So these little origin stories don't always have to be about one person. Today, this little origin story is about the shadows, a small organization that "does what is supposed to be done," meaning they will do anything, including murder, to get their achievement. I will be focusing on a specific member in the group and his experiences as a shadow. I just hope I get more popular by the time I'm finished with this story...
My footsteps echo as I step on the cold pavement. We all move slowly, silently, and equally. When I signed up to be a shadow, or forced to be, they trained me "slowly but surely," they say. Today, we will be doing an execution of a young elf that was accused a witch. The courts prove her innocent, but you can't take chances. The vacant halls are filled with cobwebs, spiders, and other stuff i can't say, but we just pass them and we enter the echoing chamber. In a lace dress, there is a girl laying down on the table, hands folded, resting peacefully. To her right, there are some peasants tied up with bags over their heads.
"Wake the victim!" The ceremony has begun.
Some of the shadows advance and make her drink a vial of green liquid. they lift her up and bring her up to her feet.
She wakes.
The tallest shadow steps forward and takes her hand.
"Do not worry. You are safe."
The tall elf girl looks around the room, confused with what is happening.
Wake the witnesses!" He yells, and more shadows advance to reveal 3 people. A mother, a father, and a little boy.
"Are you the family of this young woman?"
Without hesitation, the mother says "yes."
"Good. We may proceed."
The little boy tries to ask her mother and father about what is happening, but the shadows give him a slap on the back to shut him up. He silences, and slumps against his mother's back.
"If we may. Today we will celebrate the passing of this young woman. As we all know, she was accused of being a witch."
We all nod our heads in agreement.
"Good. Of course she was proved innocent. But we do not believe this proclaim."
The family all gasp in horror.
"Yes. Today, we will show her mercy, and let her pass on to a new world."
The father yells in a burst of outrage. "So you're just gonna take our daughter?!" He starts to move into a fighting position, but shadows pin him down and they use a special technique to temporarily paralyze him. He falls to the ground in one move.
"Yes. Even though the world doesn't know it, she is a witch, and therefore must be punished."
The elf breaks free and tries to tackle the elder shadow, but I come up from behind and I inject the paralysis into her neck. It will paralyze her by slowing her heart rate. Soon she is sound asleep.
"If we may."
The shadows, including me, light up the candles that surround the table, where the young elf lies, asleep, helpless. As soon as the candles are lit, they drag the family to their feet and place them in between the candles.
"What are you going to do to us?"
"We are going to do what's right. Rhalabus Kanoral…"
We all start chanting the sacrificial ritual in the sacred language that has died long ago.
"Oh holy father. We give to you this being of your creation. She has been sinned by those of the earth, so we ask you to take her into your arms and purify her, like you do with all spirits. Let her be in peace as a being of pure energy in your afterlife, and let the family know that they have all of our condolences. Turn their souls into angels of pure peace, and let them live beyond what the common population believes him."
The candle wax starts to melt with great speed, pretty soon relinquishing the fire. But they keep rising, higher and higher, until they reach the top of the chamber. It swells over the sleeping body, almost touching her, taking her to the afterlife. But the family has to say their confessions first. As the candles shine brightly around the room, the mother says her confession.
"My beautiful daughter, you were the greatest thing that has been blessed on me. From the day you were born, I always wanted to hold on to you, to never let you go. But as you grew, I realized that I won't have you forever. But when your brother came by, he was also a blessing, to you and this family. I will always love you, even if I die with you."
"Good. Next confession."
The father goes next.
"When I first met your mother, she was my only angel I would worship. But when she announced that she was gonna have you, I doubted her decision. I always wanted it to be the two of us, living a simple life together. You broke the simplicity, and because of that, I wouldn't be here as I speak. I love you sweetkins."
The little boy seemed constipated, confused. But we can't move on until he reveals everything he knows about his sister.
"Well, I don't know where to start. I never got to know you when I was a baby, a small infant. But in the short amount of time we had together, I'd come to love you as a friend and a sister. Always remember that."
"Now we can proceed."
Everyone continues chanting. Surrounding me, there are figures watching me. Looking at every movement I do. Probably just an illusion. visions start to dance in the fire. I can make out a small village, a dirt road, a burning building, and an auction for slaves. At one point, she is in a slave camp being rescued by lean figures with robes. Almost like us.
As the ritual gets to a close, the fire starts to consume her, eat at her skin like it's some animal as the little boy watches, death in his little eyes. Finally, the fire encircles the family, rising up, until the fire dies out, and only the shadows are left.
We have completed the ritual.
The elder shadow walks away from the table, seared with ash, and makes his way out of the chamber, and into the silent corridor. The other shadows start to scrape the remains of the girl and her family into large clay pots, to be displayed in the hall of sacrifice. My job here is done. I back away from the shadows scraping the table and the floor around it and make my way down to my resting corridor. Once I am in the room, I close the door and take off my robe. It is a very deep shade of black with gold linings. The fabric is very soft, warm, and fireproof. I hang it on a hook that I installed and sit on the fabric I call a bed. Under my robe, all I really have is a loose shirt and shorts. Both white, ironically. I look around my vacant room, filled with space, endless possibilities for paintings, decorations, windows, and other stuff, but it is against the rule. We're not even allowed to look at our own reflection. We were always taught that every pure angel can't see the purest of light, and every pure demon can't be see the blackest darkness. We are what separates the light to the dark. We bring hope to a lost town. We bring honesty to a dishonest household. We make sure the angels don't fight over power. But I would always wonder: what would happen to me if I gave up life as a shadow? Will I be punished, or will they let me go? Never got to see the outside world though. I was raised here from a young child. I'm only a worshipper. I'm not a scout, a shadow that gathers information from the surface so we can fix the situation at hand.
