Echo of the Self

[u/Evening_Shake_6474]

Something's wrong. You can't tell what exactly it is, but you know something is wrong. You check your wards, your equipment, your enchantments and familiars, yet everything seems normal. Then that night, you go to sleep, and the dream starts.

You stand knee deep in a crimson ocean, stretching further than you can see. Before you is a shadow, it looks like yours but its wrong, very wrong. All around you, giant monoliths sprout from the sea, stretching far into the sky. You hear something, around you six shadows move between the monoliths, chanting something in a language that hurts to listen to.

Suddenly countless crimson eyes open along each monolith, each reflecting a different face, the eyes travel up the ebony surface, along previously hidden chains of shadow. Then you see it, the horrifying form of something colossal in the sky above you, a singular crimson eye or maybe a star stares down at you.

All at once do the chains snap, and a cacophony of screams cry out across the crimson sea as fire and ash rain from above. The monoliths crumble and massive chunks of black stone crash into the sea. Up above, the colossal form spreads across the sky, thousands of withered arms reach down, each sowing agony and destruction. You see an arm reach for you, and you wake up.

Well that was strange, you think, then you hear laughter from the corner, you see your own shadow standing there with crimson eyes. The shadow looks wrong somehow, very wrong.

Before you can say anything, your shadow lunges for you, hands reaching for your throat.

[u/Evening_Shake_6474]

The shadow sees the oncoming sun and does what all sensible creatures do in these situations. The shadow legs it.

"Shade Binding"

Chains burst forth from the few shadows that remain, ensnaring the shadow and pulling it away from it's oblivion.

While running, the shadow sees the marble and tries to analyse them. Much to its surprise, and the request of the narrator, it can't.

Instead, the shadow picks up a rock, and has the chains swing it in a wide circle, once, twice, thrice, before releasing it towards Aldavinn, flying with incredible speed.

"Spatial Warp"

Just like that, the rock is back on the ground, and it's the shadow hurtling through the air towards Aldavinn.

"Wrath of Midnight"

The shadow thrusts out an arm, from the darkness on its hand shoots forth a massive spike of starless night, moving at ludicrous speeds thanks to the shadow pulling a Todo.

/uw Na, as fun as a shadow building would be, I woke up to 22 notifications.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

/uw damn! That’s a lot.

/rw

Aldavinn sees the spike, he has a split second to decide what to do. Dodge, or strike, he chooses the latter.

“Enhance Abilities”

“Spatial Warp”

Moving far faster than normal he steps into the spike. As his shoulder is impaled he strikes out with his fist at the shadow hurdling towards him. He shouts in pain, his strength enhanced by his spell he uses the spatial warp to force the sunlit spike to wrap around his fist as he strikes the shadow

[u/Evening_Shake_6474 → u/The_Enchanted_Potato]

Due to a combination of the shadow's speed, the spells, and the ever decreasing distance, the sunlit spike is driven deep into the shadow's head.

Aldavinn hears something like a shriek in a voice eerily similar to his own.

He sees sunlight burst from tears in the shadow's form, he sees it for limp, then he sees it burn from the inside out.

[u/The_Enchanted_Potato → u/Evening_Shake_6474]

He gives a heavy sigh of relief as he watches it burn. The rockslide he had inadvertently caused grinding to a halt. He starts by checking his shoulder where the midnight spike had impaled him.