Dark Shadows at the Heart of It

  Yana and Vora descended from the skies over the dark city. Vora stood behind the familiars, as close as she could to her new mistress, her eyes never leaving Yana’s back. The Princess was still whole, but when left in isolation, any shadow being would break in ways unexplainable. Vora knew who she was, but she was disconnected from that self. It was like knowing a complex concept but being unable to explain it—only able to execute it through instinct. It was innate to her, yet Vora was now cut off from a true understanding of her own soul.

  Tasha, DD, and Amber walked around Yana protectively, their body language signaling a deep distrust of the Pra. The horde of shadows of any value had already been moved to the Dune Domain. Yana looked at the ones now restrained; many had eyes full of madness. They stared at the group with a burning desire to harm, even as their forms reeked of fear. Yana smiled, her third eye open wide and shining a bright silver. The runes on her skin burned just as brilliantly, and the shadows before her settled.

  [Shadow Control]

  Yana licked her lips as she peered into each shadow. She found more and more powerful beings—none as potent as Vora, but valuable all the same. As she pulled them out of their madness, they moved past their restraints; now that they belonged to Yana, the chains simply ceased to hold them.

  [Shadow Manipulate]

  These shadows quickly moved through the portal leading to the Dune Domain. Vora never left her mistress’s side. The remainder of the shadows could not be saved, so Yana created what she could use. With [Shadow Unite], she created stable shadows of varying strength and sentience—new Pra—and she crafted ordinary shadows that she could essentially program.

  She felt her strength enhancing, her magic growing more muscular. She sent most of the created shadows through to the Dune Domain, keeping fifty with her: twenty sentient Pra, fifteen programmed drones, and fifteen un-programmed shadows for flexible use.

  The Core of the tower was a huge fortress, not a city. The keep was massive and took up most of the space within the walls. Everything was black, moving with mists as if a lake of death rested nearby. Yana walked in with confidence, her eyes cutting through the black mists as if they were clean, breathable air. She walked to the front of the keep and examined the architecture closely. She cocked her head and frowned.

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  “My item is inside the keep.” Her voice was thick with annoyance and anger. Thick waves of power rolled off her. Tasha looked at her in honest confusion. “We can’t just go in and get it?”

  Yana shook her head and scowled. Tasha matched her mood, her expression turning ominous. “Sentient?”

  “Exactly.” Yana rolled her shoulders and took a step forward. “When any of you see an opening, follow me—that includes you, Vora. Nobody has permission to die.”

  She spun her shadow scythe, transforming it into a heavy battle staff. She bent her knees and sprang straight up. Her staff grew to a massive size as she brought it down on a corner of the keep where a large red mass pulsed. The keep shuddered, and a bright blue ward shield flared before her. Yana did not falter, squinting against the brightness as her staff shattered the shield like brittle glass.

  The keep shifted. A dark limb, covered in spiky darkness, rose to block the staff. Yana drew it back and struck again; a second limb met the blow. She danced around the perimeter, striking at the nine red masses positioned randomly around the structure. With each hit, the keep shifted, revealing its true form. It had exposed six legs and a massive, shifting head.

  Yana smiled devilishly as she aimed for the central mass. A large, bulbous abdomen rose to meet her, studded with the same spiky darkness.

  “Still no head? You cannot hide from me.” She poured shadow magic into her weapon. The staff split into six separate entities, each descending on a different target. Two missed, but four struck true. The keep shook with an eerie, echoing wail that crashed down around them. The walls began to crack and fall away.

  “Now return what is mine so my friends here can have their fun.” Her shadow staff reformed in her hand, turned to smoke, and solidified back into her battle scythe. She sliced through the air and through the distracted shadow-shifter.

  The keep wailed again, and a large blue light escaped from a gaping wound in its side. “Mag! Go get my Winter Soul!”

  The Shadow Spark shot from Yana toward the escaping blue light.

  “Don’t kill it. I want to know what it can do.” Amber, Tasha, and DD moved to finish off the creature that had masqueraded as a keep for eons.

  Vora rose to Yana’s side. “A shadow shifter?” Her voice was full of questions and a hint of remembrance. Yana looked into the Pra's eyes and understood instantly. She turned back to the creature as it fully transformed into a mountainous spider.

  “So you came here to claim this.” Yana smiled as her mind scanned Vora’s fate lines, seeing the mission the Princess had been on centuries ago. She scoffed. “It’s mine now.”