The shadow spy

He had to admit that he was wrong when two days later, when Clarine, deciding to change the scenery a little, took them both to visit a place of great beauty, the territory of the privileged rich where calm and serenity reigned gently. Clarine wore a long dress of classic cut woven in a silky fabric of a tone old pink, long sleeve, moderately puffed up, collar in loop and the whole inevitably supplemented by the enormous knot wisely attached to the back without forgetting obviously the beautiful hat with broad flowered edge which harmonized with the vivifying glare of her hair of life, The two boys for their part, wore light sets - short pants in light tone tightened at the waist by a belt and polo shirts of solid colors, azure blue agreeing wonderfully with his eyes for Kei and of a vermilion red for that of Miron, simply because this color liked him, the whole completed by moccasins of the same tone as their short pants.

Miron was astonished, not to say captivated, by the grandiose architecture of the mansions occupying the peaceful and attractive place. They all exuded with an intensely gentle force an impression of grandeur and permanence that defied the ages and modernity. Here, there was no need for magic or animation to impose itself with grandeur and remain master. Miron was particularly attracted to a residence that resembled a snow-white edifice composed of two parts, one singularly tall but narrow in outline, and the other of quite opposite measure; thus giving off a stunning and unusual contrast, delighting the view of any walker and fulfilling the elegance and repartee of the size.

"If I could afford it, this is where I'd live," thought the young mage, his eyes bright and envious; admiring the double doorway, engraved with protective spells and extraordinary mysteries.

"How beautiful," he murmured again looking at the building with a fascinated air almost dreamy when he felt the presence of the shadow that was following him or more precisely when he recognized its existence that was seriously disturbing him in a really privileged moment.

He turned his head in its direction and at first saw nothing, only a huge flowerbed of refined design and wonderfully maintained as one would expect in such a subliminal place when, narrowing his eyes, he managed to see the dark form that lurked behind a clump of purple flowers, a color that reminded him again of a bad memory. That of Dodgel and his sickeningly skeletal body.

The impression that the small black, discreet spy gave off was really a sickening sensation and quite disturbing, Miron had to admit it. He gave him an icy look filled with disdain and then turned away to continue the visit with his companions so endearing in this place exceptionally different from all others to the point of touching his heart.

They crossed a fairly wide alleyway largely lined with flowerless trees with very straight trunks and with thin leaves when Miron still felt the surprisingly conspicuous presence of the shadow that seemed to refuse to detach itself from his footsteps, even if only for a second, and he would even feel that for some reason that totally escaped him, his silent pursuer was gaining in power and darkness, which made his eyes narrow even more and caused him to display a marble face.

"Ah you want to play that? Well, I have the duty to make you understand that you have gone after the wrong monster."

The shadow for his part, did not imagine anything, or rather not much. He was only there to do a job for which he felt no enthusiasm. To follow a boy who certainly seemed at first sight rather powerful but finally! He had already come across countless of them of this kind, whose power and spirit he had tested by fighting and killing them. He had killed countless of them and had never regretted a single one. To him, they were all the same, some were strong, some claimed to be, some were unaware of it, but in the end, they were all the same, so forgettable and uninteresting, and most of all inferior to him, unable as usual to provide him with what he liked so much, entertainment. Only a few in his long and accomplished life had ever managed to interest him, to mark him and to awaken him, exceptional beings who possessed their own charm, their magic and their nature but all shared a common trait but not the least, a power bordering on the unreal. The greatest one who ever achieved such a feat and thus gained his eternal respect was the one who had ever defeated him and who had become his master. And it was the latter who had sent him, ordered him to follow and observe this child whose strange beauty was the only thing that really set him apart from the others.

"Would I ever be able to forgive you for what you asked me to do, dear master? You demanded such a degrading and debasing thing from me and I am doing all the same for you at this very moment in spite of everything so that you will never have to doubt either my affection or my loyalty. To ask me, precisely me, your best general, and of whom you more than anyone else are aware of the power and prestige to spy on a child with dark eyes and a body so fragile and still for a reason that you had omitted to specify to me, with will to what I conceived, but of which I am certain, would exceed all my understanding.

"Ah master, what had you made me do."