So that's all I do. Wear a robe, pray in a foreign language, heal what has been broken. Being lucky to not be the sacrifice, I watch hundreds of innocent lives taken by the hands of the shadows. But enough of that. Today, I have to discuss important matters with a deadly assassin and convince him to take up the job. I enter another empty chamber, but it is much smaller than the chamber of sacrifice. There is a young man sitting on a chair, with a robe behind his back. Behind him, there are shadows standing holding his possessions. Not much. Only a sword, some shurikens, and a small handbag. I sit in front, suitcase in hand.
"So , I heard you are famous for your assassinations, hence the name Silent Shadow. I have a task for you."
"What is it? Make the case interesting. I don't have all day."
I slide him a file.
"This has all the information you need."
I inform him about king Roarcher and what he has to do.
"Take this."
A ragged figure appears behind me beholds me a tattered brown suitcase. The items inside the case vary on what the task is. I slide it across the table, where he takes the case and examines the inside materials.
"In the case, it has everything you need to make this a successful murder."
I stand up and leave the chamber, leaving just him a and the shadows. Now, I will need to report to the elder shadow about our little ritual. I meet him a little dungeon, candles at every window. He motions me to kneel down, in his presence.
"How did the convincing go?"
I respond without any hesitation, "It was successful, elder shadow.."
"Good. Now, I must talk to you about something."
"What is your problem, elder shadow?"
"12 hours ago, you stepped out of your work line and you slightly disrupted the sacrificial ritual."
"My apologies, elder shadow."
"Now, my child, what do we say to all recruits?"
"Shadows are a reflection of yourself of another world. If you disturb the shadow, your spirit will also be disturbed. The purity of light is what creates a shadow. God has placed you on the Earth to purify the shadows of the damned and send them up as angels. Never step out of line, for you might disturb the form of your shadow."
"Good. What you did caused an anomaly, putting you at risk at exposure of Hades. Hades consumes the evil in your shadow, keeping you safe from harms way."
"I understand, elder shadow."
"Good. Now, I will give you a single warning. Never step out of line, or you make take your own soul. Our job is to sacrifice the soldiers of Hell, and turn them into defenders of Heaven. But we do not sacrifice ourselves, for we are the purifiers."
"Yes, elder shadow."
"You are now dismissed, my child."
I nod my head and leave in silence.
As I walk down the corridor, I start to take more things into question, like who I am or if I'm even human. You never see your own reflection, and the other shadows all have their faces masked up by the hoods. The closest I've ever been to the outside was when I had to escort a group of newly promoted scouts who have not seen the gates that separates the light from the darkness. I transition over to the side and I pull a lever that pulls down the gate. The chains squeak and croak as the gates lower and the light starts creeping light was blinding, horrible to look at. I don't know how the common folk can live with that. As they walk up the steps, I start to see their faces. One of them was an old man with gray hair and long wrinkles. The other man was a tall blonde. The third one was a little girl with long black hair. When they enter the common world, I pull the lever down to close the gates, never to be seen by the eyes of a common shadow again. Almost like heaven. Only god lets the pure in, and banishes the broken to the depths of hell. Before I return to my chamber, I visit the hall of records, where they keep all historical findings. Bones, books, ashes, anything. I pass the ashes of the girl we burned and head straight for the library. The shelves look untouched for years. No one really goes down here. I pick out a book that reads "The Deepest Fears of Human Society." I take out the book and I start reading, which I am grateful that I can do.
"The human society has always been afraid to face their fears. Death, heights, darkness, and more. Many have confessed that they fear man itself. Fear that man's own creation will destroy all that we have. Others have said that they are afraid of death, that they have no idea what happens to you when you give up your life, naturally or forced. But the most common fear is darkness. The fear of calling to your parents, saying that there is a monster is under your bed or in your closet."
The elder shadow always said that The commons don't believe in fear, of darkness. I continue reading.
"They always cry, confused with what is happening. But fear can't just appear out of nowhere. Fear is made by man. Fear is a vision made by humans, all they ever hated or despised into one bad nightmare. It has existed for generations, from mind to another. it cannot be extinguished. It cannot be sealed. It shall be a primary source of nightmare fuel. So be warned. You cannot control your fear. It will control you."
That small paragraph is enough to chill me a little bit. I close the book and put it back in the shelf. I leave the hall of records and walk to the city hall where we are having our official meeting to discuss classified information. I line up with other men and women in robes as we circle around the elder shadow, who is standing on a pedestal in the middle of the hall. We all crouch on our knees and we all pray in unison to the elder.
"My children. Arise!"
We all rise at the same time, almost like we are the same person.
"Do we all know why we are here?"
"Yes, elder shadow," we all say.
"Good. Now, there will be changes in how we do things. Our identities are being revealed to the outside world. We need to make some decisions."
He motions us to sit, and we all kneel and sit on two legs.
"We need to vote. Now, who wants to change their position? Answer truly."
A few shadows, including me, all rise.
"Be warned, my children. You cannot turn back. Make your final choice now."
We all keep standing.
"If you want to transition to the inner circles of the organization, please rise up."
The inner circles is the core of the shadows. In the circles, your quarters are relocated, your rank is moved up, and you get regular meetings with the elder shadow daily. But it comes as a cost. To enter the circles, you must go through a series of tests, both physical and mental, to see if you are worthy of the power, and if you have the strength to thrive within the circle. Very few stand. I can only make out the small lean figures walking over to another part of the room. I let them continue their choosing, and I try to remember my first lesson in training. But the early bird doesn't always get the worm.