...which was precisely how Dean, Shadow of daunting power, went from creating a plague to torment an entire city, to being alone on the edge of a boat over a massive body of water. And, consequently, why he raised his hands and was able to tap into his power sufficiently enough to wrap chains of will around the submerged creature that waited in the deep, deep, basin of the lake.<br/><br/>Turns out, the great lake hadn’t been one a thousand years ago. A wizard or Djinn had made it as a prison for a thing. That thing, consequently, was called a Great Shadow. A Great Shadow was a lot like a standard, run of the mill, Regular Shadow – elemental from the plane of shadow, master of illusions, capable of manipulating dark (but not absolutely black) thoughts and minds, draining strength and will from living things, and so forth. Only bigger, better, smarter-er, and with some nifty powers that came from being absolutely ancient. Which was probably how it was able to reach out and exercise a little influence over poor, vulnerable, Dean. The Shadow *did* exist to engage in mischief, after all. You see where I’m going with this right?<br/><br/>There weren’t any symptoms of what Dean was up to, not in the first few seconds anyway. Then, as his power made the tiniest crack in the Greater Shadow’s prison, that *thing* reached out, wrapped its power around and through Dean – and *expanded.*<br/><br/>For an instant, reality just *fucking broke* in the immediate vicinity. Dean’s ability to influence *actual* reality combined with the Greater Shadow’s ability to make *anything* happen (albeit in an illusory way) turned the world upside down.<br/><br/>Dean's potent dreams became reality. The boat grew, became a three-masted monstrosity carved out of absolute horrific (but somehow deliciously sexy) nightmare. The fish in the sea became lobstrocities the size of buildings. Unattended belongings on the boat likewise shifted – changing to fit the personality that came attached to all these changes. Ahem. Someone’s armor *may* have gained some really cool magical properties. And simultaneously become ludicrously sexy. And maybe a little cursed so the wielder couldn’t escape it. Or somesuch.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Look, I’m just writing about what Dean did. This was all *his* fault, alright?</div></div><br/><br/>Freed of its prison, the Greater Shadow laughed, and its laughter was the stuff of raw nightmare. Enraged at being imprisoned for so long, the thing reached out and touched the skies, transforming flocks of birds into dragons, transforming dragons into abominations, and so on.<br/><br/>And all that happened within the first ten seconds. Which was how long it took Dean to realize that *maybe* things were getting a little out of hand.<br/><br/>“Ah,” Dean said, mental voice projecting throughout the now massive ship, “Could use a little help. Maybe those gemstones?” Yeah. His instincts told him they might work to contain the Shadow. But at what cost to them? And how fast could Donovan find him – their bond aside – now that the ship had become something entirely different, and potentially dangerous to navigate?<br/><br/>It was a reflection of Dean, after all. All twisted and…(somehow) sexy and stuff.<br/><br/>When that thought bubbled up to Dean, when he realized some of what had just happened, he couldn’t help but chuckle in horror. “Ah, fuck. What have I done this time?”<br/>