-Whisten’s Shade-

Life was more humble here, as though the Ruins in the distance cast shadows long enough to darken Whisten. It didn’t strike Drew as ominous, but he also felt small in comparison to the hulking, broken structures on the horizon.

Especially after his encounter three days before.

The settlement’s leader, Lilak, was as rugged and mysterious as the landscape to the north. She was lean, like she hadn’t gotten enough to eat in months. Most people looked haggard, and there were far less children here than there had been in Deporta.

Fear tended to do that to people. Afraid of bringing children into a future that only looked darker and more forlorn.

The few instances of Orenda he saw mimicked Whisten’s people—harsh, intentional usage, like Orenda was nothing more than a hammer to pound in nails. A ruthless, mindless tool whose only job was to obey.

Lilak had allowed him to use a small wood house closer to the Ruins than most people in Whisten were willing to go. And although part of him feared the two figures he’d seen with such large, glacial eyes, he also longed to go back, to seek them out.

Could they be the Jadelin he’d heard rumors about his entire life? Some creature that looked human?

But those eyes had carried an intelligence that ruled out anything other than human. Or the equivalent.

Everyone here, from the youngest child, who was ten, to the oldest adult, who was ninety-three, carried a spear on them at all times.

Drew hadn’t seen them use the weapons for more than basic defense yet, but he felt the tension in the air, in their way of life. Their buildings were all harsh angles and roughly hewn, designed more to keep out unwanted visitors than to house the building’s occupants. Even their food was bland and no-nonsense—Drew personally thought rowders ate better than Whisten’s citizens.

These people were waiting to be attacked by something. And something they clearly didn’t understand, because when he’d tried talking to different townspeople their answers were often similar.

“Have to keep the wild animals at bay.”

“Wild creatures coming in, people turning funny…”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead without my spear on me!”

The last comment had been made by the ninety-three-year-old, who had a shock of white hair that stood up on her head and who could throw the spear over two hundred feet with perfect accuracy.

In fact, beside farming a small portion of their land far from the shadows of the Ruins and raising moonwalkers, large creatures with four legs and a massive rack of antlers who were known for their sweet milk, the inhabitants of Whisten did little more than practice throwing their spears and using them in combat.

Orenda was only used for keeping the weivers out of the moonwalkers’ pen. The fierce, muscular creatures would rip the large docile creatures to shreds with its many fangs. Drew had personally watched a man tending to the moonwalkers summon a sharp, focused portion of amber Orenda into some kind of club and beat the weivers back.

Crude, but effective. The Orenda stunned the creatures long enough for the dark-haired woman also tending the moonwalkers to grab her spear and lash out at the beasts until they retreated back into the thick wall of ancient trees that served as the only barrier between Whisten and the vast Ruins.

A young man, Alic, had been Drew’s almost constant companion the past few days. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem afraid of the potential threats.

Alic, inexplicably, had changed from one of Whisten’s greatest warriors with powerful Orenda to someone intensely curious of the Ruins and the “people” who lived there. And he refused to use his Orenda, which had stoked the anger of the older people in the settlement who had to take his shift in watching over the moonwalkers.

Like Drew, Alic had seen something. Why else would the boy be fascinated in the Ruins and its “inhabitants”?

Drew had volunteered him and Alic for the night watch under the pretense of Drew talking to the young man and helping him work past his strange curiosity and refusal to wield Orenda.

In reality, Drew planned on taking the boy into the Ruins with him and looking for clues regarding the icy eyes he had seen before.

The settlement had long fallen to the deepening shadows of the forest and the ruined buildings, shadows painting everything in somber shades.

Various men and women had filled the glass orbs outside their homes with Orenda, beating back the night and its long fingers. Drew lit the glass orb in front of his own borrowed house with rich ruby light before beckoning Alic to join him.

“Have you been part of the night watch before?” Drew asked Alic. The young man had dark skin the color of wood and green eyes the color of the tall trees surrounding Whisten.

“I have, but they haven’t let me take any night shifts since I started acting ‘differently,’” Alic admitted.

Drew kept up the small talk for the next hour or so, until the rest of Whisten was fast asleep and only Alic and Drew were on watch, peering through the barrier of trees at the Ruins, ethereal giants sleeping past the crooked tangle of branches and leaves.

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***

Vayn had convinced the current sentinel to allow him to take the man’s place as nightstrider. He’d acted as nightstrider before—everyone took turns—but after the strange encounter a few cycles before with Sealuh he’d been eager to serve as nightstrider again.

Usually the post was uneventful—observing the Forlorn settlement for signs of movement or unrest. But the town had been fading for years. You could almost dim and miss nothing, even unconscious of your surroundings.

But the ascendancy was growing tired of living in the shadows after centuries. And his people were perfectly loyal. They could all sense the presence of the sunsight, growing stronger and harder to ignore, like an itch or an ache.

“Vayn, are you certain you do not need aid? A companion nightstrider?”

Vayn smiled softly. Sealuh was just as curious as he was. And with good reason. He had not sensed Orenda so similar to his own among the Forlorn until now, and he was no longer a youngspeak. He seen enough years go by to understand acutely that the Forlorn were like the Soulcrashed Sea—consistent as the tide and as unyielding as her crashing waves.

