Path to Destiny

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the span of an hour, the shaman explained that the Shadow was not a "living" entity, as far as he knew. In Baluan lore, it existed before the Rift Wars. Its name was unknown, and it desired destruction.

This matched up with Eden's description of the Shadow. Therin must have freed it at the beginning of the Rift Wars -- that's what gave Therin the power to start the Rift Wars in the first place. But then Eden had sealed the Drakain with the last of her power, thus ending the Rift Wars.

But Therin hadn't remained sealed forever, and I remembered Eden's words from several weeks ago: There was no one else capable of breaking my seal. Therefore, it was the Shadow.

I sighed in the crystal chamber. That happened before I became Clarice's tutor in Aria. The Shadow likely wanted to pay Therin back and use him as a pawn, so he broke Eden's seal. Disguised as Odelia's advisor, Cicero Rauch, Therin had been there all along, plotting his revenge against Astera and Eremith...

But in reality, it was the Shadow drawing us to Eremith, trying to kill Rowan and thus Illtyd, the strongest Elemental of all...

But why? I had no answer, and neither did Eden.

The shaman -- Ezra, he later told us -- explained that the origins of the Shadow were unknown. Eden didn't seem to know either when I asked, but she was avoiding everything I said. She had cut off connection since we started talking about the Shadow.

"Does the Shadow have a physical form we can look for?" I asked, waving a futile hand in front of the awake but unconscious Synnove.

Ezra looked at me, his hazel eyes widening in a laugh. "Clearly your intellect does not match your appearance."

Titus stepped forward, but I held his arm. "Don't worry," I told the prince in an exaggerated whisper. "I think he tries to make up for his lack of intelligence by demeaning others. It must be a shaman thing."

Ezra stiffened and sipped his tea. He did not reply for several seconds. Finally, he said, "There is no physical form, as far as I can tell. The Shadow is a dark malice that gropes along the ground like a roaring lion waiting to devour its next victim. Baluan lore says nothing of its form, or what -- if anything -- it was before. It could be born from the malice of this world. Who knows. The magic of malice can be powerful if wielded by evil hands."

Synnove was just starting to stir. I knelt beside her and tried to wake her up. She looked at me groggily. "What happened?" she asked.

Hadrian was stirring as well, but he was far more out of it than Synnove.

Ezra fetched them both a cup of tea. Synnove took hers with confused gratitude as she stared around her at the crystal walls and at the glowing azure crystal that emanated heat. Hadrian sat up, but he couldn't take his tea. Ezra set it down on the table in front of the lounge

"Thank you," I told him.

He nodded silently and seated himself on his chair again. "I apologize for my misconduct," he said. "It was uncouth of me to leave them out there. But you must understand." When he was serious -- and with a light beard and sharp features -- he appeared to be older when I looked at him closer. "All who come here have either been looters, thieves, or wandering tourists. Mostly the former two. And they come rarely. It is my job as...a shaman to protect the lore here."

He glanced away, and something in his face tensed. "Balua is in a state of uproar after the slavery treaty in Nor. There are more sand bandits than usual," he added. "They are always watching. Waiting."