Authors Note: So this is the first story in the Shadow Song collection. I will have more of these stories uploaded as time goes on, and I'll try to make an effort to release these stories as fast as possible. And for the two or three of you who are wondering whats happening with my Minecraft story, I've recently hit a wall so I'm focusing on this instead. Don't worry though, I will finish that story. Pinky promise. -TSM
"Phantom"
The soft pitter-patter of rain woke the darkwraith. The darkwraith looked around, taking in his surroundings as he had done a mere hour ago. It was nearly time.
The darkwraith shifted from lying on his side to his back, impassively looking up into the forest canopy. Darkroot Forest may not have been the most hospitable place, but to a murdering darkwraith, the oppressive darkness and abundance of victims brought back fond memories of the Abyss.
The darkwraith hoped that none of his brethren found him here; the stories that would circulate throughout the Darkwraith covenant could ruin him, and Gywn knew he had a lot to lose; for this darkwraith was none other than Phantom, the infamous mute assassin. Being found in Forest Hunter territory could be very bad indeed, if his master Darkstalker Kaathe found evidence he had visited this place secretly, the Primordial Serpent may have reason to believe that Phantom had abandoned his covenant, and joined the Forest Hunters. If Kaathe suspected that he was selling darkwraith secrets to the Forest Hunters leader Alvina… Well, Phantom was sure he'd be dead within the hour.
A warm feeling in the back of his mind prompted Phantom to action, and he quickly stood up and opened his pack to retrieve the Red Eye Orb.
Phantom kneeled, and stared into the Red Eye Orb. Phantom issued a simple telepathic command, causing the Orb to glow faintly. Small red tendrils of light crept out of the Orb, traveled for a couple feet, and then disappeared from view.
Phantom knew the tendrils had disappeared because they had entered several alternate dimensions, searching for the perfect target.
Phantom waited patiently as the warm feeling in his mind subsided. Developing the link between his mind and the Red Eye Orb had been a long and painful task, but now that it was finished he could activate the Orb at will, and be informed by it when a specified targets dimension had shifted close enough to his so that an invasion was possible.
For you see, time is convoluted in Lordran. Several thousand dimensions exist, with several thousand alternate realities and very similar histories. Most realities were safe to invade, but some, dubbed by darkwraiths as the "Malformed Shadows," were either inhabitable to humans, or simply broken in a way no non-darkwraith could understand.
As the reality shifted ever closer to Phantoms own reality, the mute darkwraith checked his gear. Phantom wore the classic darkwraith set of armor, which gave him the appearance of a grey skeleton clad in black. Phantom carried a darkwraith sword, a falchion, and stored safely within him was the essence of his darkhand.
Phantom knew the importance of weaponry, so it was no great surprise that he would be one of the first darkwraiths who implanted the darkhand within themselves, allowing them to summon its powers at will, rather than having to slip it on like a glove first.
An eerie clapping echoed throughout Phantoms mind, and he suddenly knew that the time had come. Phantom put away his Red Eye Orb and stood.
As his vision blurred, Phantom grabbed the hilt of his sheathed darksword. The weapon's presence gave him courage as he faded away in his reality…
…and entered a new one. This reality was virtually identical to his own; the forest was exactly the same as the one he had stood in seconds earlier. Phantom took in the trees, the shrubs, and the dense undergrowth; all could provide sufficient cover.
Phantom quickly scaled the nearest tree, and waited for his target.
After roughly twenty minutes, the target wandered under the tree in which Phantom hid.
The target was an obese monk wearing heavy chain armor. A mace hung at his side, and tied to his back was a knight's shield. The monk was blissfully careless for someone walking in Forest Hunter territory.
From behind his mask, Phantom frowned. This was such an incredibly obvious trap that it created more suspicion than anything else. Perhaps this painfully simple trap wasn't the trap at all, and the real trap was going t-
-TWANG-
An arrow the length of a shortsword's blade flew right past Phantom's ear and implanted itself in the tree bark.
-TWANG-
Phantom leapt from the tree, narrowly avoiding a second arrow.
Phantom landed nimbly, and rolled to the side, barely avoiding the monks heavy iron mace. A second too late and Phantoms head would have exploded like a firebomb from the sheer strength of the blow.
The monk appeared obese, but some damn miracle was giving him ridiculous strength.
A glance to the left and Phantom made out two indistinct forms utilizing massive dragonslayer greatbows. Phantom was willing to bet his twin-humanity that those two were wearing rings of fog.
The monk gave a slow horizontal swing that the red darkwraith easily dodged by backstepping.
-TWANG-
-TWANG-
Two more dragonslayer arrows missed Phantom's chest by centimeters.
The monk shuffled closer to Phantom, and swung his mace a third time, which Phantom casually avoided.
-TWANG-
-TWANG-
Two of the deadly arrows stuck themselves in a tree near Phantom's head. At this point, Phantom had their strategy all figured out: The dynamic douchebags would fire arrows to strike down the enemy, but would hold their fire if the monk got too close to the enemy for them to get a clear shot. While the enemy was focused on avoiding the archers, the monk would decapitate them with a crushing blow.
