Paladin6

From Toosigma

“This room has a shadow.” Carmen announced when they walked in. The room was small, but felt like it was some how much larger, she had the a feeling similar to standing out side even thought the walls were close to her, the shadow revealed it’s self to her by fading the visual quality of the room, making it all seem some how fake or painted. Glancing at Andrew, who nodded that he was ready, Carmen slipped into another phase. It only took a second of concentration and she was solidly in the shadow plane. Paladins make it look easy, but that is what they do. After years of training, screening, and genetic manipulation they were the only humans who had this ability. Most humans can since the shadow. The war had selected for it, only those who were crazy enough to see what was going on, or trusting enough to believe, ended up surviving. Now just about any one had some kind of original sense of the shadow plane.

In the shadow plane Carmen’s appearance shifted only slightly, now instead of being unarmed she wielded a long-sword that gave off a soft milky light. She wore comfortable black slacks, a lace up green vest, her red hair was pulled back into a long braid, and red sash decorated her waist. Some Paladin’s change dramatically in form in the ethereal plane taking the form of whatever they truly believed themselves to be. Exactly what the form will be is often surprise the first time the Paladin shifts. More often then not whatever the first form is becomes the default form for the Paladin. Because there is no true shape or defined form while ethereal a Paladin could look like anything, however most had some form that they took most easily and would often revert back to it regardless of how hard they concentrated. If Carmen desired to she could suddenly sprout wings, but would always change back to whatever came most easily as soon as she became fatigued. Because of the energy used to change form, the Paladins were encouraged to stay in their default shape no matter what it looked like. Carmen considered herself lucky as she glanced at Andrew, spinney white teeth exposed themselves as his oil black lips drew back into a smile; his red eyes glinted mischievously, as his black tail lashed quickly to the left. His body and all the coverings that appeared on him were all unnatural shiny black. His tattered wings were folded neatly against his back, like an old chewed up cloak.

The walls of the small room had faded from sight as they shifted form, now only one wall existed, a field of wheat under a moonlit sky stood between them and what seemed to be the beginnings of a dense timber. For a moment the stale closed in air of the small room lingered on, and then was brushed away by a powerful gust of wind.

Andrew drew his swords looking at Carmen for advice, “I have never been out side a building in the shadow world.”

“I saw a window once.” Carmen offered showing her own apprehension. The shadow world didn’t exist on it’s own accord everything that was a part of it had been stolen from the solid world, some believed that the inhabitants of the shadow world themselves were once human, but that theory is questionable. The shadow plane existed as discontinuous blurbs and bits, insides of rooms that slip in, sometimes houses, but rarely anything too large. “I think we could be in some serious trouble here.” Carmen stated nervously as she stepped closer to Andrew.

“I don’t know, I don’t see any of them.” Andrew stated feeling the warmth of Carmen’s back against his.

Against all rational thought a smile crossed Carmen’s lips, “Only you would fucking say that, ‘You didn’t know if we were in trouble.’ You realize of course that we were in a room, and all of this could NEVER fit in one little room.”

“So?”

“So, think about it, what if we walk a mile into this shit hole and have to phase out, where will we end up? On a highway, in a cement wall perhaps? It’s no good.”

“We could phase in slowly.”

“That isn’t going to help if we are in some serious trouble, if we get knocked out we go back to solid, if we are in a wall that means we’re dead.”

“We could bounce, and we’ll get lucky.”

“I hate bouncing.”

“We shouldn’t have to bounce to much, just do it if we get into a fight, then we can regain our orientation.”

“Ok, Yes, that makes since.” Carmen nodded taking a deep breath. “Which way?”

“Lets go through the field and check out those woods.”

“That is what I was thinking too.”

Back to back they walked quickly into the field, always making sure they were no further then five feet apart and no closer then three.

“Are you seeing this?” Carmen asked, glancing in Andrew’s direction.

“Ya, ya there like mice.” All over the ground tiny shadow forms scurried way from there approaching feet.

“I think it is coming together, whatever lives here must be huge, if it was always in a single form it would take up …” Carmen stopped speaking suddenly, her eyes widened as she stood looking at a reflective surface only 20 feet in front of her, level with the height of the wheat. “Oh shit.”

