Shadow Walkers (10 page)

Hector clenches his fist as a drop of sweat runs down his face. He was completely helpless. More than anything else he wanted to keep Damon safe. He had finally found someone who he thought understood him- who he could relate to- and he couldn’t even protect them. All he could do was cower in fear as Valus of the Void shattered his confidence. Hector shouts in frustration at the Void. “I asked what you were doing with him! He doesn’t want to be with you monsters!”

Valus looks taken aback, but quickly smiles. “You call us monsters, but you Walkers and Inverts never tried to stand in our shoes. You’re all so oblivious to who the
real
monsters are, so you just find whoevers doing the next worst thing to put the blame on. You judge us Void with your morals and completely disregard the possibility that we are anything more than a mere hindrance to your otherwise perfect existence.” He shakes his head as he raises his sword.

“Don’t try to act like you creeps are anything better than scum. You willingly kill completely innocent people.” Hector spits back with venom in his voice.

“And who are you to deem what makes someone innocent?” Valus retorts. “You’re all unable of imagining a bigger picture- of seeing us Void outside the role of the monsters. It’s too bad that you’re all going to die soon, I would have loved to show you the truth of this world we live in.” The Void’s eyes lock onto Hector’s, re-instilling any fear that had faded away over the course of their exchange. Hector hadn’t noticed before, how blue the elite Void’s eyes were.

“Your eyes aren’t purple.” Hector whispers.

“Ah, yes, that’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? You probably wouldn’t have guessed, but I’m Damon’s brother. We’re both sons of the Queen of the Void.”

“So you’re half human and half Void…” Hector says in amazement. “What kind of messed up relationship did your parents have.”

“I have Void and human blood flowing through my veins, yes. But none of that is of concern to you. Right now, you should be worrying about something else entirely. Under orders of the Queen, I can’t kill you yet. But she didn’t say I couldn’t have a little fun.”

The Void runs forward and slashes with his sword. Hector is too paralyzed by his fear to move, and he can only cry internally as the blade passes through his head. He flinches, but after a few moments he realizes that he wasn’t injured at all. “What was that?” Hector asks. He knew for sure that the katana had went right through his face, but for some reason he wasn’t bleeding.

“What was what?” Valus asks, his head cocked. Hector prepares to yell at the Void for playing games, but he quickly forgets what he was so confused about. His entire body suddenly felt light, and his mind grows fuzzy. He had no memory of what just happened. Valus laughs.

“You poor child, be glad I didn’t take something more important from you. Now remember what I’m about to tell you, Hector. The 25th of June marks the end of your kind. And this war doesn’t end with the four of us. If you somehow manage to survive the onslaught that is to come, just remember that the diamond is one of its own.”

As Hector was about to ask just what the Void’s ambiguous message meant, he falls to the ground. His mind was in such a haze that he could no longer properly form thoughts. There was nothing for him to do, no words to speak, and no way of fighting. His mind slips further and further away until everything turns black.

* * *

Hector was awakened sometime later thanks to a firm shaking. He slowly opened his eyes to find Council Member Axus looking down at him. Most of his body was numb, but he felt as if somebody had hit him in the back of the head with a brick. One second he was on his way back to meet Damon, and then he was looking up at one of the Council members. He tries his hardest to recollect what had happened to connect those two points, but nothing was coming up. He had no idea why he was laying on his kitchen floor.

As he regains the ability to move his mind races to Damon. Did Axus find the Void boy that Hector was hiding in his home? Axus shakes his head as he lifts Hector onto his feet. “You’re coming with me, Hector. You’re in for a lot of trouble with the Council, and you’ve got a lot of questions to answer.”

Hector quickly starts panicking, but he nods his head. He couldn’t do anything to worsen his situation right now. He wanted to know what happened to Damon, but he would just have to see what the Council members said before he brought it up. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite place a finger on it.

“I can’t believe that Valus was here.” Axus says in disbelief. Hector had no idea what the Council member was talking about, but in that moment a gear clicked in the back of his mind.

