Yeah, it does need more description. Well, the next chappie should be a little better, and definetely longer. You'll find out about the claws later...
Chapter One- Impossibilities
A cool, crisp breeze whispered through the treetops of the pine forest, moon and stars giving everything a ghostly glow. Newly fallen aspen leaves littered the forest floor, frost just showing on their golden edges. Suddenly, all was still and quiet, and not even the wind dared to move for a moment, and then it came back as a gale, the remaining leaves on the scattered aspens whipping away with their friends on the ground. Silent, buzzing whispers were growing louder, echoing off the nearby cliffs.
Once again, all was quiet, the whispers only faintly heard. A shadow began shifting, writhing until it took a deformed canine shape. Yellow eyes glared at the creature’s surroundings, glowing with a harsh black light. It moved towards a strange thicket of brush nearby, smelling its prey. It came to the thickly woven wall of brush and trees, and carefully avoiding the moonlight it crept through a small crack at the base. Now inside a small clearing, the moonlight and stars shining gently on a small shelter of the same material as the walls, the shadow monster growled in satisfaction.
It found a small path of shadow that led to the shelter, and took it, sneaking inside. The sounds of breathing could now be heard, and the monster crept towards a sleeping figure at one end of the warm brush shelter. The young woman slept peacefully, innocently unaware of the doom creeping towards her. A black cat slept under one of her arms, curled against her chest and neck protectively. The shadow monster watched for a moment, pale, bloodstained teeth gleaming in the darkness, before creeping close enough to smell the woman’s dreams. She shifted suddenly, her hidden, soft throat suddenly becoming exposed.
The shadow monster could not help growling its excitement, and the cat at the woman’s side suddenly woke, hissing at the monster and standing over the woman. The shadow beast growled in anger at its own stupidity, leaping at the woman who immediately woke and reached for a spear nearby. As she pointed it at the monster, she gasped in terror as the beast miraculously shifted mid leap and avoided the spear. It landed right in front of her, and the cat leapt at the wolf-like monster’s throat. A swipe from the monster’s sharply clawed paw threw the cat against the wall of the shelter, and the woman stood, anger blazing in her eyes.
“No one hurts Merlin!” the woman yelled angrily, thrusting her spear at the surprised shadow monster, which accidentally jumped back into the flap of deerskin that served as a door, it’s hideous hind legs and spiked tail burning in the moonlight. The monster howled with pain, and the woman jabbed her spear into its throat, black, burning blood spraying her. The shadow monster backed further into the moonlight, howling and screeching as it writhed in the light of the full moon until it finally was still and blew away as a fine black dust.
The woman stared after the strange sight only a moment longer before wiping the creature’s acidic blood off her face with a thin rag hanging off a peg one the shelter’s wall. She knelt by the injured cat and stroked him for a moment before wrapping him in an old towel and turning to a small round fireplace in one corner of the shelter. She stirred up the embers and added more wood, quickly starting another bright blaze in the small clay, kiln-like structure.
The black cat meowed from inside his towel, and the woman whispered to him, gently placing him closer to the fire. She reached for a small metal cup nearby and went outside to a spring surrounded by smooth pebbles. She took a cup of the clear, icy water and put it inside near the fire, warming it enough to use for cleaning her friend’s injury. Taking the towel from around the black cat, the woman carefully examined the wound. Already the leg cut had pus leaking from it, as well as blood, and the woman took yet another rag from the wall and doused it in the burning hot water. She carefully dabbed the cat’s leg with the cloth, whispering to him as he growled softly in pain.
“It’s okay, baby,” she said gently, scratching the cat’s forehead after wrapping the hot cloth around his leg. “You’ll be better now. Just wait here while I get some bark, okay?”
The woman stroked the cat’s side and went outside to a single birch tree that served as a shield from harsh weather and also as a miracle plant. The woman tore a few strips of loose bark from the tree and took them back inside to soak in the water for a moment before using them as a natural cast for her cat. The warm cloth on the cat’s leg was getting cold just as the bark was thoroughly soaked. The woman gently removed the rag, sewed the wide gash together with sinew and a pine needle, applied a nearby salve that she’d always used for such purposes, and then wrapped the birch bark comfortably around the cat’s leg.
In a few minutes it was a hard cast that would keep the cat from hurting himself more, yet come right off when he was healed. “It’s okay, Merlin,” the woman whispered to the cat lying in her lap. “You’ll be okay. Just don’t hurt yourself again, okay?”
