Chapter- 13 Heart of Darkness

Chapter 13- Heart of Darkness

 

          Chanoue had fled deep inside. Shadow and Kanoue kept hot on his tail as he shot around corners in the dim light. The stone walls were all too familiar, old images from a nightmare. The tomb continued winding deeper into the dark path. Torches lit at his speeding flight through the halls. It had to come to a dead end soon. The halls began to rumble. Ahead of Shadow and Kanoue a fraction of the wall had collapsed and cut off their path. “How are we going to get through this”? Shadow shouted turning back around panting. “There’s got to be a way around”. Kanoue puffed. He ran around another stone corner into the dark with Shadow following after him. A long dark hall stood before them. At the very end in a light cornered wall was Chanoue cowering with the stone shard clutched in his shaking paws. “Damn it Kanoue why won’t you die”?! Kanoue growled flattening his ears. “Because I have a favor to pay Chanoue”. Shadow stepped forward “You are no better than my brother was. You did the same thing.” Chanoue snarled. “What? Lived a normal life?” Shadow responded. “No! You fought with me! Your own uncle! Chanoue Stas! You betrayed your own family! Because you are your father's son.” “Better than to be him than you”. Shadow said quietly. “So you wish to be a traitor. Just like your father.” Chanoue lifted the stone shard firing a bolt of fire in their direction. Kanoue reflected it with a shot of blue sparking lighting. “Die! Die Die!” Chanoue chanted angrily. The two’s beams slowly condensed into one another before it exploded. Kanoue fell backwards and Chanoue was shot against the wall. The Shadow Stone shard crashed onto the floor in front of them. Kanoue scrambled for it as did Chanoue. Before either could reach it, a black smoke shot out from it. The two jumped back in fright. Shadow stood up seeing a huge dark figure rise from the smoke. Large canine teeth shined in the torch light under the figures black hooded robe it had adorned. The creature’s paws slid out of its sleeves as it rested to the tomb floor. It looked around smiling at its audience. “Finally, my daughters disgusting creations in the flesh”. The figure was a large jet black anthropomorphic wolf adorned in a black robe. Chanoue looked up terrified by the figure. Shadow stepped forward. “Your daughter? But that means that-” Mother Nature pushed passed Shadow standing up tall in the wolf’s face. “So father, you still live. After all these years”? The wolf nodded smiling. “I suppose you wonder why and how. It’s all very simple”. Shadow was dumbstruck. “Fine then father, tell me then. Tell all of us”.

 

 

 

         

 

 

Jake backed up against Crystal holding back a charging spectral wolf pushing against his front. “We can’t do this for much longer! What the heck are we going to do against these- things”?! Jake cried as he shoved off his attacker. “Where did Shadow go”? Crystal asked looking around for him. Too many wolves covered the cave for her to see. Jake pulled a bone from the attacker causing it to stumble backwards. He spit it out and spun around kicking down another specter coming behind Crystal. “Never mind that now, we have to hold our ground”! Jake instructed pulling her towards a nearby wall. Crystal looked to the open doors. “He must be inside”. She thought to herself but was distracted as another specter launched at her.

 

 

 

Mother Nature stared into the dead eyes of her former father. He picked at his teeth and wandered back and fourth. “So many years dear daughter so many years indeed”. Spare it Lendro, how did you do it”? Lendro smiled as he lifted the shard from the floor. “Look here, this amazing thing; although shattered it still proved useful.” Mother Nature glared at her father. “What about it”? I spent years living in this thing, gathering energy and power from those who passed it down. The entire Stas family has been my mine; cultivating power from them was risky to say the least. Donvu was a perfect example; he took some of my power as I took from him. It was like we had shared the power but it was all I could do to regain my form. But let us not forget this is all because of you my daughter”. Mother Nature stepped forward. “How is that”? Lendro pointed at her. “Our species, you let them die out! We could have rebuilt the entire wolf species together. Not these imposters! Earth is ours, not there’s; and now humans! I couldn’t let this go any further”. Mother Nature shook her head. “Lendro, I gave another species a chance, a chance to make better choices then we had”. Lendro smiled shrilly. “And you see what became of them? War, death, greed; you don’t know how to make a species. I thought your sisters would be better suited for the task but they were just as stupid! They killed themselves the damn fools. I made that stone so they would kill you and not make the same mistake; I wish I had done the task myself”. Mother Nature raised her paws as the tension grew. “And that’s why I hid it. You were and still are dangerous”. Lendro raised his paws too, fire buzzing in his pads. “Once I have killed you, I will command the army this little thing let loose”. He said as he pointed to Chanoue. “He won’t serve much purpose, those wolves will view me as a god”. Chanoue stood up with anger. “That’s my family! This is our planet! Not yours”! Lendro pushed Chanoue over with a burst of air. “Shut up, I am now your master”. “No one controls me”! Lendro sneered with hatred and raised his paw sending a fireball onto Chanoue. Chanoue was set ablaze unable to stop the onslaught. He screamed but was masked by the flames engulfing him. Lendro stopped and smiled devilishly at the struggling and burning wolf. “Now to deal with you, daughter”. He shot a burst of flames at Mother Nature. She responded with a burst of lighting. The two beams met sending Mother Nature clipping to the ground. Kanoue ran to Chanoue who still alive grasped onto life. Shadow ran next to him. Both stared at him with shock and pity. “Go on then… finish the job. Isn’t that all you ever wanted… me dead”. Kanoue shook his head. “Vengeance clouded my mind but now that I am here... I wish for peace”. Chanoue laughed choking on his final breaths. “Peace? Peace is impossible Kanoue, look at me… look what I became. Look what father created… a monster”. Shadow stepped forward closing the distance between them. “And you realize that now”? Chanoue coughed again. “I always knew it but it is in my nature, we are but monsters scrambling for order. Father was right for what he sought, not what we did… only now do I realize this…” Chanoue keeled over slowly. “We are all monsters”. He said in his final words. Kanoue looked down running his paw over his brother’s corpse. “Rest in peace brother”.