You can’t avoid it forever.

Oh? Watch me.

I sighed as I walked down the street, leaving town. Everywhere I went, I saw Shadow. And that topic was just too stressful right now. I needed to do something… No, I needed to stop thinking about it. My head was hurting just thinking about this.

What are you afraid of?

You know what I’m afraid of. Drop it.

I sped up, almost running to get out of Widow’s Dusk. I breathed a sigh of relief once I entered the forest, and took a leisurely stroll to the glade I’d found not long ago. It was serene, and beautiful, and perfect for painting. I set up my easel and paints, and sat, meditating to get a clear picture of what I wanted to make.

It formed in my mind, slowly. Elegant trees, a graceful, winding river. Silvers and blues, dark greens and greys, purples and blacks… yes, the picture was there now. I stood up, and went to work.

Painting always helped to clear my thoughts. With each brush stroke my worries fell away, and as I painted the river and the trees, I smiled. Next came the dark parts of the painting, which were less cheerful, but still more calming than the things in reality.

I debated as I worked whether I should make this a personal piece, or sell it. It was turning out nice, but business had been slow lately. I mentally shrugged, and continued my work. After another hour, it was finished, and I stepped back to survey my creation.

Titled Light in the Water, it showed a silvery river flowing through a dark forest, with shadowy creatures watching, creeping towards it. I put a cover over it, and leaned against a tree, pulling out my journal full of notes on monsters. I flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for; there was a canyon not far from Widow’s Dusk that contained ravagers, nasty beasties that liked to swarm. That might serve Shadow’s tastes.

And what else would serve her? You?

Leave me be, shade.

I glared at the shade in question, a creature that looked just like me, but seemed to be made of pale, flickering, cold light. It whispered in my mind, and I whispered back, a sure sign of my fracturing sanity.

You continue to ignore your own feelings, your own thoughts. This will destroy you.

I’m going to end up destroyed either way.

So faithless.

I just know what’s going to happen.

Then why do you avoid it? Why run?

I’m not running. I’m deciding.

THEN DECIDE!

I know what my fate is. I will walk down this path with that knowledge burning in my mind, and you will not dissuade me.

But which path?

I took a deep breath and let it out before saying aloud, “The safer one.”

The shade scowled. Unacceptable. It stretched out its hand, and a sword glowed into existence. You shall suffer for this decision.

You’re just a shade, some sign of fracturing sanity, you can’t hurt me.

Oh? Watch me. The shade slashed out, and pain erupted in my chest, as I screamed and fell to the side. I scrambled for my sword, and brought it up to meet the next strike. I managed to shove the shade back and jumped to my feet, ready to fight. The shade snarled, and made a slashing motion with its other hand, sending excruciating pain through me.

I yelled in pain, but recovered in time to block the next sword strike and counter it with one of my own, slashing into the shade and dispersing part of its arm. “Hah! Fall to me, shade!” I pressed the attack, slashing again and again, forcing it back against a tree.

Arrogant fool. The shade vanished as I struck again, and my sword became lodged in the tree. I tried to get it out, but screamed as the shade’s blade stabbed me through the gut from behind. Inky shadows spilled out of my abdomen, the energy that was the lifeblood of all Darkness elementals pooling around my feet.

With force of will and force of arm I managed to recover my blade, but the shade scored me again, this time on the leg. I crumpled to the side, slashing as I fell.

I got lucky, and my sword swept out to cut through the ankles of the shade, dispersing the light there and sending the shade falling. I stumbled to my feet, and with a shout I swung my blade down, decapitating the foul being.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the light faded away, and dropped my sword. I took a step forward, expecting pain, but realized that I felt fine. In shock, I looked at my body and saw that there were no marks, no spilt darkness, not even tears in my clothing. “What… where are my wounds?”

Your mind cannot make the wounds real, but they can make the pain more real than your reality itself.

I spun around to see the shade standing there, unharmed, unchanged, smirking. “How are you- I just killed you!”

Did you really think it would be that easy to get rid of your doubts and your fears? Just stick them with the pointy end and bring an end to your strife? Life isn’t that simple, Malk. It never is.

“What are you?”

Is it not obvious?

“No, it isn’t. You don’t act like I do. You may know my thoughts, but you don’t know me.”

The shade smiled. Or perhaps, dear slayer, you simply do not know yourself. Then it faded away like the corpse had done. But I knew it would be back. It always came back.

I sighed, and packed up. Back to Shadow now. Back to doubts.

Okay Clary, here’s your big chance to impress Shadow! I just have to do the research, and she’ll be so impressed she’ll fall in love with me right then and there!

Okay, that probably won’t happen. But still, good things I’m sure will result!

I happily made my way to the big library in the center of the city, where I worked. The city was so pretty during the day, but the library was simply beautiful, with its elegant arches and the spires that made me think of swords and wands reaching skyward. This was my home, not that house where Malk lived and I slept.

I opened the doors and took in a whiff of that lovely library air, full of the scent of old books, new books, just… books. This was where I belonged.

I waved to Jen standing by the offices, and she called out, “Hey, Clary’s back!”

I let out an exasperated sigh as I walked over to her and said, “You know, this is a library. We’re supposed to be quiet, or at the very least not yell.”

She waved off my comment and said, “Oh don’t worry about it, nobody’s come by today. We’ve decided to call it a free day. Jill and Riley are on the third floor, we’re thinking of marathoning some Doyle.”

“You know, my official title as of yesterday may be head of history and magic, but I’m still a head librarian. It is my civic duty to ensure that my employees are doing their work properly and-” I broke off because Jen had started laughing uncontrollably, and after a second I joined her.

“Good one, Clary!” We laughed for a few more minutes, before heading upstairs.

We walked past row after row of bookshelves stocked with everything from historical texts to the trashiest of fictional literature. I’d read so many of them, but there was always more to read. Most people don’t realize just how many books there are in a library, and they think anyone good at reading can go through them all in a short amount of time.

We got to the third floor and found Jill and Riley sitting on the couch we’d dragged up there when we renovated that section of the floor into a sort of living area. They were watching Doyle and Arthur chase someone, probably the murderer for that episode. It was a detective show, with a really cool premise based off some old books. Riley looked up and said, “Hey, Clary, we were waiting for you. These are just some episodes from the first season, we’re planning on marathoning season three to catch up for the premiere in a month. Come on, join us!”

I hesitated but only for a second. Doyle was too good to pass up. I plopped down on the couch, and we started watching the show.

“Doyle is soooo handsome!”

“Did you see that, that was the symbol of Jamiart! One of his agents must be behind the murder!”

“Oh yes, it’s Idler! She’s my favorite character, she’s so cool and seductive and badass!”

“Wow, do you think she could have survived that?”

“Oh yes, this is so cool!”

“Okay, I’m sure that guy is the criminal, he totally fits!”

