A Shadow Commander and Almawa’s Admiration

  Yana shifted her body weight to her back foot as the ominous, heavy noise intensified within the darkness just past the entrance of The Teeth of the Blue Moon. Three slender heads shot through the shimmering blue crystal, like it was water.

  Yana pursed her lips and grumbled as her shadow weapon began to shift. “Someone could have said there would be a Cranus Serpent here!”

  Her great bow materialized before her – out of shadow and dark amoke. The black shadow gem sparkled at the center of the bow - she knocked three arrows just over it – letting them fly just as DD turned into thick dust and streamed into the darkness behind the stalactites and stalagmites.

  Alisha sat on Yana’s shoulder, her porcelain face shining as she began [Shadow Weave]. Black shadow webbing flowed out, entering the darkness with DD.

  Yana’s arrows hit true and struck all three heads in the center of the slitted serpent eyes. The eyes went dead, and the arrows fell toward the ground as the heads disappeared as puffs of black shadow. The arrows disappeared before they hit the ground and returned to Yana just as she hissed.

  “Of course the thing is hiding a head.”

  Just as she spoke, the three heads began reforming. She rolled her eyes.

  ‘Have either one of you found any other heads?’

  DD and Alisha answered as one. ‘No, Mistress.’

  Yana sucked her teeth and knocked the three arrows onto her great bow again. The heads had formed quickly, even though they weren’t finished—the heads didn’t have any scales and the eyes were closed. Yana let the arrows fly again, and again the heads disappeared in thick plumes of smoke.

  Yana watched the heads regenerate for a second time as her three arrows reformed before her. Her anger was rising, but she fought not to call forth a broad sword and hack at the annoying serpent before her.

  A fresh, massive roar rolled from the darkness—a putrid, ancient smell hitting her before the sound. She instantly knew her mistake. The odor was from something much more powerful than a simple Cranus Serpent

  ‘DD, Alisha! Return to me. Now!’ Her two familiars materialized instantly at her side.

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  The ground shook violently, and the darkness pushed out from behind the stalactites and stalagmites. “Back! It’s a shadow serpent with a Cranus Serpent puppet!”

  DD and Alisha were back in an instant, just as Yana’s great bow turned to amorphous shadow and then reformed into her dark shadow scythe. “Stay here.”

  She moved forward—[Shadow Step], [Shadow Walk], [Shadow Disperse], and the Shadow Cage activated all at the same time.

  The shadows behind The Teeth of The Blue Moon dispersed. The black pearl in Yana’s forehead appeared, and her shadows streamed out from her Dune Domain. Yana turned to shadow and disappeared within her shadow horde.

  She entered The Teeth of The Blue Moon, her black eyes piercing the dark. Her shadow scythe slashed forward, and the hostile shadow she did not control fell back again and again. With every slash of the shadow scythe, the darkness screamed with an agonizing, ancient intensity that caused both DD and Alisha to reel back several steps, their instinct urging them to flee.

  Inside The Teeth of The Blue Moon, Yana wore a broad, terrifying grin. She raised her shadow scythe high, and instead of slashing out, she twirled it in her hands and brought it up to the ceiling, stopping the shadow serpent in the middle of its ambush.

  It screeched hoarsely, agony clear in its ancient voice.

  Yana sliced through the darkness, and—being pure shadow—shadow streamed forth from the shadow serpent’s wound.

  Yana laughed maniacally. “You will be mine!” Her words were filled with insanity and power.

  The shadow serpent still tried to fight back even as [Shadow Disperse] and [Shadow Control] worked together with [Shadow Manipulate] and [Spell Weave] to gain absolute control of the ancient and powerful shadow.

  Yana jumped, and her shadow scythe cut in two vast 360-degree arcs—one horizontal and the other vertical—and then there was silence.

  Yana looked into the absolute darkness around her. After a long moment, she felt the ancient Shadow Serpent acquiesce, its resistance dissolving. Her shadow weapon disappeared back into her soul, and she stepped deeper into the darkness within the Teeth of the Blue Moon.

  “You are mine. Come to me.” Her voice was authoritative and cut through the darkness like a sharpened knife through perfectly tender meat.

  The shadow serpent materialized before her. Its form was darker than the black shadows around it. Its scales were black with deep shimmers of blue, purple, and green. Its head was flat and broad, and it towered over her.

  It slowly bowed, and Yana smiled, arrogant pride filling her. The black pearl in her forehead opened up, and all her shadows—including her new Shadow Serpent—streamed into her Dune Domain.

  Before Yana could bask in her victory, a voice, scathing and cold, cut through her soul like diamond on glass. “Finally, you are showing some ability. I was beginning to think you were all bravado.”

  “I suppose you want a reward then.” Yana’s smile instantly fell.

  “Only if it is you leaving and never coming back.”

  “I think you’ve forgotten that I punish disrespect.”

  Yana almost stumbled as she walked deeper into the space, sensing where her Diamond Shadow Case was.

  “I will instantly evolve your new shadow to Commander—you don’t need to feed it a single shadow.” Almawa’s tone was condescending and a bit demeaning. “You’re welcome.”

  Yana closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. “Thank you, Almawa.” The interaction solidified her resolve: she would find a way to separate from this annoying system.