Decent To Darqueness/Accent to Shadows                By Eric Kent

Intro by Joe Petrilak

This chilling recant is the story of Shadowman #0, the story of Maxim St. James (the Shadowman previous to Jack Boniface) and the rise of power of Master Darque, as seen through Darque's eye.

1895...day unknown...dates matter not to I...

Darqueness calls me...I must possess it and all of it's intimate knowledge.I want to embrace it. Its whsipers to me gently and seductively on the night air as it drifts in shadows to where it wants to go. It beckons me to leave the sanctuary or daylight domain and surrender myself to it fully... I must become the Darqueness. Within it's power will I be safe and strong. Within it's power shall I make and wield mine.

Anton Quigley has no idea of what I become. He ever thinks me conduit to the Darque. He is but my muse.While he uses me for my energies, I use him. I use his knowledge to grow. His knowledge fuels my power.

1895....three days from last entry....

That damned fool... oh my dear Sandria...my beloved sister. That damned fool has put in motion events which could undo me and my plans. Anton attempted to kill a man over a woman he wished to possess. He failed. This man...Maxim St. James....this man...the shadows whisper he is next. Anjenetta is going to make another Shadowman.

Let her. I shall crush his still beating heart in my pale hands as his dying eyes look upon me for the mercy that I will never give. He will die a bloody death and I shall dine with his blood as my wine.

1895....another day.....

Anton has met you this night Sandria. He wants you Sandria. You appear to him as a symbol of purity. He thinks he will have you and defile your beauty. Should I let him? Of course not. You are mine dear sister. Not Anton's .....MINE. You are my twin. You are my love. But...Anton has offered to trade his resurrection knowledge in return for you as his whore. I accepted.

I know dear Sandria that you will not allow him to touch you. But you will allow me time to drain his knowledge like a vampire drains his victim. His lust is his weakness. He is willing to do and tell anything to touch you. He is telling me everything. Sandria dear....I must know. How does it feel?; the evil I am learning is writing itself on our skins-isn't it magnificent? The glorious feel of the maniacal touch of evil. It is arousing me....I feel alive at last.

The patterns on our skins...oh they are alive dear sister. I can feel them shifting on my flesh. My blood boils with excitement as the evil spreads and grows on my skin and through my dark soul. Can you feel it? Can you appreciate this birth? I know you can't, but you do know what is to be done. Don't you?

1895....later...same night....

Anton is obessed with you dear sister. You burn his soul even as the evil burns in my very own. He is coming for you. He wants his flesh to lay with yours. To run his hands through your hair and across your soft skin.You are waiting for him.....He has arrived in your room....you are embracing.You kiss....and his throat burns with the fire you spit in him.....NO! Anton has pulled his blade. Damn you Sandria! DAMN YOU! You will die to kill me! ME! SAANDRIAAAA!

Through the night I run. Drown by your agony of death. It screams in my head swallowing even the Darque power that sings to me in secret places in my mind. I feel something else as well....a Shadowman. He is there in the Bordello also. No matter. You will not die Sandria. WE will not die.

I climb through the window. You are on the bed feeling your dying breaths. I have power and knowledge to stop this. I will. I take the cutting shears from the bedroom chest and plunge them into the soft flesh between my ribcage. I lean over you and my dark unholy blood drips into your pale luscious lips. My blood is on your tongue as I start to intone the revival spell. Dear Sandria you will live.....

As I hold you in my arms, SHE bursts into the room. Ajenetta thought she could stop me in time from reviving you. I look deep in her eyes as I accuse her of making a new Shadowman. I see the scene in her eyes...the birth of Maxim St. James as Shadowman...

I see St. James left for dead by Anton and his men. St. James' blood is caking in his lungs. I can see Anjenetta and her helpers arrive to take him to the bayou. On a wooden platform does he lay as his heartbeat slows and dulls. Anjenetta is dancing around his ever growing colder body. The shadows are singing to him also. They like the coldness that is coming over his body. "Die" they whisper to him. Die so that we may live in you.....Anjenetta opens his soul to the shadows. They permeate his every fiber. The imbue him with Darque energy. MY Darque energy. It is all mine....he should not possess it. But Anjenetta has failed. She made you to kill me Maxim St. James. She made you to be a mindless vessel for the shadows. You have kept your own thoughts and mind. She has failed. This will make you weak. Weakling Shadowman. Strong in courage and strength. But strength is not power itself....

I see you St. James as you take Anton's zombie servant and snap his spine high above your head. The bloodlust is in you. It excites you...this power is a drug for you.You hear the zombie's spine crack and a shudder of pleasure shoots up your spine. I know this...the Darqueness whispers....Ahhhh. You want Anton. Don't you St James? Have him. Kill him. Rip his head from his shoulder and toss it to the gators. Yes...you have rushed to the Bordello to confront him. You meet him on the stairwell as he races from the room after stabbing my dear Sandria....As I bring my dearest Sandria back to life,you bring death to Anton as you allow him to sink his hilt blade still wet with my sister's blood into you chest. The result is your energies engulfing him. The energy claims his flesh and boils his blood as his very skin melts around the organs which are bursting from the heat and power.

I blink.....I am again in the room holding my sister. Anjenetta attempts to stop me but I hold her with a fire incantation. The room is ablaze with fire. I leave the room with Sandria in my arms as Anjenetta struggles to keep the flames at bay. I walk in Anton's melted flesh as I decsend the stair and pass St.James on the way down. He is hurt from Anton's blade..he is not healing quite so fast....Another day St. James, another day to see how long this Shadowman shall live....

1991...again..the days pass by me....they matter not...only years seem to keep time for me.

The woman plots again. I know this time. I know who you have chosen. I will make sure this one becomes my puppet. I have struck a bargain with the Spider aliens that walk amongst you meak humans. Humans...yes I am so far accended above you now....You are all but my cattle; whims for my power and enjoyment....hahahahahahahahahahahah. Anjenetta and her new toy.....this Jack Boniface. They could threaten my plans. No more....

The Spider alien known as Lydia to Boniface drugs him. She sinks her teeth hard into the soft hot flesh of his neck as she puts the alien virus into his blood. As arranged, the other Spider aliens stop her before she kills Boniface. I and Sandria watch from the balcony above Boniface's apartment as these events transpire. At the same time I can feel the Darqueness moving....Anjenetta is doing her dance again...she once again looks youthful while doing her dance. She is opening Boniface for the power. But I have succeeded. even as Boniface dons his Shadowmask I know I have blocked his full hold over the Darque energies...Let my end game begin.........


Joe Petrilak's VALIANT Era Online has been archived in the original format (when possible), by VALIANT Revisited (VALIANTComics.com),
with Joe's permission. The purpose is to keep an archive of Joe's VALIANT work available online for many years to come.