Lightweaver2’s Novel

[Wierdo he/him]

18 minutes ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Alright, I know it’s been a while. A long while. But I’ve finally started writing my novel again, and I’ll have another chapter out fairly soon for anyone that cares.

YIPPIE!!!

[Edema Rue she/her]

GOOD *brandishes the writing stick that’s looking more and more like a spear*

[Through the Living Hope]

31 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

GOOD *brandishes the writing stick that’s looking more and more like a spear*

OOOH~ you brought the content whacking stick?

[Edema Rue she/her]

1 minute ago, Spark of Hope said:

OOOH~ you brought the content whacking stick?

The stick is always with me.

[Through the Living Hope]

2 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

The stick is always with me.

Heheheheh great minds think alike *raises content whacking stick of my own*

[Scars of Hathsin he/him]

Yes, the first chapters have been amazing @Weaver of Lies

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

It's been... a long time. Much too long. But I'm proud to say I've gotten back to work, and that irrational, wonderful, overpowering motivation to write is coming back sometimes. Here you go:

Chapter 7

Spoiler

“Frosts!” Phoebe said, breathing heavily. “I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t think those things were real! I thought that maybe they were just part of a hazing ritual or something.” They had stopped a short distance away from the town, far enough away that no one should be able to see them.

“You didn’t think what were real?” Anson asked, out of breath.

“The demons. Or maybe just a demon. I don’t know if there are more like it, but it matches the few things I’d heard about Gallahad’s demons. Incorporeal, not quite human and…draining something out of the people it encounters.” She shuddered.

“It felt like…like I had been using Manna,” Levi stated quietly. Anson nodded, and Phoebe’s eyes shone with a similar understanding.

“That’s exactly what it felt like,” she said. “Which would explain why the maid that said she’d encountered one couldn’t explain what it really felt like.”

“Didn’t you say you thought it was hazing?” Levi asked accusingly, a few of his old suspicions rising again. Could she have led the demon to them?

“Yes, I thought that she was bribed by them or something!” Phoebe threw up her hands in frustration. “Would you have believed that? Or if you hadn’t encountered that… that thing, would you have believed it existed?” Her voice was a higher pitch than normal, she seemed more shaken than he had realized.

Levi thought about that for a while. Would he have believed it? No, he wouldn’t. Even if Anson had told him… he probably would have assumed it was a joke. “Sorry,” he said quietly.

Strangely, Anson was glaring at him though. What was he upset about? Had the demon done something to him? Levi looked back at Phoebe and noticed that there was a tear running down her face. She sniffled a little bit, and wiped the tear from her face. “It’s not your fault. That demon was just…unnerving. I feel like it’s still watching us.”

Anson put an arm around her shoulders, and Levi realized that she was shaking. She must have been much more affected by the demon than he had thought. He felt guilt bubble within his stomach. How could he have been so stupid, accusing her like that over nothing? She must be really good at faking strength, he hadn’t noticed that anything was off about her until now. Or maybe he was just bad at noticing how people were feeling. That seemed more likely.

  Though now that she mentioned it, he thought he might be able to feel it too, the prickling feeling on his neck, the way his thoughts seemed to slow like they had earlier…

“Run!” he yelled, realizing what those feelings meant. Frosts, would they be too late? He saw the demon glide around a corner, moving quickly towards them. He ran in the opposite direction, not slowing down to see if Anson and Phoebe were with him. Hopefully they were, but he couldn’t help them against the demon. He had no idea what its weaknesses were, if it had any.

He sprinted across the base of a small hill, rounding it. He came up against a wooden fence, probably for keeping some kind of animal. He didn’t slow down, but then jumped, cresting the fence with a burst of Manna. Landing with a maladroit stumble, he quickly regained his speed. He heard heavy footsteps from behind him, then Anson appeared at the edge of his vision, Phoebe following quickly. Levi would have sighed in relief if it weren’t for how hard it was to breathe at the moment. He forced himself to slow down to a more manageable pace.

“Don’t…stop,” he gasped out. He was tempted to use his Manna, but he didn’t know if he would need it later. What if the demon was going to keep following them? Was it still following them? He glanced back and saw a dark shape crest the wall, not quite flying, more…gliding. It didn’t hit the ground, instead floating about a half foot above it. Levi slowed, mesmerized by its movement, until Phoebe tugged on his arm, nearly sending him sprawling. He forced his eyes away from the demon and back in front of him as he began to run again. His muscles protested, his own mind seemed to be screaming for him to stop, despite the danger. But he couldn’t stop. He eventually fell into a rhythm, and his mind turned to the demon. It hadn’t caught them yet. He risked a glance back and saw it gliding towards them still. They were moving just fast enough for it to not be getting any closer, but if they slowed down at all it would start gaining ground on them.

Eventually, wordlessly, Phoebe took the lead, directing them towards…something. Or Levi hoped she was directing them somewhere. For all he knew, they were running in some completely random direction with no destination in mind.

Right as the sun began rising over the horizon, Anson seemed to grow energetic, speeding ahead. Levi couldn’t understand where he got the energy until he realized Anson must have used Manna. Levi engaged his own, enjoying the sensation of it relieving his muscles. That relief didn’t last long though. After a relatively short time of running, the temperature had noticeably increased and Levi was sweating heavily. His body was already exhausted from the day before, and now he was pushing it past its limits again. Anson and Phoebe didn’t seem to be faring well either, but they all seemed to understand. They had two options: run through the pain and exhaustion or give up and be… eaten? Captured by Galahad? Something along those lines. Whatever it was, Levi didn’t want to experience it. As he ran, he occasionally glanced behind him. The demon was always just in sight, but not getting any closer to them

Can’t stop. Can’t slow down. Can’t stop. Can’t slow down. Can’t… He repeated the mantra in his mind, everything else seeming to fade into a blur of trees, hills, and the omnipresent, almost overpowering pain.

“Can’t…run…forever…” Anson gasped out. He was clutching his side, his eyes filled with the same pain that Levi felt. The idea of falling to that demon was seeming better and better by the minute. Despite what had felt like hours, the sun had barely risen above the horizon. Levi estimated that only about thirty minutes had passed since it had risen fully, and they had most likely been running for a little over an hour. His breathing was ragged, and his legs felt numb.

“Almost…there…” Phoebe huffed back, seeming to be faring only slightly better than the two boys. Despite what he had just calculated, it felt like they had been running for an eternity. And it just kept getting hotter, the sun slowly inching its way up the sky.

A few minutes later, Phoebe pointed ahead to a hill slightly larger than the rest. Levi didn’t understand what she meant until a section of it seemed to collapse inward, revealing a strongly built man standing in a small tunnel. He beckoned to them as Phoebe stumbled, her legs giving out. Anson stopped for a second, lifting her onto his shoulder and continuing to run, though he was now much slower. Levi slowed to keep pace with him, looking over his shoulder to see where the demon was at. It was cresting the hill behind them, much closer than it had been at any other time.

“Run…Manna…use it all,” he managed, then, following his own advice, he activated his Manna, taking off with a burst of speed. He reached the base of the hill and looked back again. Anson was a little ways behind him, and the demon was gaining ground on them both. 

Hesitating for just a second, he turned and dashed back, quickly passing Anson and approaching the demon. With a roar and a gush of Manna, he generated a gust of wind, blasting it forward at the demon. It didn’t seem fazed, still hovering just above the ground and moving towards them. As he looked at it, he noticed its form seemed to be shifting just slightly, almost as if it were running. Running through the air. It didn’t make any sense, but it seemed right somehow.

He tore his gaze away from the demon and back up the hill as he began to feel its mind-numbing aura. It seemed to slow in the corner of his eye, and he saw Phoebe slump on Anson’s shoulder, looking utterly exhausted in every way possible. She seemed to barely be keeping her eyes open. Levi sprinted past them, reaching the gaping hole in the hill. He looked back and saw the demon right on Anson’s heels. It didn’t quite reach him though, seeming to slow down momentarily again, just enough for him to enter the tunnel. The large man who had been waiting for them slammed the door closed with a grunt, then turned to look at them. Bright pink light lit the tunnel, the walls themselves glowing.

“It’s good to see you again, Phoebe,” he said warmly, though his eyes shone with barely controlled fear. “I’m glad you all made it safely. What was that thing?” he said quickly, forcing a smile at her. Anson frowned with annoyance, though Levi couldn’t fathom why. The man had probably just saved their lives! He seemed to be around twenty years old, maybe just a little younger.

“Demon,” she said quietly, her voice overflowing with exhaustion. Levi understood that, he could barely keep himself from slumping to the floor, and with how she had used her Manna she was probably feeling worse. She must have used a lot of Manna to hold that demon back, she didn’t look like she had any more to spare.

“Where..are we?” Anson asked, leaning up against the wall for support.

An older man, beard streaked with grey, stepped into the light. “Welcome to the Corridor. Let me explain some things.”

Let me know what you think, and to any of you that read this, thank you so much, you can't imagine how much I appreciate it.

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

YAAAAY YOU'RE BACK!

This was a really cool read, and I can't wait for the rest!

Btw, I still remembered most of your story even though I haven't read anything from it in months.

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

6 hours ago, Just a Silvereye said:

YAAAAY YOU'RE BACK!

This was a really cool read, and I can't wait for the rest!

Btw, I still remembered most of your story even though I haven't read anything from it in months.

Thank you! I’m glad you still remember!

[Edema Rue she/her]

9 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

It's been... a long time. Much too long. But I'm proud to say I've gotten back to work, and that irrational, wonderful, overpowering motivation to write is coming back sometimes. Here you go:

Chapter 7

  Reveal hidden contents

“Frosts!” Phoebe said, breathing heavily. “I’d heard rumors, but I didn’t think those things were real! I thought that maybe they were just part of a hazing ritual or something.” They had stopped a short distance away from the town, far enough away that no one should be able to see them.

“You didn’t think what were real?” Anson asked, out of breath.

“The demons. Or maybe just a demon. I don’t know if there are more like it, but it matches the few things I’d heard about Gallahad’s demons. Incorporeal, not quite human and…draining something out of the people it encounters.” She shuddered.

“It felt like…like I had been using Manna,” Levi stated quietly. Anson nodded, and Phoebe’s eyes shone with a similar understanding.

“That’s exactly what it felt like,” she said. “Which would explain why the maid that said she’d encountered one couldn’t explain what it really felt like.”

“Didn’t you say you thought it was hazing?” Levi asked accusingly, a few of his old suspicions rising again. Could she have led the demon to them?

“Yes, I thought that she was bribed by them or something!” Phoebe threw up her hands in frustration. “Would you have believed that? Or if you hadn’t encountered that… that thing, would you have believed it existed?” Her voice was a higher pitch than normal, she seemed more shaken than he had realized.

Levi thought about that for a while. Would he have believed it? No, he wouldn’t. Even if Anson had told him… he probably would have assumed it was a joke. “Sorry,” he said quietly.

Strangely, Anson was glaring at him though. What was he upset about? Had the demon done something to him? Levi looked back at Phoebe and noticed that there was a tear running down her face. She sniffled a little bit, and wiped the tear from her face. “It’s not your fault. That demon was just…unnerving. I feel like it’s still watching us.”

Anson put an arm around her shoulders, and Levi realized that she was shaking. She must have been much more affected by the demon than he had thought. He felt guilt bubble within his stomach. How could he have been so stupid, accusing her like that over nothing? She must be really good at faking strength, he hadn’t noticed that anything was off about her until now. Or maybe he was just bad at noticing how people were feeling. That seemed more likely.

  Though now that she mentioned it, he thought he might be able to feel it too, the prickling feeling on his neck, the way his thoughts seemed to slow like they had earlier…

“Run!” he yelled, realizing what those feelings meant. Frosts, would they be too late? He saw the demon glide around a corner, moving quickly towards them. He ran in the opposite direction, not slowing down to see if Anson and Phoebe were with him. Hopefully they were, but he couldn’t help them against the demon. He had no idea what its weaknesses were, if it had any.

He sprinted across the base of a small hill, rounding it. He came up against a wooden fence, probably for keeping some kind of animal. He didn’t slow down, but then jumped, cresting the fence with a burst of Manna. Landing with a maladroit stumble, he quickly regained his speed. He heard heavy footsteps from behind him, then Anson appeared at the edge of his vision, Phoebe following quickly. Levi would have sighed in relief if it weren’t for how hard it was to breathe at the moment. He forced himself to slow down to a more manageable pace.

“Don’t…stop,” he gasped out. He was tempted to use his Manna, but he didn’t know if he would need it later. What if the demon was going to keep following them? Was it still following them? He glanced back and saw a dark shape crest the wall, not quite flying, more…gliding. It didn’t hit the ground, instead floating about a half foot above it. Levi slowed, mesmerized by its movement, until Phoebe tugged on his arm, nearly sending him sprawling. He forced his eyes away from the demon and back in front of him as he began to run again. His muscles protested, his own mind seemed to be screaming for him to stop, despite the danger. But he couldn’t stop. He eventually fell into a rhythm, and his mind turned to the demon. It hadn’t caught them yet. He risked a glance back and saw it gliding towards them still. They were moving just fast enough for it to not be getting any closer, but if they slowed down at all it would start gaining ground on them.

Eventually, wordlessly, Phoebe took the lead, directing them towards…something. Or Levi hoped she was directing them somewhere. For all he knew, they were running in some completely random direction with no destination in mind.

Right as the sun began rising over the horizon, Anson seemed to grow energetic, speeding ahead. Levi couldn’t understand where he got the energy until he realized Anson must have used Manna. Levi engaged his own, enjoying the sensation of it relieving his muscles. That relief didn’t last long though. After a relatively short time of running, the temperature had noticeably increased and Levi was sweating heavily. His body was already exhausted from the day before, and now he was pushing it past its limits again. Anson and Phoebe didn’t seem to be faring well either, but they all seemed to understand. They had two options: run through the pain and exhaustion or give up and be… eaten? Captured by Galahad? Something along those lines. Whatever it was, Levi didn’t want to experience it. As he ran, he occasionally glanced behind him. The demon was always just in sight, but not getting any closer to them

Can’t stop. Can’t slow down. Can’t stop. Can’t slow down. Can’t… He repeated the mantra in his mind, everything else seeming to fade into a blur of trees, hills, and the omnipresent, almost overpowering pain.

