The Crimson Fang
Chapter 3 - The Mirror of Shadow-Walking

The bright morning sun was pouring in through the window, as Joseph sat on his bed, waiting for the mission to begin. He had already gotten fully dressed in the clothes that were laid out for him. He found the clothes to be strange, as they were nothing like what he was accustomed to wearing. As he sat there thinking about this, there was a knock at the door. He walked over and opened it, to replace Ami standing there, also dressed in strange clothes. She’s pretty cute in that outfit; he could not help but notice. When she saw him, she made a sound, like a squeak, and looked at the floor, blushing. She pointed towards the end of the hall, where King Artemus was waiting. It seemed as though the other three were not yet prepared, as the king stood alone. Joseph and Ami walked to join him. “Good morning, you two!” He greeted them with a smile. “I trust you slept well?” “Yes, your majesty. That was the most comfortable bed I have ever had the pleasure to rest on,” Joseph replied. Ami just nodded. Kind Artemus laughed. “Ami, would you mind waking the other three? I would like to get going as soon as possible.” She nodded again and headed off to each of the other rooms.

Once the rest of the Fang had gathered, King Artemus led them to a secret room on the lower floor of the castle. Inside, there was an object that looked like a mirror, but the similarities ended there. Not only was the image in the mirror moving, sort of in a wavy pattern, but the image displayed in it continuously changed. Every five seconds, by Sakura’s count, the mirror showed a completely different location. “This,” King Artemus started, “is the Mirror of Shadow-Walking. The Ancients who sealed the Altros for the first time, millennia ago, created it as a means to travel great distances in no time at all. It was extremely useful during the Great War, when we needed to move from one side of the world to the other, in order to prevent widespread destruction. There are points all across the world with connections to the Mirror. We call them ‘Shadow Conduits.’ They are fairly easy to identify, as they all show this room in their ‘reflection’.” He seemed to be enjoying giving his explanation. “We don’t have any conduits near our actual destination, so we will have to walk a ways. Back in the days of the Ancients, we possessed the knowledge to Shadow-Walk, but the knowledge of many abilities was lost with them. When we still possessed the knowledge, Crimson Nobles could travel between any shadows in the world, just by thinking of their destination!

“Geoffrey, would you mind carrying this pack?” King Artemus handed Geoff an oversized pack, which he slung over his shoulder. “It possesses the clothing that we will be changing into, once we have left human territory.” Draken and Joseph both turned and looked at each other, confused. “Human territory?” The Fang had never come in contact with humans before. “Yes. This is why you are all wearing these strange clothes. We own properties in most human territories. This allows us to ensure that our conduits remain untouched. It also allows us to use the conduits without any risk of raising suspicion. The third use of this is that the properties serve as a sort of headquarters, where we can stay during extended missions.” “Your Majesty, how do we guarantee that the Shadow Conduits are remaining untouched?” Sakura raised the question. “We guarantee this by having them guarded. We have humans living in the houses that we own, acting as guardians and caretakers. There are human families that serve us. They swear the service of themselves and their descendants, and in return, when they are ready, we give them the choice.” “Choice?” Joseph asked this. “The choice to join us or not.”

“We never turn anyone who has not made the choice to turn. It may surprise you, but there are some that choose not to be turned. There are many reasons to decline our gift. Some feel that they have lived a fulfilled life, and that they can die happy. Some have had their loved ones torn from them, and they wish to join them when their time comes, rather than to live on without them. Others simply do not wish to undergo the changing process. There have some been rare cases, the candidate has wanted to undergo the turning, but has not earned the right to. It is usually something extreme, such as they have murdered for no reason, which is against our tenets. Well, it is time to go!”

King Artemus turned and faced the Mirror of Shadow-Walking. This time, the reflection stayed constant and solid. It appeared to be a cellar of some sort. “Joseph, would you mind going first? Just walk right into the Mirror.” He gestured to the surface of the Mirror. Joseph nodded and walked to the mirrors. He hesitated, only for a moment, and then walked into the surface. The image began to wave again as he entered. He felt as if he as being pulled a great distance. His stomach knotted up, as he felt a sensation much like falling. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the sensation vanished. He looked around the dark cellar, allowing his night-sight to activate. The cellar was fairly dirty, unfit for his king. There was dust covering everything, even the glowing Mirror that lay behind him. Barrels were stacked in a corner. Along the wall there were several racks holding weapons. The dust was so thick, that Joseph left footsteps as he walked away from the Mirror. Whoever was acting as the sworn caretaker of this property was clearly shirking their duties. He heard footsteps moving across the floor in the next room. They approached the door. Joseph, acting on instinct, drew his blade and hid in the darkness by the door. As the door opened, he grabbed the intruder, and placed his blade at its throat. He looked into the eyes of a frightened girl, the first human he had ever seen. She was beautiful, for a human. She seemed to be around 20 years of age, which Joseph knew, from his studies, meant that she had reached adulthood, by human standards. She had blue hair that hung just passed her shoulders. Her frightened green eyes were staring into the darkness, at a pair of glowing crimson eyes, which were staring back into hers.

