Chapter 12
When I woke up from my wonderful dreams, a circle of unfamiliar faces greeted me. Then Dog jumped on me, causing me to double over in pain. At least there was someone I knew. Vaguely.
“Where am I?” I groaned.
“You’re in one of the few houses that you managed to save. We are forever in your debt, my friend. I am the doctor of this village, and I can’t remember my name, so just call me Doc.”
This nutcase was the one who was treating me? It was a wonder I wasn’t already six feet under. I sat up, and looked around. The room was actually rather nice, with a few book cases and beautiful drawings hanging all around.
“This place is pretty, I’m glad it didn’t burn down,” I said.
Doc nodded. “Indeed. This was one of the two buildings remaining that has suitable sleeping quarters in it. The other is the barn, where your friend is currently residing.”
I grimaced. “How many animals has she shot?”
“Two cows and four pigs. She also set a chicken on fire.”
“How the hell did she do that?”
“She rubbed it on a wall so quickly it sparked and caught fire. My son was watching when she did it. She then ate it for her dinner after letting it burn for a few minutes.”
I shook my head with a mixture of wonder and horror. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Oh, not too long. You saved us yesterday, and its lunchtime right now.” Kip bounded into the room, and Dog poked him with his nose.
I slipped my legs out from the sheets, and stood up. When I felt assured that I could stand, I looked around at the other faces in the room.
“Is this everyone in the village?”
“Oh, not even close. We were just on watch when you happened to wake up. Now that you’re awake, would you mind telling us how you saved us?”
“Magic.”
Doc’s eyes widened. “You’re a wizard?”
Hook, line, and sinker. “Nope. Just getting some revenge on Kip through his friends.”
Kip burst into laughter, and everyone else joined. “In reality, I just come from a place that has advanced technology. On the topic of saving you, do you know why your village was on fire?”
A man who hadn’t yet identified himself shrugged. “This isn’t the first time we have been attacked. It’s probably because we breed the finest Shadows in all of Trinton. They all want to get their hands on one.”
“Actually, I’ve got a pretty nice Shadow myself,” I said.
Doc grinned. “That’s quite cool! Is that how you were able to save our village? Our pride and joy is Dog over there with Kip.”
I looked over to Kip, where his enormous dog was happily licking him to death. I was pretty sure that Kip’s Shadow looked like him, not like a huge gray shaggy dog.
“Ah, I’m pretty sure shadows are supposed to resemble their owners?”
Doc looked confused for a moment, and then burst into laughter. “You’re thinking of a human’s shadow, not a Shadow.”
Now I was even more confused. “Here, we can just show you when you feel better, ok?” a man offered.
“I’m feeling pretty nice right now.”
Doc frowned, but shrugged. “If you say so, Mr…”
“Jinx. My name is Drake Jinx.”
The Doc nodded, and I followed him from the building. He looked back at me. “Are you sure you can do this? It’s almost a mile walk.”
I smirked. “No, I think I’ll be alright. Just point me in the right direction.”
He shrugged, and pointed at a beaten down path of dirt. It was scorched slightly, but it had managed to retain its purpose. I grabbed Doc, and activated my Suspender, causing us to shoot down the pass a foot in the air. When a large wooden house came into view, I slowed us down so we only destroyed one fence post when we landed.
“Ouch,” I groaned.
Doc was staring at me with wide eyes, just like Kip had. “I heard the story from Kip, but I thought it was a tall tale… That was amazing!”
I grunted an affirmative, and looked up at the house. It looked a lot like a barn, but I noticed a few holes in it. Doc noticed me staring, and went over to the door. He knocked, and it suddenly flung itself open. Doc waved me over, and peered inside.
“This is where we breed the Shadows. Be warned, the breeder is a little…weird. I’ll wait out here while you talk to him.”
I shrugged, and walked into the barn. Immediately, the doors slammed shut behind me and a dull yellow light lit up the room. An old man waddled out of the darkness, leaning heavily on his cane.
“Have you come here to get a Shadow?”
Last I checked, I still had mine with me. “Well, I would like to look at one.”
He waved his cane around in front of my face. “Your smooth words shall not work on me. You wish to have a Shadow, am I right?”
