1. Abi

IN WHICH ABI OSPAK ATTENDS HER FIRST DAY OF WORK IN HER NEW PROMOTION, SHARES HER LUNCH, AND MEETS A FRIEND

"Deep breaths, Abi, deep breaths." Her hushed words echoed through the chamber that led up to the Lady's Sepulcher, skittering along the walls and dissipating over the lake. 1

Even after years of visiting her goddess weekly, entering the chamber where she floated on the glassy surface of the water still took Abi's breath every time. The ceiling was at least 200 feet high, and the ground was almost entirely covered in the smooth stillness of the aquifer. A thin strip of shore ringed it, where she and her fellow guards would make their rounds.

Visitors viewed the Lady from the mezzanine level, specifically designed so they could look down on their Lady's floating form as she slept. Abi had only set foot down there four times—once at her shifting ceremony, a coming of age rite where each child in Sanctuary presented their shifted form to their Goddess, during her Dedication to the Lady, during her initiation into the guards, and finally when she'd been stationed at the door and had needed to ask one of the Sanctum guards a question.

For years Abi had worked for this promotion. At twenty-three, she was the youngest Shade ever to guard the Lady's resting place, and if she had her way, it was a post she'd occupy for years to come.2 Her hand kept straying to the new knot on her uniform's shoulder, an indicator of her elevated position as a guard for the inner sanctum. She'd tied her curly white hair back in a tight bun, but knew that by lunch time, she would likely already be surrounded in a halo of escapees.3

Abi's tunnel spit her out on the same level as their Goddess, so she only saw her in profile, though the proximity only emphasized how large she was. Their Goddess appeared to be a teenager, but she was at least the height of three grown men. For not the first time, Abi wondered how she'd gotten inside the chamber; she couldn't imagine their Goddess crawling down any of the cramped passages that led to the pool.

The cavern was lit by the glow of lunula, the bioluminescent algae charged with the Lady's magic, that allowed her people to change their forms.4 Abi's snowy owl form had shifted her sleep schedule when she'd chosen it. She now preferred keeping a nocturnal schedule and had trouble if she needed to sleep during the night. She rarely tired during night shifts, so when the night position had opened, she'd jumped at the opportunity.

As a child, she'd visited the Lady every week. She'd always been a little scared of the shades that lived here full time, their entire lives spent bathed in the Lady's aura. Specifically created to guard their Lady full-time, they were affected by the Lady's magic significantly less than other peoples, but their seclusion lent them an air of mystery; they spent nearly their entire lives underground.

In her years as a guard, she'd worked with several shades, but they'd all been standoffish, and had never worked with her for longer than an hour or so. The few she'd met had spent most of their time blending with shadows and only speaking when required. Now, she'd have a shade for her partner and would spend her entire day within their domain. She was awed, honored, and more than a little intimidated.

After her final tests and an orientation tour in the early evening, they'd released her for a meal break. She clutched her lunch basket to her chest, the meal her mother affectionately packed nestled within. Her mother didn't make her lunch every day—she was a grown woman—but she knew it was Abi's first day, and she'd always tried to celebrate life's victories.

Smiling to herself, Abi wondered what her mother might've packed. A sandwich or hand-pie? A wee ceramic of soup? Her mother ran a bakery, so a treat was a foregone conclusion. There was sure to be some sort of baked good.

Settling down on a rock at the edge of the aquifer, Abi crossed her legs and opened the top of her lunch basket. A folded piece of paper sat atop her neatly packed food, and she took it out to read.

Abi dearest,

We are so proud of you. You're making your dreams come true and fulfilling our charge in the most important way possible. We know you'll guard our Lady to the best of your ability, as you've done for years. I've packed a few extra treats to share. We hope you are having a wonderful first day (night) and can't wait to hear about your first shift!

All our love,

Mum and Pops

Smiling, Abi tucked the note back into her lunchbasket. Each of her mother's small gestures always felt like a warm hug, even when she was alone.

Looking around, the cavern was entirely unoccupied. She was due to meet her new partner here after her lunch break, so she'd decided to eat here rather than in the break area. She'd rather not be late, and it gave her some downtime to spend with her Goddess. For years, she'd regarded the Lady as something of an older sister rather than a mother figure like most people did. She just appeared so young, but that had only made her feel more accessible to Abi growing up. She'd taken to conversing with the Lady as if she were a friend or older sister and hadn't ever really stopped.

"You're going to be seeing a lot more of me," Abi said, digging through her basket to discover a wrapped hand pie, a small salad, some berries, and a stack of cookies. "I've gotten a promotion! I'm one of your personal guards now, just like I always told you I'd be. I didn't ask for you to intervene because that seemed like favoritism, but if you did anyway, thank you.

