The Sentient Container and the Spoils

  Mag moved so quickly through the air it seemed she used a step-type magic. She passed the blue light streaking up like a brilliant comet and turned in a wide arc back toward it. She caught the Winter Soul without issue, but she allowed the item to touch her soul flame. Yana looked up, sensing her newly upgraded shadow spark change again.

  Mag pulsed several times, her flame blowing out as if a massive gust had focused on her core. Everything paused. Then, her soul flame came back together in a wild, hot rush. Mag grew three times her original size, her fire shimmering and shifting through seven different types: yellow, orange, red, violet, blue, white, and a sickly green. She was no longer a small core with dense sparks; she was a full-blown frame of multicolored fire. She returned to Yana as if nothing had happened, coughed up the Winter Soul, and disappeared into Yana’s soul sea as if trying to avoid being punished for her greed.

  Yana raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She felt Mag’s growth and the way her pet was adjusting to this new power. As she looked at the Winter Soul, a strand of blue-white energy drifted toward her.

  ‘Mistress. It has been a long time. The Shadow Flame is yours? I should have helped her more for waking me.’ There was a pause. ‘Something has happened to you. Your power and your soul have changed. I still have all of your souls, your shadow memory shards, and shards of truth. Can I please go home?’

  It all took half a second, but it made Yana’s mind buzz. She knew instinctively that the Winter Soul could restore her memory, even without the shards. She nodded absentmindedly. The Winter Soul did not hesitate; the blue-white light plunged into Yana’s chest. Memories flooded her being. A slow smile spread across her face. The Winter Soul was more than an item; it was sentient—Yana’s first alchemical creation. She scoffed; it was her Wao heritage rearing its ugly head.

  The tower shook violently, drawing her eyes back to the battle. The shadow-shifter had reformed into its spider form, but it had grown smaller. Now visible were black webs glistening with silver sparks. Most strands moved into the tower, but many hung loose like brittle straw. The shifter was losing control.

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  DD used [Void Step] to appear above the creature's head. Dust spread over the shifter, tiny pinpoints of magic-devouring blackness forming.

  [New Ability: Void Dust]

  The shifter squirmed and let out a torturous scream as the dust pulled at its magic and soul. Tasha let out a maniacal laugh. “Finally, DD! A new ability!”

  Dark magic poured forth, filling the holes the void dust created and devouring the creature from within. Tasha looked blissful. “Mistress wants this shadow. Calm down, Tasha,” Amber cautioned, her own magic soothing the spider even as she chained down three of its legs.

  “But this is the best shadow we have seen in a long time,” Tasha argued. “It even eats souls; it’s a delicacy.”

  Amber and DD continued to bring the shadow down. DD followed his dust with [Shadow Kill], causing another agonized wail. Amber rose, her shadow threads sapping the creature’s remaining strength until it crashed to the ground. Then, the courtyard itself seemed to flow, the shadows rising to move into the prone shifter.

  The tower rumbled harder. Yana smiled. “All of you to me! Vora to the Dune Domain!”

  The portal opened, and everyone moved as commanded. Yana tied her cohort to her magic. They felt a pull on their souls, then their bodies, as the tower expelled them. Yana and the others appeared before the Truthless Lie Tower once more. The structure wavered like gelatin before firming, its three sides layering into a single form. It shrank to a tabletop figurine and flew into Yana’s palm.

  Yana nodded and walked toward the immense shadow of the shifter. Just as she was about to open the portal, Almawa spoke. “So you actually can be impressive? Okay. You have increased your abilities [Fate], [Illusion], [Spell Weave], [Shadow Light], and [Shadow Manipulate]. Your Shadow Spark has evolved into a Shadow Flame. You have acquired two new powerful shadows—a Shadow Shifter and a shattered Pra.”

  The sarcasm increased. “New Mission: Add a new pet to your arsenal. Have Vora connect to your soul and help her increase her power by two levels. You cannot refuse this mission, and there is no time limit. You will know your rewards upon completion. Will you accept or deny?”

  “Are there punishments if I fail?”

  “Yes.” Almawa said no more. Yana rolled her eyes and sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this while I was in the tower?”

  “We hold our connection while you are in spaces like the Dune Domain and the tower, but I will never fully integrate with a thief. You stole me from my actual owner and killed him. Why would I want to be part of such a vile creature?”

  Silence followed. Yana was stunned but felt a spark of resentful respect for the system. She smiled, shrugged, and opened the portal to the Dune Domain.