Shadow Walkers (5 page)

“And no matter how hard you train, you can never master more than one class.”

“Why not?” Nick asks. “How can you be able to use all of the categories, but not be able to master more than one?”

Allison shakes her head. “It’s not something you can help. No Walker, not in any history book here in the Pit, has ever had more than one main class. It’s not a rule or any type of restriction set upon us. It’s just something that can’t be helped.”

Nick nods. “Okay, I guess I get it. So what are your guys’ abilities?”

Isaac sighs, obviously as tired of explaining such basic concepts as Allison was. “Well, that’s actually why we’re here.” He places his hand on the crystal ball. “This thing is called the Pathfinder. It was created by Walker scientists to help detect what a person’s main class is even if they have zero training whatsoever. All three of you are rookies, so none of you have any of your powers unlocked yet. The Pathfinder is used to tell us what each of your primary strengths are. Once we know that, we can do specialized training to help unlock your powers and bring them to the surface. Then, in a month’s time, you’ll be ready to fight the void.”

“So this crystal ball is basically a shortcut to skip through a large portion of the training process?” Nick asks.

Allison nods. “That’s right. That huge head start, plus the gear that we’re gonna wear during training, let’s us develop our Walker powers in a month’s time- and that’s just the maximum. It’s entirely possible to finish training much sooner than that.”

“Only people who join the Guard get this special training.” Hector adds in. “Walkers who don’t join the guard never get it, so they don’t figure out their dominant class until they’re in their thirties. Be grateful you joined the Guard, Nick.”

Isaac smiles and nods approvingly. “That all sounds correct! Now Allison, come over here. One of you needs to get this party started, and what a bigger honor than to let Ms. Marxon herself have the first results.”

Allison can’t help but grin slightly. As much as she hated her family name, she also loved the legacy it carried. She was at the top of the food chain, and everybody in the Pit knew her name. As she walks to the Pathfinder a sudden surge of energy begins flowing through her, ready to pour into the Pathfinder.

Allison smiles as she places her hand on the Pathfinder. She can’t hold back her pride in her family name or the eagerness in her mind as she channels her energy into the Pathfinder. All of her life she’s had her father telling her what she would accomplish in her life. And as much as she resented her father, she looked forward to seeing all of his promises come true. Taking over as leader of the Marxon family was her ambition. And whether or not that ambition would whither away all depended on this very moment. After a few minutes of silence, the Pathfinder begins warming up underneath her hand. Her heart begins to race, the anticipation of her results threatening to make her heart give out.

And then the Pathfinder begins glowing red.

Chapter Five

Allison

“Congratulations Allison,” Isaac says, “You’re a Dueler just like me.”

Allison slowly pulls her hand away from the Pathfinder. The crystal ball quickly reverts back to its transparent appearance. Isaac narrows his eyes at her. “That was surprisingly fast for a rookie. Usually it takes about an hour for someone to get all of their energy focused into the ball. Though in the end you
are
a Marxon, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.”

“Thanks.” Allison says as she glances over at Nick and Hector. It would be polite of her to wait and see what her teammates powers will be, but her father wanted her there as soon as she discovered her own powers.

Nick interrupts her train of thought. “So you’re going to get a weapon like Isaac? Lucky.” Allison can’t help but feel a little pleased by the boys displeasure.

“Yup.” Isaac confirms. “During training she’ll eventually be able to summon some type of weapon. But we’ll cross that road when we get there. For now Nick, just place your hand on the Pathfinder.”

“Isaac,” Allison says, “My father wanted me to meet with him immediately after I discovered my powers.”

Isaac nods. Allison knew that even if the captain wanted to tell her no, he couldn’t. Her father was a Council member- his word is absolute. “Fine. Grab on and I’ll shadow jump-”

“That’s not necessary.” Allison says as she steps over the shadow of the Pathfinder. She shoots a playful smile at her teammates. “I’ve been practicing.”

And then, she seeps into the darkness.

***

When Allison arrives at the Guard’s HQ she is escorted into a waiting room. However, she doesn’t have the patience to wait for an appointment to be scheduled. Her father was a busy man- he’d want her to just show up whenever he needs her. So Allison waits a few minutes in the crowded room, then excuses herself to go to the bathroom. She walks into the unoccupied room and finds a shadow to stand on. She shadow jumps through it, and when she opens her eyes she’s standing on the 23rd floor of the Guard’s HQ.

She makes her way to her father’s office- his real home- Room 2303. As Allison approaches the door a loud shout comes from the inside.

“Valus always has a reason for killing his targets!” A familiar voice shouts. Allison backs away, worried that someone may burst through the door to yell at her. But a hunger for more information pours into her, and she leans in close to the door to hear the ongoing conversation.