“Can’t…run…forever…” Anson gasped out. He was clutching his side, his eyes filled with the same pain that Levi felt. The idea of falling to that demon was seeming better and better by the minute. Despite what had felt like hours, the sun had barely risen above the horizon. Levi estimated that only about thirty minutes had passed since it had risen fully, and they had most likely been running for a little over an hour. His breathing was ragged, and his legs felt numb.

“Almost…there…” Phoebe huffed back, seeming to be faring only slightly better than the two boys. Despite what he had just calculated, it felt like they had been running for an eternity. And it just kept getting hotter, the sun slowly inching its way up the sky.

A few minutes later, Phoebe pointed ahead to a hill slightly larger than the rest. Levi didn’t understand what she meant until a section of it seemed to collapse inward, revealing a strongly built man standing in a small tunnel. He beckoned to them as Phoebe stumbled, her legs giving out. Anson stopped for a second, lifting her onto his shoulder and continuing to run, though he was now much slower. Levi slowed to keep pace with him, looking over his shoulder to see where the demon was at. It was cresting the hill behind them, much closer than it had been at any other time.

“Run…Manna…use it all,” he managed, then, following his own advice, he activated his Manna, taking off with a burst of speed. He reached the base of the hill and looked back again. Anson was a little ways behind him, and the demon was gaining ground on them both. 

Hesitating for just a second, he turned and dashed back, quickly passing Anson and approaching the demon. With a roar and a gush of Manna, he generated a gust of wind, blasting it forward at the demon. It didn’t seem fazed, still hovering just above the ground and moving towards them. As he looked at it, he noticed its form seemed to be shifting just slightly, almost as if it were running. Running through the air. It didn’t make any sense, but it seemed right somehow.

He tore his gaze away from the demon and back up the hill as he began to feel its mind-numbing aura. It seemed to slow in the corner of his eye, and he saw Phoebe slump on Anson’s shoulder, looking utterly exhausted in every way possible. She seemed to barely be keeping her eyes open. Levi sprinted past them, reaching the gaping hole in the hill. He looked back and saw the demon right on Anson’s heels. It didn’t quite reach him though, seeming to slow down momentarily again, just enough for him to enter the tunnel. The large man who had been waiting for them slammed the door closed with a grunt, then turned to look at them. Bright pink light lit the tunnel, the walls themselves glowing.

“It’s good to see you again, Phoebe,” he said warmly, though his eyes shone with barely controlled fear. “I’m glad you all made it safely. What was that thing?” he said quickly, forcing a smile at her. Anson frowned with annoyance, though Levi couldn’t fathom why. The man had probably just saved their lives! He seemed to be around twenty years old, maybe just a little younger.

“Demon,” she said quietly, her voice overflowing with exhaustion. Levi understood that, he could barely keep himself from slumping to the floor, and with how she had used her Manna she was probably feeling worse. She must have used a lot of Manna to hold that demon back, she didn’t look like she had any more to spare.

“Where..are we?” Anson asked, leaning up against the wall for support.

An older man, beard streaked with grey, stepped into the light. “Welcome to the Corridor. Let me explain some things.”

Let me know what you think, and to any of you that read this, thank you so much, you can't imagine how much I appreciate it.

Ahh I love it!! Super excited to see what comes next!

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

Just now, Edema Rue said:

Ahh I love it!! Super excited to see what comes next!

Thank you!

[Scars of Hathsin he/him]

That is so good, I am trembling with excitement waiting for the next chapter. 

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

I swear I’ve actually been writing quite a bit. I think this is the longest chapter so far. I have a character with Down syndrome, so if any of you have advice or suggestions, please let me know. Here you go:

 Chapter 8

Spoiler

“Oh, stop with the dramatics, Nathan,” came a feminine voice from behind the middle-aged man. A girl stepped forward, standing next to him. Phoebe squealed with delight, stumbling forward exhausted and embracing the other girl. 

“It’s so good to see you again!” the girl said excitedly, pulling away and studying Phoebe. “Are you ok? What happened? Are you hurt?” 

“We’re all fine,” Phoebe huffed back. “But there’s a lot we need to talk about. Galahad’s demons are real. One almost got us today.”

The other girl gasped, then hugged Phoebe again. “Well the important thing is that you’re ok right now. Here, come sit down,” she said, pulling Phoebe down to the floor next to her. “All of you, sit. You look exhausted.”

Levi slid down to the ground. He considered lying down completely, but decided against it. He didn’t know if he could trust anyone here other than Anson. Though if anything went wrong, he doubted he’d have the energy to do anything about it. He glanced over at the girl, and realized something. “You two are sisters, aren’t you?”

“Twins in fact,” Phoebe replied.

“That’s…cool,” Levi said with a yawn. He slid down the wall more, to the point where he was barely sitting at all. His eyes drooped and he forced them open, trying to avoid drifting off in the middle of the conversation. Anyway, the older man, Nathan, they had called him, said he had things to explain.

“Here, let me take you to your rooms, you all need to get some sleep,” Phoebe's sister said. She stood and helped Phoebe up, then walked over to Levi and Anson. “We can talk about everything later, but you look like you’re about to fall asleep anyway,” she said to Levi. Slowly, Levi stood. “I’m not,” he said tiredly.

She laughed, then turned to Anson, nudging him with her foot. “Well he’s fallen asleep, so at least he needs rest. Are you really going to pass up that opportunity yourself?”

Levi laughed too, then shook his head. He helped Anson to his feet and they began walking down the long corridor. After a short time, Phoebe’s sister motioned to a door set into the stone on their right. “This is your room,” she said to the boys. “Go in and get some rest. Whenever you wake up, go talk to Lazarus and he’ll get you some food.

“Lazarus?” Anson asked.

“The man that opened the door,” Phoebe explained.

“A man will get us the food?” Levi said, confused. Most men would rather go without than make their own meal.

“Yes, a man. And his cooking is some of the best I’ve ever tasted, so you’re lucky to have him.”

Levi shrugged, pulling the door open. Inside was a small room with two mattresses and a couple of other items of furniture. Levi stumbled over to one of the mattresses and plopped down. He kicked his shoes off, then laid back, stretching. His eyes shut lazily, and he quickly drifted off to sleep.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

“Levi, you awake?” Anson asked from right above him. Levi blinked his eyes open, his vision blurred from sleep.

“I am now,” he said groggily, sitting up. He winced as he felt how sore his muscles were, everything hurt. “What do you need?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you were ready to go explore this place! What did they call it, the Corridor? Anyway, it seems awesome!” Anson said excitedly.

As Levi’s vision focused, he noticed that everything seemed pink. Why was that? “Yeah, whatever. Give me a few minutes to wake up a little,” Levi said back, groaning and standing up. Couldn’t Anson have let him sleep a little longer? At least he wasn’t quite as tired as he had been before. Anson seemed to be back to his usual energetic self, as if they hadn’t run for miles after only a few hours of sleep the night before. He began pulling his shoes on.

“Come on, hurry up!” Anson said, playfully punching Levi’s arm. “What’s taking you so long? I want to get some of that food Phoebe’s sister was talking about!”

Levi’s stomach grumbled at the mention of food. They’d both dealt with hunger before though, they could afford to wait a few minutes, and something was nagging at him. “We need to be careful with everything around here,” Levi said seriously. “We don’t actually know anyone here, anything could go wrong.”

“Oh really, you think that? Well I trust Phoebe, and she trusts them. Don’t you remember how she saved our lives twice in the last few days?”

“I’m just saying we should be careful. We haven’t even known Phoebe for too long.”

“Yeah, but she saved our lives. Twice. Come on, let’s go!” he said urgently.

Levi stood up straight again. “Fine, let's go. Hopefully whatever that guy’s name is…”

“Lazarus.”
“Yeah, him. Hopefully he makes as good food as Phoebe was making it seem”

“I hope so too! But we have high standards, after all, we’ve been eating a lot of the Duke’s food these last few years, our mouths have exquisite taste,” Anson said with a laugh.

“Indeed. And the other food we’ve eaten, the stuff from the garbage, has only refined our taste even more,” he said, mocking the accent of a high noble. “But really, I can’t believe it’s a man cooking. Shouldn’t Phoebe or her sister do that?” he asked, dropping the accent.

“I really don’t care, food is food. Anyway, they’re rebels, they can have whoever they want do the cooking.”

“It’s still strange though.”

Anson nodded his head, then jumped energetically. “OK, you’re ready, let’s go now!”

Levi shrugged, then started walking to the door. Anson sped in front of him, pulling it open. The hallway outside was too lit by pink light. Levi stepped up to a patch of the wall that seemed to be glowing. “What is this stuff?” he asked, lifting his fingers to where they nearly brushed it.

“That’s some kind of fungus that grows here,” said Phoebe’s sister, walking towards them from further down the hallway. “It makes it so we don’t need torches or lanterns, very useful for a safehouse hidden underground.”

“Huh, interesting,” Anson said. The girl walked over to Levi and scraped her finger across the glowing fungus. She lifted it, showing that it too was now covered in bright pink.

“Useful,” Levi commented. “I didn’t catch your name before, what is it?”

“I’m Adelia,” she said, wiping the fungus onto the wall and getting most of it off. “You’re Levi, right?” She turned to Anson. “And you must be Anson. Phoebe’s told me a lot about you.”

“Yep, that’s us,” Anson said confidently. His stomach growled loudly.

“Right, let’s get you some food,” Adelia said, stepping away from them and down the hallway. “Follow me.”

As they walked, Levi studied the walls more closely. The fungus was glowing brightly enough to light up the entire corridor, but not so bright as to hurt his eyes. The color was irritating, however. A scent drifted towards them, one of frying meat and some kind of bread baking. He unconsciously sped up, anxious to get to the food. He opened the door to see not one, but two sights he’d never expected. One, of a man pulling a loaf of bread from an oven. The meat frying in a pan on the fire was, if not ordinary, at least acceptable. But never before had Levi imagined he would see one baking. That was a woman’s job!

And the second surprise was the girl standing next to the man, carrying a second loaf of bread. She was short and face wasn’t shaped quite normally, it seemed flattened slightly. She smiled at him, and he recognized the smile. Or at least, the kind of smile it was. He’d seen a couple of kids like her before, children whose minds didn’t seem to function properly.

The man, Lazarus, set down his loaf. “Hello, I expect you’re hungry,” he said, motioning for them to sit at a large, circular table.

“I am,” the girl said, setting down her loaf of bread next to Lazarus’s and sitting at one of seven seats. Adelia quickly sat next to her, reaching out her hand towards the other girl, who took it. Levi sat a few seats away from both of them, and Anson slid in beside him.

“We haven’t been properly introduced yet,” Lazarus said, his attention split between the people he was talking to and the meat he was frying. “I’m Lazarus, and this is my sister, Naomi. What are your names?”

“I’m Levi, this is Anson,” Levi responded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. The food should be done in a couple of minutes, and while we wait, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourselves. Why are you here?”

“We’re here to kill Galahad,” Anson said without hesitation, his voice fierce. “I don’t care how we do it, but we’re going to see him dead.”

Lazarus frowned at that. “And why is it you want him dead so badly?”

“He killed our parents,” Levi said quietly. “He deserves to die. Why are you here?”

“Oh, I intend to see Galahad dethroned and dead as well, replaced by a good ruler who might be able to fix some of the things he’s broken in this country. Do you know how bad everything has gotten? Crime has increased, poverty is more common, and he’s even introduced slavery in the outer farms. It needs to stop. Ah, and here you have me rambling again, I apologize. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

He took the frying pan off the fire, bringing it to the table. He then brought both loaves of bread, along with a large knife to slice it with. “I wish we had some butter to go with the bread, and maybe some jam, but it’ll have to do,” he said. “It’s been too long since I’ve made something truly spectacular, I haven’t had access to the ingredients I need. Maybe I can once we get out of this stupid Corridor,” he said with a touch of sadness.

“Oh, come on, it’ll taste wonderful as always,” Adelia said with a smile, slicing a piece of the bread and handing it to Naomi, then cutting one for herself.  Levi speared a chunk of meat with a skewer Lazarus brought over and raised it to his lips. He hesitated, unsure of if he could trust the food. Then Adelia skewered a piece, smiling as she ate it. “What would we do without your cooking here?” she asked Lazarus.

“Starve, I suppose,” he replied jovially.

Levi ate his own chunk of meat, some kind of pork it appeared, and nearly choked as the flavor hit him. It was spicier than he expected, but had to be one of the most flavorful things he’d ever eaten. And this was what Lazarus could do without proper ingredients? If that was the case, then he must have been the best chef in the entire world, even if he was a man. Levi tried the bread, and nearly gasped as memories assaulted him. Eating homemade bread with Anson so long ago, before Galahad had ruined everything.

Lazarus frowned. “Is there something wrong with the bread?” he asked, concerned.
“No, it’s wonderful,” Levi said, putting his slice down. Lazarus’s frown deepened, but he said no more.

The meal continued in relative silence until Levi had eaten his fill and then some more. The meat was delicious, though he had avoided the bread, something Lazarus seemed to have noticed. He hadn’t said anything about it again though.

“So are you all ready to meet Nathan? Well, meet him again, you saw him earlier,” Adelia asked Levi and Anson.

“Sure, I’m up for whatever,” Anson said, leaning back in his seat and stretching. Adelia stood and the two boys followed suit. “Come on, this way, back towards the entrance,” she said, starting off down the hallway. Levi shot Anson a nervous glance as they followed her. What were they going to be doing? Avery had said they needed to have things explained to them, what all did that involve?

Anson smiled reassuringly back at Levi, but Levi well enough to see the confusion and worry behind the smile. They didn’t say anything to each other as they walked though.

“Here we are,” Adelia said. “I’ll let you two talk to him, I’m going to go help Lazarus and Naomi clean up.”

She left, and the two boys looked at each other again, their uncertainty evident on their faces. With a deep breath, Levi rapped twice on the door.

