Ex Umbra Teaser #1

Enjoy the teaser!

“This sort of failure is simply beyond the scale of what we have come to expect from you, Dusk.”

The Council Shade hovered around the raised mat where the once active body rested. Like every other Council Shade, it was tied to the body of a person who was deemed so in touch with his or her own inner desires and self that they had been elevated to this state – a perpetual sleep, with the shadow the only remaining interaction with those who had yet to reach such a state of enlightenment. There were seven such Council Shades, one to travel with each of the clans, and together these Shades made all of the critical decisions concerning the lives of the Kagein. It was the duty of the leader of each clan to care for the Shade traveling with them, and Dusk had hoped that this conversation would have waited at least until they had all recovered from the night hike.

“I always said that such an untried person as you were far too young to bear the responsibilities and burdens for a clan, even one as small as the Raccoon,” it continued, the Shade’s tone more of a deep drone, humming in the back of Dusk’s head than an audible voice. “But we decided to take a chance with you. You proved to have a great amount of skill and drive, despite your liability.”

“With all due respect, Council Shade, please do not bring that up,” Dusk said, his own voice growing quiet with an undertone of rage. “Last night’s affair was heavy enough of a weight on me without being reminded of my sister’s kidnapping.”

The Shade stopped where it was, creeping up against a wall, in order to slide back down, decreasing its size back down to something that approximated a normal shadow. It halted on the ground in front of him.

“True enough. However, you will be brought to answer for this loss before the full Council when we reconvene at the meet when the moon is at its fullest. I suggest you think long and hard about what you will say. You are not the only one with something to prove, Dusk, but there may well be others more capable at it than you have demonstrated. You are dismissed.”

Dusk managed to leave the covered area of the Council Shade’s resting place, waiting until his shadow was well out of communicating distance before balling up his fists and letting out the slightest growl. Three people. One was almost expected, especially considering some of the weaker members of the clan. But losing three completely unrelated people was a major blow to the clan, particularly when you added to that the loss of Forest Shade yesterday. One mother, two hunters and one child. The child was fairly inconsequential since the little ones were more a drain on the clan’s resources than anything. But losing Forest Shade… Well, the clan would have to compensate for that loss somehow. Another hunter would either pick up the slack or they would eat less meat as a whole. Those were the only two real options, and Dusk really did not care which it took to keep the clan stable and the Council Shade off his back. They had another three days until they made it to the meet. He simply could not afford to have anything else go wrong, no matter how slight.