23

"ROOK, YOU HAVE BEEN given many chances to prove to us that you were working for the good of all Umbra. Do you deny that?"

I kneel before the Shadow Council. The only light in the room is shining on me. It impairs my vision, not that the shadows surrounding me are much to look at.

"I do not deny that I was given a chance at a new life as an Umbra. I also do not deny that I was given plenty of chances to prove I could keep up with the Way of the Shadow. And I am currently working on it."

A feminine shadow hisses from somewhere to my right. "‘Working on it'? Is this all a game to you? We asked that you find souls to feed on, but you have been feeding off of the rations of souls that the other Umbra bring. You've not contributed anything further since the last time we spoke. We can't allow you to feed for free much longer. Tell us what you are planning."

I rise to my feet, hovering above the ground. "I am currently targeting four humans. I've had difficulty with one, as the fears inside her are deeply hidden. While I don't want to give up on her, I have turned my attention to the other three. But there's been a slight complication."

There's no complication. Everything is how I planned it. However, the Council has many elders who are not yet accepting of the way our powers could be used.

"I will deplete the life source of one for myself, then bring the life source of the others to help replenish what I have taken from the Hall of Umbra."

"Rook," the deep voice of the Council leader bellows. "That is not a plan. That is an ideal. What are you actively doing now?"

"I've trapped them in their nightmares, from which they will never wake up. As soon as they die in their sleep, I will take their life forces."

It seems so simple to say it this way, as if it were the easiest of tasks. I don't dare mention the deal I made with Atlas. He's not going to win this time, anyway. It's hardly a problem.

The Council whisper amongst themselves. Then one of the members sighs.

"You have one more chance to get this right, Rook. We don't take kindly to freeloaders. Have you not seen the punishments we have meted out to those who have committed lesser crimes than you?"

"Yes, Your Highest Ones."

"You have until the next official Council meeting to bring us the fruits of your labor. Otherwise, we will have to cut you off from our life sources, and you will fade into oblivion. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I bow my head.

"Meeting adjourned."

I'm cast back onto the roof of the city building I was resting on before the meeting was called.

My heart, or what remains of it , is heavy. I hate that I must do this—take broken hearts and nightmares, and feed off them.

It's far too painful to do. The human part of me remembers how it feels to be broken.

I want to be human again.

But there's no going back.

If I don't bring back life energy for the Hall of Shadows, I will soon be exiled. I will be cast into the oblivion, where I will soon fade from existence altogether. I don't have any room for error.

I can't fail.