Shadow Keepers (Unedited)

Eleven: Trouble

Ok so, Avery, Carmen, Oliver and Michael aren’t full Shadow Keepers yet. That’s why they are training with us. To be a full fledge Shadow Keeper, one would need to complete training with a seasoned Keeper and then go on to Olympus during the time of the Annual Keeper Inaugurations, a tournament where the trainees will show what they learned, and from there the few who make the cut will stand in front of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades for the initiations. After all that they are given a group of shadows consisting of… five Beag Sionnach, twenty-five Legionário Lobo, one Handwerk Maus, fifteen Rabotnik Ris and at least one Shadow Elf and that just the bare minimum. There are many more shadows, many of them rare and difficult to find. Like Matt’s husky, Angel’s owl, and my cat and phoenix. Matt, Angel and I have all very rare shadows. Amber, Severon, and Midnight are all rare shadows but they are easy to tame and handle.

Amentha is another story entirely. She is a Watcher Phoenix or Paratiritis Foinix. They were once the guardians of the Shadow Keepers. That was until the Hunters began killing them off, now they are the very meaning of rare. There are few nests left and the gods protect them. Every few millennia, a Keeper is born, missing a piece of their soul, and a Phoenix, Griffin, Pegasus, or a hippogriff; the 4 most dangerous Shadows known, are that missing piece. That Keeper is taken to Van’togh, the sanctuary for Rare Shadows, and their Shadow chooses them and both souls are made whole. There are rare times when a keeper is either missing a part of their soul that a shadow cannot complete or when one is missing two parts of their soul and can only be complete with a Dragon; they are Dragon Chasers.   

 Those that are chosen are put in to specialty groups, and then a few out of those groups are put into specialty teams. To name some of the groups: Archers, Healers, Shield Barres, Trackers, etc. There also are weapons specialists like Battle Axes, Spears, Swords, mace and so on and so forth. The Teams are your basic militia groups like Archers, Men-at- arms, Calvary, and Aerial.

          I am the commander for an Aerial Team, known as the Fire Runners. I have fifteen Keepers under my command. You already know of four; Tony, Samantha, Bennie, and Jake. We didn’t know that each of us were Keepers until the day our team was assembled. My team is made up of the most skilled and untamable Aerial Keepers alive, so the day I got the list of names, I knew I would never be bored.

          My Team consists of four Archers, four Shield Barres, two Trackers and four captains or the most skilled of my Team. My Archers are Vivek, Xanto, Seiko, and Yuki. My Shield Barres are Bennie, Ajani, Sarki, and Zaeb. My Trackers are Jake and Taka, and my captains are Tony, Samantha, Bones and Saskia. Vivek, Xanto, Bennie, Ajani, Sarki, Zaeb, Jake, Tony and Bones are all of the guys on my team.  Vivek, Ajani, Sarki, Saskia and Jake all have Griffins. Xanto, Yuki, Zaeb, and Taka have Pegasus’. Bennie, Seiko, and Bones have Hippogriffs, while Tony, Sam, and myself have Phoenixes.

          Each newly formed Team has to spend a year in each other’s company in their commander’s home, or a home designated for them. In that year the commander is to learn every fault and weakness. What makes them tick and what calms them. What they hold dear in this world, their favorite things and help them tame their beast. The rest of the team is to learn how to cooperate with their commander and the Team. To learn each other’s movements, weaknesses, and talents in order to move efficiently on the field.

          They will become your family, and you protect them as such. My sibling welcomed each of them with open arms. Now it’s unusual if they don’t drop in unexpectedly, just to say hi. It’s been about four months since I’ve seen either of my team members, living in a small town people tend to take notice of every little move you make so there was no hope of any of them coming and going inconspicuously.

“Ahhh” I sigh, missing them.

“What?” Angel asks, her eyes not leaving the sutures she’s pulling from Penny’s arm.