the shadow child

8/9/2019 The Shadow Child

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The Shadow Child

In a land known as Renolsdem a boy is born to a poor, sick mother - the father unkown. This boy

has a destiny, and grows to develop a certain affinity with shadows.

Chapter 1

The night sky is the darkest it has been for as long as anyone can remember. There are no stars to be

seen; no lights in the sky. In the small village of Anile, the people are fearful. They are not used to

strange things happening, and many think the darkness is unnatural.

The silence of the night is suddenly broken by the cry of a baby, motherless mere minutes after

birth. Inside a small, wooden hut a midwife sits by a small fire and tries to comfort the unnamed

infant, but it senses her concern and releases it's worry with it's voice. Knowing that the absence of

any relatives of the baby means it is up to her to find a home for it, she cautiosly ventures to the

window before stepping outside to seek a family for the small bundle in her arms. As the cold air

hits her she is filled with dread and she almost gives into panic when she is faced with the void

above her. Pulling herself together out of concern for the baby, she looks down at it, expecting to

hear renewed wailing. Surprise fills her as she sees the baby's eyes closed, and she worriedly checksthe baby is still alive. Finding it to be so, she resumes her brisk walk to find the person she believes

most likely to take the child in - a widowed women of near 60 winters, without grandchildren.

The midwife knocks twice on the wooden door and waits, looking around for the source of her

unease but only seeing darkness. A few seconds pass and the click of a lock is followed by the door

opening a fraction, allowing two eyes to look in.

"Midwife Helen, is that you? Come in, quickly, it is not safe out there," the women in the doorway

says.

"Thank you Tunia," the midwife says, following her inside, and sitting with her near the fire in the

corner of the room.

"Alanora has given birth Tunia. To a son."

"She has? That is most wonderful news on a night such as this! Is that him you carry? Should he not

be with his mother?"

Suddenly grief-stricken, the midwife replies, "Alanora...did not last very long once he was born. I

think she may have poured every ounce of strength she had into giving birth to him. She had none

left for herself."

"Oh...my heart is filled with sadness. And the poor thing. Born on a night such as this and orphaned

too. That could only be an omen for ill." Tunia, a tear falling from her eye, stares out in front of her

for a while. A few minutes pass, and the midwife turns to Tunia.

"Tunia, I came here to ask if you would take him in. He has no family to care for him, and i know

you thought of Alanora as a daughter."

"Yes, of course I will. I will do my best for the young child - try to be as good a mother as I knowAlanora would have been. Tell me - did Alanora give the baby a name before...?"

"She did not even get to hold him, too far gone was she even a minute past his birth." The sadness

felt by them both, overlaced with fear of the darkness outside causes another few minutes of silent

mourning before Tunia resolves to look after the baby."Very well then - here, let me hold him."

Tunia takes the baby from midwife Helen's arms, and gently cradles him in her arms.

"What shall i call you, little one?" she coos to him, and he slowly wakes under the eyes of Tunia

and Helen.

"There was something strange with the baby when i took him outside before. He...does not seem

afraid of the dark, even at home in it."

"Then he should be named for the shadows of his birth. He should be called...Noir, for the night."

Chapter 2


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10 Years Later

In the small the village of Anile, two boys play a game of hide and seek. It is Noir's turn to count, so

he presses his head against a nearby tree and, ever so slightly peeking, starts loudly counting to ten.

Both boys know all the best hiding spots and pride themselves on this fact, but Abner Noir's friend

and playmate since birth wants to find a spot even Noir doesn't know. Hearing Noir start to count,

he runs for the only place the boys haven't explored a cave just outside the village. Many timesthey had dared each other to enter the dark, gloomy depths of this place but never before had either

of them ventured further than a few paces in. Abner takes a few steps in and hesitates, suddenly

unsure about his hiding spot. The voice of Noir's loud 'TEN' echoes in the distance and he makes up

his mind, quickly taking the remaining steps to be around the corner and out of sight to observers

outside the cave. The sound of footsteps get louder as Noir heads in the direction his peeking eyes

indicated to him, but gradually start to fade again as he sees no Abner. Abner, once he realises he

has avoided discovery, decides he has had enough of the cave and starts to move. Halfway through

lifting his foot to take a step he feels a frightening sensation there is something sticking on his

back. Suddenly terrified, he tries to lunge for the light of the cave entrance but an even greater force

begins to suck him back. The light around him begins to fade and he makes one last attempt to save

