Sean’s POV

As we were heading back toward the stairs, we heard a commotion from up above. “Oh dear, I hoped they wouldn’t come today.” The Oracle muttered, grabbing both of us to prevent us from going any further. “Back in the room here, hide behind the curtain in the corner. It’s warded to prevent prying eyes, so you’ll be fine. We just have to wait them out.”

“Wait who out?” I asked.

“Blackguard.” She practically spat the word. “Supposedly elite, but I doubt it considering the types of characters they let in. Just let me take care of things.” Shrugging, we went along with her plan, hiding in the corner of the room. It didn’t take too long before four armed figures strode into the room like they owned the place, following a smug looking Lyandra.

There were three men in blackened half plate, trusting chain armor over a gambeson style armor on their limbs. The fourth member of their crew, and obviously the leader, was a woman with the same armor style. While the others had simple maces for weapons, if you could call a straight iron rod with a ball on the end a mace, she had a viciously barbed whip with multiple tails along with an enchanted weapon that was dripping with electrical energy. I didn’t know the exact name of the weapon, but it was a straight rod with a perpendicular handle at three quarters of the length.

“Oracle.” She said in a respectful tone dripping with sarcasm. “Where are the others?”

“Pardon? What others?” the Oracle asked, looking around. “Jeshua and his caretaker are the only ones who have come to see me today.”

“Lyandra already told us-“ One of the men started to say until he was sent to his knees by a quick jab to the stomach with the woman’s weapon.

“Quiet.” She hissed, before turning back to the Oracle. “Though this idiot does remind me. Where are my manners? You can call me Malice. Now that we’re all friends, why don’t you answer my questions? I wouldn’t want to have to get out my whip.”

“Snake.” Jeshua said loudly, startling everyone. “Snake hiding in shadow.” He continued, rocking back and forth in his chair.

“He’s right.” Elendria whispered in my ear. “I can see it wrapping her soul Sean. The others have some dark things slowly grabbing ahold, but hers is completely wrapped.”

“And what is this little one talking about snakes?” Malice said, striding forward and dropping to one knee. When Jeshua wouldn’t meet her gaze, she used the tail end of her whip to force him to look at her. “Where’s the snake at, boy?”

“Miss Malice, please ignore him. He’s just an idiot boy from the city. I don’t know why-“ Lyandra started, only to be interrupted by a slap from one of the guards.

“Quiet. If we ever need your opinion, we’ll ask for it. Until then, learn to hold your tongue.” He snarled, before turning back to Malice. “Apologies for the interruption, Mistress.”

“Already fawning over someone new, Claude?” The Oracle chuckled, though I could see the tension in her muscles. She was worried about Jeshua, as was I. It would have been hard enough as a child dealing with his gifts, but to someone obviously autistic in a land that probably didn’t have a word for it?

“Oh? The mighty Oracle knows our Claude?” Malice asked. “How come you never told me?” She asked as she sauntered over to Claude, who was sweating nervously.

“I. I. It slipped my mind, Mistress.” He stuttered.

“Ah. Well, now is not the time to worry about that.” She hissed in his ear. “We shall work on your memory later. Count on it.” Turning back to the room, she asked again, “There were two others who entered with the boy. Strangers. You will tell me where they are, or else.”

I had enough of this, and sent a small sphere of a shield as fast as I could through the curtain in front of us and into Malice's stomach, doubling her over. As she dropped to a knee, stone hands rose up from the ground and bound her into place.

Elendria wasn’t about to give the guards a chance, as she sent spheres of ice into each of their foreheads, knocking them out. Lyandra took this as her cue to leave, only she received an orb of ice into her spine for her troubles. As she fell down with a cry of pain, I reshaped the stone to grab her hands and feet as well.

“I do believe they are looking for us.” I said, pulling the curtain aside. “Sorry Oracle, but they looked like they were hunting for an excuse to become violent. I’m sure Lyandra here would testify on their behalf, so long as they left her in charge of the temple. Is that about the right of it, Lyandra?” I asked, squatting down in front of her.

“I don’t know what-“ She started, only to be interrupted by the Oracle.

“Don’t lie you silly girl. I’ve known for a while that you were the spy in our organization. When one person drops out of view because of the new stone charm they put on their thigh, it raises suspicions immediately.” The oracle said as she bent down and slashed Lyandra’s skirt, revealing the charm. It was a simple thing of leather and black stone, but it sent shivers down my spine.

“Bad egg! Bad black egg!” Jeshua shouted, rocking in his chair.

“Bad egg indeed Jeshua.” The oracle agreed, cutting the leather off. As she removed it, there was a terrible psychic screech, and I could see three inch long claws being pulled out of the flesh of Lyandra, who was looking on with horror.

“What? What is that and how?”

“Shadow essence.” The Oracle spat, throwing the stone on the ground. “A bit of sunlight if you would Sean.”

