The Other Shadow

Morning arrived slowly.

Golden sunlight spilled through the curtains, casting warm beams across Kaien's bedroom floor.

He was already awake.

Or rather...

He had never really fallen asleep.

Dark circles rested beneath his icy blue eyes, and every few minutes he found himself glancing toward the foot of his bed.

Nothing was there.

Just the old wooden floorboards.

The shadow...

His uncle...

Had vanished without leaving a trace.

"...Was it real?"

He whispered the question to himself for what felt like the hundredth time.

The only answer was silence.

A knock came from downstairs.

"Kaien!"

His mother's cheerful voice echoed through the house.

"Breakfast is ready!"

"I'm coming."

He rubbed his tired eyes before making his way downstairs.

His mother immediately noticed.

"You look exhausted."

"I didn't sleep much."

"Another nightmare?"

Kaien hesitated.

"...Yeah."

He couldn't bring himself to tell her what had happened.

If he did...

Would she believe him?

Or would she simply think the grief over yesterday had finally gotten to him?

She gently placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of him.

"Well, there's no school today."

"You can rest."

Kaien nodded.

"I'll probably go meet Riven and Seraphina later."

His mother smiled.

"Good."

"Fresh air usually helps."

He wasn't so sure.

About an hour later, Kaien stepped outside.

The village was lively despite the academy being closed.

Merchants had opened colorful stalls throughout the marketplace, musicians played cheerful tunes near the fountain, and children chased one another through the streets.

For a moment...

Everything almost felt normal again.

Almost.

Riven was exactly where Kaien expected him to be.

He was trying—and failing—to juggle three apples.

"I've almost mastered it!"

One apple bounced off his forehead.

Another landed on the ground.

The third smacked directly into his face.

Kaien couldn't help laughing.

"You call that mastering it?"

Riven picked up an apple.

"I call it experimentation."

"You've been experimenting for twenty minutes."

"So?"

"So you're losing."

"I reject your reality."

Seraphina walked over carrying a small paper bag from the bakery.

"I see nothing has changed."

Riven proudly nodded.

"I remain extraordinarily talented."

"You just got defeated by fruit."

"The apples cheated."

Kaien smiled faintly.

It felt good laughing again.

Even if only for a little while.

The three friends wandered through the marketplace before eventually finding a quiet hill overlooking the village.

The massive Veil towered in the distance, casting a long shadow across the fields.

They sat beneath an old oak tree.

For several minutes nobody spoke.

Finally...

Kaien broke the silence.

"I need to tell you both something."

Riven immediately straightened.

"That serious?"

Kaien nodded.

"It's about last night."

Seraphina's expression became focused.

"You had another dream?"

"No."

He swallowed.

"I was awake."

Neither of them interrupted.

Kaien took a slow breath.

"I saw someone standing in my room."

Riven blinked.

"...Someone broke into your house?"

"No."

"It wasn't..."

He searched for the right words.

"It wasn't human."

The smile slowly disappeared from Riven's face.

"What do you mean?"

"It was..."

Kaien looked down.

"A shadow."

Neither friend spoke.

"It looked exactly like my uncle."

"The one who died?"

Kaien nodded.

"It didn't attack me."

"It just stood there."

"For several minutes."

Seraphina frowned.

"And then?"

"It started disappearing."

Kaien's voice became quieter.

"Right before it vanished..."

"It said..."

He looked at them.

"'I miss you too.'"

Silence.

A breeze rustled the leaves above them.

Riven scratched the back of his head.

"Kaien..."

"You sure you weren't half asleep?"

"I was awake."

"Dreams can feel real."

"It wasn't a dream."

"You said you barely slept."

"I know what I saw."

Riven sighed.

"I'm not saying you're lying."

"I'm saying..."

He searched for kinder words.

"...Maybe yesterday messed with your head."

Seraphina remained thoughtful.

"I've never heard stories like that."

She looked at Kaien.

"But you've also never lied to us."

"So..."

"I don't know what to believe."

Kaien sighed.

