These Shadows Remain Read Online Free Page B

recognizing we’re the shallow ones.”
    â€œWhat is the code of flesh and blood?” Santiago asked. He would never have asked a question of a stranger before. But being in the presence of the knight emboldened him. He heard in himself a voice he didn’t know, saying: “Don’t be afraid.”
    Santiago saw that his sister smiled proudly at him when he spoke up.
    *
    â€œI’ll tell you the code,” Cyrus said.
    When he answered he looked into the knight’s eyes.
    â€œAll people who come here.” Cyrus stressed the word ‘people.’ He made it sound like an absolute standard. “They must be confirmed in their humanity by the acknowledgement of love by others who have been confirmed human. Two people must speak lovingly, truly, of the other’s presence. They must be willing to vouch for that person. They must be willing to say this is human, not an image of the human, or an image of the other side of the human. How do we know? By the test of touch. By the test of love for this plane of existence. Each must stand acknowledged. Each must show they are limited by flesh and blood. This means they can change their minds but they can’t change their bodies.”
    Cyrus stared hard at Tomas. He saw the stricken look come over his face. The look was conflicted with feelings and thoughts.
    *
    Gabrielle and Santiago stood on either side of the knight and held his hands. Then they reached up with their free hands and arms and wrapped them around his arms. The three stood together. Though the castle grounds were illuminated by torches, darkness had come now and the grounds looked shadowed. In this half light, half shadow, the three looked from a distance as if they’d blended into one another, forming a protective circuit.
    Like one being . . . Three hearts, one spirit . . . The children a part of the knight, the knight a part of the children . . . Each becoming a part of a shield for the other . . .
    This was how it looked to Adina, who stood near the forge watching the odd exchange. She knew the knight had been heroic bringing the children here. Now it seemed that Cyrus – who had made himself leader of the castle through his demand for the code – was interrogating the knight and his wards.
    She watched on, curious. And she watched because there was something familiar to her about this knight.
    At her back the forge sparked. A shower of ashes fell. The forgers were working on weapons. Adina knew these weapons wouldn’t work against the toons. How she knew this, she didn’t know. But she was certain of it. She had been capable of wielding weapons herself and of sharpening a sword over this fire. Yet she had been at the battle with the toons and saw how the images and smoke, the mists and artful illusions, laughed and reformed. Nothing worked against shapeshifting power. She felt what the children had felt. Still the forgers worked on. They had to do something or succumb to the terror. This knight would help them and show them what to do.
    Adina stepped away from the forge fire and the raining ashes.
    *
    â€œWhy can’t you show me the insides of the castle?” The wizard’s voice sounded like sizzling meat on a hot-oiled skillet.
    The eyes skittered upwards away from the rage.
    â€œThere’s a protective screen against them.” One of the knights had interpreted the motions of the eyes. This knight was dressed almost entirely in black. Only the upside down mast on his tunic was white. “Someone has figured out how to put up a shield.”
    â€œHe’s done so.”
    The smoke blackened.
    â€œHe senses me. He’s finding his power again. He’s learning without me. Who’s teaching him?”
    The smoke billowed into a slate-grey cloud, and the cloud went still. Its transformations stopped. Everyone in the tent backed slowly away, their eyes never leaving the apparently immobile formation. This was the time when