“With pleasure.” I said, lifting the thing by a string with telekinesis and surrounding it with an orb of sunlight. There was a bit of a scream again, causing everyone to shiver, before it quit and the shards of the now cracked stone fell to the floor.

“As for you.” The Oracle said, staring at the girl. “Count yourself lucky. How you never realized that you were willingly attaching a shadow demon core to your own leg with leather cured from a sentient being, I don’t want to know. After we clean up this mess, you will be banished from this institution. We won’t cripple your gifts, as you will likely need them just to survive. Your time here would have been simply done for your mistreatment of Jeshua.”

“What’s the difference between being kicked out and banishment?” I asked, confused.

“The banished will receive a brand on their aura. Any and all temples will reject her from service. Had she not led these excuses for guards down here, another temple might have taken her in.”

“Heh, you think this will matter?” Malice chuckled from her place on the floor. “We’ll find out where you are hiding the Champion, and then the Adder will strike from the shadows, sealing our victory.”

“Interesting take on things.” I mused, stepping forward. “I wonder if it is the plan of the elf, or whatever shadow demon is using her as a meat puppet?”

“What are you thinking, Sean?” Elendria asked.

“Well, you said you noticed something constricting her soul. Young Jeshua here sees a snake in the shadows. I think this is likely a lesser version of whatever has your brothers. Seems like a gift, really. We now have something weaker to practice removing.”

“Remove me? HAH!” The creature spat at us, its voice deepening. “You stand no chance of removing me, and I am a lesser shadow. My power is but a puddle before the ocean of the Greater Shadows that have staked their claim in this world. Even if you could stand before them, you would be rendered impotent.”

“We’ll see about that.” I said, blasting it in the face with pure sunlight.

“HAHAHAHAHA! I WALKED HERE UNDER THE LIGHT OF THE REAL SUN YOU FOOL!” It laughed at me. “Do you really think this would hurt me?”

“No.” I shrugged. “But rule one of troubleshooting is test the obvious first. Let’s try this.” I said, imbuing a bit of spirit and health into the spell, turning it into a divine light.

“KRRRRYYYAAYAYAYAYAYAA!” The creature gave a warbling scream as part of its flesh started to burn. I cut the spell, growling a bit.

“Sean?” Elendria asked, confused.

“I don’t want to hurt the elf if I can.” I explained.

“MALICE!” One of the guards, Claude, cried when he saw what was going on. Before he could gain his feet, he was encased in ice by Elendria, as well as his fellow guards.

“I know you’ve never been swift on learning things Claude, but trust me on this. Shut up and watch.” The oracle said, pulling over a chair. “See what you have been working for, and maybe if you ask kindly these two will remove the darkness that even now creeps closer to your soul.”

“They lie, Claude.” Malice hissed, her voice back to normal. “Even now they try and steal my power to fuel their foul magics. Stay strong, and our patreon will see our plans through. Even if we are the sacrificial tail, we shall persevere.”

“Ugh, more of this black lizard crap?” I asked, stepping between them as I thought of how to attack the creature without destroying the body. I could use spirit to create a blade, but without being able to see her soul I was just as likely to cause her injury as I was to kill the creature. Jeshua could see, but involving him was out of the question. That left Elendria.

“What’s this?” She asked, confused as I handed her a scimitar made of spirit energy. I was hoping that she would be able to see it, since she could see souls.

“I think it is our way forward. Think you can strike down that shadow with it?” I asked, and I saw a flash of understanding in her eyes. Fluid as a river, she flowed around me, slashing with the blade while twisting her wrist in a circular motion, the blade moving through her body with no resistance. The psychic scream that overlaid her real scream told me my plan was successful.

Or at least, I assumed it was. Instead of one blow and done, Elendria kept moving in and around the body, slicing and trying to wedge the tip of the blade in and flick something away. “Sean! Sunlight!” She called out at the same time I noticed small areas of darkness were emerging and plunging back into the body. I quickly surrounded them in an orb of light, and the screaming intensified. Seconds later, my sphere shattered as a massive dark body plunged through it, sliding along the floor and coming to rest a few feet away from the now horrified looking Claude.

“What the hell is that? Get it away from meeeee!” He screamed, his voice rising to terror pitches. Now that I could get a better look at it, I saw how Jeshua could call it a snake. It had a long, thin body like one. It also had thousands of long, thin projections, some of which still had white residue from Misery’s soul.

“That is your future Claude, should you not reject it today. Even now, I can see the projection's tentacles reaching greedily for your soul. They will latch on, burrowing in. Then use that connection to strangle your soul, slowly feeding on it as they take control of your body. You will be relegated to a simple passenger as they do unspeakable things.”

“This, this isn’t what they promised!” He cried, shaking under the horror.

“Of course they didn’t tell you the truth idiot.” I grumbled, stepping up and lifting the snake with telekinesis. It had no eyes, and a vicious, lamprey like mouth. “If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.” While I was talking, the thing was leaking a black fluid that would evaporate before hitting the ground from several wounds. Before it could try anything else, I removed its head with a slash.

