Tarous, стр. 56
“Can you sense which shadow you need to choose?”
“Yes.”
“Then guide me through it.”
I stepped into the shadow and we reappeared in the realm of Cupid. Once again I was exposed to the uniqueness of his realm.
“Follow those simple steps and you will be ok.”
“Then how do I just send a single body part through a shadow?”
He looked around and noticed one of the chairs was casting a decent shadow. Looking at the shadow we had just appeared from he stuck his hand into it.
“It is similar, but easier since your body remains here, essentially anchoring you in place. You picture the shadow you want to appear from and simply put your arm into the shadow and it reappears out of the other shadow.”
Which was exactly what he did as his arm reappeared out of the other shadow and waved at us.
“It is easier if you can see the shadow. With time you will naturally get better at this and you will not only be able to sense different shadows in other locations, but you will even be able to sense which shadows different people are near. The only downside is that you can’t travel through moving shadows. So if someone is jogging you are unable to appear in their shadow. If they stop even for a second, then you can use that shadow as a portal.”
I reflected on that. It seemed the ability to spy on someone through the shadows depended on the ability to sense where they were.
“How can I increase my ability to sense?”
“Years and years of meditation and practice. In time you will develop a natural feel for the shadows. Eventually you will just know, like a sixth sense.”
So that’s what we did. We spent over a year, nonstop, either traveling through the shadows or meditating. I even meditated within the shadow realm. I did not need to sleep so we spent every second training. My shadow assured me that I was progressing with amazing speed. I think he was just trying to suck up to me. He knew me so well.
We didn’t stop there. After the first two years, we started practicing all my other powers. There weren’t very many other shadow powers. The whole ‘create a bubble of impenetrable darkness’ thing was easy. It was basically separating myself in a bubble of space that was all my own. Spying became easier as I got a better feel for the shadows. It helped me to keep an eye on everyone.
I often used it to check on Nyxra. I really missed her. I had asked Cupid about bringing her to see me, but humans couldn’t survive in his world, only gods. Occasionally when Cupid was away I would sneak through the shadows and visit her. My trips were secret and short as it would be dangerous for both of us if anyone found out that I was on earth rather than safely tucked away in Cupid’s realm.
Bob and Nyxra were doing well although they both missed me. The alliance with the monster realm improved over time. Bob had been heavily involved in negotiations on the witch side and strongly pushed for peace. He monitored the portal activity and occasionally hunted down rogue monsters, as long as they were not the dead kind.
Edward took an active role in hunting down any monsters that managed to sneak out into the realm and spent a lot of time at the school making connections with the witches. When I heard about his time at the school, I wondered how much of that was just to avoid his future wife-to-be. All Incubus were strictly prevented from using the portal, although their female counterpart Succubus were still allowed under heavy surveillance. Edward’s actions showed the council that he was serious about peace between the realms and went a long way towards mending the rift between witches and monsters.
Nyxra eventually became the head of the witch’s counsel. Working closely with Edward and Bob, she was shifting the school into a hub of inter-realm activity. Classes were moved to the other side of the school away from the portals, and areas near the portals became sectioned off for trade, travel, and communication between the realms.
At this point only the monsters travelled through the portals, but as witches and monsters became more accustomed to being around each other there were talks of witches venturing into the monster realm. With protection, of course. There were also discussions around starting a monster-witch exchange student program.
Chapter 32
After three years I had fully mastered the powers of shadow. I still had a long way to go with the powers of death. Cupid and Cronus still refused to allow me to return to earth. I felt three years was long enough, but according to them three years was a blink of an eye for a god.
I did learn one trick that Cupid and Cronus had not been aware of previously. My shadow armor that I had created when I first received the power of the God of Shadow allowed me to instantly travel without going through another shadow. I could be in the middle of a sun and still be able to travel by shadows.
Unlike Cupid, who was constantly gone for months at a time, my shadow always stayed by my side. Unfortunately, my shadow knew as much about the powers of death as I did. We would ask questions of Cupid whenever he stopped by, which was rare. He was occasionally helpful, but the real help came from Cronus.
Although we were not in Cronus’s realm, he constantly visited us. I felt like he was trying to keep an eye on me. He was a lot of help with learning the powers of death, even though he sighed a lot. He had worked with the past three gods of death and had