“There’s a weird feeling...” She muttered, “and I can’t put a finger on it.”

Felix tossed his braid over his shoulder and blinked. “‘Weird feeling’?” He asked, giving Alisa a somewhat skeptical look.

Alisa folded her arms under her breasts and glared at him. “Like we’re being watched, or followed.”

He sighed, and looked around the street. “Uhhh...” He trailed off. “The best place would be... a tavern. Ideally a hell, where nobody knows anything.” He sighed, and tipped his head towards Alisa. “But a woman of your pedigree would never stoop to be seen in a hell, am I right?” he finished sarcastically.

She drew in a hissing breath, preparing to upbraid him, but he was right. She’d never stoop to the kind of dim, filthy places where piss-poor ale was served in grimy tankards, the floors were dirt and sawdust, and everyone glared at everyone else suspiciously- the kinds of places where arguments were solved with quick, brutal thrusts of a knife.

No one of any common sense would visit a hell.

She looked up at Felix, but he was already moving. “I guess an alley will have to do.”

They stepped off the main street, where he crouched near some crates.

He hunkered down, shook his head, and stood back up and turned back to Alisa. “Don’t freak out, don’t get upset... and try not to speak to her. She’ll get...” He trailed off and rolled his eyes. “...difficult.”

Alisa gave him a baffled look. “What’re you talking about?” She asked.

He sighed again, and slumped a little. “I have a Shade.” He admitted reluctantly.

She jolted. “A demon?!” She blurted hotly, taking several steps backwards. Felix seized Alisa’s arm at the elbow.

“No, not a demon. A Shade. They live in the shadows... they’re made of Shadow.” He stressed the last word, and Alisa grimaced. Felix was apparently not only proficient in several Inner Track elements, he had the qualities of at least two Middle Track elements.

Alisa was lauded as a genius, a prodigy by her House, her family was effusive in their praise when she’d revealed that not only did she have affinity for Earth and Water, the components of Arcane, she had a Talent for the Arcane as well.

And yet, here was Felix, who apparently had all the components for both Arcane and Shadow. She’d assumed that he was just an Arcanist, like her.

“I don’t know what a Shade is like.” She finally admitted, and glanced down at her arm significantly.

He let her go. “I’m learning, too.” He admitted reluctantly. “Shadow users aren’t terribly popular, you know. I have to ... go all sorts of places to learn even just the basics.”

Alisa moved to sit on one of the boxes, and eyeing the grime, decided against it.

“So... tell me about your Shade.” She invited hesitantly.

“You could just meet her.” Felix replied. “Well, not in the conventional sense.”

She shifted on her feet. “It’s a ‘her’?”

He nodded. “She's basically got two moods: Sulky and petulant, and needy and melancholic.” He paused. “That should pretty much tell you ... everything about her personality.” He rolled his eyes, and then squatted back down. “I’ll call her, but there are ground rules: Don’t look directly at her. She hates being seen. Don’t talk to her. Don’t repeat what she says while she’s here. Don’t freak out. Don’t get upset. She really, really likes silence.”

She looked around the alley and nodded.

He adjusted his cloak, moving it around so that Alisa couldn’t actually see what he was doing.

“She usually appears in shadows darker than these.” He muttered. “I don’t know if this is dark enough-”

A pale hand rose up out of the shadows at his feet, which darkened, spreading across the alley. It was nearing time to return to the academy from lunch, but here, in this alley, in this moment, the shadows were as deep as eveningtime.

The hand grabbed his arm, and the shadows darkened even further and then bulged as a head rose up out of them, skin as pale as milk, hair as dark as the shadows itself. Her eyes were indistinct, her mouth was pretty, but twisted into an irritable pout.

She whispered something, and he shifted, but she pulled his arm and pressed his hand against her face.

“Thessuriah,” He admonished, but she flashed him an irritated glance and nuzzled her face against his hand.

He sighed patiently, and then started stroking and petting the otherworldly creature’s head. After several uncomfortable minutes, She pulled herself further out of the shadow and whispered in Felix’s ear.

