We Finally Learn What the Heck a Lykenvaulk Is (RB Vs. The Shadow God, Chapter 23) · 3:07pm Jul 16th, 2022
Previously, on The Shadow God:
Spelunking!
And now:
The chapter begins where we left off: Craig and Todd have just discovered that the cave they were exploring leads to Father Spiers' church.
Craig opens the door a little and peeks inside. He sees that almost the entire town is there, sitting in the pews, facing Father Spiers and a man Craig doesn't recognize but who is surely Ridley.
And just behind the two men was the biggest oval mirror Craig or Todd had ever laid eyes on. Its frame was lined in shining gold. Craig wondered what its purpose was.
The mirror begins to glow blue. At the same time, Spiers notices the boys' presence. Everyone in the church turns to look at them. The people in the pews' faces are distorted, like Mark's.
Spiers looked past Craig to Todd. “I see even you made the long trip, young Todd.”
“You cocksucking f****t! You killed my parents!” Todd shouted, brushing against Craig’s restraining hand. “I’ve told everyone that you’re evil! I’ve even told them that you’re a werewolf!”
Spiers’s eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “I did not kill your parents, young Todd.” He held his arm out toward his zombie-brained congregation.
Two individuals turned, their features closely resembling that of Josh and Stacy Harris, though their heads were still deformed like the rest of the congregation. The female opened its mouth. “What are you doing, young man?” It mimicked Stacy’s voice.
Todd is immediately fooled by this, despite having seen his parents' corpses; Craig has to slap him to get him out of it. Then, Craig sees his own mother.
She appeared as she did the last time he saw her alive. She was sobbing. “Craig,” she moaned. “Why do you do the things you do? All I ever wanted from you was for you to turn out normal. I wanted it; Kristy wanted it.”
Kristy. How he had missed her. He longed for her touch. Spending the last week without her soft skin, her vibrant personality, felt like a giant, gaping hole in his world.
"Soft skin" and "vibrant personality" mark equally high on the things Craig misses about Kristy, apparently.
Todd snaps Craig out of it. Spiers banishes the doppelgangers with plumes of fire.
Spiers steepled his fingers together, beneath his fabric. He looked toward Ridley, and then back to Craig. “What would you say if I told you that the ceremony is already over and Cain, your brother, is already a part of this world?”
“No …” said Todd behind Craig’s ear.
Craig shook his head, watching the blue light dance through the confines of the mirror behind Spiers. “I’d say you would be a lying piece of shit.”
They were setting him up, Craig realized. If Spiers was telling the truth, he was going to need definite proof. “Show me then. Where is he?”
“Very well,” Spiers said, bowing. He waved his cloaked right arm toward the corner of the church, into the shadows.
Craig positioned his body toward the eerie darkness and nervously waited for something sinister to jump out at him. A shapely figure with long, flowing, blonde hair slowly emerged. In the next instant, her face illuminated from the gloom, with a bright white smile upon her lips.
It was Kristy.
Mr. Rayburn just can't pass up an opportunity to tell us how hot he thinks Kristy is.
Craig runs up to Kristy and embraces her. He begins to cry he's missed her and her skin so much.
Todd, however, has had enough of this, and tells Craig to snap out of it because Kristy probably isn't real, like their parents. Which is about the smartest thing Todd has done this entire book.
Craig looked again at Kristy’s so-called “parents.” They had the same look as everyone else in the sanctuary. “What’s wrong with them?” he asked. “What’s wrong with everybody?” Although he already knew the answer, he wanted to hear it from Kristy’s mouth.
Kristy smiled. “Why, they’re all waiting for the most wonderful thing to happen to them,” she said cheerily, almost dreamily.
Craig suggests Kristy run home. Kristy says she can't, she's been looking forward to the Day of Awakening for months. Suspicious, Craig shoves her backwards. When he does, her eyes burn blue.
Kristy grabs a sword (which is just sitting around for some reason). The sword appears to be made of bone, just like the one Craig saw in his dream.
Yes, he saw them. Kristy was one of them and she couldn’t be saved. Not now. It saddened him a great deal to understand it, but if she was to remain alive, she would assuredly haunt his every waking moment. He was left to make a decision he wished he didn’t have to make.
Spiers had ceased laughing. “Now whatcha gonna do, Craig? HUH?”
Craig wet his lips. “I’m going to end her life,” he said matter-of-factly.
Wow. The bonds of love run so deep.
The following paragraph is unedited:
Craig had witnessed Todd end Mark’s life because Mark was long gone from the world. And now it was Kristy’s turn to be (long gone from the world) set free … long gone from the world.
Guys, It think she might be long gone from this world.
Kristy’s tongue, purple and forked at its end, snaked out of her mouth. Her laughter quieted to hisses. Her skin fell from her body in long pussy strips, revealing a slick texture underneath; almost like the small sword she wielded.
