Owen caught the shadow dog by the neck, stopping it from biting him. Because it was a shadow it wasn't truly solid and he couldn't hold on to it. With a wiggle it was on the ground again. The second dog darted in at Isaac who kicked it away.

"What the fuck, Duvessa?" Booth swore.

"I don't think this is Duvessa," Seth said. "This is someone else."

Isaac shot Seth an angry glance. With a quick gesture and a word, he lifted his hand and suddenly held a sword. He did the same again, lifted his other hand, and held a shield. "Behind me," Isaac said to Owen.

"I'm fine," Owen said, keeping his position. The shadow dogs in front of them vanished into the surrounding darkness.

"Is that it? Are they gone?" Seth asked.

Mau hissed and jumped down.

"I'll take that as a no," Seth said. "Can you see them, Mau?"

The leopard cub stood at full alert, ears pricked and tail lashing. She growled and jumped in front of Booth just as a shadow dog darted at him. Shadow teeth met feline claws, and the dog vanished into the shadows again.

"Why aren't they just running away?" Owen asked. "Are they after us or something?"

"Who knows?" Isaac said, his shield held forward and his sword ready to thrust. "We need to kill them."

Seth saw another shadow from the corner of his eye. "Are there only two?" Seth asked. He spun around to search behind them. The four boys were quickly back to back in the narrow street.

"I can't tell," Booth said. "You can't hardly see these things in the dark."

"The rain don't help," Owen said. He picked up a broken crate and gave it a test swing.

The boys waited in the rain as the seconds ticked by, searching for a glimpse of moving shadows. Mau's ears swiveled rapidly and she turned her head back and forth, searching the darkness.

Then the light stone Owen held winked out.

Two shadow dogs attacked at the same time. One tried to flank Isaac, the other knocked down Booth.

Isaac's shield fended off his dog, but he couldn't get a good stab at it. Owen smashed the crate at the dog on Booth and missed both the dog and Mau who leapt after it.

"More light, Booth," Isaac demanded.

"Busy," Booth snarled back. He was flat on his back with the dog above him. He yanked at the dog's face where it was latched onto his other arm.

Seth hated using his amulet out in the open like this, but it was necessary. Actually, maybe not. One of the cantrips in Owen's book would probably be better. "I'll cast a light," Seth said. "I need a few seconds."

"Dunno if we have seconds!" Booth said, still struggle to get his arm loose. The dog let go a second after Mau landed on it with claws out.

Seth shut his eyes for an instant before snapping them back open. Stupid, we're in a fight. This was structured magic, the Moonlight spell. He wanted it brighter than the standard spell but there was a risk to doing it unstructured. He could only hope that the structured version would get a little more oomph like his Detect spells had.

Seth cast the spell. A circle of light surrounded Seth like he was standing beneath the full moon on a clear night. The light was brighter than it had been the last time he'd cast it. The spell also had the same ache as the Detect spells.

He'd have to tolerate the ache for as long as they needed the light. This spell would normally last only as long as it was being fed mana.

In the light they could see there were actually three dogs. They were only a little bigger than Mau, so on the small side. They had looked bigger when they were mostly hidden by the darkness.

The light changed the pace and nature of the fight. Isaac lunged at the nearest shadow dog, stabbing it in the back leg. It silently howled and fled.

The remaining two shadow dogs attacked Booth, who had only gotten to his knees before the dogs were on him. Owen tackled one, and the other grabbed Booth by the shoulder and started dragging him. Mau attacked that one, sending it fleeing too.

Owen tried to keep hold of his while punching it, but he couldn't keep his grip on the shadow and the dog fled too.

Seth held the spell. The ache had become sharp pain. "Booth, more light stones," Seth ground out between clenched teeth.

Booth didn't question it and quickly cast four stones. Seth couldn't hold the spell past Booth casting the third one.

Seth took deep breaths, trying to calm what felt like an unnatural unruliness inside.

"What's wrong with you?" Isaac asked, staring at Seth. "Did those dogs scare you, or is casting spells that hard for you?"

"I'm not scared," Seth said. "I've always had trouble with magic. It's just doing something different now."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I think those dogs were after you, Booth," Owen said. "Twice they tried to grab you and drag you away. Do you know someone else with shadow summoning? Other than Duvessa I mean."

Booth glanced at Seth and then shook his head. "I don't know nobody else with it."

Isaac saw the glance and turned towards Seth. He still gripped both sword and shield and he reflexively lifted the shield. "You knew. Before anyone else, you knew those shadows weren't Duvessa's. How did you know, Seth?"

Mau growled and her ears flattened. Owen and Seth both looked at her and saw she was preparing to leap at Isaac.

"Dude. Put the sword away. His familiar doesn't like how threatening you're being, and frankly, I don't either." Owen stepped in front of Seth, blocking Isaac.

Isaac lowered his sword. He looked past Owen at Seth and then nodded. "Fine, then," he said. "Sword and shield are away." He repeated the word and gesture and they both vanished. "Your turn now, Seth. That was Duvessa's power. How did you know it wasn't Duvessa?"

"Because they were too big and too many. Duvessa can't summon more than one thing about twice the size of Mau."