“Come in,” came an aged voice from within. It didn’t sound like Nathan had before, why was that? Levi pushed open the door to find Nathan sitting across from Phoebe, They were both seated on the floor, and the room was devoid of furniture beside a small desk and a mattress 

“Ah, it’s you two,” he said, his voice sounding like it had earlier. The door must have messed with it somehow. “Phoebe has been explaining what happened these last few days, it seems you’ve had quite the experience. How are you holding up?”

Phoebe had been in here the whole time while they had been eating? She must be ravenous, unless she had eaten before the boys had woken up. “I’m doing alright, though that demon really messed with me,” Anson said. Levi nodded in agreement.

“The sleep we got here helped though, I know I at least am feeling much better,” Levi added.

“Good,” Nathan said. “Now, I said that I would explain things earlier. As Phoebe has told you, we are a group dedicated to removing Galahad. We are in league with the revolution, and have a plan in motion for where, when, and how to strike. All we need is more support. And, of course, you two. You both are key to our plans, your unique bond and hatred for Galahad makes us certain you won’t betray us, and your Shaping powers make you great allies. And…” he paused for a moment, seeming to consider his words. “There is something more. You know of the two elements of Shaping, physical…”

“Physical and mental, yeah, we know them,” Anson said.

“Exactly. What you don’t know is that there is a third element, largely unimportant to most Shapers, but it is what led us to you two. The third element, is that of time.”
Levi was stunned. Time? As in time travel, going back into the past, or forward to the future?

“The element of time only has one use that we have found so far. Using an extraordinary amount of manna, the Shaper can glimse the future.”

A thousand different questions exploded through Levi’s mind. How much did this “glimse” include? How far forward could you see? Was it completely accurate? He decided to ask the most pressing question first.

“Can Galahad do this?”

Nathan paused, rubbing his temple. “Not that we are aware of, though it’s possible. Only a select few have access to this element, and even fewer know that it exists.”

“How do we know if we’re one of the people that can use it? Seeing the future seems awsome!” Anson said excitedly.

“There is no way for me to tell whether or not you can access the elemnt of time at the moment, as I said before it takes a significant amount of Manna, more than either of you have. Now, please hold your questions for later, there are plans I need to finish. We’re so close…” he trailed off, his eyes glazing over momentarily. “If you must, Phoebe, Adelia, and Lazarus should all be able to answer your questions. I bid you farewell.”
He motioned towards the door, and the boys exited excitedly. There was so much they needed to learn. Nathan shut the door, and Levi nearly jumped with excitement. 

“We need to go find one of the others, Nathan barely explained anything!” Anson said energetically. “I wonder where Phoebe’s at?”

“She’s probably eating, I bet Lazarus and Adelia will be there too, they can tell us everything!” Levi answered. He started walking quickly down the corridor, then broke into a jog. He’d nearly forgotten how sore and tired he was in the moment, but now it all came back. He clutched his leg, feeling the muscles cramp. “Maybe we should just walk.”

 

[Edema Rue she/her]

19 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

I swear I’ve actually been writing quite a bit. I think this is the longest chapter so far. I have a character with Down syndrome, so if any of you have advice or suggestions, please let me know. Here you go:

 Chapter 8

  Reveal hidden contents

“Oh, stop with the dramatics, Nathan,” came a feminine voice from behind the middle-aged man. A girl stepped forward, standing next to him. Phoebe squealed with delight, stumbling forward exhausted and embracing the other girl. 

“It’s so good to see you again!” the girl said excitedly, pulling away and studying Phoebe. “Are you ok? What happened? Are you hurt?” 

“We’re all fine,” Phoebe huffed back. “But there’s a lot we need to talk about. Galahad’s demons are real. One almost got us today.”

The other girl gasped, then hugged Phoebe again. “Well the important thing is that you’re ok right now. Here, come sit down,” she said, pulling Phoebe down to the floor next to her. “All of you, sit. You look exhausted.”

Levi slid down to the ground. He considered lying down completely, but decided against it. He didn’t know if he could trust anyone here other than Anson. Though if anything went wrong, he doubted he’d have the energy to do anything about it. He glanced over at the girl, and realized something. “You two are sisters, aren’t you?”

“Twins in fact,” Phoebe replied.

“That’s…cool,” Levi said with a yawn. He slid down the wall more, to the point where he was barely sitting at all. His eyes drooped and he forced them open, trying to avoid drifting off in the middle of the conversation. Anyway, the older man, Nathan, they had called him, said he had things to explain.

“Here, let me take you to your rooms, you all need to get some sleep,” Phoebe's sister said. She stood and helped Phoebe up, then walked over to Levi and Anson. “We can talk about everything later, but you look like you’re about to fall asleep anyway,” she said to Levi. Slowly, Levi stood. “I’m not,” he said tiredly.

She laughed, then turned to Anson, nudging him with her foot. “Well he’s fallen asleep, so at least he needs rest. Are you really going to pass up that opportunity yourself?”

Levi laughed too, then shook his head. He helped Anson to his feet and they began walking down the long corridor. After a short time, Phoebe’s sister motioned to a door set into the stone on their right. “This is your room,” she said to the boys. “Go in and get some rest. Whenever you wake up, go talk to Lazarus and he’ll get you some food.

“Lazarus?” Anson asked.

“The man that opened the door,” Phoebe explained.

“A man will get us the food?” Levi said, confused. Most men would rather go without than make their own meal.

“Yes, a man. And his cooking is some of the best I’ve ever tasted, so you’re lucky to have him.”

Levi shrugged, pulling the door open. Inside was a small room with two mattresses and a couple of other items of furniture. Levi stumbled over to one of the mattresses and plopped down. He kicked his shoes off, then laid back, stretching. His eyes shut lazily, and he quickly drifted off to sleep.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

“Levi, you awake?” Anson asked from right above him. Levi blinked his eyes open, his vision blurred from sleep.

“I am now,” he said groggily, sitting up. He winced as he felt how sore his muscles were, everything hurt. “What do you need?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you were ready to go explore this place! What did they call it, the Corridor? Anyway, it seems awesome!” Anson said excitedly.

As Levi’s vision focused, he noticed that everything seemed pink. Why was that? “Yeah, whatever. Give me a few minutes to wake up a little,” Levi said back, groaning and standing up. Couldn’t Anson have let him sleep a little longer? At least he wasn’t quite as tired as he had been before. Anson seemed to be back to his usual energetic self, as if they hadn’t run for miles after only a few hours of sleep the night before. He began pulling his shoes on.

“Come on, hurry up!” Anson said, playfully punching Levi’s arm. “What’s taking you so long? I want to get some of that food Phoebe’s sister was talking about!”

Levi’s stomach grumbled at the mention of food. They’d both dealt with hunger before though, they could afford to wait a few minutes, and something was nagging at him. “We need to be careful with everything around here,” Levi said seriously. “We don’t actually know anyone here, anything could go wrong.”

“Oh really, you think that? Well I trust Phoebe, and she trusts them. Don’t you remember how she saved our lives twice in the last few days?”

“I’m just saying we should be careful. We haven’t even known Phoebe for too long.”

“Yeah, but she saved our lives. Twice. Come on, let’s go!” he said urgently.

Levi stood up straight again. “Fine, let's go. Hopefully whatever that guy’s name is…”

“Lazarus.”
“Yeah, him. Hopefully he makes as good food as Phoebe was making it seem”

“I hope so too! But we have high standards, after all, we’ve been eating a lot of the Duke’s food these last few years, our mouths have exquisite taste,” Anson said with a laugh.

“Indeed. And the other food we’ve eaten, the stuff from the garbage, has only refined our taste even more,” he said, mocking the accent of a high noble. “But really, I can’t believe it’s a man cooking. Shouldn’t Phoebe or her sister do that?” he asked, dropping the accent.

“I really don’t care, food is food. Anyway, they’re rebels, they can have whoever they want do the cooking.”

“It’s still strange though.”

Anson nodded his head, then jumped energetically. “OK, you’re ready, let’s go now!”

Levi shrugged, then started walking to the door. Anson sped in front of him, pulling it open. The hallway outside was too lit by pink light. Levi stepped up to a patch of the wall that seemed to be glowing. “What is this stuff?” he asked, lifting his fingers to where they nearly brushed it.

“That’s some kind of fungus that grows here,” said Phoebe’s sister, walking towards them from further down the hallway. “It makes it so we don’t need torches or lanterns, very useful for a safehouse hidden underground.”

“Huh, interesting,” Anson said. The girl walked over to Levi and scraped her finger across the glowing fungus. She lifted it, showing that it too was now covered in bright pink.

“Useful,” Levi commented. “I didn’t catch your name before, what is it?”

“I’m Adelia,” she said, wiping the fungus onto the wall and getting most of it off. “You’re Levi, right?” She turned to Anson. “And you must be Anson. Phoebe’s told me a lot about you.”

“Yep, that’s us,” Anson said confidently. His stomach growled loudly.

“Right, let’s get you some food,” Adelia said, stepping away from them and down the hallway. “Follow me.”

As they walked, Levi studied the walls more closely. The fungus was glowing brightly enough to light up the entire corridor, but not so bright as to hurt his eyes. The color was irritating, however. A scent drifted towards them, one of frying meat and some kind of bread baking. He unconsciously sped up, anxious to get to the food. He opened the door to see not one, but two sights he’d never expected. One, of a man pulling a loaf of bread from an oven. The meat frying in a pan on the fire was, if not ordinary, at least acceptable. But never before had Levi imagined he would see one baking. That was a woman’s job!

And the second surprise was the girl standing next to the man, carrying a second loaf of bread. She was short and face wasn’t shaped quite normally, it seemed flattened slightly. She smiled at him, and he recognized the smile. Or at least, the kind of smile it was. He’d seen a couple of kids like her before, children whose minds didn’t seem to function properly.

The man, Lazarus, set down his loaf. “Hello, I expect you’re hungry,” he said, motioning for them to sit at a large, circular table.

“I am,” the girl said, setting down her loaf of bread next to Lazarus’s and sitting at one of seven seats. Adelia quickly sat next to her, reaching out her hand towards the other girl, who took it. Levi sat a few seats away from both of them, and Anson slid in beside him.

“We haven’t been properly introduced yet,” Lazarus said, his attention split between the people he was talking to and the meat he was frying. “I’m Lazarus, and this is my sister, Naomi. What are your names?”

“I’m Levi, this is Anson,” Levi responded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. The food should be done in a couple of minutes, and while we wait, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourselves. Why are you here?”

“We’re here to kill Galahad,” Anson said without hesitation, his voice fierce. “I don’t care how we do it, but we’re going to see him dead.”

Lazarus frowned at that. “And why is it you want him dead so badly?”

“He killed our parents,” Levi said quietly. “He deserves to die. Why are you here?”

“Oh, I intend to see Galahad dethroned and dead as well, replaced by a good ruler who might be able to fix some of the things he’s broken in this country. Do you know how bad everything has gotten? Crime has increased, poverty is more common, and he’s even introduced slavery in the outer farms. It needs to stop. Ah, and here you have me rambling again, I apologize. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

He took the frying pan off the fire, bringing it to the table. He then brought both loaves of bread, along with a large knife to slice it with. “I wish we had some butter to go with the bread, and maybe some jam, but it’ll have to do,” he said. “It’s been too long since I’ve made something truly spectacular, I haven’t had access to the ingredients I need. Maybe I can once we get out of this stupid Corridor,” he said with a touch of sadness.

“Oh, come on, it’ll taste wonderful as always,” Adelia said with a smile, slicing a piece of the bread and handing it to Naomi, then cutting one for herself.  Levi speared a chunk of meat with a skewer Lazarus brought over and raised it to his lips. He hesitated, unsure of if he could trust the food. Then Adelia skewered a piece, smiling as she ate it. “What would we do without your cooking here?” she asked Lazarus.

“Starve, I suppose,” he replied jovially.

Levi ate his own chunk of meat, some kind of pork it appeared, and nearly choked as the flavor hit him. It was spicier than he expected, but had to be one of the most flavorful things he’d ever eaten. And this was what Lazarus could do without proper ingredients? If that was the case, then he must have been the best chef in the entire world, even if he was a man. Levi tried the bread, and nearly gasped as memories assaulted him. Eating homemade bread with Anson so long ago, before Galahad had ruined everything.

Lazarus frowned. “Is there something wrong with the bread?” he asked, concerned.
“No, it’s wonderful,” Levi said, putting his slice down. Lazarus’s frown deepened, but he said no more.

The meal continued in relative silence until Levi had eaten his fill and then some more. The meat was delicious, though he had avoided the bread, something Lazarus seemed to have noticed. He hadn’t said anything about it again though.

“So are you all ready to meet Nathan? Well, meet him again, you saw him earlier,” Adelia asked Levi and Anson.

“Sure, I’m up for whatever,” Anson said, leaning back in his seat and stretching. Adelia stood and the two boys followed suit. “Come on, this way, back towards the entrance,” she said, starting off down the hallway. Levi shot Anson a nervous glance as they followed her. What were they going to be doing? Avery had said they needed to have things explained to them, what all did that involve?

Anson smiled reassuringly back at Levi, but Levi well enough to see the confusion and worry behind the smile. They didn’t say anything to each other as they walked though.

“Here we are,” Adelia said. “I’ll let you two talk to him, I’m going to go help Lazarus and Naomi clean up.”

She left, and the two boys looked at each other again, their uncertainty evident on their faces. With a deep breath, Levi rapped twice on the door.

“Come in,” came an aged voice from within. It didn’t sound like Nathan had before, why was that? Levi pushed open the door to find Nathan sitting across from Phoebe, They were both seated on the floor, and the room was devoid of furniture beside a small desk and a mattress 

“Ah, it’s you two,” he said, his voice sounding like it had earlier. The door must have messed with it somehow. “Phoebe has been explaining what happened these last few days, it seems you’ve had quite the experience. How are you holding up?”

Phoebe had been in here the whole time while they had been eating? She must be ravenous, unless she had eaten before the boys had woken up. “I’m doing alright, though that demon really messed with me,” Anson said. Levi nodded in agreement.

“The sleep we got here helped though, I know I at least am feeling much better,” Levi added.

