Shadow Walkers (4 page)

Nick feels taken aback. He seriously didn’t appreciate the way this woman was talking to him. If he weren’t getting the answers he needed, Nick would have snapped back at the lady.

Amanda continues. “The Void and the Walkers have fought for as long as our history tells. A long time ago, there was no government here in the Pit. However, in 1720, three siblings formed an organization named
the Guard
. They made it their mission to eradicate the Void both here in the Pit and in the human world. Other Walkers adopted their ideology, and joined the Guard. After many years, the Guard became large enough that it could start taking charge here in the Pit. It became the government of the Pit, and the members of it- we call ourselves Guardians- are also the military force.”

She pauses to take a drink of water, then continues. “The Guard is run by three Council members. Each council member has three advisors, which would include yours truly. We run things here, and keep the Pit in order. When new Walkers like yourself are discovered, you may choose to become a part of the Guard. In doing so, you join a team with two other rookies, and then you’ll receive training from an instructor. And then, within just a month’s time, you’ll be ready to go out on missions to fight the Void. This training program is so advanced that it will help develop your powers much faster than they would come naturally.”

“After the training the rookies get assigned a captain to lead them.” Isaac says. “Like I told you before, captains are highly skilled and experienced Walkers. When one reaches that rank, they don’t have to work with a team unless they wish to, or are assigned one by the Council.”

Amanda smiles crookedly. “That’s right. So now that things are a bit clearer for you, let me list a few rules before anyone signs the oath.” She pauses, then almost shouts. “Rule number one- all Walkers who are still receiving training are to stay here in the Pit until their training has ended.”

Nick feels a sting of worry in his chest. “But my mom-”

Amanda cuts him off. “I know very well about your mother, Nicholas. She was once a very powerful Walker, before she ran off with
that
man. If you choose to stay here and join the Guard, I will have a Walker sent to watch over her until your training is over.” Nick feels slightly relieved, but still finds the woman’s attitude appalling. The way she referenced his dad didn’t sit right with him.

She continues her speech. “Rule number two- the Guards orders are final. Disobeying the Guard will get you a punishment corresponding to the magnitude of the disobedience. After three strikes, you will be removed from the Guard, with your Walker powers stripped away.” She waits, as if expecting cries of shock. When no one objects, she continues. “And there is rule number three- the most important rule here in the Pit. Under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to befriend or work with any creature of the Void. You are not permitted to show them any type of mercy regardless of the situation.”

“What if people’s lives are at stake?” The teenage girl across from Nick asks.

Amanda locks eyes with her. Her cold gaze let’s Nick know that she doesn’t have it out for just him. She shuffles her papers once again, then looks back at the girl. “Well, Allison, that’s a good question. Using the Void as a way to save your comrades is a smart idea. However, there is a difference between using the Void as your disposable pawns and allying with them. Creating any type of relationship with the Void is absolutely forbidden. And letting them live can result in further casualties.”

Allison sits back in her chair and nods. Her family starts chatting and patting her on the back. Nick wonders if she irrationally hated this woman in the same way he did.

“To join the Guard means that one is willing to dedicate themselves to following the orders of the council.” Amanda declares. “By joining, you agree that you are willing to actively partake in any and all assigned missions in exchange for payment and the honor of protecting the Pit. The Void are not a peaceful race, and it is very likely that you’ll end up losing your life in the field. If you are sure that you are okay with signing yourself over to this kind of lifestyle, come up to the podium.”

The chatter by Allison ends as she stands up from her chair. She pushes her chair in and hugs the younger woman next to her. She whispers something in the older womans ear, then walks to the podium. No hesitation, no more questions. The girl had motivation.

Hector and Nick both stand up and make their way to the podium as well. There was no denying this new world around him. The Void would come for Nick whether or not he joined the Guard. At least this way, by joining the Guard, he would have a fighting chance- for him and his mother. Nick can’t help but feel a strange sense of ease. As unfamiliar as all of this was to him, everything felt right as he walked towards the podium. In a way, he wasn’t just doing this to protect his mother- part of Nick actually wanted to be a Shadow Walker.

Nick walks up behind Hector, with Allison in the lead.
These are my teammates
, he thinks as he studies the other two teenagers. He didn’t know anything about these kids, but they would soon be spending a lot of time together. He felt like it was the first day of school all over again.

Amanda picks up a black chain about the size of a necklace. “By taking this chain, you will become a part of the Guard. In doing so, you agree that you understand the risk that comes with being a Guardian. You agree to abide by any rules placed on you by the council. Now, Allison Marxon, will you accept this chain and join the Guard?”

