The Shadow Summoner

Armis

I made my way back to my small cottage, reminiscing about all the times my dear sister had gotten away with things she should not have; As children, we would play outside together, and one day a child that lived near us came to join our game, and though I was only a child I remember very clearly, when the small child tagged Alina she was furious, I wasn't as fast as Alina and I never tagged her, so much so that she believed herself invincible, but this kid brought a rude awakening, and in her rage, Alina began to glow, as bright as the sun. 

Needless to say, the child 'went missing' and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air for weeks.

A month later we were packing to move to Kribirsk, when our village was attacked and our parents lost.

''''''

I quickly pack up my few belongings and decide on a route to Os Alta, I'm sure that by now that's where my sister is headed.

I decide that I am going to head south to Adena, then cross the Sokol River and continue to head east towards Os Alta.

I heave my bag over my shoulders, though I have never had formal training, I met an old general once who showed me the ropes for a few months before he was relocated. Sometimes I think he might be my only friend, but that's a story for another day.

The journey to Adena is long and mostly deserted, there are some cottages here and there but nothing big.

 When I approach the village, night has already fallen, making it much easier to make myself invisible. I gently use my shadows to bend light around me as I find a hostel with a lot of vacancies and slip into an empty room.

I go to the bathroom and fill it with darkness, one of the downfalls of my power, I get anxious when I'm not fully submerged in darkness for more than a few hours, plus the grief of losing my friends.

I sit in the darkness for a while, letting my mind wander.

 Then I hear a door creak open, I retract my shadows from the walls and concentrate them into a set of knives sharper than harsh words. I slowly open the door, getting into a fighting stance and preparing to throw one of my shadow knives. But I stop short, the person is a girl, she looks to be my age and wounded.

I huff out a breath, and release my hold on the shadows. I step into the light of the room and the girl immediately notices my presence.

I raise my hands," I mean you no harm, please if you let me, I can help you."

I notice her hesitation, before she nods gently and winces at the pain it caused.

I motion for her to follow me into the bathroom and sit down on the counter. As she does, I open my bag and pull out my medical supplies that I brought in case I encountered a problem on my journey. She appears to have a shallow stab wound in her side and a deeper stab wound on her hip.

I look to her for permission before I gently pull her shirt up, to get better access to the wound on her side.

I attempt to make small talk to keep her distracted as I stitch her up.

"So, what's your name?""Armis.""I like that name, mine is Astra."

She nodded to show that she was listening, and winced as I finished the stitches on her side.I moved down to investigate the wound on her hip, getting her permission before gently pulling her high-waisted leggings down a few inches. I know this one is gonna be painful so I try to strike up a conversation.

"Armis, where are you from?"

She gives me a confused look, so I rephrase.

"Where were you before now?"

"Arkesk."

"That's cool, did you have to cross the fold?"

She nodded, but I stayed quiet for a few minutes and she continued.

"The crossing went as well as it could've, but when we got to Kribirsk, a group of people claiming to worship 'The Sun Saint' attacked me and my younger sister. We were separated and royal guards showed up to collect me and my sister, to escort us to the Grand Palace, But the mob was huge and I was injured, so I ran."

"You're going to the palace? Why?"

She glances at me, assessing whether or not she can trust me, before continuing.

"I am a princess, soon-to-be Queen of Novyi Zem."

My eyes go wide and I bow my head out of respect.

Armis 'tsk's' and lifts my chin with her soft hands," There is no need to bow to me, with the current situation, I should probably be bowing to you."

This causes both of us to laugh.

"In all seriousness, you should not bow at all right now, because you might pop a stitch," I add seriously, causing her to laugh harder.

I finish bandaging Armis and help her to one of the beds.

After saying goodnight and turning out the light, I gently pull my shadows around me like a soft cocoon, and drift into a dreamless sleep.

************

Uhmm.... yeah so the next chapter has a little more action

(I'm not great with fight scenes so try not to laugh) 

that one part reminds me of that scene from crooked kingdom *wink*

*Whispers* the bathroom scene

;)