Remembrance

The massive serpentine creature roared at the small stallion, who responded by unsheathing Rancor from his back and getting into a fighting stance.

The large shadow serpent raised one of it’s black crystal appendages and brought it down, impaling it into the stony terrace as Sombra rolled to the side and narrowingly avoided another spike by rolling to the other side.

It yanked it’s spikes out of the stone and roared at the stallion, who reeled back from the ear-piercing noise as he stood disoriented but quickly regained his bearings as he avoided the spikes once again. Sombra returned with a forehoof and return slash with his blade as he tried to hurt the large shadow serpent. But all he managed was to anger the monster even further.

Sombra jumped back to recover and began to dodge and evade the monster’s attacks, but he paid close attention to it’s movements before his eyes landed on the creature’s chest area. Surrounding it’s shadowy matter was a solid, black crystal carapace that was glowing a strange orange hue. And upon seeing it Sombra deduced “That must it’s weak spot…”

Sombra nearly paid for his distraction as he narrowingly avoided being impaled by the shadow serpent’s right spike. He landed on his hooves and jumped to the side to avoid the creature’s right spike, which was once more impaled on the stone terrace floor. He took advantage of this and impaled Rancor into the monster’s appendage.

Using his shadow-manifested claws, Sombra gripped the hilt of his blade as he was lifted off the ground and thrashed through the air as the serpent tried to shake him off. But once Sombra had enough momentum, he ripped Rancor out of the crystal-made spike and launched into the air.

The stallion raised Rancor over his head and in a phenomenal display of both acrobatics and sword play, Sombra spun in the air in forward flip with Rancor trailing behind and sliced clean through the monster’s spiked foreleg.

The severed appendage fell with a thud as the stallion landed next to it. Sombra rose onto his hooves as he rested Rancor on his shoulder while nonchalantly walking towards the large creature, who was reeling back from the immense pain of having a limb cut off.

The monster in question looked down at the small stallion warrior as it let out a rage-filled roar. As it did, Sombra’s mane was rippling from the force of the roar as he maintained his stoic expression before looking back it the beast’s crystallized chest. Looking back up the beast and right into its eyes, Sombra let a fanged, blood thirsty smile form on his lips as he kicked off his hooves and darted towards the creature's weak spot.

The large shadow serpent attacked the stallion with its remaining spiked foreleg as it slashed and thrashed at the umbrum stallion.

Sombra avoided each of these attacks by either jumping over them or sidestepping them as leaped into the air. The stallion had gotten right in the beast’s face with Rancor at the ready, and delivered a lethal sword uppercut to the beast’s muzzle, where it shrieked and hissed as it latched its eyes shut from the pain.

Sombra landed on the ground in a kneeled position right in front of the creature’s crystal carapace. Tightening his clawed grasp on the hilt of his blade, Sombra gripped the hilt with both shadow claws and readied the sword.

Sombra struck the black crystal shell with a forward slash and then a return slash followed by a double slash, each cut of his blade becoming faster and cutting deeper into the black crystal shell before he leaped into the air and impaled Rancor right at the top center of the carapace, before dragging the blade downwards, slicing it completely in half.

Sombra sheathed Rancor onto his back and gripped the split shell with both shadow claws and began to pull the two pieces apart. With a heavy grunt, Sombra pried the crystal shell open to reveal a large orange-glowing stone, where Sombra now knew for sure that iot was the focus of the creature’s lifeforce.

Drawing his blade, Sombra prepared to impale the stone but reflexively managed to block a swipe from the shadow serpent, causing him to be propelled back and smacked the hard stone wall.

Recovering from his hard landing, Sombra’s eyes landed on the large severed crystal spike that he had cut off. Glancing back at the creature’s weak spot, Sombra came up with an idea to end this.

He dived toward the appendage while narrowingly avoiding the beast’s still-attached forearm. Sombra landed at the spike and with tremendous strength, began to lift up the severed appendage over his head. Taking careful aim, Sombra heaved and threw the large spike smack dab into the serpent’s center.

The monster screeched and writhed in agony as it was sent crashing back and over the edge of the terrace.

Sombra watched coldly over the edge before turning his attention to the left tower overlooking the terrace. And up on it’s steeple was Malicia perched with her tendrils of Dark Magic, her piercing red eyes could be seen through the visor of her helmet, shooting a poisonous glare at the stallion bellow. Neither saying anything to each other.

Sombra returned the stare and his eyes began to glow green and emanate purple smoke as he activated his Dark Magic, engulfing his right foreleg in shadows before launching a clawed-tendril of shadow straight at the umbrum mare.

Malicia easily sidestepped it as it struck the side of the steeple but had to dodge when the stallion pulled himself towards her and landed right on her perch, the steeple roof shattering from the force of his landing.