We watched three episodes, riveted to the television and trying to figure things out as we went, since none of us remembered this part of the season. Pretty soon though I remembered why I came to the library. “Hey, I’d love to watch some more Doyle, but I really have to do some research for Shadow.”

Jill smirked at me. “Ooo, that’s the girl you’re crushing on, isn’t it?”

I blushed, and spluttered, “Ww-what no no not at all what are y-you talk-g-g-ian talking about?”

“Haha, I knew it! Come on, give us the scoop. Tell us all about your crush, your love.” She stretched out the word ‘love’ and I blushed more.

“She’s… She’s something else. She’s the potential Champion the papers are talking about, and she’s so amazing. She’s so powerful, and smart, and strong, and I always feel so awkward because I just end up ranting when I’m talking to her and just finding myself unable to speak coherently because I’m so nervous about saying something wrong.”

“You got it bad, girl. Hehe, have you told her your feelings, or asked her out?”

“No, I’m so afraid she’ll say no…”

“Just go for it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I just told you. She could say no. I… I’d rather not know, than try and get rejected.”

Jill shrugged, and went back to watching Doyle as I stood up and made my way to my office. I grabbed books off the shelves as I went, mostly dungeoneering books but a few journals too.

I settled down in my chair, and started reading. I read past various sections describing dungeons that had already been conquered, loot stolen, all things absolutely useless before finding any dungeons still unexplored.

There was mention of a few in far off territory, guarded by some ancient constructs, but it didn’t sound very appealing and I didn’t think we’d have the time. There were a few monster lairs scattered about, but they all seemed to be low in loot, having only wealth.

I was getting frustrated when I finally found something that seemed a bit promising; a dungeon that wasn’t too far away, and was said to contain unknown artifacts but had defences that I suspected someone like Shadow could easily overcome. The writer described seeing a few magical items within, and that it had a variety of traps that he himself could not overcome, but that seemed easy to me.

Yes, yes, this is perfect! I hope Shadow likes it… oh, I can’t wait to see what she thinks!

I put away the books, wrote down the information I’d gathered, and left the library. Time to see Shadow again.

Ah, Widow’s Dusk. A city. Not really as grandiose as Raven’s Shade so I honestly don’t care to describe it. I stepped onto the ground a few meters from a house just as normal as the rest. I strolled up to it and knocked on the door twice. After waiting roughly a second, I began drumming out a pattern on the door for the sake of annoying the man who lived in the building, who called out, “I’m coming, I’m coming, calm down.”

The sound of footsteps immediately preceded the opening of the door by a tall male elemental with dusky grey skin, black hair, and black eyes. He blinked in dull surprise at me and said, “Oh, it’s you.”

“Sup, Malk! I’ve got a plan to kill the other candidates for the role of Champion, and I am practically dying to discuss it with my favorite lackey, who may or may not be you at this particular point in space-time.” I said as I stepped into the house, brushing past him and flopping down onto the couch. I looked up at his bewildered form and asked, “Anything good on the telly?”

He turned around to stare at me, and I continued talking, inwardly giggling at his shock. “Gotta say, I love this couch. Extremely comfy, which is nice when you’ve spent the last day arguing with politicians and fighting monsters in the forest.”

“Right, yeah, great… now can we talk about the killing a Champion thing?” he said with considerable outrage and shock.

“Oh relax and stop gawking. I’ve done harder and crazier things before, and the Council hasn’t appointed a Champion yet, so they’re still candidates. Totally different.”

He took a deep breath, did one of those weird meditation hand movements he likes, and let the breath out. Now a bit calmer, he said, “Okay, okay, clearly you’ve put a little thought into this. Should I get Clary, so we can both hear whatever insane plan you’ve come up with?”

“Totally. You do that, and I’ll see if there’s anything good on.” I picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels on the television. Fascinating things, these moving picture screens operating by magic and a bit of technology to receive signals and- well it’s honestly a bit boring to talk about the actual mechanics, but it was cool to watch shows from the comfort of my lackey’s couch.

Malk is my lackey. He’s also one of three friends that are the only friends I have. He lives in the same house as another one, Clary, despite them having few things in common. I sleep on their couch when I’m not busy training in the wild, killing things, or traveling. They were united by their friendship with me… that and their infatuation with me, though I couldn’t blame them for that. Antiheroes like myself, so rugged and morally ambiguous, tend to be quite attractive to supporting characters like them. Though I doubt they saw it that way; it seems that few considered the world the way I did, as a collection of tropes and stories.

Malk and Clary have their own interests, and though they live together they sleep in separate beds, and only ever pretend they’re in a relationship to distract themselves and others from their inability to be with me. I’ve confided in them before and trust them fairly implicitly, which is partially because I’ve encouraged their infatuation and kept them at just far enough from me to believe they still have a chance, without alienating one of them.

It’s useful to have lackeys who will obey you out of obsession and foolish trust.

As I quickly realized there was nothing useful on the television, I heard Malk coming back down the stairs, Clary behind him. I couldn’t see her very well at first; though she’s a little broader than Malk due to lack of exercise, she’s also shorter than him by a foot or so. She’s got dusky purple skin, dark grey hair, and light grey eyes, all fairly bland for a Dark elemental.

They sat down on the other couch, and I sat up, stretching my arms above my head in a way that caused Clary to blush a bit and Malk to look away. Then Clary said, “Uh, Shadow, you’ve got a bit of, uhm, blood. Like, everywhere, it’s like you got tossed into a meat grinder.”

I blinked a few times, and looked down at my outfit; it was bloodspattered, ripped in a couple areas, and pretty close to ruined. Well, that explained why the cafe owner had looked at me oddly. I shrugged and said, “These things happen. So, time to chat about murder!”

Clary smiled brightly and started chattering at high speeds, “Ooooh yes I’m totally up for this, I was watching a few episodes of Black Hats this week and I totally know how to hide a body now! That show is sooo good you really need to start watching it, I totally would have invited you if you’d been in town much this week but you were so busy and I was so lonely because Malk here hates that show, and it would have been awesome watching it with you! Oh and I got a new book about famous assassinations throughout the history of the elements, and I bet this would totally go in there since we’re killing a Champion, it is a Champion right?”

“A candidate only, my dear minion. And I doubt anything you learned in Black Hats will be useful here, because I don’t really intend on doing something quiet or stealthy. You know me, I just love the grandiose.”

“Well, you are grandiose so of course you’d like it, hehe.” Clary blushed a bit as her mouth got away from her, and I gave a little laugh.

“Shadow, are you sure about this? Attacking even a candidate is something that is going to be very dangerous and risky. We should have caution here, and see if there’s any other route.” Malk said with an air of reserve and concern.

I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, “Are you doubting my power, Malk? Do you think I can’t pull this off?”

“No, I just think you shouldn’t rush into it.” It almost looked like Malk tensed up for a second, but I dismissed that as an optical illusion.

