The horizon was shrouded in darkness now. The massive bushes to the south rustled with the faint wind. My ears filled with static. The figure kept walking towards my direction, the darkness as their veil.
"Is that fucking lil Inumbro. Long time no see my dude. Still lacking the magic?"
I bit my lip and cursed.
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ?
2
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช.
That was his name.
I thought back to my second year, when he was in my class. It was a break. I was minding my own business, sitting at my desk in the corner. I was reading the new issue of ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ when a newcomer approached my domain.
"Whatcha readin there, ya little shit?"
I continued to read, minding my own business and avoiding eye contact.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ดt ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.
The longer hand of the clock made a full 360 revolution. I glanced up, a vain appearing on my forehead.
"๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ."
I buried my head back into my magazine. The long hand made three more revolutions. I poked my head up, anger slightly oozing out of my body.
"What do you want?" I sighed.
"Just wanna chat," he responded, curtly.
"I'm not interesting enough to chat with."
"Just shut up and talk with me."
"That's an oxymoron."
"Shut your mouth punk."
He waved his fist. I couldn't care less. He was really bugging me though. Do losers really attract others of their kind? Birds of the same feather do flock together...
My attention was now only focused on him.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ?
His hair was platinum blond with black roots. It bloomed out like an overgrown plant, creeping across his widow's peak. I said plant because at the top of his head spouted two hairs that looked similar to a bean sprout. The tips of his hair were highlighted black, reminding me of a certain electric mouse's tail. His right eye was covered with a black eye patch, complementing the leather jacket he had over his uniform. Combined with his ripped slacks, he looked like the first pirate leader of a biker gang. Call me impressed.
"Get on with it, Pirate."
His hair spiked up like it was magnetic, "What the fuck did you just call me?"
"...."
He grasped his black patch, "I lost my damn eye when I tussled with a giant badger in my middle school hunting game."
The fire in his eyes didn't make me care any more than a minute before. Couldn't he just let me live my mundane, magicless life in peace.
"Cool," My head met the desk.
His hand formed a fist as it went to meet my burrowed head. Before contact, it changed form, now his middle finger and his thumb were joined together in front of my head.
He launched his assault right then. As his middle collided with my innocent forehead, static discharged from it.
"Gah! What did you do?"
I rubbed my forehead, my hair felt spiky like a cartoon character.
Some of the other students stared our way, as usual, I wasn't fazed. I knew my place. It seemed this kid didn't.
"Just answer my question."
"How about you ask it?"
My irritation was breaking through.
"Is it true, that your mom and pops are super fucking powerful mages."
I nodded, "Mmhmm. Can you leave now?"
He ignored my plea and fired his next salvo, "is it also true that you have no fucking magic, what so ever?"
I gave him a look that could freeze any fire. I realized that I was showing too much personality for someone I didn't want to be acquainted with and returned to my idle self.
"That's all I wanted to say. See you later, little mouse, haha."
After that, he never talked to me again. I guess he fed his superiority complex enough from our one interaction. That worked for me. There was only one person I was interested in and she was too busy to make time for me.
I hadn't really thought about him since then, but here he was once again. Same biker clothes. Same pirate patch. Same aggravating personality.
"Not you again," I groaned.
His smile didn't waver, masked in the darkness.
"You gonna run away, you little fuck?"
I shook my head, "This time I won't be the one running away. I pointed at him and made my declaration.
"Shadow, attack him."
I crossed my arms with satisfaction; a smug smile had lit my lips.
"Huh?"
He looked spooked for a moment, before grinning again.
Time went on, nothing happened.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ...๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ต!
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณs๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ.
I cursed myself at my own stupidity. I didn't consider this at all. I was just too excited about finally having magic of my own. It may cost me my life.
"On second thought. I will take you up on that running away proposal. Bye!"
I broke into a run. Sizzling javelins of lightning flew by me, making me increase my speed.
Now we are back to where this tale started. I ran from the pirate bandit, getting trapped between a river and electric death. The moon bathed the both of us in sublime light. The javelin traveled forward, marking my weakened body for execution. I had nowhere to escape.
๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ! ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต!
