Vengeance of the Shadows

Chapter 2

The Shadow Keeper that stood over me had stripes on his uniform; that was the first sign that this wasn't something I was going to be able to talk my way out of. Stripes meant authority, authority meant confidence, and confidence meant that smooth-talking was less likely to work. Other Shadow Keepers on the scene were making sure that people got out of the way and using whatever contraptions they had to try to subdue the Shadow - the first time I had ever seen it happening in person. But this guy had his back to the rather chaotic scene, his interest solely on me and the child that was still cowering in my arms.

He crouched down and took off his helmet, revealing a face far younger than I expected. He looked maybe a year or two younger than me, as though he should have been right at the start of his career, but the stripes on his uniform clearly showed that he held some position of authority. He had brown eyes and golden curls that were slightly flattened at the top of his head where the helmet had pressed down on them. His lips curved up into a smile which made his face look even younger than before, and lacked the intimidation that I had expected, to the point that I began to consider that maybe he would fall for my smooth-talking.

"What do we have here then?" he asked, reaching out a hand towards the young kid, and then locked eyes with me, smiling all the while. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you into custody for a while, Miss Hero."

Scratch the smooth-talking; I hadn't even been given a chance.

I scrambled myself up onto my elbows as the child grabbed the hand of the Shadow Keeper. He dusted her knees down gently to remove some of the dirt that she had accumulated in my attempt to save her, and then popped his hands on her shoulders.

"You had a bit of a scare, right?" he asked her. "Well, what we'll do now is sort everything out to get you back home, okay? And when you're a bit older, I have a feeling we might be looking at a star Shadow Recruit."

He pinched her nose, and the child who, up until this point, had been practically shivering with fear, rewarded him with a grin. He passed her off to another Shadow Keeper with a couple of whispered instructions, who seemed to have been waiting just a few steps back for an order. Then his attention came straight back to me, before I could even properly formulate a plan for running away.

"Do you know her name?"

"Sorry?"

He cocked his head to the side.

"The child that you just tackled to the floor. I thought you might know her. Maybe a family member?"

"Right." I shook my head, partly in answer, and partly to shake away the shock that I hadn't been immediately apprehended. "I don't know her at all. She just looked like she was...in danger."

I trailed off, looking back up at him to gauge his reaction, but I got nothing, just the same smile he seemed to have on his face the entire time. It made it infuriatingly difficult to tell whether he was falling for the persona I was trying to pull off, which was hopefully coming off as a totally innocent member of the public, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Well, no matter," he said breezily, getting up from his crouch and holding out his hand to me. "We'll be able to find her family somehow, but I do have some more questions for you, Miss Hero."

As I didn't have much choice, I accepted the proffered hand, not expecting his grip to remain strong even after I was on my feet. Before I could so much as question the hand-holding, I felt the cool metal of handcuffs slip onto my wrists. I hadn't even noticed him move. So much for my innocent persona.

"Just a matter of procedure," he said, his manner still friendly. "I'm sure you understand."

I nodded quickly, reminding myself not to make a face. As though I had any choice to not be understanding in this position.