A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 11

     The mountains had finally been reached. Reko and Darzay traveled up the large mountain slope that they were on, and kept an eye out for the one known as Leaonay, hoping that she would be the only Tasoolian living in the mountains. They were quiet, and never even looked in each other’s direction. Reko never said anything since he did not have anything to say to Darzay, not that he would listen, and Darzay did not say anything since he simply did not feel like talking. As they walked, Reko thought about the shadow and continued to wonder who he really was without using his appearance as a veil. He already knew of Chordon, but had not the slightest clue on who the shadow was, and what his intentions were. Reko then closed his eyes to try and figure out this mystery. It goes without saying that he wants me dead, Reko thought to himself, but the thing I don’t understand is why. Why is it that I’m this demon’s target, and why would he take the form of me? He seems to know only things about me that Agnus would know, and he knows well about the others. Knowing this, I can only assume that he’s been watching us for a very long time, then. Of course, he would be watching us from the shadows since none of us can-...none of us can smell nor hear him because, like any demon, he’s able to pop in and out of reality at any given moment...We can’t smell or hear Mathius either. Reko ceased his steps and Darzay glared at him as he stopped walking as well.
        “What’s up with you, now?” He inquired, sounding annoyed. Reko turned his head back in the direction they had come from and made a fist as he started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He never suspected anything of Mathius due to his age and lack of mobility, but now regretted that he didn’t. Everything began making sense as Reko remembered all of the odd things Mathius said to him in the past. 
     The shadow of a lost soul lurks around the darkness, waiting to be noticed. Waiting to be found. It is obvious, yet not to many others, but once the shadow reveals itself, light will overcome the dark nature of one’s inner self.
     Those dark blue eyes of yours are so blinded by gray clouds that you don’t realize that there are some things that are not what they seem. I may have trouble seeing, but even I can see what you cannot.
     ...what lies in the corners of darkness cannot stay in the shadows forever. Reko growled and started to run back home, catching Darzay by surprise.
        “Get back here!” Darzay shouted as he chased after Reko, but he did not listen which resulted in Darzay having to vanish and reappear in front of Reko. At that moment, Reko stopped in his tracks and growled even louder. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Darzay asked.
        “Darzay, get out of the way,” Reko demanded. “Everyone back home is in serious danger, and I have to go back there and save them.”
        “You knew they would be in danger the moment you decided to leave so what’s with the sudden change of your mind?”
        “I figured out who that fake me is. It’s been Mathius all this time.”
        “...Mathius? Who the hell is Mathius?”
        “Wait, you don’t know him? You’re joking, right? He said that he escaped you when he came to our camp.”
        “Reko, no one escapes me. Not even you.”
        “If you don’t know who he is, then that confirms it. Mathius is that evil me, and I need to get back home right now.” Darzay glared at Reko and let out an agitated grunt before continuing on the path.
        “Run on home if you want to,” he said, “but if you end up dead that’s on you. I can’t believe you’re acting like this, Reko. What happened to the way you were back when Zubelon ruled over Tasaloo? Now that some demons come around, you’re more worried about your pathetic pack than your own self. Quit thinking about others and focus on what you need to get done. If they die fighting a demon, then they die. At least they died doing their mission...Then again, that’s always been your issue.” Reko remained quiet for a moment, then took a deep breath, attempting to clear his mind. He reminded himself that his pack would never disappoint him and that even if Mathius were the shadow, he had an itching feeling that he would be his primary target in order to keep him from waking Igneous. Reko sighed and turned to walk with Darzay, but then the ground began shaking violently, causing both of them to stop in their steps and exchange looks of confusion. Reko quickly unsheathed his swords, and Darzay took out his dagger, both having a serious look on their faces.
     Suddenly, the ground trembled fiercely as a large creature emerged from the very earth set in front of them. The creature was made of stone, with moss grown on its back and shoulders. Its eyes were blue and it was even taller than Agnus in height. The creature let out a powerful roar that caused the winds the blow aggressively. Both Darzay and Reko shielded themselves from the dust the wind carried, and Darzay put a wide grin on his face.
        “This is definitely new,” he said, then chuckled. “Now I see why Zubelon said to never go to the mountain region.”
        “Try to at least take this seriously, Darzay,” Reko said, and as the winds ceased, the two rivals were preparing themselves for combat, entering themselves into a standoff against the golem creature. Both knew they would not be able to harm a creature of such hardness, but were betting on a possible weakness that it may have. Reko’s emerald shard began glowing, Darzay put on a toothy grin, and the two canines vanished within a fraction of a second before the golem’s beady eyes. Then, the two of them came into view and both had landed a rough kick in the back of the creature’s head, and when they notice that it did not have any effect, they retreated from the rock giant. The golem turned to face the two, and slammed his fists down on the ground with a tremendous amount of force, making pillars of rocks shoot up from underground. Reko and Darzay were both caught off guard, but they were quickly able to evade the oncoming threat.
        “Whatever this thing is,” Reko said, “it sure isn’t playing around with us. We’ll need to take a different approach.”
        “Tch, obviously,” Darzay responded, then took out his dagger with a signature sinister grin. “Let’s gouge its eyes out!”
        “Ya know, it’s strange. We hate each other to no end, and yet we work this well with each other.”
        “Are you gonna talk all day, Reko, or are we gonna kill this thing?”
        “Right. Let’s go.” Reko unsheathed his swords and charged forward along with Darzay. The golem let off a violent roar, and as it was about to crush the two wolves with its large and powerful fists, a sweet and innocent voice shouted, “Stop,” and it caught all three of them off guard. Darzay and Reko paused in their advance and turn their heads in the direction from where to voice came to see a little girl. The little girl appeared to be around the age of seven and wore a white shirt that was stained with dirt and grass along with a dirty pink skirt that had a few tears in it. Her brown, bubbly eyes stared at the three of them innocently, and it appeared as though she were on the verge of crying.