Allison nods and holds out her hand. “I’ll take it with honor.” Amanda hands the chain over to Allison, who grips it tightly in her hand. What Nick assumes to be her family cheers from the roundtable behind them, and for some reason, even he cracks a smile.

Allison moves to the left, and the other boy walks up to the podium.

“Hector Avern, will you-”

“Yup, I’ll take the stupid chain.” The boy snatches the chain from Amanda, who sneers in disgust. Nick gets some sort of pleasure out of the frustrated shriek that escapes her throat. Hector moves away, and Nick walks up to take his place. He felt satisfied with his decision, excited even. Amanda’s snakelike gaze finds Nick, but he doesn’t dare look away. This wasn’t the type of moment he could show cowardice.

“Nicholas Winters, will you accept this chain and join the Guard?” She asks bitterly.

Nick eyes the black chain, then grabs it. “I will.”

He puts the chain around his neck and walks over to join his new teammates.

Amanda takes a few moments to fill out some papers at the podium, then steps away from it with a sigh. She turns to look at Nick and the other two teenagers and holds her head up high. Nick’s mom had once said that this was one of the ways rich people like to assert their dominance over the poor. “Welcome to the Guard.” She turns to Isaac, and waves him over. The captain looks surprised, but comes over anyways.

She places her hand on his shoulder. “Isaac, we’re assigning you to instruct this team. And also, you’ll be their captain after their training period is over.”

Amanda moves back to the podium and starts sorting papers into different folders. Isaac turns to speak with her. “Oh c’mon, why can’t I enjoy being a lone wolf? It’s been so long since I’ve been on a team. For all I know, with my rusty leadership, these kids will probably get killed.”

Amanda rolls her eyes, a display of sarcasm that Nick didn’t think she could possess. “It has been discussed for weeks now that you should get a new team. Besides, with her on a team,” She casually points to Allison, “We need someone who we can trust. You’re a captain who is also a member of the Midnight Order- Marcus doesn’t want anyone lower than that watching after his daughter. Nick here descends from Maria Winters herself. And you already know the rumors going around about the other one. You’re one of the only people who we could trust to lead a team with such a diverse background. So good luck to you.”

Isaac lets out an irritated groan as he turns to the three young Walkers. Nick can’t help but feel glad that Isaac would not only be his instructor, but his leader. Isaac was the first Shadow Walker that Nick met, and the young man already felt comfortable talking with the guy. Isaac was his guide to the Pit, and the man who saved his life. Nick didn’t know if he would have felt comfortable having any other Walker lead him.

Isaac looks at each of the Walkers one by one then shakes his head in what seems like disbelief. “Welcome to the Guard, rookies. It looks like you’re with me from now on. We can get to know each other some other time, so for now just go home and rest.” He locks eyes with Nick, as if to say
besides you
. “You three will start training tomorrow. Don’t expect it to be easy. In fact, you should come in expecting yourself to cry.”

Chapter Four

Allison

Allison couldn’t sleep. Too many things were running through her mind, blocking her from dreamland. As she lay in her bed she could only replay the moment she took the black chain from Advisor Amanda, and thus officially became a member of the Guard. Becoming a Guardian
was
one of Allison’s ‘Five Great Milestones’- a list she created on her thirteenth birthday that consisted of all the things she wants to do before she dies. And at seventeen years old, she had finally crossed off one of the biggest things on the list.

Frustrated at the uncomfortable position she was in, she hops off of her bed and marches into the hall, giving up all hope of falling asleep. With a quiet step she moves to the darkest part of the hallway and clenches her fists.

Allison pictures the kitchen downstairs, trying to imagine its layout as accurately as possible. She focuses solely on imagining herself slipping away into the darkness. And, as usual, it works. She sinks into the shadow at her feet and is surrounded by darkness for only a brief moment. Then she emerges in her kitchen, standing in the shadow of her fridge. She smiles smugly as she realizes that she’s finally mastered shadow jumping.

She opens up the fridge and pulls out the orange juice. As she pours herself a glass another body suddenly emerges from the shadows. It was her father.

“You finally joined the Guard. Are you excited?” He asks without a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“Yes.” Allison answers. “Training starts tomorrow, but I’m having trouble going to sleep. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

Her father's eyes narrow as he studies her with his familiar yet distant gaze. “Like what? You have nothing to worry about, Allison. You’re a prodigy, stronger than any of the newest recruits. What is there to keep you up at night when you have nothing to be afraid of?”

Allison struggles to keep her calm. She could master shadow jumping, but she’ll never be able to withstand a conversation with her father. She thinks about just disappearing back upstairs to end the conversation, but a thought that’s been running through her mind forces its way out of her mouth.

“Father, what if I’m not the best on my team?”

