A New Collar
The shadow, adorned in the armor of warriors past, raised its katana in a high guard when it’s back touched the wall and stood fast, awaiting my advance. It was not a nice position to be in: to be forced into a corner brought out desperation to be sure, but it could also instill a sense of courage that made for a potentially dangerous reversal of fortune in battle. I elected to pause, my own blade heavy in my mouth as my mind raced with the memories of my first skirmish with the Dark Hour. I had been unprepared for that fight and even though things were very different now, I could not afford to allow myself to be lost to pride. Incursions into Tartarus, the den of our enemies, were fraught with danger and even empowered as we were with our personas, the odds were very much against us. Our searches were monitored, and at the first signs of attrition taking its toll, we were instructed to withdraw and rest so that we could be prepared for the coming day.
I could barely hear myself panting over the thunderous roar of blood pounding in my temples. The shadow's face was inscrutable, but jet black ichors dripped from several wounds I had inflicted upon it and a small pool of the stuff was beginning to form at the feet of the aberration, tainting the ground like so much spilled ink. Its eyes, like a pair of crimson stars, glared out at me from beneath the mask of ebony steel it wore. I glared back as best I was able; my lips curled in a snarl even as I shunted the ache of my own wounds out of my mind. The cut on my ear would need attention, and I could feel at least half a dozen cuts and abrasions, but to allow the pain to take control of my thoughts now would be to invite death.
And then an eerie metallic din emanated from the armor of the creature and the air around it began to swirl as its blade started to glow. It was a tactic I was unfamiliar with, but the ice trickling in my stomach told me it was better that I not seek to learn firsthand. A good, solid hit from that blade would open me as though my skin were made of paper, something the shadow seemed to comprehend as well; it actually began to advance, albeit cautiously.
When it finally struck, I was already beginning to evade the horizontal sweep that would have split me in twain, but before my own weapon could find its throat, a mailed elbow surged upward and caught me in the ribs. I yelped in equal measures of surprise and pain as I went sprawling. I felt the kiss of the cold floor beneath me and for a long beat, the strong urge to lay there and rest whispered alluringly in my ear, but survival instinct forced my legs into motion and I scrambled to my feet just in time to leap to the side as a second, vertical strike came crashing down into the space where I had just been.
With the initiative it had seized lost, the Shadow pulled back and held my eyes as I began to pace about it, looking for an opening, a flaw I could exploit. For my part, I completed a full circle about the creature before it struck out again, driving me away from it. I began to charge, and the creature raised its sword again as it had done before, only this time I had no intention of letting it swing at me.
Coming to a sudden stop just out of its reach, I tapped into the evoker on my collar and let out a piercing howl as the air above me distorted and the triple-headed aspect of my inner self, Cerberus appeared. The guardian of Hades threw its three heads back, howled in reply, and the space about the Shadow ignited. It was a basic power, but even the most simple of weapons could be effective if used properly.
The Shadow staggered and dropped to its knees as I resumed my charge. Time seemed to slow as I leapt to pounce, my smaller body sailing over the feeble swipe that it took at me from its weakened position before my blade bit into it’s shoulder and tore down its back, cutting armor apart and spraying gouts of shadowy essence into the air. Before it could begin to turn and bring its blade about, I surged forward again, bounding onto its shoulders and raking my blade across its neck.
The tainted thing’s head went clattering off into the distance and evaporated into a cloud of foul mist. I leapt off of its back as its body began to shudder and crumple and was about to leave when the sound of something clinking on the ground caught up to me. Turning, I found a collar lying in the middle of the dark stain the creature had left behind. Approaching it, I sniffed gingerly but was unable to detect anything harmful upon the item.
Gathering it up with my teeth, I headed off down the blood-stained corridors to rejoin some of the others heading back to the staging point. The collar was cold in my mouth, but then I expected it to be so, and something just kept telling me it was worth keeping…
*Koromaru is where he usually is, hanging in the lounge area of the dormitory. His new collar, made of faded black leather with a tarnished pewter buckle, seems fairly non-descript compared to the larger evoker he is wearing.*