Chapter Four – The Lord of Blood and Shadows
Yugi shivered as he looked up at the Citadel of Shadows. Here, at the base of the hill, the structure seemed to loom from impossibly far away and cast a pall of shadows even over the sunlit morning.
"It's mostly atmosphere to keep the casual thrill-seekers away," the Purple Knight offered. Yugi thought that the presence of Yami's guardian at the base of the hill would do that, but didn't state his observation aloud. Climbing the steep hill that was doing a quite credible imitation of a mountain to Yugi's way of looking at it, left him too breathless to continue any sort of conversation with the fearsome-appearing knight.
"What possesses you to bring such an urchin to my door, Guardian?" the man lounging in the deep shadows of the gate demanded in a low growl as Yugi and his guide approached. Yugi started when he noticed the glow of evil, red eyes.
"My lord Yami," the Purple Knight dropped into a graceful obeisance.
"You know better than to approach the castle. What is so special that you would risk displeasing me?" Lord Yami stepped partially out of the shadows obscuring him. Yugi was relieved to notice that his eerie red eyes glowed only faintly in the light. Outlandish red hair, the color of partially-dried blood, fell to the lord's shoulders. Gleaming strands of blond hair framed his face, drawing Yugi's attention back into those mesmerizing red eyes. Evidently aware of his regard, the lord smiled, revealing the tips of what had to be fangs at the corners of his mouth. Yugi somehow didn't fall back the step he so desperately wanted to. The Water Sage told him he needed this lord's help and the Purple Knight sworn to his service had treated him well, so...
"At least he's not a coward," Lord Yami murmured. "Let me see what he is made of." A hand as pale as death reached toward Yugi.
"There is no need to test him. The Water Sage..." The knight started in alarm, shifting as if to protect Yugi from his lord.
"You know better than to mention that one in my presence! After what happened, I've no need to hear of him, or his wild ideas, ever again!" Lord Yami exploded.
"My apologies, my lord," the knight lowered his helmet in contrition.
"You best leave before I banish you again," Lord Yami stated in a low, dangerous tone.
"As you wish, my lord." The Purple Knight bowed formally to Lord Yami again, received a curt, acknowledging nod, then turned and placed one gauntlet lightly upon Yugi's shoulder. He leaned down to speak softly. "He seems harsh, my lord does, but his heart is true. He'd never harm..."
"Begone!" Lord Yami roared out. Casting what appeared to be a sorrowful look his lord's way, though his visor didn't change, the knight bowed his head accepting that he had upset his volatile lord. He didn't resist as the shadows flowed around him, lifted him up, and flung him down the hill.
"Insufferable fool of a Guardian Knight!" Lord Yami grated. "Now, as for you, unwelcome guest, I will deem if you are worthy of entering my castle."
He stepped fully from the shadows, though they clung to him as if unwilling to ever let him stand fully in the light. White lace spilled from an elaborate tie around his neck. The black coat he wore could have been crafted of shadows, it appeared so dark. The same eldritch fabric encased his legs so tightly they appeared to be nothing more than a second, shadowy skin. Though the lining of the nearly floor-length cloak he wore was the same shade of red as the lord's eyes, Yugi could've sworn it writhed in time with the shadows that he was rapidly coming to suspect were alive.
"I am Yami, Lord of Blood and Shadows, and the most powerful of the Three Lords guarding this land. In order to be worthy to enter my citadel, you must show me what shadows, if any, lurk in your blood." Captivated by the glow that suddenly sparked in the lord's eyes, Yugi found he couldn't move. That death-pale hand extended again. In the painful, terror-inducing slowness of a nightmare, Yugi noticed how the lord's fingernails had each been shaped into a sharp, pointed claw. Belying the menace of the hand, delicate frills of pure white lace spilled from the cuff of his shadow-black coat.
The touch that finally landed on his cheek was warm, not clammy-cold as he had been expecting. Fearful, but curious, Yugi glanced up, trying to read the lord's soul in his startling eyes.
"Meeting my gaze, eh?" Yami whispered, leaning in toward the smaller man. "Surprising, that. Not many will. Still, I bet your blood is soft and gentle – too gentle to be of any use."
He lunged suddenly, while releasing Yugi from the thrall of his gaze, catching the smaller man in his arms. He waited, for – what – Yugi couldn't fathom.