“Good,” Nathan said. “Now, I said that I would explain things earlier. As Phoebe has told you, we are a group dedicated to removing Galahad. We are in league with the revolution, and have a plan in motion for where, when, and how to strike. All we need is more support. And, of course, you two. You both are key to our plans, your unique bond and hatred for Galahad makes us certain you won’t betray us, and your Shaping powers make you great allies. And…” he paused for a moment, seeming to consider his words. “There is something more. You know of the two elements of Shaping, physical…”

“Physical and mental, yeah, we know them,” Anson said.

“Exactly. What you don’t know is that there is a third element, largely unimportant to most Shapers, but it is what led us to you two. The third element, is that of time.”
Levi was stunned. Time? As in time travel, going back into the past, or forward to the future?

“The element of time only has one use that we have found so far. Using an extraordinary amount of manna, the Shaper can glimse the future.”

A thousand different questions exploded through Levi’s mind. How much did this “glimse” include? How far forward could you see? Was it completely accurate? He decided to ask the most pressing question first.

“Can Galahad do this?”

Nathan paused, rubbing his temple. “Not that we are aware of, though it’s possible. Only a select few have access to this element, and even fewer know that it exists.”

“How do we know if we’re one of the people that can use it? Seeing the future seems awsome!” Anson said excitedly.

“There is no way for me to tell whether or not you can access the elemnt of time at the moment, as I said before it takes a significant amount of Manna, more than either of you have. Now, please hold your questions for later, there are plans I need to finish. We’re so close…” he trailed off, his eyes glazing over momentarily. “If you must, Phoebe, Adelia, and Lazarus should all be able to answer your questions. I bid you farewell.”
He motioned towards the door, and the boys exited excitedly. There was so much they needed to learn. Nathan shut the door, and Levi nearly jumped with excitement. 

“We need to go find one of the others, Nathan barely explained anything!” Anson said energetically. “I wonder where Phoebe’s at?”

“She’s probably eating, I bet Lazarus and Adelia will be there too, they can tell us everything!” Levi answered. He started walking quickly down the corridor, then broke into a jog. He’d nearly forgotten how sore and tired he was in the moment, but now it all came back. He clutched his leg, feeling the muscles cramp. “Maybe we should just walk.”

 

YAAAYY YOU’RE WRITING AGAIN!! Sorry it took so long I’ve been at work all day.

I liked it!! Hmm…as far as advice for writing characters with Down syndrome…probably just similar to how you’d write a little kid?

Oh read The Peculiar Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, it’s about a kid with autism if I’m remembering right but it’s really good and might help. 

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

3 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

YAAAYY YOU’RE WRITING AGAIN!! Sorry it took so long I’ve been at work all day.

I liked it!! Hmm…as far as advice for writing characters with Down syndrome…probably just similar to how you’d write a little kid?

Oh read The Peculiar Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, it’s about a kid with autism if I’m remembering right but it’s really good and might help. 

I’ll read that! I also have a friend with Down syndrome, so I’m pulling some mannerisms from that. Thank you!

[Edema Rue she/her]

1 hour ago, Weaver of Lies said:

I’ll read that! I also have a friend with Down syndrome, so I’m pulling some mannerisms from that. Thank you!

My violin teacher’s son has it, he’s one of my favorite people in the world…

Every time he comes in he says “hi beautiful” to me and it makes me almost cry, and he always wants to show off his outfits.

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

7 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

My violin teacher’s son has it, he’s one of my favorite people in the world…

Every time he comes in he says “hi beautiful” to me and it makes me almost cry, and he always wants to show off his outfits.

That’s so awesome of him!

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

Chapter 9:

Spoiler

“I’m sorry, but we don’t really know much more than you do,” Lazarus said, holding back a laugh. “Nathan told us the same simple things that he did to you, and now he refuses to answer other questions.”

“Oh come on!” Anson said with exasperation. “You don’t know anything either?” he asked Phoebe, who was sitting across the table from him.

She smiled at him, and despite Anson’s obvious attempts to stop it, he grinned back. “We really don’t. Like Lazarus said, Nathan won’t talk more about it. We’ve tried, I promise. Even Naomi can’t get him to talk about it!”

Naomi, who was sitting next to Phoebe, frowned. “He’s a jerk.”

Phoebe laughed. “Yes, he can be.”

“Is she a Shaper?” Anson asked Phoebe.

“Why don’t you just ask her, she can answer,” Phoebe said, her voice cool, expression hardening slightly.

Anson’s face fell. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He turned to Naomi. “Are you a Shaper?”

Naomi didn’t speak, but her voice rang in Levi’s head. Yep.

Anson jumped slightly. “Oh, cool!”

“She’s not just a Shaper, she’s a very talented one,” Lazarus said. “She has some of the strongest mental Shaping I’ve ever seen, though she does struggle to control it.”

“That’s so awesome!” Anson said excitedly. “I wish I knew mental Shaping, it seems a lot more useful than I used to think.”

“I’d be happy to teach you some things if you’d like,” Phoebe said. Anson perked up, looking at her.

“Really?” he asked, even more excited.

“Yeah, of course,” she said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. “Would…you like to join too, Levi?” she asked, though she seemed reluctant.

Probably best not to have those two alone for a long period of time, Anson already seemed to be getting very close to her. “Of course I would,” he said, his tone a little harsher than he had meant it to be. She, in return, jumped a little bit, shrinking away from him.

Anson shot Levi a look of disgust. Levi decided he should go apologize to Phoebe once they had finished their discussion. Just the thought of it disgusted him though. She was trying to take his best friend from him, or that’s what it seemed like, and Anson seemed to be falling for it. And if they were together, where did that leave Levi? He’d always had Anson, he couldn’t leave now, right? Those thoughts disgusted him more. Phoebe had just saved their lives several times! Why did he feel this hatred towards her?

“Anyway, like I was saying, we know nothing,” Lazarus said. 

“Alright, then what are we going to do now?” Phoebe asked. “Is there anything we can do to prepare for whatever Avery has planned next?”

“I’m not sure, but I could use some help getting some supplies from the rebellion, it’ll take a couple hours. Anson, why don’t you come join me? I’d like a chance to get to know you better.”

“Sure, I’ll do whatever,” he said casually.

“I could use another person if anyone else is willing,” Lazarus said, looking at the rest of them.

“I won’t go,” Naomi said. “Me and Adelia are playing Hoops.”

Adelia smiled at her. “Yes we are, which means I can’t go either.”

“I’ll go,” Phoebe volunteered, looking eager. Levi frowned. There it was again, why was she trying so hard to get close to Anson? Or was it just natural? Levi knew several people thought Anson was quite good-looking, even discounting Cathy the crazy lady.

“You can play with us!” Naomi said excitedly to Levi, her hand latching on to his arm. He squirmed slightly, but she ignored it. She began to drag both Adelia and him down the hallway, away from the main entrance. Anson looked at him and shrugged, then followed Lazarus as he began walking in the opposite direction.

“So what game are we playing? Hoops?” Levi asked, having never heard of the game before.

“Yeah, it’s easy to learn, I bet you’ll get it easily. How it works is you have three hoops set up a distance away from you. One of us will stand in front of them and try to stop you from throwing a ball through them. If you make it in, that’s a point and you rotate to the rest position. If you miss or get blocked, you move to defense and if you get scored on you lose a point.”
“Ok, that sounds easy enough, you’ll have to show me so I can make sure I’m doing it right though,” he said back.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

“So, how did you get roped into this?” Levi asked Phoebe as she was winding up to throw.

“This? She asked, throwing the ball and scoring, Naomi narrowly missing the ball.

“The revolution, overthrowing Galahad. What drove you to join?”

“Some similar things to what Lazarus has said, to try to help as many people as I can,” she said, though her answer sounded well-rehearsed. Levi knew there was something more.

“And what else?” he prompted, hoping she would answer honestly. He stepped forward, taking a ball from a nearby bin and taking aim.

“Honestly, I do really want to help people and to make sure my sister has a world she can survive in. But I also think that this gives me an unparalleled opportunity to gain a position that would otherwise be impossible for me, especially as a woman, to gain. Avery has promised to appoint me as his general once this is through and I’ve been trained for it.”

Levi felt his respect for her grow. Power, most people would look at it as bad motivation, but it was an honest one and she had other, more honorable motivations as well. There was nothing wrong with gaining something from the revolution. He threw the ball straight towards the left hoop, Naomi jumped in front of it stopping it. She laughed, causing him to groan. He switched her places, standing in front of the middle hoop. Phoebe threw and he dived left, the opposite direction of her throw.

“You’re losing,” Naomi said, smiling widely as she positioned herself.

“Yes I am,” Levi said tiredly. He stepped to the right as Naomi made her shot, and reached out to catch it. The ball flew through his hands with extraordinary force, cracking the stone behind the hoop and bouncing off. Levi howled in pain, pulling his hands to his chest. Naomi and Adelia broke into a chorus of laughter.

 “What was that?” he asked gingery feeling at his fingers to see if any were broken. They didn’t feel like they were, thankfully.

“Shaping, dummy,” Naomi said. Her smile was infectious, and Levi felt one spread across his face as well. He repositioned himself, then caught a ball Phoebe lobbed to him. He shot her a grateful look, then stepped into the rest spot.

“You’re friend’s cute,” Naomin said, not looking at him.

“What?” he asked, taken aback by the comment. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but that wasn’t it.

“Your friend is cute,” she repeated a little bit louder.

“Oh. Uh…I guess he is. She scored on Phoebe. Levi moved up to throw.

“You’re not cute,” she said right as he began to throw. His shot went completely wild. He really hadn’t been expecting that.

“Oh, I don’t know about that Naomi,” Adelia said slyly. “But he is bad at Hoops,” she said with a wink. Levi blushed, trying not to think about what she had said. He failed.

I know!” Naomi said exasperatedly.

Levi positioned himself, then dove to block Naomi’s throw. It ripped past his fingers and he cried out in pain again. Naomi laughed uproariously, sitting down to keep from toppling over from her hysterics.

“Why didn’t you catch it?” she asked sarcastically between chuckles. Levi groaned.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

Levi stretched out across his bed, enjoying the sense of it enveloping him. He cradled his aching fingers, considering using Manna to help with the pain. It could also heal them faster, though it would still take a while. He decided against it, he couldn’t afford to waste it, then need it later.

Someone knocked on the door. He stood, the opened it. Adelia stood outside, looking slightly nervous. “Are your hands ok?”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said, trying to ignore the throbs of pain they were sending up his arms.

“Can I see them?” she asked. He lifted them and she took one in both of hers, inspecting it gently. “I’m so sorry, Naomi can have a hard time realizing how strong she is and that she can hurt people with that strength.”

Levi’s cheeks flushed at her touch, the memory of her calling him cute, or at least saying he wasn’t not cute, returning with full force. “It’s ok, I think seeing her reaction to it was worth all the pain.”

“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” Adelia said fondly.

“That she is.”

Adelia paused, then dropped his hands suddenly. “Sorry,” she said, blushing.” Levi winced in pain at the sudden movement. “Sorry,” she repeated

“You’re fine,” he said, his face burning. He was glad Anson wasn’t there, he would mock Levi for so long if he knew a girl had been holding his hand, even if just to see how hurt they were.

“Actually, that’s the other reason I came here, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier, I know it could have made you uncomfortable.”

“If you think that would make me uncomfortable, you should hear some of what the drunks say when the bars close,” he said with a chuckle. She laughed too, and Levi felt some of the tension between them vanish. He tried not to think about how much he’d been thinking about her comment before though, it had affected him more than it should have.”

“Ok, cool,” she said. She looked like she wanted to say something, but at that moment Lazarus’s voice rang through the Corridor.

“Hey! Adelia, Naomi, Levi! Come help us take some of this to the cellar!” he called.

“I guess we’d better go then,” Adelia said, turning.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Levi said, though he wished they could have stayed for just a few moments longer. He had enjoyed talking to Adelia.

I don't know why it's bolded but I can't fix it.

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

I really like the new characters!

[Edema Rue she/her]

5 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Chapter 9:

  Reveal hidden contents

“I’m sorry, but we don’t really know much more than you do,” Lazarus said, holding back a laugh. “Nathan told us the same simple things that he did to you, and now he refuses to answer other questions.”

“Oh come on!” Anson said with exasperation. “You don’t know anything either?” he asked Phoebe, who was sitting across the table from him.

She smiled at him, and despite Anson’s obvious attempts to stop it, he grinned back. “We really don’t. Like Lazarus said, Nathan won’t talk more about it. We’ve tried, I promise. Even Naomi can’t get him to talk about it!”

Naomi, who was sitting next to Phoebe, frowned. “He’s a jerk.”

Phoebe laughed. “Yes, he can be.”

“Is she a Shaper?” Anson asked Phoebe.

“Why don’t you just ask her, she can answer,” Phoebe said, her voice cool, expression hardening slightly.

Anson’s face fell. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He turned to Naomi. “Are you a Shaper?”

Naomi didn’t speak, but her voice rang in Levi’s head. Yep.

Anson jumped slightly. “Oh, cool!”

“She’s not just a Shaper, she’s a very talented one,” Lazarus said. “She has some of the strongest mental Shaping I’ve ever seen, though she does struggle to control it.”

“That’s so awesome!” Anson said excitedly. “I wish I knew mental Shaping, it seems a lot more useful than I used to think.”

“I’d be happy to teach you some things if you’d like,” Phoebe said. Anson perked up, looking at her.

“Really?” he asked, even more excited.

“Yeah, of course,” she said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. “Would…you like to join too, Levi?” she asked, though she seemed reluctant.

Probably best not to have those two alone for a long period of time, Anson already seemed to be getting very close to her. “Of course I would,” he said, his tone a little harsher than he had meant it to be. She, in return, jumped a little bit, shrinking away from him.

Anson shot Levi a look of disgust. Levi decided he should go apologize to Phoebe once they had finished their discussion. Just the thought of it disgusted him though. She was trying to take his best friend from him, or that’s what it seemed like, and Anson seemed to be falling for it. And if they were together, where did that leave Levi? He’d always had Anson, he couldn’t leave now, right? Those thoughts disgusted him more. Phoebe had just saved their lives several times! Why did he feel this hatred towards her?

“Anyway, like I was saying, we know nothing,” Lazarus said. 

“Alright, then what are we going to do now?” Phoebe asked. “Is there anything we can do to prepare for whatever Avery has planned next?”

