The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter: In the Nexus Force

The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter:

In the Nexus Force

“Congratulations!” said the Assembly vendor cheerfully.

An Assembly Engineer was standing before a man dressed in white robes, which were known to belong in the so-called Summoner kit, the bench of a stall between them. The Engineer was going through the joyful event of completing his Rank 3 gear, a rather important step into becoming a useful member of the Nexus Force.

But what is the Nexus Force in the first place, some might wonder. Years ago, the incident of Crux’s explosion that shocked everyone took place. But the reason it happened was the arrival of the Maelstrom. Four explorers had once sought to find the Imagination Nexus, source of an element of creative power, but in the end they’d only managed to unleash the Maelstrom and shatter the planet. One of them was gone, taken by the Maelstrom, but the remaining three set out to found the Nexus Force in order to protect the world from the threat that they first encountered.

The Maelstrom had been quiet at first, spreading in the darkness, but soon enough it declared all-out war on all of existence. It was a twisted force that destroyed and corrupted, creating new servants by infecting what it touched. But the Nexus Force was there to defend the remnants of Crux from this scourge. With an increasing popularity after their first feats against the threat, they were now the largest organisation that fought the Maelstrom and Strange Odd Shadow was a member of it.

More specifically, he was a member of the Assembly, one of the four factions of the Force. The other three were Venture League, the Sentinels and Paradox. They all focused on different aspects of the Nexus Force’s endeavours, but they co-existed and worked together in harmony, complementing each other in an efficient if a little rowdy manner.

Strange Odd Shadow himself had only joined about a year ago, but he was already doing pretty well for himself in the organisation. The fluid way in which the Force was structured allowed talented people to be recognised and rise in rank appropriately pretty quickly. Meldric Steamvalve’s, the vendor in question, next comment was evidence of that.

“By the way, you heard the news?” he said as he looked into some shelves inside his stall for the items Strange Odd Shadow had asked for. “They’ve found the seventh hero, they say”.

Heroes. A rather ridiculous concept maybe for conventional military forces, but the Nexus Force was by no means conventional. Individuality, freedom and creativity were qualities that were encouraged and as a result, the appearances of champions to inspire and support the Force’s masses was not only natural, but necessary.

“Is that so?” Strange Odd Shadow asked absent-mindedly while he received the packs Meldric handed him.

“Yeah and from what I hear he’s from Assembly, so now we’ve got him *and* Miss Amanda on the team. Though they don’t seem to intend to reveal his name this time”.

“Team? Have those people even ever worked together?”

“Well, maybe not, but I expect they will eventually. What else are they gathering them for after all?”

“Don’t ask me. I’m just a Rank 3 recruit”.

“Don’t sell yourself so short Mister Shadow. I hear you did pretty good in Castle Kingdom”.

“Did someone say Castle Kingdom?” a man popped up from the cheerful crowd gathered in Nimbus Plaza.

“Oh, you’re done with your purchases, Dragon? I’m just about finished, too”, Strange Odd Shadow handed a few tokens and coins to Meldric. “Thanks, Meldric, I’ll see you around”.

 “Thank you for your patronage!” the former conversation was now forgotten.

 “Yo Shadow, shall we go?” Magical Heroic Dragon, Shadow’s friend and comrade in arms, prompted. “There’s some friends of mine here in Nimbus that I’m meeting with later, if you want to come.

“Lead the way”, Shadow replied.

 “So, you’re full Rank 3 now, ha?” Dragon noted as the two men began to walk away from the stall. “About time, I say. After Castellar, you must have hoarded enough rewards to be able to get a lot more than that”.

 Aside from its members’ regular salaries, the Nexus Force had a system to accommodate its members’ freedom to choose how they were equipped themselves and promote the promising people whereupon they were rewarded with tokens for completing missions or taking part in projects. Such tokens could be used to acquire gear produced by the Nexus Force, whether that was of the faction-flavoured varieties or of miscellaneous nature.

 “I am not concerned by such materialistic pursuits”, Shadow replied in a faux haughty manner.

“I bet. You’re probably gonna use it all to get extra rations, aren’t you?”

 “There’s nothing wrong with more food. Better food, I should say. The standard meals are so bland”.

 They made their way through the crowd, which was rather unavoidable in this residential and commercial district of the Force’s territory. However, as they approached the forested park that surrounded the square where the mass of people began to thin out, a tall figure caught Dragon’s attention.

 “Oh hey that’s Mardolf”.

 “Mardolf?” Shadow enquired.

 “Yeah, Mardolf the Orange. He’s a wizard from Argenturegnum like you. Wanna come say hi? Us Castellar folk should stick together”.

“Need I remind you that I’m not supposed to be from Castellar?”

 “Oh right, I forgot you were hiding it. I still don’t get why. After all, it’s painfully obvious when you speak Kauthic”.

 “And yet you’re the only one who’s been able to tell so far. So don’t let it slip from you, but I don’t mind meeting him”.

“This secrecy won’t do you any good, man”.

 “Nor will meddling with other people’s personal business”.

“Point taken”.

The two of them approached the wizard dressed in orange, who was in an animated conversation with another man, Rad Eccles, who was supposed to be Mardolf’s assistant. In reality, Shadow had heard of the Assembly’s Grandfather, as he was sometimes called, before but had not met him himself since he’d joined the Nexus Force. As chance had it, whenever he’d had to deal with the Assembly authorities of Nimbus, Mardolf had been absent and he’d been referred to Rad Eccles instead.

 “Yo Mardolf, what is up, old man?” Dragon called.

 The old wizard turned to face the man dressed in light Venture League attire and waved his hand upon recognising him.

“Ah, if it isn’t young Zachary”, he said.

Shadow saw his face now. It was ridden with wrinkles and framed by the white hair on his head and beard. But his eyes were lively and he looked kindly unto Dragon. It wasn’t quite as Shadow had expected. Not as tired-looking as he’d seen him before…

“Come on now, Mardolf! You sound so official. Everyone calls me Dragon here”.

 “That’s a shame then. Zachary is a much better name. How have you been, good friend?”

 “You know, the usual. Going around, vanquishing the Maesltrom. Just came back from Castellar actually”.

 “That’s funny. I just came back from a mission yesterday myself”.

“Oh yes? And how did that go?”

Mardolf’s expression grew sombre.

“Not too well. We were hunting the Dark Shadow, but it escaped”.

“The Dark Shadow? Did you actually find it?”

“Yes, after a lot of tracking. But it tricked us and gave us the slip. Killed some of us in the process”.

“That sounds awful. If you couldn’t stop it, I wonder who can”.

“I am not the only powerful person in the Nexus Force. There’s been no threat, yet, that we haven’t been able to face by working together”.

“Then, let’s hope we can do it soon. The rumours about the Dark Shadow are unnerving and I don’t want any more people killed”.

 “Neither do I. But tell me, who is this friend of yours that’s been standing there silent this whole time?” the wizard turned his attention to Shadow.

“Ah, that’s Strange Odd Shadow. We fought together in Castellar. Great guy. Says he hasn’t met you before”.

“Are you sure about that?” Mardolf asked. “You seem familiar. Have we met before?”.

Shadow was wearing full-body armour in the high-tech fashion of Assembly Engineers, so with his face covered it was commendable that Mardolf picked up on his scent still. But Shadow was not about to reveal himself that simply. He had changed his name and left his past behind for a reason. And this intimidating feeling he got when faced with the wizard? There was a simple way to avoid it.

“I don’t believe we have. I’m sure I would remember that”, Shadow replied.

Mardolf considered him for a moment, then spoke again, “That’s okay then. If you wish to keep your secrets, you can. I won’t push it”.

Shadow felt very uncomfortably at that. It was like he was fully exposed to the wizard and couldn’t hide even a single secret from him. But Shadow did not want to be seen. He felt ashamed. And he felt violated. But most of it was just in his mind and Mardolf couldn’t really perceive his thoughts and so the examining glance moved away from him.

Shadow did not pay a lot of attention to the rest of the conversation, but he and Dragon parted with the old man soon, as he was busy still. Dragon had questions, however.

“What was that all about? Do you actually know Mardolf after all?”

“Who knows?” Shadow responded cryptically with a sigh of relief at having left.

“Do you think that being edgy like that makes you cool or something? Why do you have to be like that?”

“Strange and Odd are part of my name, you know”.

“Not your real name and I’m actually starting to wonder what it really is”.

His real name… Yes, Strange Odd Shadow was nothing more than a nickname in the fashion of the code names Nexus Force members often used. But Shadow was one of those people who used it as more than just a nickname, replacing their former name with it. In another life, he’d been Wiz Ardon, the wizard apprentice. But he was wizard apprentice no longer and he’d made the decision to leave that life behind for only pain could come of it. Even though he longed to catch up with Mardolf, to talk like nothing had ever been wrong, to jump back into the world he was once part of, that was no longer possible.

“More importantly, what’s the Dark Shadow?” he asked in the end, outwardly ignoring Dragon’s latest statement.

“You’re dodging the subject, man. But fine, have it your way. You’ve always been stubborn about keeping your past hidden, so I know I won’t get anything out of this”.

“That is very wise of you”.

“Don’t push me. As for the Dark Shadow, haven’t you heard of it? Rumours of its moving in the dark and killing Nexus-Forcers when they’re outside alone are all over the place”.

“Now you mention it, I think I’ve heard of something like that before, but I didn’t think it was real”.

“Oh, it’s real all right. Granted, most of the rumours are gossip and false alarms by people who are terrified. But there have been confirmed deaths. It doesn’t act within Nexus Force territory, but if you encounter it far from its reach, you’re as good as dead. We’ve lost some real good names to it –Phil Eriston for instance– or at least so it’s been speculated. Due to its nature, it’s hard to confirm most of the time”.

