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“Hey—over here, you two!” Kai shouts and waves at them. My eyes couldn’t be wider and the what-the-fuck-are-you-doing stare I’m leveling Kai with couldn’t be clearer.
Corvus grins and I stiffen my legs to keep them from giving out on me as Terra and Raine walk over to us.
Raine has the same dark hair I do, but his eyes are a piercing blue. His jaw is sharp and the scar across it only makes him look more frightening. A few truckloads of students came in from Barkovah this morning, and from what I heard, Raine was their callous leader after the Skyfell in Navasik.
“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet. I’m Kaidel; this is Corvus,” Kai says like we’re meeting at a picnic party. Corvus nods cordially but gives me a sidelong glance. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Terra, and who is your friend?” He already knows who he is, but I let Kai be his courteous self and ask them anyway.
Terra assesses him for a second before smiling and linking arms with Raine. My stomach sinks further. I swear she’s doing it on purpose to get at me.
“This is Raine.” She touches his arm gently. I yearn for her to hold onto my arm like that again. I swallow my pride and nod at him with a weak grin.
Kai and Corvus engage in light conversation with them while I stare at the snow. After a few minutes, Edgar sulks over with Arthur trailing him. According to my book, Arthur’s our professor for Shadow riding. He’s elusive to all but the Novas, it seems; I suppose it makes sense since they’re all holed away in the eastern tower away from everyone else.
Edgar stands next to his sister. The air is heavier when he’s around, like he’s barely containing his power. A girl with white hair tied back into a long braid notices him and eagerly joins us too.
“Lucina, I didn’t know you were in this class.” Edgar perks up a bit and the tense energy rolling off his shoulders subsides. Terra greets her cheerfully aswell and Lucina smiles widely at them both.
“I’m just relieved to see familiar faces,” Lucina says shyly. She looks at Edgar the same way Raine looks at Terra.
Watching them together makes the weight of the exam and the lingering death seem not so heavy. But my small reprieve fades as my eyes shift to the Darkflies standing by the entrance of the castle, switching shifts with the morning soldiers. Their fingers are always on their guns, ready to kill.
I wonder which moves faster: a bullet or a Shadow.
Arthur holds up his journal and it vanishes into a shroud of black mist. He takes his place at the shoreline of the frozen lake, all of us pausing our chatter to await his instruction.
His gray eyes find Terra and soften as he speaks. “Good morning—I hope you are ready to embrace your Shadows and let them walk freely by your sides today. If not, don’t fret. It may take some of you a while to coax them out.” Arthur spreads his arms out and his Shadow shimmers into physical form beside him.
It’s shrouded in black, but it’s much clearer and much more real than I ever thought possible. His Shadow looks like a wolf and stands as tall as Arthur. The face is that of a canine’s skull and the bones that peek out from the mist forming its neck and ribs make my throat dry. Its legs are long and too thin for any normal animal. Antlers spread from its head, making it look like a mythical creature in a storybook. The tail is long and wispy, evaporating into the air like licks of flames.
“This is my Shadow’s physical form. Shadows are vicious in combat and can travel at fast speeds, an obvious necessity in times of war. Now, I want you all to try and summon your Shadows. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you wish to survive, you’ll master this by the second-semester exam. If you are unable to summon your Shadow, you are easily slain. On the other hand, should you be able to summon but your performance is subpar, the spectators of the exam will mark you off to be sent to the front lines.”
Every hair on my spine prickles and I swallow hard. The front lines? To fight against our own nation? I want to think it’s just a scare tactic, but nothing else here has made any sense so I’m not holding my breath.
We break into groups. Raine, Terra, Corvus, Edgar, Lucina, and Kai remain around me and we try to summon our Shadows out.
Terra’s Shadow comes out first, easily, in a slow, elegant strut. It’s a feline of some sort, big enough to ride. It resembles Arthur’s wolf in that its face is a skull and the spine and ribs are the only real shape that hold the mass of black smoke together. Its eyes are two bright dots in the center of the eye sockets, chilling my bones as it looks at me.
“Holy shit, how did you do that?” Kai’s eyes grow wide and he walks up to the feline Shadow, pressing his hands against the smoke until his fingers touch something firm beneath. “It really does have a physical presence. I can’t push my hand through it,” he says mindlessly as he examines the creature.
Corvus steps beside him, his eyes dancing with the same mystified look. “Amazing.”
A small smile crests Edgar’s glum face and he tries to approach the Shadow too, offering his hand warily. It growls at him and he glances back at Terra.
“It doesn’t like your Shadow… Sorry.” She deflates as if the thought of their Shadows being enemies upsets her greatly. Lucina pets the creature’s long snout and smiles, giggling and looking at Edgar to make sure that he sees.
Edgar just shrugs and mumbles, “It’s fine.”
Terra turns her attention to me and grins. “What about yours?”
My fingers curl at my sides. I don’t know if I can call my Shadow out—I know only its name. Laphia.
Corvus gasps as his body releases the same black mist. It forms a creature of feathers and bone. A crow the size of a man, but with four wings and eyes as red as rubies. Bones prick from the wings and the chest plate.
What dark gods sent these creatures to us? They’re sinister and appalling.
Kai backs into me, taking us both to the ground. “What the fuck, Corvus,” he sputters. I’m as speechless as Kai is.
Arthur notices our group’s advancement and approaches us. “Great job over here. Terra and Corvus are already well on their way to preparing for the exam.” The professor leans in and looks closely at both the Shadows. The creatures remain still, as if there are no thoughts going through their heads, which I know isn’t the case. They clearly speak and think just as we do. They seem oddly calm and relaxed with Arthur.
