Shadow 4: The Wanderer

Ryikaria leaned back against the tree and stared up at the sky. It was as black as the blood in her body. There were no signs of light, not a single star up above. Only the endless abyss of nothing that seemed to swallow anything up. I’ve been here for two whole months yet I only managed to learn that I know nothing about this realm. Who created it? Why does it exist? Not even the residents around here who I can converse with seem to know, Ryikaria thought as she closed her eyes.

She sighed heavily and slipped off her shoes hoping to get some sleep before she continued with her journey. Why can’t people here just let me sleep? It’s annoying, Ryikaria thought as she sensed the aura of something watching her from the shadows.

“You can come out. No point in trying to get the drop on me.”

A load roar pieced through the air before the sounds of heavily rustling could be heard. Only nine Susia? This isn’t even worth the effort to move, Ryikaria thought as she continued to lay there. Out of the undergrowth leapt a wolf who’s fur was black as the realm it was born in. Like a raging bull, it came at Ryikaria with speed.

“Don’t do it.”

In a split second, the wolf found itself tied at the by a snare trap and lifted off the ground. Ryikaria had learned many crafts and managed to put some of them to use in unorthodox ways. One of them was a trap that ensnared the opponent by the wrist and ankles before hanging them upside-down from a tree.

“I warned you not to do it. Eight of you left, let’s see if your whole pack is as stupid.”

The sound of eight more wolves whimpered out as they all became ensnared in the various traps that Ryikaria had left scattered around. Ryikaria could only sigh as she continued to lay there with her eyes closed.

“Apparently, all of you are stupid.”

Ryikaria tried to drift back to sleep until she heard another wolf howl in the distance. Opening one eye she noticed a gargantuan wolf rushing for her with intent to kill.

“Oh, looks like I missed you,” Ryikaria said in a nonchalant tone.

Grabbing her bowstring that she used to play her violin, Ryikaria forced the bow upwards into the jaw of the beast. With the force of ton of bricks, the wolf’s face slammed into the tree while she continued to sit there as if nothing of importance was happening. Using her free hand to cover her mouth, she yawned before tossing the wolf to the side like a doll.

“Mind buzzing off? I don’t feel like standing. My feet hurt and I just want to sleep. Is that too much to ask?”

The wolf roared after shaking off the hit it took. Snarling, it set its glare on Ryikaria. She continued to sit there staring back at the beast her her hollow half-moon gaze.

“Try me,” Ryikaria said as she rested her chin in the palm of her free hand.

She was unsure if the wolf could truly understand the words coming out of her mouth, however, she didn’t care. Rushing at her again with speed, the wolf leapt into the air once again.

“Ligans captionem.”

Out of the ground, a swarm of black tentacles sprang up from the ground and pulled the wolf down. The wolf thrashed against the shadowy binds but failed to move, much less squirm.

“Now, I tried to warn you.”

Using her bow to pierce the left eye of the wolf, she pulled the eye from its socket with little effort. The wolf could only cry in pain as it started to whimper. Picking the eye off of the end of the bow, Ryikaria ate it and mauled over the taste for a bit. Not too bad, she thought as she took a second to stretch her body.

“All right, since you didn’t let me sleep, I’m going to ensure you don’t either.”

With a snap of her fingers, Ryikaria used the tentacles to turn the wolf over on its back.

“Looks like you’re a boy. Makes this a lot easier. I’ve never actually drained a wolf before or really any full Ryiza. This will be quite interesting to see,” Ryikaria said with no emotion in her tone.

Ryikaria stood to her feet and made her way over to the wolf’s lower area. Let’s see what a wolf’s fluids taste like, she thought as she gripped the sensitive area which forced the wolf to whimper in fear. Wrapping her mouth around the furry rod, she sucked gently which made the wolf howl loudly. In a matter of minutes, the rush of a warm liquid filled Ryikaria’s mouth. Swallowing the liquid made her regret what she had ingested. Throwing up on the belly of the wolf, Ryikaria grabbed a small vial of water she had managed to get from a river who’s water never went warm. Downing the water as fast as possible, she sat down at the base of the tree.

“That was the most disgusting liquid I’ve ever downed in my life. Well, at least I know that draining you Ryiza is not worth my time.”

With a snap of her fingers, the tentacles wrapped around the wolf’s neck and strangled him slowly until he ceased to move. Closing her eyes, she tried to drift back into a deep sleep after taking note of the fact that the wolves hanging from the snare traps were all silent. Guess I’ll use them as alarms, Ryikaria thought. Throughout the hours, she slept soundly until she awoke to a strange smell in the distance. Taking a second to put on her shoes, she tried to pin down the direction of the smell. That smells like something is burning but what? Could be a ritual or someone being killed, she thought as she grabbed her weapon.

“Ligans captionem.”

Nine tentacles sprang up from the ground and wrapped around the necks of each of the wolves. A single snap of her finger killed the wolves all at once – she was silent, like an assassin.