After she’d finished, she turned and looked right at Alisa, who immediately looked away.

The creature spat something in a language that wasn’t meant for human tongues to speak, that wasn’t meant for human ears to hear, and dove back into the shadows.

As the shadows faded, Alisa saw Felix pick up something- it looked like a book- and tuck it behind his belt as he stood.

Felix gave Alisa a frustrated look. “You looked at her. I told you not to-” He threw up his hands. “Do you have any idea what sort of gehenna she’s going to put me through for that?” He asked, exasperated. “She might even decide to find your shadow and do the same to you!”

Alisa rolled her eyes. “As if my rooms weren’t warded.”

He gave her a skeptical look.“You have wards against Shadow creatures?”

Her eyes flicked to the side. “Maybe.”

“How about your person?” He prodded. “She could be in your shadow right now. Even if your rooms were warded, it wouldn’t stop her from coming into your room from your shadow. In fact, it would be even worse, since she wouldn’t be able to leave.”

Alisa took a few steps back towards the mouth of the alley, suddenly very conscious of the sun and how the light spread across the ground.

Shadows were everywhere! Why hadn’t she been aware of how something so obvious- a person’s shadow- it intersected the shadows of buildings, other people, animals, everything cast shadows, even plants.

“You look like you are starting to really understand the depth of fear when it comes to Shadow users.” Felix offered quietly. “Shadow itself isn’t evil, though obviously people with ... loose moral compasses often use it for evil.”

Alisa pressed her lips together at that.

“How do you use it?” She finally asked as they headed back towards the academy.

“Hmm? Oh. Uhhh,well, I learned your friends are going to try and bully me again. I’m much too low-brow to hang out with the likes of you. They need to put me in my place.”

She stopped short with a frown. “They’re what? I’ll put a stop to it.”

He nodded. “Don’t worry about it. They’re much too great to do the bullying themselves; they’ve hired other people to do it for them.” He spread his hands harmlessly. “All completely untraceable, of course. You’ll never pin anything on anyone.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” She complained. “I get to choose who I hang out with, not them.”

He shrugged. “Let it happen. I can take care of myself. I’m a little further along in my Arcane studies than they are.”

“It’s not right, though!” She complained.

“Hmm.” Felix mused. “I wonder.”

“Wonder what?” She retorted, flicking her ash blonde hair over her shoulder.

“Well, It’s a question that shouldn’t need to be asked, usually.” He replied, but added, “Do you think of me as a lesser person, like they do?” He asked honestly.

“What? No!” She shot back as they crossed the street.

“Then why do you think I need your protection?” He asked curiously. “Arcane users are influenced by their Outer Track- by Order. Put that Order-influenced mind of yours to work and think about it.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

She frowned at him. “I have the right to choose who I associate with.”

He raised his eyebrow. “You’re from a noble House with a storied lineage. It makes sense that your House would ally itself with other Houses. Are you sure you can simply cut them off like that?” He pressed.

She stopped and turned around to face him.

“You’re not of Noble birth, but I happen to like you, most of the time.” She replied tersely. “I should be able...” She trailed off.

“It’s not a big deal for me.” Felix replied. “I already know what they plan. I can manage it.”

“Felix-” She started, but he shook his head.

“Let me deal with it my own way.” He stated firmly.

She sighed and nodded.

[*****]

Because her family’s estates were so far away from the arcana academy, Alisa slept in the dorms. Her rooms were simple; she had a sitting room that also functioned as a study, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a room for her maid. She wasn’t particularly fond of having to dine with the other students at set times with no ability to dine at her leisure, but she managed to deal with the onerous stresses by looking forward to the future as an Arcanist.

The world was a chaotic jumble of competing and contradictory ideas. It fell to the Arcanists to put things in order, or, failing that, to seek order in that mess.

She snapped her finger and a thin silvery thread of magic snapped itself into a rectangle in front of her and an image appeared of her maid, carefully shelving books.

“Anna, I’ll be there soon.” She said to the image. This time Anna didn’t jump. She was getting used to Alisa messaging her this way. “Please have tea and a bath prepared.”

