Status: hope you enjoy

The Unnamed Shadow

At the beginning all was chaos, then the God's came and there was quite. Darkness came and there was peace. It wasn't until the light came that disruption returned. Now the meek could see the predator's that lurked in the shadows. Sound flooded throughout the land and the fears that came with the sound was paralyzing. One out of all the creatures that came out of the darkness wanted nothing more than to have the peaceful darkness back. It lurked in the shadows trying to recreate the peace he once knew. Even in the shadows and darkness the sounds that came with the light disrupted his peace. The thing decided then and there to bring the quite darkness back by any means necessary. The creature took the name Lord Darkness and began gathering followers. Anger drove his actions and so the war began.

Gaven was crouched down in the shadows of a bar playing a game of dice. The men around him were laughing and chatting merely. He threw the dice and rolled a 9 "not good" that was the last of his money. He rose with his hands on his back trying to smile but managing what appeared to be a grimes. The men around him collected his coins, their coins now. He sat at the bar and asked to start a tab. The bartender let out a small laugh and said.
"There's no way I would give you a tab. Every night your in here wasting your money on that dumb game. The thing I don't get is why you keep playing, you never win. I might as well throw the drinks in the trash rather than give you a tab."
"Well to answer your question I play because it's the only thing I'm not good at." The bartender looked at him and chuckled again. "So playing keeps me humble and I'm told I need humbling. As for you not trusting me to pay my tab how about if I give you collateral?"
"What type of collateral do you have in mind?" Gaven rummaged about in his pocket for a moment and withdrew a small purple heart. It was an amethyst heart almost the size of a fist. The bartender breathed in sharply.
"That's a royal heart stone. You only get one for protecting a member of the royal family. Were did you get it?"
"That doesn't much matter now does it?" Gaven said waving the stone tempting the barkeep. The bartender swiped the stone from Gaven and poured him a drink. He then turned an started messing about with the drinks on the shelves. Gaven smiled lifting his drink and saying.
"I'll be coming back for it." As the bartender slipped the heart into his pocket.
"It'll be right here waiting for you." After that Gaven did his best to put himself into a drunken stupor. Hours later he stumbled up to a room and passed out.
He was up with the dawn and off to his guard duty. His head was aching and his stomach was sour but he bore it. This day he was working for a merchant that sold corn or maze as he called it. He got paid three coins a day for his services. He didn't exactly like the job it was incredibly dull for one thing and for another who the hell would want to steal corn. Gaven showed up and stood all day long, eyeing everybody who came up. After hours of standing still his legs aching, back feeling as though a sword was burried in the small of his back. He went to the merchant for the days pay. Then he made his way through town to the bar. Upon entering Gaven noticed two city guards sitting with their heads lowered to the bartender conspiratorially. He groaned and made his way into the bar. Not once did he think that the bartender would report that he had gotten a royal heart from him but hindsight will bite you every time. Crossing the short distance between the entrance and the bar Gaven sat himself down at the bar. Then waving the bartender over he set the three coins down on the bar and then held out his hand. The bartender approached and then glancing towards the guardsmen he palmed the coins. The bartender didn't proffer the heart and before Gaven could say anything the guards were beside him. He sighed and turned to the higher ranked guard. He was a captain as the marks on his shoulder attested. " What can I do for you captain? " Gaven inquired already knowing that he was in for some trouble. The man grinned and his teeth were black. " Were did you get this?" the man growled and in his hand was the heart stone. " Oh that, it was given to me by the king. For services to the crown. " " What services? " Gaven wanted to tell them exactly what he had done, he couldn't. The king had sworn him to secrecy and you don't disobey the king. " That is between the crown and myself sorry. " the guard sneered and rumbled out." I thought you might say something of the sort. Well you'll have to come with us. " it happened very quickly. The guard reached out to grab Gavens arm and instinctively he gripped the mans wrist and pulled him forward into his awaiting elbow. Slamming it into his stomach and buckling the guard. He then turned and with the palm of his hand struck the other man at the point were jaw met neck. The man crumple to the floor knocked out cold. Heart racing he turned to the bartender and stared daggers at the man. Then he bent and plucked up the stone and pocketed it all the while starring the man down. Then as though nothing had happened Gaven smiled nodded to the barman and exited the establishment. Quickly he strode out of town without a backward glance.

