Leon and the Shadow Titans

Leon and the rise of the Shadow Titans



Ch. 1: Leon

“No, no!” he shouted, as he sprinted down the rain-tattered road, not looking back. The chilly night was still, silent, except for the repetitive pitter-patter of light rain. He ran as fast as his little legs could, for the slightest hesitation could be his downfall. He noticed a fork in the road ahead, with a magnificently tall oak tree at the split. The road to the left was filled with blinding white light, whereas the road opposite was just plain. He didn’t care which road he went down, he just kept running. He ran past his school, past the church, to the outskirts of town, and farther. Then suddenly, there was a loud noise that sounded a lot like a lightning bolt striking very, very near, followed by a gigantic roar. This disoriented him, causing him to stumble and fall over. He watched frozen in terror as a swirling black cloud emerged from the sky, engulfing the moon and the stars in darkness, and he knew it was too late. Three shadowy figures that resembled dog heads began to form, and the ground beneath him started to crumble, sending him into an endless fall. Down, down, down he fell into the seemingly never-ending darkness. When he tried to move, his muscles remained still, and when he tried to scream, no sound came. Then the black cloud appeared again in the form of a tremendously large snake, with black scales and piercing red eyes that seemed to capture the soul, since it was impossible to divert your sight from their stare. He could only watch in horror now as the snake reared back, ready to strike, and then seized forward at lightning speed, about to snap its gigantic jaws shut on him….. “NO!” shouted Leon at the top his lungs, quickly sitting up in his bed. He was still shaking with fear from the dream, as it had been so real and vivid to him. “Ugh, another nightmare… I need to stop eating sweets before bed...” he said to himself, as he groggily started his morning routine. He took a hot shower, got dressed in his favorably comfortable morning clothes, combed his semi-long black hair to the side, and brushed his flawless teeth for a full five minutes. Then Leon slid down the stairs on the sandalwood rail, and dashed out the door to watch the sun rise over the hill near his house like he always did. Leon had a laid-back personality, and he loved adventure. He had a strong sense of justice, and he was very self-confident in everything he did.  But he had a somewhat short temper, and weird things always happened when he got angry, so classmates tend to steer clear of him. But Leon didn’t care. He enjoyed his solitude as much as a brown bear enjoys his honey. He ran up the cobblestone path along the grassy hill, humming to the harmonious chirp-chirp of songbirds. When he got to the top of the hill, he looked out over the ocean, where the sun was coming over the horizon, turning the sky a beautiful golden-red color. He could taste the salty air on his tongue. He turned around and watched the grassy hillside spark to life with all kinds of animals; rabbits, deer, weasels, squirrels, honeybees…All was gloriously peaceful until Leon heard the scratchy voice of an old man. “Enjoy your subtle peace while it lasts... They are coming.” “Who are you?? Show yourself!!” said Leon. “Names are not of importance at this time…The dreams will only get worse and worse, until you stop them.” The voice said. Leon was surprised at this. “How do you know about my dreams? And who is ‘them’?” Leon interrogated. “All in good time, my friend…All in good time.” The voice faded away at this last reply, and Leon was bewildered. He contemplated this odd encounter in his head for a while, until he came to the conclusion he just needs more sleep. So with that, he headed back down the cobblestone path, back to his house. Over the next few weeks, however, the nightmares got worse, and he was seeing the same monsters in his dreams over and over again, growing more pronounced than before. One of the monsters was a half spider, half human, with long, flowing hair, spectacularly toned tanned body, holding a long sword in each hand. His spider half was all black with a red hourglass on the underside, like a black widow. Another one of these beasts was a three-headed black dog, exceedingly large, with gigantic razor-sharp teeth, each bigger than his arm. It had blood-red eyes that had no pupils. Also in his dreams was a giant demon-like creature that sported a charcoal-like color, and seemed to be on fire. It had gigantic wings, although flightless, and curved black horns on its head. It had pupil-less glowing white eyes, and it carried a whip of ice in one hand, and a whip of flame in the other.  Also in his nightmares was an enormous human with a pot-belly, and wore nothing but a loincloth. It stood more than 1,500 feet tall, and shook the ground with every step. He saw a snake in his dreams, gigantic in size, seeming to be made of elusive shadow and clouds, and could appear and disappear at will. It had shining black scales, and large venom-loaded fangs. It had capturing red eyes, with small black slits for pupils. Lastly was the beast in his dreams that frightened him the most. A dragon, black and red in color, enormous bat-like wings, with two large horns on its head, and two more smaller ones coming out of those. It had spikes running down from the head to the tail, and it had a sleek-looking appearance. It had big teeth, and it breathed a shadowy fire that disintegrated everything it touched. The dragon could appear and disappear at will in a cloud of black smoke, and its eyes were an enigmatic pupil less yellow. The dragon seemed to be the leader of the beasts. Because of the horrific nightmares, Leon stopped sleeping in order to avoid another night with the terrifying creatures. Then the voice came again one night, while Leon was lying in his bed, trying hard to stay awake. “It seems you’ve been troubled,” it said, “What’s on your mind?” Leon sat up, suddenly angry. “Who are you!?? How did you know the dreams would get worse?? Why