//------------------------------// // Ice and Shadow // Story: Anima Mea Tenebre // by Nixus //------------------------------// “What’s the problem with Sam’s magic being Etheric?” Twilight shouted as she galloped next to Dante who was running full tilt through the forest. Moe, Coppa, and Fluttershy were following close behind, dodging branches and roots as they caught up. “Is it dangerous?” “Do you remember what we said about Pascal’s theory?” Dante asked as he jumped over a root. He held his staff tightly as his eyes scanned for any sign of Sam. Twilight thought for a moment before she recalled the exact words Dante had mentioned. “It’s the theory that the nature of one’s magic is fluid and subject to change based on the emotions of the wielder.” Twilight recalled quickly. She looked back at Fluttershy who was panting heavily as her wings flapped faster than anyone had ever seen. She was obviously concerned for Sam, but Twilight had only seen her put this much effort into flying on two separate occasions. She wondered what exactly was going through the kindly pegasi's mind. “Correct, but there is something that wasn’t mentioned, “Dante added as he passed by her. “Remember what I said about the danger?” “Using too much magic poses the risk of killing yourself due to exhaustion. So does that mean that Sam is running that risk?” “Yes, but it’s the fact that his magic type is etheric. That by itself just opens up a whole new set of problems...” “Why?” “When a magic user loses control of their magic or runs out. Any residual magic may start to turn on them. It also doesn’t help that Sam doesn’t have a catalyst for his magic.” “A catalyst?” “Magic users use certain items to help channel magic. They’re usually made out of a magically reactive metal called Magnetite. We can cast magic without them but it requires substantially more effort.” Twilight’s eyes looked down towards his staff as he continued explaining. “Aura magic doesn’t respond to external catalysts. It uses the body as an alternatice, surrounding the user like a second skin. This puts an incredible amount of strain on the body.” “But what does being evil have to do with any of it?” “Magic and affinity have strange relationship. Certain elements change depending on the affinity of the wielder. Certain elements go well with others. Light and earth are seen as compatible with good, neutral goes with lightning and fire while water and dark respond differently to evil. With Sam being evil, water or darkness may be easier for him to use.” “How do you know all this?” “Magic is my specialty. You should know that by now!” He replied with a smirk. Twilight felt her cheeks light up in embarrassment. She resumed looking forward, eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly she could hear Coppa and Moe shouting. “Over there!” Moe yelled as he pulled his bow out and gestured to a clearing. They all followed it and saw Sam lying on the ground bloodied and battered. A sword hovered over him, held up by a stony hand of a statue. Fluttershy and Twilight heard Dante curse before yelling at Coppa. “Stop it now!” “On it!” Coppa answered as he cocked his arm back. With a heave, he tossed his axe forward towards the statue. The blunt end of spinning blade connected with the statues head with an audible crack. The statue shook, stumbling to the side as the five ran to Sam. Dante slid forward grasping Sam’s arm. Ignoring his cry of pain, Dante brought Sam up to his feet and hobbled away while Coppa and Moe distracted the statue. Dante laid Sam down as Fluttershy and Twilight galloped towards them. “Can do something to see his condition?” Dante asked Twilight as he saw the statues foot nearly crush Coppa. Twilight’s horn glowed as Sam’s body became enveloped in a soft light. Sam clenched his eyes shut as another groan of pain overcame him. Fluttershy held a hand in her hooves as he coughed up another glob of blood. Twilight’s face hardened. “Three cracked ribs and slight internal bleeding.” Fluttershy tightened her grip on Sam’s hand. Dante picked up his staff, grimacing as he took a second look at Sam. Sam went to sit up but his attempt was stopped as Twilight used her magic to keep him still. “Stay down. You’re going to hurt yourself if you move too much.” “Take him back to Ponyville,” Dante said as he turned away and started off towards Moe and Sam. Sam’s ears flattened as Dante called out a second time urging them to go. “Hurry! We’ll take it from here.” “Guys watch out!” Coppa shouted as the statue leaped up, launching itself towards them. An unearthly scream filled the air as it slammed into the ground ahead of them. Fluttershy whimpered but threw herself over Sam as the statue reared it’s fist back. She closed her eyes, clinging to Sam a little tighter as the hand flew through the air. Her eyes clenched shut for a few moments waiting for the end to come. Yet, nothing happened, there was no pain or anything. She opened her eyes by just a fraction before realising she was being held up. Sam had one arm closed tightly around her, pressing her against his chest. A few pained wheezes came from him as he stood there. His other arm, slowly turning blue as ice and frost accumulated on it, was pressed against the statures arm. A large chunk of ice ran from the limb to the ground, locking it in place. The statue struggled but found its limb locked in place as the ice grew steadily. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as Sam let go of the limb, ice and frost breaking off his arm. His enraged gaze was directed towards the creature as the liquid attacked at the ice. “I will not allow you to touch her,” He growled menacingly with a hint of pain in his voice. With a quick movement his fist came back and struck the frozen limb. The force of the blow amazed Fluttershy, who felt the vibrations travel from Sam into her. Yet even more astonishing was how the stony limb broke into hundreds of pieces. Already weakened from the intense cold, it shattered violently and sprayed chunks throughout the clearing. The beast screamed again as a part of it came off with the arm. It stumbled back, falling on its back, giving the ponies and students enough time to regroup. “Well that was certainly one way to show off Sam!” Coppa said in an astonished tone. Sam’s ears flattened as he struggled to remain standing. His arm shook and was beginning to turn white and waxy. Everyone looked at him with concern as his deadened limb hung uselessly by his side. “What’s happening to his arm?” Fluttershy quaked as she tried prodding it with a hoof. Nothing happened as the limb swayed uselessly, the fingers moved a slight fraction but nowhere near as much as they used to. Fluttershy turned to Dante who had a horrified look on his face. “What’s wrong with Sam?” “His magic is going against him...” Dante said quickly as the statue regained itself. His eyes narrowed as he struggled to think of a solution to their predicament. He turned to Sam who was barely standing, wheezing as a fresh feeling of pain burned in his chest. “If we don’t stop his aura then we may not be able to save his arm.” “Dante I’m staying...” Sam interjected. All eyes turned as his voice echoed out. He took a step forward and nearly fell as his legs buckled. Moe leaned in, propping Sam against his side as the Felpier looked towards the statue. “I have an idea... a good one really. I can still help finish this thing..” He tried moving his arm, grunting as it took twice the effort to lift the weakened limb. “That monster is weak to ice. We can’t hope to kill it without my magic.” “But Sam, what about your arm?” Moe said, concern for his friend and teammate evident. “If you do this, you might never be able to use it again.” Sam shuddered as the realisation came over him. Without his stronger arm, his career as a warrior was practically finished. He would never be able to wield a sword properly again. “Is it really worth losing everything you trained for?” Sam paused, unsure for a moment. He could beat this thing, but it undoubtedly result in major damage to his body. If he left it to his friends, who knew what sort of harm might come to them. His gaze went downwards, toward the one figure he had promised to help. Fluttershy stared at him, eyes filled to the brim with concern and something else. Something he could not recognise, yet for some odd reason, filled his heart with happiness. Protecting something that you hold close to your heart is the only reason we Samurai exist. The words echoed in his head as he came to an answer. He nodded his head, prompting Dante’s face to drop in defeat. He sighed before rummaging through his bag and drawing a vial out of his coat. “This’ll dull the pain...” Sam took the vial and gulped down the contents. A rejuvenating feeling overcame him, filling him with energy and renewed vigour. Much to his suprise, Dante unclasped the sword at his side and gave it to Sam. He took the blade, sliding it out of the scabbard and nodded to Dante in thanks. He took a step forward, stopping only as Fluttershy grabbed his pant leg. “You don’t have to do this...” She whimpered causing Sam’s chest to ache. He kneeled down slowly so that he was just about level with the mare. He then drew her in, embracing her and giving her just enough time to return the gesture before he broke away. His careful steps quickly became rapid movements as he broke into a run. He focused on the statue just as it rose from the ground. Ice began to encase his feet, turning the soles of his boots into frictionless skates. He had maybe thirty or more seconds before whatever potion Dante gave him wore off. He would need to time each strike carefully, hitting each mark precisely and thoroughly. He felt the energy run to his arm again, slowly causing the air around it to chill. He used his ice covered boots like skates, propelling himself forward. Lashing out, the blade rang as contacted the black substance. Ice slowly formed from the gash left behind, causing it crumble away. A second strike, followed closely by a third and fourth, caused even more to flake off into frozen dust. He jumped up, propelling himself to the side as he flipped over a frantic strike. He jumped again, thrusting quickly at the head and chest of