Shadow Seeds

by Orsuros

Chapter 12

Orsuros looked around. They were no longer in a cave. They were somewhere far worse. It was a small village. The village. The one where the shadow beasts had defeated him completely about a year ago. It looked the same as he remembered it. The first stars were coming out. The villagers were gone. That was how he remembered it. He had stayed to distract the shadow beasts while the villagers ran. That also meant the first shadow beast would appear in just a second. Orsuros snorted in derision as he slashed it the moment it appeared.

“Uh, what is this place?” Spike said. He sounded a little scared.

“An old and painful memory. Perhaps Siega meant to trap me here or distract me. But that won’t work. I thought over why I lost that night so many times. My stubborn desire to win kept me fighting long after I should have started a tactical retreat.”

“Hey, watch out!” Spike blasted a shadow beast with flame that had appeared behind Orsuros.

Orsuros nodded in thanks and whirled around, smacking the creatures away before he tore several apart. At the very least, these shadow beasts were the ones from his memories and his world. They were mindless and without any special powers.

The battle went much as he remembered it. It began easily enough. With Spike helping, it was even simpler, but the numbers of the enemy were quickly growing. Maybe there had been a bit of intelligence to their tactics, even in the original battle. They seemed to test him with larger and larger groups until they overwhelmed him once he felt overconfident. A few flames flickered as Spike burned through the latest shadow beast to appear.

“Let’s pull back. This was when too many of them appeared.”

“I think we have a bigger problem.” Spike looked one direction then another. Instead of the night sky and forest that surrounded the village, huge black walls had taken their place. They seemed trapped as dozens of the shadow beasts materialized.

“Darn. You keep them at bay. I’ll slash any that get to close.”

A larger shape materialized in the darkness. His golden eyes seemed to glow even in the darkness. Siega locked eyes with Orsuros.

“It was cute to think you could beat me in my own mind. Now I’ll use your little tactic against you. We both know how things will go when the two of us fight. And my little shadow beasts here will take bits of your soul and give them to me. You were right to think this was the way to unite the two of us, but it shall be me who returns to our world with the power to free it once I’ve gathered all I can from Equestria.”

Orsuros called up his soul magic just in time to protect himself. Siega hit him with his full power and Orsuros countered with his own. The two dragons stared at each other. Duels of soul magic weren't flashy. Facing a part of himself was far different than a normal duel though. Siega already knew all his weak points just as he knew Siega’s.

“Spike. Don’t let the shadow beasts get close. Even if Siega and me collapse, promise me that you’ll keep fighting.”

“I won’t let you down. Now who’s ready for some flames?” Spike set the grass and a house on fire while trying to torch some of the creatures.

Orsuros focused. He tried to attack Siega. The shadow dragon flinched but remained sturdy and called up his own magic again. Orsuros was hit hard and staggered back as he almost blacked out. Siega’s magic seemed somehow stronger here, but they were in the dragon’s mind. That would give him many advantages against any intruders. Orsuros fired blast after blast of soul magic. If he kept the other dragon defending, Siega wouldn’t be able to concentrate and use anything else. He fired off another blast but suddenly felt himself slipping toward the flames Spike had made. The ground seemed to have become a muddy hill.

“If you’re in my mind, you’ll have to deal with my tricks.” Siega laughed.

Orsuros kicked off the burning house and jumped above the shadow beasts that tried to leap up and reach him. A sudden downpour had doused Spike’s flame barrier and the little dragon’s fire wasn’t doing much as more and more water rained down. The creatures circled around Spike then leaped.

“Spike, no!”

Orsuros was hit hard by Siega’s magic. His vision blurred and Spike disappeared under a pile of shadow beasts. He shook his head, but he still couldn’t see the little purple dragon. He growled and lashed out. He felt several shadow beasts fade as his claws raked them. He had to stop and defend his soul from another of Siega’s attacks. The shadow beasts circled around him. He locked eyes with Siega as the two struggled with their magic again.

A blur of motion came from nowhere. Siega was knocked over. Orsuros lashed out with his magic and jumped up before the shadow beasts could pounce on him. In the dark light, a faint blur of color caught his eye. Siega was trying to snap or slash at it, but it kept moving.

“Rainbow Dash? Is that you?”

Orsuros dove at Siega, preparing all his magic for a final hit. Siega noticed the attack and seemed ready for it, but one of the shadow beasts turned and swiped at Siega.

The distraction let Orsuros hit Siega with the full power of his magic, but it didn’t seem enough. The shadow beast that had attacked transformed into Thorax, who fired his own magic at Siega.

Siega roared in pain and then shattered into dark pieces. The shadow beasts surrounding them disappeared. The ground around them vanished, leaving them fluttering in the blackness.

“Hey, there’s Spike!” Thorax pointed out the dragon that was trying to cling to the vanishing ground. He flew over and caught him just as it faded away.

In the distance, a bright light shone from a dark horn. Luna flew in slowly and looked them all over.

“I think we’re almost done. Well done, everypony. We’ll just need to bind Siega back into Orsuros’s mind and soul. Are you ready for that?”

“Yes, Princess Luna. It was a mistake that separated him from me. Let’s correct that now.”

“Very well. This may hurt, though. There’s a lot of darkness in him, but I guess it was once in you. Prepare yourself.”

Luna’s horn glowed brighter and brighter. Magical bubbles surrounded Spike, Thorax, and Rainbow Dash and they all vanished. The brilliant white filled Orsuros’s vision as Luna cast her spell. Orsuros used his own magic to bind the pieces of Siega’s soul and mind back to his own.

The spells combined. Orsuros felt like he was on fire. His entire body burned yet felt like ice at the same time. Luna placed a hoof on his forehead.

“It is done. You may rest.”

The pain overcame him and all went black.