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Dotak sat in meditation, eyes closed in concentration. The ring of flame around him was his only protection, the force outside threatening to crush him. It was a power unlike anything he was used to -- not that it was powerful, not that it threatened to overwhelm him if his will broke, but that this particular power had a face, and more specifically, a very beautiful one at that, if one were to ignore that it was not a human face at all. "She" swirled outside of his protective circle, swirling from one side of the circle to the other, a black muzzle and glowing sapphire eyes peering at him, a black wolfess that appeared to come from the dark. He had often seen shadow-creatures take the form of animals, and even specifically wolves, but not one that walked upright like a woman, complete with hair and an attractive form -- wrapped in a black dress for dignity.

"Come, human," she cooed to him from the outside, and his eyes opened, but his concentration did not slip. "You cannot resist me forever." She seemed to meld into the dark, appearing swiftly from the other side of the circle. "You may control the elements, I control the shadows -- and this is my realm." Her grin was unnerving, revealing sharp canines that glittered in the light of his flame. He closed his eyes once more, not letting her taunting or predatory grin unsettle him.

What was this thing's game? If she -- it, he reminded himself -- wanted to draw him out with seduction, it could just as easily have picked the form of a human, and it wouldn't resort to threats so quickly. But it didn't seem to be an amateur; it drew him into the amulet, after all. The amulet. As he meditated, he fell into his memories.

He remembered the bolt in his chest, his lifeblood draining on the earth. His earth magic was unable to set up a shield against a shooter he couldn't see, his flames unable to strike back at the shooter. Riltas had barely drug him from the area, his protective magic greater than what the elementalist could conjure on short notice. The war had been plenty blood before then, but that was one of the bloodiest battles of the wizards as the once-glorious city of Enelm was threatening to topple. All of the greatest healers were busy elsewhere or dead, and Riltas had little choice to save his best friend -- it was to let him die, or find questionable alternatives. He decided the questionable alternative -- the Shadow-Amulet.

Its crawled into his body, seeping deep inside, past blood and bone. It was an ancient magic, a dark magic, but it could keep animate that which was dying. It was not true resurrection, merely keeping the body going that much longer, pumping the heart of its own will, not the body's. Many would say that this came at a cost of pieces of his own soul, that it must be replaced at least in part to keep that vital life essence. The Shedur, however, the ancient dead race that created these artifacts, had a much different view. They viewed the Shadows as a useful tool, and unable to influence that vital essence -- if it even existed, as the Shedur would question even that. The Shedur had a measure of control over the Shadows unlike anything anyone else could accomplish, tying them by a mix of Geasa and rituals to tightly reign their powers to be useful to one who wields the artifact, but keeping them reigned in their magical prison. Dotak was not sure either way, but he was at least somewhat altered; pleasure was no longer pleasurable, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt any kind of happiness. But he has not felt any sort of melancholy either -- his emotions had been dimmed. He simply was.

"Have you fallen asleep, elementalist?" came that voice, jarring him back to the present. His hackles rose, that sign of emotion that reminded him how different it was in this cage -- his emotions were real here, as if this has been where he truly was this whole time. His eyes flashed open, looking into the creature's own.

"If I was, you would have won. If one would even have to sleep when they are more spirit than flesh," he stated simply, keeping his voice level. He hesitated, and then decided to ask that question he'd been pondering. "Why do you choose the form you do, Shadow?"

"For amusement," she stated simply, walking up as close to the circle as she dared.

"You're lying," Dotak said slowly, estimating his words before speaking them. "There's another reason."

She grinned another toothy grin. "Oh? Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it has to do with how no one of your kind has ever seen a Shedur..."

He blinked at that, considering. It was true; after the War of Annihilation, there was nothing left of the Shedur kingdom, its people devastated by the terrible raw magics that twisted and distorted the landscape. All of the people disappeared, leaving only ruins, monstrous creatures, and Shadow-artifacts for risk-taking adventurers to discover.

"They were like you?" he asked with some surprise. "They were not human?"

"No, they were not," she state simply, fading into wisps of shadows that landed to his left side of the border. He barely turned his eyes, but not his head, to follow her motions. "They were something else. Something different."

"What caused them to have such a form, then?"

"This subject bores me," she said, flitting back to be in front of him, reforming as laying on the ground, her body propped up on an arm as her sapphire eyes bored into his own. Her pose was sensual, shoving off every curve, and her dress now exposed that much more cleavage. "Why don't we talk about me, instead?" she cooed coyly.

"Why should I do that?" he asked coldly, giving her a look of disinterest. "You are simply a Shadow that requires something you shall not obtain."

"We'll see about that," she said simply, her voice sounding bored.

"For all that we've read of the Shadows' strength, it does seem amusing that you cannot defeat a half-dead elementalist. One that was nearly killed by a simple sliver of metal and wood," he said mockingly, a grin forming. She looked up at him and glared, then, her sapphire eyes turning to burning red embers. He had touched a nerve; he didn't even know Shadows had them.

