Part 3: Shadow Warrior

The air outside carried a bite to it, and Rai breathed deep before she started off the porch. Daygo was a shadow at her side in the predawn light. She strode passed the grazing pasture and started up the gently rolling hill towards the trees. It was slightly less than a mile to the forest fringe, an easy walk through knee-high grass. She kept a brisk pace, so she reached the woods shortly. As she passed under the first tree’s branches, though, a shiver ran down her spine and she was filled with a strange sense of foreboding. The dim interior of the woodland seemed different somehow, almost as if it was waiting for her. She paused, eyes darting back and forth, searching for a threat, anything to explain this feeling of being watched. When she found nothing, she shook herself.

“Spooked myself, with all this talk of bandits, I guess.” She laughed softly at herself and looked down at Daygo.

“Still, I’m glad you’re here today.” With that, she set off through the trees, moving with an instinctive grace.

Rai was a gifted hunter and woodsman. She moved through the trees like a ghost, never breaking a twig underfoot or stumbling over a root. When Kole had been teaching her, he was unnerved by how easily the hunting and tracking arts had come to her, and she had swiftly exceeded his expertise. Rai was a natural when it can to seeking out the small, easily missed signs of wildlife, and with a bow in her hands there wasn’t an animal she couldn’t bring down, most often with the first arrow, too. Truth be told, Rai was probably the best archer in the kingdom, and Kole was often heard boasting about his daughter’s skills at the village pub.  Today, however, the sun was high overhead when she stopped for noonmeal and she had still not brought anything down.

“Not even a lousy rabbit.” She muttered to herself as she made a sandwich out of one of the rolls, some cheese and the jerky. She was sitting on a large tree stump, having traveled deeper into the forest than ever before. Daygo lay at her feet, panting slightly from his morning exertion.

“Better find you some water, boy.” She said softly as she finished the sandwich. She packed the remains of her noonmeal back into the knapsack and grabbed her strung bow and swung it over her shoulder.

“Come on; find me a stream, Daygo.” The dog jumped up and began sniffing. It was an old trick she’d taught him years ago, but it still amazed her that he’d learned it. Whether he was scenting the water itself or the animals that gathered near it, she couldn’t tell, but he always managed to lead her to a source of water. Daygo began trotting north, deeper into the woods, and Rai took off after him.

         They’d been traveling about 15 minutes when Rai’s keen ears detected the quaint bubbling of a brook. She’d always thought that this must be what a fairy’s laughter sounded like, but she’d never voiced that opinion out loud. She followed a well-used game trail and smiled.

“Good boy, Daygo! Maybe I’ll have better luck finding something to bring home.” She said to the dog.  She came out into the clearing and stood silent for a moment to make sure it was empty before giving Daygo the go ahead. The dog trotted joyfully over to the brook and began lapping at the water noisily while Rai followed him at a more sedate pace.

“I’ve never had this much trouble hunting before.” She muttered to herself. She knelt next to the stream and cupped some of the cool, clear water in her hands and rinsed her face. Then she filled her water skin and sat back against a small boulder sitting on the bank of the brook. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the sunlight that filtered down through the leaves and dappled her face. She sat there for a few minutes before sighing.

“Well, we’d best get back to it, boy. We don’t want to be caught in these woods after dark.” She placed her hand on top of the boulder, which was really more of a biggish rock that was curiously egg shaped, and began to lever herself up. However, the minute her skin came in contact with the rock, she dropped back down to her butt. Her head flew back and her eyes flew open, shining bright white. Her head filled with music, a beautiful melody that filled her body with warmth. She could almost make out the sound of someone singing, but if they were, the words blended so seamlessly with the notes that they were nearly indistinguishable. The music built to a crescendo, and then suddenly there was a massive crack, and the air in the clearing popped. Daygo barked once, sharply, and then there was silence.



Rai had been thrown backward when the air exploded and now she lay on her back, eyes still closed and the tail end of her braid drifting in the stream. She opened her eyes now and blinked, once and then again at the pure blue sky above her. There was that odd silence one hears after a very loud noise and then gradually the sounds of the forest began to seep back into her ears. There, a bird, twittering in the treetops, and there the movement of some animal, rustling through the leaves blanketing the forest floor. She lay still for a moment, and was just about to pull herself to a sitting position when something blocked out the daylight. Her eyes focused in and she was breathless with horror. It was an enormous turquoise eye! She shrieked loudly and scrabbled on the ground, pushing her body back with her feet. Only when the cold seeped through the seat of her leggings did she realize that she had pushed herself straight into the stream. She shook her head, staring in shock at the behemoth that was suddenly smack dab in the middle of the clearing. It was enormous, with a massive triangular shaped head, a spiky ridge protruding slightly from the back of it. Reptilian eyes lay on either side of its snout and it had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. It sat on its haunches like a cat, forelegs thicker than the oldest tree trunks supporting it. Its spiked tail curled around its body to lie resting between its front claws. But the most terrifying feature of this thing was the two wings sprouting from between its shoulders. They were spread as wide as they could go, and both wingtips spread out of the clearing and into the trees. The creature threw back its head and issued a triumphant shriek, and Rai had to cover her ears, fearing that the noise would rupture her ear drums. As terrified as she was, Rai couldn’t help but appreciate the ferocious beauty of the animal. It was covered tip to tail in beautiful shimmering black scales. In the sunlight they glowed with deep, dark blues and rich purples. Rai stared at in awe, breathless. It shook its wings and folded them flat against its body, and then lowered its head to look at her. It opened its mouth, and Rai uttered a little squeak of terror, fearing that those teeth were going to close around her body with a snap. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart beating in her throat, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked up cautiously. Was it… was it smirking at her? And then, it spoke.

