The Shadow Dimension was cold. It felt like an air conditioned room. It was just as Umbra had described. The floor was pure black. Inside it was something that Umbra had forgotten to describe, or hadn't seen. The floor was translucent, and the children could see small spheres within. Spheres filled with images. Towering buildings. Jungles. Swamps. Destroyed planets. Deserts.
"Woah," said Lifei.
Before anyone could say anything, she had reached down and picked up a sphere. "Lifei!" Shrieked Shanae.
"No!" Yelled Ana and Anna.
The world warped around them. The bubble expanded. A desert. We were stuck in a desert. Strangely, the air remained cool, even though it was day time.
"Lifei!" scolded Aida.
"Whoops," whispered Lifei.
"Enough," said Ana, "No point in laying blame, guys. Let's just keep going. Take out your energy trackers."
The energy trackers were T shaped, with a sharp end, two handles and a screen showing the wavelengths of the energy.
They turned slowly in circles. It occurred to Lifei that they must look ridiculous, a bunch of people holding T-shaped rods and spinning in circles. They turned for a while, before affirming that the signal was strongest in the East. They began to walk.
And walk.
And walk.
And walk.
You know those movies where the people are on an adventure, and they're walking, and the scene changes, and they're doing something exciting? Yeah. This was nothing like that.
"Can we get to the scene change yet?" complained Lifei.
"What?" Asked Cassandra, frowning.
"Nothing,"
(One scene change later)
•~•
Lifei was nearly glad when ten raiders attacked them. They were humans, dressed in yellow material. They dropped down from several trees surrounding an oasis, where we had paused to rest. They had knives and pistols. Shanae had slowed them down, Cassandra had darted forward, catching one of them in a choke hold, then pushed him into two of his friends. She had disarmed them. Ana and Anna had rushed forward, but as several of the raiders began to sluggishly pull out their guns, Ana materialized behind one and knocked him out, grabbed a knife out of the belt of another and held it to his throat. Anna had choked one, taken the gun out of the hand of another and used it to clock him in the head. The other three fled. Anna raised the gun, then hesitated. She glanced at Shanae. Shanae looked tired, but raised her hands again. The three slowed. Anna stepped out of their shadow and beat them up. The last man standing was the one whose throat Ana was holding a knife to.
"Who sent you?" She asked.
"No... no one," wheezed the man.
"Then what's the symbol on your collar?" Asked Ana.
The man blinked. He stared at Ana as though she had just asked him who Santa Claus was. Then he cleared his throat. "Well... um... uh... it's... it's our insignia, that's what it is! Me and the... uh... the lads over there. Yes, that's what it is,"
"That's astoundingly unconvincing," said Ana, "As you can no doubt tell, we're not from around here. We want to know who sent you."
"I... I..." croaked the man.
Aida motioned, "Come on, kids. Let's go search the other men. See if they've got anything that will give us a clue."
Anna stepped out of Ana's shadow. She looked into the man's terrified eyes.
"You will tell us who sent you," she said, her voice cold and devoid of pity, "Or I will kill you." These, of course, were not empty threats, which was why Aida had hurried the children away.
"I can't tell you! He'll kill me!" Squeaked the man.
"Your employer may kill you, but we're a lot closer than him, and we will kill you first if you don't start talking," said Ana.
"Ruspard!" Squeaked the man, "Ruspard the Terrible!" He stared at them expectantly, as though expecting them to run away screaming.
"Good to know," said Ana, removing the knife from the man's throat. She used the handle to hit him on the back of his head. He collapsed.
"He gave easily," muttered Anna.
"His will has already been nearly broken. Whoever this Ruspard is, he must be some sort of tyrant," responded Ana.
They returned to the others.
"Alright, some jackass named Ruspard the Terrible sent those idiots," announced Ana, "If you see Ruspard, go ahead and beat him up."
As they prepared to set off, Aida glanced at Ana and Anna, a question in her eyes.
Ana shook her head slightly. Aida nodded and continued on.
