The Shadow Chapter 9.

Chapter Nine

 

The Valley of the Wraiths.

 

Just beyond the skeleton, the path entered the valley proper. Aidan took a deep breath and walked on. For a few paces it felt very odd, as if the air itself was thick, like treacle. Then the feeling disappeared, and he found himself in the valley.

The Valley was cold, and the sun did not seem to shine into it at all. Taking no chances, Aidan kept in the deepest of the shadows. Nothing happened to worry him.

After about half a mile or so, he saw the smoke from a small fire in the middle of a flat piece of ground. He crept up, using all the skills he had practised in Barford. There were two people sitting near the fire. Silently, Aidan got close enough to see them in the dim light of the flames. To him, they looked like an ordinary man and woman.

The woman said, "Another of the children died today. It is very sad. I wish we could help them."

The man sighed.

"I know, my love, but unless we can get out of this cursed valley there is nothing we can do. The Wraiths are doomed."

They fell silent.

"Not Wraiths then," thought Aidan.

He stepped into the light. Immediately, the man leapt to his feet and pulled out a sword.

Aidan held up his hands.

"Whoa," he said quickly. "I am a friend and unarmed."

The man kept the sword pointed at Aidan’s chest.

"Who are you and, more importantly, how did you get into this valley? No-one has been able to do that for eighteen years."

The woman stayed seated, but Aidan could see that she had a long dagger ready to use.

"They call me The Shadow in Barford," said Aidan. "I am supposed to be very good at finding lost things."

The man gave a bitter laugh.

"Well, we are certainly lost, and you have definitely found us."

He lowered his sword.

"Please, won’t you join us? We do not have much to offer, but you are welcome to what we have."

"I heard you talking about the Wraiths. Are they about?" Aidan asked.

"No," said the woman. "They do not even like the light from this fire. Don’t worry though, they will not harm you. Despite everything you may have heard, they are actually a very peaceful and gentle people."

Aidan was surprised to hear her say that.

"Everything I have heard about them makes me wonder about that," he said.

The woman nodded.

"True, we humans have made them into some sort of horrible monsters. We have got to know them whilst we have been here. I can tell you the truth about them if you want to hear it."

Aidan nodded.

She began.

"The Wraiths do not write anything down, but they have storytellers who learn the old stories and re-tell them so their history is not forgotten.

"Many generations ago, the Dark Forest stretched from the mountains in the west to the end of the world in the east. It grew from the cold grass plains of the north, where the land of the Ice Queen began, to the hot deserts of the south, above the burning lands of the Fire Demon.

"The caves and deep, dark valleys of the mountains were the home of a race of beings that shunned the sunlight. They claimed to have begun in the shadows, and so they stayed in them.

"They didn't need to go out into the Dark Forest for a long time because the mountains provided plenty of space and food. Eventually their numbers increased so much that finding enough food did become a problem.

"They began to explore the Dark Forest.

"There were plenty of places under the trees where the shadows were deep and the sun did not reach. They found plenty of roots, fruits, herbs, and mushrooms, which they ate.

"They are a gentle, peace-loving people, so they did not come into conflict with the animals that lived in the forest. The wild boars, deer, bears, foxes, martens, wolves, and all the other woodland creatures soon lost their fear of these newcomers.

Then man appeared, sailing in from the west. Slowly but surely, these newcomers cleared the trees between the mountains and the Dark Forest, cutting off the shadow people from their original home.

"This did not really matter at first, as the humans were creatures of the light, and they tended to avoid the darkest parts of the mountains and the places in the trees where the sun did not shine. The shadow people knew about the humans. They watched from the shade and in the darkness of the night. The humans did not know about the creatures in the shadows, except for a vague feeling that they were being watched when they went into the Forest for firewood or for hunting.

"This was about to change.

"The shadow people were horrified to discover that there was an evil thing stalking the shady places where they lived. Everything it touched died. It stalked the darkness, spreading fear and destruction.

"The humans on the plain between the mountains and the forest were also affected by this evil creature. The shadow people watched in disbelief as two groups of humans fought and killed each other. The victorious army even went so far as to kill everyone in the losing side's village and burn the homes so completely that nothing remained except ashes.

"Watching from the edge of the Dark Forest, the shadow people saw another evil rise from the ashes. It made its way into the forest, destroying everything in its path. Soon it joined forces with the other creature, and between them they set out to wipe out all life. Wherever they went, everything died ,  even the very soil itself became lifeless.

"The shadow people decided that, as the evil beings were in the forest, they had no choice but to return to the mountain caves, which were their original home. This meant crossing the open plain between the edge of the forest and the mountains.

