Revenge of the Treacherous Shadow

"Damn these ants!" Effie screamed. The song cohort were currently in the middle of a battle with an ant colony. This had all started when they had been searching for the gate, and without knowing it, they had accidentally disturbed a colony of massive ants.

[You have killed a dormant beast, worker ant]

[You have killed a dormant beast, worker ant]

[You have killed a dormant beast, worker ant]

[You have killed a dormant beast, worker ant]

They were getting overwhelmed, the ants, although weak were numerous. For every ant they killed, hundreds more fell upon them. It was terrible. Even the normally aloof Seishan couldn't help but feel fear. 

"Kai! Do you see anything? Any escape route?" Seishan asked Kai, her voice conveying urgency and panic, with hints of desperation,

"I do see something, but it will be impossible to get there.

"Just tell us damn it! We don't have much time!" Effie screamed.

As they were quickly getting overwhelmed, they needed the route no matter what.

"Fine. From my view point, it looks as if the ants religiously avoid one specific tunnel, that means that there is either something extremely important for them in there. Or an even more terrifying abomination keeping them out."

Normally Seishan would take the time to contemplate the pros and cons of entering that tunnel, and the different risks posed, but now she was desperate. 

The cohort started running, with Kai above them clearing a path using his various arrows, they managed to bulldoze their way through the ant army. Arriving at the tunnel, Kai noticed something scary , he couldn't see! No matter how much essence he put into his awakened ability, there was an impenetrable darkness that seemed to surround him. Then he heard something:

"clack clack"

A strange noise reverberated throughout the darkness, and then suddenly the darkness was cleared. What he saw terrified him. The creature in front of him was massive, it looked to be about 8'10ft, It loosely resembled an ant, however this creature had more legs than an ant had. 18 of them to be precise, each of them fitted with what looked like hair, except for the fact that they resembled broken swords more than anything. It's exoskeleton was dark, a sort of darkness that seemed to eat everything around it, as it covered the body of the ant like a sort of bastardized armor. The most disgusting part about the monster was its face. It sent shivers down Kai's spine. The face was flat, completely flat. It was smiling, its mouth wide open, with its yellow teeth completely bared out in the open. From its head two massive appendages could be seen poking out, it seemed to be the creatures antennae. 

The creature sat there, completely unmoving. Just staring directly at the humans. 

"Just what the fuck have we gotten into?"

|||

"Shing"

Sunless's sword sliced through the air, as it pierced into the body of an abomination.

[you have killed a fallen monster, desert rat]

[your shadow grows stronger]

[your shadow is overflowing with power]

[your shadow is taking shape] 

[your shadow is complete]

The familiar pain of forming a new core hit Sunless, but at this point, he was already familiar enough with the pain to the point where it barely affected him. After forming his soul core, Sunless then decided that it was time to check his runes.

***

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Shadow Core: Dormant

Class: Devil

Shadow Fragments: 2/4000

Memories: -

Echoes: -

Shadows: -

Attributes: [fated],[mark of divinity],[child of shadows],[blood weave]

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Description: [You are a miraculous shadow left behind by a dead god. As a divine shadow, you possess plenty of strange and wondrous powers. However, your existence is empty and lonesome; you mourn the passing of your former master and long to find a new one.]

Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond].

Ability Description: [Find a worthy master and let them know your True Name. Once they recite it out loud, you will be bound to their will, unable to disobey any command. It is improper for a shadow, let alone a divine one, to walk around without a master.]

Aspect Ability: [Shadow Control].

Aspect Ability Description: [Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper.]

Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance].

Flaw: [Clear Conscience].

Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]

***

Sunless smiled, feeling the new power coursing through his veins, he loved it. The simple feeling of becoming more powerful. Anyways, Sunless now stood in front of the place he set out to go to: The pyramid.

Sending his shadows forward to scout the area, Sunless discovered that around the area there were thralls of some creature. Leading him to believe that a terror was lurking around somewhere. Letting his shadows go closer, he would find hundreds of nightmare creatures. He could only theorize their rank and class but Sunless could tell that the weakest among them was at least a fallen.

Still, Sunless decided not to give up and he sent his shadows further, even closer to the black pyramid. That's when he would see it. The tall creature, it resembled a horse and a donkey at the same time, while having two massive humps on its back. Sunless had never seen a creature like this so he theorized it could've been a new nightmare creature. 

Next to it, he saw the gateway. Analyzing the area further, Sunless found that to arrive at the gateway, he basically needed to either distract the camel and its herd, or face it head on. Sunless decided to distract the camel and its herd of thralls. However, he honestly had no clue on how to do so. 

Perhaps he could create an artificial Oasis? Since he had learned from teacher Julius the mannerisms of animals in different areas, he knew that animals in the desert would naturally try to move in the direction of water, however this wasn't always the case as some animals could stay for months on end without the need to drink. 

This put Sunless in a dilemma, he knew that trying to attack that creature head on was suicide, but he didn't know any other way, but suddenly he had an idea, one that could kill him if it went wrong. Seems like the average Wednesday for Sunless... 

|||

Nephis could only stare in shock at the creature she saw before her. It was massive, about 9 feet tall. Its skin looked to be made out of tree bark, its form resembled a mix of a tree and a human. It stared up into the sky, looking at the tapestry of stars. Its eye color, a shimmering emerald resembling a shining jewel. It had a certain quality, one that looked as if it could pierce through your very soul.

"What a surprising combination. A dreamspawn nephilim, and a blind seer. How peculiar."

As the creature spoke, its lips didn't even move, it seemed as though the literal space around them talked for him. As if the two insignificant creatures before him didn't even deserve the right to see him talk.

"what are you?" Nephis asked, as fear creeped up upon her. The creature didn't even turn his head to look at her, but somehow she still felt a sort of pressure descending upon her, like thousands of tons of weight were being placed onto her. forcing her to bow her head. 

"I am the master of this forest. I've been meaning to talk to you two for quite some time."

"what do you mean by talk to us? How did you know we were even here?" Nephis asked once again.

"You're a curious one aren't you? Questioning me like that without shame." The pressure upon Nephis doubled, now, instead of being on her knees, she was laid out flat on the floor. Pain coursed through her body as the being above her continued to speak

"I am what you humans call an 'Unholy Titan'. I've lived in this forest far before you were even born. Now tell me this, why is a nephilim of all things and a seer trying to enter my domain."

"We didn't know that it was your domain!" Cassie responded instantly, her voice shaky as tears spilled from her eyes. "We never knew, please have mercy on us!" As she begged, the titan removed the pressure from them.

"So you've been taught nothing? Hasn't the great war god and her priests teach you about who I am? About what this forest is?"

"The war god is long dead! She has been dead for millennia! Along with the rest of the gods!"

Upon Cassie's declaration, for the first time, the titan moved. He turned his whole body towards her as he screamed.

"Impossible! How dare you lie to me!"

and then suddenly all the rage would leave its body as it fell to its knees crying and laughing. At this point Nephis looked at Cassie, both of them not knowing what to do in the face of this abomination

"Who killed her! Who Killed Her! I must know at once!"

"We don't know! All we know is that in a war a long time ago they died."

"How! But the prophecy says it! The prophecy! The prophet said it! How did they die!