Shadow Walker: The Realm of Mists

Chapter Four. A Legend.

-Greyson's POV, 2 years in the future-

"What is she doing?" Baxter asked me, tilting his head at the woman standing in the middle of the town square; a majority of her face covered with a grey cloth. Her clothes were that of a peasant and she looked at each face within the crowd; she seemed to be almost reading their thoughts.
"How am I supposed to know?" I asked in return, watching her as she scanned each individual face before she paused on a certain one and stopped them, conversing in a hushed tone.
"Maybe she's the caravan to the Kingdom of Shadows?" he questioned this more to himself, calling Quarter 1 of the kingdom the name that us common folk had penned it. Most of us had heard merely stories about how things were there, and so we resorted to imagination upon realization that we would never leave Quarter 3; the Kingdom of Desolation. When the Kingdom was split into Quarters two years ago we were stuck with Chiefs Kareen and Kaden. They fought a majority of the time on what policies to implement and most of us were left to fend for ourselves. Poverty was high, but we received a lot of assistance from Shadows that traveled between Quarter 1 and here with supplies.
"The caravan to the Kingdom of Shadows is a myth, Baxter. Queen Kayley might offer her aid but I doubt she'd save us," I replied like the pessimistic asshole I was. I had given up hope the second that we were sealed within this hell by the Mists. I don't know who decided which rulers got which Quarter, but they certainly screwed us over.
"Look, the person she was talking to seems... I don't know the word for the look on their face... hopeful?" he turned to me and I shrugged, unable to tear my eyes away from the girl as her eyes snapped to mine. I could almost see a smile beneath the cloth covering her features. Then she began making her way towards us and I inwardly panicked.
"Is she coming this way, Baxter? Why would she be coming this way?" I questioned as he elbowed my ribcage and she kept on her direct path to the two of us; standing there like a couple of idiots. Shit. What do I do?
"How do you like living here?" she stopped in front of us, her dark brown eyes earnest and concerned.
"Do you work for the Chiefs?" Baxter asked her, aware that any negative remarks about the two of them would most likely mark us as Ready for Execution. The girl rolled her eyes.
"Is that what they call themselves now?" she sighed and shook her head, "no, I do not work for them nor would I ever," she remarked as Baxter nodded.
"I hate it here," I chimed in, seeing as Baxter was still a little cautious. Why would I care? The way I live is already a path to death, why not embrace it sooner?
"Would you leave, given the chance?" she asked me, her eyes pouring into mine with consideration.
"Absolutely," I didn't even have to think twice about my response, "whether that opportunity come in the form of a ticket to the Tormented Abyss or into the Mists themselves,"
"I like that answer," she smiled as Baxter nodded again, breathing a sigh of relief upon notice that she hadn't made a move to call the guards to us.
"I would leave as well, ma'am, if you still cared about my answer," he said to her as she let out a gentle laugh.
"Of course I care," she murmured, "now what have you heard about Quarter 1?" she asked us this and I couldn't help but shrug my shoulders.
"We hear stories, mostly, because we don't know what the Former Capital has fallen to after the Separation. It's mainly just a place of hope for us, seeing as there is no possibility of us surpassing the Mists," I told her this and she looked as though she understood.
"What do you call Quarter 1 here?"
"We call it the Kingdom of Shadows, for King Bennett who died the day of The Separation and for Queen Kayley for surviving within the shadows," Baxter recited this, remembering the little group we had joined upon realization that there were a lot of people who were most assuredly not happy here. We really just shared our own stories of what we imagined Quarter 1 to be like, but it at least left us feeling like there might be something out there for us.
"The Kingdom of Shadows?" she rolled this name around her mouth for a bit before smiling almost absently, "I like that,"
"Are you the Caravan?" Baxter took this moment to ask her the question I could feel tangibly electrifying his very being. He wanted to get out of here more than anyone. He had family here; a little sister that stole most of his protection.