Now that he had their strategy mapped in his mind, Phantom made short work of the three.
Phantom drew his darksword, and with a graceful swing Phantom slashed the monk's chest. With a bone-shattering kick, Phantom sent the fat warrior rolling down a small hill and into a thorn patch. Phantom thought it odd that the man hadn't even tried to block with his shield. Idiot.
Phantom then immediately drew and threw his falchion at the transparent archers.
The blade flew a ridiculously great distance, and implanted itself in the first archer's chest. The archer looked down to see his own blood gently trickle out of the wound, and was trying to decide what was more important: That a falchion had pierced his heart, or that someone had been dumb enough to throw the curved sword. When the archer's eyes rolled up into the back of his head he had made his decision.
The second archer looked shell-shocked for a moment, and then quickly regained his composure. He quickly nocked another arrow to his greatbow, took careful aim, and-
For one painful moment the second archer realized that the red phantom had thrown his darksword, and for the second moment he made the revelation that the hilt was right between his eyes.
The second archer slumped to the forest floor without a sound.
Phantom admired his handiwork with the sword throwing for a moment, and then went to retrieve his weapons.
Phantom reached for his falchion, right as the mace struck him between the shoulder blades from behind.
Phantom crumpled to the earth, and clumsily rolled his body away from the dead archers as a follow-up swing nearly crushed his chest.
Phantom got up carefully, and eyed his opponent.
The monk was giving him a blood-stained smile as he kicked the archer's bodies so that they rolled down the hill into a large bush. The monk stood between Phantom and his weapons.
The monk coughed hoarsely, and spit up blood and a plaque-stained tooth. Phantom also couldn't help but notice that the monk had several long thorns protruding from his double-chinned face.
Phantom deduced that the monk had used some sort of miracle to patch himself up, but the fat warrior couldn't have much longer to live with that devastating chest wound.
The monk smiled again, and taunted Phantom by waving his hand, as if inviting him to try his luck.
Phantom casually walked towards the monk, his eyes focused directly on the man's stomach. You could always tell how a man was going to attack by seeing the way his stomach moved.
The monk laughed and spoke. "Whuttaryuh gonna do now… phantum?" The monk asked, slurring his words.
The Phantom shrugged, giving the appearance that he really didn't care that he was unarmed and facing a man with a huge mace.
The monk squinted angrily. Phantom thought the monk looked sort of like an angry bull.
"Sohyur insulting mehnow? Aright aright… You'll aget what's comin' to ya!"
The monk ran towards Phantom, eyes blazing with fury.
Phantom issued a telepathic command, and the dark hand materialized around his right hand.
The monks eyebrows rose slightly when he realized what the Phantom was about to do.
The monk gave a futile swing which Phantom ducked. As he rose, Phantom activated his dark hand.
The monk tried to turn away to run, but Phantom grabbed him with the dark hand, and pulled him to the ground. Phantoms mask fell off, revealing an oddly kind face, which mattered little as the mouth of this apparently kind face opened, and began sucking the humanity out of the monk's soul. The monk felt his life draining, his twenty-six humanity points being sucked away by one of the most powerful darkwraiths to ever stalk the shadows.
The Phantom stood up when it was over, and retrieved his swords and mask. The Phantom sheathed his swords and began to walk away, when he heard a pitiful groan.
Phantom looked over his shoulder, and saw the now-hollowed monk try to stand, but the weight of his fat, decaying body brought him back down to the earth.
The hollowed monk looked at him sadly, and coughed violently, as if breathing was now too difficult for the monster.
Phantom felt something he had never felt before, a feeling that bordered on sadness… but wasn't directly related to him? What was the word for this feeling? Phantom scoured his memory, and found the appropriate word: Empathy. What would a good person do in this situation? Probably give the man a bit of humanity so that he wouldn't go crazy, Phantom suspected.
Phantom sighed at his own weakness, and walked over to the dead archers, took something concealed, and walked over to the hollowed monk.
Phantom repeatedly stabbed the hollowed monk in the face with a dragonslayer arrow until the annoying, spam-skinned pseudo-corpse would shut up.
That aside, Phantom activated the Red Eye Orb, and returned home.
It was perhaps two hours later when the contact arrived.
The new arrival was very strange; He wore a twisted version of a legendary knight's armor, which now had a dense patch of thorns growing from the exterior.
Phantom waited silently, impassively, and the stranger held out a gauntleted hand.
Phantom handed him the physical version of the humanity he stole, which the knight graciously took.
The knight gave a solemn bow.
"Nobody will know of what has transpired here, or what will continue to transpire here." The knight said in a raspy voice.
Phantom nodded his appreciation, and then handed a note to the thorned knight.
The knight took it, read it, and smiled.
The note read in scrawled lettering:
Give my regards to the fair lady
-Phantom