“Shadows— they were fun to play with slippery gasses not quiet solid, but not quite liquid. easy to manipulate… …hard to escape.”  – Queen of Shadows ~ At first the room was white. Solid. Pallid. Empty. I stood there a moment, taking in my surroundings, figuring out an escape. Only there was none. I turned around, fear in my throat, adrenaline coursing through my veins . . . The door was gone. But it was just . . . “Hello?” I called, voice catching in my throat. With a wince I swallowed, my mouth dry, my tongue thick. Hello? I thought. What did she want with me? I’d heard stories about the Queen of Shadows, a women heard but never seen. It was said that those who heard her voice never lived to tell the tale. But if that was so, how did I know they’d heard it? The fact alone gave me hope. I stood taller. “Hello?” I called again. I took a step forward and stopped. The ground trembled. The floor shook and then the ground behind …