[Third Person POV]
Once the plan was finally set in motion, Lucian climbed up to the highest ledge of the ship, the wooden planks creaking beneath his boots as the salty wind whipped at his red cape. He looked back over his shoulder toward Percy and the others, his crimson eyes gleaming faintly beneath the shadow of his helmet. A sharp, cocky smirk tugged at his lips as he called out, "Break a leg."
Without another word, he casually stepped off the ship's edge and dropped into the yawning dark of the sea below, his cape fluttering wildly behind him.
Before the ocean could swallow him whole, a figure emerged from the churning waters. Murder, his shadow soldier, rose from the darkness. With a single beat of her massive wings, the creature caught Lucian beneath the arm and lifted him into the sky. The ocean wind roared around them as Murder carried her master across the blackened waves. Her crimson wings cut through the air.
Lucian stood arms crossed over his chest, the tails of his crimson cape snapping in the cold night air.
From the deck of the ship, the others watched him vanish into the distance. Percy raised a brow and spun his trident with a lazy flourish, though the tension in his shoulders betrayed his concern. "How dramatic," he muttered with a wry smile, "as always." The smile faded as he turned to face Charybdis, his gaze sharpening with grim determination.
Meanwhile, Murder carried Lucian swiftly across the raging sea. Below them, waves crashed like battering rams against jagged rocks that jutted from the water. Spray exploded upward with every impact, turning the air cold and damp. They approached a towering cliff of slick black stone, the roar of the tide mingling with something far more menacing—a deep, guttural growl that seemed to vibrate through the very air.
Suddenly, Murder twisted violently to the side, narrowly avoiding a colossal head that rained down from above and crashed against the water with a deafening splash. Its maw snapped shut just inches from Lucian's boots, the sheer force of it sending a shockwave of salty mist across the sky. Another head lunged, then another, each one striking with the speed of a viper. Murder banked and rolled, weaving through the barrage of snapping jaws and flailing necks, her wings flickering with shadowy afterimages as he dodged strike after strike.
Lucian held fast, his balance unshaken despite the chaos. Together they climbed higher, ascending toward the cliff's summit where the true horror awaited. At last they broke through the spray and landed atop a jagged outcropping of rock. There, in the mouth of a cavern carved by the relentless sea, the monstrous form of Scylla revealed itself in full.
The sight stole Lucian's breath for a heartbeat. Scylla was a grotesque nightmare given flesh. Six impossibly long necks writhed like serpents around a central body that was neither fish nor beast. Each neck ended in a grisly head bristling with rows upon rows of needle-sharp teeth, glistening with brine and hunger. Four dog-like maws ringed her waist, each snapping and snarling in restless agitation. Beneath her torso stretched a mass of slick, sinewy tentacles—twelve in all—that anchored her to the rocks and churned the water to froth. Four unblinking eyes burned from her upper body, their glow a sickly, gluttonous yellow.
"Holy crap…" Lucian muttered under his breath, the words slipping out despite his usual composure. Up close, she was even larger than the myths claimed—an entire nightmare squeezed into one impossible creature.
Before he could make another move, one of Scylla's heads lashed out like a striking spear, its jaws opening wide enough to swallow both him and Murder whole. The cavernous maw snapped shut with a sound like cracking stone—but Lucian was no longer there.
[Shadow Step].
In the blink of an eye he reappeared atop the lunging head, shadows swirling around his feet as he steadied himself on the slick, scale-covered surface. Without hesitation he began to sprint along the length of the writhing neck, black boots pounding against the shifting flesh. With a thought, his bow materialized in his hand.
"Sorry, Scylla," he called out, voice dripping with mockery, "but you're the perfect test subject for some curses I've been… experimenting with. I hope you don't mind."
An arrow of condensed malice and curse energy formed between his fingers, its tip glowing a malicious red. One of the heads turned and lunged at him, but Lucian released the shot before it could reach him.
[Curse of Withering]
The arrow struck the monster's right eye with a wet, meaty sound. The effect was immediate and grotesque. The eye began to shrivel and blacken, its golden glow fading into a clouded gray. The surrounding scales cracked and flaked away like brittle parchment, exposing raw, weeping flesh beneath. Scylla let out a shrieking roar that rattled the cliffside and sent Murder into a defensive crouch diving into Lucian's shadow.
