She continued speaking as I studied her every nuance.“Female Warriors are different.The energy you feel keeps us connected, sharing our life essence when we meet the eyes of other Shadows.Our females do not kill other females, even those who alter form, such as yourself.”
Part of me found that impossible.I’d read most of the female history texts King possessed.Nalista, the writer, had never mentioned anything about sharing energy between female Warriors.The part about females not killing each other had also been mysteriously left out.I’d seen human women kill each other effortlessly.Sure, men were more aggressive for the most part, but women were just as deadly.
“Are there other females who alter form?”I asked carefully.
Her large eyes blinked slowly, giving nothing away, and her voice was almost too calm.“Not for more than one hundred years.After we left the men, the need to shift to Beast form disappeared for most of those who could morph.We were glad the ways of killing left us.Fortunately, the negative energy that stirred inside us has stayed buried.”
“You saywelike you were alive hundreds of years ago.”
Her shoulders rose in a small shrug.“I was not alive, but I am now Keeper of the Past.This knowledge has filled my mind for more than ten years.”
She had to be older than she looked.“Keeper of the Past?”
Her gentle smile returned.“Keeper of our journals.”
“The texts?”
“Yes.Ours are the female rendition of the texts,” she acknowledged.
Her answer prompted my next question.“How many female Shadows are there?”
Her smile softened even further.“We know your secrets, but we will not help with the war.We are pacifists and will have no part in what is happening.”
She was insane.“Then you’ll die,” I said simply.
Her expression remained stoic.“Yes.Many of us have passed, and many more will.We accept our fate.”
My heart squeezed, and I didn’t even know this woman.“You’ll just roll over and die without a fight?”
“It is our way,” she said quietly.
Rage boiled inside me.It should have been anger, but I literally saw red.How could they not fight?
“It’s a stupid way,” I said with righteous condemnation.I had been this woman not long ago, ready to put a red stripe on my uniform that marked me as the Federation’s human fodder.I had trembled at the thought of military service.This woman didn’t tremble.She accepted her fate, and I hated her for it, because it was the old me.
Her energy surged toward me again, soothing my rage like a balm.For the first time, I admitted to myself how much I liked it.Everything clicked into place within me, and it felt damned good.
Ms.Beast paused her antics, her ears perking up in curiosity.Then, behind her in the mist, I noticed a vague outline, an imposing figure I hadn’t seen before.Nova.It had to be her.She was more than Ms.Beast, her essence a thunderous tornado of dark energy.
My defenses kicked into overdrive as I fought to keep Nova from surfacing and revealing my secret.The K-5 settled, and Ms.Beast returned to basking like it was the best thing she’d ever experienced.
“When the separation from the male Warriors came,” the woman continued, “we believed it would take less than a century for them to destroy this world, as they did our home planet.We wanted to live outside their hatred and rage, to give ourselves the best lives possible, no matter how short-lived they might be,” she hesitated for only a breath.“But a century passed, and the males’ ability to successfully assimilate into human society surprised us.It didn’t, however, change our path.We couldn’t trust the Warriors’ unquenchable need to conquer.We moved on.Our women married, had children, and built new lives with the human men on this planet.”
It felt like I was being bombarded with enlightenment.Too much all at once.I needed to focus, to ask questions that would help me make sense of this flood of information.
“Can you bear male offspring?”I asked, my thoughts racing.I knew male Warriors and human females could only produce males.I was the first known female Warrior in two centuries, and I still didn’t understand why I could shift when other female Warriors couldn’t.
“We only produce female offspring when mating with humans,” she replied.
Something in her tone shifted.Somehow, my question had disappointed her.I was missing something important, but I couldn’t grasp what it was.
I sat up straight, my gaze drifting around the room as I tried to organize my thoughts.My mother and father had produced me, but my father wasn’t a Warrior.The female’s essence, as she called it, filled my head, muddying my thoughts somehow.
With a pull of my own energy, I forced Ms.Beast to pay attention again.That’s when I realized I could gather the woman’s energy and use it to increase my power.It was like I had a rechargeable battery within me that was finally getting its full charge.The discovery gave me a jolt.I kept my expression neutral, glancing up briefly to ensure she didn’t notice.I swiveled my head, fixing my eyes directly on her.
“My name is Marinah.”
She smiled, showing a full display of white teeth.“I am Endura, Keeper of the Past.Your proper title would be Marinah, Daughter of Shadows, Leader of Warriors.”