"I'm supposed to share these cookies with co-workers, but the only other person I anticipate seeing today is my partner, who is a shade ... I suppose I can share with them, but I'm not even certain if shades eat cookies—"

"Oh, we do!" said a smooth voice to her left.

Abi jumped at the sound. Dropping the package of cookies, she whipped her head around to search the shadows. The darkness thickened until it coalesced into a humanoid form. Wisps of shadow rose from the shade's shoulders and the darkness clung to them, reluctant to let go. Their eyes glowed the same color as lunula only an inch or two above Abi's own. Like many shades, their body seemed to shift and change as she watched, one second, they'd have broad shoulders and a tiny waist, the next they'd be rounder like Abi. Upon seeing Abi's reaction, they gasped, and their hands flew to cover their mouth.

"Oh my Goddess, I didn't mean to scare you! I'm sorry I seem to have made you have a snackcident! I forget it can be startling sometimes!" The shade, presumably her partner, floated over to Abi, forgoing the appearance of walking that some shades affected, and picked up the packet of cookies. "You must be Abi, I'm Senka."

Senka held out an amorphous limb that settled into the shape of a hand as their features solidified. Abi grasped it for a firm handshake and took the packet back, smiling. "I am, it's nice to meet you. And no harm done. If you fancy one, my mum sent cookies. She runs a bakery in town, so they are quite good, as long as you like lemon-lavender."

"Lemon-lavender? I wouldn't know, I've never tried lavender flavored anything!" they said, swaying to the side in a way that seemed curious and excited. Senka settled down next to her, their form fully solid as they did so. Wisps of shadow rose in a halo around their head, reminding Abi of what hair looked like underwater.

"Only one way to find out then, I suppose!" Abi said, holding them out for Senka. Several of the wisps brushed against her as they reached for a cookie.

"Sorry, they have a mind of their own if I'm not directly controlling them," Senka said with a grimace. Biting into a cookie, their glowing eyes opened wide, groaning in pleasure. "These are amazing!" they exclaimed around a mouthful of crumbs.

"They're my favorite. My mum packed my lunch, and she likes to—she doesn't pack my lunch every day, I just—" she said, heat creeping up from under her uniform collar.

Senka waved their hand dismissively. "If your mum wants to do something nice for you, let her, I say!" They shoved the rest of their cookie in their mouth and dusted their hands off on their ... legs? "Anyhow, I'm going to grab my lunch, I'll be back in a mo'!"

"In a mo'?" Abi whispered after they disappeared. A few bites later, Senka bled from the shadows and settled next to her on the shore.

"In a moment, it means," the shade said cheerfully. "So, what did she pack? I have a sandwich, I get lazy and don't pack much."

"I have a hand pie, but again, Mum packed, this isn't the norm. So, how long have you been stationed here?" she asked, raising her brows and tilting her head toward them. "Did you grow up, like, in here?"

Next to her, Senka giggled—a bubbly sound that felt easy and familiar. "Just over there," they waved toward where the shades lived, a series of caves beyond the Lady's Lake. "Actually, I only recently got my own place. It's kind of a big event for us. We don't have a lot of caverns, so sometimes it can take a while to get your own assigned. If I'd wanted to move out into Sanctuary, I could have a house or a flat, but it just sort of feels like ... the whole point of us is to be close to the Lady, and I like it here."

"Absolutely, it's nice down here, it's so peaceful." Abi took another bite, looking across the water, towards their glowing Goddess. "I don't know if you've ever seen me, but I come here a lot, just to talk to her. I wonder sometimes, how much she can hear us, how much she can touch the world."

"I've seen you, but it always seemed like a private time. We make an effort to give people as much privacy as we can while keeping Her safe. I'll show you this afternoon where you stand to keep an eye and still give people privacy. The design of the room is actually pretty smart. They've cut the caverns over the years to make sound bounce toward the Lady rather than around to other listeners." They pursed their midnight lips into a moue. "Sometimes, I think I see her eyes move, or the faintest smile. Keep an eye out, you might see what I mean."

The water lapping on the shore, mixed with the dripping stalactites provided a calming backdrop to the rest of their meal. When Senka was done, they floated rather than stood up, and brushed their hands on their legs again.

"Let me do a quick circuit, and then I'll show you the ropes!"

Abi nodded and packed her meal, tucking the rest of the packet of cookies into her uniform pocket to share later. She'd been so nervous when she entered the chamber, but between the calm she always felt when visiting the Lady and the easy conversation with Senka, she felt much better equipped.

The rest of Abi's day was spent learning her patrol, chatting with Senka in the brief moments when they passed one another, and whispering to the Lady. The Lady's Sepulcher had always been a haven of quiet and peace for her, but she developed a new appreciation for it on her circuit. Generally, she was to walk the perimeter of the lake, investigate any strange occurrences (there were none), help visitors, and keep an eye on things.

