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“Thank you all for coming. Given what we’re facing, I thought it was important to have our Defense instructor here,” Headmistress Blackthorn said, waving a hand toward Fotheringham. “I also felt it might be wise to have input from our Alchemy professor.” She nodded at Duggan. “Considering Lydrel Zowen has somehow defied the laws of nature and managed to unnaturally prolong his life.”
“I apologize for interrupting, ma’am,” Kasi said, “but in the case of shadow-beasts, it isn’t quite as unnatural as you might believe.”
“Even in their heyday, shadow-beasts did not live for hundreds of years, Ms. Smith.”
“No,” Kasi agreed, “but they also did not live their lives in the Shadow Realm.”
“Explain.”
“The Shadow Realm has healing properties for shadow-beasts and their mates. If one is wounded, they could step into the Shadow Realm for healing. It shouldn’t stop age progression, but since no one has lived in the Shadow Realm indefinitely, there’s no way to be certain.
“Shadow-kittens have always been born there, but in order to have a physical form, shadow-beasts were always born outside it. According to everything I’ve read, too much time spent in the Shadow Realmcould make a shadow-beast fade to nothing but shadows.
“If Zowen has been inside the Shadow Realm these last two hundred years, there is literally no telling how it has changed his physiology. What I can say for certain, though, is that it did not age him as it should have.”
“So we’re dealing with someone who truly has managed to slow their aging process,” Professor Duggan looked intrigued.
“Yes, but he did it by giving up his physical body for hundreds of years,” I pointed out.
“Exactly,” Kasi said. “There was no guarantee, after so long in the shadows, that he’d be able to regain any of his physical form.”
“If you looked closely, his wings werewrong,” Elliot said. “They were made entirely of shadows.”
Elli-Dragon,Miki-Leopard cheered, startling me since her silence had led me to believe she’d fallen asleep.
“I’m not sure if it’s because of the time spent in the Shadow Realm, like Kasi’s talking about, or if it’s because of his chameleon nature,” Elliot continued, the small quirk of his lips the only indication that he’d heard Miki at all. “There’s always the danger that a chameleon dragon will take on too much of whatever he or she is near and lose whoever they were originally. It’s not exactly thembecomingsomething else, so much as them forgetting who they were in the first place, until the only thing they’re able to project is a fake version of themselves. They buy into theillusion.”
“So his wings might still be physical?” Professor Diaz asked.
Elliot shrugged. “There’s really no way to know without touching them, but if I had to make a guess, I’d say they’re a mix of both. I saw the way they moved and how they yanked him back into the shadows last spring and that isnotthe way dragon wings work.”
“All right, let’s talk about the dream-walking,” Headmistress Blackthorn said. “Ms. Mitchell, please explain what happened last night.”
I spent quite some time explaining what had happened the night before, then at their request, walked them through the events of that afternoon.
“I can’t decide if it happened the minute we walked into the simulationroom or if we somehow went there later, but I think we ended up in the Shadow Realm somehow or maybe a pocket of it.” I glanced over at Kasi, who nodded.
“That would make sense,” she said. “It would explain why I couldn’t sense you, if you were in some pocket that wasn’t really in this worldorthe Shadow Realm, but somewhere in between the two.”
I went on to explain everything that happened from that point forward.
The entire time, I was struggling to focus on what I was saying and not laugh at Miki-Leopard’s increasingly unhelpful contributions, particularly since for some reason, she felt compelled to compare the two dragons in our life.
Mad-Dragon scary.
Elli-Dragon sexy.
Mad-Dragon ugly wings.
Elli-Dragon yummy wings.
Mad-Dragon mean.
Elli-Dragon sweet.
Clearly Miki-Leopard was sharing her comments withElli-Dragonas well since his shoulders were like an earthquake before I got halfway through my summation of events, shaking in amusement. I couldn’t even look at him or I’d lose it.
When I got to the point where I was describing the fight between us and Zowen in the simulation that afternoon, Miki-Leopardfinallygot off the topic of Elli-Dragon in favor of pointing out her and Shadow’s bravery.