•~•
"I doubt Ruspard sent those men against us particularly," said Ana as they walked, "And before I continue, allow me a moment to point out what an utterly ridiculous name Ruspard is. Anyway, as I was saying. Those men were probably posted there to kill anyone who stopped by. Then, they would take the spoils and give them to Ruspard. What an unpleasant man this Ruspard is."
A shadow passed over Lifei's head. She looked up. A huge vulture flew in circles above us. It saw me looking and swooped away, in the direction we were headed.
"How is Exitium's body here? Didn't Umbra say that he landed in the world... um... the world earlier?" I asked.
"My guess is that these many pocket dimensions exist in the same space. They take up the same space, but in different realities. Exitium's body appears to simultaneously exist in all dimensions," said Ana.
"Are we even sure that we're headed toward Exitium's body and not something else?" asked Cassandra.
"I've never seen an energy level so high. It must be Exitium," said Ana.
Soon, they came across a huge city. Everything was made of the same yellow stone. Palm trees rose above the buildings. There were no walls around the city. The children and their guardians walked in with ease. The people inside walked with slumped shoulders and dropping heads. They wore brown. Occasionally, they saw a soldier in leather armor. Privately, Lifei thought that this city had the worst fashion sense in the world. But she didn't dare to speak. The city was unnervingly quiet, with only the sounds of shuffling feet. The children heard sounds of a commotion. They saw a man getting beaten up by several soldiers. One of them held a whip. He raised it. Without thinking, Lifei motioned with her hand. A nearby palm tree twisted. An enormous leaf whipped down and slapped the man's butt. He jerked, squawking. The others turned. Lifei waved my hands, and the tree burst into motion. Branches reached down, snatching up soldiers. Roots trapped other soldiers on the floor. One soldier pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. Anna rose from the ground, coming out of the man's shadow. She pulled the gun out of the man's hand and shot him in the leg. He fell, screaming and waving his hand. She ran back to us. Lifei thought she would scold her, but she only nodded, "Good one."
"Time to run!" said Aida as the sounds of other soldiers carried up the street.
"We can fight them," said Cassandra.
"For how long? Until we drop from exhaustion? Better to run now," said Ana.
They ran. The soldier with the injured leg reached for them. Aida swept her hands up. A huge gust of wind hurled him into the air, and with a flick of Lifei's wrist, he was trapped with his friends. Try turned a corner. No soldiers. A hooded figure dressed in brown stepped out of the shadow of a doorway. He beckoned.
We hesitated.
"Quickly!" He snapped, "Do you want to live? Your magic is strong, but mark my words, the sheer numbers of soldiers will prevail."
We rushed into his house. The inside was slightly dark, and dust hung in the air. The floor was dirt. There was a table, no windows, and the fireplace sputtered weakly. Several chairs, and a door that led to a kitchen. A shelf of books stood in a corner.
"If this is a trap, I will bring this house crashing down," warned Aida.
"I don't doubt it," muttered the stranger.
"FAN OUT! SEARCH EVERY SINGLE HOUSE!" Roared a voice outside. The stranger motioned for us to go upstairs. We did so. We heard a knocking on the door below us. The creak of a door opening.
"We are searching for a few criminals who came this way. We need to search your house,"
"But of course," came the reply. It was recognizable, still the stranger's voice, but different. It was softer, smooth and rich. It was a voice that got stuck in your head. A voice that replayed itself in your head a few times, "Come in, sir."
Aida's eyes were narrowed. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but restrained herself.
"I... uh... I'll search the kitchen now," said the guard. He was obviously trying to think, but the voice seemed to be putting him into a trance.
"But my good sir, you've already checked the kitchen! And the attic. The entire house! And you didn't find anything. Nothing at all! Now you best be on your way. Don't you think?" asked the man.
"HmMm," mumbled the soldier, "Nothing... best... on my... way... bye." The door opened and closed.
A minute passed. Another minute. The man walked up the stairs. He was holding a tray with cups of coacoa. Lifei blinked in shock when she saw his face. A forgettable, bland face.
