Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❧
Shadow manipulation was one of the hardest gifts that Sage has imprinted. Taking it from the young vampire all of those years ago had left her in a state of turmoil. The shadows that she had taken had almost eaten away at her life form, making her blind with darkness, the tendrils of black swirling around her, suffocating. It had taken almost a decade to perfect the skills that she had wrongfully stole.
When Sage had finally gotten the shadows to agree with her, to connect with her the way they did their other controller, they felt like another part of her body rather than a gift. It was as though she had gained another part of herself, one she hadn't known was missing until she found it for the first time.
With shadow manipulation, Sage could do whatever she wanted, could be wherever she wanted to be--so long as she was hidden beneath the curtain of void. If she remained in the shadows, there was nothing she couldn't do. She could hide in the depths of someone else, sheathed until she needed to strike; she could hide from someone in the sleuths of an alley, the wall beckoning her forward, into it.
She could use the shadows within herself, create wisps and vines of shades that were tangible to her victims, stronger than they were. They struck with as much enthusiasm as Sage would have had she been physically assaulting them, and they killed, vicious and cold--just as she did.
The gift of manipulation had been Sage's most prized one, but it also was her worst one because she was using it now to hide herself away in the shadow of Aro's cloak as he berated the Cullens for their crime, and she could barely hear anything.
As soon as they had arrived on the scene, Aro demanded she remain close to him, in his own cloak. She had been able to travel there without using manipulation, but that was as much leeway as Aro had allowed her. Not wanting to be next on his list, she had quietly shrunk into the cold of his cloak and remained there.
Automatically, her master had went into theatrics. She could feel his body vibrating with each syllable spit out, the blatant wrath disguised by companionship as he greeted the Cullens and their allies. Every once in a while, Renata shifted her touch on him, shielding him from everything, rippling the veil Sage was hiding in. She hissed her discontentment, but Renata either did not care, or Aro had been scared enough that he needed her directly in his presence, regardless of the strain it put on Sage.
Though her eyes were not in the fight, Sage was able to get a grasp as to what was happening. Edward Cullen had walked up to them, his hand ready to be placed in Aro's. Renata shook the cloak; another vibration from her, and Sage would be exposed to the world.
Aro would be livid should she escape without his approval.
Sage sighed to herself, eyes closed in concentration until she heard Aro mutter, "May I meet her?"
The anticipation in his voice, the sheer desperation and amazement that coated the question, had Sage opening her eyes in surprise. She remained stagnant, but she could not help but wonder. . . had the Cullens actually been innocent? Was there no immortal child as there had been last time? She wanted to remain optimistic, but this was the Volturi. They wished for the Cullens to perish; surely, they would find something to blame them for.