“Now, did they give you something similar to what you gave the girl?” I asked, getting in Claude’s face while ignoring the blue notification box.

“No! Nothing like that! I swear!” He stammered.

“Right. Give me a second.” I said, pulling up the box.

Hidden quest! A corrupted soul!

You have successfully slain a lesser shadow that had latched on to an elf’s soul. In a previous encounter, you discovered they were being implanted using an egg and skin from a thinking being. There is a different method for the guards. Find out what it is and disrupt it somehow.

Rewards:

Variable, based on thoroughness of completion.

Bonuses are possible.

“Great, no help there. Tell ya what Claude. Level with me, and I’ll help you get whatever they implanted in you out before it gets its hooks into your soul too deeply. You saw it, didn’t you?” I asked, getting in closer. “Those little white bits? Those were bits of Malice's soul. You don’t want that to happen to you, do you? I mean, having literal bits of your soul ripped out has to be incredibly painful.”

“Her, her soul?” He quivered. “Help me! You gotta get it out!”

“We will, but you have to help us.” I said. “Think. There had to be something they gave you to infect you. These things aren’t strong enough to do it on their own.”

“I don’t know!” He wailed.

“Elendria, do you see anything?” I asked.

“Have him take his armor off.” She said calmly.

“Armor? What armor?” He asked, patting his body. “We don’t wear armor! It’s against the laws of nature! Our natural defenses are good enough!”

I sighed as I realized what was happening then. Some kind of memory wipe, or maybe a bit of hypnosis to prevent them from removing the armor. “Can you cut through the thing without killing him?”

“Easily.” She said, walking around and slashing down the front of his body.

“AAAAAAH!!!!” He screamed, arching his back in pain as I walked around, looking for a joint in the armor. Unfortunately for him, it seemed to be made of one fused piece.

“Let me guess, there were a bunch of tentacles attacking through his chest and you severed them. Are they growing back?”

“Yep.” Elendria agreed.

“Guess we have to do this the quick and dirty way then.” I muttered. I made a hooked mana blade, sliding it in to the gap where the plate changed to gambeson and chain at the shoulder. I created an intense heat on the inside of the hook, and melted the way down through the armor, slashing through and pulling it apart in one move.

“AAAAAH! IT BURNS!” Claude cried, but I ignored him, slashing through the gambeson and chain with ease. Wrenching it apart, I forced it off of him. Sitting just left of center of the chest plate was another egg, this one protected by a runic circle that made me sick to look at.

“Elendria, quick.” I gasped, and she slashed through it. The odd pressure I felt from the strange letters immediately disappeared, and Claude silently fainted.

“Thanks.” I gasped out, and I saw the Oracle panting off to the side as well. I relaxed a bit, seeing that she was sitting between the armor and Jeshua. “Elendria, kill the other two creatures if you would. Strike the armor above the heart. I want to know if we can destroy the shadows without destroying the armor.”

She nodded, and had no problem with the first guard. The second guard, her blade shattered instead. “Damn. Guess these things resist after all.” She muttered. I was walking over to give her another blade when she formed a rough one on her own, slashing through the chest armor before letting it dissipate. She smirked at my shocked look. “Sean, my evolution sends people to a hell to atone for their sins. Did you really think I wouldn’t have unlocked the spirit attribute?”

“You know, the thought never really crossed my mind.” I said, running my hand through my hair.

“Well done boy.” The Oracle said, giving me a hug from behind. “That’s four freed. I think the town garrison had about twenty. Are you going to keep going?”

Quest update

You have learned that there are at least sixteen more guards that have been taken over by lesser shadows. Will you free them all?

“Seriously system?” I grumbled a bit. Did it really have to do the subtle guilt trip? “Alright, it wouldn’t hurt. Besides, if we can cripple their recruitment efforts, cleaning things up will be a lot easier.” I turned toward the oracle. “I don’t suppose you know of a way to contact a hidden underground resistance full of people with the ability to manipulate spirit, do you?”

“Ha hahahaha!” She laughed, slapping me on the back. “Oh gods, that’s grand. Sorry hun, I’m just a simple oracle running our temple on the outskirts of the kingdom. There’s a resistance cell out here, but you already far outclass them. What I can do is pass the way to fight these things through the network. At least, for the lesser guards. I’m afraid that very few will be able to do what Elendria did, severing the shadow while leaving as much as the host soul whole as possible.”

“Crap. It was worth a shot.” I said, turning to Elendria. “Well dear, I guess you are taking the lead on this one. It’s your call if we fight or not, and you designate targets. I’ll take out the lesser ones, and support you against the stronger ones.”

“Alright then.” She nodded. “We’ll have to cleanse this town, and do it before this group is noticed as missing. We can’t let them get the word out that we know the weakness of the armor. You up for it?”

“Let’s do it.” I grinned back at her, accepting the challenge.