Allison’s father moves in a blur. He grasps Allison’s arm so tightly that she immediately writhes in pain, dropping her orange juice. The glass shatters around their feet, but as she takes a couple steps back, she doesn’t dare take her eyes off of her father. Glass in her feet would be better than further angering him. His eyes narrow as he looks down upon his daughter.“What did you say?”

Allison fights back the surge of fear and hatred that forms inside her. Acting rash would only make things worse. She swallows her pride and speaks. “A boy on my team- his name is Nicholas Winters- was attacked by Valus.”

Her father's expression of anger is replaced by confusion, only to quickly turn into disgust. “Winters? I can’t believe it… Maria’s kid has finally come to the Pit. And here I thought that wretched woman would keep the boy in the dark his whole life” He looks back to Allison for only a moment before looking away. “If Valus really is after him, he must have found out about Nicholas’ lineage. And since he got away, Valus will surely come after him until the boy is dead. To think you’d be placed on a team with him of all people.” He releases his grip on his daughter's arm.

Allison looks down at her feet in embarrassment. Her hunch was right- there
was
something special about the boy on her team. Regardless, she didn’t want her father losing faith in her. “I don’t know what’s so special about Nick, and I don’t understand why Valus would target a rookie, but that doesn’t matter. No matter what happens, I won’t let you down. I promise.” Even though she means what she says, Allison knows that the truth is that she
couldn’t
let her father down. Doing anything lower than his expectations demanded never ended well.

Her father doesn’t look at her as he returns to the shadows. “You won’t disappoint me, Allison. Your mother would be so proud that you’re still following her dream. Now go get some sleep. Make sure at training tomorrow you make your strength known. I’m going back to HQ for a meeting, stop by once you figure out your powers.” Her father's eyes glisten as he turns to look at her, a wicked grin stretched upon his face. “And what powers they will be. Soon you’ll be able to show everyone what the Marxon family name means.”

Without another word to his daughter, Marcus Marxon disappears into the shadows. Gone again, without a hug or a kiss goodbye. Without even a ‘good luck honey’ or a ‘make me proud’. Allison sighs as she begins climbing up the staircase leading to her bedroom. She’s never expected to receive anything close to love or appreciation from her father, but he’s been growing more and more distant over the past few years. Tonight was the first time she’s seen her dad in the past month, and they didn’t even hug each other. Allison feels a wave of shame wash over her as she struggles to fight back her tears of frustration.

Her father wanted so much from her, and she has to live up to the expectations of her family name or else she’ll be considered a failure. Allison sighs an aggravated breath as she hops onto her bed.

Being the daughter of a Council member just couldn’t be any more stressful.

***

The following day Allison decides to arrive at the training center extra early. She sits in silence as she waits for her teammates to arrive. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about being on a team with complete strangers. On one hand, she could create a legacy by making the most powerful team in the Pit. But on the other hand, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to get along with the others, or even worse- they’d just slow her down. And then there was Nick. Allison didn’t really have an opinion on him yet, but she knew that there was something special about him. He was definitely someone to keep an eye on.

After a few minutes Hector- one of her new teammates- casually walks into the lobby. He sees her and waves, then proceeds to walk over and sit down with her.

“So how long have you been here?” He asks as he pulls a small black cube out of a plastic bag and pops it in his mouth.

“About twenty minutes.” She pauses, hesitant to interact with the boy. She was getting a weird vibe from this kid. He didn’t make a very good impression by showing up late to the Guard’s orientation. And he was especially rude by snatching his chain away from Advisor Amanda during their enrollment. Allison could already foresee the amount of problems Hector would bring to the team, yet for some reason, she wasn’t feeling as nervous as she should’ve been. If they were going to be on a team, they’ll eventually learn to put up with each other. Allison figured that the least she could do was start that process.

She eyes Hector as he reaches for another black cube. She realizes that the boy is eating Shadow Sugar- a brand of medicine that helps rejuvenate a Walker's energy. He plops the cube into his mouth and chews away. Allison cringes in disgust. “How can you eat those without getting sick?”

Hector grins. “I guess you can say I just have a strong stomach.”

Allison rolls her eyes. “But they aren’t meant to be eaten so casually. Wouldn’t it be smarter to save them for the middle of a battle or something? You do know that if you eat too many in a day you can die, right? Your body can’t handle all of that.”

Hector shrugs. “Well I’ve never even gotten a stomach ache from eating them.” The boy looks to the ceiling as if contemplating something. “Maybe I’m just immune to the side effects.”

His deliberate ignorance lights a fire in Allison that makes it difficult for her to not shout at him. “I don’t see how that could possibly-”

Allison stops as she notices that two bodies were emerging from a shadow across the room. Isaac and Nick both rise out of the ground, the young boys dazed expression making it obvious that he wasn’t used to shadow jumping.