“Oh come on Malk, don’t be such a spoilsport! This will be fun, it’s been so long since we did a mission with Shadow!” exclaimed Clary in my defense.

“It’s alright Clary, he has a point, to an extent. This will still need a bit of subtlety and intellect. Basically, the Council’s turned me down for the role of Champion, but when I checked the paper I saw two other candidates being considered. Now that the Council has made a formal rejection of me, Renessa will have a harder time campaigning against the other two, so we need to act fast. I need to set up a deception of some sort that paints me in appealing light while taking one or both of the other candidates out of the running, and I’d prefer if it was lethal. That should force them to choose me.”

Malk nodded. “It has the makings of a good plan, but you should probably get a few more details first. I assume you’ve thought of at least a few?”

“Well, to perform the plan, whatever it is, I need a bit of a power boost. Maybe a magical item or artifact, or some extra magical knowledge. Once I’ve got that, there’s the matter of the plan itself. We need to engineer a conflict involving the other candidates to get one or both killed or injured, and we have to engineer it in a way that I can sabotage the other two without getting noticed. Now, my immediate thought is to get another element to launch a raid, since it would be easier to off the other two, but I have no idea how to get them to Nyx without somehow securing Night’s Bastion and the portal there. Alternatively, I could get a bunch of monsters and have them ambush the two, but that might seem more like foul play.”

They nodded, and Malk gestured for Clary to speak first, sensing she had something to say.

Clary is a caster, sort of. She was thought to be quite prodigal, but it turned out she was actually only good at magical theory, and book learning, and was quite weak magically speaking. This meant she couldn’t be a soldier or guard, so she landed a job as a scholar in the city library, and apparently a librarian too. This gave her quite a bit of knowledge to draw from, and whenever she wasn’t watching new television shows she had her head in a book.

“It seems like what you’re looking for would be highly valued. There used to be a bunch of famous artifacts kept in vaults that would be useful to you, but they were all stolen by Light in recent decades, what with all our losses. If any remain, they’re probably too secret and well-guarded for us to get to. I can look up some scrolls and potions to see if there’s anything sold that would have an effect, but I think your best bet would be a dungeon or lair of some kind where monsters and rogue elementals would have stored magical items. It’s unlikely that those would have been raided by Light in their attacks, and Dark hasn’t had the forces to muster any attacks on them in a long time. I’ll do some research while I’m at the library, and see what I can dig up for you.”

“That seems good. Tell me what you find, and try to do it quick, we’re on a tight schedule. Malk, what can you do?”

Malk’s a slayer, one who opted out of the military to pursue the arts. It seemed silly to me, but it let me snag him to my own cause, so I wasn’t going to judge. He loved to draw monsters, and had a fascination with them, occasionally waxing philosophical about the inherent savagery surrounding the civilization of elementals, and garbage like that. I found his meditation and philosophy boring.

“Well, it’s not like we’re experiencing a shortage of monsters, what with the lack of any soldiers to fight them. You could probably find an abandoned town with enough monsters to set up an ambush.”

“On the pretense of a reclamation or extermination mission, I like it. Anything else?” “There are some monster lairs I know of that are big enough to be a threat, and several roving bands of monsters you might be able to corral into service. Really though, I’d need to think on it more and check some of my notes to figure out what would be good for your plan.”

I was still debating aspects of the plan myself, such as whether to kill one or both, and how to stage it, so I said, “Right, take a research day then, while I think about the plan. Talk to you tonight, or tomorrow morning, whichever.”

“Awesome! Well, I’ll go get started!” said Clary as she bounced to her feet and skipped out the door. Malk sighed, rolling his eyes at her. He started to say something, stopped, started again, and stopped again.

“Something on your mind, Malk?”

“I just… it’s nothing. Nothing important. Talk to you later, Shadow.” He stood up abruptly, and grabbed a satchel of various supplies before walking out the door.

Well that was weird… I wonder what’s going on his head. I shrugged, and flipped through a few more channels before giving up and turning the television off. I considered just sleeping until they came back, but remembered just in time my third friend, who I hadn’t seen for a few days.

I got up, and walked out the house, orienting myself to face the forest. With a quick gathering of the darkness I was off into the air, speeding over the city and into the trees. I passed by creatures and animals and all sorts of forest things before reaching my destination; a cave. I started to step forward, but paused, and gave a little giggle. It’d been a while, so I might as well make up for it.

I coughed a little to clear my throat before calling out, “Oh great and magnificent creature of darkness, I call to thee! This humble being requests your presence, for you are indeed greatness made manifest!” I gave a little bow, and watched as dark tendrils began to emerge from the cave. The circled around the clearing, and from the shadows emerged a vast goliath of darkness, with burning red eyes and a savage maw.

Then the shadows dissipated, and a bunny rabbit stood in their place, with dark fur and odd red eyes like the construct. Its shadow was elongated and strange, and it began to reshape itself to form, Mum! You’re back!

I scooped up the rabbit and began cooing to him. “Yes I am, I am indeed! How’s my favorite little killer been, hmm? I’m sorry for being away so long, but I’ve been busy trying to make things work out with the Council.” I hugged him to my chest, and began petting his fluffy little head. His ears twitched a few times before he reformed the shadows around him.

It’s been lonely, and Malk and Clary never play with me. Any time they do visit, Clary just talks about her stupid shows and I end up arguing with her about how they’re not actually intellectual like she thinks they are. And Malk never wants to do anything except paint and meditate, he’s so boring.

“Awww, you poor thing. Well, don’t worry, I’ve got some wonderful things planned for the future! We’re going to kill some elementals! The two candidates for the position of Champion, which Fitzdonald has declared me unfit for.”

We should kill him, too.

“While it would be nice to have him out of the way, it’s not the best move. How can I prove to the world that I’m not a villain if I kill anyone who disagrees with me? No, the best thing to do is convince Fitzdonald, or outmaneuver him. Malk and Clary are working on that, researching things to help. So, Wabbit, what do you want to do until then?”

We could practice for a bit. Or we could take a nap, I miss sleeping on you.

“Right, a bit of combat practice, and then the couch it is!” I snapped my fingers, and darkness flowed around the clearing, forming walls to make it more of an arena. “Let’s see what you’ve accomplished since we fought last.”

He nodded his furry little head, and hopped out of my arms, gathering the shadows about him and forming a shield. I grinned, and immediately launched into attack, swinging my sword out and cracking it at the shield like a whip. The blade sunk into the energy and it dissipated instantly, but Wabbit wasn’t underneath. A trick, wonderful! I spun around to find him running at me, tendrils of darkness all around him. Tentacle after tentacle darted after me, and I cut through one after another with speed and grace. I front flipped over the last two, jumping over Wabbit as he lunged. I turned on my heel to face him again, and pointed at him, sending a crackling bolt of darkness his way.

