Blood Stained Snow

Ch 10 Shadows (unfinished)

There is a legend of a city of shadows cursed by darkness. Where children are slaughtered by their own shadows coming to life, yet those who live, command their shadows as a weapon. This city is hidden in darkness, yet if it exists Akio will possess the shadows that lie within.
The city of shadows is no more. It is abandoned; nothing remains intact but the tower that stands looming over the remains of a hollow ghost of a city.
I head for the tower, sensing nothing coming from it. I step through the wood crafted doors, carved with runes of a long forgotten magic.
The moment I step through I feel a dark pressure fold onto me. Raw power pushing me back. Whatever I am here for, it's in this tower and it is powerful. But behind that I feel a great sorrow. I travel up thirteen floors the top chamber.
The room is empty except for a throne. In that throne sits a lone figure, hunched over from time. Dust lays undisturbed beneath its feet.
I approach the throne holding the dead king, the power I felt earlier nowhere to be seen. About ten feet from the figure, a shadow erupts from beneath him coming to stand before me; it is an exact duplicate of the king, his features portrayed by an inky blackness. It spoke, a voice like that of a hollow cry of pain.
"What is it you seek from my king's throne room?"
"Your king?" I ask him.
"Yes, the man sitting behind me; he is my king."
"You mean he is alive?"
The shadow stopped to consider this, "of a sort. He is alive, but he is also not. He is trapped, stuck within a moment in time."
"What moment is that?" An odd situation. I didn't expect him to be dead. I wonder if he'll be of any use as he is.
"The moment he lost everything. When his kingdom fell to ruin and all his loved ones died. In the end, overcome with sorrow, he came here to die and has remained for centuries petrified. Waiting for his end to come." I considered what this shadow was saying for a moment before asking him, "Do you mean for me to kill your king? To put him out of his misery?"
"It is not so simple. He is the king of this city, but also the king of shadows. This title can only be passed on through the death of the predecessor; only if he is killed by the successor. Thus the title is passed on through the death of its holder."
"I see. So if I simply kill him, I become king of shadows?"
"Aye, but I am afraid it won't be so simple, demon, for I am his ally in this." The shadows mouth grew into the smiling snout of fangs of a wolf as it sprung to strike me, my intentions clear, he chooses to attack.
I draw Orpheus and slash away at the wolf head. The shadow is sent backwards to gather and reform. Behind it I witness the king open his empty eyes, slowly standing up.
I move to strike him but the massive shadow becomes a serpent and lashes at me from my right. I jump back and lop its head off.
It immediately transforms into thousands of scorpions launching at me. I retreat, whispering, "Orpheus, sing," darkness erupts in a wave from my outstretched blade, breaking apart the shadow.
A tentacle forms to my left, the shadows swings it at me before I can recover and collides with my shoulder. I'm knocked against the ancient wall, cracking it and leaving a crater.
I recover in time to be pinned against the wall, a giants hand holds me down as the shadow finishes its transformation. Its face is last as it bends down to glower at me with an ugly head with horns everywhere. "Not so simple now, is it?" It bellows.
I smile, "is this all? I'm not even warmed up, fool." I send darkness exploding from my body. Breaking through its large hand. I swing Orpheus, sending a slashing wave of darkness. It cuts the shadow in half. The shadow bursts in a swarm as it reforms in front of its king.
"As am I," it says. It turns to look at the now standing king. "He is finally ready to fight." The shadow steps into its king, becoming a part of him. The shadow becomes dark armor that seems to seep into the king's body, tendrils of shadow slipping under his skin. Immediately his eyes become alive and he looks at me confused.
"Why haven't you killed me yet? I was open! You could have struck me down!" He cries.
I step toward him, unfazed. "I will strike you down," I tell him, "now that you are on your feet. Killing a dead man doesn't seem to be worth the effort for me." I dash towards him at a lightening quick speed, my sword connects with his should; shadow erupts, slowly pushing my sword away until it's another blade forming from his body and connecting with his outstretched hands.
"I do hope," he whispers, "that when you plan to strike me down, your sword will strike harder than that." He swings his sword. With such a force it sends me skidding backward.
Wings form out from his back as his right hand becomes a clawed demons hand with jagged razors for claws. His left held a huge broad sword.
He takes flight and sores to run me through with his sword. I blocked it, reinforcing my sword with my shoulder, throwing him sideways. He lashes out with his claws, tearing through my arm before I can move my blade.
Blood gushes and pours onto the floor. My left arm hangs limp as I send darkness to heal it. I sense him behind me and turn just in time to block his huge broad sword.

We are locked in a standstill as neither of our blades budge against each other's. His shadows clawed hand comes for my head. I reach out and grab it with my left hand, causing my hold on Orpheus to weaken as his broad sword comes down on my shoulder, tearing through my body. Blood splatters as I am send backward.
I stagger as I hold my shoulder together to heal, my sword barely held, hangs above the ground. Before I can recover he's coming for me again. I stab the ground with my sword and summon a wave of darkness from my hand, throwing him back.
More shadows envelope the king as he continues to transform into a monstrous form of shadows. Soon he resembles a dragon more than a king. His broad sword disappears and turns into another clawed hand. He spreads his wings and takes flight towards me, spiraling forward with a half human half shadowy dragon fanged mouth open, roaring.
I'm not fast enough and he grabs me by the neck and goes to bite my head off. I grab his jaw and struggle to hold him back. I summon more darkness, allowing it to course through me, changing my body more. I growl as my demon strength takes over and I throw his off me, breaking his hold on my neck with a swipe of my own claws.
My black feathered wings form from my back. Horns erupt from my skull. I take the offensive and strike him in head. I jump and knee his chin. I continue over him and grab him and throw, sending the king through the tower wall.
I pause only to heal my wounds, but once again he's back, a huge furious, black dragon. Giant wings bringing him back into the tower, his giant claws grab hold of the brick walls and pulls himself in to attack me; fire erupts from the shadow dragon's mouth. It consumes me and burns my flesh. I escape the flames and grab my sword and swing it in an arc, sending darkness at the dragon. It barely budges, but I take the chance to take flight out of the tower, soaring high above the dragon.
It takes chase after me, flying straight up. "Orpheus, scream." My blade erupts with darkness as I dive towards him. We collide at a bone breaking speeding. Gravity reinforces me as we plummet to the ground. I maneuver so I land on top and the blade pierces true, creating a giant crater beneath us.
I withdraw Orpheus and stagger, barely standing. The shadows separate from the king and stand next to me, appearing as the human figure from before. The king remains on the ground; a hole takes up the majority of his chest. He slowly turns to ash as his last words reach my ears, "thank you, demon." His ashes disperse in the wind and that is all that remained of him.
The shadow creature stands before me, expectant. "Welcome, you are now the king of shadows."
"I refuse," I tell him.
"Refuse? I'm sorry but that is not an option."
"I'm sorry," I tell him as I grab Akio's sealing crystal. "All I need is your power; I do not want the title. Perhaps Akio will." I seal him within the crystal.
I leave the empty city without a second thought. Back to the castle