Anna's Dream

Anna watched as her friends stepped through a portal of swirling vortex of darkness and into the gate room. She rushed over and pulled Thorki into a hug, squeezing him tight.

"I'm so happy you came!" she said.

"Bah! You know I wouldn't miss a chance to see how these lads work adamantine so well," he replied.

When she let go of Thokri, Barika pulled her into a hug.

"You stupid girl! What have I told you about being impulsive?" She asked.

"I'm sorry," Anna replied.

Barika let her go then sighed.

"What am I going to do with you, child?" she asked.

They smiled at each other before Anna went on to hug the rest of the party. Once she finished, she took a step back.

"So, how'd it go with Arthur?" she asked.

"He understood," Voekeer replied.

"That's good," she said.

"Now, would you mind telling me why you decided to become a scholar for the shadow kingdom?" he asked.

"Well, when I found out the darklings were the ones behind the sorceress, I knew we couldn't keep working for Arthur, and we still needed money, so when Master Gunthar said he'd give anything for me to work for him, I kind of took him up on it," she replied.

"Now it makes more sense. So, what's the pay?" he asked.

"Until I graduate from the academy, I get forty silver a month. After that, I'll get a hundred gold a month," she replied.

"Holy fuck! Why would they pay a scholar that much?" Elaine asked.

"Because I'm me," Anna replied.

"Fair enough," Elaine said.

"So, where's this huge library you mentioned?" Lyreen asked.

"I'll take you there after I show you your rooms," Anna replied.

"Come on then, let's get going!" Lyreen said.

"Alright, alright!" Anna replied.

She motioned for them to follow and then led them out of the gate room, nodding at the silent guards as she passed by. They stepped out into a well lit hallway where she set off at a brisk pace.

"I thought it'd be darker," Elaine said.

"Darklings are kind of like dwarves. They can see in the dark, but they usually have a little light so they can see colors," Anna replied.

Elaine looked around the hallway as they walked.

"What color?" she asked.

Anna gestured around with her hand.

"Well, there's black, and then there's black, oh, and some more black over there," she replied.

The necromancer glared at her.

"Sorry, I had to," Anna replied.

"So, why do they really have lights?" Lyreen asked.

"Not all darklings can see in the dark," Anna replied.

"If that's true, then the ancient texts were wrong," Elaine said.

"If you're talking about the stories where the darklings are shadow demons, then yes, they are completely wrong," Anna replied.

"Then what are they?" Elaine asked.

"Humans that were exposed to power from the plane of shadow," Anna replied.

"Are you certain, child?" Barika asked.

"Yep, they had me memorize the entire library catalog and then organize the books. I found some old ass history tomes that explained what happened," Anna replied.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Elaine grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to a stop.

"Spill it!" she said.

"The shadow kingdom was a far-flung colony of the old empire, and when the mage war broke out, they shut their gates to keep the fighting away. People from the empire kept trying to force the gates back open, and it ended up creating a tear that led into the shadow realms. They couldn't seal the tear, so they just lived with it, and over the generations, the humans here turned into darklings," Anna replied.

"Then why all of the wars?" Barika asked.

"The winters here are harsh, and it's hard to grow food. It's also poor in minerals and pretty much everything else," Anna replied.

Barika shook her head.

"Of course that's what it was. That's what it always is," she said.

"Aye," Thokri added.

"Honestly, if I hadn't heard of darklings before I met them, I would have thought they were just humans with weird ass magic," Anna replied.

"What exactly is the difference between humans and darklings then?" Elaine asked.

"Best I can tell, their mana cores changed over to shadow cores, and more of them have shadow power than humans have mana," Anna replied.

Elaine rubbed her chin, thinking something over.

"I wonder how the shadow power affects their organs?" Elaine asked.

"Please don't dissect anyone," Anna asked.

"I'm not that bad!" Elaine replied.

Everyone stared at her.

"Fuck you guys!" she said.

The others laughed, and she made a rude gesture at them. Anna led them away from the gate room all the way to the other side of the palace where the non-noble guests were housed.

"Alright, these six rooms are ours. That one's mine, so go ahead and pick the ones you want and drop your shit off," she said.

"Speaking of shit, where the fuck was all of yours? We checked your room, and it was empty," Voekeer replied.

"The Dark One had some of his men go and get it as soon as the dark counsel said you all could come here," Anna said.

