The Shadow King by Matthew R. Davis (little red riding hood ebook free TXT) 📕

might.
The man blocked it in explosion of spark.
Elva pushed his sword off Lethian and landed her fist on his cheek bone. The blow distracted the man enough for Elva to force Lethian into the man’s abdomen. He laughed as Elva pulled the sword free.
“I might not be able to kill you Elva, but who’s to say I can’t kill Pen?”
“What?”
The man smiled and yelled out. “Destia!”
The spell took effect almost instantly. Pen’s body lurch forward as energy was sapped from it.
“Stop it!” Elva screamed as she swung her sword at the man. But the sword was parried by the man’s. “Stop it now!”
Pen fell to the ground, clutching his chest. His heart was stopping. Without thinking, Elva threw herself on the man. “Please stop!”
He laughed as Pen’s energy was drained and placed inside him. “That boy is better dead to your father than alive!” The man said between laughs. Pen was now completely still.
“No more, please no more.” Elva said in a whisper as tears fell from her eyes.
“What, what is happening?” the man said suddenly. “The flow of energy should have gotten weaker, or at least stopped by now.” He winced as the energy inside him continued to build. “It’s too much for my body to hold.” His sword dropped to the ground. “AH, it won’t stop!”
Elva released the man and stepped away from him. “What are you saying?” The man’s eyes bulged. The veins on his forehead throbbed. He held his head, as if it were ready to burst. He fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Elva stepped back again, ready for whatever was about to occur.
“This is a surprise.” Pen said from behind her. He took Lethian from Elva’s trembling hands. He spun it around in his right hand as he walked towards the shadow.
“If you kill me boy, then…the king will…also die. My life is bound…to his.”
“So what if the king dies. That will make my life a lot easier.”
The man gasped as the energy flow increased. “Do you….not know of Elva’s…curse?” He said
Pen’s eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about the curse.
“Damn you!” He said under his breath as he ceased the energy flow.
The man breathed heavily as he dispelled any excess energy. “So it would seem we are at a standstill. I can’t kill Elva, and you can’t kill me. It was a good move to blanket my conscious. Keeping me immobilized is a wise decision. But I have to wonder, how you were able to live through this.”
Pen didn’t know himself. He was certain he was dying. “Keep quite.” He said sternly.
Pen knew what would happen to Elva if the king were to die.
“What you need to do Pen, is simple indeed.” Pacco said from the door of the Unague. “Zee king cannot die; therefore you cannot kill his shadow. You only need to stop him correct? Well I say that you simply move his conscious to the body of some lesser being.”
Pen whirled around. He didn’t even realize Pacco had made it to the hotel. “How, is that even possible?” He asked
“Remove the shadows conscious from his body as if you were guiding it and put it in something else.” Pacco replied. “However, you must choose wisely. If you put it in something that can die easily, then the shadow’s mind will eventually die and the king will die, and then Elva.”
Pen understood. If he chose an insect, the bug could be stepped on. Then it wouldn’t have mattered if he managed to pull this off. “So it has to be something sturdy with a low level of energy. Does something like that even exist?”
Pacco shook his head. “It truly is an impossible feat. If it were possible, the king would have been defeated ages ago. But you can purify the evil spirit within the body, with a simple spell. It will require vast amounts of energy though. Not even the most skilled magicians can pull it off.”
Pen smiled. “I have a feeling that I can supply the energy needed.”
“Havana.” He said
The energy Pen commanded seeped into the shadows body. The man twitched and convulsed as the magic ravaged the darkness in his body. The magic was fighting directly against Methias. It was the first fight Pen would have against the dark lord.
Pacco was right. The energy needed to supply a spell of this caliber was massive. Pen felt weary after only a few seconds. But something was helping him. He could feel a never ending ocean of energy around him. It empowered him, giving him the strength needed to complete the spell. He let the energy consume him. It felt magnificent.
The man fell to the ground once the spell had been completed. His body was purified of Methias’s dark magic, and to Pen’s surprise, he didn’t feel tired. Purifying the man’s body however, ended his life. Pen was certain though, that death was better than being Methias’s puppet.
“Do you think we can use this spell to destroy Elva’s curse?” Pen asked Pacco.
“I’m sure it would work, but look at the shadow. He didn’t survive the purification. Using this spell on Elva could produce similar results. I recommend we continue searching for other means.”
Pen nodded his head and turned to Elva, who was still crying. “Rien, he’s gone forever. What will Urie do?” As if on cue, Urie and Apophis landed behind them.
“Where is Rien?!” Urie growled.

