Shadow Of The Soul

A Story by Hayc Kal

On the edge of reality is a realm of pure potential and thought. beings from that place invade and influence our world to empower themselves, but they do not go unchallenged.

Acalan braced himself as the train began to slow. His heart naturally quickened, and he smiled as his blood pumped fast. He flipped through his playlist, searching for the perfect song. Rock, maybe? No, he wasn't feeling that right now. The scent of sulfur and burning rubber filled the air. Country, perhaps? Also no, all the country he listened to were the sad kind. He needs to be fired up, not depressed and reminiscing. A faint black fog began seeping into the car. A man coughed. Rap then? He thought. A deluge of black fog fell over the entire train, inside and out. Rap then. He decided, and pressed pay.

The smoke was so thick and so dark, it completely blocked out the sunlight. When the train lights came on, it seemed to absorb it. Almost nothing was visible to the average person. Acalan saw people begin standing and stumbling around. Two women slammed into each other, a large, strong looking man completely bulldozed an old man. People began slamming themselves against the walls and rails as frenzy and delirium began to take them over in a matter of seconds. He turned and saw a woman starting to pour water on a rag, presumably to make a filter. Acalan inhaled sharply at the sight, bad move lady, he thought, an aether-class, only question is what grade?

As soon as the water hit the rag, it began to bubble. Feeling the strange reaction, the woman thankfully kept the rag from her mouth. Acalan breathed deep and closed his eyes. The wet cloth erupted into a storm of insects. Roaches and hornets buzzed around, spiders began leaping onto people and centipedes poured out like a waterfall. A cacophony of screams filled the air, as well as a shrill giggle. The bugs would no doubt devour everyone in the car, if not the entire train. A roach landed on his arm and he shuddered.

Acalan exhaled and clapped his hands together. A series of blue sparks shot up on his body as blue light filled the air. His spirit ignited with the humming flames and he willed them out. Light exploded off of him, and the sparks flew into the air with the sound of a deep hum. The black smoke immediately caught fire and a shrill voice screamed violently. The horde of bugs also began to burn as sparks landed on them. Those that somehow avoided the sparks were paralyzed by the deep humming sound of the sun-fire, and were easily squashed.

It ran away so fast, and the familiars burned so quickly, it can't be higher than a grade 2, but aether-class are cunning. It could be trying to lull me into false confidence, he smiled, I’ll kill the hellspawn with one hit. He fanned the humming flame with his excitement and confidence. More sparks began flying off his body, tiny flames blue as the sky began popping up on his head and shoulders. The more he fed the fire with his passion, the stronger the flame and the passion became.

The people in the cabin coughed ferociously. The look of manic frenzy was fading from their eyes, leaving only pure adrenaline in its place. Acalan was the only moving thing in the cabin. Every eye was on him in a moment as he made his way to the cabin door. Their eyes were full of awe and reverence, like they were watching a god pass before them. Acalan’s smile widened as he drank their reactions in. Their belief in him would only empower him. By the time he reached the door, his skin had begun to turn a light blue.

Each beat of the music matched with his heart, and he felt his blood fueling the flames. Every second passed was one second closer to this fight. Every step taken was a display of his skill. Having such a powerful ability at only 19 was nearly unheard of, and Acalan was ready to show it off at any time. More than that though was the genuine excitement he felt. Fighting is his life, and there are no greater fights than man against spirit. With each beat more sparks flew off him, and the closer he came to combustion.

The two remaining cars were similar to the first he had cleared. People panicking, doing stupid things the hellspawn could manipulate to kill them easier. The second car was full of vines wrapped around peoples necks, and roots digging into their skin. The fog attempted to back away from him so in response Acalan held his hand out and blew the sparks into the air. Upon touching the smoke, the sparks again erupted into blue fire. Again, the smoke disappeared shrieking.

