Free Chaos (The Realmwalker Chronicles Book 1) by C.M. Fenn Page B

time with no fear of Shades. There’s only one entrance into a Calm, and it’s protected by wardings.”
    “Do you mean, like, magic spells and stuff?”
    She smiles. “Not exactly. What we do in Chaos can easily look like magic to an outsider, but it’s really not. You’ll learn all about that soon.” She looks at Sam. “Am I doing this right?”
    He nods approvingly. “You’re doing well. Now tell her about the third realm and the reason the Realmwalkers are needed.”
    “Right. The third realm that we know of is referred to as the Nether Realm. This is the realm of the Shades. It’s where they come from. All of us Realmwalkers have our own ideas and theories of what it actually is. Some say it’s a prison for damned souls, some think it’s a negative version of our Earth Realm, and some say it’s Hell. Just like some people from Earth Realm are able to enter Chaos, so can some of the Shades from the Nether Realm.”
    I stop her again. “So that creature that tried to kill me, that was a shade from the Nether Realm?”
    Sam answers my question. “Yes. The shade that attacked you last night is what we call a Lesser Shade.”
    “There’s more than one kind?”
    “Yes,” he answers again. “There are two kinds that we know of. The Lesser Shades, like the one you came across, and the Greater Shades.”
    Despite the heat, I can’t stop the shiver that runs down my spine. The fact that there are shades referred to as “Greater” seems to suggest that they are somehow more dangerous than the one I saw. How can there be anything in existence more dangerous than that horrible beast?
    Ember scoots closer to me and leans into my side. It’s comforting feeling her there as she continues to explain.
    “You’ll learn all about Shades in the nights to come. For now, there is only one thing you need to know about them. Some of them have the ability to tear holes in the fabric of Chaos. Through those holes, they are able to enter THIS realm. Once a tear has been made, it’s then possible for entire hordes of Shades to pass through. Once they are here, they wreak havoc, causing death and destruction everywhere they go.”
    “Those things come here? Why haven’t I heard of them before? Why doesn’t everyone know about them?”
    “They can only be seen by Realmwalkers, those who have been touched by Chaos.” She waits for me to process this. “Okay, so for example, you know Hurricane Ilsa? The one that recently tore up the East Coast?”
    I nod my head. “Are you saying Shades caused that? Wasn’t that a natural disaster?”
    “The Shades are creatures of pure evil. They don’t belong over here. The Lesser Shades’ presence has a terrible effect on this realm. They tend to bring out the ugliest and most hateful traits in people. They stir up emotions and adrenaline, causing mass riots, or if their numbers are large enough, even wars. They can focus their energy on the elements causing fires, storms, tornados, and earthquakes.”
    Sam explains further, “There was a tear in Chaos last week, and we weren’t able to close it fast enough. An entire herd of Lesser Shades escaped through before we could seal it. Hurricane Ilsa is an example of what these things can do when they get over here.”
    “But why? I mean, what’s their purpose?”
    “We used to think it was just in their nature to be evil,” Sam says. “But in the last couple hundred years we’ve come to understand that these Lesser Shades are driven by an intense and unquenchable hunger. They literally feed off of the misery of men. The pain and agony of mankind is what sustains them. That’s why they create horrific events of mass destruction everywhere they go.”
    I cringe as I think of a herd of those things romping over the land unseen by others as they thrive off the turmoil and misery of humans.
    “You said ‘Lesser Shades,’” I point out. “What do the Greater Shades do once they get here?”
    Sam’s face is etched with