the statue. Rather than falling, Sam managed to redirect the flow of his magic towards his feet. The moisture in the air quickly solidified, providing a base for him to jump from. Sam launched himself forward, scraping the blade alongside its chest. He hit the ground, plunging the blade into the earth with ease. The ground froze around him, encasing the stone feet behind him in thick ice. A shadow grew over him as the statue brought its palm down on the space where he was. Sam moved back as the hand crushed the ground, throwing giant clods of earth towards him. He spun in circles, avoiding the dirt and plunged the blade down again. More ice traveled along the ground, sprouting like flowers as it crept up the stone arm. The creature let out a scream of frustration as it pulled and tugged against the icy prison. The ice resisted its efforts, staying solid as the creature slowly froze. Ice grew along ‘its body, encasing it like a second skin. Sam felt his entire body tingle, all feeling in his limbs evaporating as his body heat plummeted. He fell to one knee as his strength left him. His right arm began to turn a sickly shade of blue as the veins on the inside constricted and frostbite took hold. He cut off his concentration as the vial’s contents wore off. The ice began to crack and split away, taking large chunks of stone with it. The remaining sludge fell away, landing with a wet thump on the ground as the statue disintegrated. Sam managed to stumble over to it, using the sword as a sort of crutch. It lept at Sam, spikes hardening on its front aiming to skewer him. Sam however leaped into the air, using the whatever was left of his strength. Soaring overhead, He positioned himself so that he was directly facing it. The creature let out a feral snarl as Sam leveled Dante’s sword. As his momentum ended, Sam fell to the ground quickly, impaling the creature straight through into the ground. It gurgled and hissed as the last remaining traces of magic stuck on the blade froze it solid. With a large snapping sound, the creature burst into tiny shards, evaporating with ice as the magic ceased flowing. Sam let out a sigh as he fell forward; the hard earth felt surprisingly soft as he passed out. He barely even heard the voices of his friends as they ran to him. A small smile of content graced his face as he finally let the exhaustion take over. The last image he saw was that of Fluttershy’s face as she gazed at him with tears of worry and relief. ****** Dagon smiled as the image of the four began to flicker from the blackened flames held aloft in his hands. His dark red eyes narrowed as he chuckled to himself. He stared off into the dark space of the cave as he traced a clawed finger along the chairs stone arm. A shrill sound was released as the metal scraped along the polished stone. His concentration was broken as a cacophony of screams and pleading filled the carved halls of the cave. He turned his head, a young face replacing the aged one that had dominated his features weeks earlier. His blackened irises searched for the source before finally locking onto a figure in the distance. “It would seem your creation has failed, Ravan,” He said in a disinterested tone. The dark skinned elf shot him a glare as he rose from the body he was attending to. A young griffon laid there bound to the jagged floor, crying as he pleaded for death. His stomach was pried open, organs and bones lying around him in gory piles. His wings were in bloody tatters, nailed into the floor to keep them from flapping about as Ravan ripped out the Griffon’s stomach. Dagon cast a bored glance at the whimpering creature before Ravan let out a sigh of frustration. “My puppets can only do so much on their own, Dagon,” He replied running his tongue over his hand. He casually lapped away at the lifeblood dripping from his fingers while his eyes went half lidded in ecstasy. “Maybe if you had shared more of your new found powers with the rest of us, then we wouldn’t be having this problem. ” “These powers are not meant to be used for your sick fetishes,” Dagon snapped back, his now long hair swaying in the darkness. A tendril crept out from his robes twisting around his hand in an agitated fashion. “There is much more to them than simple manipulation of the soul.” He whispered as he stroked the tendril. His eyes stayed on the dark elf, watching closely as he bent over the griffon and slowly cut out its heart eliciting another scream from it. The griffon’s eyes rolled back into its head as his body convulsed in its death throes. Dagon dismissed the dying creature as he poised his next question. “How are the stones faring?” “They still require a vessel but these creatures are providing enough nourishment to stabilize them. We will be able to open up a gate soon enough, but it will take some time.” “Good... We will need to establish a stronghold,” Dagon stated as he got up from his self created throne. He walked over to the Griffon’s lifeless body, dark tendrils snaking out from underneath his robe. They tore into the body, ripping it to pieces and consuming it entirely. The tendrils shivered in