“Doesn’t sound very nice”.

“It isn’t. That’s why you’d better hope we don’t meet it”.

“That’s why I’m hoping to meet it”.

“Don’t be silly. Even Mardolf couldn’t defeat it, what could *you* do?”

“Did Mardolf actually confront it, though? If Mardolf had actually faced it head-on, I imagine one of them would have to be dead by now”.

“I guess… But still don’t challenge fate. We get enough trouble already, you don’t need to ask for more”.

“I joined the Nexus Force to meet the trouble, you know. And then destroy it”.

“You’re a lost cause”.

The two friends continued down a path through the woods, now officially out of the crowd. But as they went, two watchful eyes looked on intently. They gleamed yellow in the darkness.

“Careful what you wish for, Wiz. For sometimes our hopes are more dangerous than our fears”.

After the two men walked away, Mardolf turned to his assistant, “Do you know this Strange Odd Shadow person?” he asked. “He must have received the Assembly badge from you”.

“Ah yes, I remember him. He had a talent for building, so he left an impression with me”.

“Do you know anything about him? Like his real name or where he’s from?”

“I don’t recall a name, but I believe he said he’s from Yorkanton City”.

“That’s odd. Why choose such a striking place as Yorkanton, if you’re going to lie?”

“What makes you think it’s not the truth?”

“I don’t know anyone like him that’s from Yorkanton. In fact, the only person I know from that place is… Hmmm”, Mardolf stopped with a thoughtful expression.

“What is it? Did you remember?”

“No… Not really. It’s probably not him. Well, I suppose we will see. These things tend to come to the surface sooner or later”.

Dragon led Shadow to one of the small worlds that orbited Nimbus Station and which the Nexus Force had a habit of offering to its recruits as properties of their own. A cosy little house had been built on it and Dragon rang the doorbell. Moments later, a man in an apron opened the door with a frantic look on his eyes. Shadow noticed a blue logo on his black shirt underneath the apron: a Sentinel.

“You arrived the worst possible moment! The pie will get burnt!” he exclaimed and then disappeared back into the house, leaving the guests to invite themselves in.

Inside and in the right of the initial hallway they came to, they found a living room currently occupied by two people. One was a rather fashionably dressed dark-skinned woman who seemed to have employed glitter in her make-up; the other was a blonde girl, dressed more casually, in a plain t-shirt that left some of the midriff exposed and short jeans. Shadow did note several accessories on her person, though: an ankle bracelet, a variety of rings on her fingers and ears, and also a bellybutton piercing.

They were sitting around a table on top of which a few board game boxes were stacked as well as the board of one being set up and in the midst of the game apparently. A variety of fizzy drinks were present and the blonde one was hugging a big bowl of chips, from which she’d frequently eat. It was a proper game night.

“Oh, Dragon! Didn’t expect you to arrive so soon”, the well-dressed woman spoke. “You usually get distracted by something or other”.

“Not today, though! You shall mock my attention span no longer”.

“We shall see about that”.

“But anyway. Let me introduce you guys. Shadow, this is Nasrin Joshi. Don’t let her mean comments affect you, she’s a good gal at heart. Deep deep at heart”.

“Hey!” Nasrin objected.

“And this is Caillic Caleston. Don’t get her to start about her Maelstrom experiments, okay. She won’t stop about them and they’re real disturbing”.

“What’s this, Dragon? You want to hear more about my work? I think you’ll be real interested in that time I tried to merge two Spiderlings together”, Caillic smiled sinisterly.

“Please don’t! Finally there’s also Ultra Fire Burrito, whom you just saw at the door. He’s cooking, but don’t trust his food. And guys, this is Strange Odd Shadow. We’re Castellar buddies. He came back with me, so I invited him to our little party”.

“Good thing you remembered to tell us beforehand or Burrito would have freaked out”, Caillic commented.

“What do you take me for? No, wait! Don’t answer that”.

“Don’t think you can stop us”, was Nasrin’s reply.

“You guys playing games, I see?” Shadow noted with a look at the table.

“Ah yes, are you not down for that?”

“No no. I think it’s nice to sit down and relax for a bit after months on the battlefield”.

“You were deployed to Castellar, right?” Caillic asked. “I hear they only take seasoned recruits there. You must be rather impressive”.

“It’s not that big of a deal. The rumours are out of proportion, honestly”, Shadow responded.

“Don’t go underestimating Shadow over here. He might look small and I admit I didn’t think much of him when I first met him either –he wasn’t even full Rank 2 back then– but turns out he’s got very fine control over Imagination”.

“Dragon, I think you’re the only one judging people by their size. Besides he’s not even that small. You’re just tall”, Caillic said, prompting Shadow to exclaim “Vindication!”

“That’s right. Physique is not what truly matters. What it’s all about is being fabulous!” Nasrin declared, with an animated gesture.

“Dragon, I think I’ve just found my soul mate”, Shadow was impressed.

“You say that and yet you’re the one still dressed in their armour. Don’t you want to change into something more comfortable?”

“I had no time to change, remember? We came here right away. Suppose I could take the unnecessary stuff, though”.

“Even as you say so, I don’t understand why you were wearing it in Nimbus Station in the first place”.

“We could have been attacked while travelling, you know! One needs to be prepared always”.

“You’re paranoid”.

“You’re too lax”.

“You’re lucky I saved the pie just in time!” the other man, Ultra Fire Burrito had walked in. “Though you’ll find that it’s been a little browned”.

“And what are you telling us for like we’re to blame?” Nasrin enquired.

“If you hadn’t been distracting me, this wouldn’t have happened of course”.

“Don’t blame us for being absent-minded. If you’re going to freak out over your cooking, shouldn’t you be paying more attention?” she then turned to Shadow. “There’s a reason he got that nickname”.

“I would be, if you weren’t cheating in the game. And don’t perpetuate that silly name. Just call me Ezra”.

While the two friends continued to bicker, Shadow took off his armour, putting the pieces into his backpack –Nexus-Force-issued, so that it would fit a lot more than its outward appearance let on. Dragon just laughed at the banter, while Caillic continued to munch chips.

Eventually, though, Ezra and Nasrin quieted down and they all sat down round the table. After some discussion, it was decided they would set up a new game of Risk-a-Brick as Ezra brought the food.

“I hope we’re not making a terrible impression”, Nasrin said as she shuffled the game’s cards. “We could do with an Assembly member in the team”.

“Which, as you can tell is the primary reason we are befriending you, not that we are personally interested in you at all”, Caillic added sarcastically and received a playful shove.

“No no, the atmosphere is quite… homely. Speaking of which, you’ve got quite a nice home”, he turned to Ezra who was returning with the aforementioned slightly scorched pie. “Did you build it yourself?”

“Oh no, I have no feel for such things as architecture, so if I tried to, it’d come out all sorts of ways of wrong”.

“What about you?” Nasrin asked. “Where do you live?”

“Oh, me? Well… I just go around really. No permanent place”.

“Right! We’ve been in Castellar for so long I’d forgotten about that”, Dragon spoke in his turn. “You really should get a place. After all, the Force is just giving all those properties away”.

“Isn’t it a little sad?” Caillic cut in. “Not having a home to return to?”

“No, no… The Nexus Force is my home, that’s enough for me”.

There were long looks by some of the people, but Nasrin continued, “Speaking of, why did you choose to join the Force, Shadow?”

“Why…? I guess, I felt like it gave me purpose. I was rather lost before finding it, but saving the world is something we can all unite on, right? When the idea was presented to me, I was unusually drawn to it. So, I went with it I suppose. I haven’t regretted that decision”.

Shadow was plenty aware of the side glances Dragon gave him. He knew the man was curious about his past and that was probably the most he’d heard of it in all the months they’d known each other. He ignored them, however, and instead returned the question, “How about yourselves, though?”

“Well, personally, I always wanted to travel across Crux”, Nasrin began. “I looked to the sky and every star looked like a different world of new possibilities. And the Nexus Force was the best bet for that. I dream for a day, you see, when it will be safe to travel from place to place like that”.

“I didn’t know that about you”, Caillic spoke afterwards. “As for me, I guess it was because I was afraid. By joining, I felt like I gained some power to protect myself and others and by studying the Maelstrom, I could begin to rationalise it rather than cower in fear and ignorance. Some people might be in it to save the world, but it’s still okay to be looking out for yourself, right?”

“Wow, we’re getting deep all of a sudden”, Ezra said. “Then in that case, I should share my story, too. The truth is I didn’t *want* to join the Nexus Force and fight. But such a thing is unavoidable when your home is close to the system’s core. All I wished was for a peaceful life with my family. But with the Maelstrom invading, someone had to protect the town and there was only one way of doing it”.

 The others listened in sombre silence. With a war going on, it was no surprise that people with such serious motivations would exist, but that didn’t make it any easier responding to Ezra’s story. At last, Dragon spoke.

 “My case is somewhat similar to Burrito’s. Castellar Regnum has also been one of the worlds to be directly attacked by the Maelstrom. But unlike most places, we have forces in place that are more or less capable of keeping the enemy at bay, albeit with *some* support from the Force. I could have been just one of them”, Shadow did remember Dragon saying that he’d trained as a knight before, but he hadn’t known the details of why he’d not stuck to that. “But my home has a pretty bloodied history. In the end, I didn’t want to associate with all the hate that generated I suppose I wanted something more… civilised”.

