Depth of Silence (LSoE Series)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

13 April, Year 660

Central Eulir, 19:20 — Dakota Carton

Managing to actually breathe in the room would be considered an accomplishment.  Eulirians swarmed every inch of the floor, their worried chatter and warm breath echoing of the high ceilings.  Natural sunlight would normally stream in through the glass ceiling, as Alabastro Hall is closed at night time, but it appeared that the building was shrouded in a dark blanket.  This, of course, only added to the citizens' worry.

"Have you gotten a call from Celia yet?" Graham shouted to me over the sound of panic.

"I do not think so," I yelled back.  "Even if I had, I don't think I would be able to hear a word she said."

"Well, we have to get out of here and protect Eulir.  We're not doing anything just standing in a crowd."

I frowned a bit.  "But what if the Shadows just attack here? Half the city is in one spot!  It would be too easy for them to attack."

"You want us to hide in here?" he asked in a bewildered tone.

"Graham, they could crash in through the ceiling at any point!  Even if one of us stands as lookout, there is too much at risk.  What if they slaughter everyone?"

That got us some looks from the Eulirians around us.  They would have been worried by our conversation had we been normal citizens, but with us being soldiers, their eyes grew wide.  In general, the word "slaughter" should be used calculatedly and seldomly when in public.  Those who know the word would not react so positively.

"Slaughter us?" a girl, probably a few years younger than me, asked with a quivering jaw.  "Do you think they would do that?"

"Yeah, they're not smart enough, right?" her frightened male friend asked, attempting to play it off as if he was not too bothered.

"Um, no.  You have nothing to worry about," I said with an unsure smile.  "Just let my acquaintance and me check out what is going on outside, okay?  We will get right back to you."

I grabbed Graham's coat sleeve and dragged him from the couple as casually as possible, a fake smile still plastered on my face.  I suppose we were going to leave these people here, then.  Only for a moment.  It was not too hard to push through the field Eulirians, anyway.  With our olive coats and additional three inches atop our heads to the normal Eulirian, they quickly backed away to make a path.  After we made it past the crowd, there was a clear shot to the front door since no one was within a ten foot radius of the lock.

"So now you want us to go out?" Graham challenged.

"I told that couple we would, so I guess so.  We're going to get this done quick though, alright?"

"Aye aye, private," he scoffed.

With a slight flush of my cheeks, I took out the key to the door, unlocked it, and pushed one side open for him.  The only problem was that he never really exited the building.  He stood in the center of the doorway, just in this daze, looking out into the street.

"Um, Graham?  Do you think you could move out of the building?" I paused for a moment.  "Graham? What are you staring at?"

Fortunately Graham and I were about the same height, so all I had to do was shift to my left to look past his shoulder and flick my hair out of my eyes. Immediately I realized just what Graham was mesmerized with, and the hairs on the back of my neck did too. Outside, dusk vapor rolled along the street in waves, sometimes clearing, sometimes thickening. When the mist did thin for a moment, though, I was shocked to see Shadows lined up. Just standing in two straight rows along the road. Standing as stiff as boards and nothing else.