Pyre. You’re brilliant. Convincing the others will be the problem.

Confidence was thrust into Killian from Pyre. He could do this. It would work, and Killian reminded himself that he was never going to be the smartest in the room with Pyre around. Her senses and strengths came from him, as much as he gained strength from her. Her mana sense was Killian’s own, and she had seen what Killian had missed.

They weren’t moving. The mana should have felt subtly different as they continued down the long hall, but since they entered the dungeon all they could taste was death and rot.

“We’re in a trap.” Killian said, voice far too loud in the quiet corridor.

“Ooh, howling kid finally worked that out.” Lenko started taking steps towards Killian, the older man’s anger ready to explode against anyone. Grant stepped in front of him, to Killian’s surprise. He had thought they were a clique, but that was probably reductive.

“I’m saying,” Killian stressed, “that we need to do something different. I have a plan.”

“Ooh, the howling fire thrower has a plan. You know something we don’t?”

“I don’t know how to put this nicely, but you definitely should have figured it out before Pyre did.” Before the man could become apoplectic, as he looked to be about to burst, Killian continued. “We’re not moving.”

“And who are you to tell me what to do, eh?” Lenko, it seemed, wouldn’t calm down. Callan was whimpering and had nothing to say, holding his shield like a child holds a blanket. Still, Grant wasn’t letting Lenko push past him. Killian was starting to very much like that red-haired barbarian. Dack had retreated into his armour, a passive shell in the shape of a man.

“What I mean is, we haven’t been moving. Something is keeping us in some kind of bubble or something. It’s the same hallway.” Killian looked at his mana, it was getting lower, only a third left. He could feel it draining away into Pyre as she continued lighting the space. He needed to act now, or he wouldn’t be able to act at all.

“Sorry, only thing we can come up with.” The apology was genuine, as Killian plunged everyone into darkness. Frenzy and horror claimed the others, but Killian was blocking them out. He gambled on this working, and he needed to focus. The light had expanded the “bubble” of dark corridor, and pushed away the shadowfiend. As the light disappeared, the shadowfiend acted. Killian was watching with his senses, waiting for it to show itself.

Lenko, who should have been the most equipped to deal with a shadow monster, made to attack Killian. It was the fretful, whimpering panic of the weak and Killian had fallen afoul to men like Lenko before. The bruises healed but the bile that rose in Killian’s throat was enough to make him happy for this next part.

The shadowfiend wasn’t smart. It had gone for Lenko first last time, Killian assumed it sense his shadow Aspect. It didn’t know who created the light this time, so it’s target was the same. It grabbed Lenko, the man’s roar of rage becoming a shriek of terror. Killian couldn’t blame him. Aside from himself, Lenko would be the only one who could see the shadowfiend. Killian with his mana sense, and Lenko with his shadow Aspect assisted vision.

The beast was huge, easily the size of a horse. It filled the space of the hallway, but it seemed smoky. It’s mana was the same stink of fetid evil all around, but now it felt shoved into Killian’s nose and ears. It’s mana buzzed with a chaotic whine. With a yell, Grant swung his axe wildly. Killian could feel it slip through the creature, like someone parting smoke with their hand. A deafening CLANG echoed all over as the battleaxe connected with Callan’s shield, sending the smaller man flying backwards.

“Pyre, NOW! Dack, HELP US.” Pyre exploded into luminescence, dispelling the shadows. At the same time, Killian used the last of his mana to aim and throw two feathers. Both buried themselves into flesh that hadn’t existed in the pitch black. The creature ignited, the flames undying. Killian finally got a good look at it.

-Creature-

|Shadowfiend| Silver

Foul scavengers, their main mode of attack is attrition.

After trapping an individual in an illusory space, the shadowfiend will slowly claw and attack its prey until they die of exhaustion.

Disposition - Despised

The monster looked like a mixture of a dog and a rat, with a disgusting tail and terrible, sharp looking teeth. Now that it had form, it almost seemed unsure of how to act. All rotten green and diseased yellows, the giant canine rodent started to roil under it’s skin, preparing its strange muscles to pounce.

Pyre had worked it all out while Killian was keeping her filled with mana. In the black void it created, it had no substance, but it needed to attack somehow. It’s mana only appeared as it tried to strike, not as it positioned itself. She reasoned that if it was attacking, it would need to enter the space it had created. Once it stepped out of the shadows, Pyre just needed to cut off it’s connection.

Pyre had told Killian to wait until the right moment and showed him how to attack back. A flash would cut it off from the outside. It had worked almost too well, though, and now they needed to improvise. Pyre had hoped that the creature was stepping in through some kind of portal, and that it might just slice in half as the portal closed. Instead it seemed to have been shunted into the bubble of darkness.

The light of the flames Killian had thrown, and the sputtering attempts from Pyre were weakening it, but it still swatted Grant aside like he weighed nothing, before turning to hiss at Killian. It sounded like the largest snake in the world, and it moved almost the same. Quick as an eel, it slipped around Callan, who had braced himself with his eyes closed behind his shield, and made for Killian.

Right as the last of Killian’s mana faded, leaving only a few seconds of Pyre’s light, and Killian feeling empty.

Useless idiots got me killed. Well, I tried at least.

His thoughts were smashed away by the strangest sound. A gauntlet of stone crunched into the monster, looking like a monstrously heavy blow. The sound it produced, however, was almost like a candle being extinguished. The hiss of the shadowfiend - the wick, and it’s complete destruction - the wind. Killian felt it immediately, as the creature faded. That was definitely luck on Killian’s part, but the shadowbeast’s form of attack suggested it would be weak head on. Killian had been listening when Lady Syb taught him.