Though the smoke was gone, the plants did not die as easily as the bugs. A few even managed to survive sparks landing on them. A rudimentary intelligence had clearly been given to the plants. A vine lashed at his face, only for it to burn away as soon as it touched him. The other vines and plants seemed to recognize this and shrank away from him. Acalan felt his excitement drop a little. These were not the creations of a powerful hellspawn. They were timid and weak, burning away so easily.

Acalan inhaled deeply, and exhaled a large cloud of light blue smoke filled with sparks. It spread through the cabin like water, easily burning away any plant that touched it. The people in this cabin were significantly more injured than the ones before. The plants had begun to drain them and now most were too weak to stand. In all honesty they were probably beyond recovery.

A body caught his eye. It was sitting in a wheelchair near the front of the cabin. It was completely drained and shriveled, not a drop of liquid in it. Around its neck hung a circular locket made of bronze. He took the locket off the corpse and popped it open. A teenage boy in a wheelchair was celebrating a birthday. His mother was hugging him tightly. They looked so happy. This hellspawn had devoured the poor kid's soul. No happy death, no afterlife, no reincarnation. Just pain and then the void. A deep fury filled Acalan’s chest and he put the locket in his pocket. Acalan vowed to his father he would return this to the boy's mother. His excitement was now reinvigorated, he would ensure this thing died painfully and in fear.

Entering the final cabin, Acalan was greeted by a shambling mass of shadow, plant, and insect. Vines ran up and down the walls of the cabin, leading from the mound of rot to the open mouths and nostrils of the passengers. Every aspect of their lives was being drained from them to empower the creature. It growled at him and he grinned back. Finally he pushed the sun-fire to ignition. Blue flames erupted all over his body. His soul instinctually absorbed the fire and moved it to his fists. The cabin was dark for a moment. Acalan slammed them together once, and they erupted. His fists were barely visible, more a suggestion of something round and hard than actual proof of a hand. He raised his hands and dropped into a stance, the hellspawn backed away.

It could no doubt sense the malice dripping from him like venom. It could feel his battle-lust rising. Acalan breathed deeply to steady himself, malice needed to be controlled.The hellspawn lifted up and opened. A torrent of insects, vines and smoke flew at him with incredible speed. Acalan clenched his fists and slammed his forearms together, and blue fire shot out from his forearms and collided with the blast. The hellspawns attack broke easily on the wall of fire. When the attack ceased, he extended his arms and turned his palm down, sending a wave of flame rolling out.

The wave of fire leapt onto vines and shadowy tendrils. The fire flowed both to the hellspawn and into the open mouths of the passengers, cleansing them. A new creature stood where the old mound had been.It screeched and staggered back in pain, its legs burned black and its wings gone. Its plan was ruined. Acalan laughed as he rushed toward the creature. It was big and broad, with four arms made of vines and two sets of wings on its back. It smelled like rotten grass and decomposing meat. Its skin was an ugly mix of green and brown, and it had far too many eyes. Its head was not fully formed, as he had interrupted its ritual. It wore one of the most disgusting smiles he had ever seen. The hellspawn had tried to fully manifest.

Acalan struck with his right, the flame forming into a blade shaped extension of his fist. The hellspawn leaned back, narrowly avoiding having a hole blown into its chest. It grabbed his arm with all four of its hands, and yelped in pain when the fire touched them. It slammed him into the ceiling with apparent ease. Acalan found himself outside for a moment. Though he could not see the sun through the dark fog, he could feel it. The warm summer shine that refreshes the soul. The fire latched onto the creatures first, it wasn’t shaking him that easily.

Not a bad play hellspawn. Even after all you’ve consumed, all those you’ve prayed on, you know damn well you can't beat me so you're trying to get rid of me. You’re truly a coward. He thought, disappointed and disgusted.