I decided that it would be pointless trying to argue with this crazy old geezer. I just decided to go along with it. “Yeah, sure.”
He grinned triumphantly. “Very well. Behold!”
He tossed me a little white object, and I dove to catch it. I looked down at the Shadow in my hand, and found myself holding an egg. I stared at it in disbelief.
“This is an egg.”
“No, that is the Shadow you wanted so dearly.”
“Egg.”
He glared at me. “That is a Shadow in its first form. It hasn’t hatched yet.”
“This is an egg; one from a chicken.”
“Your skills of identification are a thing of legend, Bob.”
I shook my head in exasperation and handed the egg back to him. “You’re off your rocker. You can have your egg back. I like omelets as much as the next man, but I didn’t come all the way here for one. And my name is Drake Jinx, not Bob. Although Bob is still a cool name.”
The old man jumped forward and grabbed my sleeve. “Very well, you had the integrity to return the Shadow egg to me, so I will allow you to gain one of your own.”
I’m sure that was a chicken’s egg, but whatever. The old man grinned at me, and sprinted at the wall. He leaped through it, leaving an old man shaped hole behind. I hurried after him, and looked around in awe.
I was surrounded by huge eggs the size of basketballs. The old man was standing in the middle of the room, petting one of the eggs and whispering to it. I made a wide circle around the room, looking at the different patterns on each of the eggs.
Suddenly, the old man’s head jerked up and he looked me in the eyes. “Do you hear that? An egg calls to you.”
I strained my ears, but heard nothing but the wind going through the holes all around the barn.
“Nope, I don’t hear anything.”
“Then you are deaf. But, it is ok, since you cannot be perfect. Walk ahead seven steps and turn to your right.”
I did as he said, and noticed one of the eggs shaking slightly. I lifted it, and noticed the one behind it shaking as well. Frowning, I put the egg down, and lifted the next one. The one behind this one was shaking as well.
“What the heck?”
I started moving them out of the way, and every time I lifted one, it stopped shaking. I dug through the pile of eggs until I reached one the size of two fists put together. I picked it up, and it didn’t stop shaking.
The old man hobbled over next to me, and frowned. “That one is strange. It is much smaller than it should be. However, if it reacted to you, it has completed its first stage.”
I looked at the little shaking egg, wondering if I could use it for a back massage. The old man suddenly lunged forward and snatched the egg from my hands. He hurled it onto the ground, and cracks covered the egg.
“Hey! What the heck was that for?” I yelled.
I picked up the broken egg, and a piece of it fell out. I peered through the hole, and a beady black eye stared back into mine. “Whoa! What is this?”
A long leg burst through the egg, and I inspected it closely. It was hinged in several places, and had
little gray hairs sticking out like fur. The foot was curved to a point, but I couldn’t tell if it was sharp or not.
The old man stared at the leg. “What Shadow will you get? I am curious to see myself, Drake Jinx.”
I started to nod, but froze. I spun, and stared at a dark cloaked figure that had replaced the tottering old dude from before. Someone from the Unknown Man’s army. I lunged at him, but he disappeared in a puff of darkness, reappearing several feet away from me. He bowed, and scattered into a patch of smoke. Several more pieces of the egg shattered, and I returned my attention to it briefly.
A huge spider scuttled out of the egg, and stared up into my eyes. I’m no bug expert, but I’m reasonably sure that spiders don’t come out of oversized chicken eggs with designs on them.
We stared at each other for a moment. The spider’s large mandibles twitched, and it skittered up to my shoulder. “Awwww, it likes me!” I purred.
The spider then bit me on my ear, and shot off into one of my pockets. I cursed it out, and rubbed my ear. It was bleeding a little, but it wasn’t too bad. I bet Lilly would like one of these furry bastards.
I heard some muttering from behind the wall, and the old man with the cane jumped through it. He stared at me. “What are you doing in here?”
I lowered my fingers to my weapon, and my spider nudged me from inside my shirt. I released the weapon, and looked at the old man. He looked the same as the one from earlier, but that one had turned out to be a soldier from the Unknown Man’s army, so I couldn’t just straight up and trust this guy.
“I’m the guy who saved your town from burning down.”
