Shadow Cursed

by Jason Sander

  Gabriel ran down the street towards them and the bloodkin immediately ran to intercept him. The commander drew the knife from its sheath and activated the first set of runes. He waited to see Gabriel fall before the bloodkin and was surprised when Gabriel sidestepped its outspread arms and stabbed the monster without stopping. Behind him the bloodkin dropped to the ground trying to staunch the flow of blood.

  Fear gripped the commander but he did not hesitate. He lifted the knife in the air and plunged it into Tasha’s chest. He wanted her to live for as long as possible so he avoided her heart and other vital organs.

  Gabriel stumbled when he saw the attack and screamed in despair. The commander drew his wand and activated its defensive shields as Gabriel closed on him.

  Blood welled around the knife in Tasha’s chest and ran in a steady stream to the altar below. The blood acted as a conduit to draw power from Tasha as her body instinctively tried to heal itself. Power flowed from Tasha into the altar and then to the gateway, charging it. The gate towers began to glow as each set of runes was activated.

  Gabriel ignored everything except Tasha bleeding on the altar. When the commander fired a lighting blast at him it spread around him and the commander finally felt the power radiating from Gabriel and realized his mistake.

  The twin blades in Gabriel’s hands swept the commander aside without thought, destroying his shadow shield and a moment later Gabriel was at Tasha’s side.

  Already the portal was opening as Gabriel pulled the blade out and tried to stop the bleeding.

  Tasha smiled through the pain and said, “You went to the church.”

  Gabriel nodded through his tears. “Gaia told me to gather the souls. Can you heal yourself?”

  “No, the knife has drained me.” She coughed and blood dribbled out of her mouth but she continued to speak, “Close the gateway Gabriel before it’s too late.”

  Gabriel glanced up seeing the huge opening for the first time. It pulsed with power and through it Gabriel could make out giant silhouettes growing bigger and bigger as they approached from the other side.

  “Use the power of the souls, they will help you,” she said finding his hand and gripping it tightly.

  Gabriel forced himself to rise and turn away from Tasha. Already he could see a Titan clearly through the gateway. Gathering power from the hundreds of souls that had perished defending Central he approached the gateway.

  Gabriel reached out and felt the gateway’s towers begin to buckle under his might. Sparks flew and runes began to fade as the towers bent and finally broke. Gabriel expected the portal to slam shut immediately but then he understood as a Titan stepped through the gate.

  The Titan lifted its hand and fire began to fill the cupped space. Gabriel lashed out with his own power driving a hole into the Titan. The fire quenched as the Titan turned its baleful eyes on Gabriel.

  The wound on the Titan closed in seconds and Gabriel felt a painful ripping inside him as the Titan lifted its hand towards him.

  Gabriel felt the souls being torn from him one at a time and tried to hold onto them but the Titan’s power was far too great for him.

  He dropped to his knees as the pain grew intense.

  The commander cursed realizing he had vastly underestimated the Titan’s power as well. He ignored the pain from the sword wounds and lifted his wand to draw on the life energy around him so that he could heal himself. In his hand the severed wand dribbled blood and the commander cursed again, dropping it.

  Gabriel felt the last soul leave him and then the Titan drew on his own soul. The pain increased a hundred fold and he lost all understanding of his surroundings as he plunged into the darkness of the Titan. Around him he could feel thousands of souls crying in fear and pain as the Titan began to draw power from all of them.

  The commander felt the weak connection with the bloodkin and he commanded it to find the knife. He could feel its pain and his own through the connection as it crawled across the mud to the knife and slowly made its way back.

  The pain was excruciating but a voice from the darkness called out and he felt hope, his father was there. Gabriel struggled in his chains within the Titan and the souls of earth responded as one lending him strength. The Titan focused its power on him trying to drive him to madness with pain but he no longer felt it.

  Calling on the souls of earth he could feel them respond and his power grew exponentially. The Titan tried to stop him but succeeded only in holding on to the wraiths.

  Gabriel clashed with the Titan’s power within and from the outside the commander could see flashes of light and devastating wounds appear on the Titan’s skin. The Titan finally sustained a severe wound and fearing for its life it forced Gabriel out.

  The commander felt the bloodkin loose consciousness as it handed him the knife. Above him a brilliant burst of light erupted from the Titan and burnt into Gabriel’s body raising steam from the ground.

  The Titan flexed its muscles and summoned more energy from the wraiths within as Gabriel staggered to his feet.

  The two faced each other for a moment then unleashed their power. White light met a lance of fire and the air began to blow wildly around them. Gaia appeared behind Gabriel placing her hand on his shoulder to channel more energy into him.