"Seems like he was in a hurry to get you," Voekeer replied.

"Yeah, him and everyone else here," she said.

The others picked rooms and then deposited their belongings before returning to the hallway.

"Alright, I'll take you all to the library now. Master Gunthar wanted to meet you all," she said.

"Finally!" Lyreen replied.

They walked away from the guest rooms reaching the library quickly. She brought them inside and smirked as her friends gawked at the impressive collection. They went to the central table where she found Master Gunthar hard at work. The old man looked up at her and smiled when she neared.

"Ah, Miss Anna, I see that gate opening was a success. Tell me, how long did it take for you to charge the portal?" he asked.

"Twenty minutes," she replied.

"Remarkable!" he said.

He stood up, she introduced him to her friends, and he shook their hands one by one.

"Truly a pleasure to meet you all," he said.

"So, are we allowed to look around now?" Lyreen asked.

He laughed.

"Be my guests. Just ask one of the staff if you need anything," he replied.

Elaine grabbed one of the young men working at the table and pulled him to his feet.

"It's your lucky day," she said.

"It is?" he asked.

"Yes, now move your ass," she replied.

She dragged the man off with Lyreen following close behind them.

"I'm not sure if I should be jealous or worried," Master Gunthar said.

"The lad'll be fine," Thokri replied.

"I do hope so," Master Gunthar said.

"Does that offer apply to me as well, sir?" Barika asked.

"Of course," he replied.

"Do you happen to have any historical texts written in common or old imperial? I'd like to learn more about the era when our people split," Barika asked.

"Ah yes, please follow me," he replied.

They walked off and she turned to the others.

"Want to go and check out the shadow forge?" she asked.

They nodded, and she led them out of the library and out of the palace. They stepped out into a cool gloomy day.

"How far were we transported?" Voekeer asked.

"About two thousand miles northwest," Anna replied.

"That's deep in the barrier mountains, right?" he asked.

"Aye," she replied.

They walked down a long path that led to the shadow forge. The building that contained the forge was massive and made from a black stone a large smokestack jutting up from the roof thick black belching smoke into the air.

The door to the forge was open and they stepped inside. The air was sweltering, and the sounds of hammers slamming against steel and adamantine filled the air. She walked over to a shirtless darkling who was working a piece of adamantine into a great sword. He looked up and grinned at her before turning around and placing the blade back into the forge. He then walked out from behind his anvil and held out his hand to Thokri.

"You must be her Da," he said.

Thokri paused for a moment and then grinned.

"Aye, that I am, lad," he replied.

They shook.

"Good to meet you, sir. My name's Ragnar, and I'm the royal forge master," he said.

"Good to meet ya, too. Name's Thokri," Thokri replied.

Ragnar then introduced himself to Voekeer, and the three men started to talk about swords. Anna smirked at them and then took Rose by the hand leading her back outside. Rose gave her a puzzled look which just caused Anna's grin to grow wider.

"I got a surprise for you!" she said.

Rose smiled at her, and they quickly scampered away from the forge, heading down a path that led away from the palace. After cutting through a rather bland-looking garden, they arrived at a large stone building covered in windows with a small iron fence around it.

They walked through the gate and made their way to the building where Anna pulled the door open and gently shoved Rose inside before hurrying after. She pulled the perplexed woman down a long hallway before reaching a room and bursting through the door. An older woman sat behind a desk. She had an annoyed look on her face until she saw who had interrupted her.

"Miss Anna, I see you were successful in bringing your companions here," the woman said.

"Yep," Anna replied.

"I take it this is the young woman you were asking about?" the woman asked.

"It is!" Anna replied.

The woman stood up and walked out from behind her desk.

"Well, let me have a look," she said.

Rose turned to Anna and gave her a fearful look.

"It's okay. She's a healer," Anna said.

Rose looked perplexed.

"Dr. Ashley can grow lost limbs back with her shadow casting," Anna added.

Rose's eyes went wide, and she turned to look at the doctor who smiled.

"Your sister told me about your injury. Would you let me take a look?" she asked.

Rose nodded and then opened her mouth. The doctor looked inside and then frowned.

"So, can you fix it?" Anna asked.

"Absolutely," Dr. Ashley replied.

She grabbed Rose's jaw and held her other hand up.

"Try to hold still. This might tingle a bit," she said.