“I’m not sure, but I could use some help getting some supplies from the rebellion, it’ll take a couple hours. Anson, why don’t you come join me? I’d like a chance to get to know you better.”

“Sure, I’ll do whatever,” he said casually.

“I could use another person if anyone else is willing,” Lazarus said, looking at the rest of them.

“I won’t go,” Naomi said. “Me and Adelia are playing Hoops.”

Adelia smiled at her. “Yes we are, which means I can’t go either.”

“I’ll go,” Phoebe volunteered, looking eager. Levi frowned. There it was again, why was she trying so hard to get close to Anson? Or was it just natural? Levi knew several people thought Anson was quite good-looking, even discounting Cathy the crazy lady.

“You can play with us!” Naomi said excitedly to Levi, her hand latching on to his arm. He squirmed slightly, but she ignored it. She began to drag both Adelia and him down the hallway, away from the main entrance. Anson looked at him and shrugged, then followed Lazarus as he began walking in the opposite direction.

“So what game are we playing? Hoops?” Levi asked, having never heard of the game before.

“Yeah, it’s easy to learn, I bet you’ll get it easily. How it works is you have three hoops set up a distance away from you. One of us will stand in front of them and try to stop you from throwing a ball through them. If you make it in, that’s a point and you rotate to the rest position. If you miss or get blocked, you move to defense and if you get scored on you lose a point.”
“Ok, that sounds easy enough, you’ll have to show me so I can make sure I’m doing it right though,” he said back.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

“So, how did you get roped into this?” Levi asked Phoebe as she was winding up to throw.

“This? She asked, throwing the ball and scoring, Naomi narrowly missing the ball.

“The revolution, overthrowing Galahad. What drove you to join?”

“Some similar things to what Lazarus has said, to try to help as many people as I can,” she said, though her answer sounded well-rehearsed. Levi knew there was something more.

“And what else?” he prompted, hoping she would answer honestly. He stepped forward, taking a ball from a nearby bin and taking aim.

“Honestly, I do really want to help people and to make sure my sister has a world she can survive in. But I also think that this gives me an unparalleled opportunity to gain a position that would otherwise be impossible for me, especially as a woman, to gain. Avery has promised to appoint me as his general once this is through and I’ve been trained for it.”

Levi felt his respect for her grow. Power, most people would look at it as bad motivation, but it was an honest one and she had other, more honorable motivations as well. There was nothing wrong with gaining something from the revolution. He threw the ball straight towards the left hoop, Naomi jumped in front of it stopping it. She laughed, causing him to groan. He switched her places, standing in front of the middle hoop. Phoebe threw and he dived left, the opposite direction of her throw.

“You’re losing,” Naomi said, smiling widely as she positioned herself.

“Yes I am,” Levi said tiredly. He stepped to the right as Naomi made her shot, and reached out to catch it. The ball flew through his hands with extraordinary force, cracking the stone behind the hoop and bouncing off. Levi howled in pain, pulling his hands to his chest. Naomi and Adelia broke into a chorus of laughter.

 “What was that?” he asked gingery feeling at his fingers to see if any were broken. They didn’t feel like they were, thankfully.

“Shaping, dummy,” Naomi said. Her smile was infectious, and Levi felt one spread across his face as well. He repositioned himself, then caught a ball Phoebe lobbed to him. He shot her a grateful look, then stepped into the rest spot.

“You’re friend’s cute,” Naomin said, not looking at him.

“What?” he asked, taken aback by the comment. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but that wasn’t it.

“Your friend is cute,” she repeated a little bit louder.

“Oh. Uh…I guess he is. She scored on Phoebe. Levi moved up to throw.

“You’re not cute,” she said right as he began to throw. His shot went completely wild. He really hadn’t been expecting that.

“Oh, I don’t know about that Naomi,” Adelia said slyly. “But he is bad at Hoops,” she said with a wink. Levi blushed, trying not to think about what she had said. He failed.

I know!” Naomi said exasperatedly.

Levi positioned himself, then dove to block Naomi’s throw. It ripped past his fingers and he cried out in pain again. Naomi laughed uproariously, sitting down to keep from toppling over from her hysterics.

“Why didn’t you catch it?” she asked sarcastically between chuckles. Levi groaned.

⤞⤝⤞⤝

Levi stretched out across his bed, enjoying the sense of it enveloping him. He cradled his aching fingers, considering using Manna to help with the pain. It could also heal them faster, though it would still take a while. He decided against it, he couldn’t afford to waste it, then need it later.

Someone knocked on the door. He stood, the opened it. Adelia stood outside, looking slightly nervous. “Are your hands ok?”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said, trying to ignore the throbs of pain they were sending up his arms.

“Can I see them?” she asked. He lifted them and she took one in both of hers, inspecting it gently. “I’m so sorry, Naomi can have a hard time realizing how strong she is and that she can hurt people with that strength.”

Levi’s cheeks flushed at her touch, the memory of her calling him cute, or at least saying he wasn’t not cute, returning with full force. “It’s ok, I think seeing her reaction to it was worth all the pain.”

“She’s incredible, isn’t she?” Adelia said fondly.

“That she is.”

Adelia paused, then dropped his hands suddenly. “Sorry,” she said, blushing.” Levi winced in pain at the sudden movement. “Sorry,” she repeated

“You’re fine,” he said, his face burning. He was glad Anson wasn’t there, he would mock Levi for so long if he knew a girl had been holding his hand, even if just to see how hurt they were.

“Actually, that’s the other reason I came here, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier, I know it could have made you uncomfortable.”

“If you think that would make me uncomfortable, you should hear some of what the drunks say when the bars close,” he said with a chuckle. She laughed too, and Levi felt some of the tension between them vanish. He tried not to think about how much he’d been thinking about her comment before though, it had affected him more than it should have.”

“Ok, cool,” she said. She looked like she wanted to say something, but at that moment Lazarus’s voice rang through the Corridor.

“Hey! Adelia, Naomi, Levi! Come help us take some of this to the cellar!” he called.

“I guess we’d better go then,” Adelia said, turning.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Levi said, though he wished they could have stayed for just a few moments longer. He had enjoyed talking to Adelia.

I don't know why it's bolded but I can't fix it.

I love it!

[BlueWildRye he/him]

The character dynamics are so great!

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

I have several chapters that will be coming in the next few days, here's the first.

Chapter 10:

Spoiler

Anson grabbed a box, lifting it onto a handcart piled high with supplies. When Lazarus had said he’d be getting supplies, Anson had imagined weapons. Spears, swords, bows, or even something more exotic, like a halberd. Instead they had gotten more mundane things, like food, water, and clothing. He understood they were necessary, but they were also boring. He tried to shove down his dissatisfaction regarding the supplies by focusing on something else. And so, naturally, his mind turned to the pretty girl standing next to him. Some people might find it unattractive to see a girl performing heavy labor, but Anson liked it. It meant she was willing to work hard and to do things unconventionally. And, if he was being honest with himself, she didn’t look bad at all. He was getting more and more certain that she couldn’t look bad in any circumstance.
She said something, and he blinked out of his daze “What?” he asked. He probably looked like an idiot now, though he always did anyway.
 “Are you ready to go? We’re done here, all we need now is Lazarus.” She said, looking at him carefully. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. And I’m ready to go whenever he is,” Anson replied. He looked back into her eyes and found once again that he quite liked the little touches of green in her otherwise blue eyes. But he needed to focus on something other than her, he probably looked like a creep. An idiot and a creep. He barely kept himself from sighing in annoyance. Why couldn’t he be more like Levi, more calm and collected, not always acting out in stupid ways like himself. But no matter how hard he tried he always ended up doing something dumb or saying some weird joke.
“Lazarus is talking to one of the higher-ups in the revolution, he usually takes a little while. If you wanted to, we could go without him…” she said, her tone hopeful. 
What did that mean? What did she want with him, or did she really just want to get out of the dingy warehouse they were in. Why was this all so confusing all of the sudden? But, disregarding all the questions flooding through his mind, he definitely would like some time with Phoebe without Lazarus grilling him about his life every second of the way.
“Sure, that sounds good to me,” he said, excited. She grinned broadly, and he knew that he'd said the right thing. Well, hopefully he had, he could never be certain. People could be quite good at faking things.
“Great! Let's get going then,” she said, grabbing the cart and preparing to tow it away.
“Should we tell Lazarus that we’re going?” Anson asked. “I don’t want him worrying about where we are.”
“Good idea, let’s do that. He should be just over here,” she said, walking towards a door that was only in slightly better shape than the rest of the building. She knocked twice, paused, then rapped three times in quick succession. A burly man with a square beard opened it. He had dark brown hair, though it had a sprinkle of grey in it. “What is it?”
“We just needed to let Lazarus know that we’re going back to the Corridor, we’ll take the supplies with us,” Phoebe said. The man opened the door wider, allowing Anson to see into the room. Lazarus was looking at a map splayed across a large table. As soon as he saw Phoebe and Anson, he flipped it. Anson noticed some kind of inscription on the back, though it was too far away for him to read it. Why was Lazarus hiding the map, was there something he didn’t want the rest of them to know?
    “Did you hear that, Lazarus,” the man said in a deep, gravely voice.
“I did, and you two don’t need to worry about taking the supplies, I’ll get them. There’s a few things I need to add anyway.”
“Oh, thanks!” Phoebe said, seeming strangely excited that they didn’t need to take the cart. Not like it affected her much though, Anson would have taken the cart. One of the few lessons he remembered from his mom was that he should always at least offer to carry things for a girl, and she’d always teased him by saying that was especially true for pretty girls. Well, Phoebe was definitely a pretty girl. He smiled to himself, glancing over at her. She looked back and smiled too. He looked away, embarrassed.
“Should we go then, or is there something else you need to do here?” she asked him, seeming anxious to get out.
“I’m ready to go,” he replied. She walked out of the room and he followed her. It was a several mile journey back to the Corridor with only her, that was going to be nice. Was that why she’d been excited? But she’d also looked anxious, was that about spending time with him? Or was he reading it all wrong, this was so confusing!
“I’m glad we’re getting out of here, I hate the warehouse,” Phoebe said, a look of disgust on her face.
“Didn’t you volunteer to come here?” Anson said jokingly, though it was a legitimate question. He thought he might know why, but he wanted to see if it was true.
“Well yes, Lazarus needed another helper and Adelia was going to play Hoops with Naomi,” she said, looking embarrassed. Anson decided to press a little bit further, trying to confirm his suspicion that she’d come along because he was going. Or was that just wishful thinking?
“What about Levi, he could have come,” Anson said, hoping she’d say it was because he was there. It would be nice to know someone actually wanted to be around him other than Levi. And she was funny, pretty, and smart, so that didn't hurt either.
“Well he could have, but I volunteered first, didn’t I?” she answered slyly. “Anyway, I think Adelia will enjoy the opportunity to get to know him,” she said with a smirk.
Anson decided to ignore how she’d dodged his question and interrogate her more on the second comment she’d made. “Why would Adelia be interested in Levi?”
“Well, he’s a boy that she said she finds attractive, so I think that’s the main reason,” Phoebe said.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Anson replied, feeling uneasy. Should he tell Levi that Adelia was interested in him? He’d want to know, he always wanted to know what other people were thinking. He said it made them more predictable. But Adelia probably wouldn’t want him to know, and if Anson told him it could make Phoebe wary of trusting him. He decided not to worry about it at the moment, there was someone that deserved his attention instead, and she was walking right next to him. Now he just needed to figure out how to get a good conversation going with her.
“So, I don’t really know a whole lot about you,” he said, trying to keep his tone casual. “What do you like to do?”
“For fun? I like playing games, Dragons and Uncertainty are two of my favorites. I don’t really like Hoops too much, but playing it with Naomi is fun. She makes everything fun,” Phoebe said fondly.
“Dragons, Uncertainty, and Hoops, I definitely know how to play those,” he said with a halfhearted laugh that he knew sounded forced. Why was he so bad at this?
“Oh, you don’t know how to play? I’ll teach you them sometime,” she said.
“I’d love to, I like games,” he said, though he was more excited that she would be teaching him then about learning the games themselves.
“Ok, that’s good,” she said, relieved. “What do you like to do for fun?”
    Anson thought about that for a moment. What did he like to do? Games were fun, but he rarely had both the time and the means to play them. “I like telling jokes and listening to stories,” he said after a while. “That might be why Cathy likes me, I’m the only one that listens to her stories, even if they’re definitely untrue.”
    “Ooh, I like stories too! I prefer to tell them rather than listen though. And that crazy lady did seem to like you quite a bit,” she said with a wink.
“That’s perfect then, because I’m always happy to listen to stories. Do you have any good ones?” This was going well, right? At least they were talking, that was important.
“Oh, a lot, what kind do you like?” she asked, obviously excited. He wondered if she often got to tell stories to people.
“Any kind, really, but my favorites are mysteries. I like trying to figure out what’s going on and who did what.”
“I have a good one for you then! I bet you’ll figure it out before most people do,” she said.
“I doubt it, but I can try,” he said. She launched into a story about two lovers who found a dead man inside their house one day. It was complex, but he was pretty sure he knew who’d killed him.
“And Ethan's brother admitted what he’d done, how he’d killed Jaxon and put his body in Penny’s house,” Phoebe said, concluding the story.
“Ha! I knew it was him!” Anson said excitedly. “That was really great!”
“I told you that you’d figure it out,” she said, smiling. “Thank you, and thanks for letting me tell you! It’s been a while since someone else has been excited by one of my stories.”
    “Well it’s their loss, that was really good!”
“Thanks,” she said, her smile growing wider. Then, suddenly, it disappeared. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” he asked, disappointed that the happiness and excitement of the moment was gone.
“The demon, I think I can feel its aura. It’s close.”
Anson didn’t feel anything, but he trusted Phoebe’s senses. She was more in tune with the mental side of Shaping anyway. “Let’s go,” he said, all of his elation immediately replaced by fear. He started running, using a little bit of Manna to boost his speed. Phoebe kept up with him, so he assumed she was doing the same.
“We’re close to the Corridor, we just need to make it a little further,” she said between breaths.
They ran for a couple of minutes in a silence only interrupted by their labored breathing. Then Anson saw someone. They were standing on the crest of a hill, looking directly towards Anson and Phoebe and standing perfectly still. “Who is that?” Anson asked. “Levi?”
“I’m not sure, it could be someone we don’t know, maybe one of Galahad’s men,” Phoebe replied. “Be careful.”
As soon as she said that, the man began to move. He started running straight at them, moving faster than he looked like he should be able to. A Shaper then? Anson stopped abruptly, studying the man’s face. It definitely wasn’t anyone he knew, and there was something wrong with it. The strangeness was familiar, it was the same look that…that dead people had. That’s what it was, the guy looked dead.
“That’s not good, we need to get away from him now!” Phoebe said, her voice layered with fear. She turned around and started running in the opposite direction. Anson didn’t follow her, instead he drew his dagger and made sure his footing was good. He would protect Phoebe, and give her a chance to get away, then try to follow her if he could. The man approached him, and strangely he didn’t make noise as he ran. No yelling, barely any sound of footsteps despite his terrific pace, and was he even breathing?
    “Anson, what are you doing?” Phoebe yelled.
“Keep running, I’ll hold him off if I need to! I’ll meet you at the Corridor!” he yelled. The man continued rushing towards him, not seeming to see Phoebe. He acted as though he only had one goal, and it was something to do with Anson. “Stop right there!” Anson commanded, trying to make his voice firm. The man didn’t appear to notice, instead he just kept running. As he approached Anson, he readied himself for a fight, though hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. A distance away, Phoebe tripped, slamming into the ground hard. She cried out in pain and Anson’s resolve doubled. He had to stop this man from doing anything to her.
The man barreled towards Anson and jumped at him. It was a predictable move, as the man hadn’t slowed down at all, he’d had few other options of attack. Anson dove to the side and the man flew past him, then somehow twisted in the air to land perfectly, not stumbling at all. He moved slowly towards Anson. He held no weapon, but if he was a Shaper then he wouldn’t need one. 
“Why don’t we…” Anson started, then stopped talking as the man moved in for a grapple. Anson brought his knife up, straight into the man’s chest. The man made no noise or recognition of the injury. He didn’t even seem to notice it as he locked his hands around Anson’s arms with an extraordinarily strong grip. His body was cold and clammy, just like a dead body. This wasn’t a person, Anson knew that. How was that possible though? What form of Shaping could animate the dead?
Anson didn't have time to think about it at the moment. He struggled against the strange reawakened body and eventually managed to tear his hands away and jump back. The deep wound in the body’s chest wasn’t bleeding like it should, instead of gushing blood it was only lazily oozing out. Anson took another step back and the thing attacked him again. Anson lashed out with his foot and felt the kick connect solidly, sending the body sprawling. It moved fluidly to its feet, then surprisingly turned and ran, though Anson couldn’t fathom why.
It quickly disappeared between two hills and Anson didn’t see another sign of it. As soon as he thought it was safe enough, he dashed over to Phoebe. She had stood up, but her knees were wobbly, she looked like she would fall down again at any second. He put his arm around her shoulders, helping her stand. “What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking from fear.
“I…I tried to stop it with mental Shaping but I couldn’t! I couldn’t even feel it! It’s like it was…”
“Dead. Like it was dead,” Anson finished. 
“Yeah…what was it?” she asked him, terrified.
“I don’t know. Something I’ve never seen before, I don’t know if anyone has.” He looked around, making sure it hadn’t come back. “Are you ok to walk?” She nodded, leaning heavily on him and taking a step.
“I think…I think I might know what that thing was,” she said quietly. He looked at her curiously and she continued, “I think it might have been another demon. It would match up with how Shaping works too, one mental demon and one physical.”
“You’re right,” Anson said, trying not to think about how much his body was in contact with hers. “You said you felt the mental one earlier too, we need to get back as fast as we can. It could still be chasing us, and there’s no telling how long the physical one will be gone.”
    “I know, I’m sorry. I used so much Manna, I can barely walk. And it was for nothing! If I hadn’t done that we’d already be back!” she said, her voice cracking again and a tear running down her cheek.
“No, that’s now what I meant! I just wanted to say we need to get back,” he said quickly. He shifted so he was supporting more of her weight and they continued walking, moving slowly. Eventually, they reached the hill that contained the Corridor. 
“Let’s stop here, you need a break,” he said to her, noticing how ragged her breathing had become and how she was stumbling on nearly every step.
“No, we can’t afford to waste time!” she protested. She struggled to take another step and nearly collapsed. Anson caught her and helped her to the ground. “Taking a short break is better than passing out or dropping dead from exhaustion. We’ll only be here for a minute,” he said consolingly. She tried to sit up weakly, but he placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. “Rest, just for a little bit.”
She sighed but obliged, though he could see the restlessness in her eyes. He counted to sixty in his head, then waited another moment, knowing she’d need as much time to recover as they could spare. “Alright, let's go,” he said, helping her to her feet and putting her arm over his shoulders. He helped her forward, trying to ignore how hard it seemed to be for her. She was right that they needed to get back though, the demons could be back at any second.
They were about halfway to the Corridor when he started to feel it, the draining of his mental energy. The pull got stronger as he continued up the hill, nearly pulling Phoebe as they walked. “Let me carry you,” he said, realizing that would be faster. He swept her into his arms and began to run, Shaping his muscles to have more speed and endurance and giving himself better balance. It drained his Manna quickly, but he didn’t have to go far. As he neared the secret entrance, he saw the demon, its black form stark against the brightly lit hills. He ran into the door, then opened it, rushing inside as the demon glided up the hill towards him. He slammed the door shut, and the draining feeling stopped. He laid Phoebe down on the floor, then sat next to her. She looked up at him, her beautiful face now covered in sweat and dirt, though it didn’t make her look any worse. Was she ok?
“Well that was one heck of a first date,” she said with a smile. “Although I’m not sure if it counts, you might have to take me on another.
He sighed in relief, she seemed to be fine. He smiled back at her, then put his arm around her shoulders. It was a nice moment. 
Then Levi stepped into the entryway. “What the frosts just happened?”

