Sons of Ironstorm - Book 4: Griffon's Stand

Epilogue: Echoes of Darkness

"In the end, all things are connected.

Shadow to shadow, Light to light.

Shadow to Light, Light to Shadow.

It is the connection the Creator used

To forge the universe.

And it is that connection the Lords of the Abyss

Will attempt to use to End it."

Author unknown, Second War of Shadow

Calandris, greatest of the Abysslords, and master of Darkness frowned as he felt the amount of Shadow in the world fade just a little.

- One of your allies has fallen in battle, - the voice, piercing and cold, said into the depths of his mind. Standing and staring into the west, arms folded across his chest even as the ruins of the human city of Tal Morun spread out from his feet, Calandris nodded.

- Yes, master, - he acknowledged. - I felt its passing. -

- The Light's champions gain in strength. You must strike now before they reach their full potential and have the power to thwart the great plan. -

- Fear not, master. The plane of Reality will once again swim in darkness as you did foretell, - Calandris reassured the cold presence in his mind. - As soon as we locate ... -

It was a whisper, a fey caress against his senses that, for the moment, interrupted his internal dialogue with the great darkness itself, the Deceiver, his lord, and master. His frown deepening as he felt that caress physically manifest against his arm, Calandris looked down to see a dark ribbon of shadow slithering along his forearm.

[What is this?] he asked in the demonic tongue, its dark power enough to make the air shiver with each spoken syllable, such was his astonishment.

[Do you not recognize your brother, Calandris?] the shadowy tendril asked in a voice so low, the abysslord had to strain to hear it. [Do you not recognize the one that stood head and shoulders above you all?]

The lord of the Abysslords immediately snorted.

[There were none that stood higher than ...] he managed to say before a thought slipped into his mind to choke out the rest of his words. There was something familiar about what he was sensing from the tendril. Then it struck him:

[Damdalis??] he exclaimed with no little amount of surprise when his voice finally returned. [But you perished during our first attempt to implement the dark master's plan. At the hands of the Wielder of the Earth no less!]

[My shell perished, yes,] the ribbon of shadow conceded. [But my essence remained, trapped in the stoney flesh of a fire elemental.]

[Fire elemental? Such things haven't existed on this plane since the fall of the Stewards!] Calandris noted, his frown becoming thoughtful as he held up his hand in time to let the smoky ribbon wrap itself around it. [And they never fought for us, Damdalis. Or have you forgotten in your diminished state?]

[I haven't forgotten a thing, Calandris,] the ribbon smoothly retorted. [Especially your arrogance in thinking that you know everything.] The ribbon paused in its slithering around his hand for a moment. [I too was arrogant. Then the Wielder of the Earth Sword taught me that I could be ended. That my dark purpose and pledge to our master wasn't enough to save me from destruction.]

The near end of the ribbon turned head-like to peer up into Calandris's frowning features.

[When we rebelled against the Maker and made our vow to the Darkness, we faced power in our brothers and sisters, the Stewards. We fought them from one end of the universe to the next, striving with them blow for blow. Many of us fell, but in the end, we triumphed and nearly wrought the downfall our dark master demanded.]

The shadowy ribbon paused there for a moment as if to gather its thoughts. Then:

[In the millennia that we fought against our kin, I never doubted our strength. Even after the Maker cast us out after ending the last of His servants, did I think we wouldn't triumph in the end. I didn't fear His power then, and I don't fear it now. But I will tell you this, brother: these humans? These Wielders? They could end us all!] it whispered, its tone suddenly filled with urgency.

[I have seen their potential, these new human Wielders, espied from the elemental's eyes even as the creature railed against them. They will grow greater than even their sa'anish predecessors could ever do. If we are to fulfill our vows to our dark master, we must defeat them before they ascend. Or the dark purpose will be thwarted and the Maker's universe will yet again survive our attempts to bring it to ruin.]

[So the Wielders freed your essence from the elemental by slaying it,] Calandris said carefully, bottomless eyes narrowing in thought. The urgency he heard in the ribbon's voice; never before had he heard the like coming out of any of his kin, before the exile or after. And yet, here was this pitiful remnant of what was arguably the greatest of them all, filled with concern that there was a chance they would fail against the human Wielders. Humans he had already faced and handily defeated in one-on-one combat.

Did Damdalis' remnant have the right of it? Should they fear these humans and their growing potential? Or was it the paranoid bleatings of a ghost long past his prime?

[Was it this granting of your freedom how you've come to this new knowledge? This new awareness of the Wielders' growing potential?]

[It is,] the ribbon confirmed before it continued its serpentine journey around his hand.

[Since you've so recently faced them in battle then, you know where they are,] he pressed.

[I do.]

Calandris' lips thinned in irritation when the ribbon offered up nothing more in response.

[What do you want for the information?] he finally asked after a long, frustrating moment of silence from the slithering ribbon.

[A body, of course,] the ribbon replied. [My essence was sustained while it was fused with the elemental. Now that we've been separated, my time on this plane grows short. Unless you forge a new body for me.] It paused to once again look up at him. [I want my revenge, brother. I want to taste their blood and stand over their broken bodies. I will see our dark master's prophecy fulfilled and live to watch the Maker's universe crumble down around His arrogant ears!]

The ribbon paused once more before:

[I will see all life end and darkness reign and I will revel in the destruction!] it then said, the whisper filled with pain, anger, and hatred.

Hearing that, Calandris's frown became an equally thin smile. Now that was what he expected from the great Damdalis, the Deceiver's own champion.

- I am pleased, - the cold whisper belonging to his dark master confirmed into the depths of his mind. - Forge him a body. Make him a weapon. Use him against the Light. -

Calandris mentally bowed.

- As you command, my master, - he said. Then he was holding his hand with the ribbon coiled around it back up. [Come, Damdalis. Let us get you a sheath more befitting a champion of the Shadow, yes?]

****

A/N: Here is the end of the fourth book. However, it is nowhere near the end of the Ironstorm saga. I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far and that you'll join me in the fifth book of my evolving story of the Wielders of the Weapons of Power as they continue to hold back the Return and give Ramnor hope against the darkness. And that book will be called: 'Sons of Ironstorm: Griffon's War', coming very soon. I hope you'll check it out.

As always, I want to thank all of you for reading along with me, commenting and voting and letting me know how I can make this story better. I would like to offer you further opportunity to support my work directly by subscribing to my Patreon, where every dime goes towards my work and getting it published. If you are interested, check out this link:

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