  Even with her help the commander could see that Gabriel was slowly losing the battle against the Titan and hesitated a moment before activating the second set of runes on his knife.

  The knife glowed with power drawing life energy from the grass and earth around him. Not even the bloodkin was spared as its body shrivelled and died next to the commander.

  He ignored everything around him until the knife was fully charged then plunged it into the earth. The ground trembled slightly as a wave of power radiated outwards from the knife, tendrils of power touched the living but ignored them, they touched the amassed souls within Gabriel and ignored them but when they reached the Titan they ceased to spread and began to concentrate around its left foot.

  At first the Titan ignored the attack but when the wraiths began to be plucked away from its control it turned its attention from Gabriel to the commander where the knife was gathering the wraiths.

  Gabriel’s power began to overwhelm the Titan’s as the commander’s weapon drained away the wraith’s power. Behind it the gateway flickered as the Titan’s power faded. The Titan roared in defeat and stepped backwards. The gateway slammed shut behind it.

  Gabriel collapsed on the ground exhausted but he forced himself to crawl back to Tasha.

  Feeling the last of his strength disappearing, the commander summoned one of the wraiths he had captured and gave it an ultimatum, “Serve me or be destroyed.”

  The wraith fought his control and he crushed it, absorbing its power. The next few wraiths also felt his weakness and sought to win against him but with the destruction of each he grew stronger until the rest surrendered to him. He felt them fill him with power but still they were not enough.

  He realized his own danger, lying helpless in his weakened state. Drawing on the combined wraiths’ power he reformed the bloodkin’s body and chose a wraith to inhabit it. As the bloodkin dragged his body away he watched Gabriel rip the bindings free from Tasha and draw her to him.

  Gabriel cried out as her lifeless body sagged within his arms. Gaia barely managed to hold her form together as she approached him.

  “Can I bring her back?” he asked.

  “No. Not without damaging the void that separates our universe from the Abyss. There are creatures there far worse than Titans.” Gaia held his shoulder gently. “I sent you on your quest so that you would not become consumed by power like Emperor Palanthus. I had hoped that Tasha might become a god in your stead, she could have been a god of hope and love.”

  “I don’t want these powers Gaia. I would give them up in a heartbeat to see her live again,” he cried out.

  “Her mortal life has ended Gabriel, all you can do is take her soul and become the god your people need.”<
br />
  Gabriel looked into Tasha’s eyes. “No!” He wiped away the blood from her lips and closed his eyes as he kissed her. He tasted her blood on his lips before drawing away. “There is a better way,” he finished opening his eyes.

  His gaze locked on Tasha’s and he could feel the souls pouring out of him and rushing into Tasha. They chose her without hesitation, only his father hesitated an instant and Gabriel knew it was meant to be. In his arms Tasha’s skin glowed and her eyes blinked once before the weight of her body disappeared from his arms.

  She reformed before him, glowing with the power of a god. “I love you Gabriel.”

  “I love you too,” he replied as tears filled his eyes.

  Gaia took her hand and said, “Tasha, you need to gather the souls of the fallen to secure your hold on this land.”

  In the distance Gabriel heard the sound of goblin drums beating as they marched an army towards Central. His shoulders slumped but Tasha smiled reassuringly and said, “Help is coming my love.” Then she disappeared with Gaia.

  In the distance Gabriel could see that Jack’s men had arrived and were already lining up on the wall, he realized they must have force marched all the way back to arrive after him. Gabriel struggled over to where he had discarded his swords and made his way towards the wall.

  He found Jack leaning on the wall as the goblins lined up along the edge of the woods. Smoke began to pour into the air as the shamans drew on their power to obscure the sun.

  Jack smiled and hit Gabriel on the back. “Just like old times.”

  Below them the forest erupted in howls and goblin screams. Gabriel smiled as the wolven drove the goblins in terror before them into the sunlight. Those few that tried to stay in the trees were torn to pieces by the wolven or struck dead by the dwarves mounted on them.

  The goblin army broke apart before the wolven and Jack watched fascinated from above. He turned to ask Gabriel what was going on but he was already on the ground below running towards the fighting. Jack raised his axe in the air and shouted, “What are we doing up here men, the fighting’s down there. We can’t let them have all the fun.”

  CHAPTER 125

  Gabriel

  The celebrations went on all night. Gabriel sat with Dagar and the elves listening to the story as they retold it. At Gaia’s request Dagar had gathered a small army of dwarves together and raced to Blackrock Keep on the backs of the wolven. Although flustered, General McMillan had been convinced by Amelia to allow the dwarves passage through his lands to aid Central.