Sombra looked over and dislodged himself as he and Malicia landed on the roof of the massive cathedral. Each glaring at each other as Sombra unsheathed Rancor, making sure to brandish his blade at the Dark Magic-wielding mare. Malicia in turn activated her Dark Magic and the entire cathedral roof began to shudder and shake. Sombra’s eyes squinted in focus as he sensed what was coming next.

And suddenly the roof area between the two Umbrum exploded, causing Sombra to stagger and try to regain his balance. And from the epicenter emerged another, more massive shadow serpent like the one before, hissing and growling at the dark stallion before it as the Umbrum mare Malicia remained atop it’s head, and in response Sombra unsheathed his blade. But suddenly, Sombra felt another presence.

Turning around behind him, Sombra saw another shadow serpent monster slithering it’s way over the edge of the cathedral roof and clawing its way towards the small stallion. Readjusting his grip on his blade, Sombra got into a fighting stance as he prepared to face off against the monsters.

~~~

Roars and bellows combined with the whooshing and slashing sounds of blades against flesh echoed throughout the snowy crystal mountains.

Sombra used his Dark Magic to summon a pillar of black crystal from the ground as he was launched into the air as he raised Rancor over his head before bringing the blade crashing down in a spinning front slash.

The shadow serpent reeled back from the attack as Sombra evaded a set of black crystal spikes that burst from roof, courtesy of the bloodthirsty mare riding the second shadow serpent.

The two shadow beasts screeched and roared at the small stallion as Malicia taunted, “You think you are special because you freed us, well you outlived your usefulness the second we came out of that damn prison. How you defeated the other Generals is beyond me, but it ends now. This is where you die, ‘King’ Sombra!”

The way she said ‘King’ sounded more like an insult than a proper title, and Sombra only sneered back, “No matter how many times a fail, I’ll never submit Malicia. You cannot stop me! Nothing can!”

Sombra sheathed Rancor and prepared himself for another attack as the lone shadow serpent reared one of it’s crystal spiked appendages back and lunged forward.

Sombra deflected the attack effortlessly, catching the spiked foreleg with his shadow-claws and redirecting it away from him. He did the same as the beast attempted with its other foreleg. Catching and deflecting it again, Sombra charged forward and leaped into the air, latching onto the beast’s muzzle with his left shadow claw as he unsheathed Rancor. Pulling himself up, Sombra took advantage of this and jammed Rancor straight through the eye of the monster, right down to the hilt.

The beast screeched and snarled in pain as Sombra ripped Rancor out of the bloody socket and positioned himself onto the beast’s neck. Where he impaled Rancor once more.

This caused the monster to lurch and thrash around as Sombra pulled it towards the other shadow serpent, ready for a face off.

Sombra ripped Rancor out and impaled into the creature’s chest once more as it lunged forward and began to mercilessly attack Malicia’s own mount. Both beasts engaging each other as their two riders stared each other down.

“Enough” ordered the Umbrum mare.

And calling upon her Dark Magic, a massive black crystal spike shot up from the roof and impaled Sombra’s mount right through the chest, killing it instantly.

Sombra looked back at the other serpent, and saw it was preparing for another attack. Jumping out of the way, Sombra manifested his Shadow Grip and caught the beast’s foreleg, where he swung before landing right on the black crystal appendage.

Looking down at the creature’s chest, where he saw the same orange-glowing carapace as the others. Diving forward, Sombra prepared to go for the shell, but was knocked back in mid-air by a quick-timed attack from the monster.

Spinning in the air, Sombra righted himself for forming Shadow Grip and launching it at the shell, the tip latching right in the middle of the carapace. Slingshotting himself forward, Sombra flipped before delivering a massive hind leg kick to the monster’s protective shell, shattering it like glass.

Landing in a roll on the ground before it, Sombra looked up the large shadow serpent before charging forward to deliver the final blow, but found himself grabbed by his hind leg and raised up to find himself face to face with Malicia.

“Your efforts have been admirable Sombra, but even you could only struggle for so long. I knew your death wasn’t going to be easy, but it will be enjoyable” said Malicia as she sadistically watched as her beast mount raised it’s foreleg back and prepared to impale the stallion.

But Sombra struggled and grunted as he tried to get out. Using all of his unnatural strength, Sombra pried open the tendril wrapped around him, as he jumped into the air to avoid the fatal attack.

Landing on the ground, Sombra stared down the monster as it regained its bearings before roaring at the Umbrum stallion. The shadow serpent pulled back it’s foreleg before bringing down down to crush the stallion, who flipped to the side as the spike impaled the stone roof.

Sombra took advantage of this as he gripped Rancor before jamming the blade into the monster’s impaled foreleg. The shadow serpent pulled his foreleg out of the roof and thrashed it around to get the stallion of him.