himself, a loud scream, before surrendering to terror and giving in to the blackness.Back in the village, Noir is still searching. Increasingly frustrated, he wonders how Abner has

evaded him for so long. He sits down, resting, and searches his mental map for any clue as to where

his friend could be. His mind eventually comes up with the only unexplored location and he

suddenly stands upright, crying triumphantly and racing towards the cave. At the entrance he

pauses, remembering the fear of this place but in his thoughts he realises it was not his fear that

stopped him from entering, but his friends. Easily now, he walks inside; slowly but surely, ready for

danger but not afraid of it. Turning the corner he stops dead. A large monstrous creatures covered in

a sticky goo stands over something on the ground. Noticing his approach, the monster turns and

rears, numerous limbs waving in the air. Suddenly panicking, Noir can't move. Under the glare of

the hideous beast he freezes, and precious seconds tick by as the monster moves towards him. The

monster reaches striking distance, and raises a goo-covered limb ready to bring down on his torso

when Noir's terror suddenly triggers something deep inside of him. With all his will he wishes

himself to vanish, to be out of sight of this nightmare, and suddenly he feels a strange sensation

the monsters limb passes straight through him. Still too afraid to move, he stares down at his body

but where his chest should be there is nothing but a dark mist swirling in the air. The monster moves

past him and suddenly he can see what had previously had it's attention the curled up figure of

Abner lying motionless. Forgetting the monster in light of his close friend's plight, he begins to rush

to him. Strangely enough the moment he starts to move a sensation grabs him and almost instantly

he finds himself next to Abner. Attempting to pick him up, Noir finds his shadow-limbs have

enough substance to lift when he tries to do so and with surprising ease and speed he has Abner in

his arms. Running for the cave exit he hits the light and suddenly encounters resistance in hismotions as if the mysterious force that had given him this energy had suddenly disappeared. Abner,

suddenly heavier in his arms begins to fall from his grip but Noir manages to leave the cave

completely. Resting Abner on the ground, Noir looks at into the cave, trying to make out the the

monsters form in the darkness. Minutes pass and he begins to relax, taking a deep breath and

calming himself. He turns back to his friend and for the first time sees the blood covering a hole in

his shirt. The monster has taken a bite of him, Noir thinks, and he rips open the torn shirt to find it.

Using his own shirt to absorb some of the blood, he finds no hole at all and to his surprise his friend

groans, regaining conciousness. Sitting up, Abner looks at Noir, then the blood on his shirt, and

finally his own ragged shirt; looking more shocked with every new detail he takes in.

What happened...? Abner asks Noir.

Our worst nightmare I'm afraid...


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Chapter 3

As the two boys slowly walk back to the village, they try to come to terms with the past events and

their survival. Noir's thoughts centre on his mysterious shadow form. The more steps he takes, the

more doubt start enters his mind, and he wonders if it could have been just his fear, the darkness,

and a bit of luck combining to form his memories of what went on in the cave. He raises his hand,

ignoring Abner's questioning glance, and focuses on changing it to shadow. Feeling silly after only afew seconds he lowers his arm again, having felt and seen nothing change. He thinks of the warm

meal waiting in his home as there has been every night and starts feeling better; his worries starting

to evaporate. He shuts the thoughts of shadows out of his mind, and decides that when telling the

story, he will leave out any mention of it.

What do you remember, Abner? Noir asks, looking at Abner.

Well...not much really. I mean, I knew you'd find me real easy if I didn't hide somewhere new, so I

went to the cave. I heard you come and go guess it was a good hiding spot at least, Abner laughs,

grinning at Noir and lightening the mood.

And what after that? Noir presses, remaining serious, keenly interested in his friend's perspective

of events.

Well, I started to get out of the cave...but something was stopping me, Abner replies, and stopswalking, seeing they are about to enter the village. I was terrified, Noir. My vision blackened. And

then I woke up to see you.

Whatever it was, I don't think it will come out of that cave. And we won't ever go near it again,

that's for sure. Noir pats Abner's back, comforting him. Come on, lets both go back to Tunia's.

She always makes too much soup for two anyway.

In the sky above them the moon begins to make an appearance as the sun disappears behind the far

mountains. Looking up at them, Noir wonders what lies beyond them. Not many travellers pass

through their village, and there hasn't been any for many moons.

Have you ever wondered what its like outside our village? Noir asks Abner as they approach the

door to Tunia's.

