The Shadow Thief Read online

The Shadow Thief

  By K. L. Bauman

  Copyright 2013 K. L. Bauman

  Acknowlegments

  Thank you to my instructor, Kristi Collier from Institute of Children’s Literature, for helping write the first draft of this story. Your help was invaluable, and I enjoyed learning from you.

  A HUGE thank you to my Mom,sister, mother-in-law, and sisters-in law for reading and re-reading, looking for errors. I appreciate your long hours and support. Thanks to my dad for helping me keep my imagination young and for allowing me to have horses out on the farm. Thanks to my husband, Donald, for inspiring me to go after my dreams, even when it isn’t easy. Thanks to my two girls, Kira and Myah, for keeping me young and helping me have a child-like wonder about the world around me. (And thanks to Kira for inventing the wolfix!) Mostly, thanks to the Lord for giving me insight and understanding, and for being the first to forgive, even when I didn’t deserve it.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1 ~ New Born

  Chapter 2 ~ Two Years Later

  Chapter 3 ~ Discussion Over a Plate of Worms

  Chapter 4 ~ Inspiration

  Chapter 5 ~ Strange Encounters

  Chapter 6 ~ Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

  Chapter 7 ~ Elightening

  Chapter 8 ~ Becoming

  Chapter 9 ~ Kavalah

  Chapter 10 ~ Deadly Handshake

  Chapter 11 ~ The Secret Place

  Chapter 12 ~ Cage

  Chapter 13 ~ The Hunter

  Chapter 14 ~ “Nothing is Certain”

  Chapter 15 ~ Envy of the Elves

  Chapter 16 ~ Discovery

  Chapter 17 ~ The Dragon’s Tooth

  Chapter 18 ~ Three Magical Creatures

  Chapter 19 ~ A meeting at the Crossroads

  Chapter 20 ~ Song

  Chapter 21 ~ The Crystal Key

  Chapter 22 ~ The Beginning of the End

  Chapter 23 ~ The Fate’s Fury

  Chapter 24 ~ A Crash Course in Tree Hopping

  Chapter 25 ~ Secret Keepers

  Chapter 26 ~ Truth

  Chapter 27 ~ Unfathomable Reality

  Chapter 28 ~ Surprise

  Chapter 29 ~ Secret of the Sun’s Heart

  Chapter 30 ~ Apples and Old Friends

  Chapter 31 ~ Tomorrow Night

  Chapter 32 ~ Final Moments

  Chapter 33 ~ The Battle Begins

  Chapter 34 ~ Sibling Rivalry

  Chapter 35 ~ Belzac the Doon

  Chapter 36 ~ The Power of Forgiveness

  Chapter 37 ~ Echo’s Purpose

  Spiritual Specials

  About the Author

  Connect with the Author Online

  Chapter 1

  New Born

  Amazing how something so simple can be so beautiful! Echo thought. She watched the light of dawn sparkle against small orbs of water clinging to the jagged branches of the thunder trees. Tiny dew fairies moved inside the droplets, busy doing whatever it was that dew fairies did, their lives beginning with the formation of the dew and ending when the sun burned away their watery shields. Occasionally, one droplet would roll along a branch and join another as the fairies came together.

  Golden sunlight warmed the cool morning sky. The surrounding hills held a contrasting blue tint as misty silver snakes uncoiled from around them. The sweet scent of damp earth and grass filled Echo’s nostrils as she breathed deeply and followed her family along a narrow path through thick trees. As her dad limped toward the openness of Thildin Valley, he slowed and then stopped, raising a hand as signal to join him quietly at his position. Echo and her mother, sister, and brother cautiously approached.

  “There,” Echo’s dad whispered, pointing a nub where a finger should’ve been toward a clearing in the grass ahead. He signaled again and everyone hid behind the trees, peering around their jagged trunks, eager to see but not be seen.

  Excitement tickled Echo as she watched a lone mare, as bright and golden as the morning sun, rise from the ground. Steam danced from the mare’s glistening body as she trembled, but purposefully spun around and lowered her head. She tenderly nudged something in the shaggy grass and nickered softly.

  A tiny golden head rose from the grass as the foal took in its first images of the world. A fuzzy ribbon of white--the foal’s wispy mane--trailed along its small but graceful neck.

