Shadows of the Mind, Part 6

Shadow flew through the air where the creature had been. He hit the ground hard and lashed out, quickly striking down the remaining undead. The swamp had grown quiet; hardly a noise could be heard. The new creature had disappeared, right in front of his eyes and Shadow had no clue where it had gone. He stood for a second, his breath haggard and sharp, weakly stretching out his senses. It seemed darker than it had been. Shadow wasn’t sure how or when that had happened, but he was fairly sure he had been the one responsible.

A light suddenly interrupted his contemplations. The L'na turned, slightly relaxed from his attack posture. This light was a familiar one. "An interesting and unseen development. Quite a few actually. I had been expecting anything of this nature." Shadow recognized the voice easily enough. It was the guide, speaking through its odd portal of light.

"Although, you handled yourself well. He was right, you know, your powers have grown considerably since we first met."

Shadow took a sitting position and began to inspect the carnage around him. The whole place stank of rotting flesh and death. Shadow, himself, was not hurt for once. "What exactly was that thing? And what did I do to make it so dark?"

The guide took a few moments to answer. When it had gathered its thoughts, it finally spoke, "The thing you encountered is referred to by most as faceless monk. A sentient being of some form, possessed with a parasite. These parasites are capable of strengthening their hosts psychic powers, but at the cost of physical deterioration. However, this process is often extremely painful, and in most of the cases we have seen leads to insanity long before death. As for its presence here, I can only imagine that it has something to do with the Night's Eye. It attracts all manners of unsightly things..."

"Like odd, glowing light creatures who like to give orders?" Shadow mumbled out, his tail flicking in an annoyed manner.

"Your sarcasm is returning. As for what you did, I do not know exactly what it is called, but you essentially extended your aura and blanketed the area in darkness. You cast an even greater shadow than you might imagine." The guide made as close to a laugh as it could, it was apparently amused with its comment. Shadow, however, was more concerned about how he created that darkness. It would be useful to remember, if his veil proved ineffective. "There are some other tricks I suppose I should tell you about. As far as my research has proven, your kind also has several skills at mind control, as well as telekinesis and body manipulation. From what I have seen, should you need too, you could grow wings and fly."

Shadow took a moment to mull over what the Guide had told him. Mind control and telekinesis could be useful. But wings? That he found highly unlikely. "I'll see what I can do."

"Well, in the mean time, I have more information for you regarding your quest. I have found out more about the Night's Eye. First and foremost, it is not from this world, which might explain our new friend’s presence. It has several powers; first among these is its ability to allow its wielder to control undead creatures. However, this ability comes with a price. In order to use this power, one must create a link to the artifact itself, and by doing so, allowing the artifacts tainted influences into your soul. This, as you can imagine, can have several adverse effects. If it is as I fear, this monk has created a bond with the Night's Eye, than he will be far more powerful than others of his kind I have encountered."

"How strong are these creatures anyways? He appeared without my even noticing his presence and as soon as I went to attack him, he disappeared." Shadow was especially annoyed about the monk’s sudden appearance.

"He fled from you as soon as he attacked you? That is unexpected." The Guide went silent, thinking over these developments. "He must have been unsure of your abilities. And your newest ability must have been offsetting to say the least. Regardless, I do not know what you can expect once you step inside the temple. There must have been some kind of wards or protections to preventing me looking inside. The monk is expecting you, now, and will be preparing for your arrival."

"How do I defeat him, then? How strong is this monk?" Shadow was beginning to grow annoyed again. His rage had been nearly as bad as when he first set off, but regardless, he was still angry.

"Were the two of you to face each other in open combat, I could not say one or the other you would defeat. These creatures are far stronger than they appear, and with the Night's Eye, I cannot even begin to guess how strong this monk has grown. My only suggestion is to pursue the Night's Eye itself. If you can destroy it, perhaps the sudden destruction would flood the monk with dark energy and possibly destroy it. Or at least weakened it to a point to where it could be destroyed. If nothing else, it would prevent him from controlling the ever growing number of undead in this swamp."

"Well, that’s something. What kind of powers can I expect to be facing?"

"Well, all of the faceless monks are powerful psychics. His mental powers will be strong. Your veil will need to stronger to face him. You cannot simply blind yourself to his physical senses, but his mental ones as well. And if you can replicate this darkness, I seriously suggest you do so." The Guide’s portal began to grow smaller and fainter. "Take some time to test your new powers, but do not tarry longer than necessary. As soon as you can, enter the temple. We need to recover the Night’s Eye as soon as we can."

"If this thing is so evil, why do you want it?" Shadow began to stretch. He did not expect an answer. The Guide gave his answers when he wanted and in what manner he saw fit.

"Because, if we can recover it, we might be able to find the portal it used to enter this world. If we can find the portal, and I study it. I might be able to figure out how to return you home."

Shadow was left to his thoughts, and slowly growing number of memories. He missed Ai, what little he could remember of it. He felt something was missing. Something he could experience when he was in Ai. He left the moment pass, sound was returning to the swamp. Sounds of insects and night birds. He did notice that the faint, groaning sounds had grown nearly silent though. He turned away from the direction of the temple and slunk off silently into the swamp. A few days of training and rest, he might be strong enough to enter the temple. Perhaps even strong enough to face this monk, if worse came to worse. Regardless, he needed time to think things over.

Farazer was furious. He looked into the shattered mirror one more time in disgust before pulling his cowl back over his head. He turned to face the pedestal where the Night's Eye sat suspended in mid air. The air around it was dark and had a purple tint to it. Farazer snarled again and sent a blast of mental energy at the artifact. Knowing it would be deflected at him; he lashed out anyways and braced himself from the impact of his own blow. The blow that he had lashed out with was not as strong as the one that hit him. He had not been expecting such strength. It knocked him out of the air and down onto the metal floor with a wet, splattering noise. "WHY?!?! Why did you bring me back? I could have destroyed him. Or better yet, taken him. He was not that strong!"

A few moments of tense silence passed. The light around the orb flickered a few times. "What do you mean I wasn't ready? I have grown stronger. I have learned to control the undead ones. I have even been able to summon a new creature entirely, ripped from my home world! How am I not ready?"

A few more moments passed, and the monk seemed to calm slightly, moving away from the Night's Eye to gaze out of a window. "The time is not yet come? When will it? And when will you uphold your end of the deal? When I forged this link, you said you could cure of this wretched disease! Why haven't you? Answer me!!" It was clear, however, there would be no more answers tonight. Farazer was left to stare out the window. For the first time in a very long time, Farazer felt fear. There was something out there, in the swamp, he could not control. And, he was afraid, something he could not kill.