As though all the mana in the world came back, the hallway seemed to roll and shake around Killian as he was so focused on his new sense. It made his stomach roll, coupled with his tiredness and lack of mana. With a strange sense of movement, which reminded Killian a little of shooting through the void as a soul, everyone went sprawling but Dack. It was as though the hallway had come to a sudden stop from a high speed.

The hallways Killian had sensed through his magic before seemed to fade away, and as though the ceiling was made of liquid darkness, people began falling from above. The adventurers from earlier, Killian realised. His relief and anxieties ebbed away slightly as he saw Lady Syb straighten herself up, Mycol’s booming laugh lightening the mood. Killian counted everyone out and was delighted to see 10 adventurers, none had been taken by the shadowfiend.

“We’re free!” Mycol yelled with excitement. “Thought we would be in there for days!”

Killian was still on the floor, panting. Pyre had curled into his torso, a warm spot to heat his cold limbs. He ran his hands through her feathers, feeling the tickles of her mana take the edge off his drained extremities. She crooned with released stress. Killian pushed sympathy through their bond and held her closer.

“What the howl was that?” Killian scrunched his eyes at the words. Just be thankful Lenko, you idiot. Turning at continued noise from his direction, Killian saw the man rippled with shadow and malice. The part of Killian’s brain that wasn’t focused on calming the situation wondering if he had an Aspect of Anger, or if he was just a fool.

“Saved us all.” Killian didn’t have the strength to defend his actions. He hadn’t known it would work, but he’d even saved the other squads. Killian had neither the energy, nor the desire, to back down. The belligerent emotion surprised even himself, but served to do nothing but further enrage the adventurer.

Lenko took a single step forward, and seemed to fall into the ground. Callan was a shivering mess, Grant appeared to be enraptured at a pretty crack in the wall, judging from his unblinking, unmoving eyes. A few of the other adventurers had roused from the floor and were looking around in confusion. The seconds passed as everyone waited for an explanation, though none were forthcoming.

With a quick inspection of himself, shaking his hands and standing without shivering, Killian realised he’d been absorbing ambient mana. It wasn’t something he had been able to exercise like a muscle, but instead just seemed to be a passive function of his changing body.

He only had a moment to be surprised by himself before a tendril of shadow pulled itself from the wall like an aggressive snake. Through his mana sense, Killian had felt it coming but it moved with such speed, he had no chance to move. It whipped at Killian’s own shadow, produced by the torches and powers of the collected adventurers, and connected to his neck. He felt a rope tighten around his throat, and he was cut off from air or sound. As Killian fell to his knees, others seemed to realise something was still wrong.

Pyre screeched angrily, bathing the dim halls with brilliant light. Though all other shade was banished, Killian’s shadow was impossibly held in place by Lenko’s ability. The pitch-black rope tightened once more. Killian knew Lenko didn’t like him, but he hadn’t expected to be killed for it.

That thought sent adrenaline and electricity to Killian’s muscles. He bucked, trying to pull himself from the wall. Killian strained, unmoving as his shadow was pinned in place. He could feel the stronger man’s mana wrapping around his own, a sensation that felt disgusting and violating. However, it was in that feeling that Killian realised the solution.

With a conscious effort, Killian took a deep “breath”. Not with his lungs, as they were closed off, but with his arcane conduit body. He would never thank Lenko, but desperation had always bred growth in Killian and this was no different.

-Ability Unlocked-

Bronze |Spell Siphon| Body & Will

Arcane Conduit and Beginner’s Luck have combined effects.

You are the Archmage, spells are your playthings. Using magic is as natural to you as breathing.

This is an ability governed by your Body and Will attributes.

Effects:You can absorb mana from its source.

You will gain increased understanding of the magic you drain.

Killian’s mana changed within him, the fire that was constant became oily. The bright flames within Killian were smothered by the new, chalky shadow magic he had taken in. Lenko was a more experienced adventurer, a true bronze grade, and Killian felt like he was about to break something important within him. He had absorbed a lot of the strange mana, but he also knew exactly how to wield it.

-Skill Unlocked-

Bronze |Shadow Magic| Power

The umbral weave is the base state of being. All things return to shadow.

This skill is governed by the Power attribute.

Effect: As Bronze rank, you can control shadow mana.

Killian explored with his new mana, feeling his shadow attach to a hidden ball of energy. Lenko. He heaved with force, even as Mycol and Lady Syb came to assist. With an audible squelch, the umbral assailant was yanked from the wall, crashing into the other side of the hallway in a heap. Killian was about to put a boot to him when Lady Syb stepped in front of him. A red haze blocked Killian from understanding why she was protecting that filthy rag of a human.

Strong fingers grabbed Killian’s face and brought his eyes to Lady Syb’s. A swirling brown with specks of deep green, the eyes of a forest, blew away the crimson. He began to explain, but without a word Lady Syb moved from his path. Mycol was holding Lenko by the throat, all fight removed from the comparably tiny man. It took Killian more than a few moments to understand the situation before him.

An adult had attacked him. Instead of ignoring it, the other adults around saw it. They saw it and they helped him.

Killian couldn’t explain to Lady Syb why he started weeping. She would have her suspicions. Let her, let them all. He would tell her one day. He would thank her, and Mycol, for saving him. A lifetime of angst and expectation was shattered. He may have been in the same country he had grown up in his whole life, but he saw the new world he was surrounded by for the first time. Things were different now.

Shadows that had lurked in Killian’s soul were banished by the light of this new love.

And Killian wept.