-Chasing Shadows-
Inside, Drew was greeted by darkness and a tall figure, also clad in a shadow cloak that obscured most of the man’s form. But Drew could still tell the stranger was built like a tower—thick, broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
Oh well, he probably doesn’t have my sense of humor.
“You’re not the first stranger I’ve met in the last few days,” Drew remarked, taking in his surroundings. A thick layer of dust coated every surface of what did appear to be an ancient Abysmal sanctuary. Intricately carved pews and countless bookshelves, some rotting, were coated in a heavy layer of age and neglect.
“No?”
“No. The other one also hid behind a shadow cloak at first.”
“Like you,” the man said, indicating Drew’s own hidden appearance. “I guess I’m not the only one trying to maintain anonymity.”
Drew shrugged off his annoyance and the cloak, folding it over his arm.
“Happy now?”
The hooded man seemed a little surprised.
“My, but you’re the spitting image of him…”
“Who?” Drew was getting tired of running into people who knew more about him than he knew about himself.
“Who? Why, your father of course.”
“You knew my father?” Drew was thunderstruck.
“Know.” The man seemed to sense Drew was getting faint, because he led Drew to a neglected but solid bench where the two of them sat.
“But, I heard he’d been killed. Vanished. Disappeared. Why else would he not have raised me?”
“I wouldn’t judge your old man too harshly. He loves you more than his own life, but he’s been desperately searching for your mother these past ten or fifteen years…”
Unbidden, a hazy memory of a tall man with Drew’s same dark eyes and hair sprung into Drew’s mind. The man was laughing as Drew, much younger, chased a ruby figure of a rowder…
“My dad has Orenda like me. But that would mean… he was Forlorn! But my uncle has always been so opposed to the Forlorn…”
“Uncle?” the man asked. He still hadn’t removed his shadow cloak.
“Adopted uncle,” Drew said quickly. “Was my dad Forlorn?”
“Is.”
“Is he in Deporta then? Was he at the lineal ceremony?”
Did he see me? Was he there, in that crowd, and I missed him?
“No, he hasn’t returned to Deporta in almost fifteen years. His attempts to locate your mother have sent him to every corner of Ealias. I myself haven’t seen him in ten years, but he asked me to watch over you.”
“And where have you been over the years then? And who even are you?”
At least when Drew had met Helm he had been more open to sharing answers with Drew than this stranger was. It felt like Drew was chasing shadows, constantly one step behind.
“I’ve been meeting with your ‘uncle’ Acelin, right? His name has always been easy for me to remember because it’s very similar to my own.”
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“Which is?”
“My name is Ace Shadows. I’ve been a friend of your father for many, many years. We went to academy together.”
“How do you know Acelin? I’ve never seen you at Mount Solis.”
“You’ve heard of Rew’s mysterious ally?”
“You’re not him,” Drew said instantly.
“How do you know?”
“I would recognize the ally’s voice anywhere. But I never heard you…”
“I had a feeling someone was listening in on our private conversations with Acelin,” Ace said knowingly. “I attended every meeting, but remained silent. My main objective was to keep tabs on you and your safety and progress. I don’t make promises lightly, and as much as it killed your father to leave you, I’ve made it a point to watch over you from afar.”
“How long do you plan on hiding?” Drew asked, gesturing at Ace’s shadow cloak and hooded countenance. With the added gloom of the dingy room, Drew had to squint just to make out the man’s eyes.
“You’re right. It’s time I stepped out of the shadows.”
He removed the hood, revealing a surprisingly youthful face and bright green eyes pierced with sorrow. Like the mysterious ally’s voice…
“You know the identity of the ally, don’t you.”
“Yes.” Ace took a moment to brush wavy brown hair away from his eyes before continuing. “Another childhood friend of mine. He also attended the academy with me and your father.”
“Why does he sound so distraught?”
Acelin sighed, looking up at the vaulted ceiling high above them. Pieces of the roof had fallen in over the years, leaving patches of cloudy sunlight peeking through and slightly illuminating the dark, cavernous space.
“He lost someone infinitely precious to him… we all have now, but he took the loss hard. It crippled him, changed him into someone else entirely. I haven’t given up on him, but I fear his sadness has become unthinking hatred and blind ambition.”
“He hates the Forlorn. Why? I was taught to hate and fear them growing up, but then I was also taught Forlorn weaponry and Orenda. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Acelin isn’t so unlike the ally. They share a similar burden, although Acelin hides his loss with shows of confidence and humor.”
“But if you’ve been hiding in the shadows all this time, why make yourself known to me now?” Drew asked. Tired of the gloom, he invited a small portion of his Orenda to come forth. Picturing small orbs of light in his mind, his ruby Orenda began filling the glass orbs scattered throughout the room. As the light began filling them, the room seemed to shed years of age and damage. The wooden pews seemed stronger, less worn. The books on the shelf looked less dog-eared and water stained.
Unbidden, Ace summoned his own Orenda, a powerful emerald that joined the ruby lights scattered through the room. When the two Orendas met they combined, becoming a bright yellow.
Soon, the entire space was lit with glowing yellow lights. Detailed murals made from smooth, round stones in various colors suddenly sprang into sharp relief on the wall in front of Drew and Ace.
A massive circle took up most of the stone wall, many small white and golden stones making up what had to be a sun. Long lines spiraled off the circle in reds, oranges, and purples. On either side of the sun emblem were two moons, both crescents. One as white as Drew’s ceremonial lineal clothing. One as black as the shadow cloak draped over his arm.
Strangely, it felt like looking at two halves of himself. The half that wanted so badly to make a difference and change the face of Ealias for the better. And the half that wanted to remain in the shadows, riding his rowder and following the high winds of freedom.
Drew stood and strode over to the mural, feeling something stir within him. Curiosity. Anticipation. And a strange sense of melancholy.
“Do you recognize these symbols?” Ace asked.
Drew hadn’t noticed the man join him by the mural.
“No, but it feels like I should.”
“You asked why I approached you now. This,” he nodded his head at the mural, “is why.”
“What does it mean?”
“It depicts the prophecy of the sun and dual moons:
the sun,
bolstered up by two moons, one light, one dark,
will bind the scars of mother Aeon,
plunging the world in beams and shadows.
One to bear the weight,
two to bear the fall.
Six to unite what once was torn asunder,
desperation healed by the Gatekeeper’s touch.
The world of perpetual dusk to rise or shatter,
held up by the Architect.”
Drew eyed the two moons once again. Both inviting and tempting him, and the sun blazing like a fallen planet in the center, drawing him in, swallowing him whole.