“All physical objects, though they cannot truly think for themselves, have an inherent sense of being. They know what they are. They have identity.”
“Interesting, so the things you create don’t have this true identity.”
“Only for the first hour or so from the time they are created. Within that time I can un-create them, if that makes sense. It’s as if they become more solid the longer they remain as they are, gaining an understanding of what they are, and then are not willing to change. When that happens I can still return it to light, as readily any other object, but it remains a separate thing inside me for as long as I keep it. That light will forever be what it was created as.”
“And as a result you have an invisible bag to hide stuff in,” Sain said, looking impressed.
“Essentially. Anything that I’ve recently created can be uncreated. I can store anything else, though only so much. The object’s weight remains, making me heavier.”
“Light has weight?” Daylen asked.
“After it permanently becomes a physical thing, yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that?”
“It hasn’t come up, but evidently it’s not something I try to hide. It’s merely a useful byproduct of my power.”
“Just a byproduct! You could smuggle anything anywhere and no one would know.”
“Because smuggling is such a noble pursuit.”
Daylen waved his hand. “Whatever,” he said, and Ahrek handed Sain Blackheart’s sword.
“You have anything else stored away?” Daylen asked.
“Of course.”
“Like what?”
“Huh,” Ahrek said, smiling.
“What?”
“I just didn’t expect I would get to say none of your business.”
Daylen laughed.
“I did it!”
Looking to Ahrek in confusion for a second, Daylen groaned.
“Did what?” Sain asked.
“I have achieved the impossible,” Ahrek said in genuine amazement. “I made Daylen Namaran laugh!”
“It doesn’t count,” Daylen said.
“Of course it counts.”
“No, that wasn’t one of your terrible jokes. I was laughing at the irony!”
Ahrek paused. “Perhaps, but it was still an achievement.”
“Whatever flies your ship, Bringer. Now, did anyone see what happened to Blackheart’s hat?”
They approached Blackheart’s den from above. Daylen spotted spy holes which had been carved into the sides of the island. They had shadowed faces within that seemed to watch their every movement.
Daylen glared at them from under Blackheart’s tricorne hat. No alarm was sounded.
They reached the mouth of the cave and Daylen adjusted the control levers to guide the ship forward.
They entered a dark, stalactite-riddled passage that was damp and cool. There was light at the other end, about forty meters away, but it was far from reaching them.
The moment they had crossed the threshold into the darkness, a cold rippled over Daylen like his clothes were being peeled from his skin.
Daylen gasped and looked back.
“Yes,” Ahrek said knowingly, barely visible through the thick shadows. “This would be the first time you’ve been entirely without light since receiving your powers. It isn’t pleasant.”
“I’ve been in shadow, but not such a stark contrast from light to dark. I hadn’t realized the feeling was so normal to me.”
“What is it?” Sain asked worriedly from the darkness to Daylen’s right. “Is something wrong?”
“Calm down,” Daylen said. “Everything’s fine.”
“I am calm!” Sain said, contradicting his words by the tone of his voice. He had walked to Daylen and was still only just visible.
“Haven’t you flown through this passage a hundred times?” Daylen asked.
“Yeah, and I hated it each time. The dark—it’s unnatural. You telling me you’re not bothered by it?”
“Any sane man should fear the dark,” Daylen said. “Just don’t let it control you.”
Ahrek chuckled. “Then Daylen and I should be feeling fine, seeing as there’s only one Sain man here.”
Daylen groaned. “Really, Ahrek?”
Sain was chucking nervously. “That was a pretty bad joke, Bringer.”
“They’re his specialty.”
“You should strive to be good at your craft,” Ahrek said, smiling, “whatever it is.”
Sain looked to be much calmer—and, after a short pause, he asked, “So what were you two talking about before? Powers and light?”
Ahrek answered, “I am a Lightbringer, and Daylen’s powers work in a similar way. We both feel light as a physical thing, like we’re constantly immersed in warm water.”
“Weird,” Sain replied.
“We’ll it’s normal to me by now,” Daylen said.
“And now you can’t feel a thing?”
“Not on my skin at least,” Daylen replied. “I can still sense the light outside, the light further within, the soft light in the timbers of the ship, the light on the cave walls, and the light in you and Ahrek.” He didn’t add that in sensing the light in living things, he could effectively see everything around him without the use of his eyes.
“Wait, there’s light in me?”
“There’s light in everything, with one exception,” Ahrek said. “The light’s strength is reflected by the person’s desire to do good, their sense of right and wrong, and their knowledge of truth.”
“So the better a person is, the more light they have inside?” Sain asked skeptically.
“Not always,” Daylen said, thinking of himself. “But it’s the reason I didn’t kill you when we met. Unless you think it means something else and I should get back to killing all pirates on sight?”
“Nah, it’s definitely a measure of their goodness,” Sain said flippantly.
“Yeah, I thought you’d say that.”
“Screw you.”
“Sorry, I don’t go for boys. Why don’t you ask the Bringer? He dreams about naked young men.”
