Golden eyes, enchanting though menacing, stared at them. A gaze so fixed that fear ravaged them on every turn. They could hardly hold any eyes contact. "Mommy—" The child's mouth was grabbed violently. Covered as it was necessary for their survival. They had to make not even the slightest sound while its gaze pierced through them. A silence that appeared to last an eternity.
~
"Around this turn," they ran through the streets.
"You are much too late. People have already left this town." Mrs. Chimeralana stood at the town's center. Calmly jesting as though she had been waiting for them. For one so reserved, she seemed to be in the best of moods.
"Should we care? We have no interest in the town's people, only one child in particular. But then again, you already know who that is—" As Alda spoke, Nazir suddenly interrupted her. His topic of choice not the best considering the tension that drowned the wind, making it tangible.
"She is fine." He said, eyes widened as grin reared its head. Forming from ear to ear.
"Excuse me?" Alda retorted. She had no idea what on earth he met by that.
"Just listen a moment, Ser. She is fine. Like…how do I put it— like she is a different kind of beauty, you know."
"Void, make it back to the present."
"Listen Ser, I don't think you are getting it. You are okay because you have like this slightly petite statue, fine legs and they just join your waist line so well. You have this kind of well rounded butt. But her—
She is balance made manifest. You have a good butt but your breasts are small. But she— she has the balance." He covered his eyes, facing the sky as though to engrave that beautiful sight on his retina. "I don't even know what to probably say right now. She is just packing this elegance about her."
A golden cat raced to Mrs. Chimeralana's side. It stood in front her, purring as it was none too fond of what Nazir was saying. But then again, so was Alda. He had strayed far beyond the subject to a point where she was wondering if he still remembered what the task was supposed to be.
"OH! Please no—"
"What now?!" Her exasperation shining through. Her eye twitching. She was seething with rage.
"She is about carry the cat. Its up in her arms now. I wish I was that cat right now."
She picked up the cat before whispering, "Hubby, everyone is safe now, right?"
Alda, who was still actively using decibel control to pick up on any sound vibrations listened in on their conversation. "Hubby?" Wait a minute, could it actually be? No way, it couldn't be.
She gave it her arm and it bit her. "Shit—why is that so hot?" Nazir continued, "I wish the artist was here. We would gotten some good material."
I just hope my suspicions aren't correct. Alda was about to dash forward when he grabbed her hand. "Just wait, a little bit."
"Unlike you, I am not a degenerate who gets off on stuff like this." She broke away, running toward them when a golden light consumed them. She was blown away, covering her eyes as it was far too bright.
The cat's back broke open, its bones snapping, marrow increasing as it became more compact. The skull reshaped it, becoming humanoid. Its entire skeletal system became humanoid. The golden fur that once covered its body turned to flesh and wrapped itself around the bone.
In front of Mrs. Chimeralana, he stood. Golden glowing eyes as well as golden hair. Purple stripes, ran down his cheeks from the base of his eyes, circling up, all the way to the back of his ears. They ran down his neck all the way to his arms and legs. His deep voice, reverberating, "It is still much too small for me." He took off his coat before throwing it away.
"See, this is why I insisted you never stay in that form for too long," Mrs. Chimeralana said, holding out another black coat.
"Out of all the forms I possess, you prefer the cat the most. Besides, its not like I can remain human for too long anyway." He added, taking the coat.
Alda opened her eyes, looking at the ground as Nazir had caught her. "That was why I told you to wait. I sensed a massive discrepancy in spiritual vibrations in the whole area. It didn't add up. There were two magic levels with the false paladin rank. Then three with paladin. And one which is lower than that."
"Wait Void, so you knew."
"Well, yeah. But what I said about Mrs. Chimeralana was no joke though. She is a fine woman. I am surprised you couldn't pick up on him. Ser."
"That is pretty obvious, my primary objective was sound. His mass, the sound of his heart, as well as the sound of his footsteps all felt like a cat. Its almost like reality registered him as one. That doesn't make any sense, what kind of magic is that?" I only charged because I had a vague suspicion since our target is also a shape shifting monster.
"The kind we are about to be introduced to. By the way, Ser?"
"What is it?"
"I use Aether, so leave the man to me. The woman is yours since she is a fire type. That match up is right up your alley, right? Niveen!"
"Nazir, you are shouting too much. I am just standing beside you." In soothe, Niveen stood beside them. In fact, he had been for quite a while.
"You are getting way too good with your stealth. I need you to get something for Alda. She can't fight efficiently with what she has right now. Hurry." This can break out at any moment.
No sooner had the man finished wearing his coat, when he clawed against the air, producing fifteen wind blades. They scattered, aiming for Nazir still when he produced a wave of lightning. Nazir became coated in a starry aura when he muttered, "Aether Art: Ethereal Celestia; Mimicry; Attribute type, Lightning." Flashes appeared all around him. Canceling out the wind blades.
"Did you really have to show off like that, Void? Lightning is weakest against wind. Why use it? You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
"I figured that since I might narrate this story to the artist, I needed cool reference. I am just joking, that element is the one I had immediate access to. I can temper with air's molecular composition but I can't control spiritual vibration Rifts. I get what I get. The Rift said lightning so lightning was the only thing I could produce."
