Evyn woke right after the sun was rising to a most horrible heat.  He threw the covers off and felt the back of his neck.  Not now, not now... he pleaded with his body.  He couldn't get sick now, none of them could afford to be sick now... but looking over to Shadow made him feel better and worse all at the same time.
        By the unkempt look of her hair, she'd gotten up from her bed only moments before, facing the same unusual blast of heat.  She was standing there on the edge of the little clearing, rubbing Sandy's forehead and fanning herself with a fallen leafy branch.
        Evyn looked next to him to a still sleeping Taerlyn, who had thrown the covers off of herself again.  Maybe that was their sign of the impending heat.  Not much of a sign, covers kicked off of a dulled girl, but it would have been a little helpful to have known instead of being hot and probably grossly sweaty.  It couldn't be helped though, and he started to stand up.  The sky itself seemed to fall on top of him, and he realized he'd heard of this weather pattern before.  It never happened on the farm (regardless of how hot it got around that time of year), having been far too dry and lacking of trees.  Out this far in the woods, though, was a whole other story.  It was a heat blast to be followed indefinitely by a flooding rain.  The whole process was called Niveil-... something.  It was hard to recall when he hadn't heard much about it.
        "And what do you make of this?" Shadow asked, seeing him awake.  Sandy, at her side, did not seem the least bit happy about the heat making her mane stick to the side of her neck.  The cooler season was supposed to be slowly approaching, not the searing heat of summer.
        "It's Niveil-... something."  He answered, still unable to recall the proper word.  "It comes before a flood."
        "Well, there's the up side."  His companion attempted.
        He didn't want to depress anyone, but he had no choice but to tell her.  "But it may be days before that happens."
        "I knew that was coming."  She mumbled to herself.  She looked at the sleeping Taerlyn and her blankets in a ball at her feet, coming to the same conclusion that Evyn had made.  As insignificant as things seemed, maybe they should try to watch a bit closer, anyway.  Taerlyn may not be fully conscious, but she wasn't stupid.  Neither of the other two were good judges of the temperature the night before due to sword practice.  Shadow herself simply wasn't all that sensitive to temperature in general.
        Now, the decision.  Should they try to keep traveling in the steady heat, or should they wait it out there in the assured shade?  Evyn pondered silently, staring at the ground.  The water pouches didn't hold all that much to begin with, so traveling may not be such a good idea under the conditions.  Then again, there was nowhere around to fill the pouches, either.  The three of them and three horses... and then he looked up and saw Shadow staring up a steady incline, roughly in the direction they were already traveling.  He only breathed his question, somehow thinking she may know it anyway.  What are you looking at?
        "I see the beginnings of storm clouds."  She murmured, trying to focus those hawk eyes.  "But they don't seem to be heading toward us exactly."
        He moaned.  Stay here and likely avoid the storm, but possibly be caught in a flash flood soon after, creating the very real possibility of landslides and deep mud.  Or go and hope they can catch the storm, wherever it may drop, before the water is gone.  Pleasant, so pleasant.  He'd never asked for adventure, just a book or a toy or a mud puddle to push his sister in... well, either way he'd probably get the mud puddle at least.
        "What would you prefer to do?" Shadow asked, wanting his thoughts.
        He got up himself and stared at the sky.  He could make out a touch of darkness, alright.  It didn't look... that far...  But it wasn't creeping closer, either.  If anything, it was going sideways to miss them entirely.  "Is it raining there?" he asked no one in particular.
        Even she had to strain her eyes to look for the telltale streaks.  She shook her head.  "It doesn't look like it.  But it is very dark."  She didn't seem entirely convinced.
        Nowhere else to turn, he looked up at Sandy.  She pawed the ground half-heartedly, throwing her nose toward the storm.  It was then that his stomach tremored and growled.  He and Shadow looked at one another, suddenly realizing neither had eaten in quite some time.  They simply hadn't thought of food, hadn't been hungry.  Such a strange thing to forget, eating.  The horses had grazed, but they themselves hadn't so much as salivated.