Almost as unchangeable as the massive plates of stone that held up Aeon in the middle of such fierce, churning waters.

“The night is silent, but I would still value your company,” Vayn thought back.

Sealuh. He had never met a stronger soulspeak, including the ascendency, although he would never say the traitorous thought aloud.

She would be here soon: he could feel her getting closer, like the rustle of leaves on the massive trees towering over their piece of Aeon. Vayn lingered beside one of the shadeworld relics, a structure that rose higher than anything else nearby.

The relic the strange wielder of Orenda had first visited three days before.

Strangely, Vayn hoped to encounter the wielder again. If anything, to better study the Forlorn’s Orenda.

Vayn didn’t have to turn to know Sealuh was now at his side.

“Are you ready to depart?” she asked, her husky voice soft.

“Yes.”

They loped away from the towering relic into the broken city, two more shadows in the land of shades.

***

“You’ve been in the Ruins?” Alic gasped, but his tone didn’t convey fear or disgust or terror.

He was thrilled.

“I don’t want that to become public knowledge, but I won’t be able to understand the mysterious circumstances surrounding Whisten until I understand the Ruins and anything that might be lurking in them.”

“You’ve seen them too.” Alic’s expression was knowing.

“Who?” Drew asked carefully. Had he and the boy seen the same thing in the Ruins? Or were multiple beings roaming the dilapidated buildings?

“The eyes. Largest eyes I’ve ever seen, like great sapphire orbs of Orenda. I’ve only ever seen them twice, but it’s what I felt that won’t go away.”

“Which was?” Drew had to hand it to him, Alic was quite the storyteller. He knew just when to pause and what to say and hint at to keep his listeners’ complete focus.

“I’m not sure how to explain it…” Alic said, looking down at this hands. “And I don’t want the lineal to think I’m speaking out of turn.”

“Try me,” Drew said. They were walking through the thin forest separating the settlement from the Ruins. The moon was almost nonexistent now, the thinnest sliver, like a fang or claw caught in the silky fabric of night. But the stars were unnaturally bright tonight, bathing the branches above their heads shades of blue-silver.

“It’s like something spoke to my Orenda. A powerful force or presence. And all of a sudden my Orenda seemed less like a tool or weapon and more like a living, breathing creature. Like a moonwalker or weiver, but dwelling inside of me, sharing the same lungs and heart but full of its own distinct passions and desires.”

Alic shivered involuntarily, his short, thin frame quivering like a sapling.

“It scared me. I haven’t tried to use my Orenda since. I don’t want to awaken this… thing inside of me.”

“Fascinating.” Drew kept his real thoughts quiet, but inwardly he was screaming, you’re like me!

Instead, he continued with, “When we enter the Ruins proper, I have a couple of rules you must follow. If you can’t or won’t follow them, I’ll have to leave you in Whisten and investigate on my own.”

“You can count on me, Lineal,” the boy said solemnly, laying his hand over his chest.

“No ‘lineal’ this or that here. Just Drew will be more than fine.

“Alright, these are my few rules, and I’m only laying down some boundaries so that if something unexpected or dangerous happens, we’ll at least save your skin.”

“Understood, lin… sir!” Alic said enthusiastically.

Drew resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

‘Sir’ is still better than ‘Lineal’ I suppose.

“First rule, keep completely silent unless I tell you otherwise. We don’t know anything about the beings out here—how many there are, their intelligence, how they communicate, even what they look like. Even if they can’t see us right now, we don’t know how keen their sense of hearing is, so let’s assume it’s acute for now. If you do need to tell me something, don’t whisper. That will carry worse than speaking in your regular voice. Just speak normally but quietly.”

Drew lowered his own voice to demonstrate. “Like this.”

“Okay,” Alic said, speaking so softly Drew had trouble hearing him respond at all.

“Perfect, you’re better at this than I am. Now, my second rule. If you still refuse to summon your Orenda, you’re a liability in this exploration. The beings I encountered several nights ago can either wield Orenda or they can manipulate the Orenda of others, because when I got too close to the two pairs of eyes a ruby wall of Orenda power rushed up in front of them and by the time the light had faded they were gone.

“I didn’t summon my own Orenda, which as you know is ruby. Until we know more, we have to assume the beings are potentially lethal, capable of wielding the same power we can.”

It was funny, Drew had never been an active warrior or fought in any battles, but this felt like second nature to him, preparing to face potential threats.

“In other words, stay behind me at all times. I’m bigger than you are, more of a target. If we do run into the beings again and I tell you to run, you run like the trees have ripped their roots out of the ground and are chasing you.”

“And they’re on fire!” Alic added, grinning.

“Sure… just run like you’ve never run before if I give the word. Do you promise?”

“I promise,” Alic said solemnly, puffing out his thin chest with pride.

They were at the edge now, where the trees faded away to the many buildings and structures, half-devoured by nature’s hungry maw.

Alic gasped. With the bright starlight overhead, the abandoned cityscape appeared ghostly, like the buildings were as unsubstantial as their long shadows.

“We’re here.”