"So, not darting away when you can – interesting. Perhaps you will prove worthy of entering my citadel," Yami murmured, running a finger slowly down Yugi's cheek. He nuzzled in, slowly drawing his nose up along the line his finger had already inscribed. Yugi shuddered when he realized the man's lips were following that same line as well, stroking softly across his cheek. His heart pounding hard enough he was astonished the other man didn't hear the deafening beat of it, Yugi wondered how long this vampire, for he was certain that's what Lord Yami was, would toy with him before draining him dry.
Blood and shadows...blood and shadows...! his mind gibbered unhelpfully.
Acting as if he had all the time in the world, and, if he truly were the vampire Yugi suspected, he probably did, Lord Yami's lips nibbled gently down that line on Yugi's cheek again – toward Yugi's vulnerable neck, paused, and continued on their path until they rested where Yugi's neck met his shoulder. Momentarily content, Lord Yami rested there.
"Your heartbeat is so strong and rapid, like a frightened, caged bird, little Yugi." Now Lord Yami's voice was a sensual rasp while his lips tickled as they brushed lightly against Yugi's skin. "What to do? What to do? Should I turn and bite, releasing that frantic bird to fly free? You haven't moved at all, though I sense the fear in you – is it that you like this attention I'm paying you? Or are you terrified beyond the ability to move even though I've released you from my will?"
Yugi found a noncommittal sound making its way past his throat.
Lord Yami chuckled. "I do believe you'd let me bite you, Yugi!"
Suddenly he pulled back, opening his mouth wide to fully display the fangs he indeed possessed, inhaled sharply and darted back in again. Yugi closed his eyes tight, certain that death was stooping from above to rip him from life –
– only to have a gentle kiss land on the base of his neck instead.
"Pity I'm not really a vampire," Lord Yami sighed. "Still, I am the Lord of Blood and I need some of yours if I am to know the true shape and strength of your soul."
Yugi winced as one of the lord's talon-sharp fingernails, from where it had come to rest unnoticed during the lord's vampire playacting, dug swiftly into his cheek, drawing a line of pain along the place that had already known the lord's gentler touch of finger and lips.
"Let's see what we have here," Lord Yami stood straight, but still managed to clasp Yugi to himself with his left arm. If the scrape along his cheek weren't proof enough, the iron tang in the air and sticky red liquid Yami played with in his right hand would have been sufficient to show Yugi that Yami had gotten what he wanted from him – a sample of his blood.
"Hmmm..." Yami smiled down at the blood in his fingertips and he gently smeared it between his fingers. Tendrils of shadow reached up from the blood at the touch of the lord's magic.
"You've shadows in your blood – it is good. You will be able to survive in my citadel," Yami told him. "Still, I wonder..." He continued to roll the blood between his fingertips until all of it converted into shadow. After a moment of hovering about as an amorphous cloud, the shadow that had once been Yugi's blood coalesced, and a shape formed.
"Kwee!"
"Ah, a shadow-kuriboh lurking in your blood. No wonder my erstwhile knight thought to bring you to me," Yami observed. "Guard him!" he directed the shadow-kuriboh.
Yugi started as the shadow monster darted over, rubbed affectionately against his unwounded cheek, dove into his shadow, and disappeared.
At Lord Yami's curt gesture, Yugi entered the Citadel of Shadows. It was an eerie place, but no part of it was more eerie than his host. Shadows appeared and disappeared with none of the regard for light sources that Yugi was accustomed to. They flowed like a solid river across the ceiling, and darted in and out of the walls like playful kittens. Wherever Yami walked, the shadows flowed to envelop him, and seemed reluctant to pull away. Once or twice Yugi caught what seemed to be sharp commands at which the shadows darted away swiftly.
Most of them, when they had occasion to brush up against him, seemed to be as ordinary shadows, but a few of them clung to him with the chill and clammy touch of what felt like mist. He didn't like the way these shadows felt but...
"Kwee!" The shadow-kuriboh Lord Yami had evoked from his blood darted from within his own shadow, grasped a tendril of a clammy shadow, and pulled. Yugi felt relief when the shadow released from him with an odd popping sound. Lord Yami's head turned sharply at that, and his eyes narrowed as he regarded the tableau. The Lord of Shadows spoke a few words Yugi couldn't understand, but the tone was certainly one of command, mingled with displeasure. All the shadows, but for the kuriboh, darted into the walls.
"Even with your blood-shadow, the citadel is dangerous. Heed the kuriboh and do not enter any area you are barred from," Yami commanded. With a final, narrowed-eye glare at the now shadow-free walls, he turned and stalked down the corridor again. Kuriboh cooed once more and dove back into the hiding place in Yugi's natural shadow.