Her eyes faded back to their sapphire hue, but they now seemed more wary. She regarded him for a moment before speaking. "Is that so? You believe your flames are enough to hold back a Shadow?" Her voice grew more mocking as she spoke, matching him. "You think the far older, far more powerful magics that enchanted this amulet do not have to do with it? No, elementalist -- you are not the one worthy of respect here. You think you hold a chained, powerful beast at bay with a flimsy dagger. When the chains break free, you will have nothing."

"Yet you cannot break the chains," he stated calculatingly. "Or you would have been free already."

"You are correct, elementalist," she cooed, a hand moving down to idly adjust her dress -- and started to lift it, exposing the legs underneath all the way up to... well. He tried not to think about it, focusing on the conversation.

"If my power is is so inferior, what makes you think overwhelming me would accomplish anything? I am nothing compared to the binds of your amulet..."

She sat up, curling her legs under her, giving him a slanted look with a knowing smile. "The Shedur were still men, no matter their outward appearance. The bonds cannot be resisted by a Shadow, but a man..."

He frowned. "You need me in order to release yourself."

Putting an arm around her neck, she stretched and yawned, in the process exposing even more cleavage, managing to be alluring even to him in her relaxed pose. "I'm surprised you hadn't figured it out earlier. Then again, you were foolish enough to don that amulet."

"Wasn't my choice," he muttered. "I was unconscious at the time."

"Yet you chose the kind of company that would make that choice for you. Direct or not, that was still a choice of yours -- and one you will come to have to live with the consequences of." She relaxed from her stretch, smoothly standing to her feet before him. He closed his eyes, trying to drive the image of her body from his mind -- was she altering his mind or was this something he felt naturally? Why did he even feel arousal here? How much of his feelings could he really trust? The flames started to flicker out, casting dancing shadows, and the Shadow threw itself forward, a predatory look in her eyes as her hand reached out for him, barely broaching the flames -- but he managed to raise them in time once more, causing it to shriek and withdraw, holding its hand.

"I can live with the consequences of my actions," he said as he met her eyes, his gaze hardening. "For as long as I need to live within this circle, I will. You need me, and I cannot starve to death here, nor do I need to sleep. If I did, you would not try to be breaking my will and throwing yourself into the flames to be burned. You would wait me out -- after all, what would be a few days or weeks to a creature such as yourself?"

"Perhaps I do not want you dead," she said quietly, her eyes turning more to that red hue.

"I would sleep far before I died of thirst or starvation. You know that." He regarded her. Her eyes shifted once more, but this time slowly. "I will wait."

***

Time passed. Days, weeks, months, years, he couldn't tell the passage of time. The Shadow peered at him all the while, sometimes appearing as a wolf, sometimes appearing as a human woman, sometimes appearing as the wolfess -- with preference for the latter. She would pace, she would cajole, she would yell. Still he ignored her, lost in his thoughts. He often thought of what kind of state he was truly in. Was his soul in this amulet and his body in the real world? His body couldn't be taken care of for this long if it wasn't delivered to a Temple of Mercy. But no, they would have tried to contact him within this amulet. Could its enchantments have been powerful enough to stop the priests? He wished he had researched more of the Shadow-artifacts, or could remember more of what he did when he walked when the amulet had hold over him. There were holes in his memories as much as there were once holes in his emotions.

Finally, the time came where he could not bear his thoughts and felt the need to get his mind off his predicament. He spoke up, the Shadow's ears perking and swivelling towards him, though she didn't get up from her relaxed position on the ground. "One thing I never understood. What do you Shadows truly want?" He had the chance to talk with one, might as well make the most of it -- even if he couldn't trust the answer.

"One thing?" she responded, casting him a knowing look. "There are many things you do not know. You can know everything if you let me in, you know."

"I do not think I would know everything after all," he responded with a frown. "One cannot know everything when they are dead."

"Is that how you think it would work?" she asked, smoothly standing to her feet and walking to the circle, casting her toothy grin. "No, elementalist. I can break your will, but I cannot make it stop existing. You would be of no use to me then. You will still exist, but you will know what it's like to embrace a Shadow."

"Embrace?" He frowned. "Your act is getting ridiculous. You really want me to believe it would be in the least bit so... romantic?"

"Mm. Romantic might be going too far." She lost her grin as she paced around the circle, not flitting about like she was wont to do. She traced the line of fire with a finger, the tip of it flaring up and sizzling, although she did not react to the pain. "But you would be mine, for as long as you could possibly last. I could, if I willed it, even make it pleasurable for you, if you let me."

He frowned, fidgeting in his seat. Why did he bring this on himself? "No, Shadow."

"Please, call me by my name." She stopped in front of him, withdrawing her finger.

"You wouldn't be foolish enough to give your true name, Shadow," he responded simply.