Using the momentum, Sombra dislodged his blade and jumped into the air, where he reversed his grip on his blade before jamming it into the side of the creature’s lower jaw. Digging his hooves into it’s neck, Sombra grunted and pulled as the jaw ripped and gave ways.

Sombra dislodged his sword before using Shadow Grip and swung to the opposite side of the creatures jaw, where he did the same and began to rip the jaw further out of its sockets.

Once it was loose enough Sombra jumped off the beast and landed with a roll on the ground before his eyes began to glow with Dark Magic, engulfing both his forelegs with shadow before shooting two tendrils at the creature’s lower jaw.

With a massive heave, Sombra ripped the shadow serpent’s lower jaw right off it’s skull.

Fountains of blood exploded out of the creature’s mouth stumps while it flailed and thrashed in agony, leaving it wide open for the stallion.

Sombra charged towards the monster at full speed and once he was close enough, Sombra rose up on his hind legs before doing a complete 180 degree turn, slamming his right shoulder straight into the shadow serpent’s exposed chest.

The thundering assault caused the massive beast to lurch back from the impact, this in turn caused Malicia to lose her balance, where she subsequently fell to the roof as her monster’s now lifeless body went limp and slipped down from the roof while Sombra watched coldly.

The stallion slowly turned toward the downed mare before him. A snarl forming on his lips as he began to approach Malicia while he unsheathed Rancor.

Malicia picked herself up as she readied herself before the stallion. Sombra tackled her, they rolled around on the ground before Malicia managed to get on top. She grabbed Sombra and suspended him with her tendrils as she manifested a pair of shadow claws of her own, where she began to mercilessly slash at the stallion’s face and muzzle.

Sombra managed to save himself though, as he blocked Malicia’s claw with his elbow before countering with a right cross to the mare’s face, knocking her away and freeing him of her grip.

Sombra followed up by grabbing the sides of her helmet and hitting her with a gaskin to the face. Malicia recoiled back before lunging back at the stallion with a beam of dark magic from her red-curved horn.

Sombra blacked the blast with a shield of Dark Magic as he deflected a slash by Malicia before she tried to imaple the stallion with a tendril of shadow.

But Sombra deflected and sliced it off before it could hit him. He returned with a grabbing the stumped tendril and began to spin the other Umbrum around before letting go, letting her fly into the crystal she used to kill the shadow serpent he was riding.

Momentarily hunched over and stunned while letting out shallow pants, Sombra approached the downed mare before he rose up on his hind legs raised his forelegs and slamming them down on the mare’s head.

Groaning in pain, Sombra followed up with a left hook before giving a heavy gut punch and ending it by gripping the side of her helmet and slamming it into the steeple, before bringing her back again and pushing her straight through the structure.

Sombra walked up to her again with Rancor at the ready and prepared to stab her before Malicia grabbed Sombra’s foreleg and began to choke him with her left shadow claw. Sombra grabbed the foreleg that choked him as he struggled against the Umbrum mare’s grip before pulling himself free and slashing the mare across the chest with his blade.

Hunched over and with an open wound, Sombra quickly took Rancor and drove his blade all the way through as he swung her all the way around, pulling them both over the edge of the cathedral roof while also dislodging the Umbrum mare from his sword.

They both fell towards the ground as Sombra raised his sword before they both crashed towards the ground, the earth shaking from their impact.

Sombra lifted his head and saw the lifeless body of Malicia with his blade running through her chest. Sombra pulled the sword out with a ‘schlick’ and looked over at the now dead Umbrum mare.

In plume of black smoke, the specter from before manifested beside the stallion. “Well now that that’s taken care of, let us get back to the mission. But don’t forget the amulet.”

At first Sombra was puzzled by the Umbrum’s words before his attention was drawn to the corpse before him. It began to glow a sickly lime-green before it began to hover in the air as it was dissolved into lime-green smoke and began to get absorbed into a strange green amulet attached to Malicia’s waist.

Her body was drained into the amulet, where it pulsed as if her soul was trapped within it. Sombra cautiously picked up the amulet in his red magical grip. He was then bombarded by a strange sense of recollection.

Sombra started to see images, memories of the weeks prior to him being imprisoned in the cathedral, of the torture he had to endure, all flooding back to him.

His eyes shifted from the well-known lime green and purple smoke, to an unusual and ominous pitch black that colored his sclera and surrounded his crimson eyes as they emanated a strange blood-red smoke.

Author's Note

You are all probably wondering why Sombra's magical aura is different at the end. But rest assured, I will explain further into the story.

I hope you all enjoy and give positive feedback and comments!