Anna nodded, and Alisa waved the spell away.

One of her friends- well, one of the people from an allied Noble house that was attached to her as a ‘friend’, waved at her from down the hall.

“You have it lucky.” Alisa complained to Edith. “Arcane studies are so exhausting.”

Edith tittered. “Water is sooo boring.”

“I had Water classes too, you know.” Alisa admonished. “I thought that they were pretty interesting. From an Arcanist’s point of view, the water cycle of steam, water, and ice explains the Order of the world.”

Edith rolled her eyes. “I’ll never be an Arcanist. In fact, I don’t qualify for any Middle Track affinity. Just Water. Plain, ordinary Water.”

“The trick, I think, is to be creative with what you have. A clever mage can use whatever Affinity they have well, whether they’re Inner, Middle, or Outer.” Alisa remarked decisively. “There are many Hub users that hold high positions because of their absolute mastery of their affinity.”

Edith nodded. “The Firebringer is famous in the Eastern Kingdoms.”

Alisa snapped her finger. “See? Alrond is famous, not for setting things on fire, but for setting up a system where Fire is sent to every kitchen in Karsten. I’m certain something similar could be implemented for water...” She trailed off, “but I haven’t figured it out, yet. When we leave here, I want to work with you on that.”

Edith’s eyes widened. “You’d really work with me?” Her gray eyes were surprised.

Alisa nodded. “Of course. I’ll need your mastery of Water, though.” She replied as if it were obvious.

Edith made her departure, hurrying to her own apartments, light of step.

Of course, Alisa had already mastered Water, and she already knew what she was going to do, but it didn’t hurt to get Edith more firmly on her side.

[*****]

Alisa was in the bath when the polished lamps were all snuffed out and the room was plunged into darkness.

A deeper darkness than she knew was possible grew along the wall and seeped into the ceiling; she’d seen the darkness of night, the hidden shadows of a cupboard, an unlit dressing room, but this darkness seemed to suck in all light, a void of nothingness. She had enough time to recall it was like when Felix had summoned his Shade in the alley.

A sibilant hiss, filled with vexatious spite boiled from that darkness, and then suddenly she was pelted with books.

She cringed, feet slipping on the bottom of her bathtub as she tried to backpedal away from that darkness. She struggled, batting them away with her hands as they rained down on her, clattering against the thick porcelain, splashing against the water that was rapidly going cold.

Even as the books were flying, the room was filled with whispers, half-heard snatches,

-don’t look at me-

-don’t see me-

-i hate you-

-stay away-

-he is mine-

Overlaying them all was a whispering voice not much stronger than the others, speaking again in a language not meant to be passed through human throats, shaped by human tongues, spoken by human lips or heard by human ears, understood by human minds. It grated like metal scraping across stone, spiked like needles in her ears, claws scraping down her spine.

Alisa let out a cry as that horrid language churned her stomach and suddenly the Shade was gone just as Anna, her maid, burst into the bathroom.

“My lady, what happened- oh, the lights are out-” Anna fussed, and produced a firestick. She tipped back the glass chimney and lit the lamp, then moved through the room, lighting each of them in turn.

One of the maid’s feet hit one of the books that had hit the rim of the tub and bounced off. She knelt and picked it up, holding it to the light.

“Articles of High Reason- My lady, I had meant to talk to you about this after your bath, but all twenty-three volumes of this have vanished.”

Alisa stood up in the tub and gestured around her. “It seems that I’ve found them.” She complained. “I’m going to have to talk to a friend of mine and see if he can help.”

Her maid gave her a baffled look, even as she passed Alisa a towel and began retrieving the soggy books from the bath.

Alisa rubbed her forehead as she toweled herself off. She went to reach for her robe, a beautiful glossy painted silk with interlocking geometries, it suddenly jerked away from her hand and vanished.

Alisa clenched her jaw, then stubbornly moved to her bedroom.

She threw open her closet and growled when she saw that all of her clothes were gone. All of them. Not a stitch remained.

