[ Matt listens carefully--"listens"?--as the words and their tinges of emotion flow into his brain. He tries to make it clear he's taking it all seriously. Which you'd think would be easy to do when you're basically inside each other's minds, but with Communion, Matt finds sometimes that he misses a sense of embodiment. The warmth and gravity of sitting next to someone, nodding as they talk. ]

I think they're definitely real, [ he answers slowly. He's a big believer in trusting your gut; he can't imagine magic without it. ] What I don't know is if they're really--

Who they appear to be.

That's why I think it's significant that the shadows around here have imitated familiar voices and faces before, and that shadow beings have mimicked Shard-Bearers. I think it's possible that they're diversifying their tactics.