Myke Cole’s Shadow Demons
Posted by Meg
Today’s demon comes from Myke Cole, author of Shadow Ops: Control Point.
SHADOW DEMONS:
Shadow Demons are a symbiote. They are beings of pure magic, linked to the darkness of the core, and they have a relationship with their hosts much like beneficial bacteria do for humans. They live on the bodies of the most powerful corelings (Mind Demons and Mimics) and conduct magical energy from the core into their bodies. While Mind Demons are already powerful, their pinnacle of power is due to this function of magical channelling. Without the air of the Shadow Demons colonizing their skins, they would simply be a more powerful breed of coreling.
Shadow Demons are tiny, no bigger than a speck of dust. Because of this, they were never identified by humanity, and no wards exist to combat them. They are stupid, of animal intelligence, like your average coreling. They know only that they are drawn to the warmth and safety of Mind Demons and Mimics, who are equally sensitive to light, and therefore make better hosts for them. Shadow demons never live on the hides of drone corelings, as these creatures are more likely to expose them to star or moonlight, either of which will kill them.
Outside the core, Shadow Demons go unseen, clinging fast to the bodies of Mind Demons and Mimics, acting as magical conduits, strengthening their hosts.
But *inside* the core, where the darkness is absolute, Shadow Demons bask in the magical currents that flow from the their nexus at the center of the earth. Here, in their home, they are a force to be reckoned with. When threatened, or roused to hunger, or in defense of the hive, Shadow Demons will “colonize” into a single form, a towering being of pure blackness, bigger than a rock demon, fanged and clawed and horned. No ward can effect them, no weapon can harm them, all blows pass harmlessly through their liquid black forms. Yet their own teeth and claws cut as surely as any steel.
In the core, in their colonized form, the Shadow Demon is only vulnerable to one thing: light.
And in the core, that is rare thing indeed.
Thanks Myke! Now that I know what’s lurking down there, I won’t be visiting the core anytime soon.
Have an idea for a demon? Want to share it with the world? Check out the contest guidelines and email your coreling by 11:59pm on May 18th, 2012.