delight as they retracted. He turned to Ravan who had finished cleaning his sticky fingers, lips smacking as he gulped down the last drop of blood. “This creature’s kingdom will suffice. Take your creations and do what you do best.” “What of the inhabitants? What do you desire of them?” “I do not care what sick plans you have. Take the stones with you and see to their nourishment.” “And the vessel?” “Mileena and Shishiro will return shortly.” Dagon stated clacking two armored fingers together. “Your worries are nothing save for unfounded. They may be young, but they are not stupid. They have yet to fail me.” A sudden flash lit up the cave, illuminating the numerous crowds of demons and dregs skulking around in the crevices of the cave, feasting on the remains of Ravan's previous experiments. They screeched and spat, hiding as the light was replaced by a swirling vortex. Two figures stepped out, one carrying a bound individual who was shoved roughly to the ground in front of Dagon. The captive let out a muffled shout, struggling even as a boot was placed on his back to hold him down. The two removed their hoods to reveal two young individuals. One was a female Drake known to Dagon and Ravan as Mileena. Her eyes were brilliant amber, a small glint of malicious intelligence twinkling in them. Her long blue hair was tied in a ponytail that reached all the way past the draconic wings sprouting from the back of her cloak. Two small but similar wings graced the side of her head, hidden only by the bangs of blue that framed her elegant face. She had approached Dagon, insistent on learning the darker aspects of life to satiate her desires. She had given no other reason save for a name of an individual from her past. Dagon had never inquired further, simply preferring to acquire her incredibly strength and sadistic personality. Something only counteracted by the bloodthirsty ways of the young boy standing beside her. Dagon glanced at Shishiro, a young human male who possessed the qualities of a great, albeit merciless samurai. A red headband ran across his forehead, holding back his dirty brown hair. His dark chocolate eyes looked bored as he kept the captive still beneath his boot heel. Dagon didn’t need an explanation for Shishiro’s motivation. He had the look of a man out for revenge, intent on slaying any who stood in the way of his goal. Mileena was the first to speak, curtsying to Dagon. He waved off the gesture, taking a seat in his chair. She did the same to Ravan who simply ignored her, much to her discontent. “We managed to bring the Erdgeist back, although our entourage was killed in the process.” Dagon sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Demons could be replaced easily. They never really died in theory, only returning to whatever level of hell they came from until they could leave again. The problem however, was the difficulty in bringing them into this world. Some force or another made it difficult to open up any sort of waypoint into the depths of the underworld. Until they could set up the gate they would have to make do with the forces at their disposal. Dagon’s eyes flashed towards Shishiro who visibly flinched. “What of the fairy?” “That idiot cleric managed to find safety with some bug creatures. We were unable to get close enough to capture him.” Shishiro stated angrily. “Their leader managed to capture him before we could get close enough. The badlands were practically swarming with those things.” “The Erdgeist will have to do...” Dagon said quietly as he stared at the figure. He turned his head to Ravan who looked at him with a hungry glint in his eye. “Ravan, take him with you, but do not harm him in any way. This is one captive we cannot afford to break.” “What of us?” Mileena and Shishiro asked in synch. Dagon looked at them with a small grin as he gestured for them to follow him. “Prepare our forces to march. We are going to pay those interlopers a visit, ” Dagon said not looking behind him. Had he even glimpsed back, he would have seen Mileena’s face go into a state of heated arousal while Shishiro only possessed a mask of hatred. “I believe you two were able to recognise two of them.” “Oh yes... I simply cannot wait to see my little toy again...” Mileena trailed off, licking her lips in anticipation. Dagon smiled at the perverse tone she had begun to devolve into. “I wonder how he is doing? I would simply hate it for him to forget the times we shared." “I just want to cut him to pieces,” Shishiro stated bluntly. “I don’t care if he has nine lives or one. I just want him dead!” “All in due time you two,” Dagon said as his own thoughts swirled in his head. An image of a young white haired Diablon popped into his mind. Dante looked just as he had when they had first fought. He looked down to see the tendrils of darkness wrap around his skin, sinking in and slowly demonizing his body. The boy had an incredible gift, a gift he had unintentionally shared with Dagon. Something lay within the boy, something that Dagon now needed desperately. Who are you child? What sort of contracts have you created to deserve this power?