The iron gate rattled as it swung closed behind her. My quarry peered through the bars back into the dim plaza outside her residence, the fountain at its centre burbled and flowed, and the streets and alleys radiated outwards into the hush of a sleeping Lielm.

She turned and walked towards the door, pulling a key from underneath her cloak as she did. She unlocked the door and stepped into her home, unaware that I had been following her for the last ten hours.

I crouched on the rooftop and looked down at the now quiet residence. None of the five I had followed had given any sign they were aware of my presence. They had moved cautiously throughout the city, their trail muddy with guilt, seemingly unaware of me. I have had many recent dealings and have spoken with Sjer at length about his past experience with the Shadow Water Circle and the Shadowed Shell. It is good that he trusts me enough to share so much information, or perhaps his willingness to cooperate comes more from the past he shares with my Master.

“You must come.” A voice whispers in my ear, like someone was crouched beside me on the rooftop. As I turn to face the voice, I see with my eyes, which make the very dim seem as day, a shadow with a vague human form floating just above the tiled roof.

“Where?” Is my immediate whispered response, but I already know the shadow’s answer.

“The Rock” it susurrates, “It is time.”

I rise to my feet and begin walking along the rooftops toward the city gates, which open at dawn. I head to the Rac’anaji’cor which provides me with the most direct route to the Shadowed Shell. My guide glides beside me.

I had not known how I would find my way to Valley of the Rock or when I would be called. I am not surprised by the form my escort takes. Others have been guided by the Shadows of those who have made the journey to the Rock, but instead of walking from the valley have become a part of the mystery, and only leave as shadows of their former selves. It is an honourable fate, and completes the bond between the Assembly and the Source. I do not know the right way to complete the Journey, but I have decided to make the Shadowed Shell a part of mine.

I have walked for almost thirty minutes through the city; the approaching dawn has begun to grey the horizon. I notice the Shadow moves quickly with me but its smoke-like form seems to drift to the East occaisionaly. “I must go to the Shadowed Shell before the Valley.” One cannot say that Shadows are devoid of the ability to express themselves physically. Immediatley after I spoke those words, the Shadow seemed to curl and roll over itself, billows and waves of dark fog roiled before me. It seemed to be thinking about my statement.

After a few moments the voice whispered in my right ear “Yes.”

This being was a man or a woman (the breathy hiss made it difficult to know) who, at some point in it’s past was involved deep enough with the Sja'ji'am to be called to the Rock, much as I have been. “What is your name?” I ask.

“Iza’Raj” (IzaRaj)

“I am Ja’Liim”

“I know.” whispers my new companion as we watch the huge gates glide open to allow the entry of the farmers with their goods into Lielm, and us to leave the City bound to an unknown fate.

We were not a mile from the walls of the city when I sensed the presence of Volorn as he had joined our path. I was glad he was there, Sjer had mentioned Volorn could guide us along the safe route through the shifting sands that surround the Shell, and I did not want to have to rely on my instincts alone to find the way inside. I spent a moment wondering at the instincts animals posses, and wished I could be blessed with such finely tuned senses. Iza’Raj was also aware of Volorn, and perhaps a little worried about him. As we walked along the roads, and across fields, the Shadow always kept myself between he and the ghost dog.

The terrain was fairly even, mostly farmland, it had begun to rain shortly after we left Lie’lm, the road became muddy, and I was soaked through in short order. My companions were not bothered by the weather. When travellers approached I walked of the path , so I could remain as anonymous as possible. It became easier as we went further from the city and drew closer to the Shadowed Shell as inhabitants were rare and people on the roads grew scarce. After walking for 2 days across field and path, we came to a forested area where the trees grew leafless and gnarled. The winter would account for the lack of leaf, but some other force had twisted the wood. The path we followed through the forest was silent, we had seen no sign of living things for over three hours.

The woods began to thin out, the trees had become even more bent and stunted. It had stopped raining and there was an acrid tang to the air, like burnt bone. The forest opened into a meadow of dry and withered grass, and past that a huge lake of blackened sand with the husk of the shadowed shell dead in the middle. A shiver ran down my spine as Volorn let out a whimper.

I walked out of the brush and stepped onto the sand, Volorn was walking quickly ahead of me, Izaraj glided behind just over my shoulder. I paid close attention to the path we took, I’m not sure if I was put to it that I could repeat Volorn’s way without him, I hoped that it would not come to that. We walked a long meandering route towards the charred rubble that was perhaps once a well fortified keep surrounded by a stone wall. Whatever magics the Sja'ji'am used to destroy the Fazajalavor stronghold, had profoundly affected these lands. I would not believe that the Sja’ji’am had this much power within them if I had not seen the terrifying results of it with my own eyes, shattered stone, sand fused into glass, the dark pall of doom that hung in the air. After closing near the walls, the trail took us back a distance before we finally reached the edge where Volorn stopped, and with a soft ‘wuf’ left me to my own devices. I could hear the sounds of his padded feet scuffing back the way we had come.

