Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

Cade dissolved into the swirling storm of frost and Darkness. The chaos of the battlefield faded as the Darkness embraced him. The biting winds howled around his consciousness, threatening to break through to his mind.

But he held on.

If Cade was being completely honest, it wasn't too hard. This feeling was almost nothing compared to the rage he'd learnt to keep at bay. The blizzard Maya had summoned weaved through the twisted landscape of coral and the ice-strewn floor of the labyrinth.

Cade moved like a wraith— silent, unseen, and deadly. The corrupted monsters were sluggish within the storm. Their scythe-like limbs were coated in frost and their movements had been dulled.

But dulled did not equate to harmless.

A Scavenger stumbled into Cade's Darkness-coated path. Its narrow, slit-like eyes gleamed faintly through the icy black mist. The beast's pincers clacked. It tried slicing through the air with brutal force despite the frost weighing it down.

Cade himself tried to flick his wrist but quickly realized that he wasn't tangible. He could almost feel his blackened sword shimmering with the black fog's essence. Its edge seemed to gleam obsidian.

He didn't give the creature any time to adjust. Cade materialized from the Darkness directly behind it. His blade sliced cleanly through the segmented joint where the carapace met flesh.

One of the Scavenger's massive scythe-like legs clattered to the ground, twitching violently. The Scavenger shrieked and stumbled. Cade stepped forward, driving his sword through its torso. Chitin cracked, and azure blood sprayed across the frozen ground.

The reluctant voice of the Nightmare Spell spoke:

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.] 

[The Darkness within you takes root.] 

[... The abyss within you deepens.] 

The corners of Cade's lips curled. He could hear the voice of the Spell as clearly as ever. The familiar shimmer of rage was no longer clouding his mind.

Another Scavenger lunged from his flank.

Or it tried to...

Cade could've honestly laughed at the way the Scavenger was moving. Its pincers were raised high to bisect him but it felt like the creature itself were moving in slow-motion.

Cade melted back into the Darkness once more. He didn't really need to do that, but he was trying to get used to moving through the Darkness while it was merged with the blizzard. The howling winds of Maya's [Promised Storm] Ability offered somewhat of a resistance to his Darkness-form. But he was trying to overcome that.

The creature's strike came a lifetime later, and hit empty, black fog. Cade reappeared above it, twisting in midair as his blade cleaved through the Scavenger's head. The beast crumpled, and its body convulsed as life fled.

The Spell confirmed the kill yet again.

Cade landed lightly, his breath steady despite the exertion. The storm raged around him. Icy tendrils licked at his armor.

Maya's power was formidable, true, but it was Cade's black fog that gave the storm its unnatural density. The swirling abyss and frost seemed to feed off of each other.

Through the chaos, Cade spotted, or rather, sensed Maya lingering near the edge of the fray. The cloak of the frost-bound Aegis was trailing behind her.

She wasn't idle— the blizzard she commanded was a weapon in itself, slowing their enemies to a crawl— but she had stayed back herself. Her blade was held cautiously in her hand. Her eyes darted through the mist. She couldn't see but her gaze was wary and sharp.

She had told Cade that she was no fighter and he had confirmed it to be true. He had asked her to perform a few slashes with her sword yesterday. She had done it, albeit reluctantly.

It was true that Maya's skills with the sword were nowhere near as refined as Cade's or Nephis's. Her uncertainty betrayed her inexperience. More than that, she seemed uncomfortable while wielding the sword. As if the weapon itself were simply not meant for her.

But Cade hadn't said anything. He'd simply tried to improve her form a little bit yesterday, but he was not sure if she had picked the short lesson up.

A Strider Centipede scuttled towards her. Its hundreds of legs clattered against the frozen ground.

How the hell did it find her? Cade thought, focusing on Maya and her surroundings.

Maya's Innate Ability made her completely imperceptible, so long as she remained still. When they'd experimented yesterday, even Cade, with his connection to the Darkness, could not tell her apart under the effect of her Innate Ability.

Oh, but I can sense her right now, he thought, realizing that Maya was still discernible to him. It's probably because of that cloak. It's fluttering in the wind. That's why she can't go completely invisible.

Cade considered stepping in, but hesitated. Maya clearly wasn't helpless, and she needed this. He knew how much power she could wield, even if she hadn't realized it herself. She was the wielder of a Cursed Aspect, after all.

"Maya!" Cade called through the chaos, making sure his voice reached her. "Directly in front of you! Point, aim and strike!"

"What?!" Maya called back, panic creeping into her voice.

"Do it or you'll die!" Cade shot back.

Of course, he was only bluffing. If the Strider got too close and Maya was unable to kill it, then he'd simply dissolve and reappear there in a heartbeat.

However, the centipede was just too slow.

It lunged, if the sluggish movement could even be called that. Maya sidestepped nervously, purely based on instinct. She slashed down with her curved blade. The icy sheen along the Nightcarver's edge bit into the centipede's chitinous shell.

Maya's augmentation gave her a tremendous boost in strength. So, she tore through the shell easily enough. The Strider screeched, writhing as frost began to spread from the wound. Maya pressed the attack. She drove the blade deeper until the beast collapsed in a heap of frozen limbs.

Cade allowed himself a faint smile. It seemed like his new student was a fast learner.

But there was no time for pride.

Cade dissolved and reappeared behind Maya. Holding the cloak of her the Skerrian Aegis up, he slashed at it with the Voidfang's Darkness-coated blade. The ashen-blue cloak dropped to the ground, dissolving into a shimmer of frost.

