Shadow was groggy. She sat up and stared foggily around
the room. The shadow Shoyru was mystified. She was wet and it was dark. As her
senses slowly gathered to her, Shadowflame slowly realized where and when she
was. It was night, obviously, and a great storm was gathering above her.
Somehow most of the house had survived her battle
with Darigan (predictably ending with him running away), but the kitchen was
crushed and blown to pieces. There was no longer a need for her to stay amongst
the ruins of one shard of her life, where Galahan and Feines no longer lingered.
Feines was lying in a corner, and stirred as Shadow shook him.
"Goodbye Grandpa," she cried, tears flowing freely
now. "You've been good to me and I'll never forget you!"
Feines nodded, sitting up, amazingly unhurt from
his ordeal, and told her one of the most touching things she'd ever heard.
"A friend once told me that destiny was the world's
choices in disguise. He said that one voice made destiny a whole other person.
BE that person, and you have affected the world."
Shadow nodded, and Feines continued.
"I loved you... you knew that. You know that...
you were the daughter I had never had, the friend in times of trouble after
me wife died... this will probably be the last time you ever see me, but I will
live on. Take the loves and hopes of everyone -- me, your team, Gilden- and
do us proud..."
Feines groaned and fell unconscious. Shadow's
heart jumped, but she quickly took a pulse and sighed in relief. She then dug
a small whistle out of a trapdoor underneath the kitchen. Taking a deep breath,
she blew. The silhouettes of a dozen neighbours appeared, knowing what the whistle
meant. Shadow took a moment to carve a message to her team with a sharp edge
from the porcelain sink.
It was time to stop the destruction.
The hill sat more or less right at the edge of
the forest, the back facing endless trees. A large citadel was on the other
side of the hill, facing the kingdom and inspiring awe and fear in all who beheld
it. Shadow took refuge under the dripping trees and gazed up at the castle of
evil, hoping everything went according to plan.
She was just about to fly up to the tower she'd
marked as a good entrance when she heard a shout.
"Sentry! Fifty yards!"
A small dart wended its way through the trees
at lightning speed and Shadow jumped out of the way, her reflexes flinging her
out of its path. Grabbing a few pebbles and rolling up in the same motion, she
whipped the stones in all directions, a small muffled groan rewarding her toss
into the forest.
Amazing, she thought, they managed
to see me through a black cloak and black skin!
A strange creature stepped out of the forest.
She started.
"A human!" she gasped. "Your a NEOPIAN!" She
introduced herself as Shadow and the human did likewise, introduced himself
as Brains03, and told the knights behind him that she was a friend. Two creatures,
taller than Brains, also stepped out.
"Faeries," Shadow breathed, "you're just - only
-- legends!"
The prettier one smiled.
"Come sit with us little one and we will talk."
***
Shadow had to laugh. The Neopians had come for the orb with intentions for
peace but Darigan had made them seem evil, forcing war for some reason which
he alone was sure to benefit from. Not only that, but the Neopian Faerie Queen
had snuck along without anyone but the knights knowing. Shadow knew that the
Faerie Queen and her assistant, the Battle Faerie, just wanted to have some
fun, but everyone (including the knights), found the whole idea of a queen fighting
in a battle very serious business indeed.
Aside from learning about the so-called Neopians,
Shadow told them about herself and her quest. They had great interest in Gormball
and the politics behind what was about to take place. Fyora (the Faerie Queen)
took immediate attention to the prophecies and had a small conference with Brains,
who obviously was the army commander, quickly returning to hear the rest of
the story.
Not to long after Shadow finished, Brains motioned
Fyora and the Shoyru warrior into the soaked woods.
"So... it has come to this," he said grimly.
"We team with a Wild One for peace. This could be good, this could be bad."
Fyora frowned, "Wild One? I'm not the only one
who noticed?"
Shadow shot them a questioning look.
"Prophecies don't apply to you. Your fate is
yours to control and yours alone. It's a sort of legend with us..."
Shadow shook her head grimly. Wild one. A hero.
It was all the same to her. A hero, a sword, a great evil. Her life suddenly
felt transparent, like glass. She was transported far, far away; her thoughts
vapour, actions, air. She imagined that far off an eerie tune she'd once heard
down the road was playing in the distance...
Brains knew that he would be betraying his newfound
ally tonight. She would live, but an oracle they had met along the way wasn't
cryptic in telling them a chilling verse:
Maiden fair for country lost,
Betrayed for greed and land to save,
Not once been told of her soul's own cost,
But will not be sent to the grave.
And that wasn't even all of it. Fyora, however, had volunteered to take the
blame of the "Country Lost" and Shadow's betrayal.
