The Shadows of Nature

29. We Will Walk

Joha and Isaac stood with dutiful but sincere smiles by door, the spectral circle of warped space and realities bringing otherworldly creatures to their land.

Each being wore fiery garments of the colours of low frequency, though their expressions constantly remained humble. Their hair was embellished with nothing but their awareness and their subtly warm senses of duty with altruism, defining their soft differences in appearance. Only few of the leaders and other Phoenexias had come since they couldn't leave their land and if everyone did come, it would be too large a number.

With a silent smile Joha greeted them once they were all assembled and she and Isaac began to guide them towards Sylva Vita. The coloured rays of dusk were scattered throughout the sky, their glow gently lighting the sides of the autumn leaves that seemed to outline the presence of the Phoenexias. No decorations had been done as the Shadows simply embraced nature, everyone gradually gathering around the three Trees of Remembrance.

"Will your leader be arriving soon?" Pazia, the head Phoenexia, asked gently.

Joha returned a grim smile, her thoughts transferring as much information of what had happened as possible, though out loud she told the others that the leader and a few others had passed away in an unfortunate encounter with the demons and translated the abstract happenings into a physical story; what the rest of the Shadows remembered.

Silence pervaded the entire headquarters for a brief moment, a unanimous sorrow filling all Shadow-Trappers. But it quickly disappeared when Pazia resumed her walk, a new energy coming in everyone as the flow of life and time continued. Joha realised the energy to be something rather similar to Mildred's, only it was more mellow and warm in a way of comfort, not homely. Beings of another land comforted them and while they all felt to be a part of one 'family', there was some force of separation just as it was present between the Demons and the Shadow-Trappers.

A heavy feeling of unity weighed on the atmosphere once everyone was assembled, allowing Joha to walk to the raised platform. She was hesitant, unsure of what to do until she remembered that Shadow from the future, Jay's silence. There was absolutely nothing but its aura was overwhelming in the most neutral way; the tranquillity of solitude with the constancy of being one. It wasn't the easiest to understand in such a short and chaotic space, so Joha allowed her emotions to take over the thoughts, her gestures telling everyone their next action.

Each being was in absolute unison with each other, humming a single sound. They wondered why they did it and realised that it was unite with the living and the passed on alike, while simply feeling. The Shadow council standing in the front subtly began to feel the presences of the departed, comfort spreading within them. However, they knew that only six of them were present.

An incomplete Council. But then again, nothing was ever incomplete on the day of the Annual Ball.

The thoughts of their future adversities impended over their heads as everything went silent again. Pazia and the rest of the Phoenexias were still concentrating on the remnants of that sound and the familiar comfort entered the minds of the Shadow-Trappers again. Together with Joha, everyone opened their eyes with no specific emotion or thought, choosing to keep it all at bay for a while. Things couldn't be rushed and overthinking would be nothing but a waste of time. The future couldn't and wouldn't be left only on the coming generation but on that day, they would all be with each other, having little conversations and making little observations. It wasn't a pause but simply a different way to walk their paths.

Time is always moving, constantly changing. So is nature. So are they.