******

Chapter 8: Viana and Methias

The air outside the Unague was crisp and cool. It felt good against Elva’s skin. She breathed deeply, letting the air out slowly. She sat on the stairs of the old hotel and looked up at the sky. One week had passed since the shadow attacked Pen. One week since the shadow killed Rien. Urie had known he died, even from such a distance. She at first had blamed herself. ”I should have been here to protect him.” She kept saying.
Elva felt her pain more than anyone. Urie and Elva had built a bond of their own over the weeks they traveled together. She tried her best to comfort Urie, but ultimately, it was Apophis she turned to for comfort. Even now the two dragons sat behind the hotel, curled up against one another. It was good, Elva thought, for her to have another dragon to turn to in her greatest time of need. Elva hoped that Urie would one day choose another rider, if it was possible.
Elva ran her fingers over the wooden stairs beneath her as she lost herself in thought. She thought about everything. From the first time she met Pen, to their battle with Granite and his dragon. She also thought about her future. Though to her it looked bleak, she hoped with all her being that Pen would be a part of it. She smiled as Pen entered her thoughts. “I hope he manages to find some way around Methias’s spell.” She thought to herself. If he did, they would be able to spend their lives with one another. She wanted nothing more. She was certain Pen felt the same.
People passed the hotel without looking. They went with their individual lives, and for a moment, Elva was jealous. She knew it was foolish to be, but she couldn’t help herself. It was unfair for them to be able to have such simple lives.
“You look like your deep in thought Miss Helena.” Elena said. Elva didn’t respond right away. She still wasn’t use to using her alias.
“I am Lady Elena. You know about Glen’s problems, as well as mine. You know that we are fugitives. So why, may I ask, do you insist that we continue to use fake names with you.” Elva replied.
Elena sighed and sat next to Elva. “If someone were to question me and ask for your names, I wouldn’t have to lie to them. If they used a truth spell, they wouldn’t find out that you were here.”
Elva nodded, signifying that she understood. Elena was smart. She also had been hiding from not only the king, but the resistance as well. Though she wouldn’t tell Elva, why the resistance wanted her dead, Elva guessed it was for the same reasons she was wanted dead. Elena was most likely a liability. The resistance didn’t think of any one individual’s safety of happiness. They thought of the whole picture. They wanted general safety. If that meant sacrificing a few loose ends along the way, so be it.
This quality of the resistance was much like Methias to Elva. He didn’t care how many he killed to achieve his goals.
“I will tell you this Helena, I don’t agree with the resistance. They want Methias dead, I don’t.” Elena said.
“Why wouldn’t you want him to die?” Elva asked confused. Elena just smiled.
“Methias was once a healer for the resistance back when they were called Viana. Of course Methias was very skilled with magic. He healed all wounds. There are even reports of him bringing the dead back to life. Of course I mean people that die and are resurrected within minutes. But he was incredible. I saw his miracles with my own eyes. He was a kind and wonderful man.
But Viana saw his skill as a potential to be a weapon. They wanted to make Methias use his magic on the battlefield. They had planned to expand Fienster until it engulfed all of the land. They wanted total control. They were greedy. But Methias told them that he would never use his skills to harm people. Viana didn’t take kindly to being told no. They attacked him in his sleep. They planned to turn him into a shadow, or at the very least, a soul eater. But this was back when they were still trying to get the correct formula down.
The dark magicians they used to perform the act were inexperienced. They over did it. They sacrificed thousands of children to the darkness, channeling the pain and torment directly into Methias’ conscious. The children’s pain and anguish overwhelmed him. He went out of control and killed everyone, every last one of the dark magicians. Blodgaram was the first to see the signs of Viana creating human weapons with their dark magic. He knew Methias well. The two of them had been good friends. When the order was given to Blodgaram to kill Methias, he refused. He told them that instead of killing Methias, they needed to find some way to help him.
After all, it was Viana that had created this monster form a man. But Viana made Blodgaram an outlaw for treason. So he was left with the problem of helping Methias to recover. Well you know how the story goes. He confronts Methias, a battle ensues, Methias triumphs. But it was never Blodgaram’s intension to kill, or even fight Methias. That’s why he lost if you ask me.”
Elva was stunned. She had never even considered what could have made her father the way he is. Thinking that Methias was once such a kind person seemed impossible to her. She had always hated him, had always thought that he was a monster. From torturing her mother to beating and killing innocent people right in front of her.
It had always been that way. Not once did Methias show any signs of compassion. He was beyond a shadow. He was darkness in its purest form.
“I never knew. He was always so cruel to me. Even after hearing your statement, I still want him dead. Pen’s father was also forced into becoming a shadow. Pen accepted that and took