“I’m well aware Thomas, now don’t you dare raise your voice at me again.” Allison’s father says in return. “I’m not worried about Valus or his motives, rather the boy who he wanted dead. Nick is a half breed between human and Walker, son of Maria Winters herself. Knowing that, and the history that Maria shares with Valus, I can only theorize one thing- Valus wants to kill Nicholas out of spite to his mother.”

“But why would he focus so much on torturing Maria like that? Valus isn’t the type to hold a petty grudge.” Says Thomas.

A third voice answers. “Who knows? The boy doesn’t know anything, so the only person we can get answers from is Valus himself.” Allison recognizes that the cold voice belongs to Amanda, another one of her father’s advisors.

Then a fourth voice- which Allison knows belongs to Advisor Valery- offers an idea. “In any case, Nicholas is the target of an elite Void. Whatever reason Valus has for holding a grudge against Maria is unimportant. The fact remains that his current target will be her son. And now that we have her son here in the Pit, we have the piece that Valus is after.”

“So you’re suggesting that we use him as bait?” Thomas asks with an edge to his voice.

There’s a sigh, followed by Valery speaking. “He’s not bait, just a Walker to watch out for. In fact, this entire team that just got registered is full of people to keep tabs on. Maria Winters son, who was targeted by Valus of the Void. Marcus’ daughter herself, who we all know will become very powerful in the short time to come. And then there’s that mystery boy.
He’s
the one I’m most curious about. To just show up at HQ, abandoned and without a single way to identify his parents. I don’t care what anybody says, he’s got to be from Eros.”

Allison raises her eyebrows and she tries to wrap her mind around what she just heard. Eros was the home of the fourth race- the Inverts. Allison learned in school about how the Inverts and Shadow Walkers were eternal rivals, always battling each other to prove who was stronger. How could it be possible that Hector came from Eros, when the Walkers and Inverts practically hated each other?

Marcus’s voice snaps Allison out of her thoughts. “I agree with you Valery, and that mystery will be solved today. Once he tries to use the Pathfinder, we’ll find out just what he is. Until then…” The sound of footsteps makes Allison panic. She knocks on the door immediately, not wanting to get caught red handed. The door swings open, and Marcus looks down at his daughter. All three of his advisors are standing still in his study room, facing each other for discussion.

Her father grins. “I thought we had a visitor. Come in Allison.”

She follows her dad into the room, and Amanda pulls out a chair for her to sit down next to her father's desk. Marcus sits down in his chair, which Allison can’t help but see as a throne. He looks at his daughter with empty eyes. “So how did it go?”

Allison looks down and bites her lip. She notices the advisors staring at her, waiting for her to confirm the information her father has waited all of her life to hear. She sighs and looks up at her father. “I’m a Dueler.”

For the first time in about five years, Allison sees her father truly smile. He holds his hands out wide like a scientist beholding his newest creation. He looks at his advisors. “And so the Marxon legacy lives on.”

“You’re lucky, Marcus” Valery says. “The fact that Dueler-ship hasn’t skipped a single generation- in the entire history of your family- is the closest thing I’ve seen to a miracle.”

Marcus smiles smugly, which makes Allison feel a little relieved. Now that she’s given him what he wanted most from her, maybe now they could start returning to how they used to be.Though deep down she knew that her father would always want more and more from her. And she would continue to give him whatever he asked for.

“You should feel honored, Allison.” Her father says. “The fact that you have the same power as me means that you will grow up to replace me on the Council. Like I told you, you’re a prodigy. You’ll become the most powerful Walker alive.”

“How can you promise her such grand things?” Thomas asks. “Someone else could always take your spot. There’s always someone more powerful out there- they just haven’t shown their face yet.”

Marcus’ smile fades into a playful grin, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse, taunting the dying creature with false chances of escape. “Don’t be foolish, Thomas. Ever since the Guard was formed, from the second generation of leaders and onwards, a Marxon has always had a place on the Council. And since the Council is formed of the three strongest Walkers alive, the fact that a Marxon has always held a seat as leader only means one thing- the Marxon family has the strongest bloodline in the Pit. Allison carries the Marxon name, so she’ll grow to be stronger than any of the other Walkers.”

“You think she’ll surpass you?” Valery asks playfully.

Marcus eyes his daughter, sizing up her potential. “She learned to shadow jump at the same age as me. We’ll better understand her strength once we see her first chain.”

Allison feels her heart skip a beat at the last word. She had learned in school that every Walker has at least three invisible ‘chains’ on their soul. When a chain is broken a Walker unlocks a new power corresponding to their main class. But Allison had never actually seen a chain in action before, and she often wondered what own powers would be. Even more than her own abilities, she often found herself wondering what Isaac and her father’s powers were. Marcus never showed her his sword, and he often talked about how much of a nuisance Isaac’s sword was.