"Yes," she said easily, "and if you wish for me to take you to Quarter 1 then I suggest you pack your necessities and grab anything of the utmost importance. I don't have room for much more than that, considering any larger mode of transportation would raise alarm and I will not fight off the guards today. Meet me by the Northern Border by sundown, and don't tell anyone else you are leaving or you will jeopardize everything," she turned on her heel and walked away, disappearing within the crowd as if she had never even existed in the first place. Baxter turned to me and he grinned for the first time in a very long time.
"Greyson... do you know what this means?" he asked this rhetorically because he wanted to solidify his thoughts by voicing them, "Sophie might finally have a chance at a decent life," he stated and I nodded, patting his shoulder. I couldn't quite process what had just happened but I knew that the sun only had a couple of more hours until it went down completely and I wasn't about to be left behind.
"I'll see you there Baxter," I said, hurrying off toward my home.
-The sun is setting, a few hours later-
I approached a small group of people surrounding the girl from earlier who had her cart sitting behind her. I had only two bags in my possession: and they were filled with clothes plus a few odds and ends. I had nothing else worth remembering this place by.
"Greyson!" I hear a small voice say, a hand tugging on my sleeve. I looked down at the face of Sophie and I couldn't help but smile.
"Hey there Sophie, how are you today?" I asked as she grinned a toothy grin and hugged me.
"I haven't seen you in forever," she said as I kneeled down so I could look straight into her eyes. Her features bore an almost exact resemblance to Baxter's own, and I could tell just by looking at her that they were siblings. Not that I ever had any doubts, though.
"Sophie, come here," Baxter's voice interjected and she looked at me with a smile before running over to him. He was protective enough of her, I'd hate to see what would happen if we got caught.
I followed behind shortly, looking at all of the faces of the group and noting that while I had definitely seen some of them before, I couldn't quite place where in my memories they existed. The girl seemed taller now, as though she had been making herself small in the square when she approached us. Maybe it was that she was at the center of a group averaging a solid height of 5'5". Quarter 3 used to be in charge of the Mines, so it didn't spark me as odd that most of my neighbors never really got very tall.
"We are all here," the girl said softly, looking at each and every one of us with pride, "I am so glad that you have all made the decision to come with me to Quarter 1, or the Kingdom of Shadows as I have heard you all call it many times," we all laughed nervously, trying to feel a little more comfortable about the situation. We were abandoning our homes for a notion of hope, a feeling of security after working for two years to try and find a way out of the bottom.
"How will we get there?" I asked, eyeing her carriage with no beasts to pull it and with no coverage over the back. This was a question everyone seemed to be asking as they all nodded in response. The girl merely smiled and looked at me with those brown eyes.
"As you know, this was made possible by the leader of Quarter 1, and she has graciously provided us with this cart as means of travel. I know it doesn't look like much right now but it would have raised suspicion with horses and a tent over the back end. Now, within the Mists we will encounter many beasts who wish to do us harm, but we also have a group of Shadows- like the ones that run supplies here- and they will protect us as best as possible. They are the first line of defense, I am the second," she looked at all of us, making sure we understood the gravity of the situation, "upon our entering of the Mists, a tent will cover you and make you almost invisible to these beasts. If you make any loud sounds, they will know you are there and they will not hesitate to attack,"
"What about horses?" Baxter asked as the girl shook her head with a small smile.
"That's already covered," she waved her hand and two dark, shadowy horses appeared at the front of the cart; already attached to it so that they may pull us through the Mists. They didn't make any sound and when one of them looked at us we could see it's eyes were a pure white light. A mark of Queen Kayley. No one exactly knew the story of it, but Queen Kayley didn't just own the name of the Shadows, she also seemed to harness the power of the white light.
"What are those?" I asked as she shrugged, expecting us to already have used common sense to come to a conclusion to answer ourselves.
"Now, is there any of you that are decent with a sword?" she asked us this and we looked between one another. Baxter only looked at Sophie, debating his answer to that question.
"I-" Baxter started and I knew what he was going to say, knew that his only option would be to do it in protection of his sister. I couldn't let him do that.
"I am," I interrupted him and he looked at me with a respectful nod, a new kind of friendship between the two of us.
"Good, then you are up front with me at the ready for an attack," she responded, turning around and skillfully pulling herself into position to pick up the reins and get us on the road.
