“Uh, I take it you all got the message as well?”
Kayel felt rather awkward as he stepped into the large, darkened hall. He thought he’d arrived ten minutes early, but, somehow, he was the last person to arrive. Also present in the room were 18 other Skyavok, every single shadowjumper in the regions of Vriskera and Lasana. Admittedly though, the number was skewed upwards, because Palaestra was home to the Great Arenas, and there were a lot of Ξ-Class Skyavok who worked as gladiators and relied on their shadowjumping powers to perform. Not only was Kayel seemingly late, but he was the only non-Ξ-Class Skyan here.
Admittedly though, only Kayess-Ksi and a handful of others were paying attention. Everyone else was preoccupied by Psiksi, who was busy showing off his perfect, muscular physique. He stood a good 15cm taller than everyone else around and was utterly gorgeous.
“Hey, Kayel!” Eksi waved. Eksi was a trainer and tutor for the Skyavok gladiators, he’d helped train pretty much everyone here and wasn’t impressed by Psiksi. However, weirdly, Eksi seemed ever so slightly nervous. “Yeah, we all got the message. Kinda concerning, having so many shadowtouched in here...” Eksi suddenly stopped. “Uh… sorry…”
“Why are you apologizing?” Kayess-Ksi asked.
“I forgot that Kayel here is properly culted. Do you speak Shadowtongue?” Eksi hesitantly queried.
Kayel sighed, then nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t officially been a Phantasma for 7 years though, when I left K-Class.”
“You thinking about joining Ξ-Class properly? You’d get more money and pay less taxes.”
“Honestly?” Kayel shrugged. “I’ve been considering it. This gladiator thing was supposed to be a temporary gig until the dust cleared and I could go back into teaching, but, well, turns out, I’m a violent bastard who likes shooting and stabbing people. At the same time though, I really don’t want to go through the paperwork again for another name change. We have a Kayksi and two Elksis here already.”
“It would also kinda ruin your brand…” Kayess-Ksi muttered. “You’re the new Skyan house fighter and you’ve got an established name.”
“I guess…” Kayel wanted to change the subject, so he did. “So, uh, any idea why we’re here? Because this feels very much like an old Phantasma Summon. Dark room and everything.”
Kayel’s question was very quickly answered as a familiar face stepped out of the darkest shadow, then hovered above everyone. Every single Skyavok immediately lowered themselves down in awe, honoured to be in the presence of a pitch black Skyan with glowing red eyes. Standing before them was the Shadow, the holy symbol of the Skyavok, and the Skyavok’s direct connection to the Silent Blade Himself.
“Hello, my children. Thank you for coming. Please may you all hold hands for a moment. Kayel, my Phantasma servant, can you step up front, please?”
Kayel did as he was told. He was more aware of what the Shadow was compared to everyone else, and even though Kayel was technically immortal, he knew just how powerful the Shadow was.
“Those of you up front, please hold onto my servant’s tail. The rest of you, make sure you are all in contact with each other.”
The Shadow then approached Kayel and gently placed both hands on Kayel’s face. Kayel struggled briefly, trying to hide his unease as he swore he heard the Shadow’s voice in his mind. However, that strange pressure quickly faded.
“You want me to shadowjump all 18 other folks here?” Kayel stuttered. “I mean, I can do cross-planet shadowjumps, but… only on my own.”
“It is fine. I will guide you.”
The Shadow let go of Kayel, then held his hand briefly, before letting go. The dark wisps from the Shadow’s arms drifted across not just Kayel but throughout the whole room, twisting around the other Skyans too. The Shadow smiled.
“Follow me, servant.”
“Yes, Shadow.”
The Shadow smiled some more, then disappeared through the darkness. Kayel hesitated, then pulled everyone through the shadow, following his master.
Weakness overtook Kayel’s mind, the stress of having moved so many people so suddenly. Everyone else though was shocked, not really sure where they were, and surprised at how many other Skyans were around. There had to easily be four thousand other Skyans present, all standing around an arena that was very familiar.
“Wow… I haven’t been to the Altar of Darkness in… decades…” Psiksi muttered as he put an arm around Kayel. “That was damn cool by the way.”
“Ugh… thanks…” Kayel looked up. “Damn, is this like… every single shadowtouched Skyan alive?”
The Shadow waved at Kayel, then floated across the vast, blackened arena, to its centre, where someone even more menacing and holy was waiting.