        "So... what will it be for breakfast?" she pretended to be more interested than she really was, not liking the idea of anything she'd brought with her.
        He thought back to those lovely descriptions she'd given of the contents.  "Well... let's open a can that swishes."  They couldn't afford water to boil anything (as if they had any pots anyway), and the jerky was a bit too salty to be considering.  Either way, they had to expend some water, but maybe not as much on something that... swished.
        She nodded, not so opposed to opening a can of mystery.  There was a good chance at least something was edible.  She walked to her backpack, felt around, and pulled out a heavy swishing can; then realized she didn't have a can opener.
        Evyn, however, came to the immediate rescue.  He saw her standing there with an annoyed look on her face and more or less figured out the situation.  Shadow, having never seen a one-piece sliver can opener like the one he held, handed the can over and watched.  He demonstrated his skill by hooking the blade into the can, then slowly forcing it forward and around the lip in one fluid move until the lid was sliced right off.  He handed the can back, not quite willing to look inside himself.
        "Boy scout."  She commented with a grin, slowly pressing one side of the lid into the can to raise the other.  She almost shouted with excitement.  "Pineapple!"
        It was the first time he had ever been close enough to a real pineapple (however real one remained after canned, anyway) to smell it.  It was like some exotic, expensive flower.  "Do you think you have any more?" he couldn't help himself from asking.  The scent, the look, the sweetness it gave off; he was sure he'd like the stuff.
        She pushed back the knowledge that they couldn't live long on pineapple alone to search for another can. This is what I get for having parents that buy in bulk and don't bother with labels, she thought bitterly, handing another swishing can over.
        Evyn worked faster on this can than the last one, but discovered something remarkably different; green beans.  He'd know that smell anywhere, not bothering to lift the lid off before he handed it back.
        She grinned widely, knowing similar experiences with that smell.  "We must suffer to survive."  She joked.
        "I wasn't ready for this."  He found himself returning with a smile.
        As Sandy went off to see where the other horses had recently wandered, her human companions sat for their ever so fancy meal.  Taerlyn was gently woken, and even through her clouded tiredness and detachment, she made a face at the green beans.  The three of them ate the entire can anyway, taking turns reaching their fingers in since there were no available utensils.  Only when that was gone, when the suffering was over, did they get to move on the pineapple.
        I hate being responsible.  Shadow thought bitterly to herself, even as she hungrily devoured her last piece of the glorious fruit.  As if set by instinct, both she and Evyn had allowed Taerlyn a few more pieces than either of them had; by what sort of caring instinct it was, she sure as hell didn't know.  It hadn't been much food, but it was enough to keep their stomachs from devouring themselves.  If they found rain or a cooler place to stay, maybe they'd be able to get something else down.  Better yet, maybe there would be more options elsewhere.
        After their "morning chores" (from which Shadow still returned rather pale), they and the horses met back at camp and started off.  Sandy had again insisted she carry all of the bags, regardless of the heat and the obviously thickening underbrush they were about to encounter up the forest's incline.  Each horse got their share of water from a delicate spray of a water pouch so as not to waste any, and off they trotted.
        Though horseback was faster, Shadow nor Evyn could stand just sitting and doing nothing for so long.  It may have been more energy draining for the horses to stop every once in a while to let their riders walk, but it felt like the only polite thing to do.  Taerlyn kept her hands firmly around the mane of her own steed, and surprisingly it didn't even seem to mind her that much.  Or, at least, it didn't pay attention to the girl riding on its back.  The wall of heat that seemed to be pressing against their every side was gladly interrupted once in a while by a brisk cold breeze ahead, and that kept all of them silently determined to keep going.
        But as luck would have it, cruelly twisted as it is, the undergrowth started to turn to bramble.  To add to that, the incline flattened out occasionally, but only before darting upward in steeper arcs.  The horses seemed able to handle clopping through the thorns, but to the two-legged travelers it was not as easy; Shadow and Evyn's legs kept getting slashed little by little with thorns.  Eventually they had to give up walking altogether, as they just couldn't keep up as easily with the occasional rocks as the horses seemed able to.