“Daylen,” Ahrek said, “that is completely out of context.”
“So…you do dream about naked young men?” Sain asked teasingly.
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
Daylen and Sain laughed.
It wasn’t long before the passage opened to a softly illuminated cavern with a high toothy ceiling and deep jagged floor. The light shone from natural skylights and sunstone formations that made the damp rock shimmer in brilliant colors.
Around sixty meters away, the cavern climbed back up, forming a natural flat that was more or less in line with the passage they had just flown through. The flat became the new floor of the cavern and extended much farther in from the expanse that Daylen was guiding the ship across.
Daylen knew that caverns like this didn’t form naturally. He guessed that in the initial explosion that had formed the Floating Isles, a chunk of shattered landmass had fallen on top of another that still had a good amount of stable darkstone within, making the cavern’s roof. Water drainage and time had eroded the rest.
The flat provided a perfect natural formation to set up a dock, which was exactly what had been done. The dock was built from a ragtag assembly of wooden scaffolding and structures that continued farther into the cave, their sheer volume enough to impress the eye.
Pirates slowly began to appear along the main dock’s ramparts.
Daylen counted twenty-five of them. They all had their swords drawn, one or two with hand-held shotspikes, and all were standing nervously.
“This all of them?” Daylen whispered to Sain.
“Not by half. I wonder when they’re going to realize that you aren’t Blackheart?”
Daylen pulled a lever to lock the anchor alongside a jetty. “Oh, I’d say in a few seconds.”
Walking with focused steps, Daylen reached out with his light sense. He
could feel that those men on the dock had barely any light within them, which wasn’t a surprise; they were pirates, after all, who murdered, raped, and pillaged as a way of life. Sain was the exception, however, proving it was still worth checking.
Daylen began to run across the deck, a sensation that still felt odd to him, as a week ago he hadn’t been able to run in years. Light, walking had been hard enough.
Daylen bonded light to his speed and performed an enhanced jump from the bow.
His powers were sluggish. There was far less light in the cave than there was outside, but enough to draw upon thanks to the nearby sunstones and skylights.
Cries of alarm sounded as Daylen soared through the air and drew his sword, Imperious—yet those cries sounded too late to save the three men he landed amidst.
Interestingly, the lack of light in these despicable men was as noticeable as brighter lights in others, even more so. There was a wrongness to them that made Daylen feel sick, and he couldn’t help feeling satisfied as he ended their abominable lives.
“We’re under attack!” a voice called out.
“The dogs!” another replied. “Release the dogs!”
Dogs? Daylen thought mockingly. These worms haven’t a hope.
The pirates near where he had landed rushed Daylen with their weapons drawn.
Daylen smiled and let his instincts take control. With his powers and natural skill it didn’t take long for Daylen to dispatch everyone that attacked him, dancing like the wind around the deadly weapons. He still wore his sunforged gauntlet for defense, but he didn’t even need it in this fight.
Any battle with sunblades resulted in a horrifying mess due to how easily they sliced through material. Blood pooled around Daylen with each opponent’s body lying in several pieces.
Daylen glared at the remaining pirates who were clearly rethinking their options.
One of them launched a shotspike at Daylen, and in response he enhanced his mass and fortitude.
The spike hit him, stabbing through his jacket but barely even depressing his skin. The tip bent sideways and the whole thing broke apart.
The pirates stared at him in stupor and then ran.
Daylen smiled, very pleased with how that last combo had worked out. He had noticed that increasing his mass made him more resilient in the same way as did increasing his fortitude, only that he was also heavier. Daylen had been wondering what would happen when they were combined; he had tried it more for experimentation, as he could heal easily enough from the spike if it had pierced him. It appeared that increasing his mass while at the same time his resistance to injury made him far more resilient that if he had just stacked all his bonds on either mass or fortitude respectively.
He had no idea why, but it certainly worked.
Daylen heard someone running down the jetty from the docked ship. It was Sain. As was agreed, Ahrek would stay with the ship to protect it and the girls aboard. Sain would accompany Daylen to offer any help, as he was far more familiar with the hideout.
Daylen began to make his way further into the den along a timber walkway which provided a much surer step than the damp stone.
Sain joined him.
“Stay behind me and keep out of trouble,” Daylen said.
“No argument here.”
This section of the massive cavern had a relatively flat base and was divided by wooden structures separating parts for supplies, tools and living quarters.
Natural light streamed out of the holes spotted along the cavern’s roof, which were either lined with crystal formations reflecting the light from outside, or had natural sunstone growths within.
The stone, comprised of differing colored hews of rock, had large patches of moss growing on it, thanks to the natural light, and a few clumps of mushrooms here and there. Light shimmered off the many small beads of moisture. It was a beautiful sight, but Daylen gave it little heed. There were pirates to kill.
Daylen skewered two more pirates along the wooden walkway before he reached a flat and open part of the cavern. It was filled with tables, chairs, and some couches. Clearly this was some type of common room.
On the far side of the area, bathed in shadows, was a large metal door that several pirates had just unlocked.