“
The 25th of June marks the end of your kind. And this war doesn’t end with the four of us. If you somehow manage to survive the onslaught that is to come, just remember that the diamond is one of its own.
” Hector blurts out the words like a robot reciting a script. He covers his mouth immediately after speaking, unsure of what in the world had just escaped from him. Council member Axus looks at him with wide eyes, a hint of fear evident in his green gaze.

“Grab onto me, we’re leaving now.”

Hector didn’t dare disobey the older man. He thought that his life was already weird enough after finding out he was an Invert, but now he was spouting out cryptic messages for no apparent reason. He was frightened and worried about what had happened to him while he was unconscious. As much as he hated it, Damon was the last thing on his mind as he grabbed onto Axus’ shoulder.

The two of them shadow jump away from Hector’s house, and for the first time in his life, Hector was actually glad to be headed to a Council meeting.

Chapter Ten

Nick

Nick awakes to the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. Part of him- the old him- wants to just ignore it and go back to sleep. But ever since he arrived in the Pit three days ago he’s grown to love waking up in the morning. He had a responsibility to get all of his training done. After all, ignoring even a minute of training would go against coming to the Pit in the first place. For the first time in his life, Nick had some incentive to get out of bed in the morning.

He walks over and opens the door, and as usual Isaac is looking down at him.

“I woke up late.” Isaac says. “Skip your shower and get dressed, I don’t want to keep Allison and Hector waiting for us any longer.” He walks away without another word.

Nick grunts and begins searching for a pair of clothes. Once he gets ready he walks downstairs to meet Isaac in the living room. “Let’s go.”

“Grab on.” Isaac says flatly.

Nick complies, but lets out a sigh as he does so. “I can’t wait until I learn how to shadow jump so I don’t have to piggyback off of you all the time.”

His captain grins. “Hey, that might come sooner than you think.”

Isaac then takes them through the shadows. Nick was so used to it by now that he didn’t even bother to stare into the darkness around them. He was more curious about the process of shadow jumping than he was enthralled by it. He still didn’t entirely understand how it worked, but he refrained from asking questions- he already did that way too much. When he was around Allison and Hector he felt like a first grader being escorted by the kids from middle school.

When they emerge from the shadows, they stand directly outside of a training room.

“Finally.” Allison says as she stands up from a bench. “It’s about time our own captain showed up to
his
training session.”

Isaac smiles sheepishly as he unlocks the door to the training room. The four of them shuffle inside. Allison and Nick try to enter at the same time, and end up getting jammed in the doorframe- until Hector pushes them the rest of the way in.

“You lovebirds can cuddle somewhere else.” He says.

Nick almost immediately feels the blood rush to his face and he looks away in embarrassment. He
did
think Allison was beautiful, but he didn’t want to make the team dynamic feel weird by thinking of her as anything more than a friend.

Isaac brings out the same bracelets that the group used yesterday, handing them to each of the Walkers. Nick locks his bracelet in place, his excitement returning once again. Yesterday he thought for sure that he would take a whole month to awaken his first Chain. Then, soon after Hector and Isaac left to go to the Council, Nick was able to shortly manifest his Walker powers. He was so confused when it happened, but quickly got excited as he held a black orb of shadow energy in his palm. He could move it all by himself- with his
mind
. Nick’s first impressions were that duelers seemed to be the best class. But man, he was really starting to love being a mage. Though he couldn’t help but be jealous of Hector- Invisibility was undeniably awesome.

The three of them continue to do the same thing as yesterday. Nick once again focuses on his mother as he channels his shadow energy. It didn’t take long before he manifested more orbs of pure shadow energy. He plays around with them, trying to see what he can actually do with his basic powers. He moves the three orbs in different directions, making them float all over the room. He then forces them together, creating one giant orb of energy.

“Good job Nick!” Hector says. Nick looks around to find his teammate, and as expected, he was nowhere to be seen. Nick grunts.

“Not fair. Invisibility is too cool of a power.”

Hector laughs playfully and slowly becomes completely visible again. “Oh don’t be jealous. I’m sure your first Chain will be cool too.”

Nick rolls his eyes. “Sure. If I can figure out how to break it. Any tips?”