 That’s right. In this war, everyone had something to protect. Whether it was their ideals, their home or even themselves, it didn’t matter. The Nexus-Forcers were supposed to be the protectors of the Universe. In contrast to that, what had Shadow told everyone his motivation was? Finding a purpose for himself. Did he not care about the war deep down? Was he merely doing it for his self-satisfaction? He felt small compared to the others. But what else was there to do? The Nexus Force was his only home now. There was nowhere else to turn to. He might not take its ideals as seriously as others, but he could at least try to be as useful to it as possible. At the end of the day, no one could complain about that, right?

 After a few more quiet moments, Nasrin attempted to lighten the mood drawing Shadow out of his thoughts, “Well, this conversation definitely got depressing pretty quickly”.

 “I don’t mind it personally”, Ezra replied. “We get to know each other better, is that not fine?”

 “It’s fine, but this is supposed to be a game night and at this rate, we’re going to chat it all away”, Dragon said. “We can talk while we play”.

 And with that, they finally started playing, placing their pawns on a map of Galaz. At first, it looked like Caillic might win when she conquered all of Batheia and Aindalia, but then Ezra and Nasrin allied together to bring her down. Through all that, Shadow and Dragon fought over the same territories and struggled during the entire game. By the end of the night, no winner would emerge victorious as the balance kept shifting from one person to another. But the five friends enjoyed themselves nonetheless and talked about several topics. During an invasion of Gleswin, Caillic brought up a new subject.

“By the way, have you guys heard the latest reports on Maelstrom activity?”

 “The ones about the Mid Ring?” Nasrin asked and Caillic nodded affirmatively.

“What are those about?” Shadow asked.

 “We have noted a significantly less amount of Maelstrom in the Nimbus System lately and as much as we’d all have liked to think that’s because we’re winning, that would be far too optimistic”, Nasrin explained. “As part of the investigation to discover the reasons why, lots of scouts were sent into the Mid Ring and even to the Outer Ring in some cases. They all returned with reports of heightened Maelstrom activity relative to what it was like in those parts previously. It seems the Maelstrom is expanding”.

“That’s not foreboding at all”.

 “What reason would the Maelstrom have to expand all of a sudden?” Shadow wondered. “It’s been focusing most of its power in crushing the Core and the Nexus Force so far, so why change tactics now?”

“My theory is it’s looking for something. Something big enough that it would be fine with diverting its attention from the front lines long enough to find it and then return even stronger”, Caillic suggested.

“It’s as good a guess as any”.

“Well, I doubt it’s out of belief that it will be able to corrupt the outer Crux System and then surround the core”, Ezra added. “The Nexus Force is already planning missions to contact outer worlds in order to widen its reach –I’ll be taking part in one such diplomatic mission myself soon actually. In the end, it’ll just end up both the Force and the Maelstrom spreading thin across the entire system without a real difference in power”.

“And here I thought we were winning the war with all the progress we’ve been making”, Shadow sighed. “I suppose we’ll be back in action soon enough”.

“Don’t look that excited when saying that”, Dragon told him.

“Is that so wrong?”

“It is. You should try to get some rest from time to time. Don’t jump into new missions right after you returned from the battles of Castellar”.

“Actually… Caillic was telling me about a mission she’s been assigned earlier and it sounds sorta interesting” .

“What? Seriously? This is exactly what I was talking about! You can’t overwork yourself like that. Don’t you have anything else to do?”

Shadow chose not to answer that.

“And what about you, Caillic? Don’t just go around recruiting people who should be resting”.

“Hey, he asked about it”.

“What mission even is this?”

“Collecting imaginite in the Crux Prime caves. I am to get a team and lead the operation. I figured you guys would be the best team, but if you and Shadow can’t come, I can find replacements”.

“No, I can come”, Shadow said.

