole. In a way, they were like a school of fish in the deep pond, separate and yet one entity. Or perhaps a hive or ant's nest. None of those comparisons were quite right, but it was the close as she could come to wrapping her mind around what she sensed.
She imagined herself commanding their attention, requesting help to follow the Alpha. She pictured the old man how she remembered him, putting in all the details she could. His skins and the decorations on them, the spear he carried, and the gray of his hair. She thought about the sly look of triumph he had worn when she saw him last.
You are showing the shadows what you see with your eyes?
Is that not good?
Shadows are not physical entities, they have no sight. Would you expect a blind man to follow someone from how you describe them?
Her brows knit together. How else would I show them what I want?
You must teach them the pattern of shadows within his soul. That they will recognize.
Shadows in his soul? Did that mean he was possessed, as well? It was possible. There were several days after one was bitten that they felt mostly unaffected. Worry slammed into her gut. What if that was why the Alpha had taken Scet off alone? To infect him? No wonder Nex did not protest this arrangement overmuch.
Your imagination has too much hold on you. All mortals have shadows in their soul. They also have light. Some have more of one than the other, it depends on how their experiences and attitudes have affected them. The Alpha, as you call him, for example, has nearly equal parts. The pattern of his soul shows a constant struggle between the two.
A picture entered her mind, one that, again, was hard to decipher, a swirl of light and shadow. It reminded her a little of looking up through the canopy midday, when the leaves moved and the way they blocked the sunlight made an intricate dance.
The shadows were paying attention, too. Instantly, she found herself caught in a current, pulled along around long dark shapes she recognized as trees. The current stuck to the darkest of areas, whether that be the open between the knolls of the forest, or sliding along a rabbit's burrow. Apparently, a shadow's size was flexible and fluid.
They raced along the forest, sometimes brushing the leaves of the trees high in the air, and others so close to the ground she could smell the earth.
How is it possible that I can smell? Adda asked Nex, puzzled. I'm not in my body.
You don't, you are simply sensing things that the shadows become aware of. Your mind is turning them into something that you understand, scents and sights.
Huh.
She wasn't sure that made any sense. She was distracted by the appearance of light at the edge of her 'vision'. The shadows hung back, detesting the brightness. It looked to her like a torch, traveling along the forest floor. At the moment, they hovered up in the branches. Around her, the night filled with certainty. Down below, covered in the brightness was what she sought.
Adda urged the shadows closer, which was more difficult than she imagined, they were reluctant to approach. It took a strength of will, pushed at them to get them to relent, and at last she caught a view of what was below. However, her mind interpreted what the shadows knew she could see, and she saw the Alpha leading Scet away from the village. They hadn't traveled very far, not far enough to account for the time Scet had been away.
She studied Scet. He was clean, the stubble shaved from his jaw, and his hair was a little shorter than it had been when she last saw him. He wore new clothes, too, a better set than the first pants he had borrowed. Blessedly, he seemed to be alright. He wore his usual scowl as he listened to whatever the Alpha was saying.
Closer, she told the shadows, hoping to catch the conversation, but she met with resistance. This time, no matter how she tried, they would not budge, though they would trail behind as the light from the torch faded.
You cannot force them against their nature. Light is both brutal and violent, it tears them to shreds if it catches them, they will not approach any nearer.
Fine, she would follow from a distance. It seemed the Alpha was going somewhere and, since she was not invited, she assumed that he did not want her to know where it was. Now she would discover his secret and she would gain the upper hand. Maybe it would even help to get her out of the mess she found herself in. Maybe she would discover the orb.
A swirl of satisfaction ran through her. She was finally gaining an advantage.
That is, until she realized that between one moment and the next, the Alpha and Scet had simply disappeared.