Life is But a Walking Shadow

by iamajdandagreaser

A group of young Shadowhunters living at the London Institute are faced with a gift from the Angel Raziel that seems to be a curse instead of a blessing. Will they be able to handle their new-found responsibility as well as be able to uncover the truth about who they really are?

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Paris appeared to be standing in a field outside of Idris./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Looking to his left, he saw the old Raventower manor, standing as proud as he remembered it from his childhood. To his right, he saw the valley where he rode horses with Benedict as children. It was a serene picture, quiet, peaceful, and familiar./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But suddenly, the bright blue sky seemed to tear in half, and the golden light of the sun gave way to the shrieking red of the adamas towers in Alicante. Paris watched in horror as his childhood home turned to dust and rubble, and the forest and Brocelind plain turned to smoke. The sky was black and streaked with red and fire- demon fire, for nothing could burn that hot. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He saw the people, the Nephilim, fighting a losing battle against demons, hordes of them, that seemed to stream out of nowhere./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That was then," a voice behind him said. "This is now."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He turned away from sight before him, and spun to face his parabatai, Benedict Whitecross, who stood serenely behind him as if nothing was happening down in the valley./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What do you mean?" Paris asked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Ben motioned for him to turn around. Instead of the drama that had been unfolding, he now saw Alicante, white towers standing tall and proud, sleeping under a starry sky./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How?" Paris asked, thoroughly confused./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Let's pray that it stays this way," a new voice said. Paris turned to look, and was confronted by two identical male faces. Twins who are also parabatai, a small voice said in the back of his mind. Light brown hair, green eyes, and identical smiles stared back at him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Unless," one of the two said, "you'd like to go through hell again, huh, Paris?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right," Paris said, for lack of a better word and being utterly confused./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I wish we could stay here like this forever," Ben said, sitting down, and tugging Paris to the ground beside him. "We've earned our rest. Let's enjoy it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I brought champagne," someone else said. Paris felt his mind reel. So far, the only person he knew was Ben, and he was still in a state of semi-shock from what he had seen earlier. Plus, all these people kept appearing, and they clearly knew him, but he didn't know them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Good!" Ben said happily. "I didn't think you were going to show."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We had something to take care of," yet another voice spoke. Paris looked for the sources./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The first speaker was a tall young man, about his age, with blond hair, lavender eyes, and cheekbones and jawline to kill for. He smiled, a bright, charming smile that was brilliant and charismatic, yet sad and wise all at the same time. He held two bottles of champagne in one hand, and a package of plastic cups in the other./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The second person to speak was a girl of average height, with a shock of bright white hair. Her eyes were a dark blue, and she had what seemed to be a gigantic sword slung over one shoulder. She smiled lightly at Paris, and slipped her hand into the other boy's larger one. He smiled down at her, and she leaned into him in a gentle, familiar gesture. Paris could tell by the way that they moved that they were parabatai as well as something more. She sank to the ground, the boy quickly following suit, and pulled her sword off her back in an easy move./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You look confused," she said. "I won't ask if you're alright, as that's a relative question." She smiled at him, a brilliant smile, and he couldn't but grin back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The dream sped onward, away from friends and champagne and stars and Alicante, to the middle of what seemed to be another war. Paris saw the girl, wielding her sword with agility and skill, with her parabatai with the lavender eyes at her side. He saw the demons overwhelm them, the boy falling under their attack. He saw the girl use a connection or magic, and the demons vanished. He saw her holding the boy, screaming as if her heart would break. He saw the twins, gleefully leading a charge of Nephilim, the boys going from flesh and blood to shadows; writhing, deadly shadows, and the denizens of hell falling before them. He saw Benedict, his parabatai, changing from form to form, human to animal to element over and over, protecting these friends Paris had never met. He saw himself, fighting, becoming the messenger of heaven, Raziel's mouthpiece, and it terrified him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The dream went on and on, blood and fire, dust and ashes, silver and gold. With a start he awoke, tried to remember the dream, and couldn't. Brief images would come to him, but it was like a memory far gone and buried. But one phrase kept repeating itself over and over again in his troubled mind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Pulvis et umbra./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"We are dust and shadows./p

If any of you lovely people who took the time to read this story (THANK YOU!) has a question, a comment, or a suggestion, please feel free to let me know! I'd love to hear from you! Stay gold!