The bolt's form was near perfection with its radiance. It was hard not to be amazed at its stunning craftsmanship. For such a foul-mouthed pirate, he was great at what he did.
I instinctively jumped back, plummeting towards the river at full force.
๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
I did the only thing I could do. I never asked for help at my school, not even from Fiona. I didn't want her pity. I knew I was almost truly alone. It never really hurt me, but I always thought there could be more in life than just being left to your own devices. I got a glimpse into that alternate life with Fiona, but I never left the one I came from, the one I knew. I had no one to help me now, no hand reaching out that I could grasp. At least that's what I thought. I had to try something. I didn't know much about my new power, but I had to make an effort. How else could I face her if I survived this ordeal?
"Shadow!"
A black void covered my body in its dark embrace, shielding me from his next attack. I was four feet from hitting the water now. The shadow grabbed hold of my hand and pointed it at the water. I felt a tugging in my gut as the temperature around me began to plummet.
"Owโฆ."
I hit the ice on my ass. The river was frozen solid, but how could that be?
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต? ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ?
๐ฐ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ?
A web of possibilities swarmed around in my head, trying to reach a sound conclusion.
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆa๐ฏ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ?
I thought back to the dozens of times I asked my parents about what kind of magic our family had.
๐๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข, ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ.
I stood up from the ice. The shadows around me began to dim. The moon was still reflecting down on the clearing.
"I'm waiting, pirate," coated in venom.
Electri summoned another bolt in his hand.
"You think your hot shit because you can fart shadows and freeze some water. I'll make you eat those fucking words. You're not ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ than me!"
He chucked a bolt, then another and another.
I didn't ask for help this time. I didn't need it. I closed my eyes. I envisioned my shadow, not as a physical entity, but as a clay that I could twist and turn in my handsโSomething I could bend to my will. I moved my shadow over my entire body. The image of a space soldier from an old video game danced around in my head, filling me with glee and nostalgia. This took a lot more magic than just cloaking myself in my shadow like he did for me before. Therefore, a name was needed to activate a spell of this magnitude. For every mage, they could cast their normal spells just by using mana, but when it came to actually casting something truly powerful, a name needed to be given to it for the spell to actually be cast successfully.
๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ตo ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ.
I quickly created a new one.
"Umbra Armatus Maximus!" The great armor of shadows is what it roughly translated to. I thought it sounded pretty cool (totally not because I wanted to make the three years of Latin I took actually be of use).
While we were basking in the moonlight, the spell sprang into action. My entire body was enveloped in the same abyss that my shadow had when he first appeared. I could see clearly through my makeshift visor; my mana pouring directly into this new form. For any non-magic users out there, let me explain what mana is. Mana is the life line to any mage, the less you have of it, the less chance you have of surviving. Every mage possesses a mana pool that gets bigger the more and more they train their magic. The more mana you have, the more spells you can cast. When you are out of mana you are as good as dead. It leeches away all your strength, which will result in you either passing out or being too weak to move. It takes a while to recharge without a good night's sleep or assistance from a third party. I wasn't used to being able to access a mana pool and having a pretty large one as well (though that may be the shadows doing).
The bolts finally impacted. What I felt could not be called pain. It was closer to a small poke on the shoulder.
"Hey that kinda tickles."
"H-how...." Sweat was breaking his fiendish visage. He was right above the frozen river now; only a few feet from me.
I grinned through my badass helmet.
"My turn."
I flicked my wrists under my newly formed exoskeleton. A lash bolted out of both of them. Flying like harpoons toward the whale. Electric had little time to react as both of his hands were captured. The shadow chains had him fully entangled.
"Heh. It's like I'm ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ.. So cool!"
"Gah. What the hell is this? Get it off!"
He squirmed more than I did when a bully who finally caught up to me, gave me a good beating.
An idea suddenly popped into my head. It sent a happy shiver through my usually stiff body. I closed my eyes again. I could actually afford to take my time for once. Inside my mind, there was a room I was summoned into. Of course, this was all just my imagination, but I needed it just to envision my magic correctly. There were two stations on opposite sides. One was labeled "Shadow", the other labeled "Ice". I happily strutted over to the right and slammed down on the big red button.