The old man nodded sagely. “Oh, I’ve heard about you. I was wondering when you would show up. So…who are you?”
I sighed. “I was just leaving. Where is the exit?”
The old man shrugged, and leaped through the wall. “Right here!”
Shaking my head, I jogged out of the barn. Doc greeted me with a knowing smile. “I see you met the keeper. He isn’t normal, is he?”
I shook my head hastily. “Definitely not. But, I got my Shadow…I think.”
Doc grinned. “Show me! I’m interested to see what someone as amazing as you would get.”
I shrugged, and prodded my pocket. My spider poked its head out, and hissed at Doc. Can spiders even hiss? Doc looked rather surprised as he stared at the little Shadow. “To be honest, I was expecting something more awe inspiring than a spider.”
“If we get Lilly one of these things, I bet it would be an elephant or something.”
Doc grinned. “That would be great for the Games this season! Quick, let’s go get her!”
As it turns out, Lilly doesn’t like spiders. It took me a whole minute to convince her not to smack the spider, and another ten to convince her that it wouldn’t (Hopefully) assault her in her sleep and stab her friends and family. (I doubt she has any, but if it makes her feel better...)
“You want me to get something like this?” she cried in distain.
My spider was sitting on my shoulder, eyeing her with his (I think it was a he) beady eyes. Every time I looked away from it, I was pretty sure it started dancing a little jig since its feet were constantly drumming on my shoulders.
“It won’t be a spider, believe me. You’ll probably get an elephant or a dragon.”
Lilly frowned. “A dragon would be nice. It could kill my enemies so I wouldn’t even have to move while it roasted them alive.”
I grimaced at that mental image. “Yay, I love burning people alive. Doc, I do have a question though. I went along with getting a Shadow because I was curious about what they were. You still haven’t told me yet.”
“Oh, I haven’t? How silly of me! Shadows are the way the villages of Trinton compete for the favor of the King. Each year, all the villages gather with their mightiest Shadows and their owners to fight. The winning person gets any one request granted by the King, no matter what it is. They could even ask to become King, and the King would have to step down.”
Lilly and I looked at each other and grinned. Any one thing, huh? What about all the Shadow eggs they could spare and an army of ten thousand men? Whoa, I was starting to think like Lilly. It would probably be in my best interests to contact a doctor to check my mental stability.
“Where can I get one of these Shadows?” Lilly asked.
Doc shrugged. “We’re usually not in the habit of giving Shadows out to people we don’t know. I guess I can let you get one as well, so this story can continue without making the author think much more about this subject.”
“Huh?”
“What?” Doc asked.
“What about an author?” Lilly asked.
Doc frowned. “Are you guys ok? I can perform a checkup for you if you want.”
Lilly shook her head. “Forget it. Just give me that Shadow you were talking about.”
Doc led Lilly away to find the Shadow keeper, and I went off to find the rest of the villagers. They were all standing in a circle where the chief’s house had been, talking quietly. One of them saw me, and waved me over.
The second I came into earshot, they all started cheering and thanking me for saving their village from burning down. I had only saved three buildings, but I decided not to mention that part. After all, I was sure they could figure that part out on their own.
They led me up to the chief, and he bowed to me. “Young man, thank you for saving the village. And more personally, thank you for saving my own life. If we can do anything for you, just ask.”
I cleared my throat. “Well, there is actually something. A strange army is attacking my homeland, and we came here in search of soldiers to help us fight them off. If you would, we would be eternally grateful to you if some of you could join up and help us in the battle. Also, I was wondering how I would be able to enter the games.”
The chief frowned. “Well, I would be glad to ask the people of my village if they would join with you, but I do not command them, I just point them in the right direction. However, unless you have a Shadow, you cannot enter the games.”
My spider looked up from my pocket, and clicked his teeth at the chief. He scuttled onto my shoulder and made a point to stare at every single villager for about a second before looking to the next.
The chief cleared his throat. “Ahem, there is a spider on your shoulder.”
I nodded. “This is my Shadow.”
The chief stared at the huge spider. “Are you sure about that?”
I nodded absently. “C’mon, do something!”
The chief chuckled. “Well, if it is your Shadow, he won’t listen to you unless you give him a name.”