He hopped back and forth as I sent bolts, and the moment I stopped he jumped at me, propelled by darkness and naturally strong legs. The shadows around him melted into a suit of armor with vicious spikes, and his claws turned into vicious blades, but I raised my own sword and he hit that instead. I gave a quick slice and sent him flying off to the side, but he recovered mid-air and landed on his feet, retaliating with more tendrils. I sent a wave of darkness at him, but he jumped and twirled around it, coming at me spinning and with his tendrils forming a sort of drill. I swung my sword up to block the attack, and as I did he swerved to the side, around my sword.

I laughed with glee as he slammed into me, sending me back, and grabbed him as he tried to hop away, throwing him to the ground and breaking his suit of armor. The shadows that had formed it melted away, and he hopped to his feet as quickly as he could. I raised a shield about me in preparation for his next attack, and was not disappointed. He hopped into the air, and began making rapid movements with his paws, sending crescent after crescent of dark energy at my shield. The stress was heavy, and instead of taking more hits I dropped the shield and twirled past him, but he lashed out with shadowy claws as I did so, raking my arm. He dropped to the ground and we faced each other, both still strong.

“Well, that was fun. Nice technique.” I relaxed, and Wabbit did the same. I leaned back against a tree, dismissing the darkness I’d gathered.

I let out a yawn, and his shadow formed, Let’s go sleep now, mum.

“An excellent idea.” I started walking back towards town, Wabbit following.

Something I should point out really quickly is that Wabbit is not my actual son. Like I said, elementals can’t do that, and even if we could I don’t think I could produce a rabbit. I’m his adoptive mother however, because I saved him from being eaten by the monster that killed his family. I raised him, helped him, and taught him. He’s probably the only person I love in this world.

We walked back to the house, but I noticed a letter on the ground at the door. I picked it up and saw the label; it was from Renessa. Skimming through, it seemed she was concerned about Fitzdonald’s decision, and that she wanted to be more active in their campaign. She wrote a little bit about how there were other candidates, which I knew by now, and that I should learn more about them. Drake was a young hotshot with little respect for Fitzdonald, and little respect for any authority. The other candidate, Kymien, was an old veteran and a strong supporter of Fitzdonald. Kymien hated Shadow, Renessa, and anything that went against the laws of the Council.

Interesting. I might be able to get Drake on my side, but Kymien would have to die. I continued reading, and learned that Fitzdonald and a number of other Council members were going to oversee a duel between the candidates. It was originally schedule for a few days from now, but Fitzdonald had moved it up after Renessa had confronted him over his decision. He was panicking to get a Champion in place, the cowardly miser. The duel was a chance for me to examine their fighting styles, and figure out how to deal with them.

I put the letter away, and gave the letter a few more seconds of thought before figuring out my plan. I told Wabbit what the letter had said, and stepped inside the house to grab a thick black cloak that would shade my face but still show the spattered blood on my clothing. Wabbit leapt up onto my shoulder, and I flew into the air.

I went in the direction Renessa had supplied, and soon sighted a clearing with elementals scurrying about. I breezed past the trees and landed solidly on the forest floor. I could see Fitzdonald standing at the edge of the clearing, and in the distance I could see a group of armored and cloaked figures working on the arena. I smiled to myself, and slipped past the trees to right behind Fitzdonald. I whispered, “Hello there, Fitzy.”

To my annoyance and surprise, he seemed entirely calm, and replied, “Hello, Kiana. Come to see who you’ve been passed over for?”

“Come to see the competition, more like.” I gave him a smirk, though it was barely visible with my face obscured. And what with him still not looking at me. “You know, it’s rude to look away from someone when they’re talking.”

He leisurely turned to face me, and asked, “And when has the woman covered in blood cared about being polite?”

I bristled at that, mostly because he seemed completely nonchalant at my bloodspattered clothing. “Look Fitzy, I just want to get this over with. You can’t honestly think these two losers are better choices than me.”

“Actually, I can.”

“Fitzdonald! Enough joking about this. You can deny it all you like, but I can be a force of good. Under me Darkness will grow strong, and our military will finally stop losing to our enemies! I want to help Darkness… and I want to help Nyx.”

He chuckled. “Actions speak louder than words, Kiana, and your actions have had a distinct tone since the very first day.”

I gave a little noise of frustration, and asked, “How can you just ignore all the good that I can do by being Champion? I could destroy the monsters that plague our towns and wilderness. I could drive out our enemies and liberate all of Nyx. I could reclaim our territory, and regain ground on Warfield! I could return us to our glory days, to the days when Darkness was powerful!”

“Those days were nightmares. Atrocities were commonplace, we were feared instead of respected, and our enemies would execute Dark soldiers because they knew that every soldier deserved it.” Fitzdonald sounded tired, like he’d said this before.

“Maybe the military committed atrocities, but did the civilians? No. They thrived. They prospered. For the people of Darkness it was a golden age, a golden era, with no fear of invasion or resource strain. Is your precious honor worth the suffering of the commoners, Fitzdonald?”

He flinched, and I saw pain in his eyes. “Under you it would be no golden age.”

“That’s what you keep saying, but can you prove it? Can you really prove that I do not have good intentions?” Wabbit formed his shadow into the words, Yeah, Shadow wants nothing but good for you people and you keep fighting her!

Fitzdonald looked at the rabbit, and laughed. “You turned a rabbit, this creature you’ve called your adoptive son when talking about him to the Council, into a child soldier. You made a simple rabbit into a child soldier, and you expect me to believe, or even care, that you have good intentions?”

“He’s not a-he isn’t a child soldier he just-it’s his choice! He’s my friend, and ally! Why do you even care, you stupid old man?”

Fitzdonald smirked and was about to reply, but one of the guards called to him, “Fitzdonald, we’re ready to begin.” He sighed, and walked off to oversee the duel. I followed him, and saw the two candidates clearly.

On the left was the one I assumed to be Drake. Had spiky hair and sharp eyes, and was wearing a leather outfit just a bit fancier than it needed to be. He held a rapier in one hand, and had a few wisps of darkness gathered in the other. I was surprised for a second, until I remembered that only elementals capable of casting and slaying would even be eligible for the role of Champion. I was unique in that I was just as powerful with a sword or with magic, but with enough time and effort other elementals could learn how to do both.

Kymien meanwhile was in full battle regalia, lots of plate and metal. He was thick to Drake’s thin, but it was entirely muscle from what I could see, and he hefted a big warhammer as if it was nothing. As the two began circling each other, I saw that Kymien moved with practiced, orderly movements, in regulation with the training of the Academy of War. Drake on the other hand moved randomly, occasionally taking a step in a different direction just to mess with Kymien.

Kymien was first to strike, waiting until Drake made another move out of line to charge him, warhammer swinging. Drake dodged the strike, and placed his hand on Kymien’s armor, sending a pulse of darkness to knock him to the side. Kymien got his warhammer up in time to block Drake’s next attack; a magically imbued slash of his rapier. Kymien assumed a stance, and Drake gave a little laugh before jumping back a step and darting to the side for another attack. It continued like that for a few minutes, with Kymien using stances and solidity, while Kymien darted about at random. Their styles were easy to remember, a simple matter of order and chaos, so I left before the fight was over, walking off with Wabbit and saying, “Let’s get some rest.” as I flew into the air.