        Again they paused once more just to get their bearings and share water, leaving only one full water pouch, and then mounted to try to finish their attempt toward the clouds.  Looking upward, the storm seemed like it was right up ahead.  That couldn't mean they were that far... right?
        Sandy seriously began to wonder, being the leader of the pack.  They reached the top of another slope, and simply ran into yet another, though a gentler one.  The trees were all dwarfed as though they hadn't gotten much rainfall in years, and that didn't help their optimism.  At least the bramble relaxed into much softer weeds.  Just a few more yards forward and they reached the actual shadow of the clouds, but still no signs or sounds of rain.  The sky above did look threatening, ready to burst at any moment, but the heat was still pressing down and there was no rumbling.  No bolts across the sky, and not much wind or coolness to wash over them.
        The horses kept walking with an aimless feeling, their heads down.  Shadow wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to pry herself off now that the heat seemed to have stuck her right onto Sandy's back.  Just as the feeling of an eminent death march started to make itself known, a drop fell onto the back of her hand.
        Shadow had nearly convinced herself she hadn't felt it when there fell another, right in front of her vision.  Evyn saw one too, unconvinced until he actually felt two more in rapid succession.  The horses began to feel light taps against their flushed hides and perked up.  An unexpectedly pleasant rumble shook the ground, and the drops started coming faster.
        Cool rain fell over them like a broken wave of ocean, and they were entirely grateful.  The horses, even Sandy, threw their heads joyfully in the downpour, and everyone latched onto the rain soaked steeds just a little bit tighter to keep from being thrown off.  Shadow looked over at Taerlyn to make certain she wouldn't fall, and found that the rain seemed to wake her up just a little, as the lake water had.  She still had a deathly blank look all around her, but there was the hint of a smile on her face.  She glanced at Evyn who was noticing the same thing, and felt just a little relief.  Maybe everything wouldn't be so entirely bad after all.  The downpour moved quickly into shifting, drowning walls of water, but it was worth being splashed hard and relentlessly just for the coolness of the rain.  It washed away the heat, the sweat, and allowed them to disembark from the horses.
        Evyn quickly felt through his bag and brought out a wide, simple silver funnel.  As the horses pranced wildly and neighed, Taerlyn wandering in slow circles, he instructed Shadow on how to fill a water pouch with rain.  No thoughts passed their mind of possible lightning strikes; it didn't matter at the time.  Just rain, coolness, water.  And they had come further than they had been, that was another good thing.  Evyn kept running a hand through his hair to get it to stay anywhere but over his eyes, and for some reason Shadow thought it was funny.  She'd have thought anything was funny then, with the release.  The extremes, cold and hot, sucked.  In between, especially with rain (a thing she loved), was paradise. 

        Water pouches filled and everyone rejuvenated, they mounted the sopping horses again and rode in a skipping trot under the clouds.  The further they traveled, the higher the trees got.  They were happily intoxicated with the rain, the scent of it through the air and on their skin.  In fact, they were almost cold from it, goose bumps starting to show on Shadow's arms.  She couldn't say she minded, though; it wasn't cold enough to be uncomfortable, and an occasional warmth would blow across them before they were drenched with another sheet of water.  They couldn't see ahead at times through the walls of rain, but that was of no concern.  Sandy knew direction, and they were in no hurry to get to a place they didn't even exactly know they were going to.
        They were completely, utterly drenched by the time they had been released from the hold of the rain into another breeze, and a valley.  Tall grass and little bunches of trees littered small, rolling hills.  The rain had inspired a few of the blue colored grasses, nudged in between the green, to open their tiny blossoms and let go of hundreds starbursts of brilliant purple.