Merlin looked up at the woman with his big yellow eyes and purred gently, a paw gently gripping her hand with five sharp claws. The woman chuckled softly and bent to head to the cat’s, making soft popping noises with her tongue. Before the fire died down, she set him gently on the thick blanket that covered the hard wood of her makeshift bed, stroking his head before stepping outside silently. The shadow monster’s blood had left burns on her face, and she gently washed the rest of the liquid off her clothes and the rag.
From behind, the woman heard a footstep and reached for her spear, which she’d left near the spring before. She turned, expecting to see another of the shadow monsters, but nearly fell over when she saw a tall, caped figure staring at her from near the small entrance to her fort.
“How did you get in here?” she stuttered, her fear of other people overcoming her. “What do you want?”
“Where is the Shadow?” the figure said, his voice rich and smooth. The woman stood, still holding her spear tightly. She saw the beast in her mind again and pointed to the spot of blood nearby on the grass.
“If that monster that attacked me is one of those Shadows, I killed it,” the woman said, wiping the last of the creature’s blood from her face. The caped figure stepped towards the blood spot, then towards the woman.
“You killed it?”
The woman nodded, walking back to her shelter and stepping through the doorway. She came back out, a flicker of firelight shining onto the monster’s blood.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d leave now,” she said, her spear still in hand and Merlin standing next to her, his wounded leg carefully raised. The figure stepped back, and the sound of metal sliding across metal cautioned her to the silver blade the man drew. The woman glanced at her spear; not much of a match against a sharp sword. But to her surprise, the man pointed his sword at Merlin instead.
“You lie!” the man yelled. “The Shadow is there!”
The woman burst out laughing, bending over to pet her cat gently. “This is a cat,” she said as if talking to a toddler. “My Merlin’s not dangerous, mister, so you can relax.”
The black cat glared up at the figure, whose face was revealed by the bright moonlight. Scars showed on his rough face, short brown hair covering menacing black eyes. Merlin growled, his ears going flat against his head. The woman crouched next to him and stroked his head, making the quiet popping noises with her tongue again. The cat walked back into the shelter, glaring around at the caped man. Once again, the woman was serious at the sight of that sword. Something about it chilled her, making her want the man to leave even more. “I’d appreciate it if you’d put that away,” she said harshly to the man.
The woman felt strange, a type of emotion in her that she’d never felt before, not even for the people she feared. She felt tense in this man’s presence, almost listening to the instinct inside her that said to kill him. She felt it burn lower as her sheathed his weapon, but it was stronger as her stepped towards her. The woman almost felt like smiling to herself; even though she was afraid of this strange figure, she felt like she could kill him in an instant.
“Thank you,” the woman said, stepping back into her shelter. She leaned her spear against the wall and petted Merlin, who once again lay on her bed. The fire was burning quite nicely, and cast a flicker as the man outside opened the flap and entered as well. He looked around the small shelter for a moment before setting his eyes on the black cat again. “What now?” the woman asked, not moving. When a second man entered, however, she stood and grabbed her spear again.
“It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you,” the second man said, his own voice younger than the other man’s. He looked around the small shelter just as the other had, but with a more curious than critical look. “This place is very interesting. How do you live out here though? No people are around for miles.”
“I like it that way,” the woman said. “People are unpredictable and dangerous. I’ve got my other friends.”
“That animal?” the older man said harshly, pointing at Merlin.
“As well as birds, deer, elk, even a few coyotes and wolves,” the woman said, picturing each of the animals in her head, all of which respected her as one of them. “If you think I’m crazy, I don’t care. Leave if it bugs you that much.”
The woman was almost shocked at the men’s reactions after her uncharacteristic outburst. The older man exited the shelter, but the younger didn’t. “People aren’t all bad, you know,” he said, sitting down. “Lee’s just a really harsh guy.”
“I can tell,” the woman said, sitting back down on her own bed after sticking another log in the fire. “And who are you supposed to be?”
“Name’s Tom,” the young man said, the woman’s attitude getting to him a little. “You don’t have to act so guarded against us. We’re here to help.”
“You’re here to kill that monster that attacked us, I assume,” the woman said, relaxing a little. Tom nodded, smiling a little. “Well, you didn’t have to come. He was dead and gone ten minutes before you guys got here.”
Tom gaped at her, then outside, stuttering. “B-but, how could you beat a Shadow?” he finally managed to say. The woman tensed again.
“Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t fight my own fights,” she said quietly, looking into the fire, anger burning in her eyes. She had enough of sexism from her father at home…
“But how could you have killed one?” Tom continued, not noticing. “You can’t be someone from the Valley, so how could you have the weapons?”
“I’ve got a spear!” the woman yelled, standing quickly, her anger suddenly taking over. A stranger had come into the only place in the world where she’d ever been able to get away from the world’s troubles, her only true home, without permission, assuming the right to defend her from things she could handle herself. “I can make things with my own two hands, okay? Just because I don’t have a social life, as people call it, doesn’t mean I’m not very smart. I’m smarter than most of the people in town when it comes to the wilderness, and we live in the forest, okay? So if you don’t think a woman can take care of herself, then get out!”
At that the woman let out a frustrated growl and stalked outside, passing the caped ‘Lee’ and crawling out of her fort. She walked to a large cliff face and looked up at the stars, the moon still high in the black sky. The Milky Way was spread out above her, and for a moment she thought of nothing but what it would be like to fly among those stars. The logical side of her mind scowled at the thought, bringing up the fact that space was impossible to fly in as a bird.
A small meow and a body pressing up against the woman’s leg notified her of Merlin’s presence and she sat down and let him crawl into her lap. “I’m sorry I keep leaving you alone, baby,” she whispered quietly, her voice gentle. “You remember what is was like living at the house, though. Bubbles picked on you constantly, Dad always hated that you loved me and not him… But you’re smart. You knew that he was dangerous, didn’t you?”
The woman heard footsteps behind her and huddled around her cat closer. “You know, kitten,” she whispered even quieter. “If it weren’t for you I’d still be back at that horrible place. If it weren’t for that day… You and God were the only ones who came through for me.”
At that the woman closed her eyes and bent her head more, curling up into a shell to protect Merlin from the cold air. After a few minutes, the woman started to get cold and shifted to let the cat know she was getting up. “Come on, Merlin-kitty,” she said gently. “I’m getting cold, and we should be kicking them out, not the other way around.”
The woman picked up Merlin gently and he lay relaxed in her arms, a contented look on his face, as she walked with long, even strides past Lee towards the wall of her fort. She nudged Merlin in before her and crawled in, standing up as soon as she was inside. Merlin walked over to the spring and got a sip of icy water, and then over to the shelter and behind the deerskin. The woman watched Tom, who stood in the far corner of the clearing.
“I didn’t mean what I said the way you think I did,” he said. The woman watched him quietly, studying his shadowed face. “You’ve never heard of the Valley, have you?”
The woman shook her head, stepping inside her shelter. Tom leaned against the wall of the fort, sighing slightly. “Well, come on in,” the woman said, sticking her head back out. “It’s pretty chilly out.”
Tom shivered slightly, just noticing that his breath was misting and freezing, then walked over and stepped into the much warmer shelter. Merlin hissed at his entry, and the woman popped at him. The cat almost instantly quieted, only growling softly at the intruder. Tom and the woman studied each other for a moment. The woman wore a leather suit, light tan, obviously light and soft. The pants part was loose and roomy, and the shirt was tighter yet still comfortable. In the cool firelight, the woman’s eyes were as dark as the sky outside, and her long brown hair was tied up with a leather thong.
The woman saw Tom differently. Though she noted his short, dark, slightly ruffled hair, vividly green eyes, and dark skin tone, she also saw his strengths and weaknesses. He stood stiffly compared to her own relaxed posture, his arms crossed and feet straight. His face held tension too, though not at the current situation entirely. She saw curiosity and gentleness in his eyes, so she knew that he could be trusted, even if Merlin didn’t agree. She suddenly paid more attention to the outer details, noting his thin, silk clothes and cotton cape. He was obviously from someplace hot…
The woman grabbed a few pieces of the meat strung from the ceiling and offered one to Tom. “Hungry?” she asked, eating one herself. Tom took one with a smile and he seemed less tense.
“I didn’t catch your name, by the way,” he said, sitting facing her next to the warm fireplace.
The woman thought for a moment, almost as if trying to remember her name. “I guess I don’t really have one,” she said. “All the animals just know me by my voice, and I’ve lived out here for so long…”
“You’ll think of one,” Tom said, grinning a little.
“Merlin’s my cat, by the way,” the woman added after nodding. She said the name cat-like, and the cat looked up at her at the sound, his growling having stopped. She sat down and chewed on her piece of tough meat. “I guess you can call me Amy. That used to be my name. Anyway, tell me more about this ‘Valley’ you were talking about.”
