James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

She sighed. There had been opportunity for little else; she’d barely had time to come to grips with what Elocien had told her about Wirr and the attacks, let alone do anything in her new position as Scribe.

Still, despite her exhaustion, she was far from ungrateful. The more she saw of the Shadows in the palace – treated much the same as those from the Tol, if not worse – the more she came to understand just how fortunate she was.

"Ashalia Chaedris."

Asha looked up at the sound of her name. The only other person in the hallway was a Shadow, a man in his mid-twenties, heading straight for her.

"Do I know you?" she asked as he drew closer.

"The Shadraehin wants to know if there is news," said the man.

Asha repressed a grimace. "It’s only been a few days since I got here," she pointed out.

"And yet you’ve been made Representative. It seems clear the Northwarden trusts you," the man noted. He drew a slip of paper from his pocket and offered it to her. "Instructions. A way to leave a message for us, should anything new come to light."

Asha hesitated, considering telling the man outright that the deal was off. But she knew that would only lead to recriminations, possibly violent ones given what Erran had shown her. And the Shadraehin couldn’t know that she’d changed her mind, wouldn’t have any reason to think that the Northwarden would have disclosed the attack on Administration to her.

"Thank-you," she said, accepting the note. She turned away.

"As soon as you know something, make sure you tell him," said the Shadow softly. "He is eager to hear from you."

When Asha glanced over her shoulder, the man was already walking away. She stared after him for a few moments. Maybe it was the image of the swinging corpses in Administration still fresh in her mind, but something in the man’s tone made her… uneasy.

Asha examined the piece of paper as she walked inside. It was the name of an inn in the Middle District, the Silver Talon, along with directions and a short list of names to ask for once she was there.

She paused for a moment. Then she wandered over to the fireplace - still burning, thanks to the ministrations of one of the servants - and tossed the note in.

The paper quickly caught, curling and disintegrating.

"What was that?"

Asha flinched, spinning to see an enormous, muscular frame reclining in one of her armchairs.

“Kol,” she said in surprise, trying to sound pleased by the unexpected intrusion. “It’s nice to see you.” It wasn’t, but this was the first time she’d encountered the big Augur since their brief introduction, and she was still hopeful of making a good impression.

Kol studied her intently for a few moments, as if trying to see inside her head. Perhaps he was, she realised with a stab of discomfort.

"Burning notes is a little suspicious," he rumbled.

Asha scowled. "It was instructions on how to meet with the Shadraehin’s people, if you must know. I burned it because I’m never going to use it. Just as the duke asked."

Kol said nothing for a few seconds, then nodded. “Have you read through the papers Elocien gave you? The visions not in the Journal?” His tone was brusque.

Asha shook her head mutely, flushing, feeling like she was being chastised even though there was no way she could have found the time. She’d managed to read all the entries in the Journal itself, but the duke had given her a ream of loose papers as well – all the visions that hadn’t been confirmed. The ones she would need to read, in order to compare them against anything new.

“Then you should get started.” Kol rose and crossed the space between them in two quick strides. His expression was so grim that Asha’s first reaction was to shrink back defensively, but all the big man did was press a folded sheet of paper into her palm.

Then he was out the door, shutting it firmly behind him without another word.

Asha took a deep breath, partly relieved, but also a little annoyed at Kol’s rudeness. She understood he had misgivings about her, but she’d done nothing to deserve such curt behaviour.

She walked over and sat at her desk; once the lamp was lit and she was comfortable, she unfolded the paper Kol had given her and began to read.

I found myself in a cavern, the likes of which I’ve never seen. Molten red rock glowed everywhere around me. There was no way to tell, but it felt as though I was deep underground.

I walked forward along a narrow path, through a tunnel and then into a large room that had strange symbols carved into the floor. In front of me stood a creature. It seemed to be made of fire, in the shape of a man but with glowing skin and hair, undoubtedly not human.

Across from it, at the end of the room past all the symbols and standing beside a short stone pillar, was a plain-looking man with red hair. There was a sword on top of the pillar, and the man was in the midst of reading something on the blade.

“For those who need me most. What does that mean?” he asked.

“Another question I cannot answer,” said the creature.

“What does Licanius mean? It sounds Darecian. You could at least tell me that much,” said the man.

“Fate. The translation is more specific, but in your language, it means fate,” said the creature.

The man nodded, then picked up the sword. He shimmered for a moment, as if I was looking at his reflection in a pool of water, and then seemed to disappear entirely. I could still see everything else – the room, the creature – but he had vanished.

The next thing I knew I was back in the palace, and I recognised the scene straight away - it was just like the other times. Fessi, Erran and Ashalia were kneeling next to me. We were in a Lockroom, and I was lying on the floor; when I looked down I could see that I was bleeding from many wounds. The pain was sharp, but fading fast.

I felt my head growing light, and then the dizziness became too much. The vision ended.

Asha sat back, stunned.

It made sense now. No wonder Kol had been so brusque – and had looked so apprehensive when they’d first met.

Slowly, she reached over and unlocked her desk drawer, fumbling around until she felt the bundle of pages the duke had given her two days ago. She drew it out, untying the string around it and flipping through the pages one by one.

It wasn’t long before she found another of Kol’s entries, written a few weeks ago:

We were in a Lockroom. Fessi, Erran and a girl I do not recognise were all kneeling next to me, looking upset. There was an excruciating pain in my chest, and when I looked down I could see blood pouring out of several wounds. Fessi was trying desperately to help, but I could see in the eyes of the others that it was too late.

Suddenly I felt dizzy; the room spun and the pain faded, replaced by a kind of dream-like state. I tried to stay conscious as long as I could, but I also knew it would be of no use. I said something to Fessi, at the end - I can’t remember what. I hope it was something meaningful.

I closed my eyes, and the vision ended.

Asha just stared at the page for a long moment in horror. She knew this wasn’t confirmation – a vision needed to be Seen by a different Augur for that – but it seemed likely that if Kol had Seen this one twice, there was a good chance it wasn’t just a dream.

Feeling sick, Asha began flipping through the rest of the papers. An entry in Fessi’s delicate hand caught her eye:

It was night, and I was in a strange city. Everything was made of stone, and it was all black – the roads, the walls, everything. As if fire had scorched every surface. The sky was darker than it should have been, too – perhaps it was just cloudy, but it felt as though it was always like that there.