"I knew you'd think I was crazy."

"No," Seraphina answered softly.

"I just don't understand."

None of them noticed the temperature dropping.

The wind suddenly stopped.

The birds fell silent.

Riven looked around.

"...Why'd it get so cold?"

Kaien frowned.

"I..."

Before he could finish—

A strange sound echoed behind them.

Like whispers.

Dozens of whispers.

All speaking at once.

The three slowly turned.

Standing several yards away...

Were figures.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

Nearly twenty shadows stood motionless among the trees.

Each one looked vaguely human.

Their bodies were made entirely of shifting darkness, their edges dissolving into black smoke.

None of them had visible faces.

Only faint silver eyes.

Riven's face turned completely white.

"...What..."

Seraphina's paper bag slipped from her hands.

The bread rolled across the grass unnoticed.

Kaien couldn't breathe.

The shadows simply stood there.

Watching.

Not moving.

Not attacking.

Just...

Waiting.

Then...

One shadow slowly lowered its head.

Another followed.

Then another.

Until every single one of them had bowed toward Kaien.

A whisper drifted through the air.

Barely audible.

"...Master..."

Kaien froze.

"...What?"

Another voice joined it.

"...Master..."

Then another.

"...Master..."

Within seconds...

Every shadow spoke together.

"Master..."

"Master..."

"Master..."

Their voices overlapped into a haunting chorus that echoed through the empty hill.

Riven stumbled backward.

"K-Kaien..."

"What are they talking about?"

Seraphina grabbed Kaien's arm.

"We need to leave."

Kaien couldn't move.

His eyes remained locked on the shadows.

"I don't..."

He whispered.

"I don't know."

The whispers grew louder.

"Master..."

"We found you..."

"Master..."

"We have waited..."

"Master..."

"Our king..."

The last words made Kaien's blood run cold.

King?

No...

That couldn't be right.

"I'm not your master!"

He shouted.

"I'm just Kaien!"

The shadows became silent.

One stepped forward.

Then stopped.

Its silver eyes seemed to study him.

Almost...

As though it were confused.

Then...

Without warning...

Every shadow dissolved.

Their bodies crumbled into drifting black smoke.

The wind carried the smoke into the sky.

Within seconds...

Nothing remained.

The birds began singing again.

Warm sunlight returned.

The hill looked completely normal.

As if nothing had happened.

The three friends remained frozen.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody even breathed.

Finally...

Riven slowly looked toward Kaien.

His voice shook.

"...I..."

He swallowed hard.

"...I believe you now."

Seraphina stared at the empty space where the shadows had stood.

Her calm composure had completely vanished.

"They..."

She whispered.

"They called you..."

Her eyes slowly met Kaien's.

"...Master."

Kaien could only stare at his trembling hands.

The dream.

His uncle's shadow.

Now this.

One question echoed through his mind louder than any other.

If the shadows truly believed he was their master...

...then who—or what—was he really?

For several long moments, none of them moved.

The hill was silent once more.

The breeze returned, gently swaying the branches of the old oak tree above them, as if nothing unusual had happened.

But everything had changed.

Riven was the first to speak.

"...Did that actually happen?"

No one answered.

He looked around wildly, almost expecting the shadows to reappear.

"They were just standing there."

Seraphina slowly bent down and picked up the paper bag she had dropped. The loaf of bread had rolled into the grass, now covered in dirt. She stared at it absentmindedly before tossing it aside.

"I don't think..." she whispered.

"I don't think any of us imagined that."

Kaien remained frozen.

His heartbeat still thundered inside his chest.

"Master..."

The voices echoed through his mind.

"Our king..."

He clenched his fists.

"...I don't understand."

Riven turned toward him.

"Neither do we."

He ran both hands through his messy brown hair.

"Okay... okay..."

He paced in circles.

"Let's think about this."

Seraphina nodded.

"One question at a time."

Riven pointed toward the empty field.

"First..."

"What were those things?"

Kaien shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Were they monsters?"

"I've never heard of monsters that bow."