"The man was tall and had brown hair with streaks of grey throughout. He wasn't old though, he was late twenties early thirties." The guard finished, and glared at the hunter he was speaking to. With chuckle the hunter asked. " And this one man beat you and another guard unconscious?" "yes" he grumbled "Well then to go forth and dispose of him will not be cheap." the guard reached into his jerkin and pulled out a smallest pouch and placed it on the table between them. The hunter swept it up and peered in. He raised one eyebrow and asked. "How did a guard come by such riches?." "Me and the other guardsmen pooled together that. He made a fool of us and we want him dead." The hunter nodded, stood and walked away. Before he was out of sight he turned and assured the guard it would be done. The hunter was special or so the man who trained him was fond of saying. "Daniel I don't know how you can track as well as you do. It's as if you could see the animal as though it were here in front of us. Your special boy that's for sure." His master would say on almost every hunt they went on. The fact was that his teacher was closer to the truth than he could have known. Daniel had the gift of seeing after images of every living thing. When he was younger and his gift first manifested it almost overcame him. He was ten and was in the town square with his father when it happened. He was watching a beggar ask for spare coins when his vision blurred and all of a sudden there were so many shadows of people surrounding him. So many that he couldn't see a hand span in front of his face. He shut his eyes and crouched down with his hands over his face. When his father noticed he tugged him to his feet and carried him out of town. That was long ago and since he'd developed a modicum of control over his gift. As he neared the entrance to the small town it was easy to shift his vision. At once shadows of all that had walked through the entrance sprung up in front of his eyes. It took a great amount of concentration but with effort he sifted through an found the hazy shadow of the man he sought. He could tell by the shadow that the man had left only two days past. If it had been longer the shadow would fade more and more. He could only see about a week back and at that it would be so insubstantial a shadow that it was hard to follow. This would be easy enough to follow. There were weakness's to his gift, for if the person he was following went through water, mist, fog, rain or anything to do with water that portion of the shadow would disappear. That wasn't going to be a problem now, it hadn't rained in weeks and the sky was clear. Following the shadow he could see that the man had left town walking fast. He went down the road a ways and then abruptly turned left off the road and circled the outside of the town. He abandoned the outskirts of the town and headed to the southeast. The path led to the edge of the forest and the shadow sat on a downed tree for a time then he was up and moving into the trees. The hunter was willing and thrilled to be chasing such a skilled quarry, so into the forest he followed.

Gaven smiled at the woman sitting across from him. She was fretting over the state of him. "Honestly I thought you might think about taking care of yourself. If not for your own well being then for my piece of mind. Though I shouldn't be surprised you never did care how you worried others. Your an ass!" she finished with a rye smile on her face as well. "It's always good to see you Melanie." he said still smiling. "I need a place to stay just for a while. If you'll have me?" "I should turn you out on your back though I've never been able to see good sense when it comes to you. There's a room at the back, I use it for storage but your welcome to it. Now I'm off to the kitchens." with that said she got up and strode away. He watched her go still smiling. She was beautiful long chestnut colored hair and of average height. She had golden skin with large chestnut eyes to match her hair. Gaven didn't know what to do now. Since leaving the kings guard he had been in hiding and now this. When he first left he thought that someone would come looking for him but no one had. Shaking his head he banished all thoughts of that time. Thinking of it would help nothing he would just have to wait and see what came from this. There might be retribution for the attack on the guards or there wouldn't. What would be would be. Melanie was the owner of this inn and she was who he ran to everytime. It has been so for longer than he could remember. The inn was nice it had three floors and ten rooms. There were two rooms on the bottom floor and four on each above. It was off the main road so he would hear any stirrings of weather he was sought after. He planned to wait and while he waited he'd help with the inn. So he did so mostly he chopped wood and tended the fire in the main hall. Also he kept all the rooms filled with wood for their hearths. He was only there for three days before he had to leave.

