chapter 9: Who really Am I

Zorro expressed his satisfaction through clapping as he stood up. The time has arrived for us to sleep.

Our upcoming day requires total energy so I cannot accept sluggishness from anyone tomorrow.

Everyone felt a curious feeling of ease after eating while agreeing with Zorro's suggestion to rest.

Each of them selected a spot and settled down while enveloped in their cloak coverings.

The dying fire lowered itself to a glowing state which produced dancing shadows upon the campsite.

But Kael's eyes remained open.

She focused on their breathing patterns which grew slower until they became deep.

Orin moved his body once before completely stopping his movement. Zorro let out a small snore.

Kael lifted her blanket from her body with careful movements so she would not make any noise.

She moved through the tent silently while her fingers produced almost no audible noise on the ground surface.

She carefully passed between a dry twig as she kept her breathing shallow and her heart rate steady.

Night air embraced Kael with familiar warmth as she stepped outside. She took deliberate movements while walking beyond the camp border until she found a location that kept enough distance from where they slept.

The clearing appeared with its edges lined by whispering grasses. The endless sky showed itself to her like an endless and mesmerizing wonder.

A soft breeze blew through the night sky where stars appeared as scattered gems. The moon's silver illumination left every object within the landscape softly transformed into peaceful tones.

Kael held her head backward to gaze at the night sky. From the huge stretch of space to the silent night noises to the living feeling of darkness Kael recognized her smallness.

A distant force drew her even though she remained aware of her insignificance.

Who was she? Really?

History remembers only the disappearance of the Gojo Clan since it ceased to exist.

She was all that remained. But why? She survived what killed numerous others yet her existence failed to find any reasonable explanation.

Her continued existence led people to speak about mysterious prophecies.

Her fingers curled into fists.

She required concrete evidence to demonstrate her status as the Shadow Chosen.

Tonight.

She brought in deep air while she calmed her thoughts.

She had studied ancient techniques that described how to activate innate powers that had been lost through time.

She would attempt to discover her abilities even without knowing whether she possessed them.

She performed the First Method by Void Focus by making her eyes shut and clearing her thoughts to merge with the darkness.

The more she focused on the techniques the more her mind grew agitated. Her thoughts wouldn't still.

She attempted to recite ancient chants that emerged from forgotten antiquity manuscripts of elemental teachings. Nothing.

She performed the Shadow Dance by moving elegantly like a night breeze while replicating the movements attributed to shadow wielders.

Although it came naturally to her there was no magical energy released.

Under the fourth method, she performed The Star Alignment by following a traditional ritual that required moonlight positioning.

The quickening of her heart rhythm did not produce any magical reactions.

She exhaled through the Fifth Method while invoking the abyss's power within her. Silence.

She used the Blood Rite by lightly biting her thumb before her blood dropped onto the earth. Not even a tremor.

Her frustration built. Was it all a lie? Did she belong to the vast group of survivors who lacked any unique characteristics?

She took a deep breath as she gazed at the floor in front of her while contemplating surrender.

And then—

The Seventh Method – The Will of Shadows.

A pulse.

A flicker at the edge of her vision.

Her breathing stopped when she noticed the shadows near her feet moving. Her power controlled these shadows because her actions did not generate this movement.

Her will was the only force behind this phenomenon.

A chill ran up her spine.

It worked.

Kael's heart grew full of subdued joy at this moment. It worked. The shadows had briefly reacted to her presence during that moment. Proof, at last.

Determined, she tried again. The same method, the same intent. She focused all her strength on making the surrounding darkness shift.

Nothing.

Her fingers tightened while her jaw muscles became tense. Again, she focused.

Again, nothing happened. The shadows stayed motionless while they seemed to laugh at her attempts.

A sigh escaped her lips. Maybe it had been a fluke. She might have been attempting the task with excessive effort.

She remained unaware that other individuals faced the same situation.

Zorro became instantly alert when Kael departed from the tent. Many years of street survival had trained him to wake up easily at any time.

He instantly jumped to his feet after noticing her absence when he turned toward the empty spot next to him.

His keen eyes searched the entire camp but she remained absent.

When he first saw her absence he thought she needed to use the bathroom. The increasing time without Kael's presence brought a sense of discomfort to his mind.

The man moved through the camp as he surveyed the entire area while remaining completely quiet.

He noticed her standing by herself under moonlight as her outline blended with the darkness.

Zorro folded his arms, watching.

A small voice inside him desired to accept Kael as the Shadow Chosen. He concealed his doubt within himself about her identity.

The prophecy existed as an ancient text which contained multiple distorted truths along with lost historical information.

Could she truly be the one? She seemed to be a girl who pursued a history that existed only in the past.

He sighed. The fact remained that she had joined their group regardless of whether the Shadow Chosen was her destiny or not. She was his friend. He decided to end his night at this point.

He chose to leave her undisturbed. She needed to discover whatever she sought independently.

He returned to the camp as she remained lying beneath the stars.

Tiredness saturated Kael's body as she blew out a deep breath. She pulled herself down to the grass where she positioned her head against the smooth surface of the rock.

A serene stillness covered the area while the wind's soft breath mixed with the stream's flowing water.

She gazed at the starry sky while her thoughts churned about her true identity and her destiny.

She grew impatient, so she selected a stone and then launched it into the water.

She waited for the splash.

It never came.

Her brow furrowed. She sat up, alert, listening.

Nothing.

The water continued flowing silently after her stone struck against its surface. A chilling sensation traveled from her neck to her feet.

She moved with care toward the rushing water. The moon's faint light only revealed the edge of the water.

That's when she saw it.

The black horse.

The dark horse remained partially concealed among bushes as it watched her.

The horse stared at her with eyes that possessed an awareness beyond mere interest.

A sudden intake of breath escaped from Kael's lungs.