The Shadows in the Dark

-Shoggoth-

The celebration was like none other.

Cheers filled the air of the town, and the good mood was like an infectious disease in the air.

And the smell of fried meat was present everywhere.

Somehow, Shoggoth had convinced the people to harvest the flesh of the leviathan to cook with, to celebrate survival with. When they doubted, Shoggoth cooked up a stir fry using only ingredients locally sourced, something they had yet to do.

Now dozens of people were carving into the meat of the leviathan, while dozens more cooked and prepared it in a variety of fashions. Despite being the first official appearance of the unsettling silver eye of Shoggoth, no one seemed to mind, or care that black shadowy tendrils were moving around, either cooking dishes or cleaning them.

Ruddy stayed as far away from that insanity as he could, nursing a migraine as he sat on a crate next to the carriage that brought him to this place.

And yet, even when his eyes were still burnt out, people kept approaching him, trying to include him in festivities. He just wanted to pray to the god of silence for his vision to be restored, and then go to sleep.

But he, as always, had duties. And even if he was drained of magic, he could still assist the injured in the name of the goddess of blood.

So the wounded approached him, or were brought to him, and he did whatever he could. To his sightless vision, major injuries were easy to see, like colored water spilling out of a bag. The innate magic in all living things was leaking out of wounds.

And in the worst cases, the injuries were internal, and the flow of magic in their body was getting so messed up Ruddy could see it as a darkening swirl of magic within the wound.

Luckily, this didn’t require much magic on his end, more a silent prayer to the goddess of blood for a quick application of magic. Bloody sigils would appear around the wound, sucking up excess blood and regrowing the flesh to either remove the injury, or, if a limb was missing, either reattach the limb or patch up the stump.

“Thank Shoggoth! And thank you too, Brother!”

Unluckily, the healed would praise Shoggoth instead, and run off before he could correct them because another needed immediate help.

Ruddy sighed, unable to do anything about that. Shoggoth had managed to turn that life or death fight into more support… somehow.

Shoggoth didn’t even need to explain that to Ruddy. Just the presence of a god during a battle like that was enough to forge some true believers.

“Hey, can you look at my son?” An older man asked, and Ruddy didn’t even bother looking up. Not like he could even see the man, beyond the purplish energy that made up everyone, and the wispy black lines that flowed around the energy in this man.

Wait…

Ruddy dove backwards just in time to avoid a knife slashing his throat, but he ended up falling off the back of the crate. He fumbled for his sword, but it was already snatched away by the smaller one, whose shadowy magic was weaker than the other.

Otherwise, the flow of magic, and the way it looked was very similar between these two. A father and son then.

Bringing his staff forward to block an attack from the adult, Ruddy tried to cancel the man’s magic, but his own wasn’t coming forth. So he fled into the shadows beneath him.

Only to be kicked out of them by the kid diving in and out of the shadows in a single moment. Ruddy’s back slammed against a wheel of his wagon, hard enough to fracture the wood. The horse was unfortunately with Shoggoth, carrying bags. So Ruddy couldn’t escape this as easily as he would have liked.

“Just like I thought. Mom looks favorably on you, huh?” The man spoke. “I dunno why. She doesn’t like fools. That’s what you are, right? A fool? Muscling in on my territory, spinning some crap about some unknown god?”

“Tell him, dad! No one mocks the Goddess of Shadows!”

Great, a demigod of higher ranking than Ash. At least in terms of blood.

“Ugh…” Ruddy groaned. He was vaguely aware of the presence of these two for a while, but this really was an obnoxious situation to be in. “I’m working for the god of shadows, idiot! We’re on the same side!” Ruddy whacked the father in the shin when he tried to kick him while he tried to stand.

“Same side? In what world?! You’re sucking from the teat of some nobody! Just because mom kinda likes you, doesn’t mean squat! Actions matter, boy!” The dad laughed while his son tried to rip the staff from Ruddy’s hand. A thick boot came down on Ruddy’s knee, eliciting a sickening ‘crunch.’

Ruddy just grit his teeth, and put all the strength in his weakened body to pull back the staff, before all but letting go of the staff, using the quarter-demigod’s own strength to drive the butt of the staff right in his nose and getting him to reflexively let go of the staff.

Twirling the staff in his hand, he pushed back all the shadows nearby, and felt his heart stop for a moment just from the exertion of magic. They only moved back a foot away from him.

Was it because he didn’t have any more magic to spare? Or was it because these two had more authority over shadows than he did?