is this happening to me!!!???” He shouted. “Calm down, child, calm down.” cooed the voice. “Go away…” said Leon, as he put the blanket over his head. “What if I told you there is a way to stop the nightmares?” it said. Leon sat up, suddenly alert. “I’m listening.” “I can show you how to stop the dreams…but I want something in exchange.” said the voice. “And what might that be?” asked Leon suspiciously. “Leon, I want you to leave home on a journey to the stone of shadows.” The voice said. “Whoa, whoa, WHOA…How do you know my name?” Leon retorted, suddenly angry again. “I know quite a lot about you, Leon…you are special. You possess a special power called yoh. It’s a special energy that flows through your veins, and you can release into a devastating power, from which the slightest blow would cripple or even kill a regular human being. You can use this against the Shadow Titans. “Shadow Titans?” Leon interrupted. “Yes. The Shadow Titans are a superior race of beings that have harnessed the power of darkness. There are 7 Shadow Titans:  Kilnor the spider, Venoxis the snake, Soulripper the dragon, Dante the giant, Cerberus the dog, and Pyros the balrog. The seventh is Zeon the warlock, but he disappeared 10,000 years ago when the previous yoh bearer sealed away the Shadow Titans in a parallel realm. Some say he still walks the earth today, waiting for the chance to strike when his brethren are released once again. Anyway, the Shadow Titans are going to be released again very soon, and cause destruction and ruin upon the world…unless you seal them away.” The voice explained. “…..You expect me to believe all this? How do I know this isn’t a cruel joke?” Leon replied. Suddenly, a thick haze conjured in the room, and a humanoid figure appeared in it. The haze dispersed, and standing there was an old man of countless age, wrinkled like a piece of paper that has been crumpled up and unfolded numerous times, with sunken cheeks, and white hair that extended to the floor. He was wearing a very ceremonial-looking robe, aqua in color, and in his right hand the old man held a cane of solid gold, the tip shaped like a snake head with rubies for eyes. And then Leon noticed something odd…The man had no eyes! “I am Sage, guardian of the mist.” He said in a booming voice that startled Leon. “You see, I am very old…My time is almost up. I have come to you in the last few months of my life to deliver you this message and that you will believe it.” Sage continued. Leon thought for a moment, and then replied, “I’ll do it.” “Good…” said Sage. Suddenly Leon was in pitch darkness. Sage appeared about 10 feet in front of Leon, and said, “I will now teach you the basic art of yoh. Are you up for such a task?” Leon hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’m ready.” Sage smiled. “Good. Now, point your index and middle fingers, and put them together. “ Leon did as he was instructed. “Good, now loosen every muscle in your body. Relax. Breathe deep breaths.” Leon started taking deep breaths, and felt his shoulders lower, his arms relaxing. He then waited for his next instruction. “Now, focus solely on your heartbeat…Feel the energy flowing in your body.” Leon focused on his heartbeat; he felt it pumping blood into the veins, flowing out of the heart, down through his midsection, past his groin, down his legs, into his feet, and back again. It was all one fluid motion, over and over again. “Now, strike me down with your yoh! Imagine it happening. Make it real.” said Sage suddenly. “But…” Leon hesitated. “Do it now!” Sage ordered. Leon reluctantly imagined himself knocking Sage down by pointing at him. Then, he felt a tingling sensation going from his heart, down his arm into his fingertips. Leon pointed at Sage with his two fingers, and an extraordinary chain of events happened in mere seconds. First, a violent wind blew for a split-second, and then subsided. Following that, Leon felt a burning sensation in his fingertips, and a flash of blinding light appeared. Right after the light diminished a small bolt of what seemed like lightning shot out from his fingertips, hit Sage in the chest, and emitted a very loud noise resembling thunder.  Sage’s knees buckled, and he fell to the ground like a ragdoll. Leon started running toward him, but the old man raised a hand, indicating for Leon to stop. Leon halted abruptly and Sage rose to his feet with the help of his cane. “That…the tiniest bit of yoh...knocked me out…” he said, panting. All of a sudden, they were both back in Leon’s room. However, Leon didn’t notice since he was too busy staring in awe at where the bolt came out. “Wow…That was…Amazing.” He said. “Leon, you must not dawdle…find the stone of shadows in the Castle of Zeon. Once you find the stone, turn the outermost ring to the waning gibbous moon symbol to seal away the Shadow Titans. First, go to Bogg, the dream mentor. He will teach you how to control your dreams, so you won’t have to worry about waking up to horrifying nightmares. You will find him in a small hut in the swamp to the east. Be careful, however, because the Watchers will be following you.” Sage instructed. “Watchers?” Leon interrupted. “Spies sent to Earth by the Shadow Titans to dispose of the yoh holder. To dispose of YOU.” Explained Sage impatiently. “Oh, I see. I should get going, then.” Leon said, getting a blue backpack from his closet. “That you should,” Said Sage. “I’ll be off now; best of luck…I have faith in you, Leon.” The haze appeared in the room once again, and when it dispersed, the old man was gone. Leon went downstairs to grab the last of the dried beef, a compass, and a metal container which he filled with water at the well. He took his toothbrush, a few Aloe Vera leaves from the plant on the windowsill, and his comb from the bathroom, and he set off on his journey. The sun was high in the sky, and Leon could feel the radiant heat beating down on his skin. He kept walking along until he came to the eastern forest, past which was the swamp. He took a deep breath, and moved onward, into the darkness of the forest.