Hector bites his lip and looks at the ceiling as if pondering the question thoroughly. After a few seconds of silence he snaps his fingers and points at Nick. “Well, you know how you’re thinking of something that’s special to you?”

Nick nods. “Yeah, my mom.”

Hector frowns. “Well, it might be extreme, but I imagined
losing
someone important to me, not protecting them. After that, I didn’t notice that I broke my first Chain until you guys pointed it out. And now I can go invisible without the bracelet or even thinking about anything in particular.”

Nick looks down at the ground. Thinking about losing his mother was one of the last things he wanted to do, she was all that he had left. But if the thought was really all it took to break his first Chain, then Nick figures it’s the best shot he’s got. He’s already got a hold on manifesting the energy, and controlling it was easy enough. So he does what he usually does when he summons the orbs of energy- but this time, he thinks of no longer having his mother in his life.

The thought alone almost brings tears to his eyes. He didn’t have much in his life- having grown up rather poor- so losing her really meant losing it all. He was only in the Pit to protect his mother, so to not have her in his life- to lose her- meant that embracing his life as a Shadow Walker was entirely pointless. The pure thought of it made his heart feel cold. He shivers as if someone had just cracked open the door in the middle of winter. But the cold sensation wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, it was quite peaceful. Though Nick couldn’t make any sense of why he suddenly felt so cold.

“I don’t think it’s working man.” Nick says, defeated. Hector shakes his head.

“Oh well, I don’t got anything else. Good luck though.” Hector reaches out and pats Nick’s shoulder before walking away- which was a big mistake. As soon as Hector touched his teammates shoulder, his entire hand was suddenly encased in a block of ice. Nick and Hector both scream- probably like little girls- as Hector tries to pry his hand free.

“What the heck is this!” Hector shouts. Nick watches in horror as Hector struggles with his frozen hand. And before either of them can call out for Isaac’s help, the captain is already standing next to them.

“Nick.” He says as if marveling a fine piece of art. “This Chain is incredible. I can’t believe how amazing this is.”

“Yeah, great news!” Hector says. “I’m a popsicle!”

Isaac rolls his eyes and summons his crimson sword. He faces Hector with a sadistic smile on his face. “Stay still or I might cut your hand off.”

Hector sucks his lips in, and his eyes grow wide. Nick feels bad for the panic he was causing Hector- he was just trying to help Nick out after all. But Isaac doesn’t even act like the frozen arm was an issue. He pushes his blade into the thick layer of ice surrounding Hector’s hand. Everybody besides Isaac jumps in shock. Nick stares in amazement as the ice slowly thins out, until eventually Hector’s hand is completely free. As the ice disappeared, Nick felt like something was siphoning his energy away.

“Oh thank god, sweet freedom at last.” Hector groans as he rubs his hand.

Allison shakes her head. “Oh quit milking it.”

Hector looks at her with with an evil glare in his eyes. “Is this milking it?” He rubs his newly freed hand on Allison’s neck, which causes her to fidget and smack it away.

“God that’s cold! Don’t do that!” She shrieks. Nick laughs at his teammates exchange. He didn’t imagine making friends with his teammates was going to be easy when he came to the Pit, but they were really starting to grow on him.

“To think that you already broke our first Chain. Though I guess what’s more surprising it that you adopted it.” Isaac says, snapping Nick’s attention away from Hector and Allison’s playful slap fight. Nick stares at his captain.

“What do you mean by ‘adopted’?”

Isaac stares in amazement at the young Walker. “I’ve never heard of something like this happening. Every Walker is supposed to have their own unique Chains, but this Chain exhibits the same power that your mother possessed before she had you. Somehow, you both share the same first Chain.”

Nick scratches his head. “I don’t get it. Am I really the only one who’s inherited their parents powers?”

“Yes. This is completely unheard of. And the amount of trips you guys are making me take to report to the Council is just as unheard of for a rookie team. They’ll have a field day knowing that you possess the same powers as Maria Winters herself.”

“I keep hearing that name, but I can’t place my finger on why it sounds so important.” Allison says, her and Hector now finished with their fight.

Isaac shrugs. “You probably heard her name in school. Nick’s mother was a very powerful Walker.”