Either way, he needed the space.

Ruddy forced himself to his legs, relying on his unbroken one and his staff to support him, and that alone was a struggle with how his drained body was trying to support a continuous spell. And stopping the shadows wasn’t exactly stopping them from approaching.

He needed to come up with a plan. He needed more time…

“Why are you doing this?” Ruddy pleaded to them. “Killing me gets you nothing but anger from my allies.”

“Oooh, his ‘allies.’ Oh, we’re sooo scared.” The child laughed. “You think we’re scared of whatever little club you’ve got hiding somewhere?”

The father grunted in agreement. “We’re going to kill you, and take all these fresh gullible worshippers for my mother. Better they go to her than some worthless little godling with barely a name.”

“So thanks for warming them up for us, idiot!” The kid stuck out his tongue.

Ruddy let out a sardonic laugh. “How little you know. About Shoggoth, and about your mother! Have you not heard of the Trifecta? The trio of the Chosen Champions of the Pariah Gods?! Killing me will see their wrath brought down on you! Especially the ire of-”

The man cut him off with a sudden thrown knife, one that was barely deflected by Ruddy’s staff. “No? That sounds stupid.”

“What?!” Ruddy barely had time to react before the two jumped him, the kid slashing his good leg, and the father striking his jaw with a strong punch.

He collapsed against the side of the carriage, his spell fading as whatever magic he had left tried to stem the bleeding.

“Frankly, you talk too much.” The man crouched in front of him. “Actions are more important than words. Especially in this part of the world.”

“Yeah, weirdo! Nobody wants to listen to some idiot prattling on about dumb things!”

Ruddy couldn’t see the knife, being made of metal, but he had long since recognized the sight of a person holding a knife, so he knew the tip was at his throat.

“I kinda want to see what’s behind the hood first!” The kid cried out, grabbing his dad’s arm. “C’mon! Let’s see the freak!”

Ruddy’s heart stopped for a moment.

The man audibly rolled his eyes as he pulled back the knife. “Alright. Fine. But you’re doing the dishes tonight, alright?”

Ruddy’s throat felt dry.

“Yes sir!”

“W-wait, d-don’t!” Ruddy struggled to even raise his arms to hold the two back. Their hands reached for his cloak, gripping it tightly. “Stop it!” He cried out. “Please!”

“No more begging now.” The man shushed him. “Unless you want us to cut out your tongue first.”

The two pulled on the cloak, and he could feel it unfastening around his head. His ‘sight’ wasn’t affected, but he could still feel the cloth slide across his skin.

“No! Please! Stop!” Ruddy begged, pouring every last drop of energy into his arms to weakly grab at his cloak.

“He’s crying, dad! What a baby!”

He could feel the Light peaking on the back of his neck, it felt like burning flesh. “I beg you! Stop!”

“Quit your whining, brat!”

The cloak was slipping through his fingers. The scars on the back of his head were visible, and only more skin was being exposed.

“Shoggoth, help!” The words came out before he realized.

A chilling presence filled the air.

The two dashed backwards through shadows in a moment, panting heavily.

Shoggoth’s eye was in the shadows before Ruddy, moving upwards like a growing blob of shadow. Before long, Shoggoth had an almost perceptible featureless body, like a slime, hidden within the shadows of the afternoon sky. It eyed the two demigods, before turning to Ruddy, a panting crying mess on the ground.

Two shadowy tendrils reached out and righted Ruddy’s cloak carefully. And with it, Ruddy’s breathing evened out, his panic disappearing.

“You alright?” Shoggoth spoke gently.

“Y-yeah… I’m… I’m…”

“You’re not in a good state.”

“No… I’m… I’m…”

“Would you like me to help you with these two? Or would you rather I take care of this on my own?”

“I… I… I…” By all rights, Ruddy should be recruiting these two for the war. But it was strange that the god of shadows never contacted them to ask them to join up, like many of the other demigods had experienced.

These two were not like the many demigods of Shadow he knew amongst the Trifecta’s army.

And they were nothing like Ash.

“...H-help me…” Ruddy whispered out.

If these two were to be killed, then Ruddy should be the one to do it. As the second in command of the entire army of the Trifecta, it’s his job to know the evil that every member is capable of. Evil that these two fully embraced, at the cost of their connection to their goddess.

To create a world where the excluded can be accepted, he can not turn a blind eye to the evils that his gods give birth to, even if his enemies have done so.

