Destroyer of Time: Pyrokinesis

Chapter Fifteen: When the Shadow sets in

A few blocks from the Pendrigram's residence

The night was eerily peaceful. The world seemed like it was devoid of any sound. No loud passersby talking, no buzzing of cars and even the crazy neighbors appeared to have chosen to opt for a silent night instead of their usual bickering that probably could be heard from ten miles. 

     Wait a second. I'm pretty sure I killed them earlier.

A menacing grin split the shadow's face, who was sitting silently in the corner of the room, staring outside. The cloudless sky gave way to the bright moonlight filtering into the room's windows, but even the moon's glow wasn't enough to illuminate his face. His left hand caressed the wooden arm of his chair as he fixed his gaze at the softly glowing orb in his right hand. It pulses gently, crescendoing in and out at the same time with the beat of his heart. 

     Me having a heart. Huh? That's an exciting concept.

The hazy white smoke swirled endlessly inside the orb, searching endlessly for something. 

     Maybe an exit.

The malicious smile stayed fixed in the shadow's face while he leisurely spun the orb on the top of his palm. It was turning out to be a beautiful night for him. The deafening neighbors were gone, the night had been peaceful, and holding the glass sphere in his hand offered him tranquility. The new beginning was coming. 

He had set everything into motion. All the pawns were in position, and his plan was just going along nicely. There were some road bumps along the way, but he could easily take care of that, especially since "Reek" was already on the move. Some pests would easily be swatted off existence. 

     As long as everything goes according to plan. 

His gaze lifted to the door when the floor creaked loudly on the other side. There was a moment of pause, and he waited patiently for whoever was on the other side to state their business. 

The knock came a few seconds later. "Master, may I come in?"

The shadowy figure went back to looking outside the window once he heard the voice. "Yes, you may."

He heard the door opened and closed but didn't bother turning around. "Master, we've finished with our task. What should we do now?" 

     "You've disposed of the Cunningwells?" There was a faint amusement in his voice. Just thinking about one of his old nemesis being gone brought a great deal of pleasure to him. He wished that he was there to see the light go out their eyes, but he had to take care of something important. More important than watching some worthless garbage die. His left hand gripped the armchair tighter from just remembering some memories. 

The other man felt the ominous aura radiating from his master. He shivered from the tension vibrating in the air. "Yes, master."

     "Did you have any difficulty?" 

He felt a sweat trickled from his forehead downwards. "Just a bit, Master. That bastard Cunningwell put up quite a fight." He almost reflexively reached for his bruised side. He took a pretty substantial hit earlier, and he was starting to feel the pain since the adrenaline had worn off. 

The figure chuckled. "As expected of him. I did warn you."

     "Yes, you did, Master."

     "How about Trick? Where are they now?" 

He looked behind me and noticed that no one was there. He turned around and shrugged. "They were behind me before I went inside. I thought they followed, but apparently not."

His master glanced at him, and he could feel his stare to his bone, a coldness wrapped around him tightly, threatening to choke him. Even from this distance, he couldn't see his eyes. All that he could perceive was the darkness enveloping him. 

     "Do you have the piece?" The voice echoed from the pitch-black side of the room. 

He tried to stop his hand from shaking, but there were faint tremors that appeared when he scrambled to reach for the item inside his coat pocket.

     "Yes, Master. Right here." He stretched his hand out

The softly glowing smoke swirled inside the tiny capsule. His eyes were quickly drawn to it. The faint movement it was making captivated him and held him prisoner. He couldn't break away from it. 

     "Are you planning to give it to me?" His master didn't shout. He never did. However, there was always a commanding tone in his voice that would stop anyone dead in their tracks. There was no helping the shivers that ran through his body every time he heard his voice. Much like that situation, he just found himself in. 

He snapped out of his reverie and held out his hand again. He chose not to look at the capsule this time, weary that it might put him in a trance once more. His master wouldn't like that at all. "I'm sorry, Master. Here it is." 

He watched as a glowing orb turned towards him. It was definitely held by his master's hand, but it appeared like it was floating in the air with all the darkness surrounding the corner of that room. He could hardly see the light streaming inside the large windows beside his master. 

He placed his other hand on the lid of the capsule and pulled it off. At first, nothing happened. Not until his Master held the orb out towards him. The swirling smoke slowly started drifting out of the capsule, moving aimlessly at first before making its way to the sphere. It was his first time seeing the transition, so he watched in wonder the transfer of the contents of the capsule to the orb. He thought that was it. 

Then in the middle of the transfer, the smoke started pulsing. It began small but immediately became bigger and bigger until a half-bodied figure was created by the softly glowing smoke hovering between the two connecting items. 

He gaped at the entity, amazed and mostly bewildered about it. 

It had its back on him. He could tell that much. However, there was something familiar about the figure. Then he spoke, and it easily narrowed it down for him to identify who it was. "Where-where am I?"

"On the other side. You are dead, of course, Cunningwell."

Cunningwell's apparition turned towards the voice of his master. "You! You did this?"

     "Yes, I did."

     "Bastard! I had a feeling from the beginning that you couldn't be trusted. How can you do this?" The more figure's voice echoed while talking like the sound reverberating through an empty cavern. 

     "The better question is: how could I not?" 

     "You will bring the end of time into this world! Everyone will die!"

     "Everyone weak deserves to die. Cunningwell, the end of time is not coming. We're just ushering this world into a new dawn." 

The ghostly figure shook with rage. "And who are you to decide that?" 

     "You've always been weak-minded, Ben. You never would be able to comprehend what this world truly needs ever. We are bringing a new future forward. Some sacrifices need to be made for that."

     "You're sacrificing everyone!"

     "No. Just the ones that are not worthy." 

     "Do you truly believe that by raising that monster from his prison, he would save this world? You're more delusional than I thought."

     "Again, Cunningwell. You can never see the big picture. But alas, you are dead. Your opinion weights nothing. Well, it never had, but now, I at least wouldn't need to hear it." 

     "Don't do this. I'm begging you. Think about all the people in this world." The apparition sounded mournful. It seemed that he realized that his anger could never achieve anything. Not that his master would be moved by anything. 

     "I wish you could've seen the world that I'm building, Ben. Too bad." 

His master held out the orb further, and the swirling figure, along with the rest of the smoke remaining inside the capsule, suddenly got absorbed quickly. 

Silence fell once more. The capsule was empty while the orb kept pulsing dimly. His heartbeat was still out of sync because that was the first time he'd seen what probably counted as a ghost. 

     "You should move along." His master was back to staring out of the window. The darkness had retreated into a smaller portion, so the moonlight returned. "You have more things to do, don't you?" 

He stood up quickly and nodded. "Yes, Master." 

He bowed his head one more time and rushed out of the room. Meanwhile, the shadowy figure left in the room gazed at the swirling smoke inside the orb. Ten families. Inside such a tiny sphere. Helplessly floating and looking for a way out. 

The maniacal smile painted his face once more. They had underestimated their capabilities, and now, they were paying for it. 

     The new beginning is near. I can almost taste it.

He let the darkness wrap around the orb like a shell before vanishing it into the night. He stood up and walked closer to the window, watching his new recruit hurried out of sight. 

He also had a lot of important things to do. His Lord was waiting for him. His name was echoing in his mind.

Lord Cryros.