        “Please don’t hurt my Golly, misters,” she begged with small whimpers.
        “Golly?” Darzay said, then looked up at the large golem with a confused look on his face. Reko did not argue with the girl and sheathed his swords. The girl ran over to Golly and hugged his rock-solid leg to the best of her ability.
        “I created Golly so that he could protect me and be my best friend.” She told the two, and Golly lifted her up from the ground carefully, putting her on his shoulder. Reko furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up at the girl and Golly.
        “You created him? How could you do that? You wouldn’t have been able to do something like that unless you’re--”
        “That brat’s one of the Spirits,” Darzay added, and the girl nodded.
        “Mhm, now what do you want?”
        “I’m Captain Reko, and this is Darzay. We’re both searching for the one known as Leaonay. My comrade, Sitha, told me that she lives here in the mountains, and I need her to help wake up my son, Igneous.”
        “You’re looking for Leaonay? Well, you can stop looking, misters, because I’m Leaonay!” Reko and Darzay looked at each other, then Darzay burst out into laughter since he could not take her seriously. With a straight face, Leaonay extended her index finger, aiming it towards Darzay, and without hesitation, Golly brought his fist down upon the demon. This made Reko chuckle a little before looking back up at Leaonay.
        “In all seriousness,” Reko started, “I want to know if you’ll be willing to help us out here.” Leaonay looked at Reko, then tilted her head curiously.
        “I’m sensing something strange about you, mister.” She said. “You’re giving off more energy than any normal mortal. Why is that?” Reko dug into his pocket and took out the two emerald shards he carried and held them out to her. 
        “This is probably what you’re sensing,” he explained then went into further detail. “These things are shards of the Artifact that my son, Igneous destroyed two years ago. When I use them, my speed is increased tremendously, but with what I’m up against, it isn’t even enough.”
        “Golly, put me down please.” Golly did as told, taking Leaonay into the palm of his hand and lightly putting her on the ground in front of Reko. Darzay came up from the ground and dusted some dirt off of his shoulders, then looked up at Golly, growling.
        “You wanna go another round, big guy?” He threatened. Golly gave a low growl as a response and the two began their brawl while Leaonay took Reko’s emerald shards and examined them. Reko scratched the back of his head while she studied his shards, and she looked up at him when she was done.
        “No wonder you lost while using these,” Leaonay told him, giving him back the emerald shards. “It’s because you’ve only been able to use about half of their potential. If you concentrated hard enough, you could make yourself a lot stronger.”
        “It’s that simple?” Reko asked, looking at the emerald shards then put them back into his pocket. Leaonay shook her head.
        “To fully master the usage of the Artifact shards, you need to focus hard on the power, but you can’t have any distractions. It requires absolute focus. You can’t half do it, and no matter what happens, you can’t let anything break your focus. That’s the hard part.”
        “I get it, but let’s get back on topic. Will you come with us?”
        “Hmm...Let me think...Okay, mister! But only so I can see Sitha again.” Reko nodded, then turned his head over to Darzay and Golly. Darzay was in his wolf form, biting on Golly’s head, but it had no effect on the stone golem. Reko chuckled at the annoyed look on Golly’s face, and it reminded him of Agnus and Rai, except Rai was not dumb enough to bite Agnus for the consequences would be brutal.
        “Quit fooling around, Darzay,” he said as he walked past the two with Leaonay, “we’ve got somewhere to be now.” Darzay grunted in response and jumped off of Golly, then returned human as he followed behind Reko and Leaonay. As the four were on their way back to camp, Reko closed his eyes and began concentrating on the emerald shards’ power. As it began glowing in his pocket, he attempted going deeper into his concentration, but his concentration broke abruptly since he stumbled over a rock. Reko growled lowly in frustration and tried regaining his concentration, but it was no use. His mind was too clouded by his agitation for him to attain complete focus. Darzay watched Reko as he struggled, and turned back normal, chuckling to himself. He could sense that there was something other than his vexatious expression. Anxiety loomed over him like a dark cloud as well as doubts of his own skills to defeat the shadow; concern for his comrades’ safety; fear of not getting to Igneous in time; and especially fear of failure. Before Reko would try again, he turned his head to Darzay.
        “You know the way back from here, right?” He asked.
        “Tch, go and do whatever the heck you need to do. Just know that if it doesn’t work, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
        “I’m not worried.” Darzay put his hands into his pockets and led the way back to camp as Reko climbed on top of Golly’s head, and sat in a crisscross position, beginning to concentrate heavily on the power of Artifact shards. Golly did not mind Reko sitting on his head, since he could tell that Reko was a good person. It was Darzay, whom he could not stand. Leaonay watched Reko with a smile on her face, knowing for sure that he would unlock the shards’ full potential in due time. She could see his will to improve himself even when the odds are stacked against him. He doesn’t give up no matter how impossible things may seem. Darzay was partially the same, on the other hand. His demonic soul and lack of consideration for others keeps him locked out of many doors since he simply cannot be trusted by anyone. Leaonay giggled after examining them, which caught Darzay’s attention.
        “What’s so funny you little brat,” He asked, sounding annoyed.
        “Your face,” Leaonay responded and giggled once more. The sounds of her innocent-sounding laughter poked at his eardrums constantly, and the vicious demon began growling in annoyance.
        “If you don’t shut up, so help me, I’ll slit your throat.” He threatened, and Leaonay shut her mouth for a few minutes, then looked up at Golly.
        “Mr. Wolfy is mad now.” She said to the stone creature, and Darzay rolled his eyes, giving off a small grunt.