  Echo flipped the single thick braid of auburn hair over her shoulder and grinned at her dad before returning her attention to the mare and foal. It had become tradition with Echo’s family to witness the birth and first moments of life of the elves’ highly prized horses. Echo’s father, Oran, had been entrusted with the care of the magnificent creatures after saving their beloved stallion from a shadow dweller’s trap on the Dragon’s Tooth--a strange, lone mountain that jutted up from the Diern badlands bordering the eastern edge of their home, Thildin Valley. He’d injured his leg and lost some fingers, and nearly his life, to the frost wraiths in the process. He had always claimed with a twinkle in his brown eyes that reckless curiosity had driven him up that frozen rock. Why or how the stallion had been there remained a mystery.

  Having been given the duty as caretaker over the horses was proof of the elves’ tremendous gratitude--it was an honorable charge that was usually given exclusively to elves. Echo’s dad was the first human to be granted the post.

  That had been before Echo or her siblings had been born. She’d been coming to the valley with her family to watch the newborns for fourteen years, her brother, Brecker, for sixteen, and her sister, Mari, for eleven. They each took turns giving the new foal a name, and today it was her turn.

  The sun stretched over the hills, embracing the animals in the warmth of light. The rest of the herd stood a good distance away, their coats glistening different colors like a collection of jewels. A magnificent blood bay horse, the stallion, trotted back and forth as he guarded the mare and foal. His mane and tail danced in a flowing manner, like black silk, as he kept close watch over every movement in the valley, ready to protect and defend. Echo noticed her dad watching the stallion as if entranced; the horse had always had a strange effect on him.

  All attention turned to the mare as she licked the small chestnut mass until its fuzzy hair was clean. The foal released a strange squeak, attempting to use its voice for the first time. Echo and her sister looked at each other and giggled. “Echo! Mari!” their dad whispered as he put a finger from his good hand to his lips as signal to keep quiet; however, a youthful twinkle played in his eyes, betraying his enjoyment of the moment. Their mother’s face beamed as she rested her cheek against her husband’s shoulder, her blond hair brushing his face. She held parchment and a pen, ready to log every detail. Checking the position of the sun, she jotted down the time of birth.

  The foal attempted to stand as the mare nickered encouragingly. The tiny new horse made a valiant effort to rise from the ground before collapsing. The mare rubbed its neck affectionately with her soft muzzle. The foal rested for a moment and then slowly forced itself to move. Echo gritted her teeth, feeling the foal’s struggle as if it were her own. As the newborn strained, Echo found herself cheering it on in her mind, wishing it to feel her strength and encouragement. You can do it! Stand up!

  With one great heave, the foal was standing on straight but shaking legs set a little too far apart. Wide blinking eyes surveyed the area with wary curiosity. Flecks of brilliant white trailed from its forehead until they converged with a lopsided star on the bridge of its nose, just above the tiny nostrils; its mane and tail, as white and soft as summer clouds, complimented the design. The foal seemed frozen as it stared straight ahead--directly at Echo. A strange excitement washed through her as she gazed back into those glassy eyes. I
t was a simple, beautiful moment. She almost felt connected…

  The moment was broken as Echo’s dad whispered, “Nice straight legs--very strong.”

  The foal lowered its head and, with great effort, moved its legs until it had turned a complete circle. It was a filly. As she turned again, the sunlight reflected strangely on the filly’s back, causing Echo to gasp. She swore, just for a moment, she saw a small set of shimmering wings sprouting from the foal’s back. But it was gone in an instant. It must’ve been a trick of the light, she thought.

  The filly made its way to the nickering mare and began to nurse. As the life-giving liquid strengthened the young horse, Echo’s dad turned to her and whispered, “Well, it’s your turn, Echo. What will you name her?”

  She didn’t even give it a thought. “Shimmer,” she said.

  Echo’s brother snorted, “Shimmer? That’s about the dumbest name I ever heard! Why not ‘Gold Star’ or ‘Morning Comet’ or…”

  “Brecker!” their mother scolded quietly. Brecker shrugged and shook his black hair.

  Feeling unusually firm about her decision, Echo looked into Brecker’s face. “Her name is Shimmer.”

  Echo and her family weren’t the only ones watching the morning miracle. Behind them, a curious being melded with the trees, observing every detail; and, opposite from where they stood, a strange shadow lurked among the crags at the border of the Diern Badlands--a shadow with bright orange, all-seeing eyes.