 

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

14 minutes ago, Weaver of Lies said:

I have several chapters that will be coming in the next few days, here's the first.

Chapter 10:

  Reveal hidden contents

Anson grabbed a box, lifting it onto a handcart piled high with supplies. When Lazarus had said he’d be getting supplies, Anson had imagined weapons. Spears, swords, bows, or even something more exotic, like a halberd. Instead they had gotten more mundane things, like food, water, and clothing. He understood they were necessary, but they were also boring. He tried to shove down his dissatisfaction regarding the supplies by focusing on something else. And so, naturally, his mind turned to the pretty girl standing next to him. Some people might find it unattractive to see a girl performing heavy labor, but Anson liked it. It meant she was willing to work hard and to do things unconventionally. And, if he was being honest with himself, she didn’t look bad at all. He was getting more and more certain that she couldn’t look bad in any circumstance.
She said something, and he blinked out of his daze “What?” he asked. He probably looked like an idiot now, though he always did anyway.
 “Are you ready to go? We’re done here, all we need now is Lazarus.” She said, looking at him carefully. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. And I’m ready to go whenever he is,” Anson replied. He looked back into her eyes and found once again that he quite liked the little touches of green in her otherwise blue eyes. But he needed to focus on something other than her, he probably looked like a creep. An idiot and a creep. He barely kept himself from sighing in annoyance. Why couldn’t he be more like Levi, more calm and collected, not always acting out in stupid ways like himself. But no matter how hard he tried he always ended up doing something dumb or saying some weird joke.
“Lazarus is talking to one of the higher-ups in the revolution, he usually takes a little while. If you wanted to, we could go without him…” she said, her tone hopeful. 
What did that mean? What did she want with him, or did she really just want to get out of the dingy warehouse they were in. Why was this all so confusing all of the sudden? But, disregarding all the questions flooding through his mind, he definitely would like some time with Phoebe without Lazarus grilling him about his life every second of the way.
“Sure, that sounds good to me,” he said, excited. She grinned broadly, and he knew that he'd said the right thing. Well, hopefully he had, he could never be certain. People could be quite good at faking things.
“Great! Let's get going then,” she said, grabbing the cart and preparing to tow it away.
“Should we tell Lazarus that we’re going?” Anson asked. “I don’t want him worrying about where we are.”
“Good idea, let’s do that. He should be just over here,” she said, walking towards a door that was only in slightly better shape than the rest of the building. She knocked twice, paused, then rapped three times in quick succession. A burly man with a square beard opened it. He had dark brown hair, though it had a sprinkle of grey in it. “What is it?”
“We just needed to let Lazarus know that we’re going back to the Corridor, we’ll take the supplies with us,” Phoebe said. The man opened the door wider, allowing Anson to see into the room. Lazarus was looking at a map splayed across a large table. As soon as he saw Phoebe and Anson, he flipped it. Anson noticed some kind of inscription on the back, though it was too far away for him to read it. Why was Lazarus hiding the map, was there something he didn’t want the rest of them to know?
    “Did you hear that, Lazarus,” the man said in a deep, gravely voice.
“I did, and you two don’t need to worry about taking the supplies, I’ll get them. There’s a few things I need to add anyway.”
“Oh, thanks!” Phoebe said, seeming strangely excited that they didn’t need to take the cart. Not like it affected her much though, Anson would have taken the cart. One of the few lessons he remembered from his mom was that he should always at least offer to carry things for a girl, and she’d always teased him by saying that was especially true for pretty girls. Well, Phoebe was definitely a pretty girl. He smiled to himself, glancing over at her. She looked back and smiled too. He looked away, embarrassed.
“Should we go then, or is there something else you need to do here?” she asked him, seeming anxious to get out.
“I’m ready to go,” he replied. She walked out of the room and he followed her. It was a several mile journey back to the Corridor with only her, that was going to be nice. Was that why she’d been excited? But she’d also looked anxious, was that about spending time with him? Or was he reading it all wrong, this was so confusing!
“I’m glad we’re getting out of here, I hate the warehouse,” Phoebe said, a look of disgust on her face.
“Didn’t you volunteer to come here?” Anson said jokingly, though it was a legitimate question. He thought he might know why, but he wanted to see if it was true.
“Well yes, Lazarus needed another helper and Adelia was going to play Hoops with Naomi,” she said, looking embarrassed. Anson decided to press a little bit further, trying to confirm his suspicion that she’d come along because he was going. Or was that just wishful thinking?
“What about Levi, he could have come,” Anson said, hoping she’d say it was because he was there. It would be nice to know someone actually wanted to be around him other than Levi. And she was funny, pretty, and smart, so that didn't hurt either.
“Well he could have, but I volunteered first, didn’t I?” she answered slyly. “Anyway, I think Adelia will enjoy the opportunity to get to know him,” she said with a smirk.
Anson decided to ignore how she’d dodged his question and interrogate her more on the second comment she’d made. “Why would Adelia be interested in Levi?”
“Well, he’s a boy that she said she finds attractive, so I think that’s the main reason,” Phoebe said.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Anson replied, feeling uneasy. Should he tell Levi that Adelia was interested in him? He’d want to know, he always wanted to know what other people were thinking. He said it made them more predictable. But Adelia probably wouldn’t want him to know, and if Anson told him it could make Phoebe wary of trusting him. He decided not to worry about it at the moment, there was someone that deserved his attention instead, and she was walking right next to him. Now he just needed to figure out how to get a good conversation going with her.
“So, I don’t really know a whole lot about you,” he said, trying to keep his tone casual. “What do you like to do?”
“For fun? I like playing games, Dragons and Uncertainty are two of my favorites. I don’t really like Hoops too much, but playing it with Naomi is fun. She makes everything fun,” Phoebe said fondly.
“Dragons, Uncertainty, and Hoops, I definitely know how to play those,” he said with a halfhearted laugh that he knew sounded forced. Why was he so bad at this?
“Oh, you don’t know how to play? I’ll teach you them sometime,” she said.
“I’d love to, I like games,” he said, though he was more excited that she would be teaching him then about learning the games themselves.
“Ok, that’s good,” she said, relieved. “What do you like to do for fun?”
    Anson thought about that for a moment. What did he like to do? Games were fun, but he rarely had both the time and the means to play them. “I like telling jokes and listening to stories,” he said after a while. “That might be why Cathy likes me, I’m the only one that listens to her stories, even if they’re definitely untrue.”
    “Ooh, I like stories too! I prefer to tell them rather than listen though. And that crazy lady did seem to like you quite a bit,” she said with a wink.
“That’s perfect then, because I’m always happy to listen to stories. Do you have any good ones?” This was going well, right? At least they were talking, that was important.
“Oh, a lot, what kind do you like?” she asked, obviously excited. He wondered if she often got to tell stories to people.
“Any kind, really, but my favorites are mysteries. I like trying to figure out what’s going on and who did what.”
“I have a good one for you then! I bet you’ll figure it out before most people do,” she said.
“I doubt it, but I can try,” he said. She launched into a story about two lovers who found a dead man inside their house one day. It was complex, but he was pretty sure he knew who’d killed him.
“And Ethan's brother admitted what he’d done, how he’d killed Jaxon and put his body in Penny’s house,” Phoebe said, concluding the story.
“Ha! I knew it was him!” Anson said excitedly. “That was really great!”
“I told you that you’d figure it out,” she said, smiling. “Thank you, and thanks for letting me tell you! It’s been a while since someone else has been excited by one of my stories.”
    “Well it’s their loss, that was really good!”
“Thanks,” she said, her smile growing wider. Then, suddenly, it disappeared. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” he asked, disappointed that the happiness and excitement of the moment was gone.
“The demon, I think I can feel its aura. It’s close.”
Anson didn’t feel anything, but he trusted Phoebe’s senses. She was more in tune with the mental side of Shaping anyway. “Let’s go,” he said, all of his elation immediately replaced by fear. He started running, using a little bit of Manna to boost his speed. Phoebe kept up with him, so he assumed she was doing the same.
“We’re close to the Corridor, we just need to make it a little further,” she said between breaths.
They ran for a couple of minutes in a silence only interrupted by their labored breathing. Then Anson saw someone. They were standing on the crest of a hill, looking directly towards Anson and Phoebe and standing perfectly still. “Who is that?” Anson asked. “Levi?”
“I’m not sure, it could be someone we don’t know, maybe one of Galahad’s men,” Phoebe replied. “Be careful.”
As soon as she said that, the man began to move. He started running straight at them, moving faster than he looked like he should be able to. A Shaper then? Anson stopped abruptly, studying the man’s face. It definitely wasn’t anyone he knew, and there was something wrong with it. The strangeness was familiar, it was the same look that…that dead people had. That’s what it was, the guy looked dead.
“That’s not good, we need to get away from him now!” Phoebe said, her voice layered with fear. She turned around and started running in the opposite direction. Anson didn’t follow her, instead he drew his dagger and made sure his footing was good. He would protect Phoebe, and give her a chance to get away, then try to follow her if he could. The man approached him, and strangely he didn’t make noise as he ran. No yelling, barely any sound of footsteps despite his terrific pace, and was he even breathing?
    “Anson, what are you doing?” Phoebe yelled.
“Keep running, I’ll hold him off if I need to! I’ll meet you at the Corridor!” he yelled. The man continued rushing towards him, not seeming to see Phoebe. He acted as though he only had one goal, and it was something to do with Anson. “Stop right there!” Anson commanded, trying to make his voice firm. The man didn’t appear to notice, instead he just kept running. As he approached Anson, he readied himself for a fight, though hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. A distance away, Phoebe tripped, slamming into the ground hard. She cried out in pain and Anson’s resolve doubled. He had to stop this man from doing anything to her.
The man barreled towards Anson and jumped at him. It was a predictable move, as the man hadn’t slowed down at all, he’d had few other options of attack. Anson dove to the side and the man flew past him, then somehow twisted in the air to land perfectly, not stumbling at all. He moved slowly towards Anson. He held no weapon, but if he was a Shaper then he wouldn’t need one. 
“Why don’t we…” Anson started, then stopped talking as the man moved in for a grapple. Anson brought his knife up, straight into the man’s chest. The man made no noise or recognition of the injury. He didn’t even seem to notice it as he locked his hands around Anson’s arms with an extraordinarily strong grip. His body was cold and clammy, just like a dead body. This wasn’t a person, Anson knew that. How was that possible though? What form of Shaping could animate the dead?
Anson didn't have time to think about it at the moment. He struggled against the strange reawakened body and eventually managed to tear his hands away and jump back. The deep wound in the body’s chest wasn’t bleeding like it should, instead of gushing blood it was only lazily oozing out. Anson took another step back and the thing attacked him again. Anson lashed out with his foot and felt the kick connect solidly, sending the body sprawling. It moved fluidly to its feet, then surprisingly turned and ran, though Anson couldn’t fathom why.
It quickly disappeared between two hills and Anson didn’t see another sign of it. As soon as he thought it was safe enough, he dashed over to Phoebe. She had stood up, but her knees were wobbly, she looked like she would fall down again at any second. He put his arm around her shoulders, helping her stand. “What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking from fear.
“I…I tried to stop it with mental Shaping but I couldn’t! I couldn’t even feel it! It’s like it was…”
“Dead. Like it was dead,” Anson finished. 
“Yeah…what was it?” she asked him, terrified.
“I don’t know. Something I’ve never seen before, I don’t know if anyone has.” He looked around, making sure it hadn’t come back. “Are you ok to walk?” She nodded, leaning heavily on him and taking a step.
“I think…I think I might know what that thing was,” she said quietly. He looked at her curiously and she continued, “I think it might have been another demon. It would match up with how Shaping works too, one mental demon and one physical.”
“You’re right,” Anson said, trying not to think about how much his body was in contact with hers. “You said you felt the mental one earlier too, we need to get back as fast as we can. It could still be chasing us, and there’s no telling how long the physical one will be gone.”
    “I know, I’m sorry. I used so much Manna, I can barely walk. And it was for nothing! If I hadn’t done that we’d already be back!” she said, her voice cracking again and a tear running down her cheek.
“No, that’s now what I meant! I just wanted to say we need to get back,” he said quickly. He shifted so he was supporting more of her weight and they continued walking, moving slowly. Eventually, they reached the hill that contained the Corridor. 
“Let’s stop here, you need a break,” he said to her, noticing how ragged her breathing had become and how she was stumbling on nearly every step.
“No, we can’t afford to waste time!” she protested. She struggled to take another step and nearly collapsed. Anson caught her and helped her to the ground. “Taking a short break is better than passing out or dropping dead from exhaustion. We’ll only be here for a minute,” he said consolingly. She tried to sit up weakly, but he placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. “Rest, just for a little bit.”
She sighed but obliged, though he could see the restlessness in her eyes. He counted to sixty in his head, then waited another moment, knowing she’d need as much time to recover as they could spare. “Alright, let's go,” he said, helping her to her feet and putting her arm over his shoulders. He helped her forward, trying to ignore how hard it seemed to be for her. She was right that they needed to get back though, the demons could be back at any second.
They were about halfway to the Corridor when he started to feel it, the draining of his mental energy. The pull got stronger as he continued up the hill, nearly pulling Phoebe as they walked. “Let me carry you,” he said, realizing that would be faster. He swept her into his arms and began to run, Shaping his muscles to have more speed and endurance and giving himself better balance. It drained his Manna quickly, but he didn’t have to go far. As he neared the secret entrance, he saw the demon, its black form stark against the brightly lit hills. He ran into the door, then opened it, rushing inside as the demon glided up the hill towards him. He slammed the door shut, and the draining feeling stopped. He laid Phoebe down on the floor, then sat next to her. She looked up at him, her beautiful face now covered in sweat and dirt, though it didn’t make her look any worse. Was she ok?
“Well that was one heck of a first date,” she said with a smile. “Although I’m not sure if it counts, you might have to take me on another.
He sighed in relief, she seemed to be fine. He smiled back at her, then put his arm around her shoulders. It was a nice moment. 
Then Levi stepped into the entryway. “What the frosts just happened?”

