I face my instructor, sword in hand. Shadow floats down the tip of the sword and flows back up again. The instructor has his own sword, but his is just plain metal. His magic is not physical, but mental. He is a devourer which means that he can whisper into the minds of other being and people to influence them to do things. When he totally takes control, he steals their soul. Stealing souls gives devourers immortality but that does not mean that they are not able to be killed. It is just that they can not die from old age. Unlike my instructor, my power is both physical and mental. It is an abyss of darkness with no end in sight, taking the form of anything i could ever imagine.
I flip the sword in my hand, catching the handle in one swift motion. I have come very far in this past year. I am now seventeen, and only have two months before i turn eighteen which means i will be able to participate fully in the politics of the Backlands, assisting Father.I already know how to kill just about any being that has ever existed. I cock my head to the side, assessing my instructor and looking for his weakness. I have never fought him before but i have watched him, and learned. My instructor does not know my full power either. Father made me promise to always hold back until the final test. This was my final test for combat using my darkness. And i am going to win.
My instructor attacks first, not giving me a moment to think. But i do not need a moment. I spin out of the reach of his sword and angle my own in return. It slaps against his sword arm, causing his grip to falter on the hilt of his sword. This was my chance. I kick up, making a shield of darkness around my combat boot. The force of my foot hitting the flat side of his sword causes it to fall, clattering against the training mat. I spin, kicking him in the middle of his stomach. My instructor doubles over, trying to catch his breath. I use my sword to tip him off balance. He falls heavily onto the mat. I touch the tip of my sword to his throat.
His eyes burn, becoming living flames from all the souls he has devoured. He scrambles back and screams at me, calling me hateful words that i would never repeat. I look to Father, standing at the edge of the mat. Father nods to me. My instructor has managed to get to his feet, still slightly off balance. My throw my sword forward, into the instructor. It goes through his stomach. He drops to his knees and Father walks over to him. My instructor looks up at him with hate in his eyes.
"You will never control the Backlands, Devil", he spits out the title, "they will rise and you will lose."
Father seems unfazed by this devourer. He uses his own darkness to pull my sword from my instructor. My instructor falls, a mocking laugh dying in his throat. He is dead before he hits the floor. I go to stand next to Father and he offers me a nod which is the only emotion he will show of his approval. We go out into the hall where one of the servants comes running towards us. He slams to a halt in front of us, then bows; first to Father, then to me.
"Your highness's, pardon for the interruption, but i have been sent to inform you that the shadows have arrived from the middlelands with information regarding magic in the mortals."
"Tell them i am on my way", Father calmly replies and the servant bows again before running back the way he came from.
We change directions, now heading towards the council room where the shadows always meet after arriving from the other realms. Father motions for me to come along.
"You might as well come. You will have to do the same thing one day."
The statement surprises me. I do not get invited to a lot of meetings, especially meetings with the shadows of the Backlands, so i jump at the opportunity. Not literally, of course. My face remains stoic and i simply nod in a very subtle way as to not give anything away.
When we get to the meeting hall, Father walks ahead of me. Silence greets us which means either they were talking and heard us coming or they were waiting for Father to arrive. For their sake, i hope it was the latter. Although i was in a particularly unforgiving mood right about now and would not mind cutting some of them into little tiny pieces. But i forced myself to take my seat next to Father, who always sits at the end of the large table on a throne made of the bones of his enemies.
"Now", Father begins, "tell me EXACTLY what you learned."
One of the shadows straightens in his chair, the leader apparently, and starts to explain what they learned of the middlelands.
"We were positioned throughout the middlelands when my third spotted a mortal using magic. My third followed the mortal and found an entire group of them, mortals using magic, i mean. I called on some other shadows to investigate this group. They discovered that all of the mortals in the group had different powers so it seemed. One could control fire and another could make clouds appear in the middleland sky. One of them was petting a wild lion and yet another one was eating poisonous berries to no effect on them."
"Have you had any sighting of the forelanders going down into the middlelands in recent times?", Father interrupts.
"Yes, we have. That is the next part. We found a forlander angel visiting some of the members of this group using magic. The forelanders and the group appear to be working together according to our sources. In one instance, my second was observing a meeting between the forelander and a group member where the forelander performed some kind of ritual. After following that group member, we espied that they had magic, the same kind of magic that the angel had. This was proven true when we saw it happen multiple times, all with members of the group. Some of them did not have magic, and then they left and came back with magic under their control. We believe that the forelanders are trying to create an army of mortals to rally against the Backlands. And if the mortals have magic on their side...
The head shadow trailed off but Father did not respond, he leaned back in his chair and quietly dismissed the shadows. I stayed in my small throne next to his towering one. Father had not dismissed me. A minute passes, then five minutes, then ten, twenty. Finally, Father turns to me and i can tell that behind his mask, he is worried for the Backlands.
"We need to keep this hidden. The forelanders can not know, under any circumstances, that we know about this", Father says firmly to me, i give a curt nod in acknowledgement.
"The Backlands will push back. The only questions are when, where, and how", Father declares, standing up.
"What are you going to do?", i look up at Father.
"We, darling, what are we going to do. And do not fret, i will form a plan. Those forelanders will pay for what they are doing. They will never have this realm", there is a fierce look in Father's eyes.
"Ever", i add just as fiercely and i see the hint of a smile growing on his face at my comment.
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Light Shadows
الخيال (فانتازيا)Scarlet has lived her entire life in the Backlands, learning to rule in her father's footsteps. But her father does not rule any kingdom, he rules a dimension full of high demons, burners, undead souls, devourers, and every other creature of nightma...