"How will we locate Nyambe Chimeralana? With so many tremors, I can't focus enough to pick out details like sound of breathing or footsteps."
"That will have to wait, it's not like we can do anything with them still here."
~
Meanwhile:
A yellow aura shrouded Alnico's body, a layer of Tungsten rhenium coating his grey jacket. He lunged, dashing toward the eagle-headed beast. Sensing Alnico's malice, Xem replied, "So you choose these claws to be the ones that rip you asunder." He placed his hand against its muscular lion body, before it opened its black wings. "Do as you always do. Destroy in your own design." A loud war cry could be heard as it dashed toward Alnico. Its wings, generating gusts of wind with each flap. Flames, flowing from its beak.
Xem closed his eyes, borrowing the vision cast by the floating severed tongues. The eagle-headed beast raised its pede, allowing its claws to grow into talons. The perfect tool to skewer. He stepped back, dodging its attempted grab. He looked ahead, seeing its beak aimed perfectly at him. It released a concentrated stream of flames, at close range.
To counter, he projected a metal wall in front of him. Splitting the flames.
A another war cry echoed the forest before it bashed its pede against the metal wall. The metal bent before its talons forced their way through. Ripping it apart, exposing what lay beneath.
As Xem watched with an aerial view. His angle suddenly shifted. "I suppose he escaped…and now aiming for the eyes." He touched the lower maw of the beast that stood beside him. It was salivating, hardly hiding its desire to feast on flesh. "I have not taken care of your needs yet, have I? Half an arm. Eat until you reach my elbow." It bit him, ripping off his arm. Blood dripping to the ground where a portal appeared. A portal that was bubbling black fog, one that formed a swamp.
Having feasted on his arm, its serpent body slithered, expressing its joy. The blood that joined it to its head darkened. It then lowered its head to Xem, salivating no longer. "My flesh is quite a delicacy to you. Now, aid your counterpart. Since you are already fed, do not bare those fangs at it. Lest, you wish to become feed yourself. Now go." The beast slithered away, joining the eagle-headed beast in its attempts to destroy Alnico.
As Xem watched, he felt a metal rod pierce his heart from behind. His ribs broke open, allowing the rod to make its way through. He coughed, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Spirit stitching inversion: Unravel," Alnico exclaimed as he pushed the rod further up..
He watched as Xem's breath ran shallow, his heart, slowing down. "For one so feared, you were surprisingly easy to deal with. So you thought that since you were constantly releasing a stream of malice, I could not use my soul paralysis.
No, my ability goes far beyond that. Souls get paralyzed only because they don't want to get fractured. You see, my real ability is spirit stitching." The rod grew larger while Xem's eyes rolled. "I can mend a soul, or even damage it. Since your little surveillance crew, those severed tongues exist on the imaginary plane. I knew that they would see the ghost version of me. I used that flame attack as a chance to slip away, leaving it to handle the spirit double I created. The rest was easy, destroy the eye you were using and sneak into your blind spot. Now, you die. Xem Sequiturom."
Xem coughed before holding out his hand. "Typically, people would have perished by now. How does it feel, to strike something hollow?" On them was his heart. Xem, had already removed his own heart before he could be pierced. "Does it leave much to be desired?? Those of us with a half shadow nature typically detect malicious intent. In fact, all the primal emotions man exhibits are but a treat to us. Yours was no different." Xem crushed his heart as the swamp beneath his feet expanded.
From it, a giant humanoid hand emerged, striking both him and Alnico to force separation. It sent them flying into the forest before disappearing. The eagle headed beast as well as the serpent bodied one followed suit. The severed tongues disappeared.
"Who has a giant hand hit him just to escape a hold?" No sooner had he made it back to his feet than he saw Xem standing behind him. "I have been waiting. Let me properly etch this memory into your cells." Xem's body began glitching. Vigorously. More so until it returned to its original shape. Arm intact and all.
"What are you? What kind of divine authority were you burden with?" Alnico's glare grew more intense.
"I recall my mentioning my name. I am Sequiturom Xem. People typically refer to me as undead. But I am the seventh of the ten Half shadows. I am chaos given form." He gave a light bow before adding, "You are most resilient, a hit from a giant and somehow your body barely has a scratch. No matter, it will break apart soon."
Alnico looked to the sky, noticing that if the day had been any clearer, he could have noticed that it was nearly 4:00PM. The other time he was supposed to go on break. "This is about to drag its way into my break time." His aura intensified, as a rage reared its head from whatever pit it crawled out of. It had been simmering for quite a while as it appeared as though, from the most recent of days, his break was being frequently interrupted. But he needn't take that from an enemy.
Xem's body began glitching when he wondered why he could no longer move. Soul paralysis….is this its true form? He looked behind him. Using the severed tongues to propagate what they saw on the imaginary plane. It is an array of tortured souls. Soul paralysis, is simply the weight of souls being pulled into their final destination. The lake of fire. The place where they will all Harbor. Those with enough resentment can shackle others. For an eternity yet to come.
His familiars raced to his side before he ordered, "Stop! If it is any of you, you will be unable to move." So that is what Alnico is. He is the gatekeeper of souls, the mortal who exists in the Rift between life and death.
"And with this, I Solemnly Declare— I will have my break by night fall."