The Thought Keepers: Ability

Chapter 26: A Whisper in the Dark

The drop was as quick and fast as the cold wind that slapped me in the face. I could distantly see my mother land on both feet in the middle of a desolated street, cracking the asphalt beneath her. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall.

I landed on my feet as well, but not through any decision of mine. I was finding that my mother was right. Thinking was useless when it came to shadow powers. The less I thought, the better.

"Very good," she praised. It might've been the first praise I received from her, ever.

I looked around, feeling small in the shadow of empty buildings. Midnight District was a true ghost town, where the impression of a lively marketplace still lingered.  

"How is it that we're here? Aren't Shades barred from entering Forum?" I asked, wondering how it was that we could even stand to be in the Unnormal Marketplace at all. I had entered Common District because of my half-human blood, but my mother was not the same. There were wards that kept shadows out of Forum as far as I knew. 

"Not in Midnight District," she answered, beginning to walk forward. I ran to keep up. Her strides were long, her booted feet silent. 

"Once, Forum was a lively place. It was the center of all commerce, a safe haven for Unnormals to escape to. And then the Sixth Shadow War happened, and everything changed."

I had heard something similar from Celia in the Penumbra, as she educated me on the similarities between Unnormals and Shades. The devastation extended to both sides, but disproportionately affected Shades. So what left Forum unable to be reopened?

"What happened?" I asked. In my visions, Midnight District always looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster, or maybe the wrath of an ancient goddess. I knew the Shadow Wars were bad, but the desolation of the town spoke to much more than endless fighting. 

"The Queen attempted to free the Shades here. That didn't go well, and so she destroyed the entire district, killing thousands with the snap of her fingers," Mom told me. She sounded wistful. She sounded as if she had been there, but I dared not ask more for fear that she would stop offering information so freely.

"By now, I'm sure you know that the Queen can turn people to dust with a wave of her hand," she continued. I shuddered, remembering the way Celia faded into nothing, leaving behind an iridescent pile of ashes.

"She is a Murder Shade, the kind that can kill without remorse. Most of us can, because we are not human, but she does it with a particular ease. Even Tenebris has a code of ethics, but she follows none. She doesn't care enough to follow the laws set before her."

"I thought she was a Charmer Shade?" I said, remembering what Celia had told me about herself and the Queen. Not only that, but her very presence oozed charm and intrigue. She pulled you in before you even noticed, luring you to do her bidding, to follow her every word exactly. I had to stop myself from doing as much for the five minutes I spoke with her. 

"Many mistake her for being one. She has the qualities of a Charmer Shade, but she is without a doubt a Murder. Her powers of persuasion are a mystery, one that I have been trying to solve for years. Somehow, she's been able to maintain multiple shadow powers, something impossible for previous rulers of Tenebris."

I had never heard of Murder Shades, but from the way my mother described them, they sounded worse than Jokers. Shades that killed without remorse; I could only imagine how terrifying it would be to encounter them. And I had been so bold as to challenge Queen Zara openly, not knowing that she could kill me without blinking. 

"Aren't you curious as to what kind of Shade I am?" My mother asked, turning to eye me. I wish she wouldn't. Her eyes were frightful, and a constant reminder of the depth of her lies.