Dragon heaved a long sigh, “Fiiine. But only because I can’t stop that knuckle-head and someone should be looking over him. Here you are, now wasting my break as well. So when do we start?”

~~~\*\*\*---\*\*\*~~~

One day later, the five of them arrived in Crux Prime, the world where the Nexus Tower –the Nexus Force’s headquarters– resided and where one of the fiercest battles against the Maelstrom was constantly waged. Their small team avoided the big battle fields, however, and headed for a mountainous area in the middle of the planet chunk. While technically in Maelstrom territory, the presence of the enemy was not very dense there and approaching it by rocket they could avoid the hosts of Maelstrom beings that would otherwise stand in their way.

Soon they approached the spot on their maps where the cave entrance was supposed to be. There were a few stromlings, the beings created when people were infected by the Maelstrom, nearby, but they quickly cleared the area in order to proceed inside.

“Take care now”, Caillic warned as they went in. “The imaginite deep in these caves is very pure, but this also means that its infected variety is that much more dangerous. Don’t touch anything without thinking”.

“If the Maelstrom’s presence makes this place so dangerous, then why not look for the crystals in other worlds where the Maelstrom is weaker?” Ezra asked.

“Unfortunately, Crux Prime is the only world in the Nimbus System that is big enough to have the necessary depth and used to be close enough to the Nexus for its imaginite to be that pure. After all, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Maelstrom has been so interested in this place”.

“So, to summarise, if we’re not killed by the rabid creatures of Maelstrom, we’ll get infected by corrupted imaginite. Nice”, Nasrin retorted.

The five of them walked with Dragon at the front, who was a Venture-Leaguer and trained as a scout, surveying the way before them; and also Ezra who was the strongest fighter among them. The other three followed from behind, making sure to check their rear often, lest an enemy approach them from that direction.

The caves, formerly a mine system now abandoned and fallen to ruin, were full of Maelstrom beings, both stromling and infected critters of various kinds, especially underground-living ones. They attacked frequently, but the five Nexus-Forcers consistently managed to repel and defeat their opponents. The Maelstromlings weren’t particularly strong, but as the team went deeper, they appeared in higher and higher numbers.

“Do we need to go deeper still?” Dragon asked finally. “Their numbers are starting to get tiresome. There’s imaginite here, so why not collect that?” he pointed to the walls of the cave where crystals of multiple colours gave off a faint light.

“I’m afraid it won’t do”, Caillic replied. “At this depth, it’s just going to be the normal variety you’ll find anywhere. The high-quality stuff won’t show up for a while”.

There were a few groans in response. They were all starting to get tired of the process.

“All right, but do note if we continue much further we’ll end up in the out of bounds area”.

After years of technological advancement, the Nexus Force had managed to use Imagination in order to create the Emergency Safety Net Grid, a field in which people whose vitals dropped to dangerous lows would be pulled back to safety. It was not a particularly pleasant experience nor very healthy to repeat much, but it was an effective method of lowering the number of casualties significantly. However, the grid could only reach as far as the Nexus Force could plant its generators. As such, the so called out-of-bounds areas were formed where one had no protection from death other than their own skill. Naturally, a mission that required venturing outside the grid would be considered a rather high-risk one, but all members of the team were skilled or reckless enough to not mind much.

“You all signed up for this”, Caillic reminded.

“It’d seemed a lot simpler from the comfort of my living room”, Ezra admitted, but continued nonetheless.

Deeper in, they started encountering darklings as well. They were the first kind of Maelstrom being to have been formed, but unlike the others they’d been created from pure Maelstrom. They were made to mimic humans, but were a lot smaller and did not have much of the shape and structure, mostly consisting of a dark purple gooey substance. However, what they lacked in ability, they made up for in overwhelming numbers and soon the five of them felt the creatures’ acidic touch on their legs.

“Can someone do something about them?” Ezra asked as he simultaneously blocked the strike of a stromling’s sword-fused arm.

Shadow was about to perform a blast of Imagination himself, but Caillic was faster. A purple wave emitted from her staff, and the darklings touched by it stopped moving and then proceeded to melt. The Paradox faction had the philosophy of using Maelstrom against itself in general, but its Sorcerers were the only ones to manipulate Maelstrom in such direct means, earning them that title even though they weren’t really practising sorcery in the conventional meaning of the word. Even so, that had been a rather impressive display of skill from Caillic.

Shadow released his blast anyway to finish off the remaining darklings and then they focused on the bigger enemies. By the end, floor and walls alike were painted with purple. The essence of the darklings was still everywhere, but as long as one’s shoes had no holes, they should be fine.

“There’s two paths ahead”, Nasrin said once they’d caught their breath. “Can you scout ahead a bit, Dragon?”

“On it”.

They watched as the man cautiously went into one of the two openings that lay before them along with the light he carried. Eventually, the glow disappeared completely behind the cave’s walls, but it was not long before it began to return. Dragon came back with a white face.

“There’s a dragon ahead”, he whispered.

“Yeah, it’s you”, Nasrin joked, but then continued seriously. “It’s good we have you, though. Now we can avoid it”.

“It’s sleeping for now, but let’s try not to make any more noise”.

They walked into the other passage as quietly as possible, confident that whatever lay ahead, it was most likely easier to handle than a Maelstrom dragon. They continued for a while, but as they proceeded in the dark underground corridors, something started to feel strange. Shadow wondered what it was, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He grew nervous.

“Hey, hasn’t it been a while since we met any Maelstrom?” Dragon pointed out suddenly.

Ah… That was it! The sudden silence was too eerie. Until then, even when they weren’t being outright attacked, they could almost always hear something crawling nearby or crying its unearthly calls in the distance, echoing in the hollow caves. Now, there was nothing.

“This is real spooky”, Nasrin spoke as she looked around in search of anything suspicious.

“Should we go back maybe?” Ezra asked.

“We’ve come this far”, Shadow pointed out. “Going back now would be giving up”.

“Perhaps…”

Caillic did not finish her sentence as a sudden turn revealed a sight that drew everyone’s attention. Glowing light blue –almost white– crystals were poking out of the rocky walls, shedding a light far brighter than any other imaginite they’d encountered. Due to their large quantity, in fact, the cross section of the cave where the crystals appeared was almost as well-lit as their flash-lights could manage. Shadow could tell those were the pure kind of imaginite, because the were the same colour as the Nexus.

“Pretty!” Nasrin noted, a sentiment that most everyone could probably agree to.

There were a few crystals that were infected, emanating a purple aura breaking the monotony of blue. However, through the mysterious forces that governed Imagination and Maelstrom, the latter had not managed to spread in the entirety of the location and was in fact in the minority. It would take all but a small accident, though, for this fact to change and turn the whole place into a Maelstrom hell scape. Utmost Care would be required.

“Shall we start mining them?” Shadow prompted. “The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can leave this eerie place”.

“Sure, just make sure not to touch-” Caillic began, but was interrupted once again.

“Wait, look!” Dragon pointed forward in one of the passages that met in the cross section ahead of them.

A lizard-like creature the size of a small horse with horns on its head almost like a deer’s had approached. They’d fought a few infected beasts of its kind already that day, but that one appeared to be intact from the Maelstrom. It stared at them through the crystals’ light wide-eyed, itself in semi-darkness. Their appearance must have confused it as uninfected humans were pretty rare in these parts these days. Their group looked back at it as well, for a moment forgetting their objective. True silence fell as no one dared to make a sound, fearing to startle the creature as they couldn’t predict its reaction. If it ran, it might alert the Maelstrom beings to their presence. If it attacked, it could accidentally touch the infected crystals.

Nothing happened for a few moments. Then, Caillic began slowly approaching the animal and it occurred to Shadow that it really was like an encounter with a deer. He hoped Caillic could handle it. She walked into the imaginite-rich area and was tinted blue in the colour of the lights. The lizard’s gaze followed her, but it didn’t move still. Perhaps, she could get to it after all, but what she’d do then, Shadow didn’t know. Then, it suddenly happened.

The shadows began to stir where the lizard stood. The five of them watched in horror as the blackness of the ground began to rise and approach the unaware beast. Before they knew it, the shadows quickly wrapped themselves around the lizard and dragged it down. The darkness fused with the ground again and the lizard was gone, consumed by the black. They kept staring in shock.

“What was that?” Ezra finally exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

“I don’t know, but it seriously creeped me out”, Dragon said in a low voice. “We should get out of here”.

“Agreed. The mission doesn’t matter any more. We should just get out”, Caillic decided.

They quickly began to back away, making sure not to be loud or to look away from where the shadows had emerged. Turning their backs now could prove fatal and making noise would draw attention to them. They started slowly at first, but once they went around the corner and the cross section was no longer visible, they switched to sprinting. They needed to get as far from the place as possible.

It was not to be. Nasrin suddenly came to a stop and the others slowed down to avoid bumping onto her. It didn’t take them long to see what had made her stop. Complete darkness lay ahead of them, an impenetrable curtain of blackness that their lights could not illuminate.

“We’re not going into that, are we?” Nasrin asked.

“Is it just darkness we can’t dispel or will it kill us like the shadows from before?” Caillic wondered.

“Never mind that, what do we do?” Ezra wasn’t the only one who was starting to seem panicked.

Then, the lights they used to illuminate their way, carried by Dragon and Nasrin, flickered a few times giving everyone a fright.

“You’ve got to be kidding me”, Dragon said right before they completely went out.

The lights on Shadow’s gear lingered for a moment and then they, too, were extinguished. They were left in complete darkness. The scared voices of his companions filled the cave for a second, but then Shadow experienced a strange sensation all over his body and they suddenly stopped.

“Guys? Guys! Are you there guys? Dragon?” he called out, but deep down he knew they weren’t there any more.

For he had a gut feeling on what had just happened, but he didn’t want to listen to that voice. It was hard to deny that he’d probably just been teleported by some force, but he did not want to admit that he’d sensed it because of his instinctual magic.

Internal struggle aside, however, he was in a very serious situation. His friends did not answer, so he had to figure out what to do all on his own. Seeing as he was still in absolute dark and the environment’s scent had not changed, he was most likely still in the caves and as such he was hesitant to grope around to find his way, as there was still danger of infected crystals. He felt around his gear and tried to turn on his comm. or any light, but they did not respond.

He was still considering his options when a spine-chilling sound reached his ears. Someone was crying. Very close by, having an unnerving effect due to the circumstances. Shadow’s blood froze. There was something very eerie about it. It sounded like a girl’s sobs and sometimes it even grew close to like a baby’s. He instinctively walked towards it, a combined sense of curiosity, horror and desire to reassure compelling him, but halfway through he broke out of his trance.

*Isn’t this most likely a trap? What am I doing?*

*What if it’s an actual person in danger?*

*There’s no way someone other than the five of us is here and has survived.*

*It could be Caillic and Nasrin.*

*Snap out of it, man. It’s a trap, speaking to your base instincts. Tons of spirits and magical creatures prey on people like this, it’s basic stuff*, part of him was annoyed at having this last thought, but he had a lot more to care about in that moment.

He finally found the strength to turn around and all of a sudden the sobs lost their effect. They were still dreadful to hear, but Shadow could think clearly again. The attempted mind trick he was now aware of made him all the more certain that it was not genuine, so he could ignore the crying to the best of his ability free of heart.

He began to walk away. It was not safe to stay in one place too long and he did not want to be close to the source of the heart-wrenching cries. And most importantly, he needed to find the others. He used a makeshift stick from what materials he had available on his backpack to feel around the way without touching with his own hands. He also tried to raise his extra-sensory awareness. By applying his will to his Imagination in a range around him, he could feel elements averse to it, and specifically Maelstrom, if they were found in high enough concentrations. That wasn’t something the average person could do, but Shadow with his prior experience in magic was a lot more capable in his manipulation of Imagination, which was not too different in nature (especially the kind in which Wiz was proficient). He justified it in himself that it wasn’t really magic, but Imagination use just like anyone else in the Force used, simply more advanced.

A few minutes passed and Shadow was getting used to the dark, but his concern for his team-mates was consistently rising. Then, to his surprise he thought he saw something ahead. He blinked a few times, but the little spot ahead of him did not disappear. A light in the distance had appeared out of nowhere.

*That is a definitely a trap… But it’s not like I have anywhere else to go.*

On his way there, he wondered who was attacking them. If it was the Maelstrom, shouldn’t there be more violence involved? Why wasn’t it the usual threat of wave after wave of enemies and spreading corruption? Even as he had these thoughts he noticed that he wasn’t in complete darkness any more. Whether it was coming from the source he’d already spotted or it was of some sort of ambient nature, a very dim light was piercing the darkness, but with his eyes adjusted to the pitch black, it made a huge difference.

And the first thing he saw in this newly found light was a twitching arm. It was a stormling’s arm, he could tell from how decayed it looked, and it was sticking out from the ground as if the rest of its body had been buried there. But it was not alone. Several more limbs, both human-like and not, but all Maelstrom, stood all over like the world’s freakiest garden of growing saplings. A shadow lay over the ground and it was probably what was consuming all the Maelstrom beings.

Unnerved, he made to turn back, but behind he found a wall of darkness ridden with small black arms that reached out to catch him as soon as he gazed upon them. Panicked, he chose the forest of arms and legs instead and started running over it. He felt the cold touch of several hands grabbing onto him or legs kicking him and if it was not for the Imagination shield he projected around himself, he’d have probably quickly been infected. He shook them all off and continued. He found that his feet were starting to sink into the shadows of the ground, so before he became another piece of this collection of limbs he started stepping onto the arms and legs instead. They weren’t the best to support his feet and he almost lost his balance often, especially with how they moved, but at least he kept his life intact.

When he reached the end of the patch of shadows and limbs and jumped back onto safe ground, he was a lot nearer to the light, but he still couldn’t quite make out what it was. He figured he would soon find out, but he doubted he’d like whatever it was. He did not dare to look back, not only because he didn’t want to see the grotesque group of semi-consumed Maelstromlings again, but because he feared the curtain of darkness might still be directly behind him, waiting for him to turn around.