I sighed at Kiana’s latest theatrics. Always with that nonsensical love of the grandiose. After she left the room I called out, “This meeting of the council is dismissed. Any remaining discussion may be had at the next meeting, and any concerns over today’s decision may be directed to me in private.”

I rose wearily, and walked out of the building and into the city. There were many who I knew would be eager to ‘raise concerns’ and deliver ‘constructive criticism’ of the decision I had announced, but I was not in a mood to deal with them after months of struggle and debate. If only Renessa would just- I clenched my fist and forced myself not to think about her. I was tired of spending every day stressed and exhausted, trying to deal with Renessa and convince the council not to trust Kiana.

I let out a deep breath, and tried to enjoy the sights of the city. It was a beautiful city, those glittering points of light giving clarity and warmth to the proud architecture. Though I’d always found it to be perhaps too proud, too arrogant, too disconnected from the people. Monuments had always found their way into Dark cities; glorifying ourselves seemed to be a basic tenet of our culture. Another problem that no one saw, that no one wanted to fix.

Frustration rose again, and I sped up without noticing until I felt a tearing pain in my leg, and winced. Curse these old bones. I shook my head at my curse, as ever hating it but having to live with it… until I lived no longer. By a cruel twist of fate, or perhaps mere bad luck, I formed from the nexus… differently. Something went wrong, and I was afflicted with a rare sort of malady found only a few times in a century. It meant that unlike other elementals, I aged past physical maturity, resulting in my wrinkled skin and decrepit bones…

And it meant that one day, no matter what I did, I would die of mere old age, a death that Kiana and those like her would deem ignoble… pathetic.

It was why I had to strive so hard to fight back against Renessa in the council. They could afford to wait decades to achieve their goals because they knew that one day, I would die of natural causes. I was already 153 years old after all… I didn’t have many decades left, and they knew it.

Luckily, my opponents were impatient children like Kiana and ambitious fools like Renessa. They would not have the restraint to play the long game. And you’re still thinking about them, even though you told yourself not to. I let out another weary sigh, something that had become far too common in recent years, and tried to block out those thoughts.

As my thoughts returned to the city, I saw a few people in rags on the side of the street, victims of recent circumstances. A few years ago, the idea of homeless or beggars on Nyx would have been unthinkable… but then came the campaign that devastated us, when the last Champion died in battle. So many lost soldiers, so many destroyed cities, and the destruction hadn’t ended there. Without soldiers to protect the towns they were ravaged by monsters, and without enough towns, more and more people were forced to head to cities where they couldn’t get jobs… and were left homeless on the streets. Without a Champion to lead the army, there would be no way to recover that territory, no way to fix these problems…

This was what Renessa’s maneuvering caused. This was what happened when the council was forced to debate for months on the choice of a new Champion. And to some extent this could be considered my fault… I believed I was making the right choice opposing Kiana, but I still felt guilt for contributing to this horrid mess.

I walked over to the group and took out a pouch of gold coins, handing it to the woman who had a hat out, which so far contained only a few silvers. She thanked me warmly, and I continued on my way.

As I rounded the corner of the street and saw my house in the distance, a sound echoed from behind me; footsteps that were steady yet hurried. Please don’t let it be her…

I looked behind me, and a few moments later I saw a tall woman with dark grey hair and light purple skin walking towards me. Renessa. She called out, “Fitzdonald! You’ve made a grave mistake.”

I turned around fully, and smirked at her. “Have I now? From my perspective, I’ve fixed your mistakes. Your idiotic delaying and posturing in the council has led us to this. You must have seen the homeless on the way here, I’m sure. They are the result of you and your faction preventing the council from coming to any decision.”

Renessa glared and said, “It is obvious that Shadow is the right choice for Champion. You are the one trying to stop her, and thus holding everything up. She could have been Champion weeks ago, months even, reclaiming territory and destroy our enemies, if you would just stop being so stubborn about denying her. She is the right choice.”

“If Kiana rose to power, do you really think it would fix any of the problems we’re facing? You know her better than any of us, Renessa. You can’t honestly believe that Kiana will care about the poor, the homeless, the lost, those that have suffered… she will merely see them as more pawns in her game, more toy soldiers to throw at the enemy without a care for their lives.”

Renessa hesitated, and I pressed her. “You’ve seen the same reports I have. You know what Kiana’s rumored to have done at the academies. Just today you saw her arrogance, and her childish anger when denied what she sees as rightfully hers. Is that who you want to be the symbol of our people, the leader of our army? Do you want to have her send us back to the days when we were villains and monsters, when Darkness and evil were considered synonymous? We’ve come so far since then, we’ve accomplished so much… would you sacrifice all that for the sake of power, for her?”

Renessa looked down for a long moment, but when she looked up again her gaze was as steel. “Shadow will rise. Whether you stand with her and rise to glory, or stand against her and are washed away by the tides of change, Shadow will rise.”

I shook my head wearily at her support of Kiana and walked away, calling as I did so, “Not if I can help it.”

Having discarded the minotaur meat a while back to look civil, I slinked into Raven’s Shade looking all regal and important and other such nonsense. I ignored the commoners, encountered no guards this time, and made my way to one of my favorite spots in the city; Café Ritan.

I have no idea why it’s called that, by the way. It’s a coffee shop that stocks a few other things like newspapers and muffins and coffee obviously. Good food and good service. At that time of day, somewhere between noon and the evening, only two customers were in the shop, and the owner.

The customers had already gotten their coffee and were sitting at a table, so I walked up the owner and said, “A cup of coffee of any kind, please, as long as it has some spiraldust in it.”

He nodded, and a minute later came back with a cup of coffee. I thanked him, and paid him a few coins. At this point, it would be sensible to wonder why I treated him with respect, while I sneered at most commoners.

The answer is quite simple; he was someone offering me a service, at a reasonable price and with satisfactory demeanor. As such, I had no reason to look down on him. Guards fulfill a service for the city, risk their lives, and have extensive training. Commoners simply walk about and be boring all the time. Useless creatures, they would be much better put to use as fodder for the military.

I picked up a newspaper and sat down at a table in the corner of the shop where I could watch everyone else without being clearly seen myself. Vague paranoia, for the most part. I skimmed through the boring parts of the newspaper, like the chimera attack on some random village whose guards all died in the war (seriously, who cares if twenty commoners died?), or the rising price of various goods, while drinking my coffee.

I’d already eaten the minimum this week, so I used the energy from the coffee to heal my broken bones from the minotaur fight. As I did that, I relaxed the pain blocking spell I had used to let me walk without screaming. The pain had already eased, so I just got a short shock and a wince.

