Chapter 29: The Wao Triumvirate

  Yana rose higher to get a better view, her amorphous shadow weapon hovering beside her like a shifting, black blob of energy.

  The Wao rose to their full height. Creatures of the 3rd ring of Pa, their bodies were thin, tall, and lanky, with elongated, elegant limbs. Their skin was pale and shifted like smoke as they rose above their Pars shadows.

  Tasha sneered, black magic rolling forth from her as she grew to meet the Wao’s expansive height. Dark Fae were mostly born on the outer rings of Pa; instead of pure shadow, they were made of the intense dark energy that thrived in the cold reaches.

  “Wao always think they are stronger than all other mages,” Tasha hissed. The more she spoke, the more terrible her voice became, until she sounded like a hex being cast directly onto the soul.

  Without warning, her black magic surged. The Wao stood unphased as a wall of Pars rose as a shield, but Tasha's magic was anti-shadow. The Pars contorted and crumbled into dark powder at the Wao’s feet.

  Tasha cackled maniacally. She threw her head back and her hand forward, sending out another wave of anti-shadow magic.

  DD and the Shadow Snake acted in tandem. DD’s [Void Stall] ripped forward, making the Wao wave before them like laundry in a strong breeze. The Pars around them became confused and directionless. The Shadow Snake took advantage of their chaos; half of the Pars became the Snake’s enthralled, turning on their own kind. Tasha’s laughter rang through the space as the remaining Pars shadows fell, reverting to inert shade.

  The most powerful Wao looked directly at Yana. “Is this how you treat your kind? This is why half-breeds are neutralized.”

  Yana cocked her head, her shadow weapon twitching beside her, ready to engage. Tasha’s laughter stopped abruptly.

  “DO NOT... SPEAK... TO... MY... MISTRESS!”

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  Tasha's voice rolled across the complex like thunder wrapped in a tsunami. The foundations quaked as she rose up, even more terrible than before. She was like an enraged goddess, her power crashing over her enemies.

  “Tasha! Save some for us!”

  DD’s voice crashed through the room like a rockslide. Pars buckled under the weight of it, and the building threatened to collapse. DD moved forward, releasing [Shadow Kill] and [Void Rip] as one. Combined with [Void Stall], the Wao finally looked about in genuine fear.

  “What do you want?” the female Wao cried out. “Call off your creatures and you can keep the Shadow Lark! We have experimental shadows you can take! Let us—”

  Tasha’s laughter cut her off. The Wao glared in anger, but Tasha ignored her, speaking only to DD. “They are still talking to our Mistress, DD. Why have you not shut her up and taken all she has?”

  Thunder rocked the complex. DD looked toward the female Wao. Dust rose up and took form, moving faster than she could react. She was thrown into the air.

  “All that you have now belongs to my Mistress,” DD growled.

  His voice hit her as hard as his power, forcing her to take her pure shadow form to escape. Yana tracked her as she fled to the side of the third Wao.

  The head Wao refocused on Yana. “You are powerful, young one. Who are you?”

  “Yana Pallindrone of Sho. I don’t have any family left for you to try to use against me.”

  “They aren’t going anywhere, Mistress!” Tasha shouted. Anti-magic rose up just as the Shadow Snake’s minions circled the trio.

  The head Wao looked at Tasha and cocked his head. “The Fae have never been able to conquer shadow.” He turned back to Yana and nodded. “Wao and Sho. If the line is to be dirtied, only a Sho would be worthy.”

  Magic swirled around the three Elders. Tasha, DD, and the Shadow Snake moved to strike.

  “Let them leave!” Yana commanded.

  The group pulled back to her side instantly. Tasha was furious. Even as she returned to her primary form, she complained, “Before that worthless system took over, you never let an enemy go.”

  Yana shrugged and shifted to the spot where the Wao had stood. A small pile of Shades of Truth sparkled in iridescent pinks and greens. The black crystals seemed to sublimate even as she watched. She instinctively sent them to the castle in her Dune Domain.

  “Shadow Snake, you can have the shadows. Tasha, they have dark matter in their lab you may like.”

  Tasha smirked and shifted toward the main lab. DD came to Yana’s side, his dust returning to him.

  Yana had felt it. The head Wao had been of her father’s family—most likely one of the ones who had hunted her parents down and killed them.

  She would deal with him personally. Her mind shifted to the Shades of Truth.

  She would deal with all of them – when the time was right – when her memory was more solidified and less shadow.