So my guess is that the author meant "pus-y", but made an unfortunate typo. Though, knowing the author, it may have been a Freudian slip. Either way: unfortunate.
Suddenly, the side door to the chapel bursts open. It's Detective Eubanks, and he's got his gun out.
Craig was taken aback by Eubanks’s intrusion. First, he wondered how he had set himself free. Second, how did he know to come to the church? And third, where did he get another gun?
Good questions, those. I'm wondering them myself.
Spiers locks all the doors in the chapel, trapping them inside. Kristy goes to kill Eubanks. Eubanks fires a few shots into Kristy's head, but it does nothing.
She’s of the blood, Craig thought. She won’t die unless me or Todd kills her.
Yeah, at this point, I think Mr. Rayburn just doesn't understand how sex works.
Craig draws his own gun and points it a Kristy. Kristy's features immediately turn soft and she tells Craig she loves him. Craig is almost taken in by it, but in the end he pulls the trigger. Kristy collapses on the church floor. Todd grabs the sword and stabs it through Kristy's back, just to be doubly sure she's dead.
Spiers displayed his hands apologetically. “What do I care that she’s dead, huh?” He giggled. “I have a much more prominent weapon.” He presented Ridley front and center. “Behold! A more powerful Ridley!”
This is starting to feel like the end of a Megaman game. And not one of the good ones.
Ridley transforms into a werewolf—or a lykenvaulk, whatever that is. Eubanks shoots him a few times, but it, as usual, does nothing.
Craig asks Todd to give him the sword.
“Todd, quick! Give me the sword!” Craig demanded. He snatched it away and held it out in front of him as if he were some kind of samurai. “Stand behind me; the both of you.”
Ridley shoots a ball of light at Craig, but craig manages to deflect it back at him, and hey, suddenly this is like the end of a Legend of Zelda game, too. They repeat this dance a few times until Ridley collapses. This sequence is written like this:
Craig tightened his body, gripping the sword as tightly as he could. He felt the charge hit the sword, then ricochet back at Ridley.
Ridley cried out in pain as the charge surged through his body. He threw another, then another. Each time, Craig stood his ground and bounced the charges back at him.
Suddenly, after numerous electrical charges jolted through Ridley’s body, he fell to the ground, the magical blue aura depleting from his being.
For an antagonist the book has been building up to since the second chapter, Ridley sure does go down unceremoniously. It's the problem of telling vs. showing again. This is not a good way to write a fight scene.
But it's not over:
Ridley’s body began to smolder, a rivulet of smoke rising above his burning flesh. There was a deep rumble from his throat. The congregation suddenly began chanting something about Satan.
Couldn't come up with an actual chant, eh Mr. Rayburn?
Ridley turns into a charred demon thing and grabs the sword out of Craig's hands. Craig announces that he cannot be hurt, but Ridley is unfazed. He charges Craig.
Ridley’s body dimmed as it lurched forward. Craig could actually see through him as if he was a ghost. Through Ridley, Craig saw Spiers behind the podium, beside the altar, laughing heartily.
Craig felt a cold rushing sensation, goose bumps standing on end, as Ridley’s being pushed itself through his body. He turned and gazed at Ridley working the sword maniacally on his friends.
Craig tries to stop Ridley, but he can't touch him. Meanwhile, Todd and Eubanks are being sliced to ribbons. Todd eventually manages to escape by crawling under a table; Eubanks isn't so lucky.
Craig tries to grab the sword from Ridley, but fails. Ridley slashes him with it, and it draws blood, leading Craig to realize it can hurt him.
“The Shadow God is weak!” Craig spat spitefully. “And I’ve heard he sucks dick in the Dark World!”
Craig picks Todd up; he's bleeding badly.
Craig cast him a quick glance. “Don’t you drop on me now, Todd. I need you. This town needs you.”
“This town can go fuck itself,” said Todd dryly.
“All right then,” said Craig. “What if I said your parents need you?” He saw that he now had Todd’s attention. “I have a strong feeling that if you don’t help me, your parents will end up trapped in the Dark World, perhaps in Nod, forever.”
Craig's having feelings again. Convenient!
Ridley charges them again. This time, Craig is able to grab the sword away from him. He stabs it into Ridley's chest; Ridley finally dies.
Spiers begins to slow clap. Soon, the entire congregation joins him. With his minions dealt with, Spiers decides to take on Craig himself.
“He’s too powerful!” Todd exclaimed.
Suddenly Craig remembered what Spiers was. Holy shit! He was going to change into the werewolf.
How do you forget something like that?
Spiers transforms into the werewolf.
Craig shook his head. He felt himself shaking horribly. Though, he wasn’t afraid of Spiers or his new form, but rather of what Spiers would do to his friends. He had barely been able to keep Ridley away from them, and he didn’t think he could muster enough energy to keep Spiers from finishing them off. He made a vow that he would fight until he was unable to fight anymore. He owed his friends that much.
