Intro II The Forest of Healing and Dreams and Meditation, etc, ect.
Three years later…
I sat down to rest after just finishing my safe house. Now, it wasn't proper edicate to cut down or kill anything in the realm, but I had a special relationship with one of the major nature spirits that I would rather not talk about...
Thirsty I got up and went inside the house. It was an all natural wood and stone cabin with one big room on the top floor, where I grabbed a jug of apple juice and went downstairs to check on my weapon inventory. Three rooms hid six and a half feet underground, with it's own stock of weapons.
In the first room, to the right of the stairs, there were swords, knives, and other bladed weapons that I had stolen in past years and hidden in my own personal darkness vault that followed me everywhere. There was a double bladed silver sword from Alfheim, one of the Nine Worlds of the North. It had a deer leather handle in the center of two three foot, wickedly sharp, Alfen Silver blades. There was a Magic Roman Gladius that I had taken from a dragon's cave after learning how shadow travel. That was fun.
In the second room, to the left of the stairs, I had my usual archery materials, which consisted of an empty quiver and ten different hunting bows that I had also stolen over the years, though these in particular, had all been taken at the same time during a raid on a monster encampment in midrealm. Dante and I had a lot to pick from after all the monsters were cleared. So I got these ten different bows. My favorite is a long compound bow, meaning it's a long bow, but it's a compound. It's range is three times farther than a sniper rifle of any kind. Which is more useful for me, since I can see that far. The second bow is the exact bow that Robin Hood used to fight off the Sheriff. I had repaired it and re-enchanted it to suit my own needs. There's another bow that is made completely out of fire, but I haven't even figured out how to use it. The bow incinerated every arrow I put into it. Even my own fire arrows. The rest weren't literally bows, but were ancient scrolls showing spells on how to enchant other bows. Though one of them was a scroll on showing how to create a bow using your own elemental chi energy, but I could never get it to work. I kept all these anyway because I'm a little bit of a hoarder and also because I knew that one day I would be able to use those spells when the experience comes. In the meanwhile, they just sat in shelf and collected dust.
The third room was the biggest and perhaps the most equipped. On one wall there were my personal stock of firearms that I stole from a mid realm armoury in San Diego. In a cabinet below the gun-wall are my explosives collected from just about everywhere. I had smoke smoke grenades, shrapnel grenades, flashbangs and whole bunch of other grenades.
"In a corner by a small window sat my armour and something that normally isn't there. In the corner by the window…. A small circle of darkness swirled. "Awe, come on. Not again," I complained. Suddenly it grew and took shape color and all. It took the from of Dante.
You really think that trick will work on me, demon" I told it. The false Dante looked at me and made a face Dante makes a little to well.
"Awe come on dude, I'm a shadow clone don't tell me you forgot I can do that all ready."
"What? What the hell is going on!" I demanded
The I- guess shadow clone sighed. "Here allow me to explain," he told me. "A shadow clone is my energy made into a copy of me."
"Every time you talk you make me think your a demon. Do you realized that." I said, anger flashing in my eyes. My bow appears in my hands.
"Dude, chill. I don't know what the fuck you saw or heard in the shadow forest, but I'm not one of those," the shadow clone said.
"How did you-" How did that thing find out where I was, I thought. If he knew I was there, then he could find me anywhere. The whole reason I came here was because it's supposed to be a sanctuary. I guess I shouldn't have cut down those trees maybe the magic that protects this place doesn't apply to people who break it's laws. I wasn't at all ready for a full on fight, but if I had to…
"As I said before the real me and me share information."
"You never said that!" I yell, drawing back my bow string. I release it sending three light arrow straight for his face….but suddenly he grabbed it out of the air and summoned his own bow. A blazing bright white bow with strings of flame he place the arrow I shot in the bow string and pulled it back.
"Now, be honest with yourself," smiled the shadow clone. "Only I can do that."
"Your lying," I yelled, my eyes turning black.
The shadow clone looked at me sadly sighed and the bow and the arrows disappeared. "Being a shadow clone allows me to have some of my original powers. It said holding its hand out in front of him. A purplish energy collected around his hand. The energy then began to take shape forming one of Dante's favorite weapons. The shadow clone twirled the energy scythe with one hand one of Dante's signatures before attacking.
"You can't be," I say falling to my knees with such force that everything in the room was blasted back. Everything except the the shadow clone of my best friend, that I tried to slay like a demon. "What is happening to me?" I whimper, looking up at the shadow clone. My eyes turning back to normal.
The shadow clone looked at me and pointed a finger gun and at the tip of his finger a small blue flame flickered.
"Flames of emotion Piercing Truth the shadow clone said as a blue fire bullet hit my chest piercing my very soul.
At first I felt nothing, then there was a horrible pain that made my whole being hurt. I screamed in agony as the darkness was being ripped from my body and soul… Then everything went white and there was earsplitting boom. Then… Nothing…
I woke up on cold grass. My head hurt and my vision was blurry. Groaning I sit up. Where am I, think to myself getting back my bearings.
The answer came to me in the form of thick fog in a destroyed town. I was laying in the front lawn of some house I didn't recognize right next to a pile of bones.
"What the fuck," I yelped pushing myself away from the bone and onto my feet.
"The Spirit Realm," I say aloud into the gloom. Ghost white fires burned in the windows of the houses around me. I hear the moans of zombies in the distance.
Then right behind me an animal whimpers. It had an old aura, one of the original beings of the Spirit Realm. I turn to find a huge grey wolf.
"Hello Michael it said with three voices at once.
"Um," I stammer stepping back.
"Don't be afraid. I am Kuza" the wolf introduced himself kindly. I look into the wolf's eyes, analyzing him carefully.
"You can't mean the Kuza, as in Dante's wolf spirit guide." I laughed nervously.