Shadow, who had been standing silent, stirred
and narrowed her eyes. She knew what was happening now. Meridell, the orb, her.
It all tied together in one large web.
"Oh what a wicked web we weave," she sighed
out loud, "for but we were pawns in our own game."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked a puzzled
Brains.
Fyora smiled knowingly through soaked and tired
eyes..
***
Glass, thought Shadowflame angrily, They have installed crystal
GLASS WINDOWS!
Darigan had indeed installed a hard crystal
glass window set in the stone arch holes that were considered windows. Shadow
was quickly becoming tired of every detail of life, and accordingly slammed
the keystone out of the nearest arch window. A slow rumble reached the Shadow
Shoyru's weary ears, and two monoliths crashed together in a resounding BOOM!
that caused Shadow to pause. She flew over to the next window and broke the
glass, fluttering inside.
Guards came running from all directions and
Shadow waited until she was surrounded. Aiming a perfect fist, she obliterated
another keystone, the one which held up the window she'd entered from. The guards
made a mad dash for the stairs. First, the window frame clattered down. Then,
with a low, deep, grinding noise, the tower began to crumble. Shadow simply
floated as everything collapsed around her, though she wasn't touched once by
falling rocks.
Now to find Darigan.
The rain had not let up at any point in the
last hour, and Brains was soggy with the moisture by the time he reported the
battle ready. Fyora nodded and the battle began.
Shadow had found a small door that lead into
a hallway. She entered the hallway, cautious of guards, and was hit with a reeling
shock. Her brain twisted for a moment, and then restored itself.
Meridell's perfidy has begun she thought, satisfied
in a strange way. The shock must've been fate trying to realign itself with
her. Well it wouldn't work. She was separate.
Shadow turned her thoughts to where Darigan's
quarters were. A large door deep within the citadel soon solved her question,
and she prepared to enter. The large oak door, which was painted purple, creaked
open slowly and Shadowflame found herself on the threshold of the very room
in which evil was sure to lurk...
Darigan's quarters were empty. Completely empty.
She boiled. The sword wasn't there! She looked around and spotted some creased
receipts. Darigan had sold her sword! The papers said "Treehorn Tribe, South
Lujen."
There was also a pedestal where Shadow guessed
that the Orb sat at night or during bad weather. But strangely, the Orb wasn't
there! A funny thought struck the black Shoyru. It was Darigan's personal nightlight!
"I guess monsters are afraid of the dark!" she
chuckled to the pedestal.
"Actually, I'm deathly afraid that a hero is
going to come out of my closet and smite me," came a voice from behind her.
Shadow whirled.
"Darigan? The great evil? Afraid of the dark?"
Darigan hung his head in shame, "Yes..."
Shadow laughed and turned serious.
"You shouldn't worry about heroes in your closet.
There's one right in front of you!"
Darigan's complexion changed and he began to
look angry.
"You're not mommy!"
Shadow flew over to the only torch that lit
the chambers and blew it out with a draft from her wings.
"Ack! HEEEEeeeeeelp!" Darigan retreated down
the hallway into a central atrium in the middle of the castle. Lo and behold,
there was the orb. It hung in mid-air, high above the floor. Darigan had regained
his composure in the brightly lit open room. "Well, well. It seems we have a
problem now don't we?"
Shadow grinned and shook her head, "You've seen
me play Gormball. And when I was four hours old you still couldn't beat me.
What makes you think you can do anything to me now?"
Darigan gestured to the sheathed sword by his
side, gracefully drawing it out.
"This."
Shadow gasped. The ploy with the sword receipts!
He'd had it all along!
"I really sold it. They just failed to bring
the proper... identification for my guards. And if it hadn't been for you finding
my greatest weakness, you need not have found out about the sword. Pity you
never made it to Lujen. Jahbal, if he's still alive after being attacked by
all those guards, holds a great hatred of you!"
Shadow frowned. She hadn't trusted the receipts,
but it was still a little unfair that Darigan had to rub it in that he had her
sword.
"And your daddy's still alive to! Your family
has proven very hard to eliminate from the beginning. Mommy's gone running to
that "Faerie Queen" from Neopia, and you... I'm going to enjoy destroying you
with your own birthright. Mwahahahahah!"
Shadow drew a small saber she'd found in an
alleyway..
"You weren't so confident in your scramble from
your room!" she laughed cruelly, anger driving her every word home, "You're
not mommy! Ack! HEEEEeeeeeelp!"
Darigan shrunk back.
"You will PAY for that remark!"
"Cash or credit?" she quipped back.
"PAIN!"
"I don't have that," she told him cooly, floating
to the left as he charged, waving her family's sword aloft.