“Well, I’m not completely sure how far it is from here, but it’s on the South Coast,” Tom said. “There are huge, practically impossible-to-climb cliffs an all the sides, so no one can get in. On the ocean side, the cliffs extend beyond the beach and go right into these underwater reefs about a quarter-mile out. Only flyers and swimmers, and good ones at that, can ever get in.”
“It sounds beautiful,” Amy said, picturing the whole scene in her head. Tom nodded and continued.
“It’s the ultimate fort,” he said. “In one of the cliffs, right next to the ocean, the winds have carved out a huge cave… That’s where we live, basically. It serves as the hospital, sanctuary, lunchroom, you get the idea. There’s a small path that leads up to it, and most of it is impossible to see. All through the valley there’s a big, beautiful forest, not at all like this one, either. The trees there lose their leaves every fall.”
“What kinds of animals are there?” Amy asked, Merlin crawling into her lap and watching Tom curiously.
“Well, there are plenty of animals like around here,” Tom said, thinking it over. “There are seagulls, eagles, and millions of little swallows, too. In the bay, there are plenty of fish, a few sharks, dolphins-”
“Dolphins?” the woman interrupted suddenly, a serious, yet excited tone in her voice. Tom nodded, and she looked down at Merlin. “Oh, kitten, there are dolphins…”
“Most people don’t even know what they look like anymore,” Tom marveled. Amy looked up at him strangely.
“How can that be?” she asked. “Everyone that I know can draw at least a decent picture of one. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t know what a dolphin looks like.”
“Hm,” Tom shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s just around here. Anyway, we’ve got tons of other creatures around there, too. Horses, wolves, wildcats, dragons-”
“Dragons?” Amy said, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, now I know that you’re crazy. As much as I’d like to believe you, there’s no way I will until I see a real dragon for myself. Maybe they were real once, but no one’s seen them for over three hundred years.”
Now Tom was the one watching the brunette woman oddly. She’d gone back to watching the fire, stroking Merlin’s black velvet head gently. “Amy?” Merlin’s voice whispered in the woman’s head. She looked down at him in acknowledgement. “What if he’s telling the truth?”
“I don’t know, Merlin,” she said back, speaking in a language that only she and animals understood. “If he is, then why is it that someone hasn’t discovered it by now? Helicopters could get in easy.”
“Listen to him a little more,” Merlin said gently. “You’ve been away from that house for five years now. It wouldn’t hurt to know what’s going on in the world.”
Amy nodded, looking back up at Tom. “I’ve been out here for a long time. I’m sorry I called you crazy, I just don’t know what to think. What are Shadows? And why were you so surprised that I killed one?”
“It’s nothing against women, really,” Tom said. “It’s just that it’s extremely rare for a person to be born with the ability to kill them without training. I wasn’t, myself. I was actually chosen to train at the school there. What’s very odd is that only certain types of weapons can kill a Shadow.”
Tom drew his sword and let Amy look at it. She didn’t know too much about swords. She made her own weapons merely from experience and intuition. But this sword did seem unusual. Though it looked like a normal katana at first, the blade had the strangest sheen. “It’s beautiful,” Amy said quietly, touching the cold, smooth metal gently. Unlike Lee’s sword, it shone with a light silver color instead of dark. A small milky stone was imbedded in the hilt. “Moonstone?”
Tom nodded, re-sheathing his sword. “Light itself will hurt Shadows, but moonlight will kill them,” he explained. “There’s the short story, and the long story. Which do you want?”
“I’m not going anywhere, so I’ll have the long story,” Amy said. Tom grinned.
“Well, about a thousand years ago, ancient archaeologists, people who study their past, accidentally dug up an ancient tomb. It was sealed with opals, moonstones, pearls, and an inscription. Today, that inscription is back at the Valley, recovered by a few explorers. Anyway, it’s in a language that died out way before their time, so they didn’t know what was in the tomb. Somehow they managed to open the tomb, and they released the Shadows.
“The monsters killed almost everyone, but the few who survived discovered the Shadow’s secret; only moonlight completely kills a Shadow. Nobody knows why, either. But they knew that it had something to do with the stones on the tomb, and embedded the stones in their weapons. It isn’t just that, though. There’s something that you can do to the metal, especially at night, which makes it absorb moonlight so that you can wield it. The dragons melt unicorn hair and one of the three stones together, let it cool evenly, then melts it again, but into the sword.”
