Shades

Awaking to a gentle breeze, Bard stretched. The melodies were struggling, and the suns were not out yet. Bard looked out and froze as the face of a shade was moving at the edge of the camp. He quickly felt his drowsiness depart, and he was at the fire pit Sen had made. He found the logs and quickly began working at the coals, praying that the song would last long enough to get the fire going. He didn’t want to use a fire stick, as he needed them for a different part of their journey.

As the embers grew, he shifted them around to catch more wood and added enough wind to get it to catch. He quickly shifted the coals, took a lit bundle to another pile, and continued his work. Perhaps he would make it.

Then he heard Sen scream, and he jumped and looked back at her. Seeing she was fine, he continued on and finished the fires before coming to her side.

“Bard? What…” she asked shakily as her hand trembled to point at the growing number of shades around them.

“I told you about them before, right? Shades.”

“Those are shades!?” she screamed. She took another look and seemed even more terrified. Bard tried not to look at them.

“Look, the fact Kai isn’t reacting, means we are safe for the moment. The barrier held, and now we have fires. If we keep them well-fed, then we won’t have to worry about the shades approaching us.”

“Are you sure?” Sen asked worriedly.

“I’m sure. I’ve been traveling a lot longer, and I’ve been in similar situations. Just… trust me on this.”

He held out his hand, and she hesitated before grabbing his hand and then jumping onto him in a hug. He wrapped her in his arms and felt her trembling. The warmth of her tears hit his neck. Of course, she was scared. Shades were no joke. He had seen both the carnage and the destruction left in their wake. Towns of humans destroyed. Only Dryads seemed to avoid this due to their forests, and some human settlements were lit up at night, though he didn’t know how.

The life of a traveler was fraught with dangers. Shades were just one of them. Sen would have to experience quite a bit of them in this next year. Perhaps physical enemies didn’t scare her, but shades were a different thing altogether. Their incorporeal forms and shifting at high speeds were beyond unnatural. A true terror of the night. If only it was the cause behind the slowing of the wars. But Bard knew better.

In the crackling of the fires and their smoke, Bard held Sen as if she were a frightened child. Her small frame lent itself to the idea, but she seemed to be far more afraid than he had assumed she would be. He got up and pulled themselves closer to Kai as he sat against the fur. Kai’s nose raised and nuzzled Sen before she stilled and eventually looked up at them.

She started to look around them, but stopped and focused on Bard’s face. He gave it his best effort to remain calm, and he heard her take a slightly deeper breath. His hand wiped away a tear as she apologized.

“Sorry. You did warn me. I just didn’t think it was this…” She shivered.

“It’s fine. I’m more used to it, but they scare me too. I just know how to protect myself so it’s not as bad in the moment. Shall we feed the fires some more?” He asked and she nodded. They stoked the fires and created a few healthy blazes that drove back the shades. Sen eventually stumbled back to Kai and fell asleep. Bard finished stoking the fires and returned to bed.

Kai eventually nudged him, and he rose, half alert and stoked the fires back to life. Thankfully, this was the last time before sunrise.

As the morning light warmed the group, Bard let them rest a bit longer, noting how Sen seemed to be resting peacefully. Kai shifted slightly and Bard stroked his side. He was grateful Kai had gotten this big and seemed to be growing still. Long gone were the days where his friend could hide under him during thunderstorms. Eventually large enough to carry supplies and then eventually a rider. Now he was big enough to carry two riders and some supplies if they were careful about the weight and distributing it.

He was reminded how the first night Kai had sores around where the gear was. Perhaps it was due to the weight distribution being off. Bard subconsciously checked the spots and was relieved to see they weren’t red and agitated. Perhaps they had packed it better now.

Bard felt Sen stir and looked over at her. She stretched and yawned. Her expression looked unusually drowsy.

“Sleep alright?” Bard asked, expecting her answer.

“How…” she mumbled as she stretched. Bard paused. He wasn’t expecting that answer.

“How what?”

“How do you sleep with… that?” she asked.

“I wish you could say you get used to it. But in reality, I trust my abilities and the token given to me, along with light, so I can rest easy. Besides, Kai is really good at getting me up if I need to adjust anything,” Bard said.

“Trust huh….” Sen muttered.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully on the road. A few simple stops for eating, drinking water, and keeping an eye out for supplies. Bard noticed a pack of animals near the end of the day, and while they set up camp, he had Kai go and catch two of them for himself, and one for them. When he returned with his prey, Bard went to Kai’s tail and reached. Sen watched, interested. He pulled out a spike and Sen watched him start to dress the meat with the spike and his rustic stone blade. He gritted, it wouldn’t be pretty, but they weren’t near a city he could safely get a better blade and the caravans were a long ways out.