“What is …” Andrew almost asked and then noticed the softly undulating form, as it moved with the wind. The pair quickly bounced from the ethereal plane and back again. “Shit! I got to move, I am in a wall.” Carmen announced making a quick dash away from Andrews’s position. As he ran to follow the reflective darkness washed over him, and split into five small human shaped forms, each ready to fight. “Go, circle back to me!” he cried slashing the forms apart with his duel radiant blades.

Carmen dashed through the field, occasionally stopping and bouncing out of the plane. Approximately fifty feet from Andrew she stopped running and noticed that in the solid world she was down a long hall form Andrew. “I’m good!”

As soon as Carmen stopped running she was also under siege from other portions of the shadow’s form. It didn’t seem to make since the force that they were fighting in this particular block of the shadow world was so powerful that it could attack as one entity and destroy them out right, but instead it attacked over and over again with sieges of minions. Sweat poured from Carmen’s body as she continued to fight. She knew that killing the smaller pieces was a useless tactic. The Master of this section was an accumulation of all of the Imps and would only produce more from the remains of the dead. Until the Master was in their area of influence it could attack endlessly. As they battled it didn’t take long before the only sound in the field was Carmen and Andrew. The shadows made no noise even when fighting, no sound of clashing steal came from blocking their swords, and no cry of pain came from their deaths. The Master was thinking.

An oily wall burst from the ground and separated Carmen and Andrew. It was thin enough that they could still see each other’s forms, like looking through a greased window.

A shadow near Andrew formed it’s self in to the terrible mutilated form of Jen’s body, but he simply slashed through it with more vehemence then he could summon before. Increasing his pace of fighting Andrew began to take steps to get closer to Carmen, them being separated was a bad idea, and he was starting to get tired.

Carmen wasn’t fairing any better on her side of the oil screen, beads of sweat poured off of her face, and her chest ached. Thinking the same thing that Andrew was she tried to locate him through the screen with every glance that she could spare. She watched as Andrew was faced with the wounded figure of his former love. She watched as the screen showed him faltering, and suddenly being submerged into darkness. Her mouth was agape she could not believe that he had faltered, wind left her body, and desperation filled her mind, he had fallen, and she would soon be overcome as well. At that moment she was pierced from the back by a long blade, blood spurted from her mouth as she saw the dark blade emerge from the front of her chest. Tossing her head backwards, away from the terrible sight of the wound, her head leaned against the spiny shadow fiend that had impaled her. We are defeated her mind asked, as she smelt the acrid bite of it’s breath. “No!” Carmen screamed, turning her blade and burying it in to the beast that had so mortally wounded her. It’s weapon turned to dust the second it was destroyed but the pain from the wound still ached as she marched forward through the onslaught of shadows; spears of radiant light slaying whichever one she even glanced at. Her mind was granting her powers that her body never had, and quickly the force became too difficult to control, instead of directly attacking single opponents light rushed from her body in waves vaporizing the shadows, just as she knew it would. The shadow screen weakened and began to fade, while somewhere deep inside Carmen was terrified of the maelstrom of light she was releasing from herself.

Shadows turned to dust flying apart and then bursting into an unending chain reaction. Andrew covered his eyes against the light, trying to regain some type of calm by trying to identify Carmen’s body at the center. Bright flashes filled the atmosphere, as rushes of fluid radiance moved from Carmen and ripped apart that portion of the shadow world like land crumbling into a relentless sea. Carmen gasped and cried out reaching into the sky as if for something to hold onto, even the ground of the shadow plane below her couldn’t stand against the force of what was leaping from her spirit. Finally she screamed, a long cry echoing through the emptiness the light left like one solitary note matching the radiances extremity. Like a star exploding inside her, like a joy that she never experienced before, until she laughed, and bursting into brilliant energy she disappeared.

Coming back to conscience Andrew presses his face against a cool floor, tears streaming from his soar eyes. The pain from watching the spectral that he had suffered in ethereal form had transferred into his solid body. “Fuck!” he expressed, realizing suddenly if his eyes hurt, Carmen would be in hell, if she were even conscious. Rolling over to his stomach and then pushing himself up to his knees he searched the area for Carmen’s body. She was only about 50 feet from him down a long hall and in the next room. She wasn’t awake. Her skin was burnt all over her body, and breath was slipping past her lips in pained gasps, her lungs had been burnt too. To his unheard of amazement she opened her eyes, “Andrew,” She gasped, grabbing his arm. “I was free.” Andrew nodded he didn’t understand what she was trying to say but feared what provoking her to explain would do. If she survived this there would be plenty of time for her to explain to him exactly what had happened.