Shadowbook

Chapter 11: The Shadows

Part 2: Unconscious Life

"Shadow work is the path of the heart warrior." --Carl Jung

Chapter 10: The Shadows

"My beloved is radiant... outstanding among ten thousand. His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven... His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely."--Song of Songs 5: 10—11, 16

"I can't believe we're actually going to meet His Royal Cuteness!" Noire cried, as we walked to the park.

"He's awesome," I said. "He really is awesome.

Noire, and Amaya continued yammering on about Astor and what he'd be like and how cute he was, even though they'd never even seen him before. Senka was quiet and pensive. Lilah was also quiet, and she looked worried. My heart was hammering again. It seemed to want to fly out of my chest whenever I thought of Astor.

Suddenly, I spotted a boy spying on us from the darkness.

"Hey, you! You shouldn't be here! None of your business!" Senka cried. But the boy just put his finger to his lips, and jabbed a thumb at his chest. Then I realized that around his neck was one of Astor's glowing crystal pendants!"


"Senka, it is his business. That's one of Astor's friends!"


The boy nodded. Then he emerged. His folds were swirly, and so dark brown they were almost black, like the color of trees right before nightfall. His hair was about the same color, and he had huge, dark eyes emphasized by his pale Shadow skin. "You're Nyx, right?" he asked me.

"Yes. What's your name?"

"Orphe."

"I thought we were all supposed to meet in the park?"


"Well, Astor wanted me to... uh... check on you." He paused. "Astor's been spending a lot of time with you these days. Did he take you somewhere last week?"

"Yes. He took me to Umbragard."


Orphe's eyes widened even more. "He never said anything about that. How long has he known you?"


"Four days. He took me to Umbragard three nights ago."

Orphe blinked his wide eyes. "He took you to the Palace of Eternal Night after knowing you for only one day?"

"A couple hours, actually."

He blinked. "Astor doesn't make friends after one day. More like two months and several parties."


I shrugged. "He— likes me."
I decided I wouldn't go into details.

Orphe just stared at me. "Yeah, he seemed very pleased when he came home to the palace. I thought he'd been hunting; he seemed kind of euphoric. He immediately went to his quarters to take a long bath." I laughed.

"I hate my folds!" said Orphe suddenly. "I know they look opaque from the outside, but look! When I spread them like this," he raised his arms, "they're translucent! You can see right through them!"


"I think that's cool!" said Amaya. "Looks kind of like bats' wings, just without the points."


Orphe sighed. "Well, if you look at it that way... I have to get back to Astor. Meet you at the park." He disappeared into the darkness.

"What was that all about?" Senka wondered aloud.

"Shadows are so unpredictable," I said with a sigh.

We walked into the open field in the middle of the park. The half moon was unusually bright. I stared around with slight apprehensiveness, waiting for a Shadow to suddenly appear...