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The Origin of Shadow

Chapter 7

(The Harbinger)

Shadow-Heart was running wildly into the forest as I chased after him. We went deeper and deeper as I soon became lost, but I doubt Shadow-Heart cared.

Shadow: "Are you going to tell me what's gotten into you?"

Shadow-Heart: "You'll see, it's a surprise"

I followed him for hours before we suddenly reached the entrance of some ancient tomb covered in vines. This thing was swallowed by the forest thousands of years ago. Shadow-Heart observed the entrance, looking at the strange creatures engraved on the stone doors. He then laid his paw flat on the door when they suddenly exploded, I shielded myself from the rubble that flew back at me and caughed as the smoke swpet over me like a wave. Once the smoke was gone, I saw Shadow-Heart slolwy entering the tomb so I decided to follow, there was no telling what was around here. It was dark and not even my thermal vision was enough to cut through this darkness.

Shadow: "I can't see"

Shadow-Heart: "You don't need eyes, you've got my soul. I'm a Shadow Demon, I can contorl the darkness and the shadows. Just simply feel the darkness, let it embrace you and guide you. Just close your eyes and let the Nightbringer help you"

I closed my eyes as I suddenly began to hear a voice in my head. It was feminine and soothing. I don't know what it was saying, but the moment I opened my eyes, I could see. My vision was now a dark purple, but atleast I could see, it was kind of like a sonar-styled vision. I then followed Shadow-Heart deeper into the tomb as I observed all the markings on the wall, they were of Demons fighting somekind of other creature, but I couldn't tell what they wetre. After every 30 meters the markings would start over, as if they were telling a story. But I couldn't make it out. I don't know how far Shadow-Heart led me, but I needed to know what all this was about so I stopped and refused to budge until I got an explination.

Shadow: "Stop"

Shadow-Heart stopped and turned to face me with a surprised expression on his face.

Shadow: "I'm not taking another step until you tell me what's going on, I am running out of time so I shouldn't be wasting it here with you chasing after some toy you lost. I need to get to Aerix's palace and defeat Jericho before it's too late"

Shadow-Heart looked pissed, but he finally told me what I wanted to hear.

Shadow-Heart: "OK fine, but it's a long story, infact it's basically told on the walls here. At the begining of time there was but 2 creatures, Gods and Devils, they had the ability to create anything they desired so the Gods created their Angels and the Devils created us. Only we were filled with hate and violence which led to a civil war between our ranks. For over 500 thousand years we fought ourselves, but then one day during a great battle, they came. There was a bright light from the sky and Angels descended upon us, only they were hostile from the start, they were there to exterminate us. But we unified and faught back. Our dimension wasn't big enough for both of us, so our creators made a new realm between Heaven and Hell so we could live in peace. But then we fought over who controlled the middle realm, it seemed no matter what we did there was conflict. But then the Gods and Devils had an idea, the middle realm would be a neutral zone and would be inhabited by creatures called Mortals and this land would be safe for both creatures to roam free. A truce was signed that honoured this agreement and if it was broken then the Mortal realm becomes a battlefield again"

Shadow: "Interesting story, but what does that have to do with.........anything?"

Shadow-Heart: "I was a General during the last few centuries of the war for Atrun's ancestors, the Dark-Claw family, but like I told you before I was killed by an Arcangel General named Gabriel, only he didn't just take my life, he also took my damn sword. My father made it specially for me. Anyway, Angels hide Demon artifacts like my sword in places like this. My sword is here and it's calling to me. I need it back"

I sighed and I was tempted to punch him.

Shadow: "You mean we've come all this way for a FUCKING SWORD!?!?!?!?!?"

Shadow-Heart: "It's not just any sword, it's a Demonic, enchanted artifact. It was forged with Black Fire, everytime you kill someone, their soul is absorbed into the blade and channled into you, making the user stronger. Plus it'll give me enough strength to teleport you to the Cat's Palace"

Shadow: "It can teleport me? Then what are we waiting for"

Shadow-Heart smiled as we ventured deeper into the tomb. But something was obviously bothering Shadow-Heart as he kept looking around at the corners of the hallway with a confused expression.

Shadow: "What's wrong? You seem distracted"

Shadow-Heart: "Usually Angels have all sorts of traps and guards in these kind of tombs, yet we haven't seen anything. It just doesn't feel right"

Shadow: "I think we should take it as a blessing, now come on. We're running out of time"

We finally reached the main chamber as we came upto 2 large silver doors. It was in this chamber that the legendary Demon sword rested in. I tried to get them open, but they wouldn't budge one bit. I grunted and strained my arms as I kept trying to open it with all my strength.

Shadow: "Goddamn it. It wont budge. Maybe there is some kind of switch or lever that opens it"

Shadow-Heart: "I guess you have to learn one day......."

He mumbled to himself in a Demon language before walking over to me and placing my paw flat on the large silver doors.

Shadow-Heart: "Now do you remember how we got in here?"

I nodded. It was an impressive ability and not one that I would soon be forgetting.