Ch. 2: Rosemary

“Rose, dinner!” called Pim, Rosemary’s father. She popped out of the bushes holding a freshly killed rabbit. “Dinner, indeed!” she said with a smile. “Gramma sure taught you well, Rose!” said Pim, laughing heartily. “Give me a second to freshen up, Pa.” said Rosemary. She went into her room and set her bow on the dresser, and hung her arrows on the designated nail in her wall. Rosemary was a skilled archer, so she killed and brought home the meat. Rosemary looked in disgust at the color of her room, and headed into the bathroom. She wanted to paint it a deep blue to match her eyes. Rosemary brushed her midsection-length brown hair, briefly pampered her slightly tanned skin, and walked out into the dining room for dinner. “What’s for dinner, Pa?” she asked. “The usual…rabbit meat, fruit n’ salad.” answered Pim. Rosemary sat down in the seat opposite from her mother. On the wooden table were two skinned rabbits, cooked to a delicious golden-brown, accompanied by a medley of scrumptious looking fruits and vegetables. “Dig in!” exclaimed Pim. Later that night, when Rosemary was polishing her bow, she heard a noise similar to shattered glass. She picked up her bow, took her arrows, and crept out into the kitchen to inspect. Going down the hallway, she picked up a very foul smell, like the week-old rotting carcass of a bear. By the time she got into the kitchen, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and she could see the figure of a creature resembling a man, on all fours, wearing a brown hood and a black cape. It was rummaging through the cabinets in her kitchen, and making snarling noises. She cocked her bow, aimed an arrow right at the creatures head, and she was just about to shoot when the thing turned around, looked right at her, and