There were remnants of two structures within the walls. One looked to have been the main keep, the other a tower built into the wall, neither looked habitable. Sjer mentioned that there was at least a small network of tunnels and chambers underground. I should have had him draw me a map. I climbed up a pile of broken stone onto a part of wall that was still whole and walked along the battlements towards the tower. I readied my bow. IzaRaj had drifted up the wall to join me midway along the walkway, when from around the edge of an entryway into the tower, appeared a staff-wielding man dressed in torn and bloody robes. His body showed signs of mortal injury including a gash that ran the width of his neck, but his movements showed that at this moment he was unaffected by them. My thought of stealing into the shell unnoticed was gone and it was now time to engage.

“You are not welcome here” Gurgled the walking dead man and he shifted his hold on his staff, which by the metal encased tips and bronze studs, I could tell was not there to aid his posture.

I lowered my bow, and assumed a less threatening stance; I could see IzaRaj move away from me out into mid-air slowly towards our foe. We bantered for short while, as IzaRaj flew over the open tower wall, and disappeared downwards out of my view, behind the guardian.

“You will be spared if you leave now…” He trailed off as he realized the shadow had glided past him, and gone down into the base of the tower. He turned and leapt from the ledge he stood upon, down to the floor below. I quickly put my bow away and drew my sword as I rushed towards the tower. I came to the edge the sentry had leapt from and looked below, he had engaged IzaRaj and winding up to take a swing at him.

I knew next to nothing about the abilities of shadows, I could hardly imagine they could provide much use in combat, but at the same time, I’m sure that they would prove a difficult target to hit. I also knew that IzaRaj had provided me with the perfect opportunity to find out what this creature was made of. I leapt from the ledge and landed directly behind my foe, the blade sliding with force underneath his ribs deep through his flesh, it’s point finishing protruding from his flank. The creature seemed to care little of his newest wound, as he finished the stroke he had began at IzaRaj which swept through the shadow, small particles of a black, soot-like substance floated to the ground as he made contact. The creature spun around with his staff and it glanced off of the blade I had freed from his back and caught me in the shoulder. Pain shot down my arm, and I felt the power of the magic the staff was imbued with.

IzaRaj was swirling around the head of the creature, and although he appeared not to be doing any harm, he was definitely a distraction for it. My blade plunged into a seam in the back of my opponents skull, behind his left ear, he barely took notice. His staff swiped the air in front of his face as more black particles fell from IzaRaj’s limited form. He finished his stroke at IzaRaj and turned the staff’s momentum towards me in a spiral thrust towards my midsection. I wheeled away, and the staff grazed my side, I stepped through one of the holes in the floor and dropped to the level below, hoping IzaRaj would follow. In this setting and against this foe, I do not like our chances. His strengths appear to be our weaknesses. I will not retreat from the Shadowed Shell, but this is a fight I would sooner avoid. In the centre of the floor was a trap door which I lifted open, dropped through and pulled shut as I fell past it towards the floor of the level below. I was definitely below ground now, there were two tunnels which led from this room.

I heard a thud from the floor above, as the guardian pursued us. I had hoped, but not expected, that the magic that animated him also kept him within a limited area. I backed into a long tunnel, about 5 feet wide by 10 feet high, figuring this would limit the effectiveness of the creature’s primary weapon. IzaRaj flowed into the tunnel behind me. I heard the trapdoor open in the tower room, and watched the guardian appear from above, his eyes turned towards the tunnel and he saw me. If this tunnel proved to be a dead end, I did not like my chances of seeing the surface again. As my foe advanced, I took the time to retreat and explore the tunnel. About 80 feet along, the floor opened in a large gap 10 feet across. It appeared the force of the attack on the keep had caused even the subterranean areas to fracture, as the gap opened onto a chamber below, other areas of the tunnel were strewn with crumbled rock and some partially blocked.

I headed back up the tunnel to meet the Guardian as he approached; I wanted to make sure I had enough of an approach to leap across the hole in the tunnel, if needed. He easily parried my first attack that was not from behind. He made a thrust with the tip of his staff, which caught me on the same shoulder he had previously injured… I grimaced.

Besides the sounds of our footsteps, the clatter of arms, and the rhythm of my breath, this battle was played out in silence. Anyone who happened to be near but out of sight of us, could not imagine the struggle that was taking place.

…to be cont…

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