Flashback ( PDFDrive )

ELEVEN
SOPHIE WAS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT certain that she wasn’t going
to like the answer. But she still made herself ask, “What’s
shadowflux?”
“And why have I never heard of it?” Elwin added.
“Because Flashers prefer to pretend it doesn’t exist,” Lady Zillah
told him. “It shatters your naive pretensions about the illustriousness
of light—though, to be fair, many Shades choose to avoid the subject
as well. It’s easier to focus on shadowvapor because we understand it
on instinct. It lives within us and never ignores our commands.
Whereas shadowflux is something else entirely.”
“But these shadows poured out of Umber,” Sophie argued.
“I’m sure they did. Because she put them there—which is no small
feat. Shadowflux doesn’t like to obey.”
“That’s why I had to fight so hard to remove it,” Tam confirmed.
His Mentor nodded. “We’ll discuss that in a moment. First, I’m
curious: Tam said there was some sort of eruption at the end of the
attack. Was the light used for that final strike more than one color?”
Sophie closed her eyes, reliving the memory. “Yeah. It looked like a
swirling rainbow.”
Lady Zillah smiled. “I’ve always wondered what would happen if
shadowflux were pitted against the full spectrum. Fascinating that it
hindered the Psionipath’s ability in the end—though I suppose I