And wondering that for the umpteenth time, the shadow without really taking care of his steps or his path, passed under an arch of monumental stature and then without him realizing it yet was immobilized under this same arch, right in the middle. It took him a few seconds to understand what was happening to him, so sudden and extremely unusual was it . But when he did, he still refused to believe it. A magic, or to be more precise, a being had managed to stop him, to freeze him in this astonishing immobility. A being was capable of this prodigy. Certainly, to carry out this not very brilliant mission that his lord had consigned to him, he had parted with a great part of his body, and thus consequently of his powers. He could not decline the indefinable order of his boss to spy on this child that he already hated, but that did not force him to use his whole and so perfect body to do it. He was not going to stoop to giving more importance than he had to this insignificant duty. So why was he now standing there, motionless under this sumptuously beautiful vault, unable to make the slightest gesture, unable to tear himself away from this unknown power.

Then a few seconds later, waves of transparent but very real magic of a formidable intensity occurred and agitated all around the shadow, then everything mutated and he appeared right in front of him. The boy.

The shadow that by force of circumstance had taken shape, a round being from head to foot all in black except for the large bulging eyes of a faded blue, stood helplessly before the presence of the child he had to watch and who now looked at him with a sardonic face.

"How? When...?"

Miron laughed lightly.

"You remind me of all the beings I have known and fought, and defeated. For they, too, refused to believe a thing even though it was already breathtakingly obvious and unquestionable. In the end, you are all simply destined to be the same."

The spy did not believe his eyes nor his ears, he did not believe any of his senses besides, they all had to betray him in this unusual day so much what he lived today was out of the ordinary, especially at this moment. And this young mage who had to throw in his face what he had all his life thought of others. Now he was beginning to understand what they had always felt in front of him.

But the time had finally come to act and answer this emblem of strangeness and unbearable arrogance.

"That's well done. You're probably wondering..."

But Miron stopped the spy at once by amplifying considerably the magic pressure which maintained him with a negligent gesture of the hand, and which was however already at an appalling level. This last could not do anything except to open wide the mouth, overcome by the pain and the surprise.

"Shut up," ordered the young mage with his glass look, "I didn't ask you anything."

"I know," the spy admitted with difficulty as the shock of pain subsided to allow him to regain the use of his voice, "but I thought that's what you wanted to know."

"Not at all," Miron asserted, shaking his haughty head slightly, "I merely wish you to stop following me. Promise me that and I will set you free."

It was the spy's turn to shake his head, after a long stare at the person who was facing him and imprisoning him like no one ever did, not even his master, and even if he was only in this ugly and incomplete form.

"Wait! That's all you want from me! That I stop following you like this!"

"Yes."

"So you don't care who I am or why I do it?"

"You said it. Apart from the fact that I want to see you disappear from my environment, I am not interested in what you are, and the reason that your master has for having pushed you to carry out this pathetic and irritating mission.

"And who says I'm not my own master?"

Miron confirmed it with a careless gesture of his body added with a muffled sneer that said more than all the words.

Then he raised his head and gazed at the majestic rock arch.

"My good witch confided to me not an hour ago that there was a time, already distant and rather inconsistent, when only kings and all those who possessed royal blood ever had the right to pass under its vaults, vaults of unique beauty, as splendid as glorious that signified the greatness of their rank and power. But time in its inexorability had to pass, as well as inadvertently change the spirit of the people. So, as we speak, this law is no more. Thus, even the lowest creature such as yourself has the right to pass. This confounds me.

The young magician remained distant for a few seconds before pulling himself together.

"Anyway, I like this place. That something happened to touch my heart, wow. " And he accompanied these words with a lively gesture by bringing his hand to his chest where his heart was beating. "Then I will not allow anything or anyone to spoil a pleasure that has managed to penetrate my being. So, disappear so that I can return to immerse myself entirely in this contentment."

The general still found it hard to believe what Miron had just said, yet with an impassivity and sincerity that could not be questioned. It was then that he decided to confront him, to test this great power that his master had discovered in him and that had attracted him so much.

"If you really don't care about me, my beloved master, and everything we stand for, then I will change the way you see us.

Then the shadow stood up and sent out waves of dark magic from his body that spread and took possession of the entire vault and what it contained, imprisoning them together in this huge cage, so dark and seemingly indestructible resistance.

Miron looked around him without betraying the slightest emotion or panic, he only sketched a vague amused smile.

"Oh, so you are still able to produce such a prison in this so incomplete and ridiculous form that you wear, and still, while deeply entangled in the webs of my magic, a prison that even some repulsive mages I have known not long ago, alas, would not have been able to escape. I wonder," he added, reaching out to brush the dark bars of his unyielding dungeon, "what it would have been like if you had been in your full power."

"If it had, even you would not have borne it, young prodigy."

"There's that name again. But I'll probably never get rid of it in the end, given indeed what I am. However, I don't care about all that, because I tell you once again, what I want most right now is for you to disappear. And I am going to make sure that you finally do."