ShadowBound: The Need For Power

Liam went to turn his attention to his shadows.

Nyxie first.

Normally, he would exempt her from something like this. Not because she was weak, obviously, but because he did not want people knowing he had a dragon for a shadow. Aside from Galen, Ariana, and Mabel, no one knew of Nyxie’s existence in any meaningful sense, and he wanted it that way. The fewer people who knew about her, the fewer questions he had to endure. A Nyxarion was not a thing to casually display during a school assessment unless one enjoyed administrative attention, political concern, and terrified gossip.

But Nyxie had developed too much to ignore.

Shadow Memory changed things.

Her ability to move, observe, store impressions, and share them into his mind could give him knowledge of threats, terrain, and locations far faster than ordinary scouting. Her role would have to be free movement through Eldervale, secret and careful. She would need to avoid being caught by academy observers or anything within the realm that could react too strongly to her presence. If she caused a scene, the entire advantage vanished. But if she moved correctly, she could become his best source of information.

He wrote:

Nyxie = hidden free scout. Shadow Memory for threat/location/realm understanding. Do not expose unless necessary. Avoid observers.

A soft, smug presence stirred faintly through his shadow, as if Nyxie had sensed enough of the thought to approve.

Liam glanced down. "Do not get proud. Hidden means hidden."

The shadow at his feet rippled once.

It felt offended.

"Good," he said.

Then Smoke and Raven.

Their situation was easier. Smoke’s existence was already known after Nalim. Students and authorities had seen enough or heard enough to accept that Liam could summon a shadow wolf and use it for combat or sensing. Raven was different in species and appearance, more panther-like with raven-dark traits and wings, but she could be explained as another shadow beast if anyone pressed. She was not as explosive a secret as Nyxie. Her personality also carried a faint echo of Nyxie’s attitude, which Liam still found unnecessary.

Smoke and Raven could scent, track, and scout primarily once things settled after arrival in Veyrhold.

Before that, however, he had a different use for them.

Sheila and Chris.

He wrote both names slowly.

Sheila needed to be found quickly if they were separated upon deployment. Not because she had to give every order herself, but because her position mattered. If she was missing too long, doubt would spread. If she arrived late after other groups had already formed around someone else, especially Chris, unnecessary problems would appear. Tracking her location would help prevent that.

Chris was simpler.

If Liam knew the academy as well as he thought he did, there was a possibility Chris would be placed with a decent number of students. Not obviously enough to seem like favoritism or a trap, but enough to create opportunity. If Chris rallied a group and reached Veyrhold before Sheila, or saved enough students during the arrival phase, he could use that as leverage later. He could question her leadership again, this time with action rather than argument.

Knowing where Chris was would prevent unnecessary rubbish.

He wrote:

Smoke/Raven initial marks: Sheila + Chris. Track locations. Priority: avoid separation-based leverage. Others found after.

Then he considered his weapons.

That part was not complicated. He would use his dual daggers and the longsword created by Grandpa Billy. The daggers suited close work, speed, and sudden movement. The sword offered reach, power, and the kind of familiar weight he trusted when a fight became less subtle. The annoyance was inspection. The academy would require approved personal weapons, meaning he would have to show them before entering Eldervale.

That might lead to questions.

The material used in the weapons was demon stone.

He stared at the note for a moment, expression flat.

"I do not feel like explaining that," he muttered.

He hoped he would not have to. Or if he did, he hoped whoever inspected them had enough sense to record approval and stop talking. That was unlikely, but hope was apparently something people used when reality was inconvenient.

For magic usage, he wrote less because the answer was the same as always.

Conserve Myst. Controlled bursts for mobility. Flame for clearing weak threats. Dark magic for scouting, concealment, restraint, and lethal response when necessary. Compression only when necessary. Avoid waste. Avoid showing full range unless survival demands it.

Simple.

Then came weather.

Liam leaned back in his chair, already irritated by a problem that had not happened yet.

If Eldervale had late-autumn weather or unstable cold conditions, he was going to hate every bit of it. The academy-issued field uniform would probably help, but probably was an offensive word where cold was concerned. He had poor tolerance for it, and Eldervale running behind Amthar in time made the first arrival even more annoying.