        Mild clover... Evyn realized from the blossoms as he got to see them closer up.  It was early yet and they wouldn't gain their characteristic clover scent until nightfall, if tonight wasn't too early. He looked at Shadow, wondering if she had any in her world, but the look on her face as she gently leaned over and plucked a blade of blooming grass made the answer obvious.  She trusted her legs to hold to Sandy's flanks, and used both hands to inspect the strange but beautiful flowers.  They looked kind of like miniature bluebells, only much darker purple.  They didn't have much of a smell yet, but they sure had enough pollen to make her sneeze.
        "Don't fall off."  Evyn grinned.
        She pulled herself back on.  "I'm going to try.  Very hard."  She suddenly grasped onto a branch from a group of trees that was just above her, and held on so that Sandy walked right out from under her.  The unusual girl merely hung there, looking around, for no apparent reason.  It just felt like the thing to do, to celebrate having lived another couple of hours.  She watched Sandy keep walking a few steps as if to say Fine, then, you can just stay there.
        Evyn gently pulled his horse to a stop beside her, understandably amused.  "What's this all about?"
        "Thought I'd bother the wildlife."  She grinned toward him before she pumped her legs back and forth twice, doing quite the astounding upward flip onto the branch.  She crouched there, amazed, her heart beating quickly.  She hadn't known she could do that.  But, taking such an advantage, she crawled gingerly to the trunk of the tree and looked for anything interesting.
        Her companion just shook his head, watching.  Strange.  Very, very strange.
        It didn't seem that anything at all was living in the tree she had selected to annoy.  Not a bird, not an obvious insect, not a chattering squirrel.  "There's no wildlife to bother."  She called back as she attempted to swing down on the branch again without breaking anything.  Most importantly, her neck.  Although any broken bones rather sucked.
        Evyn, however, had found differently than her previous statement.  On the horizon line over the hills, there seemed to be some rather large things heading toward them.  "I beg to differ."
        She felt a little piece of her heart sink into her beloved shoes.  When she would learn to say nothing, then she would be happy, she was certain of it.  She was just about to let go of the branch when Sandy nudged under her and willingly insisted to be the landing spot.  Those forms had already grown quite a bit larger... and she swallowed, knowing what they were.  Those donkey-like monsters, those creatures that she'd seen kill that old man and that she had met right before the siblings; if by "met" you could mean throwing something at.
        Fight or flight.  Flight seemed a hell of a lot smarter, but something told Evyn they were probably going to be chased.  And there was no way in hell they were about to back-track, full water pouches or not.  He looked at Shadow with wide, worried eyes and saw that she wasn't on Sandy's back.  She was on the ground, ruffling through the bags to the bedding, where the swords had been wrapped.  She was already well on her way to fight... and he felt like he hadn't spent enough time in the woods that morning.
        Sandy gave an impatient order to Taerlyn's horse, and it immediately galloped off in the opposite direction.  Evyn felt his horse nervously clop the ground again and again, apparently wishing for the same order.  So was he, truth be told.  But when he looked to Shadow again, she'd only removed one sword.  She seemed to be willing to take on the four terrifying beasts herself.
        He was a little split on the issue of trying to fight for himself.  The major problem being that he was unwilling.  And yet he felt that he really should try, at least.  Just leaving Shadow to fight by herself, even with Sandy's help was... "Help?" he didn't realize he'd asked until the words rang back in his ears.
        She looked at him, a touch surprised.  "You don't have to."  She said simply as the monsters approached to nearly smelling distance.
        His body seemed bent on making him appear like a complete idiot.  On autopilot, it took itself off the horse, which took off after Taerlyn (and certainly didn't make him feel all that much better).  He'd seen where the other swords were, and he withdrew one for himself with a distinctly unpleasant taste in his mouth.  Sandy took off in one direction, and Shadow and he stayed put for the time being.  They could see the beasts clearly now, their scarred and rather mean faces.  Crooked teeth, wild eyes.
        He hadn't the need to ask what he should do.  "Just slash until you can't move."  Shadow ordered quietly, seeming both strong and incredibly uncertain at the same time.  She did not want to get her companions killed.  But, at the time, there were no more words and no more decisions to make.  The monsters were only yards away, two armed with clubs that looked almost like small trees, and the other two armed with swords that looked ancient, rusted and bent entirely out of shape.
