This is an excerpt from my children's fantasy short story, "In the Shadow Realm." It's being published by Story Station in a few weeks and Beyond Centauri in July 2008. If you want to read the rest at that time, you can find it at http://www.viatouch.com/Learn/Storystation/Storystation_main.jsp or you can purchase a copy from http://www.genremall.com/zines.htm.
To read more about the conception of this story, check under the "In the Shadow Realm" news links on the home page.
IN THE SHADOW REALM
No sun dared shine in the Shadow Realm— the only light came from the weird reverse shadows cast by the trees. But my watch read 4:57 by the time I reached the castle, and I knew the sun would set about 6:00. Shadows disappear after sun down, and since I had taken my shadow’s place…I had to hurry!
A moat surrounded the castle, the water black like oil, with a rickety bridge leading across it. Did the king throw people in there he didn’t like? I gulped and closed my eyes, trying not to think of the nasty things that might be swimming in the moat as I stepped onto the bridge. Snap! I sipped and dangled from a broken board. I knew better than to look down, but I did anyway. A giant fish leaped out of the water, mouth opened wide. Screaming, I swung back onto the bridge just in time. I didn’t wait for the fish to try again. I scrambled across and collapsed on the coarse, black grass, gasping.
When I could breathe again, I opened my eyes and stared at a small wooden door covered with vines. It wasn’t locked; I peaked inside. The hallway looked empty, so I dashed towards the wall and flattened myself against it. I saw a flight of stairs and followed them until I found myself before a set of giant oak double doors, smooth and polished with silver worked into the handles. Holding my breath, I knocked. The sound rang through the corridor, but there was no response. I knocked again. Still nothing.
Crossing my fingers, I pushed open the doors. A long, narrow hall with a dark red carpet led up to a golden throne on a white marble stage. A lion’s head on top of the throne roared silently at me, its ruby eyes seeming to burn holes through my T-shirt. The rest of the room looked more like a dungeon than a palace. Nothing but gray stone walls and unpolished suits of armor, standing in rows. The black flames dancing in the carved-out fireplaces seemed to radiate cold rather than heat.
I made my way slowly down the red carpet, eyeing the armor. Something was wrong with it. For one thing, it was shaped funny, too tall and too skinny like the Mannerism art we were studying in history. And something made it seem…alive. I told myself I was imagining things, just being wussy.
I got to the throne and didn’t know what else to do, so I sat in it. All at once the armor sprang to life, coming at me with swords drawn. I leaped off the throne and tried to run, but the armor surrounded me. The faint sound of tapping came from behind me and I spun around to see a skinny man slinking up the stairs underneath the marble stage. He looked like a freak, ten feet tall and fuzzy as a late afternoon shadow. Then I realized the suits of armor weren’t moving on their own. Inside were people who looked stretched like taffy in a taffy maker. I raised my hand in front of me to protect myself and gasped when I saw it. I touched my arms, my legs, my face. I still felt the same, but I looked like the shadow people!
The king watched as the armor slowly closed in, their swords raised to kill.
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