Shadow of a Shade

Chapter Twenty-Six

Addiane could tell she was somewhere very far away from the town when she woke up. Or... no, she didn't wake up. The edges of her vision were hazy in a strange way that she only saw in her dreams once in a while.

She was tied to a chair, and her head and neck ached. It felt as if she'd been hit heavily on the back of the head.

Slowly, trying not to aggravate any potential injuries, Addiane looked around. She could see two people sitting to her left, but the room was dim and she couldn't make out any features.

She whispered the spell to conjure a werelight.

It was a pale green, and Addiane raised her eyebrows. Usually her werelights were silver, and in some rare cases when she didn't have much energy, gold. 

Kath squinted in the light, flinching away. Halt barely moved.

"Kath?" Addiane whispered. "Are you alright?"

He frowned. "We had this conversation already, Will."

Will? For a moment, Addiane didn't understand. Then she looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing the Ranger's garb. Her legs were shorter, stockier, and her arms twitched with muscles that she didn't have as she strained at her ropes.

"It's not Will. It's Addiane. I don't know how I'm doing this but I am. Are you okay?"

Kath looked at Halt. "Well I'll be. He was right."

Halt shrugged indifferently. "Will's plans seem to work out more often than they should, in honesty."

"We're alright." Kath sighed. "A little bruised up, but no one's bleeding and we're all in one piece."

Addiane nodded slowly. "Do you know where you are?"

Kath looked at Halt.

The Ranger sighed. "I wish I did. I was out for most of our travels, all I can tell is that we're in some cave. Could you send that little light up higher?"

"I could try." Addiane looked up, then coaxed the werelight upward as far as she could get it to go.

The roof of the cave (it was clearly a cave based off of the rough stone ceiling) was about one hundred feet in the air. Halt grunted quietly.

"Deep in the mountains then." Kath sighed.

"Which would explain why I wouldn't be able to find Will when I searched earlier." Addiane shook her head. "Well, now we know what to look for."

"You do?"

She nodded. "Caves. They're so much easier to find in the mountains. We'll send out search parties with specific instructions to look for caves only."

"Make sure you send them in larger groups than just two. That was our mistake."

Addiane nodded. "I'll make sure of it. And everyone will have strict orders not to enter the caves without informing the rest of us... what about the person or people who brought you here? Did you see them?"

"Fairly sure I heard that redheaded demon from the main street, but I can't quite place her voice properly." Kath shrugged.

Halt grunted and nodded. "It was her for sure."

"You're closer than we thought then." 

The world started to fade around Addiane, and she took a deep breath, trying to remember as much as possible. The scent, the lighting, all of it.