“By the Master’s Equation.” She complained.

She entered the closet and shut the door, plunging herself into complete darkness.

She could still see, so she closed her eyes, and tried to remember the Shade’s name.

“I don’t know if you’re here with me, but I’m sorry I looked at you.” She announced to the darkness in a voice she hoped sounded contrite. She really needed her clothes, so she was contrite, but it was vexing that she couldn’t figure out a way to interfere with ...whatever that creatures’ name was.

Those that worked with Arcane were influenced by its progenitor concept, the Outer Track of Order. Order insisted that there was an explanation for everything. Even incomprehensible things had a comprehensible explanation. To the uninitiated, food simply existed. To someone who understood the recipe, that a certain amount of this and a certain amount of that, and cooked at this temperature yielded a wonderful cake. Everything had an explanation, a justification, a reason. Even its counterpoint, Chaos had an explanation, according to Serene Equinox, a major contributor of Order and the author of the Articles of High Reason.

The Lady Serene was both venerated and a pariah, since she took a Chaos man for a lover and bore him seven children. Seven! Serene only explained her decision once: “It was the most reasonable thing to do.”

To Alisa, there had to be a way she could prevent Felix’s... shade from bothering her without resorting to fetching a Light or Holy ward. She liked Felix, and from the way he’d treated ... whatever the shade’s name was, she didn’t want to have it destroyed. Felix would never forgive her, he was certain.

“I promise you that I will never look at you again without your permission. Please return my clothes and return to Felix.”

There was a slithering thump somewhere in front of her, and then suddenly there was a feeling as if someone or something stood extremely close to her.

She could feel its cool breath on her face.

-there are shadows inside of you-

And then, just as quickly as she sensed it, it was gone.

He moved her hand back, groping for the door latch. Her hand fell on it, and she pulled open the door and then walked backwards out of the room. She closed the door and let out a breath, and cautiously cracked open one of her eyes.

No Shade.

She opened both eyes, and then carefully and slowly opened the closet door- her clothes lay in an ungainly and messy heap on the floor, alongside several interesting trinkets she’d picked up since coming to the academy and several more books.

[*****]

“Well?” Felix asked Thessuriah, when she slid out of the darkness.

She sulked, pouting. “She apologized and promised not to look at me.” She spat.

“See? I knew Alisa would do that. I told you so.”

He held out his hand and she flowed towards it, grabbed his hand and bit it, bit hard.

“That hurts, you know.” He complained through gritted teeth. She hung on for a moment, but let him go, and flowed around so that she was sitting with her back to him.

“I hate her.” She spat.

“You hate everything.”

“I hate that you think I hate you.” She complained, and then she grabbed his hand again and covered it with kisses, holding it to her face. She was starting to get moody and melancholic.

Shades were born of the strange energy that drifted from the Void, the Outer Track that directly opposed Light, void power mixed with strong emotions that were left in shadow- mostly from death. People stabbed others in alleys, wives killed unfaithful husbands, while others ended their own lives. Even soldiers died in the night, in the shadows. Even children.

The souls left behind could become specters, ghosts, poltergeists, whatever, but those powerful emotions left some sort of residue that resonated in the Shadow and gave birth to the Shades. Thessuriah herself- she had no idea of her own origins, she simply was as far as he could tell- even the name was something he’d given her, a crude approximation of her own name that she tolerated.

She leaned against him, but he could barely feel it. She was made of Shadow, and shadow had no weight. Her touch was feather-light, her kisses felt like little puffs of cool air. She could limb on top of him and he would barely notice. You could only really feel shadow when it attacked; she often bit him as proof of that. She was only able to really feel him when he was using shadow magic, which reinforced her, made her stronger.

“Did the book help?” She asked.

“It did.” He agreed.

She fell silent at that. She wasn’t capable of expressing many emotions, and whenever something happened that she couldn’t express emotionally, she fell silent. She also preferred silence, so didn’t get many chances to talk to her.

Usually she’d just show up and bite him, tell him the things he asked her, and then fall silent.