Meeting the light was his only choice in that moment, for at the very least it was merely uncertain doom, which in his book beat certain doom every day of the week. But before he could confirm whether it was really his doom after all, a scream interrupted him. It was a very unsettling scream in itself, almost like a banshee’s call of death, but also a most baffling one for it seemed to come from the side. He was confused for a moment and then he noticed. There was an opening in the rock wall just behind him that he would have otherwise missed.

Now, the scream could definitely have been a trap also, especially with that timing, but Shadow figured that between the light and the scream, at least the latter had a chance of being one of his companions. So, having found a new way ,he turned around and left both light and wall of darkness behind.

The way down that passage began to grow dimmer, which was logical considering he was walking away from the source of light. He worried that he might plunge back into full darkness before he found the one who had screamed, but in the end it was a lot closer than he had thought.

Amidst the shadows, the figure was hard to make out at first, but then he noticed the characteristically shaped head and recognised the hat of the Paradox sorcerers’ outfit. Caillic! He made to cover the last of the distance to her and call out to her, but before he could do so, she screamed again. The shriek was just as unearthly as before even though he saw it was coming from his friend and he wondered if it might really signify his impending death. It would not be a stretch considering the circumstances.

Caillic’s voice went silent and Shadow felt free to approach again, having been frozen before by the chilling effect of the scream. Getting closer and finally seeing her face, Shadow noticed the woman was wide-eyed and holding her head as if scared and petrified on the spot by some unseen horror. In fact, she did not seem to heed Shadow at all. Her mouth moved involuntarily, but it produced no sounds in that moment.

“Caillic? Caillic! Wake up! Caillic, there’s nothing there!” Shadow first waved his arm in front of the girl’s unblinking face, then proceeded to shake her from the shoulders, but she did not appear to notice.

“Dammit, Caillic, you need to snap out of it!” he pinched her and then after some hesitation slapped her, as gently as he could muster while also trying to apply the necessary shock that would rouse her.

To that she responded with another short shriek, she turned her face to him, but still looked terrified and then retaliated with a punch in the face. He did not know what she had seen in that moment, but the process of receiving outward stimuli and responding to them seemed to finally wake her up, because her hollow eyes finally started to blink and actually notice him. She appeared confused for a moment, then she began to realise.

“Oh, it was… fake”, she mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“Caillic, what were you seeing just now?”

“It was… Well, better not say here in the darkness”, she appeared positively distraught, but he didn’t blame her; the horrors they were experiencing in real life or nightmares were absolutely terrifying.

“How did you find me?”

“I heard you scream”.

“Oh… What about the others?”

“I haven’t seen them anywhere”.

“Then, do you know what’s after us?”

“No, but it’s very creepy”.

“*Wait!* Just before I started… seeing things, I thought I’d seen Ezra. I was going after him. We need to find him”.

“Then, let’s go. Do you remember the way?”

“Yes, come with me”.

Caillic led him the way opposite to which he’d come from. They proceeded on a fast pace, yet making sure that they don’t miss any sign of Ezra. However, they were soon encompassed in full darkness again and could barely look for any clues.

“We’d better hope he’s still in a position to talk or else I don’t know how we’ll find him”.

“There’s a turn over here, so let’s go this way”.

“You could tell? That’s impressive. How are you sure he went this way, though”.

“Instinct… or rather you get to know someone well enough and you can guess how they would act. Now come, we need to be quick”.

Shadow followed the sorceress, wondering if one could really know their friends that well, but trusting in her judgement. It was better than nothing. It was a few more minutes before the pair of footsteps that was Caillic stopped suddenly.

“Wait, do you hear this?”

Shadow stopped and listened. He didn’t catch it at first, but after a while he noticed it, too. A muffled cry seemed to be coming from their left. He gave a look of fear to his companion that was lost in their blindness and then walked to the wall. He started feeling it all over, with no concern for potential dangers. There was a soft feeling to the wall like velvet and it was also sticky. Shadow feared that he was not touching the wall at all and hurried. Eventually, he came upon something sticking out. He touched fabric and under it he found to be a long cylindrical shape. Then, he grabbed a shoe. It was a leg, much like the ones of the stromlings, but this one wasn’t infected.

“I think it’s Ezra”, he told Caillic, who had also approached and found the leg, in disbelief.

“Let’s get him out of here”.

The two of them both grabbed onto the leg, the only thing that appeared to still be outside, and pulled. Whatever had seized him, most likely the same shadows they’d encountered before, held the person very tightly, not letting them just take him back. They pulled even harder, but it was obvious that strength alone wasn’t going to solve the problem. Shadow let his Imagination flow from his creative spark to his entire body, empowering it and then pulled again. He guided the creative element to spread into the person presumed to be Ezra as well, connecting him to himself. Finally, the leg began to budge and against all expectations, they felt it moving, more of the body resurfacing out of the shadowy wall.

With some feeling around, Caillic noticed the other leg had re-emerged as well slightly, so she switched to that. With both legs under their control, they made even faster progress and a few minutes later, the whole body came out and dropped on the ground.

“I hope he didn’t hurt his head”, Shadow said as he himself sat down for a moment, to rest from the exhaustion of this exercise.

“Either way, he doesn’t seem to be conscious. We’ll have to carry him”.

“Figures”.

“Where do we go from here?” Shadow asked as he put Ezra’s –presumably– arm over his shoulder to support him.

“We need to find the others, though we don’t know where they are and Ezra will slow us down”.

“It’s a hard task, but we need to do it. For now, let’s search where we haven’t been yet. Since the three of us met, the other two can’t be too far either”.

With Ezra on their shoulders, they began their way once more. More so than the weight of the man, it was the fact that they couldn’t properly search their surroundings while they carried him that hindered them. From time to time, Caillic would leave him to Shadow in order to scout the way and that was the best they could hope to do for finding the correct path.

Some time passed and after the excitement of the previous events wore off, the chilly feeling that something was about to go wrong settled in again. Not just metaphorically. Shadow really felt cold,with shivers going down his spine. Was that someone charging at them now? No, it was just Caillic stumbling over a rock. Were there whispers in his ears just now of a dark language he did not recognise? No, he must have been imagining it? Was that a finger’s long nail lightly touching his nape, going down following his spine? An examination with his hand revealed there to be nothing. Yet, just as before he still did not look back. Was he slowly losing his sanity or was there really something there? One could say the former would be true either way, because not knowing whether there really was anything following might render him mad anyway.

In the midst of this self-doubt, he almost missed it, dismissing it as just himself and Caillic. But then he counted the number of footsteps and he found there to be more than two pairs.

“Do you hear that?”

It was faint, but clearly there. *Pat pat, pat pat, pat pat*. Something or someone was following them from behind. Judging by the direction it was coming from,Shadow thought it was more likely to be foe rather than friend, but he didn’t know it for sure.

“Should we call out?” Caillic asked.

“Whatever it is seems to be following us anyway, so I don’t see the harm”.

“It might not have noticed us yet and start chasing us then”.

“We need to be sure it’s not one of the the others”.

“Fine”.

“Nasrin, Dragon is that you?” Shadow called.

No answer.

“Guys? Is that you?”

*Pat pat, pat pat…* It was getting closer.

“Doesn’t seem to be them”, Caillic concluded. “Let’s hurry then”.

The sound was getting louder. Now that they could hear them more clearly, the footsteps sounded heavy. Not particularly human. If there was any more doubt within them, the increasingly grating nature of the steps convinced them. They’d almost come to a stop when they’d first noticed the sound, but now they picked up speed again. But the footsteps followed suit.

Suddenly, they were aware that their pursuer was running and it was like large rocks were continuously dropping from a height, approaching at an unexpected speed.

“Run for it!”

They still had to carry Ezra, so they couldn’t really quite run, but Caillic had it covered. Mysterious sounds came from her direction and then something sizeable dropped to the ground by her side. Whatever it was, it walked with several legs –four maybe– and rapidly at that. Shadow couldn’t see it, but he imagined that it must be a sorcerer’s summoned spiderling, one of their most advanced techniques. Originally, dark spiderlings were creatures of the Maelstrom, monstrosities that slightly resembled spiders. But the Paradox had found a way to replicate them in such manner that they could control them. It was a rather crude method, one used only because of the ferocity with which the spiderlings fought in answer to the Maelstrom’s own rabidness; but Shadow did not mind in that moment. It was definitely helpful as Caillic placed Ezra on top of the spiderling and set it to run with them.

All while this happened, the booming echoing sounds from behind came ever closer, threatening a cave-in what with the increasing amount of quaking. Panicked, the two of them sprinted with all their might following the spiderling that moved ahead. An angry roar reverberated through the tunnel and soon it seemed to come from both behind and ahead. It occurred to Shadow that the roar was more likely of triumph due to having almost caught up to them rather than frustration of losing them, as it did not appear they were putting any distance between themselves and the crushing footsteps. Meeting the terror seemed unavoidable.

But then a new danger showed up suddenly and he had no time to redirect his companion or himself for that matter.

“Caillic, no!”

He did not see it, but he could sense it. Just ahead, they were about to step into a floor of infected imaginite. The spiderling was already in contact with the crystals and was only enduring it for a moment due to its strange mixed nature. In that split second, extending his aura of perception, he could feel the Imagination in Caillic’s body as she about to touch her foot down on the hostile substance.

But Shadow was not about to let them all die just like that. With a blast of Imagination, all four of them were flung into the air, making an arc over the Maelstrom crystals. They landed –or it would be more accurate to say they crashed– on the other side safely. But the Imagination coming in contact with the Maelstrom had an explosive reaction and before they knew it everything behind them was blowing up.

The force of the shock wave was what saved them, for as they were pushed away they avoided the collapsing ceiling. Shadow’s whole body ached all over, but at least he wasn’t crushed by rocks or infected by Maelstrom, so he’d call that a victory. He lay on the cold ground for a while waiting for everything to settle down and perhaps for the pain to start to fade. The sudden banging, the sound of rock smashing against rock reminded him of his persecutor, but he then realised that a side effect of his stunt just now was that the way behind them was blocked. And apparently not even their pursuer, whatever it was, could get through it. Shadow felt like laughing. He did. It felt hollow and out-of-place in that environment and he stopped.

Once the smoke and dust cleared away, Shadow found to his surprise that he could actually see. Just barely, but still. It appeared that the Maelstrom spreading onto the rocks that had buried the crystal site was now visible and by extension so was the faint light of its aura. He did not understand what part of this whole process had caused it to defy the oppression of the dark, but he was glad for it, even if it was technically an evil essence.

“Well, that definitely worked out a lot better for us than I’d ever hoped or expected. Right, Caillic?” he spoke as he started to get up.

When she didn’t reply, Shadow turned to look at her and found her lying on the ground, some dark stains by her head. Her backpack had fallen by her side, its contents spilling out.

“Caillic, are you all right?” he rushed to her in order to check her condition.

To his surprise, he was met with wide awake eyes looking back at him.

“Shush, I’m not that hurt, I’m just trying to feel it”.

“Feel what?”

“Does it seem to you that there’s a breeze coming from somewhere?”

“A breeze?” Shadow took a moment to feel the air and he found to his surprise he really was feeling something. “It seems to be coming from above”.

“That’s what I thought, too”, Caillic said looking up. “Does that part of the ceiling look a little darker to you?”

“It’s possible that the collapse created a hole to a higher tunnel”, Shadow considered while trying a flash light to see if it’d work now, to no avail however. “Are you really okay, though? Isn’t that blood?”

“I’m fine. I just scratched my forehead a bit, but it’s nothing big; it’s already stopped bleeding”, she finally got up and looked at the mess of things her open backpack had made. “You know what wind means, right? The hole must lead somewhere near an exit from the caves. We could use that somehow”.

“We could attempt climbing it, but we can’t as long as we don’t have the others. Well, perhaps one of us could go”.

“I’m not leaving you, if that’s what you’re suggesting. I suppose we’ll just have to make note of the location and try to come back after we find Dragon and Nasrin. We should probably hurry, too”, she started collecting her stuff.

“You’re right… Let me help with that”.

The two of them began picking up all the items that had cluttered on the floor and stuffing them into the backpack. It had gone quiet from their pursuer’s banging a while ago, which was concerning in itself, but Shadow appreciated how the constant attack on his ears had ceased. The two of them worked in silence, letting the quiet conquer for a while. They were just about done when Shadow noticed something strange.

“Hey… Isn’t that a daredevil’s flare gun?” he held the weapon in his hand, its distinct shape revealing itself to him.

“… Yes, yes it is”.

“How did you come about a Venture League item?”

“It’s a long story”.

“Then never mind that. Do you have more Venture stuff… Like a grappling hook, maybe, or something that would let you climb easily?”

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know if comms Are going to work outside the caves either, I’m not sure how far this effect of shadows extends. But you could send a flare pretty far away, outside of its range, and let the Force know we’re in danger”.

“You could go instead? I feel like I could navigate the caves better than you. I’ve had Venture League training”.

“And that’s also exactly why it’d be easier for you to climb and get out faster. Even if you can get around the caves, it’d be a waste if you get killed. I’m rather capable with Imagination, though, so I can protect myself”.

“Fine, but keep the spiderling. It sees better in the dark than us, so it could help you find the way”, Caillic resigned taking the flare gun from Shadow’s hands and putting it back into the backpack, the last of the items.

“Okay…” He didn’t know how he felt about being accompanied by a spiderling without its master close, even if it was merely an imitation.

“Shall we do this then? Let’s see…” Shadow walked up to the collapsed wall, picked up a pebble and lightly touched it on the nearby Maelstrom.

The purple aura immediately started to spread on it. Shadow had a very short window of time to work with, but knowing that he threw the rock instantly. He specifically aimed for the area where the speculated hole would be and as the infected pebble flew, it faintly illuminated the darkness.

“It appears to be a shaft going up for quite a while; as long as one can see at least”, Shadow noted while walking away to avoid the falling rock.

“Will you warn me next time you do something so risky?” Caillic chastised him in an agitated voice, having barely paid heed to his results.

“It’s not that big a deal”.

“I’d beg to differ, if we had more time, but you need to get going”.

In that a moment, they heard a cough and realised they’d almost forgotten about Ezra. He appeared to be stirring, but was still unconscious.

“What do we do about Ezra?” Shadow asked. “Can you take him with you?”

“I don’t think so. He’d be too much of a burden for climbing all that. I’m afraid you’ll have to bring him along in your search”.