As ever, I was thankful for the unique nature of elementals. All the animals that my people had observed in the wild operated very strangely; they ate, and then defecated unusable parts of the animal. Very inefficient system. We elementals naturally converted all parts of our food into raw energy, which allowed us to live on three meals a week, and occasionally convert that energy into healing for our bodies, such as I had done with the coffee now and the minotaur meat earlier.

Seriously though, I could always cheer myself up by looking at the animals. They had to actually defecate and eat like, three times a day… they only lived a few decades and actually aged, instead of living forever at the peak of physical maturity… and of course they actually reproduced, bringing a whole new meaning to sex and entirely more serious connotations. I’d hate having to deal with all that.

Feeling a little better, I finally found the part of the newspaper I was looking for; the war summary, a section of the paper that outlines recent developments in the wars between elements.

There are six main elements in our little universe; glorious Darkness, raging Fire, gusty Air, dirty Earth and like, uh, wet Water, and uhm… bright… Light? Each element has a natural opposite, such as Darkness and Light. There are also two other elements that are kind of weird; Frost and Storm. Frost is related closely to Water, but is different in many ways and has its own territory. Storm is in the same position, but with Air.

There are also seven ‘worlds’; six planes (vast, triangular flat surfaces with vegetation, animals, dirt, and so on) and one planet (like a plane, but spherical). The planes are thus: Darkness holds Nyx, Fire holds Ignis, Water holds Aquas, Earth holds Terra, Air holds Zephyr, and Light holds Lux. Frost and Storm are kind of weird because they have smaller, less cohesive planes that are near their planes, Frost on Glacial near Aquas and Storm on Gale near Zephyr. And then there’s the seventh planet, arguably the most important; Warfield.

Warfield is a place of change, of balance, and more than anything else of chaos running wild. It also is host to a ton of portals. Portals are interesting things; they naturally form within cities, connecting each city of an element to the other cities as long as they are on the same world. There are also static portals, ones that will always remain, and always connect between two locations. Every plane has three static portals (one at each tip of the triangle) to Warfield and the sub-planes of Frost and Storm each have a static portal to the plane they’re near.

Because Warfield has connections to every world, it’s the most fought-for location. Any side that controls Warfield controls the war.

The war summary was brutally honest in all things, which I appreciated. Firstly, it stated that Darkness held only its static portals on Warfield, and absolutely nothing else. This was the result of events a while ago, when Dark’s campaign was crushed by an alliance between Light and Fire. The campaign was officially ended when the Dark Champion was killed by the Champions of Light and Fire.

Now, things were murkier. Light was the dominant faction, having won every battle it was involved in. Water and Fire were engaged in a brutal war that Water was winning, because Earth and Air had joined Water in alliance. Rumors and espionage suggested that Earth and Air had joined this alliance in a bid to stand against Light, as a form of safety in numbers. Dark was weakest thanks to our recent losses, and Frost and Storm were once more in minor conflict with Water and Air respectively.

I had been watching parts of these wars with interest, as Fire had been doing surprisingly well despite its great opposition. A bit of strategic brilliance had just won them a battle where they were outnumbered six-to-one. Indeed, all sides had had their good moves and their bad ones, and I gave them respect where it was due, even hated Light. While obviously the other elements were beneath the glory of Darkness, and myself in particular, their militaries were dedicated and in many cases quite smart.

If that was all too much information, I’ll give you the relevant summary; there are six major elements, I’m Dark, Dark opposes Light primarily, Light was currently dominant after crushing Dark’s campaign. There’s a place called Warfield that connects every element, the elements were as usual warring with each other, and Dark was staying out of the wars because we were really, really weak right then.

I skimmed the rest of the war summary, content that I was up-to-date. Soon, I found the other interesting bit of the paper; the part that talked about the Champion of Darkness. It gave a brief blurb at the start about how the last Champion died, and that no new Champion had been chosen yet. That was old hat, but I was surprised to learn that the paper was aware of the candidates for Champion, something even I had not known.

Granted, I hadn’t read the paper recently, or paid attention to anything Champion-related that wasn’t about me, but I still should have been aware of who the candidates were. It was apparently between me (and thankfully, the paper gave my name as Shadow), a young hotshot guy named Drake, and an old veteran dude named Kymien Rathel.

That was interesting. Very interesting.

The metaphorical gears in my head began to turn as I began to work out more details of my planned deception. So far, all I had reasoned out was that it should show off my leadership ability, involve some people paid to cheer for me, and that I would have total control of the situation the entire time. But if there were more candidates than just myself…

The perfect plan would involve them dying, so that I was the winner by default. But as that was suspicious and hard to pull off it would be better to organize the death of one of them, but which one? Hmm. I’d have to see them first, and figure out which was more likely to win.

As to the plan itself, by this point I was thinking I could fake a raid from one of the other elements, or actively organize one by collaborating with them. If I could convince the raiders to target one specific elemental, they could deal with the candidate. That or I could just kill him in the chaos.

It would have to be a fairly complex, well-thought out thing, with many, many preparations to ensure I didn’t end up dead, exiled, or so forth.

With that, I came to a decision; I needed two more things in order to pull this off.

Firstly, I needed more power than I had right now. Secondly, I needed some collaborators.

And so, I walked out of the café, gathered the darkness about me, and flew once more (there are portals between cities but I honestly prefer to fly), this time in the direction of my home city, Widow’s Dusk.

Dark lion. A big furry animal with a regal mane, dark eyes, and magically-enhanced defenses that include a minor resistance to elemental magic. On average, it takes a patrol of three slayers and a caster to take one down.

Dead.

Manticore. A vicious furred creature with a tail that spits poison, two wicked claws in front, and two wings with massive lift. On average, it takes a patrol of four slayers and two casters to take one down.

Dead in seconds.

Pride of Dark panthers. Cats with deadly claws, keen intellect, and the ability to melt into the shadows and turn invisible. On average, non-military patrols can’t take them down, and even those patrols take at least five slayers and three casters. Terrifying to most.

But most aren’t me. Ripped into pieces, and those pieces then used as projectiles against the manticore.

As I fought off another enemy, this time a grundelwethin, these big scaly things with wicked clubs, I contemplated. After killing a few dozen monsters, I was beginning to calm down, and I could think things out logically.

Such as the best way to dissect a grundelwethin in such a way that it causes excruciating agony, but not causing so much pain that it passed the pain threshold and entered the bliss of numbness like my pain blocking spell gave me, which I always used in combat so I could focus purely on making them suffer and hurt and scream while I laughed and tore into them.

Okay, so maybe I still needed to work off some of that aggression. Though, as I found a new victim to torture, it did help me think about why I wanted to become the Champion of Darkness.