The hellspawn shook him violently, its movements filled with desperation. It screamed as it realized it couldn’t shake him off. Acalan grabbed with his other hand. He pulled its set of left hands off his right wrist and squeezed hard. A loud crunch came from all four wrists, dark purple blood squirting in his face. It burned away As soon as it came near his face. The hellspawn roared in pain, and he could hear terror in its voice. Acalan quickly moved the humming flame from his hands into his feet, and pulled himself down with all his might. The hellspawn looked truly terrified as he fell upon it. He felt his heels dig into its head, the pop of its spinal cord, and the collapse of its entire body. The humming flame raced through its body fast, burning away blood, muscle and spirit all at once.

The fire exploded when his feet hit the floor, rocking the entire train and igniting any leftover essence from the creature. He spent a moment there crouched down, watching the residuals burn to ash, then the ash burn to nothing. The victims tied to the seats that the hellspawn had been fueling its manifestation with breathed shallowly. They were all pale and weak looking, most of their essence having been drained. Puffs of blackened smoke, soot and insect bits came from their mouths. Acalan scowled at the sight and said a quick prayer for them. The humming flame shrank down to its normal level, and his skin turned back to its natural color. Pulling out his phone, he walked over to the door as the train finally started coming to a full stop, and began looking for another song.

The doors slid open and a crowd was already gathered. Several first responders and a few masked healers rushed by him. At the front of the crowd, a tall man in a suit. The suit was perfectly fitted to him. It was just tight enough to show off his lean physique. His beard was neatly trimmed, his hair was dark and curly with a good wet look to it. Just behind his shades his purple eyes looked like pure crystal. Acalan hated looking at him. The men around him seemed to share Acalan’s opinion, their faces twisted in envy and jealousy. The women around him were the opposite. Despite the chaos on the train, they were transfixed by the stunning man. Acalan had to physically remind himself that these feelings were being placed in him. The man's smile was friendly as Acalan came up to him.

“How's your wife, boss?” Acalan asked with a smirk.

“Still hot. How’s your girlfrien - oh wait, you don't have one.” Orion replied, still smiling.

Acalan scowled for a moment, “So what are you here for? I handled the situation. Aether-class, grade 2 I believe. It was super weak.”

Orion pulled out a pack of cigarettes, “Grade 2 huh? That’s stronger than we expected.”

Acalan raised his finger, fire rising up from it to light the cigarette, “That was strong to you guys? I killed it in one hit.”

Orion handed him a cig, “We’re not all blessed like you. Those humming flames of yours are divine, they’re antithetical to a hellspawns very nature. But I’m not here to talk about this mission, I'll read your report later. I have a new mission for you.”

He rolled his eyes as he lit up, “I just gave you my report.”

“Yeah yeah, you know the rules. We recently picked up an anomalous spike in anima at a college in Phoenix.”

“Hellspawn I assume?”

Orian shook his head, “We don't think so, it wasn’t hostile. Just a large spike in energy. We think it may be an awakening of some kind. You’re going to find out what caused it and deal with it appropriately.”

“When am I going?”

Orion handed him a plain ticket, “Right now.”

He took the ticket, “Sounds good, see you when I get back.”

He turned to leave, but Orian put his hand on his shoulder, “I expect you to follow the rules this time. The masters are jumping up my a*s about you Lan.”

Acalan turned and smiled, his arms out wide, “Come on Ryan, you know me! I know those books front to back!”

Orion just looked at him incredulously.

“I will man, f**k!”

“You better. Now get out of here.” Orion said dismissively.

Acalan turned and began walking, “Oh, and use less cologne next time, you almost gave me a nosebleed!”

Orion turned back to the train and waved a dismissive flick at him. Acalan smirked as he saw him raise his collar and sniff. Acalan moved through the quickly dispersing crowd. Local officers and order officials were sending people away as they secured the perimeter. He made his way to the street and hailed a cab as he read the ticket. A taxi pulled up quickly.

“Where to?” The driver asked.

Acalan handed him an order check, “Airport, and fast.”

The driver read the check, and sped away.