“Tom!” Lee’s harsh voice broke in suddenly, and he pushed the deerskin door aside as he stomped in. “How could you tell that…that…girl about our weapons?! It’s against all the teachings!”
“She’d find out sooner or later,” Tom said calmly, standing and glancing down at Merlin as he hissed and spat at Lee viciously. Amy watched him cautiously.
“What do you mean, I’d find out sooner or later?” she asked warily. Lee smiled, a dangerous flash passing his eyes.
“All the victims of Shadows have to be taken to the Valley,” he said. Amy stepped back, blinking.
“The Shadows attack people for a reason,” Tom said quietly. Lee left angrily, and Amy heard a whistle and the rush of huge wings. “The Shadows are afraid of the Valley because it’s where people last imprisoned them. People who aren’t taken there for protection are eventually killed.”
“But you saw that I can handle them,” Amy protested, stepping back again but pointing outside to the Shadow’s bloodstain.
“That was only one,” Tom said. “You were lucky, because Wolf Shadows usually attack in packs. When they do, almost no one can survive by himself, or in your case herself. Cat Shadows attack by themselves, and are fast as lightning. Reapers are the most dangerous. Even people trained to fight them usually get killed when up against one… I was lucky, too.”
Amy stared at Tom. “I’m not leaving my only home,” she said, anger suddenly taking over again. Merlin shrank away from her, watching fearfully. “No matter how beautiful that Valley of yours sounds, I’m never leaving my home. That place was already there for you. But I had to build this place all by myself, with my own two hands. You have people to teach you how to fight and survive. I had to learn through experience. Do you have any idea to live alone for five years? To know that you were going to die because of the worst mistake you could ever make? And then by God’s miracle, you survive and keep living? You can’t take me away from this place, Tom, and you won’t without a fight.”
At that Amy grabbed her spear again, anger blazing in her eyes. Tom put his hand to his sword, and Amy crouched. Suddenly she was the cat standing beside her, calm now that she realized what she was doing. The two moved as one, jumping out of the hut and into the cold moonlight. That would be their advantage against Tom. He might fight the Shadows, but she could become a regular shadow easily. Her leather outfit could blend into the area perfectly, and she could be quieter than the shadows that hid her. Tom drew his sword and followed after her, trying to locate her in the shadows of her fort.
“You might fear darkness, but I only fear what it hides…” Amy said quietly, pressing her spear point against Tom’s neck and holding it tightly. She watched calmly as he shifted to try and swing at her weapon, and Merlin jumped at his leg and bit him, hissing. Though the black cat was injured, he moved with the same fluid grace as his human twin. Tom sheathed his sword unexpectedly, turning slowly to look at Amy.
“How do you know that verse?” he said quietly.
“I only know what I see and feel,” Amy said. She realized suddenly what she was doing, and hesitantly lowered her spear. She would not murder anyone, not if they weren’t trying to hurt her.
“
Do not feareth the darkness, only the Shadows it holds,” Tom said quietly, the verse ringing in his head. “Just
as thou doth not feareth death, only what lies beyond it.”
Amy stood straight again, holding her spear. Merlin watched her, trying to understand what the stranger was saying that made her stop. “
For darkness and death art only portals to other worlds and opportunities…” Those were the exact words written in a journal she’d found before she’d left home. Everyone who’d signed it in the back was dead for sure, and it had been pure chance that she’d found it. It had been in a cave that no one had entered for forty years, being ‘impossible’ to get to after a vicious storm had wiped out the path to get to it. She’d been the first person brave enough, and stupid enough, to try and climb it… “How do you know about that?”
“That’s part of the saying for the school at the Valley…” Tom said, looking at Amy curiously. “No one except students know about that saying…”
Amy looked down, watching Merlin. “How can that be?” she whispered quietly. The cat nudged her leg, the moonlight shining in his yellow eyes, and she looked back up at Tom. “I’ll go with you.”
Tom nodded, but she raised a hand. “On one condition. I’ll only go if you promise me that I’ll be able to come home.”
Tom looked up, then back at Amy and nodded. “Someday.”
He looked up again and Amy followed his gaze, and then nearly fell over in amazement at the sight of a beautiful black griffon hovering above. Lee looked over his back, glaring down at them, but Amy ignored him. The griffon screeched loudly, and a lighter hippogriff joined it. The gray hippogriff lighted down gently in Amy’s fort clearing, nudging Tom’s shoulder while watching Amy curiously. “Oh my goodness…” she said quietly as Merlin jumped to her shoulders to watch the eagle-like creature carefully.