Yugi was faintly surprised that Lord Yami led him past an impressive room that had what he could only believe to be a throne in it, to a small chamber that looked for all the world like a combination library and office. Gesturing absently, Yami indicated a plush chair in front of the desk, while he sank with what appeared to be great weariness into the twin of that chair behind the desk.
"So, you fancy yourself the Hero of legend." Yami's voice held a faintly condescending and disbelieving tone.
"No."
"But, the Purple Knight..."
"He seems to believe it because I have this." Yugi lifted the Pendant of Pharaoh slightly. "The Water Sage does, too, and that's how I come to have this." Yugi touched the Hero's Heartstone. "But I don't believe it. I know I'm not a hero – much less this 'Hero' of legend."
"So you aren't just a more convincing and smooth-talking wannabe than the usual riff-raff, then," Lord Yami leaned his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers to his lips while he regarded Yugi with a searching gaze.
"What do you mean?"
"At any given time there are dozens of young men, and the odd handful of young women, who either have had their heads filled from childhood with various stories and 'ancestral proofs' or otherwise have convinced themselves that they are the Hero of legend, destined to save us from Chaos, wandering about the three lands. They do various deeds trying to get the attention of either myself, or my two – compatriots – since the bits of the legend we still recall indicate that the Hero of legend has to enlist our aid. My Guardian Knight has kept all of them from the doors of my citadel – until today. None of those I've met when I have been forced to leave my citadel have ever passed the test of Blood and Shadows – as you did."
"Met? How, if the Purple Knight..."
Yami smiled deeply, baring his fangs again. It was a thoroughly unholy smile. "Some of these – heroes – have been very – creative – in trying to catch the attention of any one of us 'Kindly Lords'. All of them have discovered that we can be – not so 'kindly' – when provoked."
Despite himself, Yugi shivered.
"I will have to think about what to do with you. You obviously didn't come here for the same reason these annoying pests have, and only made it to my door with my Guardian Knight's help. You do also bear a shadow-creature, weak though it is, in your blood. Perhaps after some training – and certainly some sort of transformation," Lord Yami's eyes flicked swiftly across Yugi's short and quite non-threatening appearance assessingly. "you will be an acceptable corridor guardian once you become one of my Shadows."
Yugi's blood ran cold. "What?!"
"Didn't you know? Once a mortal enters one of the three dwellings of the Kindly Lords – my Citadel of Shadows, the Lord of Ice's Dragon Aerie, or the Lord of Fire's Warrior Stronghold, that mortal is never seen again." The Lord of Shadows shrugged his shoulders. "It's what we do – sorry. You certainly seem nice enough, and you haven't annoyed me as so many glory-seekers have, so I'm not thinking of turning you into a shadow-monster. The kuriboh has taken a liking to you too, so I could just transform you into a Shadow version of yourself and set you both in place guarding a safe inner hallway."
"Uhm... But... Why?"
"When you entered my citadel, you became mine. It's just how it is. If I don't transform you, the Citadel would force you to..." Lord Yami interrupted himself. "Look, it's just best if I handle it. You've got the best chance of staying pretty close to more or less yourself, at least for a while, if I transform you personally. We will talk more about this, tomorrow. I can hold off the Well for a night while I think of what to do."
"'Staying more or less myself'?!"
"The weak-willed ones become mindless Shadows, and then there are... I don't want to talk about this!" Lord Yami suddenly flared at him. "Kuriboh, escort him to his room, and make sure he stays there."
Kuriboh erupted from his shadow as if shot from a cannon at the command. Yugi took one look at the dangerous, renewed evil red gleam in the Lord of Shadows' eyes, and decided not to argue – at least for now. Away from Lord Yami's presence perhaps he could find a way to get out of this crazy place. He recalled the horror-walk down the corridor of shadows, and realized there probably was no escape. Without another word, he followed where the shadow-kuriboh led. He had never really paid attention to shadows before, but now he was acutely aware of them. It wasn't until he caught a familiar red gleam in the depths of a Shadowed corner that a terrible thought occurred to him.
"Kuriboh – can Lord Yami watch me through the shadows?"
"Kwee." There was what Yugi could only think of as a sad note in the affirmative reply.
"So there's no escape from here?"
"Kwee." This tone was negative.
"I'm really going to be turned into a Shadow?"
"Koo-ree?" This reply quavered uncertainly.