Owen opened his mouth but Booth kicked him. Owen looked at Booth in confusion.

Isaac never took his eyes off Seth. "We thought there were only two at first, and the two together are about twice the size of your cat. You still knew."

"Duvessa said her summons were not coming back on time," Seth said.

"That's right! She did say that," Owen said.

"She doesn't have her full capacity at the moment. Those shadows couldn't have been hers."

"Who sent the shadows, Seth? Is someone after Booth? Is he next?" Isaac asked.

"Am I next for what?" Booth asked.

"Arnold, and clearly Isaac here too, thinks I'm the one responsible for people losing their magic," Seth said. "Arnold told Duvessa about it the other day, and told her I'm the one taking her power."

"That's bullshit," Booth said. "Some guy nearly killed you the day Blaise's power was taken. And Duvessa still has her power." Booth stepped up to Isaac. "What the fuck, man?"

"Shadow summoning is Duvessa's power," Isaac said. "Unless you know of someone in her family that wants you, Booth, then someone has her power and is using it to get more."

Seth knew someone who did want Booth. It was the reason Booth wanted an escort to visit his family. And Duvessa's missing shadows had been watching them.

"Power types are not restricted to families," Seth said. "Someone else could have it. They often follow families, but it's more a matter of location than bloodline."

"And how do you know that?" Isaac accused.

"Genealogy charts and studies done by the Palace," Seth answered promptly.

Isaac snorted. "More likely that there are hidden bastards in the lines instead."

"Can we not talk about this in the rain?" Owen asked. "My stone just went out and I don't want to wait around for those dogs to become something more dangerous."

Seth took the lead with Mau on his shoulder. She leaned forward rather precariously and on full alert the whole way back to school. Booth was in the middle and Isaac took the rear.

They paused once they were under the shelter of the school gatehouse. The guard just glanced at them and went back to reading. Seth felt awkward and the others looked the same. He didn't know what the next move should be.

"I'm not a thief, Isaac," Seth said firmly. "I'm not hurting people."

"By the deepest, darkest pit Below, he isn't," Owen declared. "And I don't want to hear about you telling people that. Or you and I are going to have a problem."

Owen and Isaac stared at each other for a very long moment. Seth thought they might start fighting and quickly ran through a list of what spells could be useful if they did and how best to use them. It was a short list.

"I know things are a little weird at the moment," Isaac said and stepped back. "I'm not trying to start anything. Just be careful, alright Booth? I said I'd look out for your siblings, and I will. If you think it's at all risky, I'll go instead."

The three of them watched Isaac leave.

"Let's get a training room. Have a talk, yeah?" Booth said.

----------------------------------------

In a rundown mansion on the East Side, a man holding a short cane walked into an office on the second floor. The three men inside the room all stood up in surprise.

"Hey!" shouted the big guy guarding the door. "You're not–"

"No, Rick, it's fine," the blond man behind the desk said, holding out a hand to forestall violence. "Let him in."

The man with the cane nodded his appreciation to the blond man and closed the door. "Thank you for seeing me unannounced. I don't like doing business this way, but in this instance, I find it necessary." He studied the third man in the room for a moment before turning back to the apparent boss. "I'm here to make sure we all understand the nature of our relationship."

"Excuse me?" the blond man said.

The man tapped the cane against his palm. "I provide you things. You do things for me. You don't cause me trouble. Is that clear?"

"I don't think I like your tone," the blond man said.

"Ah, my apologies. It would appear there is a misunderstanding. Yesterday, a member of your organization accosted an asset of mine and did him harm. A boy of about thirteen, over in the business district."

The third man in the room scoffed. "I didn't harm him. I just roughed him up a bit. He's got the message."

The man with the cane turned to him. "You are the one that sent the message? You harmed the boy?" he asked with friendly calm.

"I just cut him a little bit. No harm done. What's the big deal about a random brat?"

No one saw the flash of silver before blood splattered on the blond man's white shirt.

"Rick, if you move, you're next," the man said. Instead of a cane, he now held a thin silver short sword with the point lightly touching the adam's apple of the blond man.

The blond man looked from the body of his lieutenant, to the lieutenant's blood on his desk, to the thin silver sword. He looked past the man who held it to the bodyguard, Rick.

"You bastard–" Rick said and took a single step forward.

"Stop!" the blond man shouted.

Rick was already on the ground screaming, one leg missing below the knee.

The man with the sword dropped what looked like a cotton ball on Rick and the screaming became very soft. He didn't bother pointing the sword at the blond man again.

"I can kill every single person in this building and there is not a thing you can do to stop me," the man said as he flicked the blood off the sword. He then gestured to the cup on the desk. "And toys like that won't make any difference. I think I've made my position to your organization clear. What say you?"

The blond man swallowed. "Perfectly clear."

"And my tone? Do you still have a problem with it?"

"No, sir."

"Excellent. That boy I mentioned is my asset. He is not to be touched. In the grand scheme of things, he is a far more important piece than you. Understood?"

The blond man's gaze flicked to Rick bleeding out near the door, and then back. "Yes, sir."

"Good, good." The man put the silver sword back into its cane sheath. "Now that the unpleasantness has been handled, I have a job for you. This is what I need done…"