“Maybe?” Eksi asked as he and Kayess-Ksi pushed forward to join Psiksi and Kayel, then pointed to the arena’s centre. “Dunno if my eyes are deceiving me, but that Skyan down there in the yellow plating looks a LOT like that Arel guy I met when I ran into you in the mall a couple of months ago…”
“Hah…” Kayel laughed nervously. “That… yeah… uh… no… you met Arkay, our Silent Blade.”
“Damn…” Eksi blinked. “I gave my number to the Thantophor… who is really fucking hot… and was also just wandering around the mall, having cookies with you…”
However, before Kayel could comment, the whole arena suddenly fell silent and completely dark. And in that darkness, a strange, echoing voice beckoned from it.
“Agia mu paida, sas ‘risto pou’ste edo.”
The Silent Blade was talking. Speaking in Shadowtongue, the language that he had originally blessed the Threavok and later the Skyavok with. While most modern Skyavok had lost touch with the ancient language, somehow, they could all still understand what was being said.
“Eimste sykglolektes pliroforias. Omos, ego ke o Skios mu, kryvomste kati ap’sas. Dynami ke magia. To ikanotita na peraste sto skota, metax planiton.”
Kayel thought to himself. He already knew how to travel long distances by shadowjumping. The Silent Blade had taught him in person. And now… the Silent Blade was teaching everyone.
“Sas div tin dynami me megal evthin. Gia na prostaps alloi. An eiste kakoi, tha ksero. Katalav?”
Everyone glanced in the darkness awkwardly. But those who could speak Shadowtongue, Kayel included, all repeated that last word.
“Katalav.”
Realizing what had been said, everyone else responded.
“Understood.”
“Eiste mikre. Alloi sas kseknoun. Omos to sympan tha kseri allios. Dystyhe, den mporo na sas lalo giati. Gia kamposa eti, sas afisa sta skota. Tha meinete sta skota gia akoma ligo. Apologo. Alla tha kserete. Elpizo na sas lalo ola thn alith se kai’ro. Gia tora, apla tha lalo oto sas agapo. Panta sas agapa.”
Everyone nodded but remained silent.
“Sas kalo na kleiste ta matia sas.”
Many of the Skyavok glanced at each other, then did as commanded, closing their eyes tightly. The air around them began to vibrate, and plumes of white smoke blew across the arena. Even though their eyes were shut, they could see the glowing aura of the Silent Blade. The smoke twisted and turned around every Skyavok, and they all inhaled deeply.
“Matheste.”
As soon as it started, it all ended, and a beacon of light appeared at the Altar of Darkness. The Silent Blade was still present, standing in the light, and he was smiling, just a little. However, the masses of Skyans were still enveloped in darkness.
“Eiste kala paida. Sas agapo. Pigete spiti. Kserete pos.”
Slowly, Skyans across the arena began to step into darker shadows, using their brand new knowledge to shadowjump back home. There was a lot of confusion and curiosity, but they were all well aware that they needed to be careful, that they had to be responsible with their new powers. Those who were not Phantasmas found themselves not really remembering exactly what the Silent Blade had said to them, but they were happy, they felt blessed.
As the crowds began to disperse, Kayel noticed that most of his friends had already left, but he didn’t want to leave yet. He wanted to make sure that his friends all got home safely before heading home himself. It seemed that many other Phantasmas were subconsciously doing the same.
“Hey, Kayel?”
“Yeah?”
Kayess-Ksi sounded nervous. “I’m kinda scared.”
“You are?”
“By what the Silent Blade said.”
“Yeah. I’ll be blunt, me too. But Arkay might just be trying to make things up to us…” Kayel frowned. “He’s neglected us for a while, the other gods haven’t let him help us. He’s trying to change that, because he does genuinely love us.”
Kayess-Ksi sighed. “I guess. I kinda wish I stayed in Phantasma training though. Just so I could have learned our blessed language properly.”
“I could help you learn, if you want. Apparently the All-Ksa does want to make Shadowtongue a publicly available language for Skyans to learn again.”
Kayel felt Kayess-Ksi grab his hand. “I’d like that… I… I like you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
“Well…” Kayel hesitated, then smiled. “Would you like to go on a date? I have a match today, but I’m free this evening.”
Kayess-Ksi smiled back. “I’d like that. See you later.”
Kayel nodded as Kayess-Ksi let go of his hand, then disappeared through a shadow. He glanced to the centre of the arena, where he could see the Silent Blade talking to the shadow, then shrugged to himself.
“I’m sure everything’s fine…” Kayel muttered as he melted into the darkness. “Either way, I got a date to go on…“