"Yes, you will become Shadow and join our ranks." An imposing Shadow detached itself from the pool of shadows by a doorway.
"But..."
"It is not so bad. Lord Yami intends to leave you as yourself – as much as he can. You won't become like me." The shadow-monster gestured toward himself and stepped more fully into the light. Yugi tried not to be rude as he looked, but it was hard to not fall back a step from this tall, frightening, skeletal Shadow.
"I am Everon. I know I appear fearsome, but, my power is turned only against those who threaten my Lord Yami, the Cold Shadows of the citadel, and the creatures of Chaos. I never attack my fellow Shadows."
"And I..."
"You aren't yet, but you will be. I am detailed to guard your door this night. Before you go jumping at every shadow in your room, I can let you know that they are mere shadows, not Shadows such as we are. I doubt Lord Yami will pry, so you can rest without worry this last night."
Yugi shivered. "He – seems reluctant..." He began.
Everon nodded. "I believe so, too."
"Why won't he just let me go, then? It's obvious I'm not the Hero of legend if he's intending to turn me into a Shadow instead of helping me, so, why not just..."
Everon shook his head sadly. "He can't, or perhaps he would. He tried once, with another hero-seeking youth who caught his attention once when Lord Yami had to travel away from the Citadel of Shadows, but..." Everon gestured. A hunched over figure emerged from the Shadows. It gibbered madly. It drooled shadow-stuff all over the floor. Its cold, flat eyes gleamed with a dull sort of evil will. "The Citadel wasn't as willing to let him go as Lord Yami was. Against the boy's will, the Well of Shadows lured him back. He threw himself into the Well, and emerged like this – a Cold Shadow. Weak enough to not be a threat as long as he's watched, but nothing of the harmless youth he was remains in what he has become."
Yugi shivered, staring at the poor creature.
"Go back, Saggi. Go back to Marie," Everon commanded the thing firmly. Saggi gibbered at him one last time, and melted back into the shadows. "Do you see why it is best if Lord Yami is the one to change you?"
Yugi nodded in horror. "What is the 'Well of Shadows'?"
For an answer a shadowy, skeletal hand dropped to his shoulder. There was no touch of the clinging and clammy coldness in the Shadow's touch. "There will be time enough to teach you all you need to know – afterward. It's best to enjoy this final night as a human being without the concerns of the Shadows weighing you down."
"But..."
An eerie moaning keen echoed up and down the hallway. "Go. The hour of Shadows is almost upon us, and we must guard the corridors against the Cold Shadows who gain strength at this time. You will be safe in your room." Everon opened the door, and gestured for Yugi to enter. Defeated, at least for the moment, he entered the room, and permitted Everon to close the door behind him.
"Kwee!" Kuriboh, as before, rubbed against his cheek and then dove into his shadow. Yugi glanced with trepidation at the corners of the room, but immediately noticed the shadows were normal and not the complete, inky blackness that a Shadow could hide in. Of course, there were still the walls, and Yugi could somehow sense that Yami, Lord of Shadows, could at least view him through ordinary shadows if he wanted. He looked sourly at the bed. Yeah, like after all this he was going to get any sort of sleep this night!
"What am I going to do?!" he asked aloud in a sort of resigned despair. A flash below his chin caught his eye. Sighing, he looked down. To his surprise, it wasn't the Pendant of Pharaoh, the cursed artifact that got him into this mess, signaling for his attention – it was the Hero's Heartstone.
He nearly sobbed as he caught it up in his hand, and felt the familiar throb of warmth beneath his fingertips. "I..!" he began. A throb somehow conveyed a sense of warning. Oh, best not to speak aloud, he realized. Another pulse of warmth agreed. "What – what can I do? How do I escape?" Yugi asked urgently in his mind. The stone remained quiet in his hand. After several frustrating minutes while he tried to get it to respond again, Yugi gave up. His situation seemed hopeless. Sighing deeply, he decided to follow Everon's suggestion, and go to bed. Even though he was disillusioned that the Hero's Heartstone seemed to have called attention to itself just to abandon him, as he drifted off to sleep his hand crept up to take comfort touching its warmth.
"Claim their swords." The command wandered unnoticed through Yugi's sleeping mind.
– – – – –
Heh, heh, heh. – ebilgrin – Somehow I don't think 'Lord Yami' was what Yugi (or any readers, for that matter) was expecting.
Next chapter teaser – The Lord, the Hero, and the ???