"Let's go," Baxter picked up Sophie's hand and he held it all the way to the cart before helping her in the back and jumping in with her. I followed not shortly behind, only to jump in on the other side of the girl. Everyone else didn't need much motivation to do the same, crowding the back of the cart with everything they held in their hands. Most of them didn't have more than I did, but then again none of us had much at all.
"Now this may be disorienting when we enter the mists at first but as soon as the tent covers you it will all go away. As for you," she looked at me, holding out a small silver bracelet; waiting for me to take it from her, "this will keep you safe in here, put it on," I did as she asked of me, unaware of any excuse not to. She clasped the reins in her hands and pulled in a deep breath.
"Aller! Rapidement!" she shouted this command at the horses and they acquiesced without hesitation, lurching forward silently and pulling us into the thick cloud of haze that we called The Mists.
Darkness ensued. I was almost sure that we had made a mistake signing up for this mission. At least, that was only until little creatures lit up a path on either side of the Caravan; little white spectral beings that held hands in a move to protect us from whatever lay beyond. I looked back to see if Baxter was witnessing the same thing that I was, but a dark grey tent was already covering them.
"What is your name?" I asked the girl and she raised her eyebrow, looking over at me briefly before returning her eyes to the road before us. Her senses seemed heightened, as though she were on edge for anything to even dare attack us.
"Most people call me Kayley, some people call me Queen. It doesn't matter either way in my opinion," she responded with ease, as though each word that exited from her mouth were practiced with the precision of a swordsman cutting into flesh.
"You..." I trailed off as her laugh filled my ears and she reached up with one hand to remove the cloth from her face. It changed almost all of her features, as though the fabric were imbued with the ability to morph her into someone else entirely. Her eyes stayed the same, but I could see her resemblance to her siblings. Although I doubted she would call them family anymore.
"And what is your name?" she asked me in return, looking back at the path carefully.
"Greyson," I replied, "Your Highness," she shook her head and laughed lightly.
"There's no need for formalities, Greyson. I only lead my people when it is needed, the rest of the moments they are free to live as singular beings. I don't need a title, plus I'm not very fond of feeling like others are beneath me," she responded thoughtfully as I took this into consideration. The one leader who deserved the highest title of respect and she was the only one who didn't care for it.
"Can I ask you a question?" I requested this and despite my belief that she'd say no, she nodded her head quietly.
"I keep no secrets for very long, Greyson, you may ask me anything in the world if you so wish," she told me this and I thought about what it is that I wanted to know.
"What happened that day?" I asked softly, afraid she might take her word back and maybe kick me out of the caravan for asking such a thing. She sighed and something within her deflated ever-so-slightly. Perhaps she knew precisely what I was going to ask. At least, that was the conclusion her grimace had given me.
"My siblings banished me from the kingdom, although not outrightly. They forced me into the Mists to fend for myself with the hopes that I wouldn't return as the only person to oppose them. I had help from these creatures who call themselves Diaphanous Apparitions. Their King gifted me a blade and I went back home, facing my siblings for what I do know will not be the last time. I scared them into leaving and I had the creatures seal each Quarter so that at least some of my people could live a decent life. I requested that you all be allowed travel between the Quarters if you so desire to leave, but it's been rather difficult providing a safe path and I cannot leave my Kingdom alone for very long for there are even people in Quarter 1 that would abuse the power I didn't exactly leave for them. My only resentment is that I could not save more of you and that I did not allow you the opportunity to choose where to live from the start. I hope to make up for that one day," she admitted, seeming so unlike I would expect a leader like her to be. I had never heard of a Queen find fault in themselves, willing to let anyone know when they were wrong.
"You did what you had to do to protect as many as you could," I found myself telling her this, comforting her as though it were the most natural thing to do.
"Some sacrifices are within the vast grey area of whether they are or are not worth it. This happened to be one of them," she said and I nodded, noticing she most likely desired a change of subject.
"Are we almost there?" I asked her as she smiled appreciatively.