 

Oooh I'm so excited about what comes next!

[Edema Rue she/her]

19 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

I have several chapters that will be coming in the next few days, here's the first.

Chapter 10:

  Reveal hidden contents

Anson grabbed a box, lifting it onto a handcart piled high with supplies. When Lazarus had said he’d be getting supplies, Anson had imagined weapons. Spears, swords, bows, or even something more exotic, like a halberd. Instead they had gotten more mundane things, like food, water, and clothing. He understood they were necessary, but they were also boring. He tried to shove down his dissatisfaction regarding the supplies by focusing on something else. And so, naturally, his mind turned to the pretty girl standing next to him. Some people might find it unattractive to see a girl performing heavy labor, but Anson liked it. It meant she was willing to work hard and to do things unconventionally. And, if he was being honest with himself, she didn’t look bad at all. He was getting more and more certain that she couldn’t look bad in any circumstance.
She said something, and he blinked out of his daze “What?” he asked. He probably looked like an idiot now, though he always did anyway.
 “Are you ready to go? We’re done here, all we need now is Lazarus.” She said, looking at him carefully. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. And I’m ready to go whenever he is,” Anson replied. He looked back into her eyes and found once again that he quite liked the little touches of green in her otherwise blue eyes. But he needed to focus on something other than her, he probably looked like a creep. An idiot and a creep. He barely kept himself from sighing in annoyance. Why couldn’t he be more like Levi, more calm and collected, not always acting out in stupid ways like himself. But no matter how hard he tried he always ended up doing something dumb or saying some weird joke.
“Lazarus is talking to one of the higher-ups in the revolution, he usually takes a little while. If you wanted to, we could go without him…” she said, her tone hopeful. 
What did that mean? What did she want with him, or did she really just want to get out of the dingy warehouse they were in. Why was this all so confusing all of the sudden? But, disregarding all the questions flooding through his mind, he definitely would like some time with Phoebe without Lazarus grilling him about his life every second of the way.
“Sure, that sounds good to me,” he said, excited. She grinned broadly, and he knew that he'd said the right thing. Well, hopefully he had, he could never be certain. People could be quite good at faking things.
“Great! Let's get going then,” she said, grabbing the cart and preparing to tow it away.
“Should we tell Lazarus that we’re going?” Anson asked. “I don’t want him worrying about where we are.”
“Good idea, let’s do that. He should be just over here,” she said, walking towards a door that was only in slightly better shape than the rest of the building. She knocked twice, paused, then rapped three times in quick succession. A burly man with a square beard opened it. He had dark brown hair, though it had a sprinkle of grey in it. “What is it?”
“We just needed to let Lazarus know that we’re going back to the Corridor, we’ll take the supplies with us,” Phoebe said. The man opened the door wider, allowing Anson to see into the room. Lazarus was looking at a map splayed across a large table. As soon as he saw Phoebe and Anson, he flipped it. Anson noticed some kind of inscription on the back, though it was too far away for him to read it. Why was Lazarus hiding the map, was there something he didn’t want the rest of them to know?
    “Did you hear that, Lazarus,” the man said in a deep, gravely voice.
“I did, and you two don’t need to worry about taking the supplies, I’ll get them. There’s a few things I need to add anyway.”
“Oh, thanks!” Phoebe said, seeming strangely excited that they didn’t need to take the cart. Not like it affected her much though, Anson would have taken the cart. One of the few lessons he remembered from his mom was that he should always at least offer to carry things for a girl, and she’d always teased him by saying that was especially true for pretty girls. Well, Phoebe was definitely a pretty girl. He smiled to himself, glancing over at her. She looked back and smiled too. He looked away, embarrassed.
“Should we go then, or is there something else you need to do here?” she asked him, seeming anxious to get out.
“I’m ready to go,” he replied. She walked out of the room and he followed her. It was a several mile journey back to the Corridor with only her, that was going to be nice. Was that why she’d been excited? But she’d also looked anxious, was that about spending time with him? Or was he reading it all wrong, this was so confusing!
“I’m glad we’re getting out of here, I hate the warehouse,” Phoebe said, a look of disgust on her face.
“Didn’t you volunteer to come here?” Anson said jokingly, though it was a legitimate question. He thought he might know why, but he wanted to see if it was true.
“Well yes, Lazarus needed another helper and Adelia was going to play Hoops with Naomi,” she said, looking embarrassed. Anson decided to press a little bit further, trying to confirm his suspicion that she’d come along because he was going. Or was that just wishful thinking?
“What about Levi, he could have come,” Anson said, hoping she’d say it was because he was there. It would be nice to know someone actually wanted to be around him other than Levi. And she was funny, pretty, and smart, so that didn't hurt either.
“Well he could have, but I volunteered first, didn’t I?” she answered slyly. “Anyway, I think Adelia will enjoy the opportunity to get to know him,” she said with a smirk.
Anson decided to ignore how she’d dodged his question and interrogate her more on the second comment she’d made. “Why would Adelia be interested in Levi?”
“Well, he’s a boy that she said she finds attractive, so I think that’s the main reason,” Phoebe said.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Anson replied, feeling uneasy. Should he tell Levi that Adelia was interested in him? He’d want to know, he always wanted to know what other people were thinking. He said it made them more predictable. But Adelia probably wouldn’t want him to know, and if Anson told him it could make Phoebe wary of trusting him. He decided not to worry about it at the moment, there was someone that deserved his attention instead, and she was walking right next to him. Now he just needed to figure out how to get a good conversation going with her.
“So, I don’t really know a whole lot about you,” he said, trying to keep his tone casual. “What do you like to do?”
“For fun? I like playing games, Dragons and Uncertainty are two of my favorites. I don’t really like Hoops too much, but playing it with Naomi is fun. She makes everything fun,” Phoebe said fondly.
“Dragons, Uncertainty, and Hoops, I definitely know how to play those,” he said with a halfhearted laugh that he knew sounded forced. Why was he so bad at this?
“Oh, you don’t know how to play? I’ll teach you them sometime,” she said.
“I’d love to, I like games,” he said, though he was more excited that she would be teaching him then about learning the games themselves.
“Ok, that’s good,” she said, relieved. “What do you like to do for fun?”
    Anson thought about that for a moment. What did he like to do? Games were fun, but he rarely had both the time and the means to play them. “I like telling jokes and listening to stories,” he said after a while. “That might be why Cathy likes me, I’m the only one that listens to her stories, even if they’re definitely untrue.”
    “Ooh, I like stories too! I prefer to tell them rather than listen though. And that crazy lady did seem to like you quite a bit,” she said with a wink.
“That’s perfect then, because I’m always happy to listen to stories. Do you have any good ones?” This was going well, right? At least they were talking, that was important.
“Oh, a lot, what kind do you like?” she asked, obviously excited. He wondered if she often got to tell stories to people.
“Any kind, really, but my favorites are mysteries. I like trying to figure out what’s going on and who did what.”
“I have a good one for you then! I bet you’ll figure it out before most people do,” she said.
“I doubt it, but I can try,” he said. She launched into a story about two lovers who found a dead man inside their house one day. It was complex, but he was pretty sure he knew who’d killed him.
“And Ethan's brother admitted what he’d done, how he’d killed Jaxon and put his body in Penny’s house,” Phoebe said, concluding the story.
“Ha! I knew it was him!” Anson said excitedly. “That was really great!”
“I told you that you’d figure it out,” she said, smiling. “Thank you, and thanks for letting me tell you! It’s been a while since someone else has been excited by one of my stories.”
    “Well it’s their loss, that was really good!”
“Thanks,” she said, her smile growing wider. Then, suddenly, it disappeared. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” he asked, disappointed that the happiness and excitement of the moment was gone.
“The demon, I think I can feel its aura. It’s close.”
Anson didn’t feel anything, but he trusted Phoebe’s senses. She was more in tune with the mental side of Shaping anyway. “Let’s go,” he said, all of his elation immediately replaced by fear. He started running, using a little bit of Manna to boost his speed. Phoebe kept up with him, so he assumed she was doing the same.
“We’re close to the Corridor, we just need to make it a little further,” she said between breaths.
They ran for a couple of minutes in a silence only interrupted by their labored breathing. Then Anson saw someone. They were standing on the crest of a hill, looking directly towards Anson and Phoebe and standing perfectly still. “Who is that?” Anson asked. “Levi?”
“I’m not sure, it could be someone we don’t know, maybe one of Galahad’s men,” Phoebe replied. “Be careful.”
As soon as she said that, the man began to move. He started running straight at them, moving faster than he looked like he should be able to. A Shaper then? Anson stopped abruptly, studying the man’s face. It definitely wasn’t anyone he knew, and there was something wrong with it. The strangeness was familiar, it was the same look that…that dead people had. That’s what it was, the guy looked dead.
“That’s not good, we need to get away from him now!” Phoebe said, her voice layered with fear. She turned around and started running in the opposite direction. Anson didn’t follow her, instead he drew his dagger and made sure his footing was good. He would protect Phoebe, and give her a chance to get away, then try to follow her if he could. The man approached him, and strangely he didn’t make noise as he ran. No yelling, barely any sound of footsteps despite his terrific pace, and was he even breathing?
    “Anson, what are you doing?” Phoebe yelled.
“Keep running, I’ll hold him off if I need to! I’ll meet you at the Corridor!” he yelled. The man continued rushing towards him, not seeming to see Phoebe. He acted as though he only had one goal, and it was something to do with Anson. “Stop right there!” Anson commanded, trying to make his voice firm. The man didn’t appear to notice, instead he just kept running. As he approached Anson, he readied himself for a fight, though hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. A distance away, Phoebe tripped, slamming into the ground hard. She cried out in pain and Anson’s resolve doubled. He had to stop this man from doing anything to her.
The man barreled towards Anson and jumped at him. It was a predictable move, as the man hadn’t slowed down at all, he’d had few other options of attack. Anson dove to the side and the man flew past him, then somehow twisted in the air to land perfectly, not stumbling at all. He moved slowly towards Anson. He held no weapon, but if he was a Shaper then he wouldn’t need one. 
“Why don’t we…” Anson started, then stopped talking as the man moved in for a grapple. Anson brought his knife up, straight into the man’s chest. The man made no noise or recognition of the injury. He didn’t even seem to notice it as he locked his hands around Anson’s arms with an extraordinarily strong grip. His body was cold and clammy, just like a dead body. This wasn’t a person, Anson knew that. How was that possible though? What form of Shaping could animate the dead?
Anson didn't have time to think about it at the moment. He struggled against the strange reawakened body and eventually managed to tear his hands away and jump back. The deep wound in the body’s chest wasn’t bleeding like it should, instead of gushing blood it was only lazily oozing out. Anson took another step back and the thing attacked him again. Anson lashed out with his foot and felt the kick connect solidly, sending the body sprawling. It moved fluidly to its feet, then surprisingly turned and ran, though Anson couldn’t fathom why.
It quickly disappeared between two hills and Anson didn’t see another sign of it. As soon as he thought it was safe enough, he dashed over to Phoebe. She had stood up, but her knees were wobbly, she looked like she would fall down again at any second. He put his arm around her shoulders, helping her stand. “What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking from fear.
“I…I tried to stop it with mental Shaping but I couldn’t! I couldn’t even feel it! It’s like it was…”
“Dead. Like it was dead,” Anson finished. 
“Yeah…what was it?” she asked him, terrified.
“I don’t know. Something I’ve never seen before, I don’t know if anyone has.” He looked around, making sure it hadn’t come back. “Are you ok to walk?” She nodded, leaning heavily on him and taking a step.
“I think…I think I might know what that thing was,” she said quietly. He looked at her curiously and she continued, “I think it might have been another demon. It would match up with how Shaping works too, one mental demon and one physical.”
“You’re right,” Anson said, trying not to think about how much his body was in contact with hers. “You said you felt the mental one earlier too, we need to get back as fast as we can. It could still be chasing us, and there’s no telling how long the physical one will be gone.”
    “I know, I’m sorry. I used so much Manna, I can barely walk. And it was for nothing! If I hadn’t done that we’d already be back!” she said, her voice cracking again and a tear running down her cheek.
“No, that’s now what I meant! I just wanted to say we need to get back,” he said quickly. He shifted so he was supporting more of her weight and they continued walking, moving slowly. Eventually, they reached the hill that contained the Corridor. 
“Let’s stop here, you need a break,” he said to her, noticing how ragged her breathing had become and how she was stumbling on nearly every step.
“No, we can’t afford to waste time!” she protested. She struggled to take another step and nearly collapsed. Anson caught her and helped her to the ground. “Taking a short break is better than passing out or dropping dead from exhaustion. We’ll only be here for a minute,” he said consolingly. She tried to sit up weakly, but he placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. “Rest, just for a little bit.”
She sighed but obliged, though he could see the restlessness in her eyes. He counted to sixty in his head, then waited another moment, knowing she’d need as much time to recover as they could spare. “Alright, let's go,” he said, helping her to her feet and putting her arm over his shoulders. He helped her forward, trying to ignore how hard it seemed to be for her. She was right that they needed to get back though, the demons could be back at any second.
They were about halfway to the Corridor when he started to feel it, the draining of his mental energy. The pull got stronger as he continued up the hill, nearly pulling Phoebe as they walked. “Let me carry you,” he said, realizing that would be faster. He swept her into his arms and began to run, Shaping his muscles to have more speed and endurance and giving himself better balance. It drained his Manna quickly, but he didn’t have to go far. As he neared the secret entrance, he saw the demon, its black form stark against the brightly lit hills. He ran into the door, then opened it, rushing inside as the demon glided up the hill towards him. He slammed the door shut, and the draining feeling stopped. He laid Phoebe down on the floor, then sat next to her. She looked up at him, her beautiful face now covered in sweat and dirt, though it didn’t make her look any worse. Was she ok?
“Well that was one heck of a first date,” she said with a smile. “Although I’m not sure if it counts, you might have to take me on another.
He sighed in relief, she seemed to be fine. He smiled back at her, then put his arm around her shoulders. It was a nice moment. 
Then Levi stepped into the entryway. “What the frosts just happened?”

