Summoned to a Shattered World

Chapter 49 - Casting off the Yoke of Shadow

Standing there with nothing to do but watch Elmidath's expression shift during her silent communion was surreal. Though from the faces she was making, what she was going through her mind was far more unpleasant. Had it been that bad for me? My thoughts had been so scattered at the time that I could barely remember what I'd felt. I remembered being shaken but relieved when it was all over, but not much beyond that. When she was done, she released the sword and sunk to her knees. Her eyes were watering and she hurriedly brushed away her tears.

I would have preferred to give her some time to compose herself, but that sort of consideration was a luxury at this point. "Now do you see?"

"That's what's in his head...?"

"Yep."

I offered her my hand, but she ignored it and stood up unassisted. "And there's no way we can get rid of it."

"Nope. For all intents and purposes, he never came back to life at all, just something wearing his face." I don't think what I was saying was technically true, but if she was willing to believe it... It should make things easier for her.

"You're right." She flexed her gauntleted hand. "Let's go then."

I considered making a joke about her being two for two on killing her relatives if this went well, but immediately dismissed it as being in exceptionally poor taste. It would also be damn stupid to risk losing her support at this stage, especially after I'd tried so hard to get in the first place. Now that Shotensho was drained, this was going to be pretty much all her. Hopefully that would be enough.

I strode toward the house where I struggled to get the shuddering door open. Once I did, I held it open for Elmidath to get inside and peered in. Her father hadn't moved an inch, he was still sitting in the middle of the circles. The only thing that had changed was his appearance, now he was covered in a coat of writhing shadow which spilled out across the floor around him.

No matter how violently his body moved, the shadows remained tethered to the shard in their host's head and to the ground, keeping him in place. Destroying the hard was clearly the best option, but I couldn't see any easy way to do that. I sighed. "We're need to rip it out." Elmidath bit her lip, hesitating. She must realise he probably wouldn't survive the process. Well, I could handle at least this much. "Don't worry, I'll do it."

When I was at the edge of the first circle, a thin rapidly rising wall extended upward from each circle. I tried to go over them and they curved inward until they'd formed a perfect dome to cover their host. I swore and pounded on it with my fist, before trying the pommel of my sword. Climbing up, I tried all over it hoping there might be a weak point somewhere.

After failing to make any impression on the hard stone, and I decided it was time to try something else. I'd hoped it might be as simple as walking up to him and pulling out the shard with my bare hands, but the tunnel-being wasn't going to make things that easy. It was hard to say how aware it had been of our intentions before, but now it knew we were trying to stop it. "Elmidath, can you do something about this?"

"I can try." She took a deep breath. "Get out of the way."

I hopped off and moved away from the dome. Once I was clear, blood poured forth from Elmidath's gauntlet and formed into a long, thin shape with a ball on the end. It flowed across the ground until it extended several strides behind Elmidath. The thin cord snapped around and sent the ball at the end flying toward the dome. Stone splinters clattered to the ground from the impact and she drew it back for another blow.

It was whistling through the air when the walls receded back into the ground, leaving the ball to swing through empty air before slamming down and cracking the ground. The waves of energy disappeared along with the walls. Elmidath's father reappeared, standing and changed once more. The darkness surrounding him was no longer just a coat, now it was woven into his very flesh, making him look far larger than before. Composed more of shadow than flesh and blood, Elmidath's father gave us a stern look. "What do you think you're doing? Stop this nonsense at once."