Sometimes. It would be a lot of fun to go somewhere for a change.

Noir opens the door and the smell of the best soup in the village distracts him from his questions.

Ah! There you boys are- Tunia stop suddenly, seeing Abner's bloodied shirt. What happened!

Are you alright, Abner?

I'm fine, Tunia. But boy do we have a story for you! We found a monster!

Sitting down, the boys begin to tell the story, embellishing and changing it repeatedly to make

themselves heroes. With an experienced mind, Tunia sorts out truth from fiction and works out the

reality of the encounter. Worried, but relived the boys seem to be all right, she decides to wait till

morning to inform the village leader of the boys' escapade. After they finish the story, Abner and

Noir settle into chairs at the small, rectangular wooden table and after looking to Tunia for the 'ok',

start eating hungrily.Dinner ends, and after saying thank-you to Tunia and goodbye to Noir, Abner heads home. Noir,

thinking of shadows again, turns to Tunia and asks, Have you ever heard of someone who could

turn into a shadow?

Tunia, instantly dropping the soup bowls in her hands, stares at Noir. Where did you hear of such

things! she exclaims, surprising Noir with her intensity.

I..err...heard someone speaking of it... Noir improvises, unwilling to implicate himself in what has

so upset Tunia. Still too interested to drop the topic he tries again, Do you know of people like that

then?

Relaxing again, Tunia sits back down at the table. Noir waits, watching her gather her thoughts and

thinking himself; excited to find he may not have been imagining his dark, misty form but scared of

what he may learn from his guardian. Tunia, now prepared to tell the tale, turns once again to faceNoir.

Legends of these people have existed for hundreds of years. They are called shades, and are very


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dangerous, she begins.

Chapter 4

"Shades have always been the source of terror and tragedy ", Tunia continues. "Noir, what do you

know of the Light Masters?"

"Light Masters? Aren't they supposed to work for the King and control light?""Yes, they serve the King. More importantly though, they can indeed control and influence light in

many different ways. They are very rare - someone does not simple become one, they are born one.

Of those born with the ability, only a few survive the transition to adulthood because once their

powers start to develop, many cannot control them and go blind or, in rare cases, get hotter and

hotter until they burst into flames. There are only about a dozen full Light Masters alive today, and

a few more potentials. I am telling you this because they are closely related to shades and very

similar - except where Light Masters command light; shades control darkness and shadow. Light

Masters can brighten themselves so much that to look at them would blind you, shades can darken

themselves to such a level that a glance would give you nightmares till the day you died. Light

Masters can bathe others in a warm light to heal wounds, while shades do just the opposite and can

kill you if you are close enough and linger. Light Masters can also morp into pure light while shadescan fade into shadows.

"Luckily, shades are even rarer than Light Masters. The last once died a hundred years ago, killed

by the Light Masters. Still, hundreds died because of him, and more after due to the nightmares."

"And...how does someone become a shade?" Noir asks, the sick feeling in his gut brought on by

Tunia's talk worsening. Deeply afraid he may be one of these feared shades, he does not look

directly at Tunia.

"Well, just like a Light Master. For shades and Light Masters, they are born the same as anyone

else. Then, one day before adulthood they begin the transformation and either survive, perish or live

in agony the rest of their life. The transformation can take as little as a day or as long as a month,

but during this time they are either shining if they have the abilities of a Light Master or draining

away light if they are a shade."

Feeling received that he does not fit the description of a shade, but still very concerned about the

similarities between what he had done and what shades can do, he asks, "Has there ever been any

who did not undergo the transformation?"

"Never", Tunia answers to Noir's relief. "The length of time for the transformation is an indicator of

their strength, so one would be incredibly week to have had none and a shade that week would not

threaten the Light Masters."

Feeling further relieved at this news, Noir decides he has heard enough and stands up, yawning and

realising the late hour. "I should go to bed now, but thanks for telling me this stuff Tunia."

"Be careful talking to anyone about this Noir - it can be dangerous. Goodnight then, I should sleep

as well."Puzzled by the warning but too tired to think about it, Noir falls asleep in mere minutes of laying

down.

**************************************

"Wake up, Noir! Wake up!"

Noir slowly comes awake and looks to the source of the sound. Seeing Abner, he closes his eyes

again and faces away, deciding to be angry with him later for the early awakening.

"Noir! This is serious! The Light Masters are here!"