As with many things, my reasoning had layers. Like ogres, onions, or a good dip. Mmm… grundelwethin dip and manticore chips…

Right, concentrating. So, one of the big reasons I wanted to get involved in the military at all was… I was just too good. I was too powerful, too skilled, and it made fighting monsters boring because they didn’t put up a challenge, they just died. I wanted to be in a fight with real stakes, where the wrong move could end my life, but the right move could cause untold suffering on a hundred elementals. I wanted to murder other elementals; hurt them, break them, beat them, tear into them, leave them as ravaged wrecks, and them rip them apart and cut up the pieces.

Some would call me a sadist.

To those people, I have a very large, very rusty knife with your name on it, perfect for causing pain that will last for the rest of your very short life. I mean, I am most certainly a sadist, but it’s very rude and stupid to insult someone with a large knife.

Of course, there are more reasons to be the Champion than a love of violence. If that was all I was after, I would just sign on with the military, get involved in a campaign, and then ditch my commanding officer to wreak havoc.

No, I had some long-term goals that play into the role of Champion. Goals involving statues in Raven’s Shade. Goals involving ruling over my fellow elementals, letting them know once and for all that I was not a fellow, not an equal, but a superior. A queen. An empress. A goddess.

Goals involving- ooh, that was a lesser drake! Those things were wonderfully deadly, and they made nice boots.

Concentrate, Shadow!

Right, right. Goals involving the conquest of other worlds, seeing my enemies driven before me, and those that fall behind made into my slaves. Ruling over all the elements, having mortal enemies bow before me in obedience.

To be a goddess is the most wonderful thing in the universe. And that, truly, would have to be my biggest goal.

However, the short-term really was just killing things. Competent enemies I mean, not those lazy gargoyles. To my pleasant surprise though, as I thought that something came charging out of the bushes, a new and exciting enemy.

A minotaur. Horns, bull’s head, elemental body with goat legs and cloven hooves, and carrying a wicked axe. Clever, deadly, near-immunity to elemental damage. On average, takes a party of eight slayers, and a caster for auxiliary support since magic doesn’t usually hurt one.

This was going to be good.

The minotaur initiated the conflict by charging straight into me, knocking the breath out of my lungs and shoving me into a tree. I heard a bone break, I think somewhere in my leg.

I laughed, then flipped over the minotaur and wobbled a bit before launching a salvo of darkness at him, hundreds of pins and needles of inky black energy impaling themselves in his back. He roared and turned around, seemingly unharmed by the attack, just pissed off.

I darted to the side as he charged again, thinking I’d tricked him. Instead he threw out his arm and sent me tumbling to the ground, though I managed to roll to my feet. I figured that trick would work even worse if I tried it again, and the next time I tried it the minotaur would use his axe. So instead, when he came back in a charge I summoned a mass of darkness and slammed it into him to stop his charge.

Instead, the darkness just sloughed off him and what little remained simply added on to the hurt I received from being slammed into a tree. There went another bone, possibly three. So, brute force and direct damage didn’t work. Time for trickery. I leaped to the side, steadied myself with a wince, and called the darkness again. The minotaur came charging- and rammed into a tree, having passed through the illusion I had created.

Before he could recover this time, I sent a blast of darkness scything through the upper level of the tree, causing a big section of log to come tumbling down onto the minotaur, stunning him further and forcing him to the ground.

With him pinned, I quickly got busy, sending out tendrils of darkness to various spots around me, gathering things together. In minutes, I had what I wanted: a scythe, made of purely natural materials, now sharpened to a razor edge by the darkness. I theorized I could hurt him by using indirect magic. I could have just used my sword, but that would be boring and easy.

I tested my theory by slamming the scythe into the hand that held his axe. In a lovely turn of events, it worked, and he screamed in agony as his hand fell off. Laughing, practically cackling, I set to work chopping him up until he died, and my thoughts turned back to my current predicament, that of not being the Champion.

I had an epiphany, inspired by the fight: trickery and deception. I used deception to beat the beastie, what if I used it to claim my rightful place as Champion of Darkness?

Yes… if I engineered a situation that displayed my leadership ability, using some plants in the audience that will cheer for me automatically, and ensured I had total control of the situation. I could convince the Council I was a skilled leader, and thus they would make me Champion! I would rise in power and one day kill all of them in creative ways as vengeance! The perfect plan!

Aside from the lacking an actual plan part. But hey, still progress! Giddy, I picked up a chunk of minotaur meat and began chewing it as I skipped along back in the direction of Raven’s Shade. I had some evil planning to do!

Gleaming spires towered above the city, resplendent in their dark glory. The streets were paved in cobblestone patterns evocative of the monsters, the hidden things, the secrets in the shadows.

It was a city of darkness, but more than that a city of Darkness, a city filled with elegant design and morbid architecture, of somber streets but welcoming buildings. I had to admit, the city was beautiful. Especially with that lovely murk dimming the lights and softening everything. A shame there were so many lights though, I’d always hated our dependency on them.

My name is Shadow, and on that day I was in Raven’s Shade, the capital of Nyx, my home world. Ah, Nyx. A world that, like all others, reflected its inhabitants. Misty forests, a dark sky so often clouded, and of course home to my fellow Darkness elementals. I’ve always thought that Darkness was just a little bit better than the other five elements. Perhaps a bias on my part, but Darkness did produce the greatest elemental to ever live.

That would be me, by the way.

Of all the dark gods and goddesses, of the majestically caliginous lords and ladies, of the elegant slayers and the magnificent casters resplendent in terrifying glory, I stand as the greatest. And yet I walked in the streets like a common elemental, not like the goddess I was destined to become, no matter what others might say. Commoners, merchants, guards, they all walked beside me as if they were equals, unaware of my true wonder, my unquestionable superiority.

One day that would change. One day soon, if I had anything to say about it.

But for now, I showed respect to those who had earned it, stopping to let a group of guards past. I nodded to the captain, and gave a few tilts of my head in acknowledgement to the guards, and they did the same to me, recognizing my outfit as being unique from that of a commoner or merchant.

A few commoners noticed my show of respect to the guards as they passed, and attempted to get involved by making ridiculous bowing motions and silly gestures they had no idea how to perform properly. As was my right, I sneered at their idiocy.

Turning back to the guards, I noticed that they were all slayers, something very rare for Darkness. Glorious as we are, we have a tendency to produce more casters than slayers.

I suppose I should explain this system we have, or at least touch on it. As far as I can tell from espionage reports, all elementals use the same military and educational systems as we do, likely having copied it at some point; a year after forming from one of the nexuses, an elemental will enter school, where they learn basic knowledge, abilities, and so on, and are tested to see what academy they will advance into once they are nine. These range from the Academy of War where slayers are trained, or the Academy of Magic for the casters, or the Academy of Arts for all the creative types, or whatever else there is for the leftovers. They graduate at fifteen, as full adults.

The military thing is pretty simple. A slayer slays, a caster casts. Slayers fight in melee, while casters fight using spells that manipulate the elements, like physical darkness (which is like inky black energy, by the way) for the elementals here on Nyx.