        Her mind went forcibly blank.  There was nothing she'd ever encountered on Earth that would have prepared her for that situation.  But she knew fear was the major enemy, and so she chose to simply let it all go.  No thought, no emotion, just a really desperate hope.  Her body simply responded all by itself.  Sword between both fists, she pointed it forward and ran toward the nearest one.
        Evyn couldn't move.  What furthered the situation was watching Shadow's instincts (or whatever they were) take her foreword, and slash open one monster's gut.  The only thing he could do then was look away as the insides started to fall to the outside.  Feeling the swish of a swiftly moving club right behind his head got him to move, though; even then it was a clumsy dart to the side.  How anything had gotten behind him without him seeing, he did not know.  All he was certain of, was that he was a goner.
        It was at that moment, that a little tingle began to make its way through his fingertips.  He didn't think of it at first; couldn't have as he watched the monster heave the club upward from the ground.  But then it seemed to take his mind away, to distract him into some... other place.  The only real thought he could consciously believe was the knowledge that if he didn't do something, didn't at least try, he was going to die.  His sister was going to die.  Shadow was going to die.  And then how could he ever live with himself?  Just standing there, watching a massacre and not even bothering to help?
        It was like a long lost second nature, in a way.  The knowledge of a killing needing to be done... he shouted (though he couldn't hear himself), and pulled the sword back with both hands.  Rushing forward, he slashed the monster sideways across the gut, then darted backwards almost in fear of splashing blood.
        And there was blood, alright.  A lot of it.  He amazed himself with how deep he'd cut the thing, watching in terror as everything came falling out.  Well, everything he cared to see before he averted his eyes slightly.  Something else took him, though; something stronger that seemed to force his eyes to stay there until the death of the thing was obvious.  The body twitched, the mouth poured forth blood, and then movement ceased.
        He either didn't take the time or didn't have time to be disturbed by his actions or the vision in front of him.  He simply turned, satisfied, and suddenly found himself holding his sword over his head.  He had no idea why that had occurred until he felt a stinging pressure in his wrists, and his eyes finally focussed.  He'd just saved his own ass from having a mangled, rusty sword slice him in two.
        Evyn was, needless to say, mildly scared shitless.  He looked at the monster, smelled it's rancid breath, and suddenly used all of his adrenaline-laced strength to thrust the sword upward.  He didn't think, wasn't able to, and took the opportunity of the monster's own shock to drive the length of the blade through its midsection.  Without missing a beat, his arms now taking control of his whole body, he pulled the sword out and blocked another blow that had come from the side.
        He distantly heard the beast's groan of pain, but he kept pressing against the blade with his own, forcing the monster to fall onto its back.  Blindly, he drove the sword into the body once more, right through the ventricles of the heart, and yanked to the side.  Only gurgling answered him, and he reacted with a shudder.
        Turning one full circle to take stock of any remainders, he saw Shadow collapse with a heavy sigh onto the still cool, wet grass, sprawled out on her back.  Sword still in her hand, she simply, completely, surrendered to lay there.  She had no desire to lift let alone stay awake.  She had taken on the larger, stronger, apparently much harder to kill leader of the group.  Her arms were sore, her legs throbbed, and she was pretty damn desperate for a cold Coke and a bag of chips.  Doritos, Cool Ranch maybe.  Or buttered popcorn, but not that wuss butter. Real butter, and lots of it, and heart-stopping salt chunks.  And lots of chocolate ice cream.  With hot fudge.  But not the crappy kind that you bought in a grocery store, the real kind that had a really unpleasant texture at room temperature.  She didn't care she was drooling.  She didn't think about almost having caught a sword in the shoulder, or not being ready for the horrible jarring pain when she met that blood-thirsty sword in full force toward her.
