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Date Posted: 15:17:46 01/11/02 Fri
Author: Rowan Silvertree
Subject: A shado's secrets
In reply to: Valhorek, Corum & Erlic 's message, "The best laid plans" on 19:36:11 01/10/02 Thu

When Rowan saw Erlic lean over and kiss his sister on his cheek, he began to feel slightly guilty for interrupting them. It was now clear to him that Laurel liked the man very much, and that his intentions to her were seemingly honorable. He hadn’t meant to be intentionally rude, since Erlic had asked him to come and speak to him as soon as possible, after all.

He shrugged the feeling off as he and the other man walked some distance away. The chill of the desert nighttime air was beginning to settle, and he crossed his arms over his chest without thinking about it. After they had moved away far enough, Erlic finally stopped and faced him, his own expression a mask, hiding his true feelings as usual. Rowan was abruptly reminded of the shado masters who had tutored him, and suddenly, he became more than a little nervous.

“All right,” Erlic said, his voice very steady. “Tell me.”

Rowan swallowed and uncrossed his arms. He was finding it difficult to hold Erlic’s gaze, but he did it, mostly because the man’s simple presence nearly demanded it. This was a stupid thing to agree to, he thought with a sigh. Not only would he be talking about things he wasn’t supposed to be discussing, but it would also force him to remember a time he didn’t particularly want to remember.

“Shado in the old tongue means silent warrior,” he began, surprised at the steadiness of his own voice. The rumbly feeling in his stomach had started to die down as well. He swallowed again before continuing. “We who are chosen are called blessed by the gods. It’s in our blood, you see. I was born with it.”

He smiled slightly, remembering his parents’ quiet pride when it had been discovered. A druid and a shado in the same family…one who works with life and one who took it. Fitting that they should be twins, too.

“There is…a power inside me, like magic,” he continued, although it was kind of hard to explain. He didn’t think he needed to go into detail either, since Erlic presumably only wanted to know what he was capable of. “Only I can’t touch it, not the way a mage can. It’s complicated, but really the difference is only that…” He paused, realized a comparison between true magic and shado magic could take all night, and shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter. The point is we go through training, learning how to access our power in addition to the physical training. With each step completed, we are given these.” He showed Erlic the very faint silver runes tattooed into his palms, then traced the one on his forehead. They were all over his body now, although most of the time they stayed nearly invisible.

“We worked for the government.” No point going into the political ramifications, there. Erlic likely wouldn’t be interested in the intense religious background behind the shado ways, either. “We…kill for the government,” he amended, his voice very cautious now. “Enemies to the Consuls or their families…revolutionaries, crime lords, that sort of thing. We are the people’s protectors. No matter what they say, without us, things would be much more…uncertain.” And there was nothing his people hated more than the foul taste of uncertainty.

“I was only jantu,” he admitted, “An apprentice, before the revolution broke out. So I had never killed on my own up until that point. Someone was always with me to watch over me, make sure it went cleanly.”

No sign of impatience on Erlic’s face—he hadn’t expected there to be—but as of yet, he had still managed to avoid what he was capable of doing.

“I can tell you about what happens.” His voice dropped somewhat, and he let his memory drift back some ten years. “One of my first assignments, for instance, was when I was fifteen. Targets were a lord and his wife, reputed to be backing revolutionaries financially. Entering the house was no problem. We…have ways of remaining unseen. But the man knew he’d been marked. Don’t know why he hadn’t fled, but maybe I was too young to really figure out why. Anyway, when he entered his bedroom, that night, he scoped the place out well, so I knew he was expecting us. I even heard him dismissing a guard who must have followed him in the hallway, so he was being extra cautious, hiring people I guess.”

An irresistible chuckle came out of him, sounding awfully cold to his own ears. “Poor bastard—he looked everywhere. Under the bed, outside the windows, the closets—everywhere but up.” He paused, smiling slightly at the memory. “I know he must have seen us the second before we struck. Two men suddenly dropping from the ceiling. He had to know we were shado, and that it was hopeless. Maybe that’s why he didn’t scream. His wife was being taken care of in her own room, next door.”

He gave Erlic a sudden earnest look. “That’s what we do, you see. That’s what the power does, anyway. We become part of the scenery, even ignoring gravity if we have to. Of course, it’s more than just the magic. It’s training, and concentration, and long hours of practice. And I was only jantu.” He laughed again, this time at himself. “I remember pushing my palms against the marble ceiling, just knowing that I was going to break any second. Or that he’d feel the sweat running off the tip of my nose.

“Over all, I was still fairly advanced for my age. But there were some masters who claimed to have the ability to walk through walls. I hadn’t met any of them, though, so I can’t truly attest to that. It was said…well, it was said there was one who could walk the air—Gray Fox Ravenclaw. But she died a thousand years ago. Not so sure I believe that one, anyway. Nobody can do that sort of thing, at least not to my knowledge. And people like to tell stories, especially to their apprentices.”

He went suddenly quiet, the faint, queasy feeling returning to his belly. “I’m not supposed to talk about that, let alone do it. But there comes a time when you realize…well, that’s it’s the past. Almost another life, really. And if I can help the new friends I’ve made…well, maybe that’s even better than what I used to do.”

An impish grin alighted upon his face almost from out of nowhere, and he shot Erlic an almost cocky look. “So, did you want a demonstration, or not?”

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