Between the Shadows

Chapter 23

"This is the first time I've ever seen anybody endure something like this"

"Well he isn't just anybody"

"That is true, but still, he is so young.  I would have never thought"

"It is the truth, but he sill doesn't know his own power"

"His power hasn't awakened yet"

"Nobody cares enough to try and help him"

"We will have to step in if things go to bad"

Shadow moaned softly as he opened his eyes.  His body was burning and his head was spinning.  All of his memories of what happened were in a jumble.  Everything around him was blurry and hazy and it felt like his head was going to explode.  The light that shone through the window was making the pounding in his head even worse.

Slowly Shadow sat up and the world around him turned black.  He stopped moving and his vision came back.  He was feeling extremely tired and weak.

A faint memory of Amari and a group of men flashed through his mind.  His hand went to his chest, searching for the pendant Amari gave him.  When he didn't feel the pendant beneath his shirt, panic started to bubble through him.  With effort, he pushed the panic back, shaking his head.  He let his hand drop to his side, there was no time to worry about something as trifle as a pendant.  He had to try and remember what happened.  Slowly some of the memories came back, but most of it was still a blur.

"Hey...  You're awake"

The voice immediately drew his attention and Shadow looked at where it came from.  He frowned as he looked at Amari.  The young woman was peeking into the room.  She smiled when she saw the shocked and surprised expression on Shadow's face. 

Amari waltzed into the room.  When she got to the bed, she carefully sat down, trying her best not to hurt him as the bed dipped.  Shadow looked alarmed when she sat down.  "It's alright, Ewan.  I'm not going to hurt you, you are save here.  I wouldn't let anybody hurt you while you're here" she said softly, putting a hand on his arm to stop him from moving any more.  He was way to reckless and letting him move around would just cause his injuries to get even worse.

Shadow froze when Amari placed her hand on his arm.  He just stared down at the hand before looking back at the young woman.  She was watching him carefully.

"What happened?"

He sounded unsure of himself, almost like he wasn't fully awake yet.  Amari frowned at his sudden question.  "You don't remember what happened?' she asked carefully.  Shadow shook his head slightly and looked away from her.  There was now a pounding in his head that made it difficult to think clearly.  "No...   Everything about what happened before I woke up here is a complete blank" he said and pressed a bandaged hand against his head.  He looked like a little boy when he did that and Amari tried not to laugh at him.

"Well I can't really help you with that.  You were already beaten to a bloody pulp when I found you half dead in the street" Amari said "You nearly gave me a heart-attack".

Shadow looked up sharply.  "Where did you find me?" he asked.  

"Let me see...  It was around the east pavilion, I think it was on 9th street" Amari said, pulling her hand through her hair as she tried to remember.

Shadow just nodded and looked away.  Nothing made any sense to him.  What on earth happened for him to be in such bad shape?  "Sorry for the trouble" he muttered.  Amari quickly looked at him again.