He paused as he saw Sen at Kai’s tail. She was moving her hands through his fur, and Bard looked back at what he was working on.

“I wouldn’t do that, Sen. You might prick yourself on one of the spikes in there.”

“Why are there spikes in here and why… didn’t you use them before?”

“It’s just a part of Kai, just as much as we have nails. When we are running for our lives, he can fire those spikes at pursuing enemies. We chose not to use them in the silver woods, to show we didn’t have a weapon of sorts.”

“Oh…” Sen said as she smoothed out Kai’s fur. Kai turned and nuzzled her before pulling his tail around and showing her the assembly of spikes in there. She squeaked and Bard focused more on his cutting and carving of the meat. He laid them out on a flat slab of rock and cut it into strips. Once done, he built a simple rack over the fire with the sticks and metal poles he had. He laid the meat over the poles so they would be in the dry warm smokey air and tended the fire. He then set up another fire nearby to replace the use of this one.

Sen asked him many questions, and he explained that dried meat was lighter, traveled better, stored longer and would be a bit of variety to their travels in the coming days. A small portion of the meat would not dry well and that he had set to the side for the meal tonight. Once the drying process had begun, he began cooking their food. Sen found a few herbs near camp that would season the dish well, and they ate a more filling meal than they had for a while.

Sen stretched lazily and looked at the growing darkness. She seemed content, but then tensed up as they heard a strange cry. Bard quickly stoked the fires higher, and Sen rushed to Kai. Her eyes darted back and forth, and Bard tried to figure out how he would gauge their direction tonight with all these beasts around. He hated having to continuously use the charms while he studied. Not only would he have to have the fires die, but because of everything he would need to manage, it wouldn’t leave him much room to grab a fire stick or start the fires again. Yes there would be coals, and residual heat, but concentrating on that while the shades closed in and making sure to swing the charms around properly… his mind paused.

He had another companion with him. Sen could manage the fires as he studied the stars. He looked at her and how she hid in the fur of Kai.

“Sen!” he shouted, and her head peeked at him. “I need your help.”

She quickly came over, though she was shaking a bit with fear.

“What is it? Do I need to get the fires larger?” she asked.

“No. I need to put them out.”

“WHAT!” He grabbed her as she cried out. He glared into her eyes and she froze.

“Well, just one of them. I need to check our direction against the stars, but with these fires surrounding us I can’t see them very well. I’m going to let this fire die down and use the tokens. I want you to stay close and light the fire when I say so. I can keep a continuous shield on us so they won’t get close.”

“O… oh. And it will work?” she asked. "You can’t just go out on your own and return to the barrier?"

“I wish. It doesn’t work like that. But with your help, yes I can make this work. Trust me.”

Sen nodded briefly and then shivered and rubbed her arms.

“Let’s do this,” she said at last and Bard and her stood next to a fire. Kai came a bit closer and Bard got out his tokens. They were closer to the next elder, so that token would be a bit stronger than Defender’s. Father Tree was, as usual, still as strong as ever. Bard adjusted the lengths of strings in order and then got them set to spin. The silent air would become their voice as he swung them around.

With practiced ease, he stepped into position and raised his arm. He swung them around and then interrupted the path with his other hand. In a moment they were humming harmoniously, and he could sense the sound barrier form. The fire died down to smoldering coals, and Sen shivered as the shades ran at them. The barrier suddenly swelled and stopped them in their tracks. Bard kept the strings moving and looked skyward. He caught sight of the healer constellation and noted its direction. He then sought the warrior constellation and mapped the position of the stars against the height of the trees. He would need the light of day to finalize the direction, but it should be enough now.

“Now Sen!” he shouted over the sounds. “Start the fire up again.”

Sen didn’t respond, and he looked out at where she was transfixed. A larger than normal shade with glowing blue was approaching them. Bard froze. He knew that shade.

“Sen! The fire!” he shouted and he saw her jolt. He breathed a sigh of relief now that she heard him.

“Right!” she called back as her hands began to throw some material and branches onto the coals. Bard concentrated on keeping the barrier up as strong as possible. He also averted his eyes from the shade outside. The last thing he needed was that one to show up.

As smoke began to grow with the material getting ready to catch fire, Bard side stepped a bit to keep his eyes from stinging. His eyes caught sight of the six glowing dots on the shade, and he paused, almost hypnotized. Sen screamed as the shades began to press in closer, and it snapped him back. He picked up the pace and the shades were pushed back.