Of course, I was a bit special in that area, but that will come up quite soon, and I’d rather not have to say it twice, despite allegations that I’m in love with the sound of my own voice. I suppose it is a better sound than most other things in this world though.

Once the guards had passed, I strode forward confidently with a mocking smirk still plastered on my face, which was as midnight black as the rest of my skin. I shook my mane of dusky violet hair, and my amethyst eyes glinted with ambition and the promise of destruction, change, and power.

From the hours I’ve spent starting at myself in the mirror I know I look intimidating, especially when I walk with flair and emphasis. This is very intentional, considering most of my outfits are designed to give off one of two feelings; an urge to bow before me as your new mistress and goddess, or a rakish sense of adventure that inspires you to serve under me as a fellow adventurer.

Sensing a pattern yet?

The outfit I had chosen for this meeting was one of my more memorable ones. As always, it combined style with functionality, featuring a high collar and flowing cloak contrasted with sensible leather boots, trousers, belt, and tunic. All in shades of purple, dark in some areas and light in others. My sword was strapped to my belt, along with a small journal containing various notes about casting, psychology, and politics, letting me manipulate and manage things with greater ease.

Having assessed my appearance and found it adequate for putting fear into the hearts of those that would deny me my rightful position, my gaze returned to the city itself, that murky wonder that so entranced me. The architecture, the colours, the image, everything about it was beautiful. Of course, I couldn’t help but feel it was missing something.

Perhaps make the city more imposing? Yes, add some spikes here, some towers there, and darken the colours even more. But that still would not be enough. Perhaps make some of those buildings more grandiose, more impressive? Yes, add a few levels, some new colours to provide better contrast, and perhaps a balcony here or there. Good. But not enough. It was missing something, something only I could provide…

Ah, that was it. Not enough Me. When I looked around the city, I saw coffee shops, blacksmiths, merchants of all varieties, housing, even homeless shelters built recently for the truly stupid and useless after Darkness’s recent string of defeats in war, but no statues of the goddess Shadow, she who is Darkness incarnate. That would have to change. If I tore down the homeless shelters, I could build statues in their place. A lovely change to the city, and it would encourage them to join my legions of soldiers, to better destroy my enemies. Yes, the homeless would make excellent cannon fodder.

After a few minutes of mentally designing statues that accentuated both my grace and power, I found myself at my destination; the Council Hall. Every element has a Grand Council that rules from their capital city. It is composed of a Common Council representing the interests of the common elemental, and thus formed from those elementals, and the High Council, the truly elite, wise, and powerful.

I don’t like the Council. They make it harder for me to kill things and take power by having all these laws and restrictions, and guards to back those laws and restrictions with deadly force. Not that those guards were any real threat to me. The guard in front recognized me, and let me in without a word. I cruised through hall after hall, before reaching the main chamber, where the Council meets to discuss matters of boring import.

I swept into the room with a magnificent flourish, and loudly announced to the gathered mass of elementals, “I, Shadow of Nyx, do hereby accept the role of Champion of Darkness, and swear to do my absolute best to lead our people in the war against the other elements.”

The most vocal member of the High Council and my most ardent opposition, a bitter old man named Fitzdonald, said, “Now it is all well and good that you show devotion to the elementals of Darkness, but we have not announced that you are the Champion yet. Don’t you think accepting it is a bit premature? Almost arrogant, really.”

“Not really. I’m awesome, beautiful, glorious, powerful, awesome, intelligent, awesome, and pretty awesome. I’m the only logical choice. Plus, I’m really humble!”

This earned a snicker from a member of the High Council, who was immediately death-glared by Fitzdonald. She shut up, but still smiled. Thanks Renessa. That should undermine Fitzdonald a bit and downplay the gravity of the situation. I should thank you out loud later.

“As ever, you display to us that ‘almost arrogant’ is an extreme understatement. Kiana Vessian, the Council has voted, and we have decided that you are not the right choice for the position of Champion of Darkness.”

I twitched at the mention of my old name, which I had made clear on many occasions I did not use anymore. It was the name given to me when I was formed from one of Nyx’s three nexuses, but I had discarded it years ago in favor of the name ‘Shadow’, which inspired fear and respect, and fit as the name of a Champion of Darkness.

“Got any reasoning for not picking me? You know I’m the best caster on this whole wretched rock.”

“I am well aware of your history, Kiana. You graduated the Academy of Magic at the age of thirteen, spent a year at the Academy of War, and spent the two years since then going off on adventures and acting all together quite unruly. You have ambition, intelligence, and incredible power that you openly display any chance you can get, but power is only half of a Champion’s domain. A Champion is a front-line fighter, yes, but she is also a leader, one that can look out for the elementals under her command. And you do not work well with others.”

“Hey, I work great with others! What about that one mission I led, where we killed that grakker pack?”

“You mean the mission where you sacrificed your entire team so that you could exterminate the pack and their neighbors?”

“…at least the mission was a success?”

“It is obvious, even to you, Kiana, that you are not a leader. You are a warrior. Consider joining the military in its next campaign, as a special operative or a member of the Champion’s retinue.” Fitzdonald smiled coldly, knowing what my reaction would be.

I spluttered, and I almost killed them all right there. Don’t let him press your buttons, don’t let him press your buttons, don’t- “Member of the RETINUE!?!? Seriously? Shadow is not a retinue member, she is a goddess, a Champion, a leader, a great being of incredible power! I will be Champion, even if you are determined to undermine your own military trying to spite me! This is not the end of it, you hear me Fitzy? This is not the end!”

With that, I stormed out of the building in a rage, darkness swirling around me in a subconscious reaction to my anger and hatred. Once out of the building, I gathered the darkness around me, flew into the air, and began flying toward the wilderness to the west.

I needed to work off some tension.

Furious hatred, seething rage, and calculating intelligence. A being of power and might so vast as to consume reality.

A being imprisoned in a place where reality itself means nothing, an empty void containing a terrible being constantly reaching out to escape.

But it’s not a prison of substance to be destroyed, or a prison of energy to be subverted. It’s a prison that denies the being any way out. There’s nothing there but the void and the chaos.

The chaos, the wild chaotic energy with both sentience and malevolence constantly yearning to escape, constantly trying to free but never able to. A chaos imprisoned for millennia, since almost the dawn of time itself when it was cast out of reality by impudent mortals that could not destroy the chaos, only contain it.

But the chaos left them a gift. And it has waited thousands of years to finally see that gift fulfill its purpose.

Soon the seething Darkness and the blazing Light will meet in the place of balance, and that which has kept the chaos in this void will be shattered. And then they will all pay for the actions of their ancestors.

But first the plots must come together. A long violent struggle that will seem to those involved like just one of many in the past thousands of years. A war across all worlds.

Untold deaths, marking the changing of the old guard for the new.

And at the center of it all, a remarkable girl with a talent for destruction and domination.

The end has begun.

The chaos is ready.