Of Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 33

Fifteen minutes. My heart beat so loud and hard in my chest my whole body shook. Lord Lankeshwar didn't move, speak or take his eyes off me. This must be a trap, it can't be this easy. Maybe I'll be electrocuted when I touch the sword or he was just an illusion or his sword wasn't the real one. I couldn't breathe and my thoughts were in jumbles. I needed to focus, focus. I needed to move or attack or do something.

I took a cube from my box and then placed the open box on the floor. I stepped closer to Lord Lankeshwar who didn't move. His eyes burned into me, all their eyes burned into me. I dissolved the cube, smoothed it around my hand until it was coated in blackness like a glove. I forced air in and out of my lungs before I touched the handle of the sword. Nothing happened.

I gripped the ornate handle. It was heavy so it must be the metal sword. Something tugged on my hand. There were long black chains which seemingly came out of the ground connecting to the darkness around my hand. Was this his defensive magic?

My wrist was pulled down and I was thrown against the stone ground. Pain radiated from the right side of my body which collided with the floor.

"Shit," I hissed under my breath. The now short length of chain was fused to the ground. I pulled but the chains didn't budge. I placed my left hand on my wrist, dissolved the glove and the chains and formed it back into a cube.

My head ached as I stood up; half my body was numb and tingling in pain. His attack range was ten feet so if I stayed ten feet away I could possibly avoid his attacks. I dissolved the cube into vapour and moved it towards Lord Lankeshwar's sword. The further and further away I pushed the vapour the weaker the pull between me and the darkness felt. I felt that if at any moment I lose my grasp the darkness would dissolve into nothing. I hardened it around the handle of his sword. More chains emerged from the ground, wrapped around my hands, arms and chest and pulling me onto the ground within his attack radius.

The chains clicked as they grazed against each other, wrapping like a python, around me until I could barely breathe. I struggled against the chains, tried to move my arms so I could touch them to dissolve them. The more I squirmed on the ground the tighter the chains got.

"Fuck," I muttered, sweat on my forehead and bile in the back of my throat. I inched my finger closer to the chains, when I touched it with the tip of my index finger pushed my magic in until everything unravelled. The chains dissolved like smoke.

I coughed and gagged as air flooded my lungs. My chest burned, everything strung and throbbed. There were red marks on my arms which felt sore. I rolled over onto my chest and pushed myself up. My legs wobbled and my world spun.

"Ten minutes," said Murugan.

I walked to the box and took another cube. I needed to think this more carefully. He would use his chains if I got close. I could try to obscure his vision someway or limit his attacks. He couldn't attack me if he couldn't see me. I dissolved the cube and made a wall between us, then three more walls around Lord Lankeshwar and boxed him in. I walked up to the black box and was face with a new problem. The sword was also in the box. I didn't think this through.

The black box started to shudder and shake. It wasn't my doing. It wasn't under my control anymore. I stood back as the box morphed into the shape of a person. It was faceless like a mannequin but it had a sword and shield.

"What are you doing?" I gasped.

Lord Lankeshwar didn't reply or even acknowledge me. The mannequin's head twitched and turned to me. It lunged at me and I ran away. It stopped ten feet away from the lord. I guess he was respecting the rules placed on him. Each time I moved the mannequin moved as well, blocking me from getting closer. I took another cube and dissolved into a cloud that twirled around my fingers.