Hello, little one. I have been waiting a long time to meet you. Rai gasped and shoved back a little further, moving her body out of the creek. She whipped her head around, looking for the source of the voice she heard, but there was nobody there. At least, nobody human. She stared at the monster in front of her. But its mouth didn’t move!  She thought, incredulous.

I don’t have a speaking voice, Shadewalker. I hear your thoughts, and you, in turn, hear mine. At least, those that I wish you to hear. Rai started as she realized that she wasn’t actually hearing the voice speak with her ears, but rather with her mind.

What are you? She thought, and was more than a little embarrassed to hear that her mind voice trembled slightly, just as her speaking voice would have. She heard a deep, throaty chuckle in her mind.

I am what your people would call a dragon. In the elven language, I am Shangotti, which doesn’t translate into your language. Rai gasped. A dragon? They were fairy stories, told to children who still believed in such things. Elves and unicorns, fairies and ogres, dwarves and dragons. Adults knew there were no such things as dragons!

If there are no such things as dragons, then how could I be here in front of you?

“No, no, this isn’t real. This can’t be real. There must be something in the water, that’s it. I’m hallucinating, that’s all.” Rai gabbled to herself.

I assure you, Shadewalker, I am as real as you or your ashwari. Rai drew in a sharp breath and her eyes darted around the clearing, searching for Daygo. She’d forgotten him when the world went crazy. She spotted him curled at the base of a slowan tree, tongue lolling as he grinned a doggie grin at her. Strangely, her mind latched onto the fact that the dragon had called Daygo an ashwari. Daygo really is an ashwari. I’ll have to tell Papa he was right. She thought, gazing at the wolf across the clearing.

You humans have the funniest minds… I just told you that dragons do exist, and all you can think about is the fact that your dog is really an ashwari. The dragon spoke in her mind again, and she could hear the chuckle in its voice.

“What do I call you? I mean… obviously I call you a dragon, but what’s your name? Are you male or female?” Rai asked, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around her knees. The dragon cocked its head to the side for a second and squinted its eyes, contemplating something.

My name in the old language would be impossible to translate fully into your language, but Shadewing would suffice well enough, Shadewalker. I am a male, and you do not need to speak to me out loud, little one. I can hear your thoughts, at least until you learn how to shield them. Rai shook her head.

“No offense, but it’s hard enough trying to deal with the fact that I’m talking to a dragon, let alone that I can… what, thoughtspeak? Whatever it’s called, it’s really strange, so I’ll keep my part of this conversation out loud, thank you. And why do you call me Shadewalker?”

As you like, then, little one. I call you Shadewalker because that is what you are. Rai shook her head in confusion.

“What do you mean, that is what I am? What I am is Veraia Sloan, daughter of Kolen and Selia Sloan. I’m a hunter, not a Shadewalker.” She pushed herself to her feet and brushed herself off before pacing back and forth in front of Shadewing.

You are all those things, but you are also a Shadewalker. Shadewing rumbled in her mind.

“What is this Shadewalker thing? Is it like a sickness or something? Can I cure it, get rid of it? Because I don’t want it!”

No, you cannot get rid of it, little one. It’s in your blood; it’s what makes you who you are. You are not merely human, Veraia, but something more… something other. She stared at him in horror.

“What do you mean something other? Am I… like you? Strange, unnatural?”

It is not easily explained, at least not by me. They should be here any minute, and then you will have the answers you seek.

“They? They who? Oh, no, I can’t handle anything else today. Whoever they are, tell them I said no. I don’t want this. Tell them to go away, and better yet, you go away with them!” Rai shouted as she ran past Shadewing to where her bow, quiver, and knapsack rested. She snatched them up and ran from the clearing as if the hounds of Davenon were after her. Daygo watched her go before turning his gaze to Shadewing inquiringly. The dragon nodded his head and Daygo yipped before following after Rai.