A voice from behind Joseph suddenly broke through the silence. “Joseph, would you mind releasing Alice?” He turned and saw Kind Artemus and Draken standing by the Mirror. “How long have you been there?” Draken laughed. “Long enough to see you make an ass of yourself, and scare this poor woman to death.” A voice chimed in. “It is alright, my lords. I was merely startled, as all I could see was a pair of frightening eyes. They were beautiful, but frightening. Wouldst thou replace it acceptable, were I to set a torch alight?” King Artemus smiled, a smile that Alice could not see. “Of course, my dear. Take care that it is not covered in dust. We wouldn’t want it to go up in flames. Joseph, give her a hand, would you?” Alice was not accustomed to the manner in which the Crimson Nobles spoke. She felt a torch placed in her hand, and heard a snap as a spark lit up near the pair of eyes that had frightened her. There was then a ball of flame in the hand that had snapped, which lit up the face of a young man, who looked no older than she was. She was still staring at him, when the flame moved to her torch, setting it ablaze. “I apologize for his eyes, my dear.” King Artemus laughed. “They are meant to strike fear into a target in pitch black darkness.” “They certainly work,” she laughed.

As the laughter came to an end, three more figures came through the Mirror. “Thou art certainly surrounded by many retainers, my lord. Is something important happening, perchance?” King Artemus looked at Alice with a serious face. “Something of the utmost importance, my dear. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what it is. However, I do need you to keep it a secret from your father. I would not want to cause him to worry over it. Shall we go upstairs, then? I wish to be informed of the current situation.

The group was sitting upstairs, in a room that appeared to be furnished to welcome guests, listening to Alice explain the surrounding area, as well as what was happening. Suddenly, some heavy footsteps stumbled their way into the room. “Alice!” a booming voice, belonging to the owner of the footsteps echoed through the room. The owner, a man standing six feet tall, had broad shoulders and limbs the size of tree trunks. “Why didst thou fail to inform me that we were entertaining guests?” “They only just arrived, father,” She replied. “That is no excuse!” As he said these words, his hand raised into the air, and he struck his daughter. At least, it would have, had his arm not been caught in mid-swing. Everyone stared at Joseph, who had been standing behind King Artemus’ chair, and was now holding Alice’s father’s gargantuan arm in place. “Did you see or hear him move?” Draken asked Sakura. “No,” she replied. “I’m more impressed with the fact that he cleared that distance, as well as those obstacles.” “I would highly recommend you place your arm at your side,” Joseph ordered, “or this may get ugly.” “How the devil didst thou do that?” Joseph placed the arm at its owner’s side, and went to stand by his lord. “Alice, has this happened before?” King Artemus was looking directly into her eyes, which looked worried, when he asked this. “It happens often?” She nodded. He looked at Joseph, then back to Alice’s father. “David, as the king of the Crimson Nobles, I reserve the right to pass judgement as to whether or not you will be accepted into our ranks, once your term of service has been completed. That time is now. You have broken on of the tenets that have been laid before you. You shall never be welcomed as a Crimson Noble. A Crimson Noble never strikes a lady.” “She is no lady! She is my daughter!” King Artemus ignored him and continued. “Furthermore, a life that you should have never possessed shall end here. We saved your life the day you entered our service. We shall now take the life that we own back.” He turned to Joseph and nodded. David looked and Joseph and laughed. “What can this undersized waste of meat possibly do to me?” Joseph raised his hand and pointed a finger at his target, David’s chest. David began to feel warm. Sakura and Ami moved in front of Alice, to prevent her from seeing what was about to take place. Joseph’s fingertip lit up, and a beam of pure energy shot out of it, and into David’s chest. The last thing that David felt was a cold emptiness, as his heart ceased to beat. When Alice was allowed to look, her father was in a lifeless heap on the floor. For some reason, she couldn’t scream or cry.

Afterwards, once Geoff had carried the body of David upstairs to his bed, King Artemus spoke to Alice. “I am going to offer you a choice. This will be the most important decision you ever make. Do not make it lightly.” Alice nodded. She was prepared to hear the question. “Would you like to join the numbers of the Crimson Nobles? Or, would you continue serving us as you have?” She had been waiting her entire life for this. There was only one possible answer. “Yes.”