Author's Note- I feel like it's been a little while since the last update...I could be wrong but if I'm not I apologize! Well anyway, here it is! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 25 The Shadow and the Kindling Hope

My tears dried up on my face and my throat felt like it was one fire. It was absent of moisture from screaming with such ferocity. My mind felt cloudy and dazed as well. I knew the state I was in rendered me unable to devise a strategy to stop the execution. If Muarim were with me he would worry and tell me to drink water and rest. Unfortunately I didn't see any time for rest but a gulp of water from the oasis would be enough for now.

With the sun still beating strongly, I backtracked my way to the oasis that had brought us into this nightmare of a town, my true home. Through all of the calamity I forgot about the stinging of sun burn on my cheeks. It was uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do about it. So I carried on to the oasis. As I approached the sparkling body of water I could almost see an apparition of Muarim and I before we got separated. It wasn't too long ago that Muarim was cleaning up my burns carefully with his torn apart shirt. It was odd to think, the Goddess forbid, if I were to get hurt, Muarim wouldn't be there to take care of me like he always had in the past.

I shook the nostalgic thoughts out of my head and kneeled down to view my reflection in the water. I expected to see a somber face with sun burn on the cheeks, but what was there caused me to jolt. Glowing red eyes stared back at me, but they weren't my own. All the facial features were nearly identical to mine except the jet-black hair that was bright red on the tips as if it were dipped into paint. I stumbled backwards and fell on my bottom from the shock. I crawled to the water again to see if the face was still there until loud laughter interrupted me.

"Haha! You shoulda seen your face! Woo that was good!" came a nearby voice. I hesitantly turned around to see whom the voice belonged to. Before me was a figure with the same face as the one I had seen in the water. He looked to be the same age as me and his height was in close proximity to mine. In fact, he looked frighteningly similar to me. Except of course the obvious differences in hair color and clothing. He wore all black, complete with a black hooded cape tied around his neck.

"Wh-who are you?" I asked with my voice wavering in astonishment. I slowly tried to pick myself up off the ground. His eyes followed my every move.

"Who am I? I'm you! Isn't it obvious? Boy, you are dense!" he replied. I immediately assumed I had not made it to the water in time. The hallucinations had already begun and they were more than common in the desert. All I would have to do is have a few sips of water and the hallucination would disappear. For the moment, I ignored the boy and kneeled back down toward the water. I cupped some in my hands and greedily slurped it dry.

"Y'know…this is usually the part when you ask some questions!" the boy spoke out in annoyance. I ignored his remark and continued to drink water to my heart's content. "Drinking water doesn't make me disappear!"

I swallowed gulp after gulp until my stomach felt ready to burst. I sighed in contentment and stood up once more. As I took a step forward I crashed into a body.

"Nice to see you too!" said the boy. The boy? He was still there! Was he not a hallucination after all? But he had to be…for he said he was me, which was absurd. "Is there any water left in there?" he teased. He was still talking to me, which had to mean I was losing my mind. What other explanation was there? I looked away from him and used silence to make him disappear. "Hey! It's rude to ignore people when they're trying to talk to you!"

"You're just a figment of my imagination so why should I not ignore you?" I replied sharply.

"A figment of your imagination? Ouch!" he said. I turned my head away from him but as I did so he grabbed my wrist that I always kept bandaged. "You wanna know how I am real? Take a look at this!" He swiftly unraveled my bandages despite my protests and revealed the crest branded on my wrist that I had been hiding. At first I was only surprised that he knew what was under the bandages. But then he held out his own wrist to mine to expose the same exact marking. As the identical crests were brought together they glowed to life with a mysterious red radiance. "See? We're brothers! Well…I mean not literally…but we're bound by this crest! Ya see…a while back you casted a spell that released me. For a while I was still stuck trailing behind you…but I grew stronger and more powerful! And I separated myself from you…so now I'm my own person! Hooray for me!" he cheered jovially.

I blinked and attempted to process everything that was occurring. Could this boy be…the curse? Perhaps he was not a hallucination after all. "How do you know all of that? How'd you know what was underneath my bandages? I…I don't understand. I really am cursed…" The boy cocked his head to the side in bewilderment. My mind raced with the chilling thoughts of the cursed spell.