"The journey was difficult. They could only travel at night, and finding somewhere dark to hide during the day was difficult. Human villages were the only places where there was anywhere to hide. For the first time in their history, the shadow people came into close contact with people.

"The humans were already frightened by the ferocity of the attack by the soldiers. They had also seen and felt the destruction caused by the evil beings, so when shadowy creatures began appearing, they were even more nervous.

"They began to blame these shadowy things for anything and everything that went wrong. They called these shadows the Wraiths. They blamed the Wraiths if a fox got into the hens. When someone fell ill, it was the fault of the Wraiths. The fear of the soldiers and the evil beings became mixed up in people's minds, and so the Wraiths became the evil beings that stalked the night, stealing children. Seeing one guaranteed death.

"The poor Wraiths tried to explain to the people that they were only passing through and meant no harm, but they could not make themselves understood.

"Some of the Wraiths decided that they could not carry on with the journey across the human lands. They turned back and returned to the Dark Forest. The ones who decided to keep going called this the Great Sundering. The ones who went on had no idea if the returning ones survived.

"Eventually those who survived the journey across the plains reached the mountains. Thankfully, they went into the caves, vowing never to leave again. Generation after generation, they stayed in the deep dark, until even the light of the moon was too much for them.

"Those humans who did go into the mountains usually stayed out of the caves and dark valleys. They never met a Wraith, but the fear stayed with them. When they did go into the darkest places or the caves, they took torches with them. Without realising it, they often hurt the Wraiths with their lights. The Wraiths could not do anything about these humans. They had no weapons, nothing they could use to chase these people away.

"One day, however, a human went up into the mountains looking for the Wraiths. This was the witch of the Dark Forest, and she wanted to meet these evil Wraiths to see if they could be of any use to her. She never made light and never did anything to frighten or harm the Wraiths.

"To the delight of the Wraiths who watched her from the safety of their caves, they found that she could speak their language. In the end, their curiosity got the better of them, and one very brave Wraith answered the witch when she called a greeting into the darkness.

"The witch was interested in the herbs that grew in the lighter parts of the caves and valleys. She also wanted the different coloured clays and rocks from the caves. The Wraiths collected these for her. In return, she showed them how to use the darkness to make weapons. She taught them how to make bows and arrows. She showed them how to fashion knives and swords.

"Now the Wraiths had a way to defend themselves from the outlaws and smugglers, who were the only humans to go up into the mountains. The Wraiths were still a gentle, peace-loving people, so they only used their new-found weapons to defend themselves.

"The outlaws and smugglers soon learned to avoid the caves and dark valleys. The Wraiths only attacked under the cover of darkness, and what really frightened the humans was that when it became light, the Wraiths' arrows disappeared, as did the bodies of any Wraiths that the humans managed to kill.

"The Wraiths never found out the name of this witch. She stopped visiting after many years, and there was no more friendly contact with humans for many generations. Then, once again, a witch came to visit. This was Magalan. Like the first witch, she was interested in herbs and different rocks. The Wraiths were only too happy to collect these for her.

"Magalan did very little in return, except to teach them how to make a kind of cloth from the stems of one of the herbs. Wraiths had no need of clothing, so they never learned how to weave. This cloth, though, was not woven.

"Bundles of stems were placed on the flat floor of one cave and beaten flat with the ends of logs. More bundles were added at right angles to the first ones, and the beating was repeated. This was done until the stems fused together to make a fine cloth. It was hard work, but the finished product was perfect for the Wraiths. It kept out the light. They could cover themselves and go out in daylight.

"When the first Wraith used the cloth, he made another discovery. When he was covered from head to foot, he could no longer understand what Magalan was saying. She could not understand what he said to her. As soon as he removed the cowl that covered his head, then they could once again speak each other's language. The cloth not only kept out the light but also magic spells."

Aidan interrupted,

"Yes, my friend Emma found that when she sewed it together for my covering."

The woman carried on with her story.

"A hundred years passed until, one night, they were disturbed by a summons. They had no choice but to go to the royal palace of King Rolan. Magalan was back, and she needed their help.

"They brought her back to their caves as she ordered. Wraiths are honourable creatures that do not understand lies and deceit, so when Magalan told them that King Rolan was planning to clear them out of the mountains, they believed her.

"She ordered them to take over a town called Ingford. There, she had armour made for them. They lined it with the cloth so that they could go out in daylight.

"They chased the outlaws and smugglers out of the mountains. Magalan ordered them to attack various towns and drive the people away.

"By now, the Wraiths were very unhappy with the unpleasant things Magalan was asking them to do. They stripped the cloth from the suits of armour, bundled it up, and told Magalan that they were no longer going to do her bidding. They buried the suits of armour deep in the Dark Forest and came home.