Ice trickled down my armor until it reached my gauntlets. It leapt onto the shadow chains with haste and rushed to the end point faster than sending a text. The frost reached the chains that bound him and didn't stop there. It crept up his arms, surrounding them in a light blue tint. The temperature around him is rapidly decreasing.
"What the fuck is this? What are you doing now? Stop. Fucking sto-"
Before he could finish, his entire body was encased in a humanlike structure of frost.
"Did I... Did I kill him?"
๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐.
I had never taken a life before. I only killed stuff in video games, but none of that even felt real. However, there were still at least seven more enemies in this realm and If I hesitated now, then there was no way I could survive and get back to her. I was resigned to my newfound fate. I wanted to survive. No, I needed to survive. My hand formed into a fist; a plethora of conviction filled up my chest.
"Alright. I'll do it," I released the chains that bound Electri and walked on over.
"Uh... On second thought...I'll have you kill him with your spear thingy."
๐ผ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐.
Was my shadow shit talking me?
Most of my armor disappeared as the shadow acquired mass. Its majestic body arose again. Cosmos shining through it. His dark spear manifested in his hands. With one quick thrustโit was over. The spear destroyed the ice, his body along with it.
The shadow swarmed around his broken-up body and exhumed.
๐ป๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Flesh appeared on his leg this time, forming a human foot. It disappeared from view like the last one. That was the first time I saw his legs. I felt a bit of static in my stomach. I wanted to use it, but the mana I expended on that suit of shadows had finally taken its toll. It seemed that even though my pool of mana was large, I had squeezed about all of it out.
"Well shit," My body fell to the floor, my eyelids shutting just as fast.
3
The sun's gaze burned through my eyelids, startling me awake.
"Ugh...What time is it?"
"๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐."
"Oh, yea. You're still here."
"๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ."
I pulled myself up. The remains of Electri were nowhere to be found.
The river below me had begun to run once again.
Where should I go now?
๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
"That's right," I concentrated, homing my mana into my right hand. Sparks danced around in the palm of my hand.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ด ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
I really didn't want to fight. But from my last two encounters, there was really no way I could avoid conflict.
I ran back the way I came, the lush forest attracting my eyes in all directions.
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ
I made it back to the mystery park. A heavy metal band was playing in my stomach.
๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ.
๐ต๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐'๐. ๐ฑ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I was about to say that there was nothing left of Tor Electri when I stumbled across what he meant.
I feasted my eyes upon the slow decaying body of Gelum Hiemis.
Once I reached the tree, I clamped my hand over my mouth.
๐ซ๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐.
Easy for him to say, I doubt he could smell the rotting flesh in front of me. My throat burned dry as I returned the lump that had formed back down my esophagus, like a snake swallowing its prey.
"What do I do now?"
His body was mostly intact, with some nasty things moving around in his exposed wound. The sun was pouring down on us, blinding my sight and making me wish for sunglasses.
"Wait. It's gone."
๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐l๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐?
The shadow that should have been clearly displayed from Gelum's body was strangely missing. My shadow appeared once again in his physical form. He slithered over to his body and imploded. A jet-black net covered the body of the deceased. I heard horrible noises coming from the grueling process. It was as if a rabid dog was tearing apart a large chunk of meat. Then at last, my shadow disappeared, leaving only a skeleton in its wake.
๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐.
He was right. I felt great and beyond full. I took a deep breath and looked around.
4
I followed the stone path out of the park, which really should have been called a jungle for all the cutting I had to do, just to get through. At last, I was out of the jungle.
I was in a neighborhood now, but no cars or people in sight. The grey houses looked identical, all hiding behind large metal gates.
Do people actually live here? It looks super dead.
Around the corner, an enemy mage.
There was a fork in the road with houses on each side. He wanted me to go to the left side and turn the corner.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
A gruesome scream was let out close by. It was familiar. A thorn pierced my stomach, egging me to make a move.
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ!
I didn't know what I would see would fill my mind and body with a torrent of hellfire, enough to fight vs even the strongest enemies.