"Curse? Ouch, that hurt! It's more like a….like a blessing! See? Flesh!" he held up his arms and rubbed them against me. I spun myself around in the opposite direction to avoid his awkward touch. "Sheeesh! You act like you don't even know me!" he yelled.

I scoffed audibly and rolled my eyes. "That's because I don't know you."

He raised a single eyebrow and shook his head. "Sure ya do! Take a look," he beckoned while grabbing me by the hand. The boy dragged me directly under the sun's rays and pointed toward the ground in front of me. "Notice something missing?"

I pondered for a moment and then finally flickered my eyes to where he was pointing, wondering why I even bothered listening to such a strange person. As my eyes lowered to the ground I did in fact notice something essential that was not there. Something that followed me where ever I went. I sharply breathed inward upon the realization.

"My shadow! It…it's gone!" I shouted nervously. The boy shook his head again this time with a smirk on his face.

"Nope, it's right here!" he replied while pointing toward himself. My eyes grew as wide as saucers as I stared at the boy indefinitely. It can't be…he can't be…yet it makes sense in a strange messed up way. Am I losing my mind or am I really talking to my own shadow? Muarim, I wish you were here to snap me out of this nightmare. "Don't look so sad, I'm here to help you now that I'm stronger. But I'm still getting used to this whole 'body' concept."

"How…how is that even possible? If you're my shadow then why aren't you…"

"Don't you pay attention? I told you that the spell you cast allowed me to separate from you. Pretty great, huh?"

I sighed heavily and folded my arms across my chest. "You mean the spell that almost killed me?" I snapped.

"Yeah that one!" he replied quickly but soon noticed the disapproval on my face and added, "I mean uh…sorry about that! But hey, no harm done!"

I narrowed my eyes in increasing displeasure. The memories of the horrific pain and being on the verge of death were haunting. I never would have survived if it weren't for Sothe for getting to me in time. I never would have made it to camp in time if Muarim hadn't been there to carry me like an infant and sprint as fast as a laguz could. The burning would have continued until my death if it hadn't been for Reyson singing the galdr of rebirth. The distant memories reminded me of the horrible suffering I had endured but it also made me long for my dear friend Sothe and Muarim more than anything.

"I thought I was going to die!" I hollered. "You have no idea what I went through and you have no idea what I'm going through right now! So please do me a favor and just leave!"

My shadow jumped at my sudden burst of anger. "Hey now, you got it all wrong! I see everything you see because we're connected! I know what's going and I'm here to help if you'll just let me."

Horrifying images of Muarim as a slave flashed across my eyes. I could still see the deep gashes running down his back and the blood dripping to the floor. What are they doing to him right now? Please don't hurt him anymore…please…

My knees buckled from underneath me and I fell limply to the earth. My arms hung droopily at my side. "Help me? You think you can help me? Please enlighten me!" I rebuked. He was silent for a moment. "I'm a mess…two days…two days is all I have! What can I possibly do in two days? TELL ME!"

The shadow sauntered closer to my side and placed one hand on my back. "We go to the cathedral and ask for the Apostle's help. It may take a while to get there but the holy guard can fly back here, if we leave now we should get there in time," he proposed. The Apostle…of course! Why hadn't I thought of that sooner? Laguz slavery was outlawed, I could have the crazy people prosecuted and I could save Muarim. Muarim would be okay…that was my main concern.

"Sanaki…yes…yes…she would help me for sure! I met her during the mad king's war! Your idea…it's actually pretty great!" I exclaimed with a new feeling of excitement taking over me.

"Well of course it's great! We just have to budget our time correctly. So what do you say?" he said.

For the first time that day I let myself smile. The feeling of the corners of my lips perking up almost seemed foreign. "I say hell yes! Let's do it!" I bellowed. My shadow grinned back at me as I began to get back on my feet.

"Then let's prepare for departure, brother!"

A seedling of hope began to sprout. With my path now lighting up, I actually started to believe that I really could stop the entire execution.