Shadows of the Mind, Part 7

The nights had grown slightly cooler, and very much darker. The swamp had grown silent and still, as if the life of the swamp itself had gone into some kind of hibernation with the onset of winter. In the deepest recesses of night, where acid rain once fell, now acid snow drifted in silent, white clouds; the nightmares of a sickly disease dreamed by a dying world.

Shadow stood upon a dead tree, surveying the surrounding landscape, his senses open to everything, taking in the essence of the swamp itself, the essence of life and death lingering in the air itself. Shadow's eyes wandered out along the horizon and came to stop on the ruined, domed temple. A thin, green colored smoke drifted out of the giant opening in the roof. A sickly, green light radiated from within; and the moaning sounds of countless undead offered a greeting chorus to all those who came close to the temple. Shadow's eyes then drifted upwards to the sky, as he gazed not for the first time at the alien stars above. He wondered not for the first time if he often gazed at the stars of Ai. Then he took a deep breath.

One by one, the stars above seemed to blink out, and an even deeper darkness than the night itself began to blanket the swamp. All the sounds within the swamp grew quiet, and the cold air seemingly grew colder. Shadow turned his glowing yellow gaze back towards the temple, it's eerie, green light the only light remaining to be seen. Shadow could not sense what power created that light, or kept it from being affected by Shadow's own Darkness power.

However, Shadow could sense the wave of emotion that flooded out of the temple. The entity to which this emotion belonged must be powerful if Shadow could feel it with this strength from this distance. The emotion that washed over Shadow was one of anticipation, mingled with fear and rage. Shadow allowed himself a brief moment of pride. This creature had a right to fear. Shadow would rip him limb from limb and feed him to his undead pets, if any survived his slaughter.

Shadow then took another deep breath. He began working his veil about himself, cloaking not only his body, but his mind and soul. His thoughts he hid away, his plans and strategy for attack. His emotions he buried in the deepest recesses of his soul, his own excitement and anticipation, and his own fear. Then, once he was sure he was perfectly veiled, he slowly and carefully extended his consciousness.

The Guide was right, his kind had several powers. Mind control was the one he was using at the moment. He had spent the last few days gathering his own pets. More like his own army. The cold silence that Shadow's Darkness had created was suddenly broken by the sounds of dozens of violent howls. Shadow allowed himself another moment of pride. The troops of ruin stalkers he had charmed were in place all around the temple. With a thought, Shadow gave the ruin stalker troops the order to attack. The strain of controlling so many entities at one time left Shadows mind temporarily taxed.

Controlling more sentient creatures would have more of a strain, and Shadow's mind would not be able to control so many. The ruin stalkers were simple-minded, more intelligent than most beasts but no where near the intelligence of sentient beings. However, what the ruin stalkers lacked in mental prowess, they more than made up for it in strength and speed.

Shadow could feel the various individuals of the five different troops of ruin stalkers moving closer to the temple. Soon, within seconds, they would be engaging the undead guards standing sentry around the walls of the temples. Shadows will urged them forward, sending feelings of rage and the desire to fight flooding into the minds of the troop leaders and through the leaders into the minds of the rest of troop. The ruin stalkers let out a terrible cry, almost in unison, and then the sounds fighting exploded around the temple.

The ruin stalkers, with their blinding speed and incredible strength, began engaging the zombies, and as near as Shadow could tell, the ruin stalkers were winning. A single, inhuman roar surged forward from the temple. Excellent, Shadow thought, I've gotten his attention now. Shadow slowly withdrew his consciousness from the minds of the ruin stalkers; he no longer needed their help. They would continue to fight the zombies until they either lost interest, which wasn't likely with how much the ruin stalkers seemingly liked violence; or until they grew tired, which also wasn't likely either given their immense strength and endurance.

Shadow took a moment, his strength recovering from the difficult task of controlling so many individuals. The sounds of the fighting still rang out around the temple. Shadow took a moment to check his veils, and his blanket of darkness, and then took a final deep breath. The roar he let out shook the trees around him, the water around him rippled. It was a final challenge. Shadow let the final echoes die, and then slowly stalked toward the temple. Silence, darkness, and cold followed in his wake.

Farazer looked out the window at a darkness that seemed almost solid. The Night's Eye was silent, and seemed withdrawn. Farazer gave it a contemptuous look. He could almost feel its power withdrawing from him. His control of the undead was weakening. His beast, however, his favorite pet was still completely under his control. He turned to gaze down at the arena below him. The stands around the arena of the ancient dome were completely filled with undead. This creature, this Shadow, as the Eye called it, would soon walk right into his trap. Farazer had thought of the trap in the first place, not the Eye. The Eye had, however, given him the power to make it possible...

Farazer returned his gaze to the window. He would wait. He could hear the battle going on below him. The ruin stalkers were winning. But he could feel Shadow's consciousness when it had withdrawn. Farazer had briefly considered taking control of the ruin stalkers in turn, and turning Shadows little trick against him, but decided against it. He needed to preserve all of his strength for the coming fight. Farazer pushed his fear and excitement aside. If Shadow could not kill him, or destroy the Eye, then Farazer would kill him, and find another one. A stronger being, a foe worthy of Farazer's might and wrath, one that could kill him. One that could free him from the Eye.