 

Awesome awesome, don’t wait too long before giving us the next part!

[Weaver of Shadows he/him]

Here's the next!

Chapter 11:

Spoiler

“What the frosts just happened?” Levi asked. All of the good feelings he’d had with Adelia were gone. Phoebe looked like she was about to faint and Anson didn’t look much better. And a date, since when had their plan been to go on a date? Had Anson been trying to hide this from him? Did that matter?
“We got attacked by what we think is another kind of demon,” Phoebe said bluntly, exhausted.
Oh, well that was perfectly reasonable… “Another demon?” he asked, finally realizing what she’d said. “What do you mean?”
“We think it was a demon,” Anson said. We can’t really be sure, it wasn’t like the one from before. That one was about to attack us too though.”
“What? Tell me what happened, all of it,” he said, trying to keep his voice from hysterics. He slid down next to Anson, his attention directly fully to the story they told.
“So there’s a physical demon too?” he said.
“We think so, it would make sense,” Phoebe said back. Her head was resting on Anson’s shoulder now, she looked like she could fall asleep at a moment's notice.
“Yeah… I guess it would. And you stabbed it and nothing happened?”
    “Yep, it didn’t seem to notice. It was strong though,” Anson said, holding up his wrists where nasty bruises had started to form. Phoebe lifted her head from his shoulder and touched his wrist lightly. 
“I didn’t know you’d been hurt, I’m so sorry,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I should have done something to help.”
    “You couldn’t have known that mental Shaping was ineffective on that thing,” Anson said consolingly.
“I still should have done something other than fall down and make you slower, you could have died because of me!” she exclaimed.
“But I didn’t, we're ok,” he said gently. She nodded slowly but seemed unconvinced. She returned her head to his shoulder though, appearing to be too tired to argue. A few seconds later she had fallen asleep. Anson brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, smiling.
“So the demon attack wasn’t the only thing that happened today I assume,” Levi said, raising an eyebrow at both of them sitting there together. They really were cute together, even though Phoebe might be destroying Anson and Levi’s bond. They were like brothers and she might come between them.
“I guess you could say that,” Anson said, his grin growing wider. 
“I will say that,” Levi said, grinning back. “Are you two a thing now?”
“I don’t really know,” he replied. “I sure hope so,” he said with a blush. The corners of Phoebe’s mouth twitched, leading Levi to believe she might not be asleep like he had assumed. What did she think of this? Did she just want to hear Anson’s perspective or was she just tired?
    “Why do you want to be?” Levi asked, hoping both to understand exactly what Anson saw in Phoebe and to see if he could get a reaction out of her.
    “Well she’s clever, she’s strong, she’s determined, she’s a good Shaper,” he said quickly. Then he added, “and she’s really pretty,” he said, turning his head to look at her. He didn’t seem to see it, but her face was filled with concentration at trying to keep a straight face. “In the end, I guess it’s just that she’s awesome,” he finished. That finally got to her and a grin broke out across her face. She sat up straight and looked at Anson.
    “Thanks,” she said, leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. They both blushed a deep red and she put her head back on his shoulder, scooting a little closer to him,
    “I…didn’t realize you were listening,” Anson said.
    “Here’s a little secret, girls are always listening,” she said back tiredly.
    “Well there’s nothing I said that wasn’t true,” Anson said, his blush starting to fade. Phoebe smiled again but didn’t move more than that.
    “So I guess we’ll figure out what exactly we are later,” Anson said, looking at her fondly.
    “Yep,” she said happily, looking very comfortable next to Anson.
    “I guess someone should tell Nathan about the new demon,” Anson said after a moment, sounding reluctant. He suddenly sat up straight, making Phoebe jump. “And Lazarus! He doesn’t know that the demons are nearby! Someone has to warn him and make sure he doesn’t get hurt!”
    Levi jumped to his feet. “You both are exhausted, I’ll make sure he’s ok.” He dashed towards the door. He almost yanked it open but decided it would be best to open it slowly, he had no clue what could be out there. For all he knew, the demons were waiting to ambush him. Levi prepared to strengthen his body to yank the door back closed if he saw anything suspicious. He cracked it open and saw someone, or if what Anson and Levi had described was right, a demon. He slammed it closed, his heart pounding.
    “Is everything ok Levi?” Anson asked from his spot in the hallway.
    “It’s here,” Levi said, flexing his fingers and preparing to punch the demon if it tried to enter the Corridor. The door opened and he pushed Manna into his arm, feeling the strength of his muscles increase. His punch connected solidly, sending the demon sprawling. It groaned and sat up, looking woozy.
    “Lazarus?” Anson asked, confused.
    “Who else would it be?” Lazarus said from lying on his back. Levi rushed forward and pulled him into the Corridor, shutting the door behind them.
    “I’m so sorry!” Levi said hurriedly. “I thought you were something else, there’s some stuff we need to tell you.” He tried his best not to make eye contact with Lazarus.
“What kind of stuff?” Lazarus asked. He groaned again, then laid his head on the ground. “And can it explain why you hit me? That hurt!”
“Bad stuff, and yes it can, I’m so sorry about that.” Levi turned to Anson. “You should explain it, you were there.”
    “You’re right.” Anson launched into the same explanation he’d told Levi. Lazarus’s expression went from pained to confused to terrified in a matter of moments.
    “Do you know what this means?” he asked them.
    “Uh…Galahad has another weapon we didn’t know about until now?” Anson replied.
    “Yes, but it also means he knows where we are, or he will soon. I’m not sure if the first demon can communicate, but if the second one has a mouth, it can probably talk. We need to get ready to leave as soon as we can.
    “Can I sleep for a little bit?” Phoebe said from Anson’s shoulder. Lazarous raised an eyebrow at the sight of them together.
    “For a little bit, until Nathan says we need to leave,” Lazarus told her. “Levi, go tell Adelia and Naomi that we need to prepare to leave.
    “Alright, I’ll go find them,” he said, beginning to walk away from the group.
    “I don’t know how fast that demon can move so I don’t know how much time we have before Galahad’s men get here.” His expression got even more severely worried. “He could send the Violet Guard our way too, so we need to get out of here.”
Levi nodded, running down the long hallway, searching for Adelia and Naomi. He heard laughter coming back from where they’d played Hoops together and he followed the sound to them. He stopped when he saw them, Adelia laughing at something Naomi had said or done. They didn’t know how much danger they were in and he was reluctant to make them afraid when they were obviously enjoying themselves. They needed to know though.
Adelia’s laughter cut off abruptly as she saw him. She must have noticed something about his expression because she quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “Galahad knows where we are, or he will soon. We need to get ready to leave,” Levi said urgently.
“What? How did he find out?” Adelia asked. Naomi ran over to them and reached out her hand, grabbing Adelia’s.
“What’s happening?” Naomi said.
“Galahad knows where we are, but it’s going to be ok,” Adelia replied consolingly, giving Naomi’s hand a comforting squeeze.
“I know it’s going to be ok,” Naomi replied simply.
“We need to leave,” Levi said firmly, feeling bad about hurrying them but knowing it was necessary.
“I know!” Adelia said harshly, then winced. “Sorry, but I need to take care of Naomi and that takes time,” she added apologetically.
“It’s ok,” Naomi said. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Adelia asked.
“I think up by the entrance, Lazarus should be explaining things toNathan,” Levi said back. He started running down the hallway but quickly slowed down so Adelia could keep pace, as she had in turn slowed down for Naomi. Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel and foundNathan waiting for them.
“Galahad will know where we are soon. I thought we would be safe for a while as the first demon had no apparent way to communicate with him, but this second one can most likely talk.”
“Second demon?” Adelia whispered to Levi.
“Yeah, it’s like an animated corpse or something.”
Adelia gasped quietly and Naomi shuddered as Nathan continued. “We need to abandon the Corridor and go back to Strathe, where we will join with the revolution. After a couple weeks there we should be able to take down Galahad and return our world to freedom. But right now we need to focus on escape. Lazarus, Anson, and Levi will carry these packs with supplies for our travel,” he said, pointing to four packs laid out in front of him. Adelia, you will take care of Naomi as we return, and Phoebe, try to regain your strength, you’ll need it.”
Levi stepped forward and grabbed one of the packs. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as he’d expected, it looked like there wouldn’t be much in terms of food or water for the next few days. Nothing he wasn’t used to though.
“I’m scared,” Naomi whispered to Adelia, barely loud enough for Levi to hear.
“I know,” Adelia whispered back to her. “We’re going to be ok though.”
    Nathan opened the door to the Corridor and stepped out into the light. The sunset was pretty on the horizon, a stark contrast to the ugly, corpselike demon waiting for them outside.