Whereupon another shaft of light struck him, resurrecting his shadow. It promptly wrapped dark, featureless arms around his legs.
Whirling, Oskar peered anxiously around the edge of his kwavin. Another group of shadows on the opposite side of the canyon had brought forth a second set of polished shields. Clustering on a lower ledge slightly to the south of the first troupe, these dusky new arrivals to the battle were reflecting damning sunlight from a location significantly removed from the first.
Feeling pressure on his lower legs, Oskar looked down to see his own restored shadow fighting to pull him off his feet. When he shifted his kwavin to block the reflected light that was giving it renewed life, it promptly vanished—only to reappear again in the bright ray of light cast by the first group.
No wonder the Great Rift proved such a fearful barrier. Equipped with a protective kwavin, a knowledgeable traveler might well think himself safe, only to be ensnared by lifethreatening sunlight originating from not one but multiple locations. Making their situation even more desperate was the fact that the longer they remained trapped in combat on the canyon wall, the easier it was for the liberated shadows on the far side of the abyss to aim their shields. What might happen after dark in a place where unfettered shadows ruled was something Oskar did not wish to experience.
He considered wrenching Taj's own kwavin from the smaller man's back. Equipped with two of them, he could block both streams of reflected sunlight. Huddled together beneath the twin shields, both men would be safe.
That was when sunshine from still a third cluster of shadow-manipulated shields struck the spot where the embattled travelers were fighting for their lives. Now imported light was creating shadows from not one, but three different directions. Not only did the tri-pronged assault render the use of kwavins for protection almost impossible, it created an entirely new and unexpected source of danger.
Able to block only one source of light, and therefore of shadow, Oskar found himself under attack from not one but two shades of himself.
His kwavin dragged aside, he felt himself go down beneath three entirely independent shadows. The darkness that covered his face had nothing to do with the setting sun that still rode hazardously high in the sky. He struggled to keep their hands off his mouth and nose and away from his eyes. Though he fought valiantly, there were too many of them.
Then one dusky specter suddenly staggered away, its swarthy hands feeling frantically for the colorless head that had been ripped from its clouded shoulders. A second shadow was ephemerally eviscerated, vaporous guts spilling in a nebulous stream from a ragged cleft that had been ripped in its side. Oskar felt warm hands helping him up. He started to thank his savior—only to have the words catch in his throat.
Staring back at him was a black wraith with bright yellow eyes. Yellow-white teeth flashed in an otherwise ebony countenance. Then the wraith-shape whirled to throw itself onto the shadows that were pinning the rapidly weakening Taj to the ground.
A dazed Oskar thought to recover his kwavin and place it between himself and the malevolent light. Counting, he saw that not one but three of the yellow-eyed black phantoms were now scampering among the rocks, tearing into shadows with gusto, shredding them like the smoke they so nearly resembled. Soon every one of them was down; dismembered, disemboweled, or decapitated. They bled coal-black smudge, and died.
Slightly numb, the dog-man stumbled through the evanescent corpses. It stood to reason, he decided. If a shadow could kill a someone, then could not an appropriately equipped someone also kill a shadow? One by one, the streams of mirror-shield-reflected light winked out as the liberated shadows who had been manipulating them saw the terrible carnage that the raven-hued counterattackers had wrought. They were not used to seeing their kind slain, and the shock of it aborted any further attempts to constrain the travelers. In impalpable twos and threes, the shadows on the far side of the canyon slunk back into the depths of abyssal darkness from whence they had come.
One of the avenging wraiths half strode, half flowed up to Oskar and blocked his path. He sensed instinctively that the sword still sheathed at his side would be as useless against this phantom as it had been against the enfolding shadows.
'What do you?' Clenching his fists, he stared at the silent apparition. Slitted yellow eyes and sharp bright teeth were all that were visible in the otherwise featureless face.
Slitted yellow eyes and sharp bright teeth … His expression softened to one of bemused but rising astonishment. He
'Mamakitty?' he heard himself inquiring uncertainly.
The blackness seemed to undulate and flow before his gaze. At last it coalesced into a shape that was both solid and human—and something more. A weary but triumphant smile split the sweet dark face of the feline woman he knew so well.
'This is how cats do battle with shadows, Oskar. It is something no one but another cat can descry or comprehend. Humans are ignorant of the manner of it, and though they are more perceptive, so are dogs. It's very much a thing particular-peculiar to cats. Do you wonder why our kind are so often likened to shadows, or said to move like them? Special cat magic it is, but it took the threat of these shadows to allow us to find and make use of it once more.' Looking down at her left hand, she rotated it slowly, as if seeing its human shape totally anew.
'This is the work of Master Evyndd.' Cocoa had come over to stand alongside her sister feline. 'Once more, the essence of our real selves has saved us.' Behind her, a jubilant Cezer was going from dead shadow to shadow corpse, whacking each on the head with an open hand, making sure none were faking their unexpected demise. Seeing him at work, Oskar was reminded of a triumphant cat giving the coup de grace to a row of dead rats.
'First Cezer's elongating sword,' Mamakitty observed, 'and now, when Death threatens utter and complete disaster, this new and unexpected evolvement. I'm starting to feel a little better about our chances of carrying out the Master's wishes.' She eyed her much relieved friend intently. 'I wonder what special ability he has allowed to lie dormant within you, Oskar, and when it will manifest itself?'
Not knowing the answer, or even if there was an answer, he could only shrug. 'If we ever need any old bones, I'm sure I'll be the one to get hold of them. Other than that, I couldn't say.'
'Cats and shadows have done battle since both existed,' Mamakitty commented. 'It was an enormous relief to once again be able to challenge them on their own terms.'
Her explanation was salving, but not entirely satisfying. 'Then if Master Evyndd left within you three the ability to transform in this fashion, why didn't it reveal itself when Cezer's shadow first attacked him, soon after we entered into this kingdom?'
Her expression turned serious. 'All I can think of is that the situation was not grave enough to spark our latent abilities. It leads one to think that one or more of us is expendable, but not all. To provoke the needed reaction, it seems that an appropriately serious stimulus is required.'
It was not a reassuring thought. To break the ensuing uncomfortable silence, she turned and pointed to the eastern rim of the canyon that still lay high above the ledge where they stood.
'Let's get out of this place. We don't know if the shadows here are capable of producing other surprises. I don't want to be caught in this deep, dark tear in the ground if they have any more.'
The shadows did not. Or if they did, they were too dispirited by the cat-folk's unexpectedly ferocious counterattack to mount them. Still, everyone kept their kwavins close at hand and properly positioned between themselves and the sun.
In fact, when late that afternoon the tenor of the terrain began to exhibit the first subtle but unmistakable shift from unadulterated yellow to yellowish green, Oskar tried an experiment that left them all with much to ponder.
Pausing by the edge of a stream that flowed down a gentle, grassy hill, he deliberately set his kwavin aside and stood, unshielded and unprotected, in the vivid rays of the setting sun. Taj was aghast, and even Mamakitty wondered if their mustachioed companion had suddenly taken leave of his senses.
For his part, Oskar was not too terribly worried. Not with three lethal felines present to intervene on his behalf in case anything went wrong. But as it developed, the conjecture that had inspired his action was proved correct, and there was no need for Mamakitty or anyone else to leap to his rescue.
All around him, trees and bushes and grass and lemon-tinged birds cast shadows on the warm ground. Only he, alone and kwavin-less, stood unaccompanied by an elongated, distorted silhouette. Deliberately, he paced off a small circle. It did not matter where he stood or what direction he faced. Nor was there any visible change when he