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't be personable." She chuckled. "You should know we often have two names. For you, I am Xawera." She pronounce it "xshaweera", a word that sounded, at least to what little Dotak knew, like a distinctively Sheduran name.

"You know what my name is," he responded, trying to sound cold and failing. It was so easy to forget what the Shadow really was.

"Yes, of course. I've been in your head enough, even if I wasn't in control." She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. For the moment, she had dropped her seductive act or her coyness. "I will admit, for one that did not research true magic, you have resisted me for longer than I had expected."

"This is a new tactic," he muttered, glancing to her. "Trying to be nice? Trying to flatter me? It's a little late for those kinds of tactics, I'd think."

"I am being perfectly candid. In truth," she said, eyeing him for the moment, "I'd rather you give yourself to me. I think you would find the sensation to be quite enjoyable, even if you would have to subsume your will to mine. There are worse things in life to undergo, such as an eternity sitting and living in the past."

"The past will not use my body to do terrible things," he said, casting her a glare.

"What makes you think what I would do would be so terrible? Have you ever even seen a Shadow-possessed?" "Yes." He frowned. "Once."

She tilted her head. "I do not recall that from your memories. You have been hiding something from me."

"It's one of the few ways I can resist," he said, keeping his eyes to the ground and off her face.

"Tell me, did the Shadow-possessed attack you?" "Yes."

"But after you attacked it?"

he hesitated for a moment, looking up to her. "Yes," he said, trying to keep his voice certain. "But it was peering into dark magics. It was collecting Shadow-artifacts. It was attempting to spread itself..."

"As any race tries to propagate itself, or at least keep itself propagated," she responded with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We wish to survive. If you were trapped in here, would you not wish to escape, even if it would require using another? Would you not seek to free others of your kind, imprisoned the way you were?" He frowned. "Shadows were pulled from where men dared not cross. They were vicious, evil..."

"They were defending themselves!" she shouted at him, baring her teeth and folding her ears. He flinched, the flames flickering for a moment, but this time she did not pounce. "What does a Shadow want? What does a human want? What did the Shedur want? First, to exist. Second, to not live in fear of other predators. Third, prestige and power. Humans have done no less cruel things to other races for the pursuit of their own goals. The War of Annihilation should tell you that!"

The sudden, inflamed passion distracted him more than anything else. At first he had recoiled from fear, and now he was distracted by doubt. For just a moment, the flames flickered, and for a full second they died. She still didn't pounce, her moment of rage fading as she looked at him calmly, with new eyes. A momentary glance passed between them, and then the flames raised once more.

"I do not care what your reasons are, Xawera," he said quietly, staring to the ground. "You still wish to break my will. You would not accept the same in my position, either."

"Perhaps I would," she said, turning her head to look at him with a sly look. "Perhaps I would do it in the idea that I could someday get the upper hand. Perhaps someday I might even be seen as an equal."

"I do not think that is likely."

"Perhaps not. Perhaps so. Anything I tell you one way or another can be easily dismissed. You would have to trust me. But is it worse than being in here?" Her words were crawling into his brain, making him doubt himself. Did he truly intend to sit here in this circle for all eternity? Would there eventually be a rescue? He had to hold out hope, but at the same time, looking into those eyes of hers, he started to question all the events that had led up to that moment. The rising tension of the different orders of mages, the eventual clash that had torn them asunder into pointless, long civil war. The arrow penetrating his body, an exclamation point to what was already an empty existence, to die bleeding on the ground to a small sliver of wood that may not even have been fired from a mage, just someone who had taken him by surprise. Another casualty in a long war, living only on borrowed time because of the power of this force before him. If he could resist her indefinitely and died, then what? An eternity of paradise, surrounded by other killers in that war? Could he even look at them in the eyes, assuming there even was a paradise? The time he strode emotionless was the time he got the most done. In that time, he had killed bandits, returned stolen goods to their owners. He was callous in his treatment of those that crossed his path, though hardly cruel, but he did more good than ill on average, in his estimation.

He glanced to her, frowning, considering. She simply looked at him calmly, a knowing look that said she knew he would consider her offer without further discussion. "I will ponder it further," he said simply, closing his eyes and keeping the flames going. She said nothing, eyes glittering in the firelight. Still the two waited by their borders.

He was certain days had passed. Still she stood there, looking at him expectantly. It was unnerving, but there was little else for her to do. How long had she been stuck in this prison? He wasn't the real prisoner here, she was. He just happened to be sharing the same room. This meant an escape for her, but she would subsume his will to hers. She couldn't trust him to take over. Maybe one day she would, but not long well into she had accomplished what goals she had. Even then, their shared body could be destroyed, freeing them. Then what? His spirit goes his way, and hers another? Or would they be so stuck together he would be pulled along to whatever hell she spawned from? He couldn't tell which he prefered. He was already dead without her, so it was not idle contemplation.

Finally, the elementalist stood, the flames flickering and dying. She looked to him and waited, even stepping back from him. He stepped forward, and they embraced.