        Evyn followed her lead and plopped down next to her feet, not caring how much mud he was going to splatter all over himself.  He didn't even think of what he'd done, the killing he had caused, the blood and guts.  He couldn't think of that part of it at all.  "How'd... we do that?" he gasped, still incredibly amazed they were alive.
        She kept breathing heavily for several seconds before she answered, "I have no idea."
        They both lay there, panting and looking skyward, waiting for the aches and pains to go away.  They knew they should get up, leave the area before possible reinforcements came.  As hard as both of them tried, however, they could not will their tired bodies to get them in a sitting position, let alone mounting their horses and holding on.
        "You're better than you think, with that sword."  She panted, a dull ache creeping up her leg.  She'd glanced over from time to time to make sure he was still with her, and saw his kills.
        "You're still far better."  He answered, just glad to be alive.  Good, bad, indifferent, just glad to be alive.  He had no idea how he was able to do anything that he accomplished.
        Neither of them even lifted their heads as Sandy dropped next to them both, a little splash of mud spraying their faces.  Evyn let himself think he'd helped them out; the fact was that he had, a lot.  Sandy could only do so much to injure something, and unless they were already injured or on the ground, she could only try to distract them.  She'd had to do very little for the two sword fighters anyway, but that was because there was so little she could do for them.  She was proud of her friends, and had great faith in their ability.
        The three of them would probably have fallen asleep right there and then had the other two horses not decided to clomp on over and eat the grass around them.  They stayed clear of the blood and the bodies, but it seemed like they really didn't mind all that much.  Taerlyn was still up there on her steed, looking as though she hadn't seen a thing.  At least, nothing to be concerned about.  If anything had been counter-productive, it would have let her see what had just occurred.
        Shadow was the unfortunate first to force herself up from the happily cool bed of grass.  She still ached, but it wasn't so bad.  She sat up and grunted once as she tried to stand.  It was standing, actually getting up on two legs, that was the hardest part.  But, it was accomplishable.
        Sandy raised her head just enough to look at her, then dropped it again.  Evyn didn't move at all.
        "I can be more persuasive."  Shadow announced gently. There was no real hurry at the time, though it was probably smarter to get going while that was the case.
        He groaned something, but they weren't formed words.  He was only then grasping what he'd done.  And what really got to him, what really disturbed him, was how much he'd almost... enjoyed it.  Not the kill itself, really, but... the accomplishment.  He did finally force himself to sit up, and that seemed to be another sort of accomplishment.
        "Evyn..." he heard Shadow whisper.  It sounded rather urgent, more than just a ploy to get him up.  He looked to her , then looked outward to where she was staring--and saw the thing that had caught her attention.  There was a human-like figure walking toward them from out of seemingly nowhere.  But the figure didn't seem to be... entirely there.  Or entirely... human.
        The figure was there, obviously, but neither of them were quite able to look at it.  It had human form, and then it didn't quite have a look at all.  It never disappeared, but it was never quite there to begin with.  The shape almost seemed to merge and meld with itself, over and over again.  A three dimensional shadow walking in front of them with color, then without color.  Green, then gray, then dark, then clear, then the cycle began again.  It left no imprints on the grass as it moved, but it was there just the same, looking as solid and weighted as anyone.
        Shadow shuddered violently, uncertain of what to think.  She stood as tall as her aching shoulders would allow, sword in both hands, watching and waiting.  Her heart beat quickly, her muscles tensed, but she would not back down.  Something wouldn't let her stop, not yet.  The thing walked within feet of her before it finally came to a halt.  As it looked at her, as she knew it laid its eyes on her, she felt nothing but a pure, simple cold.
        Evyn was paralyzed.  He completely had no other way to deal with the mixed thoughts taking over his mind.  He sat there, staring at the form that didn't even seem to know he was there.  The brown horses had taken the opportunity of complete uncertain silence to have run off the other way.  Their spook didn't stop them from grazing, however.  Sandy slowly raised her head to take a better look at the form herself, but made no move to get up.