Nick feels a sense of pride towards his mother. “Was she popular here in the Pit?”

Isaac smiles. “Well of course she was popular. After all, she was a member of the Council.”

Nick’s jaw drops in awe. “My mother was a Council member? That’s incredible! How strong was she compared to the others- no- compared to you?”

“Well, she was in a way rivals with Marcus Marxon, if that means anything to you. After she left the Council, she was replaced by Janice, who still holds that position after seventeen years. As for her strength compared to mine… I’d say we’re pretty even.”

“If you’re so strong, why aren’t you a Council member?” Hector asks.

Their captain holds his hands up in protest. “I have my reasons for not joining, but none of them matter right now. What’s important is that two of you have managed to already awaken your first Chains- in record times nonetheless. I’m pretty impressed with you guys.”

Nick doesn’t know what else to say, his mind can only turn to his mother. He was having a hard time imagining his mom talking to Allison’s father in the Council meeting room, but the mere thought made him smile. His mother was one of the strongest Walkers in history, and somehow, he inherited her powers. Just to make sure he was actually capable of using his first Chain, he reaches down and touches the floor. And sure enough, ice spreads over the tiles beneath his feet until Nick pulls his hand away. As if he was a janitor on cleanup duty, Isaac stabs the ice once more, causing it to slowly fade away.

Nick can’t help but laugh like a crazy kid on the playground. “Holy crap, I can freeze stuff!”

“Yeah, thanks Mr. Winters.” Hector grunts as he waves his previously frozen hand back and forth.

“Yeah, it’s really cool.” Allison says as she stabs her light blue sword into the ground. Nick recognizes the sword as the manifestation of shadow energy that she created in yesterday’s training. The sword was about half the size of Isaac’s, but that didn’t make it any less threatening. “Shouldn’t you learn how to control your energy so you don’t go freezing everything that touches you?”

“Allison’s right.” Isaac says. “That power of yours is strong, but it can affect anybody, friend or foe. Though learning how to control what freezes and what doesn’t shouldn’t be too difficult. Just learn to manipulate your energy more effectively, without the bracelet, and you should be able to control what your energy freezes.”

“Wait, my energy is what freezes everything?” Nick asks. “If that’s the case then controlling it should be a piece of cake.”

“Thats right.” His captain confirms. “Using my tracker abilities, I can sense that the Ice is laced with shadow energy. That’s why I could get rid of it using my sword.”

Nick arches an eyebrow. “And how exactly do you do that?”

Isaac sighs, and sees that all of his subordinates were now focused on him, eager to learn more about their his power. He grunts, obviously defeated. “My swords first Chain allows me to absorb energy out of anything that my blade touches. That’s how I got rid of the ice you made. My sword simply absorbed your energy, and thus the ice disappeared.”

“So that’s why my father said you have troublesome powers.” Allison says in wonder.

Isaac nods. “Yeah. And I figured that if you guys were awakening your first Chains, then at the very least I could explain mine. I just can’t believe that two of you beat Marcus Marxon’s record. Now we just need to wait and see what Allison’s Chain is going to be.”

Nick smiles playfully at Allison “Hey, I’m sorry if it makes you mad that you’re the last to break your Chain. I know that it means a lot to your family name.”

“Gee, thanks.” Allison responds bitterly. The tone lets Nick know that he mistakenly hit the wrong nerve in the young girl’s heart.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Nick says, stammering to take his mistake back.

Allison prepares to bark back at Nick, but Isaac puts a hand between the two of them. “There’s no fighting allowed on this team. Allison, we both know that Nick wasn’t trying to be a jerk. But Nick, you did sound an awful lot like a jerk. Now apologize.”

Nick and Allison exchange gazes, and Nick offers a light smile. She doesn’t return the favor. Isaac groans and rubs his temple as if he were trying to subside a headache. He holds out his hand in front of him. “Grab on.”

The three young Walkers comply without a complaint, and their captain jumps through the shadows with the three of them attached. Nick takes in his scenery as soon as they re-enter the streets of the Pit. The light of the afternoon sun shines beautifully off of the violet crystals at their feet. A lake stretches out to their left, with no coastline in sight. Nick turns to look at his captain.