Suddenly the fire roared to life and Bard dodged it, stopping his tokens before he accidentally singed them.

The bright light made their shadows disappear and the two of them quickly grew all the fires. As an extra precaution, Bard got out the light sticks. He handed one to Sen and then broke his. He then put the two ends in two different spots to make it harder for the shades to approach. He noticed Sen did the same.

When he cast his eyes about again, that particular shade was gone. He sighed in relief and Kai nuzzled him.

He looked back to see Sen shivering.

“Who… what was that?” She asked and Bard knew all too well what she was referring to.

“A pack leader of the shades,” Bard said as he stirred the fires. “Kai get some sleep. We’ll strap ourselves in during the day and rest then,” Bard said as he rubbed the large head. Kai hummed in agreement and Bard kept himself busy. It would be a long night if that thing was around.

“Pack leader. Why do you say that? You make it sound like they’re like wolves or something. Intelligence?”

“Yes. They seem able to target prey, and they also seem subservient to larger shades that have a glow about them. That one in particular I’ve seen before.”

“Oh?” Sen asked as she helped.

“I thought it was a nightmare, but it killed my family and village.”

“Wait. Bard lived with other humans? I thought you said you grew up in the woods.”

“That was before then. I was raised in a village with other people, but I don’t have lots of memories of it. Mostly watching everyone be killed and running with my mom. Next thing I remember, mom was dead, and I was in Father’s forest.”

Sen became rather silent after that.

“Bard is very fortunate then,” she said, and Bard sighed. That was one way to look at it. He had lost everything, but then he had found something that would determine the rest of his life. He played with the token from Father and listened to its gentle melody.

“Bard. What does the big shade do?”

“Beside command? It’s faster, it’s stronger. It has a call to bring in more shades. It’s also strong enough to withstand most sound barriers made by elder tokens. Though, I’ve never seen it in a forest with an Elder. Don’t know if that is permanent, or if it’s figuring out a way to get into the forests. It also leaves places completely ruined. No survivors.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen them. It’s not just my home that was attacked like that.” Bard said, trying to keep the images of the destruction from playing in his mind. “The best safety is light. Sunlight, torchlight, fires, sunstones. It doesn’t matter. But they can’t get close to light. Not one.”

“So that’s why Bard had me take care of the fires.” She muttered.

“Well, let’s get some sleep, we’ll be rotating shifts tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll strap ourselves in and let Kai do the rest.”

“He’s smart…” Sen said after a bit. Bard nodded. He was grateful for his companion. It was times like this that helped remind him how fortunate he was.

They did as he suggested and when the sun rose, Bard waited a bit longer to make sure the shadows were shorter and the Shades were truly gone. When Kai had finished drinking his fill from a nearby river, they loaded up and Bard tied Sen in as she yawned.

“Stop that, you’re making me… yawn,” he yawned. Sen chuckled sleepily, and he made sure her fastenings were secure. He added a bit more padding and discussed the directions with Kai before strapping himself in. When he heard Kai grunt in understanding, he allowed himself to drift as Kai began with a gentle walk. The rocking motion was extremely soothing, and he was out before Kai could pick up the pace.

There were a few moments where he roused, but the sunlight filtering through the trees helped him relax again.

What fully woke him was Kai’s howl. He lifted his head and looked out, surprised and grateful for the scenery. They were on the verge of the Elder’s forest. Once inside, they wouldn’t have nearly as much danger from Shades. Kai bounded happily down into the woods and Bard began unstrapping himself, realizing the sun was getting ready to set. They still had quite a distance to travel to get into the protected zone, so they should make camp soon, instead of risk the dangers. He looked back at Sen, who roused and then fell back asleep. He hoped she slept well. This wasn’t the most comfortable, and you could get raw from the straps. But it was a way to continue their travels after a bad night.

She began mumbling in Dryadic as she roused, and her gaze didn’t seem to be present.

“Good morning,” Bard chuckled, and she looked up at him with eyes that quickly unclouded.

“Oh! Hi Bard. Are we there?”

“Close. We’ll set up camp in a bit, once Kai finds a suitable spot.”

Just as he said it, Kai paused and then turned as he headed to a cliff side. Bard smiled appreciatively.

They quickly set up camp and made sure their shadows would cast on the wall of the cliff. It was safer this way, as light created a natural roof.

The night passed pretty uneventfully compared to the previous night, but it was hard to convince Sen to try to rest. Her schedule was completely messed up. When he reminded her that they would meet an Elder tomorrow, then and only then did she try to sleep.