"They didn't attack us," Seraphina added quietly.

"They had every chance."

Riven frowned.

"That doesn't mean they're harmless."

"No."

"It doesn't."

Kaien looked toward the distant Veil.

"My uncle's shadow didn't attack me either."

Silence.

Seraphina folded her arms.

"So we've seen two kinds now."

"The one at your house..."

"And the group here."

Kaien nodded slowly.

"They looked similar."

"But..."

He paused.

"...my uncle still looked like himself."

"These ones..."

"They barely looked human."

Riven rubbed his chin.

"So maybe..."

"They're different?"

"Or maybe they change somehow."

Seraphina looked thoughtful.

"They all called you 'Master.'"

She emphasized the last word.

"Not by your name."

"Not 'boy.'"

"Not 'human.'"

"They knew exactly who you were."

Kaien's stomach tightened.

"I've never seen them before."

"I swear."

"I believe you."

Both Riven and Seraphina answered almost at the same time.

The three looked at one another.

Riven sighed.

"I never thought I'd actually say this..."

"But after seeing that..."

"I believe you."

Kaien gave a small, grateful smile.

"Thanks."

Riven pointed a finger at him.

"Don't thank me yet."

"I still think this is completely insane."

"It is."

Seraphina quietly sat beneath the tree.

"What if..."

She hesitated.

"What if the shadows aren't evil?"

Riven blinked.

"...What?"

"They didn't hurt us."

"They bowed."

"They spoke."

"They left."

"If they wanted to kill us..."

"They could've tried."

Riven crossed his arms.

"Or maybe they're waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know!"

He threw his hands into the air.

"I don't even know what shadows are!"

Kaien looked between them.

"Maybe..."

His voice was uncertain.

"...maybe the soldiers know."

Both of them looked at him.

"The soldiers?"

"They're the only people allowed beyond the Veil."

"What if..."

He swallowed.

"...what if they've seen these things before?"

Seraphina's eyes widened slightly.

"The law."

Kaien nodded.

"They're forbidden from talking about what exists beyond the Veil."

Riven's expression slowly changed.

"You think..."

"The shadows..."

"...come from outside?"

Nobody answered.

It was only a theory.

But suddenly...

The silence surrounding the soldiers made far more sense.

Why were they forbidden from speaking?

Why did every soldier return with the same haunted expression?

Why did no one explain what lay beyond the Veil?

Kaien's thoughts drifted back to the dream.

Thousands of soldiers.

Flames.

War.

The man who looked like him.

Everything felt connected.

He just couldn't see how.

Seraphina stared toward the enormous black wall.

"My grandmother used to tell me something."

Riven looked over.

"What?"

"She said..."

"'The Veil doesn't just keep darkness out.'"

"It keeps something in."

Riven laughed nervously.

"That's comforting."

"I always thought it was just an old story."

Kaien looked toward the towering wall.

"...Maybe it wasn't."

The wind suddenly picked up.

Leaves swirled around them.

A strange uneasiness settled over the hill.

Riven looked toward the sky.

"Storm coming?"

The clouds overhead looked perfectly clear.

Then—

BOOOOOOOM!!

The earth exploded with a thunderous roar.

The ground beneath them shook violently.

Birds burst from every rooftop across the village.

Kaien lost his balance and nearly fell.

"What was that?!"

Another explosion followed.

BOOOOOM!!

This one was closer.

Much closer.

Windows shattered somewhere within the village.

People screamed.

"What is happening?" Seraphina shouted.

Before anyone could answer—

BOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG!!

The village bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

Its desperate sound echoed through every street.

Kaien's face went pale.

"...That's not the return bell."

Riven stared toward the center of the village.

"No..."

"It isn't."

The bell continued ringing without pause.

Not slow.

Not ceremonial.

Fast.

Urgent.

Panicked.

Villagers poured from nearby houses.

Merchants abandoned their stalls.

Parents grabbed their children.

Everyone looked toward the center square.

Another explosion shook the ground.

Dust rose into the sky near the northern district.

"They're attacking!"