"It shouldn't be much farther-" she was cut off as a loud screech erupted in the void of the Mists. One of the lights lining our path was ripped from the line, knocking a few of those around it over. Kayley's face immediately went emotionless in a state of anger.
"Lentement! Arrêter!" she shouted this in that foreign language as the horses came to a halt and she bounced out of her seat, pulling a sword from the scabbard I hadn't even been aware resided at her left hip. She motioned towards the lockbox we had been sitting on and then proceeded to jump down from the carriage.
"Get the sword out, protect the Caravan and don't let any of them leave. Keep them safe, Greyson, I am counting on you," she ordered me and I could see the leader from within her blossom. In a rather miniscule amount of time she had gone from friendly to Queen, fighter, protector. Damn. Why did I have to sign up to be the swordsman? Most of the skill I had with fighting was taught to me by my uncle. I didn't really know that much.
"I understand," I said this automatically, even if the pit in my stomach told me otherwise. I really didn't understand. What was happening? Why was I supposed to protect these people? Where was she going?
She bounded off after the creature that had been the cause of this, her sword clutched tightly in her grasp as if she drew power from it. I was left alone, chosen as a defender of my best friend and his little sister.
"Baxter,"I stated this simply as I walked to the back of the Caravan, peeking in the flap of the material as all of the faces peered at me with concern and confusion, "stay inside and stay quiet. We have run into trouble, but don't worry. We will take care of it, just stay put," I added this. They all nodded, fully aware of what was happening. Sophie, however, just slept on Baxter's shoulder like nothing went on in the world around her.
And I turned around after I did this, wishing almost immediately that I hadn't. A stony creature stared me down like prey, it's teeth flashing a sharp silver in the light of the path. It was made entirely of concrete, and I knew that I had absolutely no chance against it. I swung my sword anyways, striking the thing on it's back. This only made it jeer and growl at me with a low, guttural sputtering. It sounded like the grinding of stone.
Fuck. I was definitely dead meat.
"Go away!" I yelled at the thing as a dark figure swooped in from behind the beast, bringing a silver sword up and thrusting it down into the back to kill it. The creature froze as shadowy swirls burst out of it's chest, announcing it dead. I look at the dark figure as the cloak of darkness faded off to show me who was beneath: Kayley.
"I thought you said you were good with a sword?" she asked, only a hint of humour to her words as I shrugged.
"I'm not terrible, so long as I know what I am facing," I tried to make the excuse for myself as Kayley's eyes caught something in the distance and she rushed over to the shadow that had been attacked, it trying to regain the composure to get back in line as it's light dwindled.
"Moirsa," (shit) she muttered this entirely foreign word to me but the tone of her voice told me that it meant something angry and upset, "mia parve acquie," (my poor friend) she rushed over to the shadow and kneeled down, cradling it in her arms. The light looked up at her with familiar awe and peace.
"Ett eso mia deety," (it is my duty) the creature responded with a faint voice, her presence comforting what it knew to be coming: the nonexistence that came after whatever state it currently resided in.
"Oonta wem se reunit ahh nohvoo," (until we meet again) she responded in this dialect that she clearly were very acquainted with.
"Shadow Walker," this was the one phrase I was familiar with, "wem wel nere se reunit ahh nohvoo. Yees eso la nif pur mu. Ak caray, Kayley," (we will never meet again. This is the end for me. Take care, Kayley.) The light that illuminated the creature from within completely vanished and Kayley let a sob escape from her throat. She clearly cared for these creatures very much. I knelt beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder, noticing that the other shadows around us seemed to feel her pain and the light from within them hummed with sadness, flickering a few notches dimmer than they once did.
"We have to get going, or we won't make it home before the rest of the Concrete's find us," she said, standing up and jumping back into her position on the carriage. She allowed herself no more time than that to grieve the death of someone she very clearly held dear. She was back to her stony-faced self.
"How much longer?" I asked, unsure of anything else to discuss with her since she very clearly didn't want to talk about the death of the light.
"Not much," she looked at our surroundings as I followed suit and took my place beside her. I set the sword between us, completely aware of the fact that I had looked like a blubbering idiot holding it in the first place.