"Magalan was very angry with them. Once here, she ordered the Wraiths to put the cloth into a cave ‘for safe keeping.’ They did as they were ordered.

"None of them could see any further use for the cloth. They had decided that they would never again leave their caves, so there was no use keeping the cloth with them.

"Magalan then put a spell on the entrance to the Wraiths’ valley, which meant that no-one could leave. The leader of the Wraiths heard Magalan say the spell and threw his dagger at her.

"He did not see if he managed to kill her. The spell took hold, and the Wraiths were trapped."

Aidan removed his hood and sat down. He stayed in the shadow as much as he could and kept the veil over his face.

"I did not expect to find people here," he said. "Baron Astel said that all humans had fled these mountains when the Wraiths began attacking the Borderlands."

"Baron Astel is still alive?" the man said in a surprised tone.

"Yes," said Aidan. "He is not well though. He never recovered from when Prince Rogan and his family were killed."

The woman cried out,

"Oh, Rogan, did you hear that? Astel is still alive."

"Rogan?" asked Aidan.

"Yes," said the man. He stood up and bowed.

"Prince Rogan and Princess Aidel, at your service."

Aidan was thoroughly confused.

"But everyone thinks that you are dead. Why have you stayed hidden for all these years?"

"Remember, we cannot leave the valley," replied Princess Aidel. "No one can. Not even the poor Wraiths."

Prince Rogan continued,

"She put a spell on my brother, Roban."

He stopped. "Is he still alive?"

"Oh yes," said Aidan. "And King Rolan is too."

"That is wonderful," exclaimed the Prince. "Magalan somehow stole my brother's brain and put it in a clockwork knight. I managed to defeat it and that broke the spell, so Roban was free. After that I was sent with Baron Astel to see if the Wraiths were attacking in the south."

He stopped and shook his head.

"I was very silly and made Astel take us the shortest way home instead of the safest."

"You weren’t to know," said Princess Aidel gently.

Prince Rogan gave a shrug and spoke again.

"Anyway, the Wraiths attacked us. They killed almost everyone, but before they could get to me, I set off all the fireworks. The light was too much for them. They fled.

"We attempted to flee as well, but Magalan was accompanied by humans. They captured us and brought us here to live with the Wraiths. The poor Wraiths have been slowly starving to death ever since. There is not enough food in the valley to feed them."

"Why do the Wraiths live in this valley?" asked Aidan.

"That is partly the fault of people like us," said Prince Rogan. "They don't call themselves Wraiths, by the way. That is our name for them. Their name translates as ‘The People.’

"Magalan drove them into this valley before she sealed it off. Part of the spell was that the Prince and I would stay the same age until we stepped outside the valley. So even if we were still here when the time was up, we could not leave," added Princess Aidel.

"I often wonder what happened to Magalan," said Prince Rogan. "We know that one of them threw his knife at her as she was casting the spell, but we do not know if it hit her."

"There is a woman’s body just outside the valley," said Aidan. "It could be her. There is a witch of the Dark Forest now, but she is not called Magalan. Actually, she was the one who sent me here."

"But how did you get into the valley? That is what I want to know," asked Princess Aidel.

Before he could answer, Aidan heard a peculiar high‑pitched whistle.

"Quick," said the Prince. "Put the fire out. That is Wopnik, the leader of the Wraiths."

Princess Aidel put a metal cover over the tiny flame.

Immediately the valley was totally dark.

"Even the stars do not shine here," whispered Princess Aidel.

Aidan put his head down. He pulled his hood on and kept very still.

He felt rather than saw a figure come into the campsite. It spoke in a strange language. The voice was quiet and low‑pitched.

"Wopnik tells me that there is a stranger in the valley. He is worried," said Prince Rogan.

The Prince and the Wraith talked for a while in this strange language. Then Prince Rogan said,

"I do not know what you are wearing, young man, but Wopnik tells me that he knows you are here, yet even he cannot see you. Take off your hood, please."

Aidan did as he was told. He heard a sharp intake of breath from the Wraith. It was followed by a long burst of speech.

"Bit hard to follow that," said Prince Rogan, "but I think he was saying that the only thing he knows of which can hide a human from him is the cloth ,  Citspal."

Aidan held out the veil.

"Here, give him this. It might be this Citspal stuff."

There was another burst of excited gabbling from Wopnik.

Prince Rogan sounded excited too.

"He says it is Citspal. He is very excited about it. I think he is trying to tell me something about the cloth."

There was more conversation between the Prince and Wopnik.

"By all that is wonderful," said the Prince. "This cloth not only hides you from his eyes, it is not affected by any spell. I had forgotten about that. That is how you managed to get into the valley. When you are covered in it, her spell