Shoggoth didn’t say anything, just stared at Ruddy for a moment, before the thick shadows around him swirled, cloaking his body within a whirlwind of ominous black.

Suddenly, Ruddy stood up, his body having moved like a marionette briefly. There were no natural movements between him sitting, and him standing.

A few sickening cracks echoed from his body, which was now completely hidden within the black. Only faint green glows managed to pierce through the writhing shadows.

And, in an instant, the shadows popped, revealing Ruddy, adorned with armor made of the same oppressive shadows Shoggoth exists within.

Black like a pool of inky water flowed around his body like heavy armor, leaving but his head unarmored by anything but his now blackened hood. A flowing cape made of the night sky unfurled behind him.

Shoggoth’s silver eyes blinked open across the armor, around the chest, on the pauldrons, on the back of the gauntlets, and up and down the legs, on both the cuisses and the greaves.

The two horizontal white lines that showed Ruddy’s eyes behind his hood grew an extra vertical white line, crossing through the middle.

He took a step forward, testing his weight on his once shattered knee, finding it perfectly healed. Even his exhaustion was all but gone, though the strain of magic still weighed him down.

Unlike his earlier unnatural action, Ruddy found himself perfectly able to move as normal. No, he could move even better, as if his body moved the moment he thought of an action.

Ruddy didn’t feel stronger, however. He didn’t feel a new power flowing through him like he did when he was blessed by Blood, Shadows, and Silence. Instead, it felt more like wielding a weapon. He could put it down any moment, and was given permission to use it how he liked.

He found himself… respecting Shoggoth for that, surprisingly. Only when they met, did Shoggoth ever force their will upon him with that strange burst of happiness.

Shoggoth cared about Ruddy, even if it seemed far-fetched. The strange entity understood how important bodily autonomy was to Ruddy, and unlike what every other god would do… Shoggoth merely lent a hand. No more, no less.

The only thing that felt strange to Ruddy, was how his vision was affected, like looking through a thin cloth.

He still couldn’t see anything beyond the magic that flows through life, but now there was an excess of information being absorbed by his mind like a sponge.

Ruddy could look at the two demigods, and despite seeing the wavy lines that made up the flow of their magic, and the shadowy essence that made up their semi-divine spirit, he could also see every little observable fact about the two.

The rate of their breathing.

The movement of energy through the neurons of their brains.

The equipment hidden on their bodies.

And even the next movement they would make.

As Ruddy approached, so too did the father, knives slowly rising in his hands. Ruddy held his staff in a loose grip.

“What in Shadows’ name is that…” The father snarled.

Anger overwhelmed by fear. False bravado. Fight reflex.

Ruddy didn’t respond, amazingly not overwhelmed by the information he was viewing.

When the father adjusted his stance to attack, countless images of how he could move appeared. As the father’s action advanced, the images rapidly disappeared, until there were only a few actions left he could perform, and all of them would require the same action in response.

Ruddy shifted his weight to his right foot, moving his staff up with a tighter grip. The knife swerved in its path but Ruddy saw that coming, and casually blocked it with the shaft of his staff. The second knife, hidden underneath the man’s cloak was deflected by the staff before the man could even realize the positioning of the staff prevented the easy hit he imagined.

With a swift punch to the face, the man recoiled, but Ruddy didn’t let up, the most vulnerable areas on him glowing like beacons.

A jab to the throat.

Uppercut to the chin.

Sweep the legs with the staff.

The scene only took a few moments, but the man was on the ground, and now Ruddy was facing the child.

Not a child. Small bodied. Late adolescence. Malformed pituitary gland. Minor dysplasia. 17 years old.

Ruddy felt a little confused by this information, even if he seemed to instinctively understand exactly what it meant.

The information flowing through his vision focused on the curiosity Ruddy showed, and analyzed the younger demigod within a second. All without sight.

Half-breed. Human father. Reptilian mother. Conflicting genetic information. Best case scenario. Fully functional body. No major complications to life.

Ruddy knew that half-breeds were possible, as unfavorable as they were in ‘proper society,’ but he had never heard of health issues that might result from such a union.

“You think you’re better than me, huh?! I’m not afraid of you, idiot!” The younger demigod yelled.

Rationality overwhelmed by arrogance.

The child dove into the shadows, and somehow Ruddy could see exactly where he was, as if the protections of the Shadows were nothing to Shoggoth.

So Ruddy struck the shadows at the right time with his staff, hitting the kid and using Silence’s blessing to interfere with his magic.