“Tace festinatione.”

Moving with haste, Ryikaria made no sound as she rushed past the various trees, evading them with skill and a graceful finesse. Within a few minutes, she could hear the sound of voices as she got closer to the source of the smell. Jumping into the trees, she continued to move silently until she stopped on one of the branches. In the distance clearing, she could see a group of Ryiza that were gathered around a hole. Coming out of the large hole, Ryikaria could see flames but was unable to tell exactly what was inside the fire.

Could be a festival that I’m unaware of around here or is it a ritual? Whatever the case, I need to stay out of sight for now, Ryikaria thought as she watched the event take place before her eyes. The hours passed while she watched the events transpire. She noticed nothing out of the ordinary before the various residents left the area. Waiting a full day, she finally decided it was safe to check exactly what was being burned down in the hole. With haste, she cleared the distance open field until she had reached the hole that all the residents were standing around.

Leaning over the side, Ryikaria noticed a pile of burnt ashes. Nothing remained of whatever it was that the residents were burning. Guess I’ll never know what they were burning here, oh well, she thought before heading for the treeline. Unlike the world of Temeraire, where there was a clear day and night cycle, the lands of Enfieria never had a cycle. The world was in a constant cycle of darkness that Ryikaria often wondered how the residents kept a sense of time throughout the hours. Her best guess was that they didn’t and simply had some sort of internal clock or biological system that gave them some sense of hours. As she continued onward with her journey, the sound of a girl screaming echoed throughout the woods. Picking up on where the scream came from, Ryikaria rushed through the forest with haste. Stopping behind a tree and looking out to an opening clearing, she could see a sentiant resident of Enfieria that had been surrounded by six creatures that she had studied extensively. Shambling Shadows were mindless mounds of rotting flesh that moved slowly throughout the land. The skin that constantly flaked away was black and their glaring red eyes could strike fear into any untrained soldier. Alone and at a distance, they were of no real threat. That could easily change if they were in a mass horde.

That looks like an Undertaker. Andateika told me once that Undertakers in this world are a separate hive mind from the others in Temeraire and that she cannot interact with them. Ideally, it’s better to avoid any contact with the Undertakers since they are all connected and that puts me at a disadvantage, Ryikaria thought as she watched the Shambling Shadows move closer towards the girl.

“P-Please… Somebody help me!” the girl screamed in the Razviran tongue.

Ryikaria sighed and stepped forward.

“Yo.”

At the sound of Ryikaria’s voice, the monsters all turned their gaze at her. Stepping off with her leading foot, she cleared the distance to them and destroyed five of them with a swift fatal cut with her bowstring. The final one continued to move toward Ryikaria slowly. She could only sigh as she grew increasingly bored watched the monster work its way to her position.

“Come on now, I don’t have all night.”

After coming into range, the monster prepared to cling to Ryikaria and eat her alive – as the Shambling Shadows did. She held out her bowstring and used it like a pole to keep the monster at bay without any effort. These things used to be so fun to fight, now they just bore me to death, Ryikaria thought as she rammed her violin into the jaw of the monster. The blow was enough to knock the monster down. Walking over to the body, she placed her bowstring on the monster’s skull and put a small ounce of her weight onto it, forcing the bowstring to penetrate the skull.

Ryikaria looked over to the Undertaker. She was dressed in a black buttoned-up shirt with dull, twilight golden vest over it that was outfitted with various clocks and chains that Ryikaria had never seen before. Her fingerless gloves that drew up to her her elbows also held different buckles and other lacy frills. Like the rest of her outfit, her skirt matched the colour of her shirt and flowed down just above her knees. Atop her head was a small black top-hat with a pair of goggles on them that were of a strong and durable material.

“Are you okay?”

The girl appeared timid at first as she stood to her feet. She studied Ryikaria and took note of her white hair and single red eye.

“You’re a Shadow Taker, are you not?”

“I am. You’re an Undertaker, yes?”

“Indeed. I am an Undertaker.”

“You’re different then the others. What are you doing out here?” Ryikaria asked.

Rummaging through the bag on her hip, the girl pulled out a piece of parchment with various lines of ink on the page. The Undertaker stepped with a light foot over to Ryikaria and held out the paper for her to see. On it was a map of Enfieria that appeared as small islands. Okay, it looks like these islands are actually the different cities throughout these lands. It’s odd though that the distance between the cites is uncharted. I’ve explored some of these areas but this makes me question exactly why the areas between these various lands are discounted. Unless this implies that these areas are unexplored… No wait, it’s not that they aren’t explored, it is because something changes, Ryikaria thought as she looked around the area. She thought about where she had travelled and recalled that at times some parts of the forest felt different to her.

“Does this forest change?”

“Yes, I’ve been mapping out these lands for well over eighteen years by your standards of time.”

“Do you know where we are now?”

