They believe we’re humans like them, not monsters. We’re still okay!
I smile brightly. “We’re just surveying the problem. We’re, ah, professional surveyors. It’s totally safe. For us—you should be careful not to get too close to the shadowy areas.”
“Yes!” Mirage adds in a cheerful tone. “Gotta have the knowhow to make sure the shadows don’t gulp you down!”
Raze straightens up from where the creature he tackled is now a haze of essence wisping away into the air and scowls at Mirage. I’m not sure talking that way is going to set the humans at ease.
The girl removes her braid from her mouth long enough to ask, “If you’re professionals, shouldn’t you be wearing, like, uniforms or something?”
I can come up with an answer to that. “Well, you see, to survey properly, we can’t disturb the natural environment too much. So we need to look like any regular person passing by.”
That makes sense, doesn’t it? The teens still look skeptical, but neither of them tells me I’m wrong.
Unfortunately, a two-legged lizard as tall as I am chooses that moment to burst out of the gloom and screech at the humans.
The girl nearly chokes on her braid before shrieking. The boy grabs her—I can’t tell whether to protect her or to use her as a human shield.
“There really are monsters! Fuck!” He scrambles backward, dragging her with him. “What are we going to do?”
The lizard tilts its head in a birdlike way, which seems fitting because right then I notice the line of feathers poking out along its spine all the way down its back. It opens its mouth to reveal double rows of impressive fangs, but it doesn’t charge forward.
I think this one might be friendly. Is that expression supposed to be a grin?
I wave to the retreating teens. “It’s okay! It doesn’t seem angry. If it gets dangerous, we can deal with it!”
The boy just sputters out a longer string of curses. Panic rolls off both him and the girl in a stomach-turningly briny wave.
The urge wells up inside me to comfort them—to summon the fond light I know I can gather within me and show them that not everything that comes out of the shadows is scary.
But what if Rollick’s right? What if I only scare them more with my powers rather than reassuring them?
In a matter of seconds, it doesn’t matter anyway. The two teens bolt off between the scattered houses of the fringes. The pounding of their footsteps fades away.
The feathered lizard blinks and then trots back into the shadows. Apparently it was only looking for a quick glimpse of the world outside.
Raze offers me a crooked smile. “I guess you might as well get back to work?”
Well, there’s no one around to freak out about my glow now.
I reach for the affectionate feelings inside me again, but it’s harder to unearth them from beneath the new heap ofdiscomfort and uncertainty. As I concentrate on welcoming the shadows and encouraging them to settle down, my men stalk along the edge of the gloom around me.
They each dispatch one more creature while I work. Most of the warped beasts still have rampaging on the mind.
My glow spreads into the murky haze. The murkiness retreats, leaving only filmier shadows. But they’re still shadowy, not the full sunlight that’s beaming down on me here just a few steps away.
Why can’t I convince the gloom to let go completely? Why is it so convinced it needs to be here?
What’s so amazing about this city anyway that even the shadow realm itself wants a piece?
I extend my supernatural light as far as I can until my legs wobble under me. The old aches splinter up through my ankles. When I adjust my stance, my head swims with dizziness.
Mirage grasps my shoulder. “Hey, Rainbow. No crashing on us.”
“She’s tired,” Raze says, and slashes through a flying horned beetle that’s about ten times bigger than any insect has a right to be. “She’s putting all her energy into calming the shadows. So many of these warped creatures are still coming through, though.”
Hail peers past the lightened patch of city to the thicker sludge beyond. “You’d think the rift would run out eventually.”
“Not if it’s making more.” My stomach knots, and I draw myself up straighter. “I can keep going.”