"Aller! Rapidement!" this was a language that I now recognized as different from the one she whispered with the shadow. This time when she spoke it, it was less enthusiastic and a little more defeated.
"How did you kill that... thing?" I asked this in reference to her calmly slaying the beast that had been mere seconds from swallowing me.
"I have been trained with a sword since I had the strength to carry one, Greyson. Plus I had a little help from the Shadows," she replied honestly, as if the ability to kill came naturally to her.
"You had help from the Shadows?" I asked, dumbfounded. I have heard stories, but I wanted only to hear the truth come from her lips.
"My sword is a legendary weapon. If you were to attempt and pick it up you would it to be composed of complete stone. In my hands it comes to life and it shares with me the secrets of the Mists. This is why I can speak to them in their language, why I can manipulate them. Although I rarely have to do anything but ask them to aid me for I hate people doing things for me just because I have the power to make them," she said this and things made a little more sense to me. Only a little, for I knew very little about the world and the secrets she had yet to share with me.
"I have heard stories that it gives you the ability to become..." I trailed off, not exactly sure where my train of thought was travelling as she looked at me with ice in her gaze. She was no longer the girl from before the attack. She was a Queen and a protector now.
"I am but a shadow upon this Earth, Greyson. My soul, my very being... it is merely a fragment of whoever I was in a former life and whoever I will be in the next one. I exist and yet I really don't exist at all. None of us do," she told me this as if it were a truth she had known for the entire duration of the Universe, as if the Fates themselves had guided her, "these creatures that you see providing for you, protecting you, and sacrificing themselves for you... they truly exist," she looked back forward to watch the path and I clamped my mouth shut. Whatever I had to say wasn't nearly as important as whatever she could tell me, anyways.
"Welcome back Queen Kayley," a gruff voice said as the air around us changed. Clearly I hadn't been paying enough attention to notice that we had exited the fog and entered an air fresher than I had ever remembered. Kayley hopped down from her seat, handing the reins to the man clad in armor so that his entire body was covered. I couldn't see beneath his helmet, but I could see that he was not afraid of the Shadow Horses as most others were.
"Take care of them," she told him as she went to the back of the carriage and unzipped the tent. It dissipated in a matter of moments to reveal the group of people huddling together beneath it.
"We made it?" Baxter asked as he stood with Sophie in his arms and looked at Kayley.
"Welcome to my Kingdom, I will lead you to the castle and we will get you acquainted with the way of life here. It is very different from even before the split and it will take a while to get accustomed to but I have faith that you all will adjust nicely," Kayley said to them as she held a hand out to help them down. Even though she had servants surrounding her, at the ready to aid her in whatever way they could, she still insisted that she welcomed us here all by herself.
"Queen Kayley," a small voice said from behind us as Kayley swiveled around to a young girl with a silver locket clasped around her neck, "breakfast is served and I would tell you to get changed but I already know your answer," she smiled.
"Anna Marie," Kayley replied as she hugged the girl tightly, "glad to see you're feeling better, and that you still know me so well," she said with a light laugh before turning to the group again.
"You're the..." Baxter trailed off in awe as Kayley laughed and nodded her head.
"You can just call me Kayley," she said this and motioned for us to follow her as she began walking towards a large, predominantly white brick building. It looked exactly as I had remembered the castle, except for the color changing to contrast with the stark surroundings. We all followed her as if in a trance, looking all around us at everything like this had never been the Capital and we were all seeing it for the very first time. She paused at the doors and allowed time for the guards open the grand doors with ornate carvings and a tudor arch.
"This castle looks so different," one of the older women in the group spoke up and Kayley nodded softly, smiling.
"It's actually still exactly the same, I just like it better with the curtains open. Can't get any work done without a little bit of light and it provides an easier time figuring out just what is in every room," she replied simply, leading us to an open room with a throne at the far end. It looked precisely as you would imagine a Queen would have a throne but Kayley seemed only to regard the furniture like decoration.
"This room is used only on special occasions," Kayley turned around, stopping the group in the tracks as she explained this fact to us. Anna, the girl from earlier, stood by her side unwaveringly as though it were the one thing she were born to do.