“You two are here early.” Isaac says. “Don’t teenagers prefer sleeping in as long as possible?”

Hector pops one last cube of Shadow Sugar into his mouth. “I’ve got nothing better to do. Besides, I was super excited to come in and show off my mad skills.”

Isaac rolls his eyes. Allison appreciates that her captain had similar feelings towards Hector’s sense of humor. If anyone on the team was going to be bearable, it would be Isaac. Her captain clasps his hands together and smiles. “Alright, today is the day you guys are going to have some fun. Let me explain how today’s training is going to go down. First off, let me explain how Shadow Walkers fight. First, by gathering energy-”

“Oh c’mon.” Allison says.

Isaac looks at her, perplexed. “What is it, Allison?”

Allison takes a glance at Nick, and her eyes end up lingering longer than she’d like. “I know that Nick here knows absolutely squat about being a Walker, but Hector and I grew up in the Pit. We already know what to expect, so instead of giving him a full on lesson, can’t we just show him what we’re doing and only tell him exactly what he needs to know?”

Hector nods. “Yeah, lectures are kind of boring. It’d be a lot funner if we did things in the moment.” He turns to Nick and half smiles. “Nothing personal.”

Nick shrugs. “No problem. Besides, I agree. I want to see some action. Ever since I got here nothing… well,  nothing
cool
has happened.”

Isaac’s eyes narrow. “Listen Nick, fighting the Void isn’t fun or cool. Don’t act like a juvenile kid. People die by fighting the Void, so don’t make it into some kind of heroic fantasy like becoming a superhero. Got it?” Nick nods, and Isaac sighs. “Sorry, I hate being serious, but you guys need to learn the ropes. In any case I guess Allison and Hector are right- we should just show you the way things work. Let’s get going.”

Allison’s pulse starts to rise as they walk through the corridors of the training facility. All of the training rooms are hidden behind stone walls, and all but one of them are taken and locked from the inside. Isaac opens up the door at the end of the corridor and the group shuffles inside.

“Looks like they’ve already set everything up for you guys.” Isaac says as his eyes graze across the room. The captain walks ahead of the younger kids and approaches a pedestal as tall as Allison. On top of it was a crystal ball, which remained perfectly still.

Her voice is soft when she speaks. “So that’s the Pathfinder, right?”

Isaac nods, making Allison feel reassured in her knowledge of the training process. But then she see’s Nick staring distantly at the crystal ball, his mind far away.

Allison sighs. “Nick, you’ve seen a Walker use their powers. But I’m guessing you have absolutely no idea on
how
we can use them, right?”

The boy nods. “No clue. I saw Isaac draw some giant sword out of nowhere, but he never explained how he did it.” He pauses, now actively studying the crystal like it’s a rare treasure. “Will this thing give us swords?”

Isaac, Hector, and Allison all let out a small burst of laughter. Nick looks around as if he was just accused of a crime. “What’s so funny?”

Before Allison can point out how flawed Nicks idea was, Isaac whistles loud enough to make her cover her ears. She and Hector both stop laughing and pay attention to their captain.

“We shouldn’t be laughing at Nick for the stuff he doesn’t know about. We’re a team, so if we make fun of one person, we all get made fun of. Nick’s not going to be the empty can that everybody kicks along the road, got it?” Allison and Hector both nod. Isaac holds his right hand out to his side and black smoke spontaneously appears in thin air, converging towards his palm. Then, with a flash of black light, a longsword suddenly appears in his hand, the smoke disappearing.

Allison first notices the crimson red blade. The handle and hilt of the sword were both as black as coal. Her father has told her stories about a crimson sword like this one, but she didn’t know that it belonged to
Isaac
. If what her father told her was true, then Isaac was not just your average captain.

“This is my sword.” Isaac says, interrupting her train of thought. “You see Nick, not all Walkers use swords to battle. In fact, those who can use swords are extremely rare in comparison to the other abilities a Walker can have.”

Nick studies the sword curiously, but Allison notices that there was a little bit of fear in his eyes as well. “Walker’s have other things too?” He asks.

Allison fights back the urge to laugh. Instead, she helps her teammate understand things a little better. “To put it simply, there are four ‘classes’ that a Walker's powers can fall into. Isaac’s power lets him use a physical weapon, which indicates that he belongs to the
dueler
class.”

Isaac nods his head approvingly. “Correct. When training naturally, Walkers have to train in four different ways to see which class they belong to. Every Walker will be highly proficient with just one of these classes. However, they will have a lesser affinity for at least one other category as well. When you’re proficient in a category you gain more skills than you would with the class you only have an affinity for.”

Nick’s lips spread open slightly, and Hector decides to speak up before he can.