  Finally Gabriel asked the question he needed answered, “Why Dagar. Why did you come to our aid, your own people need you now more than ever.”

  Dagar turned his strange eyes towards Gabriel and said, “They are in capable hands, even now those goblins foolish enough to cross the Northern River are being hunted by my children. Hanbar can defeat any that manage to reach our new settlement. As for helping Central, dwarves fight beside those who stand by us. You helped Hanbar liberate the Citadel and rescued me in the Valley of the Kings. More importantly you helped my people reach Broken Pass Keep and defend it until they were safe. It may not be a formal alliance yet but I believe you and I can sort the matter out to our mutual gain.”

  “I’m afraid you have the wrong man Dagar, Jack will be the leader of Central when I leave,” said Gabriel.

  Across the table Jack stood up wanting to say a hundred things but not being able to verbalize any of them until he locked onto one phrase, “You’re leaving again?”

  “Yes,” said Gabriel sadly. “I wanted to see the elves’ homeland but Amelia has pointed out that this is not the best time so I have decided to locate the technos and establish contact with them.”

  Dagar stood up knocking his mug over. “The humans that destroyed Stronghold, you want to find them?”

  “Yes, they pose a threat to both our peoples and we need to learn as much about them as we can.”

  “Very well, I will escort you to my people’s new homeland. Perhaps you can find a way through the northern mountains with the aid of the wolven,” said Dagar sitting back down.

  “Thank you. If you will excuse me, it’s been a long day,” said Gabriel leaving the table.

  Behind him he heard Jack saying, “General Jack, no that doesn’t sound right. King Jack, yes that sounds better.”

  Isabella walked up behind him and poured a jug of beer over his head and said, “Here’s your crown your highness.” The table erupted with laughter.

  Gabriel walked aimlessly until he found himself before the broken gateway towers. He wasn’t surprised when Tasha appeared beside him glowing with a soft white light. Her features appeared softened, no longer burdened with pain as they had been when she lay dying in his arms. Even though her eyes had changed from green to silver he could still see her soul behind them, the one he had fallen in love with.

  “Have you finished gathering the souls at Base Two?” he asked as she sat down beside him.

  “There were none left. The goblins’ gods destroyed them all, but I did gather the souls around Blackrock Keep. The people who saw me there called me the Lady of Light.”

  “You have always been a lady to me,” he said sadly reaching for her hand.

  “It will be a long time before we can be together,” she said when his hand passed through hers.

  “I can wait,” he replied looking into her eyes.

  CHARACTER LIST

  Humans

  Cane - Techno scout sent into the Dragon Spine mountains.

  Commander - Allister’s right hand man.

  Gabriel Storm - Soldier, son of General Storm.

  General Allister - General in charge of Base Two.

  General Esperanza - General in charge of Base One.

  General McMillan - General in charge of Base Three.

  General Storm - General of the Army, in charge of evacuation of Earth.

  Isabella - Wife of Jack.

  Jack Manning - Truck driver stationed at Base Two.

  Natasha “Tasha” - Paediatrician at Base Two.

  Elves

  Amelia - Priestess in training, recruited for expedition.

  Carthus - Battlemage, recruited for expedition.

  Dianna - Second wife of the Emperor Valorus.

  Elyise - High Priestess of the Riverlands.

  Gaia - Powerful entity worshipped by the elves.

  Gatekeeper - Mage in charge of the Trade Gate. Seer/Prophet.

  Laisarus - Only ranger in the Barrier guard, recruited for the expedition.

  Palanthus - Current emperor’s grandfather, fought the tainted.

  Sceleo - Supreme Magi, brother of the emperor.

  Emperor Valorus - Emperor of the Riverlands, has three wives and no children.

  Tagier - Barrier guard, last of the elven swordmasters, recruited for the expedition.

  Dwarves

  Allfather - God of the dwarves.

  Dagar - Younger son of King Galdar.

  Galdar - King of the dwarves, ruler of Stronghold.

  Hanbar - Master of Arms of Broken Pass Keep.

  Magdar - Older son of King Galdar, believed to be the next in line for the throne.

  Wolf King - Legendary god of the wolven.

  Goblins

  Bittermouth - Warrior, previously a shaman trainee.

  Ravager - A powerful goblin god.

  Wraithlords

  Corruptor - Leader of the tainted, captured and imprisoned by Palanthus.

  Darklord - Leader of the wraithlords trapped beneath Stronghold.

  Katar - Slayer sent to kill or control the leader of the dwarves.

  Theodinis - One of two wraithlords sent beyond the wardgates to help the others escape.

  Wolven

  Lockjaw - Wolf King’s wolven ambassador.