“Oh. A name, huh? Well, I’m not going to name you ‘spider’. Oh, I know! I’ll call you Bill! Bill, do something.”
Immediately, Bill wove a little silk hat and popped it on his head. He looked at me expectantly, and I repressed a sigh. Kip had a dog the size of a grizzly bear. I had a spider that could make little hats. Oh well, maybe my enemies could laugh so hard they choke.
“That’s…nice, Bill.”
I could have sworn the spider grinned before offering the silk hat to me. I took it, and placed it on my head. “See? No normal spider could ever do that, and not so quickly.”
The chief was too busy staring at my hat with awe in his eyes. I know it looked awesome, but did it call for that expression? “What’s wrong, chief?”
“Your hat is on fire.”
I lifted the hat from my head, and realized that the mayor was correct. I glared at Bill, who seemed to shrug.
Since the fire wasn’t burning me, I shrugged and popped the mini hat back onto my head.
The chief stared for a little more, then shook his head and grinned at me. “Well, it appears you have a Shadow. In that case, it should be no problem for you to engage in the games. You arrived at a good time, my friend. The games should be starting tomorrow, in the courtyard of the current King’s palace. You’ll be hard pressed on time to get there thoug
h.”
I smiled. “Time really isn’t a problem.”
A distant screech alerted me to Lilly’s presence, and a massive bald eagle slammed down in the center of the circle of villagers, nearly squashing a few. When I say massive, I mean it. The Shadow must have stood at least a story high, with wings longer than two humans stacked on top of each other.
“’Murica!” Lilly screamed, and jumped down from the huge eagle.
“What’s a ‘Murica?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I dunno, It just seemed right. My Shadow is way better than yours though. Just for the record and all.”
“I wouldn’t say that. My spider can make flaming hats.” I said, pointing out my little hat.
She looked surprised for a moment before her smirk returned. “That’s obliviously fake fire. If it was real, your hair would be burning right now.”
She picked it up, and yelped. She dropped it back onto my head and stuck her thumb and forefinger in her mouth.
“Hah! It is a real fire. Don’t make me throw my flaming hat of doom at you.”
Lilly rolled her eyes, and patted her giant eagle. “Swift is still better. Now, about those games you were talking about. How soon would we have to leave if Swift can fly us there?”
“If you left now, you could make it there on time. You just missed our two Shadow owners by a day or two. They’re getting there with a black panther, so you shouldn’t have trouble spotting them. Panthers are rare, you know. Kip would have joined them with Dog, but he isn’t old enough yet. We’re going to send him in next year.”
I was still trying to get over the fact that Lilly had named her Shadow after herself.
“Really Lilly? You named it after your last name?”
She raised an eyebrow, and Swift leaned in far past the blow-the-rape-whistle area. It opened its mouth and screeched, sending a gust of air so strong it blew my flaming hat away and darn near took my head with it.
Bill and I both turned and stared sadly after the hat as it sailed away. “That’s going to screw up someone’s day,” I muttered.
Lilly faked a sad face. “Get on Swift, Jinx. We don’t want to be late to these…games.”
I didn’t like that look in her eyes. “I could take that the wrong way”
I took one look at her fierce glare, and decided not to finish that joke. “But I won’t. I’m getting on now.”
I swiftly climbed onto Lilly Swift’s swift Swift, hoping to swiftly get to the games. (Bam. Beat that.) Immediately, Swift took off, sending many of the villagers sprawling below us.
“We’ll be back soon!” I yelled, and we were gone before they could respond.
About an hour or two into the flight, I began to feel drowsy. “Hey, I’m going to try to get some sleep! Can you try to keep me from falling off your bird?” I called over the wind.
“If I notice you falling, I’ll be sure to attend your funeral! Maybe.”
That’s probably the best I’m going to get out of her. Bill seemed to read my mind, and began making a silk rope. When he finished, I looked from the rope to the bird. After a moment, I tied the rope to Lilly’s foot. Her boots were thick enough that I was sure that she wouldn’t feel it. If I fell off, hopefully she would try to save herself. If not, I guess she would end up attending my funeral anyways. She just might not be vertical.
After I secured the rope, I carefully laid stomach down on the bird and tested my bond. When it stayed strong, I closed my eyes and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.