Shadow sighed, but he walked to Ezra anyway and lifted him to put him back onto the spiderling. He of all people would be best to get out of there and yet they couldn’t take him to safety. Rather he’d be sent back into danger.

“Guess I’ll see you on the other side”, he gave one last look to Caillic as she shot a rope into the hole in the ceiling. Then, he turned and continued the other way.

Like before, the spiderling ran ahead speedily and Shadow had to struggle to not fall behind. Furthermore, the beast took turns and changed directions of its own accord and Shadow had to wonder based on what it made its decisions, but at least he knew it wouldn’t lead him on a wall and it was all he could do to keep after it that he got no chances of questioning the paths it took.

It was not long after that they were met with something new. An orange light like that of flames could be seen around the corner, although the source itself was concealed. A commotion could be heard in that direction, with shrill shrieks in the midst of it, but also the grunts of a man. Even the spiderling, however, seemed to be aware of the trap for it stopped in its tracks, just as they started to hear the sounds.

Further examination –while he stopped behind the beast, panting– revealed the threat to be far nearer than he had thought. The pitch-black darkness of the deadly shadows that were after them stirred on the ground and walls before them, blocking the passage completely.

“Damn, what do we do now?”

A groan came from Ezra’s direction and then, “Shadow…”, he did not sound entirely healthy as was to be expected after what he’d gone through, but he was most definitely awake and that was good. “What is going on?”

“You were almost consumed by the shadows, but Caillic and I got you out. Now I’m trying to find the others”.

“Is that hers?” he looked at the spiderling with a reasonable apprehension, as he got off from it. “Then, where is she?”

He seemed to wobble for a moment, but then found his balance and remained standing, supported by a hand on the wall.

“We split up, so she can get out and signal the Nexus Force. How are you feeling?”

“Terrible… But alive”

“If you can’t walk properly, you could still use the spiderling. Either way, though, we need to find a way to cross this darkness. I’m pretty sure Dragon’s on the other side”.

“Hey, before that… what’s the spiderling doing?”

Shadow turned to look at it. It was indeed behaving strangely. Its body had started trembling violently, its legs moving about uncontrollably. It stumbled and fell down, where it stayed writhing in pain.

“What’s happening to it? Do you think something is wrong with Caillic?” Ezra asked again.

“I’ve never seen any of their kind behave like this”.

Then there was a ripping sound and four long objects came out of the spiderling’s head. They were large, but thin, hairy and articulated. They were without a doubt a spider’s legs. Not like the spiderlings’ legs that only slightly resembled the anatomy of arachnids. Those were actual legitimate spider legs. With the slight difference of being huge in comparison. Shadow looked in horror as the legs wriggled around with an unknown purpose, still not quite understanding what was happening.

“Should we kill it?”

“I suppose this does not bode well in any way, so… yeah”.

Ezra moved to intercept the still shaking critter, grasping his sword at the same time. However, before he could strike at it the spiderling made a last big jerk and more of the legs came out along with a face, complete with four pairs of eyes and a pair of fangs. The chimeric creature sprang up suddenly and with determination, charging at Ezra. The man narrowly avoided being stung, but was pushed nonetheless and fell into the shadows.

“Ezra!” Shadow yelled and one distracted moment later he found himself being pushed back to the wall by the monstrosity.

“Get off me!” he cried as he tried to repel the creature.

But then he noticed the cold soft touch of the wall. It was not the texture of rock. It was the velvet feel of an all-accepting void. The spider hissed, but then actually scurried away. It had already done enough, however. Shadow attempted to walk away, but he couldn’t. The shadows had taken full grasp of him now.

He attempted to fight it off with Imagination, but just as he was starting to get loose, he felt a spine-chilling sensation going down the back of his neck. It was thin and spiky, scratching at the skin over his bones with a light ticklish touch. It was almost like a loving caress, if not for the hardness of the touch and the overall creepiness of it.

Shadow tried to turn his head to see what it was, but as a result the object only moved from his neck to his face, grasping it with its fingers. He could see now it was a hand, or rather a skeleton hand. The purple-tinted bones of an arm had emerged from the shadows and was now pulling him back behind. In the moment he freaked out, he lost control and allowed the arm and the shadows to draw him in.

Shadow screamed in frustration, but his attempts to escape were in vain. He was slowly but surely sinking into the shadows. The last thing he saw before being consumed was darkness was Ezra’s own horrified face as the rest of his body had disappeared into the ground. An unnatural cry came from the direction of the light and then everything was gone.

In the dark, there was quiet. A deafening silence overtook him. A blinding darkness surrounded him. It felt as though he was floating in a sea of nothing. Only for a moment, though, for then the pain came. It became completely clear then that there was essence in this void as its acidic touch sought to dissolve him and reduce him to much the same as itself. Wiz tried to flee, tried to resist. There was no end to zero. There was no end to infinity.

His heart was filled with fear, despair, panic. It couldn’t end like this. Not with such a meaningless death. A thought crossed his mind that many a people faced meaningful deaths, especially in war, but he rejected that idea. He could not just give up to such a fate… There was still one method he could try, too… No, that was out of the question. He wasn’t that desperate, yet. He should use Imagination instead. And perhaps… if the alternative was releasing that plague unto people again, it would be preferable that he died right then and there. Yes, that would definitely free the world of his burden…

But not all was over yet. He reinforced the shield around him made of the creative element resisting the dark essence’s attempts to melt him into nothing. He reached out, pushing it back, dominating with his own presence. But the shadows were strong, too. They would not just yield their control that easily and their pressure was immense. The stalemate continued for a while, though Shadow was not at all certain whether the situation was favouring him.

But then all of a sudden, the pressure disappeared and he felt the fluid darkness spitting him out. He had not been aware of any movement during his stay in the shadows, but now it occurred to him he was in a completely different space than before.

It was a large chamber, surrounded by rocky wall on all sides; at least that’s what it looked like from afar in the limited light of a few pure imaginite crystals, but Shadow did not know what openings he might find in the walls if he were to look for it. However, he was not compelled to search right now. His attention was preoccupied otherwise.

The faint blue light illuminated the entirety of the place, but there was a location in the middle of the ground where the light couldn’t reach, where it simply disappeared leaving behind a shadow darker than any other. And the shadow moved. It travelled around the cavity, circling Shadow much like a shark. It moved around quickly and freely on the ground, on the walls, on the ceiling. As it did, little by little, the shadow took shape. It became more solid and emerged from the surface it occupied. The dark figure approached Shadow. Before he knew it, he was facing a humanoid-shaped darkness, although it still had a fluid and ethereal nature to itself, ever-changing and not committing to any specific shape for too long. Two red eyes opened and gazed at him.

“You… you’re the Dark Shadow, aren’t you?” it was an apt name to describe what he was seeing, so he figured it must be.

“Correct…” it replied in a strident, hissing voice. “Though I doubt knowing who did it will comfort you when you are killed”.

“It shall at least comfort me I was killed by a fellow Shadow”.

“Making jokes in this situation? Do you still think you can get away? I assure you it shall no longer be funny when I devour you”.

“What do you even want from me?”

“How ungrateful of you. You said you hoped you’d meet me. Your friend and I rushed to make that wish happen and that’s all you have to say to me?”

“My… friend?”

“Yes, your friend. ‘Careful what you wish for, Wiz, because sometimes our hopes are more dangerous than our fears’. That’s what he said. He was most fervent about teaching you that lesson”.

“Who are you talking about?” Shadow was getting agitated by this point; he was annoyed and also afraid, but his curiosity compelled him to hear what the Dark Shadow had to say. They even knew his real name.

“A man with whom you are tied by destiny. Your companion in life. And death. A man… of yellow eyes”.

That immediately seized Shadow’s attention, “What do you know of him? Tell me!”

“No, I don’t think I will. Now, stay still and go join your master”.

The Dark Shadow definitely seemed to know a lot about his past, more than he himself did even. But it did not look like he intended to inform him of anything. It made a few more steps toward him and its shape changed again, becoming more firm, more solid. Clothes appeared, though ragged. A face morphed. He looked more human-like than ever.

“The Darkitect!” Shadow exclaimed. The Darkitect himself was a figure shrouded in darkness and rumour. But at this point it had been confirmed there really was a leader of the Maelstrom, operating in the shadows; and it was believed he looked like a corrupted monstrous version of Baron Typhonus, the man who’d released the Maelstrom. And that’s exactly what Shadow was looking at right now.

“That’s right. Hush now and let me kill you”.

Shadow was not about to let this happen. Breaking out of shock and trying to avoid a panic, he called forth on his Imagination and made to move away. Nothing happened. He couldn’t move a muscle. His Imagination could not flow in his body. The will of the entity before him was too strong and dominated his. He couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t even allowed to let his body drop to the ground or look away. He was forced to look into the fierce spiteful eyes of the Darkitect.

He was suddenly hit by the realisation of how huge, how ancient, how terrifying that being, that will was. Before it, he was powerless. Before it, he was so small. He felt its presence expand and overtake everything. And he stared right into the eyes of that overwhelming entity. He’d thought at first they looked angry. But he noticed then a darkness in them, like a black pupil, only there was a bottomless depth to them. They were not angry, but empty. They contained the endless void in them. And he was consumed by it.

The darkness he had experienced before; the void he had experienced before, it was all a fake, an imitation of the true Nothingness that this being held in its gaze. The Silence seized him. The Darkness overwhelmed him. The Void filled him. He was Nothing as well. He was just about to accept his fate, his place in the universe as just one more being of No Being, destined to return to the Void as all things should.

But just like before, in this state of isolation, even as the Void attempted to erase it, he was forced to look unto his essence. He saw himself. And he came to a realisation.

He did not want to die just yet.

This idea popped into his head naturally and genuinely as the thought of a man who wants to enjoy more in life still. But there was more to it. He did not want to die like this. Not as he was then. There was more to be done. He had to live. He had to survive. The means didn’t matter. His wish for life was more important than all, he could see that now. He had to struggle with everything he’d got.

Waking up from the trance that the Darkitect had put him in, he saw the Darkitect’s hand about to strike him: a blow that he would without a doubt not survive. With all his will, all the force of his thirst for life, he tried to move again. A finger twitched. And with the first largest step taken, he was suddenly able to leap out of the way.

He fell to the ground face first. He had escaped the immobilisation, but he was still very much in danger. He did not have much time. He could feel the Darkitect moving behind him, swiftly covering the distance like a cloud of smoke carried by a strong wind. In one last desperate move, Shadow did the only thing he could think of. He grasped forward with his hand. And took hold of one of the imaginite crystals.

This time he did not rely on cheap tricks of hardly mastered Imagination manipulation. It was a matter of life and death. He relied on his strongest weapon. He called on his magic. He poured it all into the crystal and through it expanded his reach throughout the mountain. A system of caves. A system of crystals. Everything connected. All it took was the right mindset. And then you could see it. See it all.

Visions of his friends appeared all at once. Ezra all but consumed in the shadows; Dragon fending off a huge horde of Maelstrom monsters; Nasrin surrounded by corrupted crystals and in the process of being infected herself; Caillic standing by a slim hole in the ground, looking at a light soaring through the sky.

In an instant, he knew where everyone was. The Darkitect, too, caught up to him almost instantaneously. But Shadow’s magic was even faster than that. He was gone.

Next came the disorienting part. But Shadow was determined now. As much as part of him hated what he was doing, he was no longer going to use lukewarm half-measures like a helpless idiot. He’d put everyone into danger with his stubbornness. But no more. He did not let on now. He stayed focused on his goal and did not allow himself to be driven astray.

One, two, three, four leaps. It was all done in a single breath’s time. Before his body could register any of the changes, he was suddenly out in the open air, the cold air of a mountain. The moon’s light illuminated him and the three people he had brought with him.

“Shadow!” Caillic was surprised.

“What just happened?” Dragon was confused.

Ezra and Nasrin were in no condition to speak.

“There’s no time to explain, we need to get out of here”.

“I’ve already contacted the Nexus Force. My radio started working after a while, so they informed me they’re sending a Talon”.

“That’s great, but we have no luxury to wait”.

Dragon appeared about to ask why, but as if on cue, the answer came in the form of violent quaking over the entire mountain. Shadow was not sure if he was simply mistaking the sound of the rumble, but he thought he heard the roar of an angry man in the midst of it.

“Okay, got it. Let’s get out of here”, Dragon agreed.

“Caillic, how long has it been since the Talon was dispatched?”

“Maybe one minute?”

“Good, it won’t be as easy without crystals out here, but I could estimate it…” Shadow spoke, mostly to himself. “Everyone grab on!”

Dragon and Caillic grasped his arms –thankfully they didn’t question it–, but they had to take hold of Ezra and Nasrin themselves – though it was difficult avoiding the infected parts of Nasrin.

In that moment, the shaking grew and the ground exploded in several places. Great amounts of Maelstrom came out pouring in jets.

“Do it, Shadow!”

Shadow did not need being told. Before the Maelstrom could reach them or any more explosions could happen, they’d left the mountain behind. In the next instant, they found themselves in the air, an immeasurable height above the ground. They started to fall immediately

“Wha-?” Dragon was taken aback. “Where did you take us?!”

“Shut up, I need to…” Shadow’s voice trailed off as he strained his neck one way and the other, looking for something.

Someone was screaming as they sped up, but Shadow wasn’t sure who. Even the unconscious people had woken up in the process. In the background, the mountain’s anger remained untempered. Air blew in their faces, as they fell. Honestly, all things considered, the conditions were by no means optimal for his search, but he had to make do. In the end, however, it was Caillic who cried, “Look, over there!”

She’d located just what he was looking for. The Talon Drop-ship that had been sent to find them was flying towards the erupting mountain. His guesswork of the general area of where it was could only take them so far. From then on, they had to be lucky to actually see it in order to get to it. Fortunately, luck had been in their favour and they spotted it pretty quickly.

When they appeared inside the drop-ship, Shadow tried to soften the landing, but they still hit the floor pretty hard. The crew of the aircraft would no doubt be very confused, but in that moment Shadow could not care. He just lay on the floor, finally able to let himself relax from all the dangers he’d gone through that day. He knew he’d have to explain how they got there soon and that some of his friends still needed first aid. But he just wanted to rest for a moment. The others, once everyone untangled from each other, also didn’t seem very eager to get up, possibly feeling the same sudden exhaustion (or being out cold). There was silence between them for a few moments.

“That’s going to be a hell of a report”, Caillic said finally.