"Indeed I am," Kuza said lowering his head. "Get on. There is something you need to see." he told me
I climbed on careful not to hurt the huge wolf spirit.
The wolf chuckled. "You better hold on," then took off at a pace that no other wolf could top. I held on to Kuza's fur with all my strength, my knuckles turning white from the effort. Kuza took me out of the suburbs at the speed of sound then plummeted off the road into the dark woods. Kuza's footsteps made no sound on the rough terrain, despite his size, as he took me deep into the forest. Trees bent out of our way, as if to allow the wolf easy passage. Even the weeds and tall grass bent aside, clearing a path for the wolf.
The Spirit Realm is huge. Anyone who's been there understands that it literally is bridge between every one of the infinite realms, meaning the Spirit Realm itself is infinite. But the Kuza took me to a very dark spot in the woods.
Frost and ice cover everything. The shadows mirrored the shadows of the Realm of Darkness, taking the shape of monsters I've never seen before.
"Where are we?" I asked.
The wolf sniffed with distaste.
"A doorway," he said. All of his voices resembled the feeling of being there: Grim, sad, and terrifying.
"Where does it lead to?" I ask, mostly out of curiosity.
"Dark places," he said. "Black's army."
I wasn't sure if I'd heard him right. "Black? I thought Dante weakened him to the point of a crippled old man?" I said as fear made my voice crack.
"That wasn't him. This isn't him either." Kuza said sadly. "You and Dante haven't even met a real challenge yet."
"What?" I ask. Surely we've met the worst of demons. Or at least close to.
"If you think that that minor demon of Hell is the real deal, you need to think again."the wolf said chuckling.
"No, you haven't met the Omegas. Or the Eyes. Or the Unnameables." The wolf kept naming off other malicious monsters and demons and beings I'd never heard of. How could I not have seen the creatures more capable than the ones I've already encountered.
I thought about that. "I guess logically, there is an infinite amount of creatures I've never met if there is an infinite amount of realms."
"You are only partially correct," says Kuza slowing down. "There are things out there that you just will never comprehend in this life cycle, Michael."
"You are still human with a human's mental capacity. Your kind may see and understand more than other humans, but not enough, still."
We stopped at the mouth of the biggest trench I've ever seen. It yawned so wide that the mist covered the other side. It was so deep that the shadow crows flew so far below us that you could only hear them. Their caws echoing up from the gloom.
"What's down there," I asked looking into the smokey blackness that fills the gorge before me.
"A realm far from your understanding." said the wolf. "You'll end up there if you don't get control of yourself."
"Where's there?" I scoffed. "Hell?"
"This is no laughing matter." Kuza said seriousness in all of his voices.
"If I had not sent Dante to you, you would have ended up down there." Kuza nodded his head toward the gorge. "You would have ended up a soldier for him. Your dark side would have taken over completely had Dante not hit you with that Flame of Emotion. But that won't be enough if you don't get a hold on yourself." the wolf snarreled.
I didn't know what to say, but Kuza wasn't done.
"You are what the darkness wants. Your mind has infinite knowledge. And the key to them getting it is in your dark side where you are the weakest." the wolf continued, but stopped cocking his head to the side as if listening.
"Your ride is here," he said finally.
"What? What ride?" I ask looking around for some sort of chariot or something. Then a huge dark shadow came in from above. At first I thought it might have been a dragon or some other elder monster.
Kuza snorted, "Looking mighty large there, Soul."
The huge raven cawed so loud it shook the ground.
"Be quiet you old fool! You know where we are and what we are near." Kuza warned. "You don't want to alert the attention of the Eyes do you?
"They'll hunt him down and throw him over this very cliff." Kuza said.
The giant shadow crow regarded me with glowing blue eyes. Then nodded and bowed down allowing me to climb on. I was hesitant at first. I kept my eyes on the huge bird as I climbed off of Kuza's back. The crow cawed more urgently as if telling to move faster.
"Are you sure-" I looked back but Kuza was gone. "Go figure," I muttered under my breath as I trudge over to the now skittish shadow crow.
"Where are we going?" I ask. Instead of answering, Soul shoots up at top speed making me bite my tongue.
We flew over the forest and through huge swaths of mist that tasted like dust. Who would have known that the clouds weren't even water. They were just huge clouds of dust particles.
"Don't turn into what he wants," a quiet voice warns in my head. No way I think. Shadow crows never talk.
"I've observed what you're capable of." Soul explains." But your maximum power is beyond that of your kind."
"I know, I've heard." I say glumly.
"No…" he said pausing. "You don't."
"Do you know who I am?" the crow asks.
"Yeah, you're Dante's other spirit guide." I say, remembering Dante mention him.
"I'm surprised he even said anything about me," the crow said sadly.
"I am not as powerful as Kuza, but I was chosen by the Council to be his guardian anyway. I give him his information. That's it."
"We spirit guides do not get much praise. While we spirit guides are obliged to sacrifice everything for your kind,
We flew in silence for a while.
"Where are we going?" I ask again.
"To find Dante," He said.
"Why would Dante be here?" I ask, getting excited.
"To pick you up." Soul says. "I can't take you into Mid- Realm and you and Dante have a lot to discuss."
Soul dropped me off in a little glade deep in the forest. Though nothing compared to the darkness I had felt earlier by the gorge.
"Look for the a grey willow," says the crow as I climb off. "And thanks." I feel a hand on my shoulder. I quickly turn. But no one's there. Not even the the friendly shadow crow named Soul.
"They just disappear," I said aloud to no one. "I mean, couldn't they just walk away or something."
I walked on looking for a grey willow tree. Even though every tree out here is either grey or black. So I guess I should hope that there isn't more than one grey willow…