Turning to Stone 5: The Shadows Fall

Chapter 4: Stranger Danger

Vidaloc sat on his throne, two Ghazts on either side of him. Yet instead of the slightly transparent purple fur that Ghazts usually had, these two were pitch black with dangerous white eyes.

A Sox, who appeared to have gotten a similar fur and eye treatment, came into the room, dragging an Epic Kayna in chains. "An Epic Kayna?" The Boodoo said with a smirk. "An excellent find. We have been needing more wing power in our ranks, after all."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The Kayna struggled against the chains, even trying to melt them with their flames. "Ah-ah-ah, I wouldn't try that if I were you." Vidaloc laughed. "Those chains are fireproof. As for who I am... I am your new commander." He leaned closer to tilt the Kayna's chin towards him, but they only growled at him.

"I can't even fly anyway-" They spat as soon as he let go of them. "I'm no use to you." Their wings struggled against the metal binding them. "Ah, so you think. Wings or not, you will come into use, but I will improve your wings with my own little... 'upgrade magic'." He cackled, reaching out a hand. "Shadow, hold them still."

The Sox stepped forward, restraining the Epic Kayna further. Their struggles became more panicked as Vidaloc's hand began to glow, except instead of light, it looked like pure darkness. A misuse of his shadow element.

The rocky exterior of the Fire monster turned even darker, gray into black. The colorful glow of magma between the cracks was dulled down into the dark. Their wings grew slightly, able to support even the heaviest rocky creature in flight. As the magic reached their head, their eyes shut, opening again to be pure white.

"Shadow, you may let go, and unchain them as well." The Sox did as it was asked, wrapping the chains around its arm to keep them safe. They'd likely be used later, on another victim.

"Hmm, I suppose you'll need a new name to better suit a soldier of my growing army." Vidaloc mused. "Fire monsters are rather rare, they're slippery creatures, hard to catch. Shame, since they have such interesting potential for names." The Kayna didn't say a word. Whatever consciousness they had before was gone, it was someone else now.

"Ah, I have the perfect name for you." He tapped on its horns, feeling their sharpness yet avoiding hurting himself. "Hellfire. You will be a strong soldier, and a good recruiter. For now... how about you explore around the island? Stay hidden, but get me some information."

As Hellfire left, Vidaloc laughed. His plans were coming together perfectly.

----

"Even the sky looks different out here!" Laskell remarked, staring up at it. Glowbe was staying in the center of the ship, not wanting to risk falling at all. "You're really missing out on the view, y'know." Laskell flicked her friend with her tail, making a slight noise as if she had played it.

"We're almost there. Look up ahead." Split called from his spot at the control seat. Laskell moved away from the side of the ship and went over to Split, looking over her shoulder at the scenery of Ethereal Island.

"It's even brighter in person..." She murmured. "Let me guess, you've read about it?" Split let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. "I read a lot!" Laskell exclaimed. "I know. I know pretty well by now how much you like reading." Split lifted a foot from the controls to tap Laskell's nose. He didn't have claws on his wings like the illustrations of Glowls she'd seen, and she was lankier than them too. Then again, Split's not an ordinary Glowl.

Thankfully, there was a designated area for docking skyships, and other ships were already there. Split steered towards it, carefully lowering them down. "You sure have a lot of experience." Laskell remarked.

Ethereal Island was bright, with neon glowing practically everywhere from the flora. The monsters too were stranger than Laskell had ever seen, although she had read plenty about Magical Sanctum's dimensional neighbor.