The Wand and the Wolf

28 - The Fluidity of Darkness

Ibhans POV

Shadow creatures were the product of lost souls absorbing shadow magic and becoming something else entirely. They are often found sulking in dark corners where they found the most comfort. The majority of them were harmless and could be shooed away with a flash of light, but that could not be said for the ones that stood before me now.

About four shapeless masses swirled over the collapsing wall of the shelter, slowly growing larger. I picked up my wand, and shuffled closer, inspecting the creatures. I hadn't ever fought a shadow creature before, most people hadn't, since the royal guard banished violent creatures into the valley of Kegsus, letting them be swept away.

I made sure the hugging vine was secure on my arm, before flicking my hands upwards. The wall of the shelter buckled upwards, the shadow creatures slipping around its surface. But they were unaffected. I slammed a wall of shadow into the creature closest to me, but it just swallowed it into its own mass, growing in size.

"Shit," I hissed as they slid off the wall, standing in the comfort of the shelters shade that I had happily repaired. I  stepped back out of the shelter, suddenly preferring the open space. I looked down at the plants for anything that would work against shadow magic, but I was distracted by the rumble of the shadow creatures. One of them leapt towards me, arm stretching out beyond the shelter until only a small part of it remained hidden, its core. The core of a shadow creature would lend you control of it.

I slashed out at the arm, and the creature quickly recoiled, gathering itself in the shade again, but this time 2 more arms reached for me. I scrambled back and slashed at them again, but they were regenerating quickly, arms splitting in two and winding around each other effortlessly as they attempted to take hold of me. I was tired, no amount of adrenaline helping to take the edge off the fatigue as I ducked and swooped across the fields.

'Don't stay on the defensive for so long'.

I grunted as my fathers words rang loudly in my head and ran head first towards the creatures. They drew back their arms, swelling in size as I approached and I jabbed my wand point first into the centre of the closest creature before it could grab me again. I felt my hand pass into its cool body, but then my wand struck a more dense mass. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, pushing aside the anger, and visualised the shadows separating from each other and retreating from my hand. The shadow creature made a wailing sound as it disintegrated. The core of it was left, my wand still embedded, and I threw it down into the open field, watching it seep away into the ground.

The three left started in my direction as I headed back into the field, creating some distance between us to give myself a quick break. But they were not playing so nice anymore. One of the creatures reached up and pulled the wall of the shelter forward and they continued advancing towards me.

"Well that's just not fair," I muttered. "Feathers!" my bird materialised from the shadow barriers, having disappeared when the guards first arrived. "Come and make yourself useful," I yelled at him and he cawed loudly before following the direction of my wand and flying straight into the centre of the shadow creature pulling the wall. He flapped wildly as he hit the core.

"Return!" I called and he shot out of the shadow creature, claws still latched into the core. The shadow creature spread thin as it tried to stay intact, before finally evaporating. Feathers circled over my head with the core, before dropping it and settling on my shoulder. "Nice of you to show up."

I focused my attention back on the two shadow creatures left, rolling my shoulders carefully as I readied myself for the final stretch. I glanced up at the clock, there was very little time left before the catastrophe mentioned in task 3. The two creatures took up position on either side of the shelter that was supposed to protect me, and absorbed the shadow into themselves until only a thin veil was left. Satisfied with their protection, they ran at me, full speed ahead. I turned tail and ran, the two creatures gaining momentum as they ran.