Then, Spiers transforms again.
When Spiers spoke again, his second transformation was complete. There was a huge set of velvety black wings protruding from his spine. Spiers smiled, revealing a set of fanged teeth.
Oh my God, thought Craig distressfully. OHMYGODOHMY GOD OHMYGOD!
Spiers hissed. “Do you like?” he asked.
The sword shook in Craig’s hand. “A … a … vampire?”
Craig couldn’t believe Spiers possessed traits of both a werewolf and a vampire. Was that possible? Was that what the Shadow God had purposefully created?
A lykenvaulk! his mind proclaimed.
My OC has the powers of a werewolf and a vampire! And he has wings and can fly and stuff!
Craig thought his life was over for sure this time. Though Spiers had no weapons, he felt that something inside the vampire would surely kill him, perhaps some kind of poisonous venom. If the Shadow God had indeed created him, then surely he must know what would work against his own brother, against his blood.
Good to know.
Suddenly, the mirror flashes. Someone emerges from within it. The figure raises its hands and shoots a bolt of lightning at Spiers.
“NO, MASTER!” Spiers cried again.
“Be gone, you unfit servant,” said the dark figure.
Yeah, so Spiers just dies. Good riddance, I guess. Really makes you wonder what the point of him also being a vampire was if he was just going to die before he even got to use it. Oh well.
The figure reveals itself to be Cain.
“You can’t harm me,” said Craig, gripping the bony blade tighter.
“How splendidly correct you are!” said the figure. “Which is why I’m inviting you back to my world.”
“I’ve already been there,” said Craig. “And you’ve lost your opportunity.”
The dark figure shifted as if in a slight bow. “Maybe so. But let me tell you, that wasn’t my world, Abel. It wasn’t our world.”
“Bullshit,” said Craig, his voice dropping.
“I invite you to come with me to the land of Nod. May we fight to the finish and may the loser stay in Nod forever.”
Cain tells him that the blade he's holding is the same one Cain used to kill Abel, which... yes? We'd all figured that out ages ago. Craig's a little slow on these things, isn't he. Cain also reveals that he's created many other lykenvaulks and scattered them across the world. In fact, there's a moderately-sized pile of exposition here; Mr. Rayburn needed to tie up loose ends somehow, I guess.
“Why did I start seeing the blue light so late?” Craig asked. “Why just a week ago?”
“The Day of Awakening was a day set for me in the stars. One moon cycle from that day I was to inform you of what was to happen.”
“If you are trapped in the Dark World, how could you have created a monster such as a lykenvaulk on our earth?” Craig asked.
“There are many powers I possess over common people and common things. Though, I could not touch those who have shared your blood because it is my blood.”
Cain once again demands Craig go with him to Nod so they can have their fated battle. Craig responds with a "Fuck you." Craig pulls out his pistol and throws it at the mirror.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!”
The pistol turned end over end, until it smashed into the giant glass of the mirror, shattering it into a million pieces. The shards fell, chinking to the hardwood floor below, the black image of the Shadow God vanished as did the bright blue light.
Wait, how—
The zombie’s heads began to loll back and forth. The pale color of the faces began to darken; each of them looked around, dumbstruck, and murmured to the person beside them.
No, hang on—
Suddenly there was a loud torturous laugh that filled the room. “Foolish boy!” roared the voice. “How dare you tempt me and my world!”
Oh, good. For a second there I thought it was over. That would have been pretty anticlimactic, eh folks?
The church begins to shake, and the ceiling begins to crack. The congregation, now free from the spell that had been placed upon them, flee. They are met by the police, who are forcing their way in to the collapsing church.
Craig and Todd pick up Eubanks' maybe-corpse and begin to carry him out; two police officers relieve them of him. Craig and Todd help the people evacuate.
The shaking stopped abruptly and a film of bright, blue light filled in the missing space in-between the golden frame where the mirror had been. It reverberated quietly and shined brilliantly. Every one of the officers had to shield their faces from the brilliance of the blue fire. The only person not looking away was Craig. He stared at it threateningly, refusing to look away.
Suddenly, a zephyr (the author calls it a zephyr again) begins to blow, then grows into a gale. It's sucking through the mirror. Meanwhile, the sword in Craig's hands is getting heavier, or he's getting weaker; the end result is the same: Craig drops the sword, and is dragged backwards through the air and into the portal.
That's where the chapter ends for today, folks. See you tomorrow for the last real chapter and the epilogue!
Something tells me "giant, gaping hole" is also on this list.Clearly, she's not the only one.
Where's my bruh emote when I need it?
Not only like Zelda, but clearly Ridley is a fucking idiot. If he deflects the first two attacks back into you, and they hurt, maybe it's time to try another attack. :|
"Your Shadow God sucks dicks in the Dark World!" just doesn't have the same ring to it. ;V
You can tell he's the final boss, he has multiple forms.
god, what the fuck