Shadow-Heart: "Good, because now you're going to do it. Focus, feel the Demon energy flowing through your body. You need to try and send it all into your paw. Come on, you can do this. It's easy"

I suddenly felt something inside me, running through my veins and spreading through my body. It felt warm, and gave me a calm feeling. It was strange, I felt like it had always been there yet I didn't notice it until now. I wanted to embrace that calm feeling forever. But that would have to wait until I defeated Jericho. I concertrated and focused my energy into my paws which made my veins glow dark red and shine through my skin.

Shadow-Heart: "Once the energy is in your paw, just visualize your goal in your head and the energy will do the rest"

My goal was to get through this door, and the moment I thought about it, the door suddenly exploded and I felt my body greatly drained of energy as I collapsed onto my knees heavily panting and coughing in a cloud of dust.

Shadow-Heart: "You did it, that worked better than expected"

Shadow: "Why....*pant*....am I.......*pant*.......s-so...tired......"

Shadow-Heart: "That was your first time using these powers, this kind of fatigue loss is to be expected. But the more you use your powers, the less tired you will become. You'll also eventually be able to destroy an entire castle or palace just by merely pointing your paw at it. But I wouldn't do it anytime soon if I were you, you can't perform an energy-attack if your body isn't ready. It could cripple and even destroy you"

Shadow-Heart then crouched down and placed his paw on my back as I suddenly felt alot better, he then helped me up as I felt a little dizzy.

Shadow-Heart: "I've replaced the energy your body lost, it's enough to keep your body upto maximum performance"

I looked into the chamber and saw that it was large and almost empty. The roof was like a dome shape with a beam of light coming down from the center of the roof. I looked at what it was shining on only to see an alter in the center of the room with something on it. Everything was made out of a strange stone that was cracked and covered in vines from outside. I couldn't begin to imagine how old this place was.

Shadow-Heart: "There it is"

We walked upto the alter to see what Shadow-Heart had been looking for, but I was dissapointed.

Shadow: "It's only the hilt and handle of the sword, where is the blade?"

Shadow-Heart: "Damn Angels must have destroyed it. The hilt and handle is made out of Demonite ore, it's incredibly strong, my guess is that they couldn't destory the entire sword, so they destroyed the blade and hid the rest of it"

Shadow: "So what now?"

Shadow-Heart: "Well, luckily you have the power of Black fire, or as mortals call it, Demon fire. With that you can forge a new blade with the same abilities. Just grab the hilt, place it against the palm of your paw, focus your energy and slowly pull the hilt away"

Shadow: "Ok, I'll try"

I picked up the remains of the sword when suddenly we heard noises coming from within the walls. I think we activated a trap. Shadow-Heart seemed paniced as he kept looking around with his eyes widened.

Shadow-Heart: "QUICKLY!!!!! FORGE THE BLADE!!!!!!"

I did as he told me and I placed the hilt against my paw, focusing my energy into my paw. But this took more energy than before, so I had to wait whilst the energy gathered. It was going to take a while. Then suddenly, a part of the wall moved, revealing a hidden room. It was dark, but with our night vision we easily saw what was inside. It was a huge beast that leapt at us, we rolled out of the way as the creature crashed into the alter, breaking it into small chunks.

Shadow: "What the hell is that?!?!?!"

Shadow-Heart: "An Angelic beast, it's a Griffin. I'll distact it, you forge the blade"

Shadow-Heart broke off pieces of the wall with his telekenetic ability and threw them at the Griffin, but the huge creature just screeched and charged at him. I almost had enough energy as I watched Shadow-Heart, he was fast, but so was that creature. Shadow-Heart was able to punch and kick it a few times, but because his soul was forged into me, he wasn't as strong or as fast as he use to be. But I soon got enough energy and I forged the blade. A purplish-red light shone from my paw and the blade as it looked like I was literally pulling the sword out of my paw. The blade was beautiful and felt so light despite it's size and there was something else, I could feel an incredibly strong power coming from the sword and flowing into me like it was feeding me extra energy. I was mezmerized by it for a few seconds before remembering that Shadow-Heart needed help. I looked at him to see that the Griffin had him pinned and he was using all his strength to stop it from tearing his head off. So I ran over to the Griffin, leapt in the air and brought the sword down on it's head. Piercing it's skull and burning it's brain with the sword's dark flames. The creature screeched in pain as blood poured form it's wound before collapsing, motionless and dead. I yanked the sword out as Shadow-Heart got back up, panting in exhaustion.

Shadow: "Ok, we've got the sword, now teleport me to Aerix's Palace"

Shadow-Heart: "It's simple, you do it. All you have to do is focus on your destination and stab the sword into the ground. I need to rest now so you wont be seeing me for a bit"

He dissapeared once again as I followed his instructions. The moment I stabbed the sword into the ground, a glyph appeared underneath me on the floor and shone a bright light before engulfing my vision. It felt strange like I was falling. The next thing I knew, I appeared inside the Feline kingdom outside Aerix's palace, but I was too late.

Shadow: "Jericho..........what have you done?"

To Be Continued.......