Hang on a moment… Vir thought back to what Riyan had said about Shadow Blend—the Talent that let its wielder sink into the shadows. Wasn’t Dance of the Shadow Demon similar?
While he could choose to move, he didn’t have to, at least for ten seconds. Vir wasn’t sure how long Shadow Blend allowed wielders to stay hidden inside shadows, but the abilities were similar enough that Vir could lie and say he possessed Shadow Blend. He somehow doubted Dance was a Talent many people knew about. If it even was a Talent.
It wasn’t just the ability to move around near-instantly that made Dance powerful. The fact he could disappear into the shadow realm meant he could dodge otherwise fatal attacks, as he’d done in the forest. He could then afford to take his time and gather his thoughts, looking out at the world from a place where no enemy could touch him.
On a whim, he tested an idea. He returned home and retrieved a small hourglass Maiya had brought along. They never knew what might come in handy, so Maiya liked to hoard as much stuff as she could on their travels.
Flipping the hourglass, he brought it into the world of shadows. Though his body was frozen inside there, it seemed he could bring anything he touched along with him, so long as it was small enough and light enough to carry. That was another limitation of the ability—whatever he brought through had to fit inside the shadow he wanted to exit from. He couldn’t exit out of a pebble’s shadow—he simply wouldn’t fit.
Vir used up the entire ten seconds in the shadow realm before it shot him back out.
“I knew it…” he breathed, staring at the hourglass. Not a single grain of sand had fallen through. He repeated the test to be sure, and again, time seemed to freeze when he was inside the shadow realm.
Which meant that to an opponent, he’d disappear and instantly reappear at his destination, even if he’d spent several seconds in that world. Of course, since no time had passed, his body wouldn’t get a break, but his mind continued to function just fine. It was an advantage he’d exploit the heck out of in his upcoming battles.
The only downside was that Dance of the Shadow Demon consumed prana like there was no tomorrow. He could easily perform Leap a half dozen times with the amount of prana it took to activate Dance just once. It also took longer to charge.
Despite all of this, Vir was happy. Shardul said there was no way he could learn the ability without the man’s guidance. Vir just proved him wrong. Through his own efforts, through his own understanding of prana, he’d reverse engineered the ability.
Riyan had once told Vir to be like a shadow. He no longer had to pretend. Now, he was the shadow.
Dawn broke hours later. To Maiya, it sure felt like it’d taken its own sweet time, as if it couldn’t be bothered about their plight. To Vir, it’d felt like only a few moments, having only recently drifted back to sleep after his nighttime escapades.
As soon as there was enough light, Vir snuck out from under the blanket and pried open a floorboard in a corner of the bedroom.
“Your stash?” Maiya asked, her eyes puffed and red.
Vir wanted nothing more than to tell Maiya about his newfound power, but refrained. She was grieving, and now was not the time. He’d tell her when she’d recovered.
“What’s left of it, anyway. Rudvik took almost everything when we’d fled to the Godshollow. But he forgot this…”
Vir held up a loop of thread that captured a wooden square an inch wide. On it was a charcoal sketch of Rudvik and Vir, standing side by side and grinning happily.
“Did you—was it that traveling artist who came by a few years ago?” Maiya asked, taking the necklace from Vir.
“Yeah. It’s the only memento I have to remember Rudvik by.”
“It’s really well done. He perfectly captured Rudvik—look at how big and happy he looks in this!”
Vir smiled. He remembered that day with fondness. Rudvik had dipped into his savings to splurge on the artwork, despite Vir begging him not to. Vir was glad his father didn’t listen to him back then.
“Treasure this, Vir,” Maiya said, returning the necklace to his hand and closing his fingers around it.
Vir gazed at the locket. Objectively, this trip had been one of tragedy and tears, and that went for them both. But it did give them something they never knew they’d needed: Closure.
For the first time since Rudvik’s passing, Vir felt like he could turn back and see events as they were—as they’d happened. As history. Not something to agonize over, nor anything to change.
It was simply a cold acceptance of facts. And, with that, came a sense of freedom he’d not known for a long time. As if invisible shackles had finally come off, chains that had been broken—allowing him to proceed with his life. Onward, beyond the bounds of this little village of petty souls. And outward, bound for the broader world.
“I will, Maiya,” he said, gazing at her with newfound resolve. And in her eyes, burning with the heat and power of eternal flame, he saw the same. “I will.”
58RIYAN’S DOME OF POWERS
The days turned to weeks, which soon blurred together as a month passed, then two. Six months had now gone by since Rudvik died in the Godshollow.
To Vir, it felt just like yesterday. He wondered where the time went.
“You have five minutes to complete the course,” said the man, handing Vir a blindfold.
“Only need three.” Vir took the black cloth from Riyan and wrapped it slowly around his eyes, his gaze lingering on Maiya and Tanya, who stood at the edge of the training dome. It was his big day, after all—the day he finally proved to everyone that he could clear the course. His final examination, of sorts.
Maiya remained expressionless, a sight he’d learned to get used to these days.
Ignoring the spectators, he ascended the stairs to the first challenge and awaited Riyan.
Vir shot into motion even before his instructor had finished saying “Begin.”
With feline grace, he sprinted over the balancing beams. This first obstacle could hardly be called one anymore—it took less than five seconds for him to clear all three beams. Blindfolded.
Riyan had wrongly assumed that Vir was a prodigy who’d picked up the Awareness Talent. The truth was far simpler.
Prana Vision had continued to grow in resolution and range until it effectively replaced his sight. It was at a point where, were he to suddenly go blind, he’d hardly be inconvenienced. There was scarcely a single thing that was entirely devoid of prana unless one ventured to the Voidlands, and so Prana Vision showed him nearly as much as his eyes. Sometimes even more.
The second obstacle, with blades that rotated on cylindrical posts, had its wooden swords replaced with real ones. If Vir missed his timing, he could easily lose an arm.
Without breaking stride, he seamlessly rolled and jumped through the blades as if they weren’t even there, diving headlong into the third obstacle—the series of swinging scythes.
Here again, the wooden scythes had been replaced with iron. With their weight and momentum, a single hit could decapitate him.
“Fifteen seconds,” Riyan announced when Vir rolled and stood on the other end. Fifteen seconds to do what had once taken him ten minutes or more.
He moved like water, flowing gracefully from one obstacle to the next.
The monkey bars succumbed within seconds as Vir leveraged his toned muscles to hurl himself through the course.