~~~\*\*\*---\*\*\*~~~

“Uuuuuugh! It hurts!”

Caillic, Nasrin, Ezra and Shadow were gathered at Caillic’s apartment in Nexus Tower. They’d explained the situation as best they could, first to the pilots of the Talon and then to several higher-ups that had met with them after returning to the Tower –and Shadow feared even the Faction Leaders would get involved in the end. Each of them had been questioned about what went on in their mission and Dragon was the last one talking to them now. What had begun as a rather minor simple mission had grown to become a rather big incident. Now, they were all lounging in Caillic’s living room in various levels of lying down.

“Yeah, we got that from the last fifteen times you told us”, Nasrin replied to Ezra. “At least, you don’t have any permanent damage. I don’t know if this purple tint in my hands and legs is ever going to leave”.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about the damage that the infection did to your nervous system? You can’t even walk right now”, Caillic pointed out.

“Eh, the doctors said that will go away soon. But can you imagine me looking purple my entire life?”

“Just hide it with make-up or something. You already use tons anyway”, Ezra suggested.

“That’s not the issue here!”

“Then, what is?”

“Spare me the arguments right now please”, Caillic asked.

“That’s not a bad idea honestly”, Ezra admitted as he winced from pain.

“What about you, Shadow?” Caillic turned to him. “You haven’t talked in a while”.

Indeed, Shadow, had remained pretty quiet after everything settled down. The encounter with the Darkitect and his response to it had left him with a lot to consider.

“Hmm? Uh, it’s nothing. I’ve just… been thinking a lot”.

