Momo gasped awake, the surroundings of the Spectral plane being visible to him, he shook himself, his eyes returning to the physical world as he got up in what seemed to be an ancient sanctum.
“Good, you returned, and quicker than I anticipated.” Rancour’s voice called out from behind Momo, as he saw the familiar face of the golden wraith.
“Where are we?” Momo asked.
“This is the physical manifestation of my Spectral Dominion: Sanctum of the Vengeful. It shall serve as a training ground and a place to assemble armies or allies within England. It is also safe from invasion, as it can kill those it deems as our enemies, as it is linked to my soul, similar to how my Spectral Dominion can do the same when brought forth as a realm.” Rancour answered.
“What exactly is a Spectral Dominion I don’t quite understand?” Momo inquired.
“It is the ultimate expression of our power, character and abilities. Your mind and soul, conscious and unconscious all in tandem create your ultimate power. It creates a realm, unique to you, it manifests on a metaphysical plane, in-between the Spectral and Physical worlds, within the realm itself, you have complete power. It effectively supercharges your physical prowess, giving you immense speed and strength, allowing you full control over the battle, for any user it gives a similar effect to that of an Ardour's Spark, when your Dominion becomes as refined as mine, it is doubly as powerful as the temporary boost of power from an Ardour's Spark. You may also impose conditions or attacks upon your enemy so long as they cannot counter your Dominion, there are only three known ways to escape a Dominion’s effects, a barrier technique, whether it be Resonance or a similar technique, your own Spectral Dominion, or by destroying the Dominion, which can be circumvented by making the Dominion manifest into the Physical world, denying it a barrier, but there are few who have such mastery. There is a fourth case, too, one devoid of Spectral Energy, I have only encountered one with such qualities, so this will not be a problem.” Rancour explained.
"What is an Ardour's Spark?" Momo inquired.
"You will soon find out." Rancour replied.
Walking toward the Sanctum in the middle, Momo observed a small room with a throne in its centre, the pillars armed with spikes that reached to its peak, with an emblem, Viking in design resting at its upmost peak.
“Is this power possible to learn?” Momo queried, interested in the potentiality of possessing this power.
“Yes, but you will not obtain my Dominion, you will obtain one which is unique to you, it will be born of whom you are, just as mine was born of myself.” Rancour replied.
“Interesting, how long would this take?” Momo further questioned.
“I do not know, your superhuman nature and natural power and connection to the Spectral Plane and perhaps the Spectral Essence itself signal that it may come soon than I could predict.” Rancour observed as the walked to his throne.
“Wow!” Amirah gasped, looking at the beauty of the throne, its make like no other, being made of materials unfamiliar to this world, so perfect that it seemed to soften one’s heart, and harden one’s mind.
“It is quite beautiful.” Momo observed, looking down to his sister as Rancour sat upon his throne.
“Take a few hours to relax, Momo, I can ensure that unless Ellanher and Hjalmarr are able to create barrier techniques that surpass the ability to destroy nearly anything, there will be no respite here. Call upon the Dominion, it’ll answer you for anything you need.” Rancour implored.
Momo nodded, hoisting Amirah onto his shoulder as they went to a more pleasant area of the Dominion, a small garden generating itself, with a flowing river and a small hill.
Momo lay upon the soil, its soft features reminding him of the bed he once slept in months ago. Its comfort gave him a small sense of happiness, as he knew Amirah enjoyed it, eating an apple her subconscious had conjured from the Dominion. He got up, feeling the human need for water that he had cast off long ago. Drinking from the river he felt the beauty of the taste, the coldness bringing him a satisfaction he hadn’t felt for what seemed to be centuries.
This must be a manifestation of her mind, it seems, even after father and mother were killed in front of her eyes, she still holds on to hope. That’s something I should learn from her. Momo thought, a small exhale leaving him.
“Look Momo, anything you want, I just ask for it and it gives it to me!” Amirah squealed happily, as grapes appeared into her hands as she enthusiastically ate them, joyfully smiling and giggling as she ran around.
Momo watched contently, noticing her incredible pace, running at speeds he knew no human ever could.
Even as a pre-teen, she’s incredibly talented, such as our mother. I wonder what her role in this war will be. Momo thought, shuddering slightly at the notion of his sister becoming a solider.
Momo walked away for a short moment, a small bathhouse appearing. Momo removed his clothes, washing them and leaving them to dry as he bathed. As he finished bathing, he cleaned his hair, brushing it from its matted condition.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
He put his clean clothes back on, then putting Amirah into a bath as he cleaned her clothes, drying them as he awaited her to finish and get dressed to return to Rancour. She walked out of the bathhouse, walking to Momo as they travelled back to the centre of the Dominion, where Rancour awaited.
“I see you two are in better spirits, and have dealt with that matter of your deteriorated cleanliness. I’m glad.” He observed warmly.
“What now, that we have had the hours you wanted us to relax in?” Momo queried.
“Now, we must travel to Middleburgh, another city within Northumbria, which contains a ring of mine, this ring contains another severed portion of my soul, and it will help us exponentially in honing in on our rapidly increasing powers and skills.” Rancour ordered, ascending from his throne, and walking toward Momo.