If they deployed before dawn in Amthar, and Eldervale was four to five hours behind, they could arrive in deeper night or an awkward pre-dawn period. That meant low light, worse visibility, colder air, and frightened students trying to organize themselves before the day properly began. Irritating. Very irritating.

But not entirely bad.

Dim conditions meant more shadows.

More shadows meant more options.

Liam wrote:

Time difference = likely darker arrival. Annoying. Advantage: shadows available.

He stared at the word annoying and considered underlining it, then decided that was petty.

He underlined it anyway.

His thoughts moved next to communication insignias.

Thion had said they could fail. That meant Liam would not trust them. Useful when working, dangerous if relied on completely. Backup plans mattered. Shadow scouting for him personally. Physical runners for the year. Meeting points. Carved marks on trees, stone, or walls. Signal stones if supplied. Fire signals only when safe, because light and heat could attract threats. Prearranged routes. Call-and-response for sound mimicry. If Sheila was smart, she would establish rally rules before deployment rather than wait until everyone was already scattered and frightened.

He wrote:

Backup comms: runners / meeting points / carved marks / signal stones / safe fire signals / call-response / shadow scouts. Insignias = useful, not trusted.

The emergency extraction marks did not comfort him either.

Liam saw them as last resorts with limitations, not guaranteed safety. Since extraction was not instant, the mark bought a chance. It did not guarantee survival. A student who activated one in a bad position could still be killed before retrieval. Worse, frightened students might use them too early.

Too many unnecessary extractions could damage the year’s score, weaken manpower, and shatter discipline. That meant extraction rules needed to be explained before deployment. When to use them. When not to. Who could approve if communication was possible. What to do during the delay after activation.

He wrote:

Extraction marks = chance, not safety. Explain discipline before deployment. Panic-use damages structure.

Then came the Warden.

Liam read the guide’s limited section again, though there was little useful detail beyond avoidance and warning. Most students would think: do not fight it.

Liam thought something else.

Do not let idiots find a reason to fight it.

That was the more important problem.

The Warden itself was not dangerous if avoided successfully. The danger came from students who might be reckless, proud, scared, or desperate enough to draw it closer. Asher was strong and proud, but Liam did not think he was stupid enough to ignore a direct academy warning without reason.

Asher liked battle, not suicide labeled as glory. The real danger would be mid-ranked students trying to prove themselves, Chris doing something reckless to regain reputation, or a scared group making too much noise, releasing too much Myst, or moving badly enough to draw the Warden through ignorance.

Liam was not tempted to fight it.

Not yet.

Curiosity existed in the back of his mind, quiet and unwelcome, but curiosity would not beat survival. The academy had named only the Warden directly and repeatedly warned them away from it. That told him enough. It was not there to be beaten by second-years. It was there to shape their movement, punish stupidity, and remind them that the realm did not exist for their courage.

He wrote:

Warden = avoidance threat. Main danger = idiots. Do not engage. Prevent provocation. Monitor Chris / reckless mid-ranks / panic groups.

He placed the writing material down and looked over the spread of parchment.

The desk had become a map of problems. Arrival. Regrouping. Movement. Veyrhold. Command structure. Objectives. Communication. Extraction. Threat patterns. Shadows. Weapons. Weather. Warden. Every section connected to another, and none of them had a clean answer. That was likely the point. The Bastion Assessment was not built to reward one brilliant move. It was built to punish weak systems until they broke or became stronger.

Liam’s eyes moved back to the line at the top.

Real Beginning = Arrival.

He sat there for a while, thinking.

By the time he finished arranging everything into cleaner piles, it was slightly past noon. The morning had gone without him noticing. He gathered the loose parchments, placed them in order, closed the Eldervale guide, and set his personal book on top of the notes. For a moment, he only stared at the stack.

Then he sighed.

His body had been still too long, but his mind felt like it had walked through half of Eldervale already. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, only intending to rest them for a short moment before deciding whether to train, eat, or find something warm.

The room was quiet.

His thoughts slowed.

And before he fully decided anything, Liam drifted into a light nap at his desk, the Bastion Assessment notes resting neatly beneath his hand.

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