Read Online These Shadows Remain by B W Powe - Free Book Online

this image. But he was powerless to do anything.
    â€œStay tuned,” Gabrielle said.
    Now I know where I saw him before, Adina thought. His face came clearly to her through the words of another. Her friend, Miranda – that name had stayed with her while Tomas told his tale – had spoken of a knight over drinks at a roof-top lounge.
    She’d thought her friend was speaking metaphorically, of course.
    Miranda had prattled on about a hero in shining armour, gleefully describing his look. It figured, Adina mused: Miranda was pretty, always lively, but shallow. “A total ditz,” she said aloud, startling those beside her who were spellbound by the freezeframed field.
    Adina knew her memory, her snappy words, belonged to another reality. That memory seemed quaint in the wake of the speaking twister, and this hold-out castle, and the children who put their trust in skittish adults, and this image attack that had disfigured the world she once knew.
    *
    The image swarm on the field was now jitter-free.
    Tomas wasn’t holding them with magic. He’d shown them a frame. And their depths weren’t developed enough to come up with an original response.
    Slowly the once giddy swarm began to back off. Bashful and Doc, Prince Valiant and Mushu and Cri-Kee, Scat Cat and Jiminy Cricket and Cogsworth the clock and Chip the teacup, wound back as if they were being reeled into retreat by an invisible cord.
    A message poured through, what was happening? This came in the static that they’d heard when they had been flat.
    Here on the field the toons had learned that there was more to the universe than they had anticipated. The knight, whom they recognized, had shown that he could live between realms. He was true to both worlds. This was seemingly an impossible thing to do, but there it was.
    They crept backwards as if they had been tweaked by a dial into a gradual frame by frame rewind.
    Cheers came from the castle walls.
    Tomas remained standing with his hands up. The toon hand was clear in its black and white outline, the other hand more human than ever.
    The toon forces withdrew into the woods. Sent to record a victory, the eyes had floated above the abruptly stilled fray. Then they returned to the encampment with images of the backwards running scene.
    But the cloud didn’t tower into anger. The wizard merely brooded. The eyes began to pop like flashbulbs, the sound like dozens of balloons bursting at the same time.
    *
    The castle gate burst opened. Children poured out first, breaking away from the grown-ups. They rallied around their friend, thanked him, and spoke in awe, and touched his tunic.
    Cyrus came next, followed by many of the castle guards, and he carried inside him a mix of feelings. He was grateful to Tomas, and admiring, but he was curious about how he had known how to act in this way. Cyrus was certain that this confrontation was by no means the end. It did pass through his mind too that he seemed to be always thinking in terms of conclusions. Clearly, Tomas didn’t do that. His every action spoke of beginnings. Was this why the children had taken to him?
    Adina came out slowly. She was carrying something in her cloak, and it was heavy enough to slow her down.
    Tomas had dropped his arms and hands to his side, and he smiled down at the children.
    He saw Gabrielle and Santiago smile with a special pleasure. And he observed every child had a smile of their own. Each person was a language too. There was the world’s language, the language of inventions, the language of images and dreams, and the language of every individual. He wasn’t sure yet which of these was the hardest to read.
    He felt strong emotional bonds with all the children, but with Gabrielle and Santiago especially. There were cords spreading out in beams of warmth between them. Although they couldn’t see them, these lines of affection spoke volumes.
    There were more languages to learn.
    But though he