The Nguruvilu

My Shadow's Name Is...

I parted extremely reluctantly from my great mate. But I had to in order to get to my shadow training classes. I slithered carefully down the halls to make sure that I made it to the right classroom. 

When I entered I was the only one in the room. The class was made of black obsidian walls and held very few glowing stones to light the room, the desks were arranged to leave a large space in the center and the teacher desk opposite the rest. There were no windows since the room was down in the dungeons of Astralia. 

Students began to filter in and I took a spot near the back of the room, half hiding in the looming shadows of the room. 

"Attention class," Called the voice of a tall elf female, she had long black hair that swayed gently on a phantom wind. She had equally as dark skin with dark purple markings around her face, her scalera was pitch black and her eyes were a bloody red. She had long claws on her hands and her ears were at least a foot long from the base of her head and held many piercings. "I am Isenzi and I will teach you the art of taming shadows.

"As you may have heard or guessed, shadow are sentient forces of darkness and follow the will of the Shadow God, Zephan. The most talented of you will be able to learn the will and wishes of Zephan himself." She said elegantly with a hint of madness in her voice. "But for now you will begin learning your shadows. You are never without your shadow, even in the darkest of places. A shadow mage or creature is dead without their shadow," She paused briefly, looking directly into the eyes of the students around her.  "Your shadow is your forever companion and they each have their own personalities and traits, a few can become independent from you and carry out demands." She looked at each of us with determination, "To speak to your shadow you must perform the incantation 'Umbra Melodiam' your shadow will rise up to mirror yourself in a more physical form. Try your incantations." 

I looked to the faint shadow below me, I had heard the whisperings of the shadows after my inheritance, but I hadn't realised I could actually talk to my shadow. 

It was across the room where the first success happened. It was a chinese dragon, they had dark grey scales with speckles that that seemed to leak out small amounts of fire. Their fur was dark red, their under scales were yellowish and their horns were pitch black. Their red eyes glowed happily at their success. Their shadow was in front of them and mirrored the movements of their body. 

"Excellent job, Rezui. Does your shadow have anything to tell you?" Isenzi praised the young dragon. 

They cocked their head to the side to listen to the shadow, a small smile spread across their face. "First they say that their name is Nur and they also say that everyone here is very loud." 

Isenzi smirked towards the shadow, "Feel free to speak to your shadow while the rest of the class continues." 

I went back to my shadow, I took a calming breathe in preparation for the incantation. I focused my intent and will into the spell, "Umbra Melodiam," I said in a strong voice. 

My shadow rose from the ground at a slow pace, what stood out to me was that it moved on its own. "Oh my god it so nice not have to follow your movements anymore," The shadow said before focusing in on me, "No offence Loki, I'm Briar. Agender shadow of darkness" The shadow said doing a little bow and waving their hands dramatically. 

"Loki," Isenzi said hesitantly, "You have an independant shadow, do be carefully with them. They still have to be in your general area." 

I nodded and turned back to Briar who was inspecting my wand that was in my bag, "This is nice, strong power." They set the wand down and looked back to me. "I can't wait to help you with your missions, Zephan has taken an interest in you." They smirked before dropping back into the ground. 

"Wait!" I called after the shadow before whispering, "What do you mean?" 

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At the end of class I stayed to talk to Isenzi, I needed to know what Briar had meant. 

"Isenzi?" I asked the dark elf as the last of the students left the room. 

She looked up from her papers, "Yes Loki?" 

I huffed a small sigh, "Briar, my shadow, said that Zephan has taken an interest in me." 

Her red eyes widened in shock, she looked intently at me, "Interesting," She murmured. Her shadow rose up on a an unspoken command, it began fighting since it was separated from her. "Can you call Briar back?" She questioned thoughtfully. 

I was about to speak when Briar came up themselves, giggling a bit to themselves. "I apologize Lady Insenzi, but Lord Zephan has insisted that I keep his intentions away from the ears mortal beings. So I can't let you in on the whispers of shadows," They spoke elegantly and formal with mischief hiding in their eyes and tone. 

Isenzi nodded to them before setting a suspicious glance at them, "How are so free of Loki and his calls and commands? Who gave you this power?" 

"Woah woah! Pump the hate breaks Lady Insenzi!" Briar exclaimed, holding his hands up in defiance as they took a step back. "All my power is but a small reflection of my castor's as with all recently formed shadows, despite myself being conscious longer than most," They ran a nervous hand through their head. "If you which to challenge my statement, use a power tester of Loki here. You will find I'm correct." With that Briar melded back into the floor to follow as my shadow once again. 

I stared at the dark spot of my shadow where Briar was, it was Isenzi that broke it, handing me a slip of parchment. 

"Take this and head to class," She told me, as I nodded. "I need to talk to the rest of the staff about this." She said dismissively, lost in her own thoughts. 

I nodded to to Insenzi, "Yes, thank you." I said as I left. Too many things weren't making sense. 

I'm back now  everyone, people have been asking for this so I'm reopening this story for yall. 

- Cato Out ;3