"And what to do you do when your subjects bring important matters to your attention?" one of the men asked as Kayley only laughed.
"My people are no subjects of mine, they are my advisors. I involve them in every important decision we make and therefore I hold cabinet meetings with officials elected by every burrow of this Quarter. It can get loud at times, but so long as I know that every decision that is made about my people involves my people I can act with the knowledge that they are consciously supporting the outcome," she explained this and looks of confusion passed across the faces of mostly everyone in the group. Anna smiled knowingly, as if she had seen this look many times and knew very well that Kayley's ideas had never been well-received at first.
"I know it sounds bizarre," Anna piped in, drawing our attention, "but it has actually worked surprisingly well with our people. They respond better to actions of authority and behave better. Our economy has begun to flourish and both poverty and crime are at all-time lows," she added this and we looked between one another, unable to comprehend how this was all possible.
"My father had a vision for this Kingdom, and it was never something that he could implement on such a large scale. So I had to sacrifice parts of the population to ensure that I could do my best to protect you. I regret now that I hadn't worked harder to free you all from your Quarter. I somehow managed to overestimate the siblings that I had the lowest expectations for," Kayley said this and her eyes fell as she pulled in a deep breath.
"How about the jobs here?" Baxter asked, fully aware that he still had a sister to provide for.
"Jobs are plentiful, Baxter. Some of the occupations are not the most glorious but the citizens are most definitely compensated for their work. I know you will ask a question about the criminal justice system, so I'll just tell you right now: I do not believe in most harmful punishments. The only crime in which physical harm is brought unto a person is if they do something particularly treasonous to go against their entire Kingdom. I have yet to enact a death penalty, and I don't plan on it anytime soon. Most crimes that are committed are miniscule infractions in which they are put to work in the mines or on the farms. If a citizen were to have a repeated crime the punishment would have to be more severe, considering they are paid for their work, whether or not they were forced to be there. Upon the third infraction, a citizen is banished. This is only after a jury of peers where the entirety of the Quarter will decide whether they are fit to reside here," she told us this as though it brought her very little pain to punish those who had committed a crime. She held no remorse for those that she actually treated rather fairly.
It almost felt like this entire Kingdom was a dream I had once conjured up after reading a story in school. I was sure there were flaws somewhere in this system, that people could not possibly enjoy it as much as I was thinking I would...
"Where will we live?" I asked, concerned only about my well-being and the fact that I had nothing with me that would suffice in payment for everything she had done for us so far.
"We have an housing complex with multiple rooms in it for people who have not yet integrated into our community. It provides you with space to call your own at no cost to you, at least you can find a job suitable for you and move into your own homes," she replied simply, as if I should've already thought of this answer.
"I'll show you the way," Anna motioned for us to follow her, but I couldn't for there was something I had to ask Kayley.
"Greyson, is there something you wish to speak to me about?" Kayley inquired this like she could read my thoughts as soon as they entered my mind. I nodded as she stood before me, too busy to have time to sit down. I could see that she was already onto her next mission: mentally calculating any move she could make as though it were a natural instinct for her to see shadows of every possibility laid out before her.
"Yes, I..." I realized that I didn't quite know what it was that I actually wanted, "train me," was all that I could say and she raised an eyebrow in my direction, having my full attention. She watched me curiously, like she were trying to figure out exactly what it is I meant.
"I want to fight like you do, I want to protect people in the way that you do," I said this like I needed to explain myself to her as my cheeks burned with embarrassment at such a silly thought. I would never be a fighter...
"Tomorrow morning, meet me at the Guards Barracks on the other side of the castle grounds. I will see if training you is worth my time, but you should know that this is not a duty to be taken lightly. One must be very serious about becoming a guard before they commit to serving the people. If you show promise, I will train you to the best of my ability and you might be good enough to be one of my personal guards," she said this honestly before turning and walking to the staircase, calmly ascending into her home. I watched until she was out of my sight, unsure of what I had gotten myself into.

-------A/N-------
Hello there!
I hope you have a wonderful day :)