In nearly a thousand years, there had only been a few isolated incidents that required the guard's response. Angry citizens of Sanctuary had infiltrated and vandalized the walls. One had even infiltrated far enough to nearly poison the water before they were caught. So, while the possibility of a breach was low, it was never zero. A guard was one of the most prestigious positions in their community, and she intended to take it very seriously.

Over the course of the shift, she got to know her route, paying attention to the different nooks and crannies where someone might hide. She noted small cracks and crevices, which were often overlooked but would be perfect for concealing smaller shifted forms, like a mouse or lemming. Bird shifters, like herself, were another thing to think on. They could perch up high in the vaulted stone ceilings, so she made sure to keep an eye on the roof as well, her owl's keen eyesight making the task significantly easier.5

At the end of the day, Senka introduced her to their replacement, as their shifts were staggered to avoid lapses in patrols. After, Abi completed her final circuit and headed back to the guard's change room. There, she changed back into her everyday clothes and walked out into the pre-dawn morning beside the Lady's river. Water flowed from under the mountain and split into a bevy of distributary canals. The village of Sanctuary, designed by the Lady herself, nestled among them.

Abi retrieved her small boat from the docks, set off to the side of the cave mouth and looked out over the valley. In the dim, early morning light, lunula still lit the waters of the river, but any moment, they would wink out, registering the light of the sun. Thatched roof cottages rimmed the edges of the valley, shifting to larger stone buildings as she neared the central park and business district. Even having grown up in Sanctuary, it was breathtaking and entirely charming, due in large part to its divine design origins, and her people's fanatical dedication to retaining their Lady's vision.

Sanctuary was mostly still asleep, but as she paddled home in her little boat, she did pass a few early risers. She twisted and turned down the canals, the lunula in the water glowing until just before she arrived home. Tying up her boat, Abi took a deep breath of the daybreak air and headed inside her small cottage to sleep through the day. Her new shift would present some difficulties for her when it came to seeing her friends, but she had the distinct feeling that, given the chance, she and Senka could become quite close.

Puttering about her house, Abi made herself a cup of bedtime tea and smiled. Many of the Guards she'd worked with in the past had been a bit more laissez-faire about their Duty to the Lady. She understood, in part. Hundreds of years with little to do had allowed them to grow complacent. The shades, however, still took their duties very seriously.

The fact that Senka was a guard in the Lady's Sepulcher meant that they must care at least as much as she did, if not more. The competition for Abi's position was fierce, but she couldn't imagine how much more intense it would've been among a people created specifically to guard the Lady. It was a wonder that anyone else at all guarded her, but in the unlikely event that they needed to evacuate her sleeping form, they'd need more corporeal people to carry her any distance.

Yes, she and Senka would get along quite well, she thought as she drifted off to sleep, her bed's thick curtains pulled to dim the room. She could see a future where they might become bosom friends for all their days, and that sounded lovely.6

1.I've always thought it odd that the Shades of Sanctuary call this a Sepulcher, as the Lady is decidedly not dead. I suppose when one rests for a millennium, you ought not complain when people name things as if you are dead?

2.Readers may note I switch between Shade and shade throughout this text. When capitalized, Shade refers to those members of Sanctuary who have reached their majority and have pledged their lives to the Duty of protecting our Lady. When not capitalized, shade refers to the people, shadow monsters (a term they favor) specifically created to live under the mountain with Her and be the last line of defense in Her protection. The moniker Shade was taken for the community after the people, a kind of honorary induction into their ranks.

3.Most residents of Sanctuary have white hair, my understanding is that it is a common mutation that happens in utero as a result of constant exposure to the Lady's magic. Non-humans don't always inherit the mutation, though some acquire other interesting mutations not seen outside of the Lady's Bubble, for example, Sigfinn, whom we meet later in this story, is bioluminescent whereas other Fish-kin are not.

4.Generally, the humans of Sanctuary use their magic subconsciously. They have a much more intuitive relationship with their magic than people from the Compact of Nations. As such, we have been able to teach each other a great deal about the different methodologies. Many of the non-human residents of Sanctuary have some level of magic, though none are lunologists, except for the rare case of individuals that also have human parentage.

5.While her owl form was useful for surveying the cavern from above, Abi spent most of her shifts in her human form, to better help and communicate with visitors and other guards.

6.Senka uses they/them pronouns, as do many shades. The malleable nature of their bodies means that they don't have a biological sex. While many identify more strongly with one gender, and fashion their bodies and pronouns accordingly, the majority prefer to use non-binary pronouns and allow their forms to shift as they feel.