Snapping awake at the mention of the Light Masters, Noir rushes out of bed and feels a moment of

dizziness caused by his sudden rise. Steadying himself and turning to Abner he asks, "What are theydoing here?"

"I don't know yet, they only just entered the village. Lets go find out!"


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Chapter 5

Tunia, Light Masters are here in the village! Noir calls out to Tunia as soon as he enters his house,

looking around frantically for her. His eyes spotting her sitting in a chair beside the fireplace, he

emphatically adds Come and see!.

Tunia turns and stops her threading, saying Light Masters, Noir? What would people such as those

be doing here- she halts mid sentence, a worried expression on her face. Did they say why theyhave come?

Yeh...they think someone is going to start a transformation soon! Could they be right, Tunia?

Ah...I see. We should find out, I think. They must be pretty certain of this Light Master's don't

just spend days riding out to a remote village on a hunch.

Tunia, they have asked that everyone from 10 to 18 winters come to the village hall. I should go

there before someone comes looking.

Yes, that is where we will find out who this potential is. Go then, quickly - I will follow.

Eager to get to the hall, Noir sets a very brisk pace and Tunia has trouble keeping up. Only half way

to the village hall, they are surprised by the approach of the Light Masters' party and the

surrounding crowd. Momentarily confused but being fairly bright, Noir works it out just after the

crowd passes.Tunia, they must have found the potential! That's why they're leaving so soon! Noir shouts to

Tunia, struggling to be heard with the crowd so close.

Can you see who it is, Noir? Who is with them?

Focusing on the group of horses, he easily makes out the soldiers who are all very similar. Crossing

them off his list of people to check, he looks at one of the glowing figures. Remembering the female

Light Master's hair from the arrival, he checks her off his list as well. They are too far away for him

to see the remaining riders clearly so Noir, desperately wanting to glimpse the potential, runs.

Knowing the village inside-out he takes the shortest route in an attempt to get in front of the

walking party. Racing through the empty streets he makes good time, and finds the way ahead of

the party clear. Catching his breath for a moment, then looking up, he now has a clear view of the

other two glowing figures. In front is the male Light Master, he now sees, and to his right the

female he spotted before. Excitement filling him, he stares at the third shining figure, this one much

brighter than the others.

His eyes hurt from looking, and he cannot make out much of the figure, but what he can see is

enough. Noir would know him anywhere, dressed like anyone, and in this case even glowing. Noir

yelps in shock barley remaining upright. They are taking his best friend away, he realises. How

unfair! Angry at the Light Masters' now and unafraid of the consequences of his actions, he runs

straight at Abner, aiming for a gap in the soldiers. They see what he is trying to do however, and

block the way, not drawing swords but giving him a fierce warning with their eyes.

Abner! Noir cries, Abner!

Noir? Abner's hesitant voice sounds. Not quite himself due to the transformation occurring andbarely able to concentrate on anything besides it, Abner goes silent.

Noir's continued harassment of the soldiers draws the attention of the female Light Master, and she

raises her hand, the light in it magnifying preparing to render Noir immobile.

A fraction of a second before she does, the man yells STOP! with such a powerful voice and

flashes a stunning brilliance causing everyone, the other Light Master included, to immediately

stop. All eyes on the man, he gets off his horse, and walks over to Noir. Staring at him intently, an

amazed look appears on the Master's face. Reluctantly glancing away from Noir, he looks up at the

other Master and speaks softly We have found another potential.

The amazed look of the man spreads to the women, and she asks Him? But...he looks normal. He

is not glowing. Not even...darkening. How can he be in a transformation?

I'm not sure. Perhaps he is too weak. But I can feel it he is transforming. In this village, we camelooking for one potential, but we have found two. What this means for I cannot believe it to be

chance is unknown. Perhaps the greatest of us will know.


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Noir, the shock wearing off, asks I am to come with you? With Abner? To the city? I am a

potential?

The women, a smile appearing on her face at the youth and naivety of Noir, nods. Yes, we will all

go to the city. But we must be going quickly You may not be showing sings of the transformation,

but your friend Abner is, and the sooner we are back with the other Light Masters the better it will

be for him. We did not think to bring a horse for two extra potentials, but you are lite. You will ride

double with me here, give me your hand.Entranced by the promise of adventure, and happy to be going with his friend, Noir dos not look

back as the party of 12 begins the journey to the great city of Lumin. He does not see Tunia,

urgently trying to get his attention; he does not hear her final, vital, words; and he does not hear the

truth about his father.

the shadow child

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