“I wish I could tell you. So far, I’ve been heading east hoping to reach this area here,” the Undertaker said pointing to one of the areas on the map.

“The Moonfell Coast is where a grand occurrence happens once every year.”

“Is that your home or a village that is within that area?” Ryikaria asked as she pointed to the nearby dot on the map.

“No. I do have a small outcropping next to the cliff I use to watch the sky. Have you ever seen a blood moon?”

“A blood moon? I didn’t even know there was a moon to be seen here.”

“Many of your kind don’t. Would you care to accompany me to see it?”

“It does sound enticing. I’m hoping to learn all I can about this world.”

“Good. Then the two of us can travel for a while and learn about each other and our worlds.”

Ryikaria nodded and watched as the Undertaker gathered up the few items that had spilled on the ground from her bag.

“Did you lose your shoes?” Ryikaria asked taking note of the fact the Undertaker was barefoot.

“No. I just prefer to be without them. It connects me to the world on a deeper level.”

Ryikaria followed the Undertaker east as she looked up at the sky. While she appeared calm and unaware of everything around her, Ryikaria was highly alerted to everything within her available radius. She had many questions for the Undertaker, questions that she was hoping the Undertaker would be able to answer.

“So, why is it you don’t speak in rhymes like the other Undertakers?”

“Unlike my sister’s, I was… born differently. I matured to a level that I don’t speak with my words rhyming at the ends of the sentences.”

“That does make you unique.”

“Something more unique is the fact I am on my own.”

“What do you mean?” Ryikaria asked.

“I’m not of the hive mind like they are.”

“So, you’re independent?”

“Yes. I cannot see what they see, nor hear what they hear. I am, my own person, so to speak. This is why I’ve taken to mapping out this world and crafting new inventions to better not only us Ryiza but even your world as well.”

“Like those odd devices on your outfit?”

“Exactly. These devices allow for the accurate keeping of time.”

“That sounds convenient.”

The Undertaker turned back to Ryikaria and smiled. Pulling out one of the clocks on her outfit, she handed Ryikaria a clock that was a yellowish-golden colour and had a chain that allowed it to hang from a pocket. Like the outlandish outfit the Undertaker wore, the watch was shaped oddly as well with various gears and cogs. Despite this, it still functioned and mesmerized Ryikaria in the intricate ways it moved.

“The shorter hand there tells the hour of the day while the longer one tells the minutes within that hour.”

“This is fascinating. I had always believed time should have been kept in our world through a certain standard, the problem was just not having the technology.”

“I can teach you how to craft many different technologies if you care to spend time learning.”

“And I can teach you all about the other world.”

“Sounds like our relationship will be beneficial to us both.”

The two continued on through the woods as Ryikaria helped the Undertaker over various rough terrain.

“What’s your name?” Ryikaria asked.

“I don’t have one.”

“Odd, I figured a unique Undertaker like you would have a name.”

“You’re welcome to give me one.”

“You sure about that?”

“I would be happy with whatever you pick.”

Ryikaria thought for a minute before finally deciding on a name.

“I’ll call you Ayna. It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

Ayna could only giggle at the sound of her name as she turned to Ryikaria with a smile. Even though Ryikaria’s expression was hollow, Ayna could see the confusion in her gaze.

“I’m actually a boy.”

#

Ryikaria stared down at the watch in her hand and took note of the time. She wondered if the time in Enfieria was on-par to her own world. There were so many things she had yet to learn about the world of Enfireria but she knew that once she the knowledge she could easily make her world a better place. As she pushed past a thick overgrown bush, the sight of a beautiful mid-night coast was enough to make her appreciate what she was seeing.

Ayna breathed in the fresh air of the coastal sea and stepped onto the beach. Ryikaria removed her shoes and socks before stepping onto the sandy beach. She could feel the soft sand between her toes and found the beach calmly to the mind. This feels like a place where I could stay for a while, Ryikaria thought as she followed Ayna down to the shoreline. The sound of the crashing waves echoed throughout her ears as she took note of the surrounding area. Off to the north was a large cliff that stood out from the horizon.

“That cliff over there is where we can see the moon when it passes by. There is also the outcropping under the cliff that can serve as a place to sleep. For now though, if you don’t mind, I’d like to relax,” Ayna said as he sat down in the sand.

Ryikaria sat down beside him and stared out at the calm sky and water. She looked over the map that Ayna had handed over to her and studied the layout of the land. While she wasn’t completely certain of everywhere that she had travelled, she noticed one area that appeared larger then the others and was called the Shadow Plains.

“I can fathom a guess as to what the Shadow Plains are, what exactly is there?”

“A giant wasteland that is crawling with Jattilainen.”

“So, large shadow masses that stand over two hundred metres in height.”

Ayna nodded.

“If you travel there, you should be careful.”

Ryikaria laid back and stared up at the sky.

“If anything, they should be careful of me.”