The beast thrashed wildly, necks lashing in every direction. Lucian was thrown clear, his body spinning through the salt-heavy air—until he dissolved into a swarm of shadowy feathers. In an instant he morphed into a black bird, wings cutting through the storm as he darted between the flailing tendrils.
Reforming mid-flight, he appeared upside-down above another head, bow already drawn.
[Curse: Sin of Wrath]
The arrow slammed into the next target, and Scylla's eyes flared crimson under Lucian's influence. A maddened frenzy overtook the creature; with a furious screech, the cursed head snapped around and sank its teeth deep into the neck of one of its own brethren. The cliff shook as blood—thick, black, and steaming—sprayed across the rocks.
Lucian used the chaos to shift again. His body stretched and darkened until a massive wolf of shadow stood in his place. Black fur shimmered with faint crimson light, and his eyes burned like molten coals. His claws dripped with cursed energy as he bounded up the writhing necks, leaping from one to the next with predatory grace.
With a final surge he launched himself at another serpentine throat, jaws snapping shut around the armored scales. His fangs pierced deep, curse energy flooding into the flesh like venom.
"[Curse of Sloth]," his voice rumbled, distorted by the beastly shape.
The effect spread like wildfire. The targeted neck began to slow, its frantic thrashing weakening as an unnatural lethargy weighed it down. Scylla roared again—this time with something like frustration—as Lucian clung to her.
The head Lucian clung to began to thrash violently, whipping through the air in wild, dizzying arcs. The world became a blur of churning sea and jagged cliffside as the monstrous neck swung him like a ragdoll. Lucian's claws dug deep into the thick, slimy scales, sparks of cursed energy flashing with each desperate swipe. He snarled low in his throat, a sound more beast than man, refusing to let go even as the neck tried to fling him into the abyss below.
Gradually, a sluggish tremor rippled through the flesh beneath his grip. The sinewy muscles that had been thrumming with deadly power began to weaken, the frantic thrashing slowing to an erratic shudder. The effects of the [Curse of Sloth] were finally setting in. Lucian could feel the creature's vitality leaking away, its once-overwhelming strength turning into a heavy lethargy.
High above, the main face of Scylla—the twisted visage half-hidden within the cavern's shadows—tracked his every move. Four sickly yellow eyes burned with pure hatred, the pupils narrowing to thin slits as they followed the trail of crimson light that marked his path.
Sweat beaded along Lucian's temple beneath his helmet, as he turned back. His chest rose and fell in quick, sharp breaths. 'There's no fucking way I'm already tired from this,' he thought, biting back a frustrated growl. 'God damn it.'
He forced a grin through the burn in his lungs, baring his teeth in defiance. "Like hell I'm tired," he muttered under his breath, his voice rough but steady. "I'm just excited. That's all."
With a sharp motion, Lucian summoned his scythe into existence. The weapon snapped into his grasp, the curved blade instantly igniting with roiling curse energy. Dark crimson flames licked along the edge, the weapon humming with a low, hungry vibration that resonated through his bones. His eyes flared, burning brighter with the rush of battle.
The limp head beneath him finally began to collapse, its strength drained by his curse. Lucian used the moment to launch himself skyward. He kicked off the falling neck in a blur of motion, streaking across the cave's mouth like a comet of dark red light. For an instant, he was nothing but a smear of shadow and steel, the gleam of his blade the only sign of his passing.
Landing lightly against the cavern's slick, jagged edge, he pivoted with supernatural speed. His movements became a whirlwind of destruction—slashes from his scythe cut across the monstrous necks in rapid succession, each strike leaving behind deep gashes that hissed and festered with malignant curse energy. The wounds bled black ichor that steamed in the cold air, the infection spreading faster than the flesh could regenerate.
As he carved his path, glowing magic circles flared to life around him, spinning like orbiting moons. They pulsed with cursed light, each circle releasing beams of raw magical energy that lanced across the battlefield. The blasts seared through the damp cavern air, striking at the writhing heads with thunderous impacts that rattled the cliffs.
One circle flickered brighter than the rest as Lucian channeled a new spell. [Curse of Binding]
From the circle burst a web of black chains forged from pure curse energy. They snaked through the air like living things, snapping shut around Scylla's thrashing tentacles. The monstrous limbs recoiled, their movements suddenly restricted as the chains tightened, the sound of grinding flesh and metal ringing through the cavern.