When one is attacked while moving through the shadows, the damage received is increased triple-fold, as you don’t possess a physical form and thus can’t defend yourself.

The brat was sent skidding across the ground, and even this movement was tracked with perfection by the information Shoggoth provided.

Permission to kill? Shoggoth’s voice wordlessly asked.

“Stay down. I don’t want to kill you if I don’t have to.” Ruddy stopped the kid’s movement with the butt of his staff, holding it to his neck.

“You think I’m scared of someone like you? Moron~!” The demigod said with a mocking smile, before spitting blood at Ruddy’s face.

Ruddy didn’t even dodge, just letting the blood disappear in the darkness of his hood. “You are foolish then, to not see the way the tides are turning in conflicts beyond your imagining.”

“Like we care what happens outside our little slice of paradise! Screw your wars! We don’t care about fighting for some cause, we’re just here to live our best lives!”

Permission to kill? Shoggoth asked again.

If there was a chance of saving these two, Ruddy would take it.

“This war will affect everyone, whether you like it or not! The only choice you have is whether you get involved before it comes to your door, or get forcibly involved.”

“You think the gods ever cared about us…?” The father groaned as he pulled himself up from across the way. “They abandoned this city, all to create their own ideal societies. They don’t care about people, just what they can get out of them. Curse the greedy scumbags.”

Permission to kill?

This time, Ruddy nodded.

Black tendrils emerged from the shadows, wrapping around the younger demigod, who thrashed and screamed.

“What are you doing?!” The father yelled as he watched his son being slowly consumed by shadows darker than dark, and blacker than black.

“Not all gods abandon people. And if you truly believe that, then you’ve gone blind from the ever-present Silence that protects and guides the abandoned and lost.” Ruddy didn’t mind if someone cursed out a god. He cursed out the goddess of light many times in his youth, after all.

But no one curses Silence when Ruddy’s around. Silence who spoke to Ruddy when no one else would. Silence who guided Ruddy when his lack of sight made living in a city of stone impossible. Silence who brought Ruddy to the best family he ever knew.

After all, Silence would only ever be on the side of underdogs and pariahs, by their very nature. Only the rich and powerful were truly neglected by Silence.

The son’s cries were muffled by the shadows, before he disappeared entirely, leaving not even shadows behind.

That got the father furious as he pulled himself to his feet. “Give him back.” He growled, shadows shaking with every word.

Ruddy didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. The tendrils of Shoggoth grabbed the man’s arms, and began pulling him down like chains.

The man was able to put up more of a fight, but the tendrils were stretchy, and when he pulled hard enough, the tendrils pulled back with enough force to launch his arm right at the pool of shadows beneath him, leaving his arm disappearing.

“Okay, look, I’ll serve you. Just get me back my son, okay? Whatever you want, I’ll do.”

He was pleading for his life now.

“He’s innocent in all this. It’s me you want anyways!”

His knee was submerged now.

“Screw your pathetic god! I’m going to find my son, and we’re going to make it rue the day it decided to mess with us!”

Ruddy finally walked over, and pressed the heel of his boot into the man’s head, pushing him into the shadows deeper. And he looked him dead in the eye. “You don’t have even a fraction of the power your mother gave Ash. You spit on the name of every Shadowborn demigod with your actions. May your name never be recorded in the annals of history.”

Ruddy didn’t feel worried when his foot pushed down the man even further, not fearing the shadows that completely consumed the man. His foot didn’t sink. It just landed on the shadows as if it was always solid ground.

And like that, the two demigods were gone. If Shoggoth killed them, or ate them, or something else, Ruddy didn’t care anymore. His brain felt like it was going to burst from the stress of today alone.

So as he walked over to the carriage, Shoggoth’s power leaked back down into the shadows, melting off his body, and reforming its eye in front of Ruddy. “How do you feel?”

He sighed as he collapsed onto his butt, staring up at a sky he couldn’t even see. “Tired… I need a nap…”

Oddly, Ruddy briefly wondered what looking up at the night sky would reveal with Shoggoth’s vision. What secrets would he learn? What information is out there?

Does Shoggoth see like that all the time? No wonder it’s good at reading situations.

He found himself longing to see the world that way again…

“Heads up, but you might want to head back to the docks.” Shoggoth spoke up after a moment of silence.

“Wha-” A beautiful ethereal song could be heard on the air, traveling through the roads of the city from the docks. It pervaded everything as it moved through the city, drawing people to the water.