The Mother's Shadow

A Mother’s Shadow 

     Deep beneath the Twilight Cloisters, Diana stood trembling. The cavernous room was cold, but something deeper made her shake—the Reverend Mother’s silver robe lay on the damp floor, as if she had stepped out of it and into the inky darkness of the forbidden cave’s mouth.

     As she bent to gather the shimmering robe, the stinging absence she felt quickly turned to the bitterness of betrayal, then into the red-hot heat of anger. Diana’s burning tears made a soft padding sound as they dripped onto the robe and left a dark cloud on the shimmering silver cloth.

     Seeing this pattern, she suddenly straightened and quickly clothed herself in the robes. Dreamers without discipline had driven Mother away and had left the landscape in chaos. And while Mother refused to keep them in check, Diana would not rest until she and her hidden flock had brought order back to Slumberland. 

     The moment Diana had closed the Reverend Mother’s door behind her, a pale blue raven swirled into existence on her shoulder. The young woman brought out a rough cloth satchel from beneath her robes, and when she pulled it open, dozens of winged shapes burst forth to fill the room.

     Diana smiled. While any novitiate could manifest an anima avem, only she had learned the secret of stripping off its shadows. With a fierce yell, she sent her shadowy flock out into Slumberland to terrorize the rebel dreamers. If Mother’s love could not change them, then perhaps fear could.  

     And it did—fleeing from these winged terrors, young dreamers poured into the Mother’s cloisters, where Diana sat enrobed on a golden throne, her face obscured by the bright flowery crown Mother wore when addressing her children. She nodded silently as groups of dreamers pleaded for safety, in exchange for their lifelong devotion to the Order of Nyx. 

     But from her lofty throne, Diana did not notice the blanched expression of one young woman who purposefully hunched under a drab hooded cloak. And when she finally did recognize the familiar face at the next full moon, it was too late. 

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