A Shade

You feel as if you just ran a marathon. Your whole body aches and your joints as well. Rolling onto your back, for a few seconds all you hear is your heart pounding in your ears. Part of you wonders how accomplished magicians do this daily, but that train of thought is quickly dispersed as you hear an unknown voice from the direction of your summoning circle.

"So what do we have here? A little baby magician?" A distinctly male voice asks.

His words send chills down your spines. You turn your head to look at the circle. At first, it doesn't look like anything Is in it, but looking at how the candlelight plays on the shadows inside and outside of the circle, you begin to see the form of a dark shadowy figure. It looks human, but you cannot see any defining features. There's no hair on the creature's head or any real definition to the rest of his body. He doesn't have a face. No eyes, or mouth. Gliding your eyes down his body, you also see no visible genitalia. This is most definitely not a celestial. Whatever he is, it appears to be nothing more than a shadow.

You're still panting hard on the ground, "You...You're not...a celestial..."

The shadow crouches down and looks at you. You can almost see the amusement on its nondescript face as he says, "Daww, little baby mage can speak."

"I-I'm not...A little baby!" You crawl to your knees indignantly.

"You collapsed to the ground after mustering just a little trickle of magic to summon me. In the world of magic, you're just a baby."

You don't really have a retort for that, "What are you?"

"Well, the ignorant would probably just call me a ghost, but that's not really accurate. What I really am is a shade."

"What's the difference?" You ask.

"You're not really helping the whole baby mage argument." he sighs, "A ghost is just the shell of a consciousness. It doesn't really have higher mental functions and just performs its last acts over and over. A shade actually retains the consciousness and personality of the deceased person."

"So...who were you?" You've finally managed to catch your breath and you feel your body relax as you finish recovering.

"Well, I've been a shade for awhile. Who exactly I was doesn't really have an impact anymore. I was however, quite a skilled magician. That's the way most shades are though. So, why have you summoned me? It's a dark room in the middle of the night. That makes me think that maybe you didn't want people to know. You wanted to summon a celestial, which makes me think that you needed help with something. Other than that though, I don't know."

You stumble to your feet, "W-Well...My father was the King of Itheria and he married a succubus. My mother, the succubus, killed my father and brother and took my brother's form in order rule for whatever reason. I was hoping to summon a celestial...or someone to help."

"A princess, hmm?" You're sure if this shade had eyes, they would be sliding over you. In fact you feel like his gaze is on you despite his lack of eyes. You squirm and nod. He stands and paces around the circle. "Well, Good news for you. I may be able to help you. I could give you the knowledge of how to cast a spell that will reveal her real form."

You sit up,a faint glimmer of hope energizing you. "You can?"

"Of course...but I'm going to want something first." He stops and turns to face you.

You feel him looking you over again and ask, "What?"

"I want to be reborn into the world. I want to have a second chance at life. If you could provide that for me, then I'd be happy to help"

You look at him in confusion, "what? How can i do that?"

By the time you finish the sentence it dawns on you, but he still answers, "Come on. You can figure it out. You're a smart little baby mage."

He wants to do something to you that would cause you to conceive a reincarnated version of himself. He wants you to become pregnant...with him. He wants you to become his mother in a way and possibly give him a valid claim on the throne. Initially your mind rejects it completely. However, he did say that he could help. As far as the throne is concerned. He would be your son, but you don't know what kind of man he was in life. He could have been a good man, or an evil one, or somewhere in between. You're not even sure what, if any, memories he would retain.