Maya's body tensed and she turned around sharply, summoning the Venom's Kiss and bringing the dagger around in a wide arc, aimed directly at Cade's throat. Cade brought up his blade and effortlessly blocked the strike.

"It's me, relax," he said.

"Wha—?" Maya muttered, confused. "Why the hell are you here now? I killed it already."

"It was that cloak," he replied. "It was preventing you from activating your Innate Ability. I've cut it off. It'll probably grow back, but by then, I'll most likely be done."

Maya nodded in understanding.

"Oh," she said. "Well, go on, then. What're you waiting for?"

Cade smirked and dissolved into the Darkness again.

Alright, time to get serious...

The battlefield was far from cleared. More Scavengers and Striders writhed through the storm. Their grotesque forms were completely imperceptible through the swirling Darkness.

Well, for someone other than Cade, that is. For him, the creatures' movements were laid bare. He could sense their every move, the slightest twitch of their limbs. In here, nothing was hidden from him.

There were the Carapace Centurions as well, towering behemoths of chitin and bone. Their scythe-like arms gleamed with deadly intent.

Cade reformed within the storm, his sword raised as a Centurion barreled towards him. It was faster than the others. Its movements seemed less hindered by the frost. Its bone scythes slashed through the mist, forcing Cade to duck and weave. The sheer force of its strikes sent shockwaves through the black fog.

Cade parried one scythe with his blade. The impact jarred his arm. The Centurion's second scythe came down hard, grazing his shoulder. His armor held, the intricate plates deflecting the blow, but the force drove him to one knee.

Snarling, Cade surged upward. His sword sliced across the Centurion's torso. The creature roared as blood spilled from the wound, but it wasn't done yet. It reared back, preparing to strike again.

Cade didn't give it the chance. He breathed out a dense cloud of black fog, enveloping the Centurion in utter Darkness. The monster thrashed blindly. Its scythes lashed out and swung wildly. Cade moved within the fog, appearing behind it and driving his sword through the back of its head. The Centurion shuddered and fell. Its body twitched as death claimed it.

The Spell spoke again:

[You have slain an Awakened Monster, Carapace Centurion.] 

[... The Darkness within you takes root.] 

[The abyss within you deepens.] 

Panting, Cade surveyed the battlefield. The monsters were thinning. After all, they were still killing each other. Their own war had never stopped, even within the embrace of True Darkness. But exhaustion was creeping into Cade's own limbs as well. The Darkness-form was taxing, and the storm's raging chaos weighed heavily on his mind.

Still, there was work to be done. He dragged the half-dead corpse of a Scavenger toward Maya, dropping it near her feet.

"Claim it," he said, his voice rough. "You need the kills."

Maya hesitated, her lips pressing into a thin line. But she nodded, and drove her blade into the creature's chest. Frost spread across its body, sealing its fate.

Satisfied, Cade turned back to the fray. He moved like a wraith once more. His blade flashed through the storm.

But each kill took more effort. His movements were growing slower and more labored. His breath came in ragged gasps. The toll of the battle was weighing heavily on him.

Finally, only a handful of the creatures remained. Cade didn't bother dissolving into the Darkness this time. He was too tired for that. He met them head-on. His blade cut through flesh and chitin with brutal efficiency.

One by one, they fell... until finally, the battlefield grew still.

Cade stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving. The storm began to wane, and the blizzard lost its ferocity. He called his own Darkness back. Maya approached cautiously. Her blade, slick with blood and oil, was still clutched in her hand.

Cade had dropped a few more of the near-dead beasts close to her. Soul shards were as useless to her as they were to him. She needed the kills. He was not the only who had to get stronger.

"You did well," Cade said in between breaths, his voice hoarse.

She raised an eyebrow. "Coming from you, I'll take that as high praise."

Cade managed a tired smirk.

"Don't get used to it," he said mockingly. "Anyway, I don't suppose you got any new Memories?"

Maya shook her head.

"I haven't gotten even a single one since coming here. Honestly, it feels like the Spell hates me," she replied tiredly. "And judging from how it speaks to me, I'm positive that that is, in fact, the case."

Cade nodded. He knew all too well how the Spell spoke to transformed Otherwalkers.

"I got a few during my time here," he said. "But ever since my transformation, I've only managed to get one. I didn't get any today, either."

"That is unfortunate," Maya said, sighing lightly. "Still, it's not like we were hoping for Memories, anyway. We wanted to see how our powers would interact with each other." She looked at him, smiling. "And we did."

Cade returned the smile sheepishly. He was still exhausted from the ordeal. "That we did. You know... I'm not much of a 'I-told-you-so' type of guy. So, I will refrain from saying that I told you so..." He said the last few words in an exaggerated tone.

Maya scoffed.

"One of us has got to have some brains," she replied confidently.

"How long are you gonna pretend that I'm nothing but a murder machine?" Cade asked, his shoulders drooping.

"Maybe when you stop leading us into desperate battles such as this," Maya said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I guess it worked out today. Come on, let's push to the Bone Ridge." She raised a finger in front of his face threateningly. "No more distractions for today. Understand?"

"Relax," he said, waving her gauntleted hand away. "I'm human too, you know? Honestly, I'm spent. I can't wait to just eat something and fall asleep."

"Good," Maya said, nodding. "Come on, let's leave before more of these monsters show up."

Cade took in his surroundings one last time. The battlefield was theirs, but it had been hard-won. Cade knew that they had pushed themselves to the limit. And yet, they had come out on top.

For now, that much was enough.