The shadow Shoyru flailed on him with the saber
and drifted across the atrium, her face hardening. Darigan charged again, anticipating
her drift to the side. She knew what he was thinking, and dropped suddenly.
Shadow kicked out and his sword flew into the air.
She shot up in a brilliant uppercut, knocking
Darigan for a loop and jarring the long sword from her grasp. Shadow used the
momentum to swoop to the right and grab the Ancient Gildean Shoyru Sword that
rightly belonged to her. She felt energized.
"ANGEL WIRE!" she shouted, the magic in her
blood flowing again.
Lights from the heavens streamed through the
roof, blasting holes and letting in the rain. They struck Darigan, who was reaching
for the saber in hopes of regaining control. He screamed in pain and was thrown
into a wall, which crumbled. The castle was collapsing!
A rumble rang from the floor and cracks began
to appear. There was another rumble and a starry Shoyru was thrown through the
floor roaring. The hole widened and an eight foot tall red Scorchio burst through.
"Hath Saintess..." Shadow breathed.
The monster turned and roared, fire shooting
into the air. Shadow tackled the monster and began to slash at it. It shouted
and attacked back. But quickly Shadow overpowered it and Hath Saintess fell
defeated. She looked around. The entire Atrium had collapsed, rain pouring in.
Her father, for the Starry Shoyru had been he, had disappeared.
Shadowflame flew up and grasped the orb in her
hands. Lightning flashed and she drifted down to the atrium floor, stowing the
orb in a zippered pocket on her black hooded tunic. It was time to get out of
here, away from the sounds of battle and carnage, symbolic of Meridell's betrayal.
They weren't supposed to start a battle with the guards! Now, true to the prophecies,
Gilden would destroy itself.
The castle gave a low guttural roar of distress,
the age-old stones finally giving in to gravity. Shadow raced into the sky.
Down below, the Meridellians saw Shadow leaving
the falling castle against a flash of lightning and their human leader called
a retreat. Fyora and the Battle Faerie looked at him questioningly but he just
shook his head, water spraying from his tousled hair.
"The battle's over. Let's see who won in the
end," he told them.
Fyora nodded.
***
"The Council of Faeries is going to absolutely flip over what we did," Fyora
laughed, Shadow and Brains giggling at the thought of the Council's reaction.
Shadow turned serious, a smile still dancing
on her lips, "Actually, they would have had you lost. But you won, so history
will call you brave instead of foolish and crazy."
At this, she drew the orb from a small backpack
along with her sword and sheath. She ceremoniously passed it to Brains, who
gave it to the Meridell knights, who cheered. Then Shadow strapped her sword
to her back, listening as Brains apologized for the battle.
"S'okay," she told him, knowing what he was going
to say, "Gilden was destined to fall at some point, because several of the lands
around us were gearing up for our destruction anyway."
And it wasn't a lie. Lujen was after them, and
so were most of the islands,
Shadow became silent. Brains had drawn her aside
and told her that her father had told him to tell her "The Silent One is the
Key" and disappeared into the rain. She hadn't had time to look for him, just
grab the sword belt and sheath from Darigan and run. But her parents were alive!
One day she would find them, some day...
Epilogue, Present Day.
Shadowflame woke up, covers flying. It seemed so real, so- vivid. So that's
what had happened to her. She'd never had any recollection of the past before.
Fyora had promised one day she would learn the truth; just yesterday in the
Hidden Tower, in fact.
Fyora stepped from the darkness into a beam
of moonlight.
"Do you understand now?"
Shadow wasn't at all surprised to see Fyora.
She nodded. Bound by destiny to save Neopia. But that of course didn't mean
that when the second of the two evils she was bound to defeat came calling,
that wouldn't be her last adventure!
"I'm a chosen one, and outcast then?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. It's going to have to be
that way forever."
"Who's the second evil I have to defeat?"
"It is written that you will not know until all
around you is lost. Your owner knows this. Albert and Fetch having left a long
time ago to find their fortunes, he came to me and discovered that if they had
stayed they would have been isolated from everything, locked in a dream. After
you defeat the second evil, fate has plans for you. Good luck..."
Fyora vanished. Shadow thought about Albert,
the yellow Kacheek and Fetch, a blue Blumaroo which she had rescued a while
back. She absent-mindedly scratched the belly of Akala, her Doglefox. Fate would
indeed be surprised if it felt it could hold her within it's grasp. Shadow was
a wild one, bound by nothing, and held only by her own will.
Prophecies it seemed did not apply to her. Things
were going to be very different indeed. One day she would rediscover her parents.
Shadow laughed and Akala awoke growling, gnawing
affectionately on Shadow's leg. He jumped on her and they wrestled, thoughts
of evil and doom forestalled by friendship and good.
The End
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