“That’s where Blackheart keeps the dogs,” Sain said, panting.
“That’s an awfully big door for a bunch of dogs,” Daylen replied cautiously.
All but one pirate ran from the door as the last swung it open, revealing a dark cave behind. He, too, began to run before something grabbed him, pulling him into the darkness.
Bloodcurdling cries of pain sounded from the cave, which was black as night inside, before being silenced by a sound of wet ripping.
Daylen whirled on Sain. “That’s not a pack of blackened dogs!”
Sain looked utterly shocked. “No… I swear they’re dogs. I’ve seen Blackheart throw in new ones.”
“No—Blackheart was feeding dogs to whatever he’s really been keeping locked away!”
A high-pitched, horrific, and unnatural shriek echoed from the room.
Daylen’s heart felt like it had stopped. He turned to the smaller cave, saying, “No, that insane fool! What has he done?”
“What?” Sain asked, wide-eyed. “What is it?
“Run back to the ship, get Ahrek, and then hide with the girls!”
“What—”
But Sain stopped speaking.
Suddenly, from a quickly growing circle of darkness emanating from the room, all the light in the cavern was being pushed back, plunging everyone inside into complete, whole, and consuming darkness.
“The Shade,” Daylen whispered.
Chapter Thirty
I eventually discovered the duplicity of the craftsmanship Guilds, charging more for their services than my set pricing which explained why they had such ease in keeping their members. I tried my best to suppress them, but they unionized against me. They knew I needed their skilled labor, so instead of punishing them, I executed their wives, daughters, and sons. This brought them in line, but sowed the seeds of hatred that would eventually lead to my downfall.
There was a middle-ranking Guild member, from the Artistry Guild, that took particular grievance to my actions. You all know his name.
Rayaten Leusa.
* * *
Men screamed as they were ripped apart, the others stumbling and running into things, utterly crippled by the loss of light.
“What’s going on?” Sain called out in a panic.
“It’s a black damned Shade, two by the sound of it.”
“Oh Light!” Sain said. “I can’t see where I’m going.”
But Daylen could see, not with his eyes but with his Light sense. With it Sain was as visible as in day. In fact, as Daylen fully relied on this power, he could see everyone and even the faint outline of his surroundings. But there was something else; something wrong and unnatural. The wrongness had form, and Daylen could see them, like two darker parts in the blackness, and it made him feel sick.
The Shade.
They flew with lethal speed from man to man, slashing and tearing with their vicious claws. The men floundered helplessly.
Most Shade could fly when bathed in the black of night, but hopefully these would be too new to have developed any greater powers.
Daylen ran to a source of light that he could sense through the darkness. This light didn’t come from a living creature, but rather one of the sunstones in the many sconces of the cavern.
He entered a small area of light, for the darkness that the Shade cast couldn’t extinguish it, only push it back. They weakened the light and restricted it to glowing only a meter or so from its source.
Within the light, Daylen himself was illuminated, as was the ground under his feet, but everything else was bathed in darkness.
Daylen grabbed a sunstone the size of a large marble from the sconce and held it between two gauntleted fingers, Imperious in his other hand.
Grabbi
ng a second sunstone, Daylen ran to Sain, finding him easily in the darkness with his light sense. Daylen gave Sain the second stone. “Get to the ship and grab Ahrek! I need him!”
Sain nodded quickly and moved much easier now, having some light to guide him.
Daylen ran forward and attacked one of the monstrous Shade.
He had fought Shade before—Light, he had fought thousands of them, having survived the Fourth Night—but it had never been easy.
One of the best weapons to fight the Shade was a torch, a sunstone-powered light that looked like a telescope. By focusing and magnifying the light, it could pierce the Shade’s unnatural darkness to an extent. If you shone enough intense light on a Shade, they lost all their unnatural powers, like their ability to fly, but not their strength. Of course, Daylen had no torch with him.
Luckily, from how these things moved and attacked, they were both only lesser Shade; but lesser by no means meant weak or harmless. They were still more deadly than any natural thing in existence. A Greater Shade, or the worst, a Lord Shade, would have meant his doom, given how unprepared he was.
Daylen took off his sunforged gauntlet and threw it aside. It wasn’t like Imperious and would shatter as soon as the Shade touched it.
Daylen drew in the light from the sunstone he held and bonded it to his speed. As he drew upon the light, the sunstone dimmed greatly.
Daylen charged at the monster.
It noticed him instantly, as they could see perfectly in darkness. It shrieked and flew up, avoiding Daylen’s attack.
With his sense, Daylen could make out the Shade’s form and see that it had once been a young teenage girl, her dress hanging in tatters. In their early forms, Shade looked mostly like they had in life, except corrupted and foul. Blood was ever seeping from their eyes and mouth, their skin a decaying white, their hair black as night, their teeth jagged, their fingers ending in vicious claws; and, devoid of all life, their eyes were as red as blood.
The Shade dived toward Daylen, its claws ready to rend him apart. Daylen leapt to the side and rolled before rising, only to be struck by the second.
Shadow of the Conqueror Page 31