The two stood before each other, the echoes of their animosity in each other’s eyes.
Rancour entered Momo’s body once more as he left Amirah to play in bliss, shouldering the burden of revenge. He sped toward Middleburgh, stopping at the Middleburg Manor, overlooking the small town. Through the Spectral World, he investigated the Manor, finding their quarry. He knew a more feudal lord resided within it, and that he had an aura of power, not at all comparable to one like Hjalmarr, but an annoyance nonetheless.
Momo walked to the door, sparing no time for semantics, he punched at the door, only to find a barrier upon it. He sent out a slash from his glaive which created no impact, grunting in annoyance he beckoned Rancour to join him. The two charged a punch, hitting with the full force of both impacts and creating a small indent which Momo stabbed his glaive into, slowing pulling the barrier apart as he squeezed into the barrier, closing behind him.
Rancour felt a shift in the environment, recognising what was occurring.
“We are inside this sorcerers Spectral Dominion, he may not be powerful upon himself, but the manor most likely gives him an advantage, we should try to defeat him quickly, as opening my own Dominion will call attention to us from other sorcerers, or Ellanher and Hjalmarr.” Rancour conveyed.
“I understand, he most likely knows we’re here, so we’ll need to conceal ourselves somehow.” Momo suggested.
“I’ll shroud us in shadows, but it will only reduce the visibility he has over us, not outright conceal us.” Rancour replied, putting a small amount of Spectral Energy into a shadow spell.
Moving down the halls, they seemed to stretch for miles, despite the residence being only a few hundred yards in length. This was obviously a condition of the Dominion, as it seemed to use trickery and mind games to break down its attacker. However, the Spectral World revealed the true nature of the Dominion, its distance shortening and lengthening at a whim, however it could not conceal the ring, which Momo drew closer to.
Stopping a hallway before the ring, a faint creaking came from another hall, he turned, but found nothing, he wandered closer, but before he could react, he was blasted with lightning, being sent halfway back to where he started.
“He is trying to wear us down, we should reverse his games, and make him face us in the large centre room.” Rancour implored.
“Yeah.” Momo replied briskly, travelling toward the ring once more, taking a detour toward the centre room, as the sorcerer struggled to track them.
As they entered the centre room, they caught the mage off guard, leaping after him and slamming him into the ground. He quickly recovered, blasting him into a wall as he drew a sword.
Rancour manifested himself into the physical world, seemingly scaring the sorcerer, who attempted to escape, being chased by the two, who caught up to him, as the room began lengthening to give him distance. The room widened, shaking violently as a spike appeared, impaling Momo upon it as he yelled in pain, destroying the spike and continuing the chase around the room.
The sorcerer finally stopped, as the room manifested large, animated knight sculptures, which leapt after Momo, as Rancour duelled the sorcerer.
Momo launched a flurry of slashes at two of the sculptures, destroying them as the other two swung at him with overwhelming strength. Imbuing Spectral Energy into his left hand, Momo struck at the sculpture, completely vaporising it as he sliced the other one in half with his glaive.
He ran toward Rancour and the sorcerer, but was sent tumbling away as Rancour spoke, a red gleam coming from his eyes as the words left his mouth.
“Spectral Dominion: Sanctum of the Vengeful.” Rancour chanted, as the manor’s dominion and its effect became nullified, alongside Rancour’s.
It's a fair fight now. Momo thought as Rancour slashed the sorcerer, his dominion slowly gaining control over the manor’s. Momo watched as the two fought, the sorcerer now being utterly overwhelmed as he launched all his power into an ultimate lightning bolt, striking Rancour with a force similar to that of his fire arrow, launching him into the manor’s wall and destroying the entire manor, deactivating both Dominions.
Momo stared at the sorcerer who now held the ring. The two faced off, Momo knowing the sorcerer was unable to combat him called out;
“Surrender the ring, old man, and I’ll spare your life.” Momo offered, shadow stepping closer.
“If I give it to you, I’ll face a fate worse than death, so come claim it.” He yelled back, his voice raspy and tired.
“Fine.” Momo sighed, moving to him with unimaginable speed.
He kicked the sorcerer away, catching the ring and putting it on his left ring finger. A large surge of energy entered Momo, as Rancour disappeared back into his soul. Momo walked to the old man who cowered in fear.
“Kill me, please.” He begged, staring at Momo with wide eyes.
“What use would it serve, you aren’t my target.” Momo answered.
“You don’t know what he will do. He is a monster.” The sorcerer stated with a shaky, fearful voice.
Give him what he wishes, Momo, his life is obviously no more if we leave him. He’ll be a dead man walking. Rancour communicated to Momo from his soul.
“Very well.” Momo concurred, lifting his glaive and plunging it into the sorcerer’s heart, killing him instantly.
“We should return, quickly. I have no doubt Hjalmarr has been dispatched from York.” Rancour observed, looking at the destruction he had caused.
Momo nodded, as the two sped back to the physical manifestation of the Sanctum of the Vengeful, retiring for the day, as Momo went back to check upon his sister, knowing that this path would be one that would take him back to where it began in York.