A Broken Man

Chapter 15: The truth of the Lord of Shadows

Zane looked at Beckham in disbelieve, a Host for the Shadow Lord? What does that mean?

Zane: " A Host?"

Beckham: " Mmhm. All of these people were past hosts for the Shadow Lord, but he said this one was one of his favorites."

Zane: " ... How does a Host work?"

Beckham smiled and hopped up on a cabinet.

Beckham: " Well, in case you haven't notice, the Shadow Lord doesn't leave the Nether, which is why he sends us out. To be his eyes in the Overworld. The reason why is because he can't leave. Irene put a curse on him when she stabbed him with her sword and locked him away in this Realm with the Divine Warriors."

Zane: " Is that how he got that wound on his chest?"

Beckham: " Mmhm. He's been trying to heal it for centuries, but his Relic is too damage, which is why he absorbs different energy sources, to try and see if it will help heal it. But he has to use some of his power to give us our immortality. But, the Shadow Lord has to go get more followers one way that another. You know that smoke that comes out of his mouth once in a while? *Zane nods* A lot of that will go through the Nether Portal and takes over someone he comes across, becoming that part of him host, so he can walk among everyone in the Overworld. But the only problem is that he needs a cane in every host he has, probably he's still weak because ya know, he's trying to heal his wound and the curse. Did you know this?"

Zane looked back at the portrait of the formal High Priest who turned out to be one of the Shadow Lord disguises in the Overworld.

Zane: " Yeah... Yes, I knew him. He was a High Priest of the time he was in this body and we met when I was a kid."

Beckham: " Oh?! You were that dumb and gullible kid he trained?! No wonder he likes you, you're pretty much his son! Ha! It all makes sense now!"

Zane went quiet, speechless to hear that the man who praised him while he was training with him just so he can use him. Just so he can manipulate him and become the man he was.

 Beckham: " And I gotta say, he did a good job training you. Just about everyone knows you and fears you, just like the Shadow Lord."

Hearing those words felt like a large punch in the gut, his heart dropped. Beckham patted Zane's shoulder before leaving. Zane's legs went numb that made him lose balance for a moment. Zane looked down at his hands, memories of them covered with blood flashed into his mind, people screaming and begging for mercy. Zane started to breath heavily, he grabbed his face a bit, was he having a panic attack? No, he couldn't. Could he? Zane never done this before, making his breathing faster. Zane ran out of the hallway, grabbed a wall to catch his breath. He then notices everyone with big grins and rushing to the Throne room. Zane saw the Shifter Twins, Mewio and Meowki, and called out to them.

Zane: " What's going on?"

Mewio: " You haven't heard?!"

Meowki: " The Shadow Lord got himself a new body. We don't know if he'll be able to go out with it, but when we heard he decided to get a new Overworld Disguise out of the blue, of course we have to go see it for ourselves."

Mewio: " He hasn't had a Host body in years. I wonder what he's going to look like this time."

Zane followed the Twin and the who army, he got down on his knee when he was with everyone. Both Concubine and Beckham had big smiles on both sides of the throne.

Beckham: " So glad to see you all here to supported our dear Lord."

Concubine: " Yes, it's been some time since our Lord had a Overworld Disguise. But unlike his past Disguises, it's more like a body he want. It took some time to gather all the parts of this body."