“Well that should only take a month at most.” Amanda says, snapping Allison away from her thoughts of Isaac’s crimson blade.

Her father sighs. “Correct. Though I’m sure that Allison won’t even take half that time to awaken her first chain. But for now,” He locks eyes with his daughter. “You need to get back to your training. You should be getting to know the weaknesses of your teammates. Isaac may be your captain, but you’ll be second in command until you rise in the ranks.”

Allison nods, not sure of how to respond to her father’s expectations. Saying anything would just keep all eyes on her, and she wanted to leave her father’s gaze as soon as possible. She stands up, but as she does so Thomas snaps his head to the side, his eyes gazing through the window. He tightly closes his left eye.

“Void have infiltrated the Pit. There are three thousand lesser Void and about thirty elites lined up in front of HQ.”

Allison turns to her father. “What’s going on Dad?” She doesn’t care how apparent her fear is. She may be a Marxon, but the Void weren’t something for her to just brush off. Her father’s face hardens to its usual state, now void of any happiness he may have felt in the past ten minutes or so. Thomas shakes his head, and Marcus looks at him. “What is it now?”

“They aren’t here to fight. They wish to speak to the Council.”

Allison’s father grins again. “Well I guess it’s time for a public appearance.” Without a goodbye, he suddenly bursts into a cloud of black smoke and fades away, much like Isaac’s sword did when it disappeared from sight. Allison looks at her father’s seat in shock. Shadow jumping without a shadow was extremely tiring to Walkers, and can leave them without a single shred of energy.

And her father did it without a second thought, just so he could face an army of three thousand Void.

“Show off.” Valery says as she steps onto a shadow and then slips into it. Amanda follows her lead, which leaves Allison alone with Thomas.

The older man puts his hand on her shoulder and nods. Together, they jump into the darkness. Within seconds they stand at the top of the stairs leading to the Guard’s HQ. Allison’s heart drops when she looks out at the crowd of monsters standing before her. At the front of those monsters stand the elite Void- the Void who take on perfectly normal human appearances, save for their purple hair and eyes. The elite Void were the most powerful of their kind, each one strong enough to fight off a group of average Walkers.

Allison sees that all three of the Council members have arrived, one standing on both sides of her father. Eight advisors stand behind them, Thomas now moving over to join them. And in front of the Council stands about fifty Walkers. Once Allison spots Isaac, she knows that all of the Walkers standing in front are captains. And if Isaac was there…

“Allison!” She turns to see where the familiar voice is coming from and sees her two teammates running towards her.

Nick looks around, confusion painted all over his face. “What the heck is going on? Are they going to attack us? Why are we even here!”

Hector smacks him lightly on the back of the head. “Calm down Nick, jeez. We’re safe as long as we’re hiding behind the Council and all of those captains.”

Allison feels a little bit of sympathy for the new kid- after all, she’s pretty worried herself. She could only imagine how someone who's only just learning about this world could feel upon seeing an army of bloodthirsty monsters stand before them. However, the more she let’s herself relax, the more she realizes that Hector was right- the Council would protect them.

The Council member to Marcus’ right- Janice- speaks loudly. “What are you Void doing here in the Pit- with an army at your side?” Her tone is a mix of anger and boredom.

The Void remain silent, and then one of the elite’s walks forward. His jawline is strong, and his face was freshly shaven. Even though he was a Void, even Allison couldn’t deny that the man was handsome. He wields a katana at his side, which makes Allison wonder if he uses the weapon to pay homage to his Japanese heritage. The man looked like the epitome of a bad boy, and yet somehow he managed to appear as classy and respectful.

As usual, Valus of the Void managed to keep all eyes on him.

The elite Void slowly holds up his empty hand, like a man trying to pet an unfamiliar dog. “We have only come here for three announcements. The first is to let you know that us Void are preparing to wipe out the two worlds.” He pauses, as if expecting some type of objection. He sighs as if he was hoping to argue with someone, then continues. “The second is that as of right now, two outsiders are among you. They walk your streets, talk with your children and act as if they belong here. One of them is from the Void, the other from Eros.”

“Why shouldn’t we just kill all of you right now?” Isaac shouts, his sword now drawn. Allison can hear a hint of venom in his voice, more than a Walker usually has for the Void.

Valus laughs playfully. His katana suddenly vanishes in a purple cloud of smoke. “Because neither of our sides are ready to fight, Isaac. And here I thought that you of all people would be more weary about running into battle. Or have you already forgotten the mistakes of your past?”