“Well, it’s no surprise. You did fight the Darkitect. I still don’t get how you’re the one who faced him and yet you’re basically unhurt”.

“Just lucky, I guess?” Shadow proposed.

“Don’t try to fool them, just because they weren’t conscious to see what you did”, Caillic told him off, though she did so light-heartedly.

“Why, what’d he do?”

“Yeah, there’s a lot we don’t know still in how we escaped actually”.

The bell rang in that moment interrupting the conversation as Caillic went to answer the door, letting Dragon in. He was covered in bandages all over as in his battle with the Maelstrom he’d received so many injuries that even though Nasrin and Ezra had been in much more of a critical state than him, he’d been released from the medical bay last.

“And to add to that, I still don’t understand why the Darkitect came after us in the first place?” Ezra wondered as they greeted Dragon.

“How’d the questioning go?” Shadow asked.

“It was fine. Mostly standard stuff. Except they were really panicking about the appearance of the Darkitect, especially so near the Tower, and it showed. And the fact we confirmed the Dark Shadow is the Darkitect. Not that I had anything to say about that myself. But I’ll tell you what I *do* know and didn’t tell them and you should be grateful Shadow. And that’ll also answer your question, Ezra.

“The Darkitect was coming after Shadow. And the reason is something I don’t quite understand myself, but Shadow what you did back there was way beyond Imagination. Care to explain?”

 Ah that discussion. Shadow had expected it would have to happen and he was surprised Caillic hadn’t brought it up, yet. Maybe she had been waiting for everyone to be there.

“Yeah… about that. You know I’ve not been discussing my past much. Truth is in another life I used to be a magician in learning”.

“A magician?” everyone looked surprised, although Caillic and Dragon less so since they’d seen it at work.

“Wait, is that how Mardolf knows you? All magicians know each other? This makes sense”.

 “Just a moment, are you for real? Are you serious right now?” Ezra was dumbfounded.

“It was Shadow who took us out of the caves and away from the mountain by teleporting us”, Caillic explained level-headedly. “He is by no means making it up”.

“Though he did almost send us into free fall in the process”, Dragon grumbled.

“Wait that really happened?” Nasrin jumped in the conversation. “I thought it was just a fever dream”.

“Yeah, it really did happen. What I want to know, though, is why you’ve been keeping this a secret”, Dragon enquired. “Why have you not been using this power to help?”

“I gave up that life. I didn’t want anything to do with magic any more”.

“Why though?” Caillic asked.

 “It’s complicated, okay? Magic is not all sunshine and rainbows. And in any case, I’m not the only one with secrets here. What’s with you, Caillic? I also conveniently left out your Venture League shenanigans out of what I reported, in consideration of you, but it’s not like I can completely ignore that”.

“What Venture League shenanigans?” the other three did not know what they were talking about.

“I used to be a Venture League member in the past. But it didn’t quite work out. I had some trouble at that time and decided to start from scratch”.

 “What kind of trouble?” Ezra asked.

 “People expected a bit too much of me. To the point of harassing me really. You know how the Nexus Force is. If it discovers you can do one thing well, it never lets it go. It got too overbearing and I had to get out of that situation. I know joining more than one faction is not exactly… per the guidelines, but I’ve been doing well enough in Paradox, too. I wouldn’t want to give that up”.

“Damn, I don’t even know how you managed to do that. You’d have to fake a lot of papers, right?” Nasrin said.

 “The both of you have really strange backgrounds” , Ezra spoke. “And we knew nothing about it. Next thing I know, Nasrin is going to turn out to be some Esindum princess or something”.

“Well, I for one am glad that you turned out to have such past”, Shadow told her. “It was really useful yesterday. But it’d have to be real bad for you to resort to that”.

“Now now what’s this, Shadow? Are you suddenly prying into someone else’s past when you constantly remind everyone yours is your private business?”

 Caillic seemed satisfied in using Dragon’s interjection to avoid answering that. The tension seemed to have risen since the both of them started discussing their pasts and due to their hesitation to get into too many details. When it came to Caillic, Shadow remembered what she’d said about joining the Force because she was afraid. Perhaps, her motivation meant she wasn’t entirely dedicated to any of the big ventures of the Force and would be more prepared to dip if they asked too much of her. He didn’t really judge her for it, it was just that it helped understand her better. She’d done a lot to help her friends when that mission had gone wrong, but perhaps she didn’t generally intend to be a hero for the whole world.

But that was okay. Not everyone had to risk their lives to help strangers. In fact, it made Shadow wonder if he should learn from that way of thinking himself. He’d done a lot for the sake of “humanity” lately, but was so detached from it in the depths of his heart. The concept of protecting what was precious to him suddenly seemed so much more appealing to him, though. What exactly was precious to him at this point?

 Although Shadow did not intend to press on any more and no one seemed about to ask himself more questions, but it took Ezra’s sudden moans of pain to fully defuse the tense atmosphere.

“Uuuuugh! I’m dyiiiiing!”

“You okay man?” Dragon asked.

 “Not exactly. Just moving enough to grab a glass”, he pointed to a glass of water set on a table near him, “is enough to trigger it. It’s not too severe most of the time, but it’s consistent. Uuuuh. I can’t believe I have to go to Kingston the day after tomorrow. I just want to sleep for a whole week”.

Ezra said that so casually Shadow almost missed it. But then his brain started screaming at him to notice it. Kingston. He’d heard that name once before. It brought back such a nostalgic feeling. He had been so much happier then. Granted, the fact that it had all gone awry right after that encounter had made him almost forget all about it. The witch of the conference, Elemiere he had called her then. In another time, in another world, she could have been so important to him. But in reality, he had barely thought of her in the past years. He’d definitely never considered the idea of looking for her. Happiness for him? That had been a ludicrous concept to him for a long time. And even after that, he’d chosen to separate himself from the magical world. But now? He was starting to have doubts. Maybe, visiting her would help him rediscover what is precious to him. Maybe, that was more important than staying away. Maybe, he should see her.

He barely took note of the discussion that followed about Ezra taking the next days off and how that wasn’t possible, because in the Nexus Force’s eyes he was ready to work again and the higher-ups wouldn’t let him off the hook. Instead, while still in the midst of it, he interrupted.

“Hey, Burrito, did you say that place was called Kingston?”

“Yeah, why?”

“And that’s for your mission?”

“Yes...”

“Can I come with?”

“Are you kidding me, Shadow?” Dragon exclaimed. “After all we went through yesterday, you’re still thinking about joining more missions? I thought you’d learn something from this”.

“No, no! I wanna come for myself, not for the mission. To visit the city”.

“Ha?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot since we came back and maybe that’s just what I need right now”.

“I don’t know how tourism specifically will help, but if you want to take a break for a change, I won’t complain”.

“So, Ezra, what do you say? You think you can get me a seat on your transport?”

“We could probably do it. It’s not a military operation, so they’re not going to be as strict. No promises, though”.

“Great, thanks”.

For a long time, even before he joined the Nexus Force, he had not known what he was looking for. He still did not right now. But for once in a long time he had a goal, a personal goal of his own. And it might just give him a clue about what he really wanted from life. What drove him so hard that gave him the power to defy even the Darkitect.

*My dear Witch of Kingston, I’m coming. You better be prepared.*

~~~\*\*\*---\*\*\*~~~

“You underestimated him”, a cold voice spoke in the dark, but it seemed to conceal some amusement, too. “Not that I expected you to succeed in the first place”.

“Well, he clearly wasn’t as strong as you made him out to be. He barely had any will to fight me. I admit I let him slip away, but I didn’t expect him to break out of my control and escape so fast. He’s still no threat to me like what you said, but if nurtured he could grow to your level at least”, another dark voice replied.

“You’re a fool if you think someone at my level isn’t a threat to you”.

“No mere mortal could ever touch me”.

“Even *you* were afraid of my master. And my master was afraid of *me*. After all, even with the help of many others –I believe it was the Council of Enchanters and maybe even a mythran or two– you needed *me* to defeat him”.

“That is besides the point. You know I had reasons not to unleash my full powers in that fight. But tell me, oh great one, if you predicted this outcome, why did you not just finish him off yourself with your superior power?”

“Oh, I don’t really care that much if he lives or dies. I just figured you’d get stubborn over it and try to kill him again and again. And honestly all I’m here for is making him suffer”.

“What? And here I am taking you seriously”.

“It worked, though, didn’t it? And what I told you is still true. If you let him be, he will grow enough to challenge you. Maybe I’ll even team up with him if that ever happens. I’d love to see your face then”.

“Are you threatening me? I would have no qualms to get rid of you right now”.

“Oh relax! Can’t you take a joke? Besides, don’t you like keeping me around? A student taught in the arts of evil and chaos. You must have thought me very useful when you first reached out to me. Sorry to disappoint you with my unreliability. And yet you still think I serve your purposes, right?”

“I see now this man, Wiz Ardon. While everything else I promised you failed to rouse your interest, you’re very much concerned about him. Maybe then I need not worry about him at all. Surely, you’ll deal with him yourself”.

“Oh get off it, old man. That’s just because I have a brain to see through your deception”.

“Shall I take your agitation as confirmation that I hit the mark? But you’re right, I do find you useful, as long as you disrupt the magical world. But do note, if you ever slack off, I might just change my mind”.

“Just try it. If you think you can take me, you’ll be the one to regret it”.

With that, the man slipped into the shadows and disappeared rather suddenly and unexpectedly, as was his habit.

 “These two… One is going to kill the other in the end, for sure. But no matter. I’ll just have to deal with the one that’s left afterwards” and the Dark Shadow melted away, too. . .

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> >>Next Story in this Series>> *The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter: Paths to Redemption*
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