        The figure, regardless of not looking like it had a mouth, spoke.  It was a male voice, lightly accented with something Shadow had never heard.  It was an awful voice, a bitter sound that made you want to grind your teeth.  "I challenge you."
        She seemed struck silent.  It was a rare occurrence indeed.  She forced herself to retain her composure, forced herself back from simply poking at the form to see if it were solid, or doing something lewd to check for a reaction.  It seemed somehow... much more serious than that.  "To what?"
        The thing in front of her didn't speak his answer.  Instead, a glistening beam of silver seemed to form upward from its hand and create a sword.  It obviously wanted a fight.
        Fan-cy, she thought coldly.  But she was still sore and tired from the other fight.  Disadvantage, to say the least.  "Maybe you should go find someone else to play w--"
        The form had rudely interrupted her by taking a swing.  Luckily, she just as rudely blocked and tried to take such an opportunity to take his head off.  The form, however, seemed to be not only smarter than the donkey monsters, but faster and more experienced.  He blocked and swiped, and very nearly was able to give her upper thigh a lasting scar.  Or disengaged it from her body entirely.
        Her demeanor changed, her companions could feel it.  The form saw it, although it couldn't have let on if it had wanted to.  This, she understood, was to be taken very seriously.  That thing wanted her dead, not merely to play with.
        "Shadow..." Evyn whispered, not sure what to do.
        "Stay."  She responded quietly, still looking at the thing in front of her.  She could almost feel the helplessness wafting from her friends, but she couldn't let that distract her.  She slashed upward, letting a bit of the lewdness go by aiming for right between the form's legs, but she was blocked so savagely and quickly that she almost lost hold of her sword.  She tried again, trying to fake him out by slashing toward his neck but quickly changing direction mid-way to go for his side.  To her disappointment, it was still blocked.
        The palms of her hands all the way up to her shoulders began to ache awfully with the jarring of the violent blocks, and she was starting to run out of options.  Upward, downward, downward again, side, upward... all blocked, all adding to the pain and the streaming, tired ache, all making it more difficult to gain time to attack herself.  Finally she just pointed the sword's tip to the form and tried to run it through.
        That method certainly did work.  The problem being that the form wasn't injured at all.  The sword and part of Shadow's hand had gone through the chest, but there was no blood.  There was nothing at all, no warmth, no pressure pushing back.  Open air.  And yet this open air took advantage of her surprise by thrusting her backward and giving her a swift mark with the tip of its sword.
        Half shocked and half impressed but showing only a tight expression of surety, she stood there in silence.  Blood splashed down the side of her face from a neat cut above her right eyebrow.  Slowly, she lifted one hand to the wound, the other lowering the sword and softly pushing it into the earth.  Her eyes never left the form, never so much as darted away from it during her actions.
        Something about his eyes, eyes that they couldn't even fully see, demanded something animal in her; something that felt inherently evil and dangerous.  She touched the wound, washing her hand in the redness, and slowly pulled it away.  As everyone expected her to look at her hand, as even she expected just to wipe the blood on her jeans... she simply held it to her mouth and licked the blood off, retaining that eye contact.  Evyn looked on disgusted and somewhat frightened, Shadow herself having visibly shuddered... but not with anything near disgust.
        The form, however, held its ground and felt an evil smile tingle in the back of its mind.  He bowed as if he were a gentleman, and let go a curt laugh that sounded more like a cough, gleaming a deep purple then back to the normal "there then not there" cycle.  "And I dare say you may live another day."  The voice sounded as far away as the voice that had called Shadow to the closet, but much uglier, much more... wrong.  He held a hand to them to silence any intent to speak, dropped it back to his side, turned, and disappeared entirely into a dark nothing.
        "Crap."  Shadow finally broke the stunned silence, her single word managing to sound incredibly thoughtful.
        "Yes."  Evyn agreed, his own tone a touch high and almost void of emotion.  "That is correct."
        She just shook her head and stood there, looking at where that thing had disappeared.  Something was so wrong there... and yet something caught her mind, her imagination and her being, and refused to let it go.  Something was... connecting.