But the monster had more weapons. From her waist, the four dog-like heads threw back their own jaws and let loose a chorus of piercing howls. The sound was a physical assault—razor-sharp and mind-splitting. Lucian flinched as the screams clawed at his ears, the vibrations rattling his teeth and making his vision waver. It was like trying to think through the shriek of a hurricane.
Gritting his teeth, he formed another magic circle—this one burning a sharp, icy blue—directly over his left eye. His cursed sight locked onto each snarling dog-head in turn, marking them with threads of shadow. He raised his bow, the weapon materializing in a haze of smoke and red sparks, and drew back the string until it trembled. Arrows of condensed silence shimmered into existence between his fingers, each one humming with deadly purpose.
[Curse of Silence]
The arrows shot forth in a streaking spiral of cursed light, weaving through the snapping jaws and flailing tentacles before striking each dog-head square in the forehead. The effect was immediate and unnerving. Their howls cut off mid-wail, leaving behind a sudden, almost painful absence of sound. Their mouths still gaped and snapped, but no noise emerged—only the faint hiss of shadow energy as the curse sealed their voices away.
Lucian exhaled sharply, pushing through the ringing in his ears. He slid his ring back into place and felt the crystal embedded within begin to thrum against his finger.
Clapping his hands together, he wove a new spell with practiced precision. A massive magic circle blossomed in front of him, its intricate patterns rotating with menacing elegance. Dark energy gathered at its center, growing hotter and brighter until it burned like a black sun.
The circle unleashed its fury in a single, concentrated beam. A column of pure curse magic exploded forth, cutting through the cavern with deafening force. The blast struck Scylla head-on, the sheer pressure of it shaking the cliff to its foundations.
The monster roared and raised her clawed arms to shield herself, but Lucian's crystal ring flared with a sudden, blinding light. The beam thickened, its power surging until it engulfed her completely. The impact hurled her deeper into the cavern, the walls cracking and collapsing under the force of the attack.
Lucian lowered his hands, chest heaving, the glow of the circle fading as the cursed energy dispersed into drifting sparks. He allowed himself a single, measured sigh before vanishing into shadow.
[Shadow Step].
He reappeared inside the shattered cavern, stepping lightly across the uneven stone as though he were strolling through a quiet hallway. "Oh, Scylla~" he called out in a singsong voice, his tone mocking despite the faint rasp in his breath and fatigue claiming his body. "Ready for me to help you get back to normal?" His crimson eyes gleamed with dangerous amusement as he skipped casually deeper into the dark.
The only warning came as a sudden gust of displaced air.
A massive shadow loomed to his left, followed by a blur of motion.
CRACK!
A giant fist came out of nowhere, striking before Lucian had time to react. The blow smashed into his side like a collapsing mountain, slamming him against the cavern wall. Stone shattered on impact, sending chunks of jagged rock cascading to the floor.
Pain flared white-hot through his body as the protective layers of his suit absorbed the worst of the hit but not all of it. Blood streaked down his forehead and mouth inside the helmet, warm and metallic against his tongue. He coughed, a wet, bitter sound, and let out a low groan. "I really… have to remember," he rasped, voice hoarse, "I'm not as strong as I used to be…"
Before he could recover, Scylla's massive clawed hand reached into the rubble and closed around him like a steel trap. Her grip was merciless, the pressure immediate and bone-crushing. Lucian gritted his teeth as he was dragged free of the debris.
Through the visor of his helmet, he met her gaze. Her face was a mask of fury. Across her chest, where the cursed beam had struck, the skin was blackened and cracked, sizzling faintly with lingering curse energy. The wound smoked and oozed, a charred brand of his magic seared deep into her flesh. Her eyes, however, burned brighter than ever—a hatred so raw it bordered on madness.
The pressure around his torso tightened suddenly. Pain lanced through his arm as something inside snapped with an audible CRACK. Lucian bit down a scream, a guttural growl escaping instead. "Alright… fuck—that hurt," he hissed through clenched teeth. His voice dropped lower, colder. "I was planning to be nice… but if you want to play dirty…"
His crimson eyes flared, casting bloody reflections across the cavern walls. "…then you can only blame yourself for what comes next."
Beneath them, the shadows on the floor began to shift. They stretched outward like spilled ink, creeping across the stone in jagged, unnatural patterns. From the darkest pools of black, eyes began to open one by one—glowing, inhuman orbs that stared hungrily from the void.
The cavern grew colder. The air itself seemed to shiver.
Lucian's shadow was awakening.
********************************************
+10 advance Chapters and my other patron exclusive content on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3