Daniel came out of the woods looking down on an inn. He was at the back of the inn and the main road was to the front. He could see that the man he was tracking was still here. He slunk back into the woods and circled around to approach the inn from the main road. He entered and walked strait to the counter were a young woman with long reddish brown hair that hung down past her shoulders her eyes were the same color. She was beautiful and well spoken there was a sense of her having a witty tongue. "I'd like a room please?" he asked placing some coppers on the countertop. She handed him a key and told him. "Dinners at five of the clock and I lock up at midnight." He scooped up the key and went to sit at a table in the corner of the room. He sat for hours watching all the goings on and waiting for his prey. He saw him bustling through tending the fire and carrying wood up the stairs. The man didn't look that dangerous sure he was bulky and tall but he didn't move like a fighter. He glanced at the woman often. They were furtive glance's as if he didn't want her to see him looking. After eating the food brought to him at dinner Daniel headed up the stairs to his room. Daniel wasn't looking for the shadows nor expecting anything so he was caught off guard by the man sitting in the room. Gaven didn't attack but gestured toward the bed. Daniel crossed the room to sit were the man pointed. "What are you doing here? Don't lie about it I know you're here for me. I saw you watching me all day." the man said starring at Daniel with his golden eyes. His eyes were gold not brown. He tried to think about what he would say but the mans stare was demanding. "Well?" the man nearly shouted. Daniel twitched at the command and found himself telling the man the truth. He didn't know why he did but once he started the telling he opened up. "I have been paid by a city guard to find you and kill you. You don't seem the sort that could take down those two men by yourself. They were a lot bigger than you are. Well then now you know what I'm about so what are you thinking of doing." at that the man started laughing. It was almost a hysterical laugh tailing off in close to a squeak. He sighed and continued on smiling even after his laughter died. "If you don't mind me asking how much did this guard pay you for my death?" he asked after a moment. "Nineteen gold coins, truthfully when I took his pouch I thought there were more."
The man let out another smaller snort of laughter."Well you were grossly under paid then. I'll tell you what, I would hate to hurt such an honest assassin. So I will double the guards payment if you'll leave off. Then neither of us need fight you have your gold and I can sleep easy tonight. What say you?"
"As you say I'm an honest assassin so you must know I can't do that. I've already been paid and given my word. So sorry as it might make me I have to turn down your offer. Plus I find it funny that you think you will have a chance to hurt me." Daniel replied also smiling.
"Ah I feared as much though you can't fault me for trying. Well I'll let you be about your business I'm off to bed. Goodnight." with that Gaven rose and headed for the door of the room . Daniel wanted to jump to his feet and kill the man right then but he held back. Normally if he admitted his purpose to his prey they would rant and rave about his not taking a bribe. Or they would try to run become irrational, at least show a little fear. This mans jovial reaction to the truth caught him off guard. Daniel thought that Gaven would be up all night on the watch. If he had tried to complete kill him that night he probably would have succeeded. For as soon as Gaven left the room he went and deposited himself in bed and slept quite soundly without any nightmares or disturbance's at all.

Steven is an alchemist not just any alchemist he was the kings private alchemist. Alot of what he did for the king was simple chemistry. Flash powder, napalm, and other volatile concoctions. He did get to tinker with his own alchemic experiments but even that wasn't really what he wanted to be doing. Steven played lute and sang and he loved it. He wasn't great but he was pleasant to listen to. His wife Evelyn always loved hearing him play and that's why she actually fell in love with him. Evelyn was a practical person she knew that their livelihood was dependant on their work for the king. So when Steven became depressed about not being able to play his music she helped steer him back toward alchemy. Every now and then when she looks at him rubbing the case to his lute she wishes everything was different. So when he suggested for the thousandth time that they leave and make a new path through the world, she agreed. That was a about two weeks ago. Now instead of sitting in their rooms in the castle warming by the fire or sleeping in a nice plush bed. They are sitting in the common room of a small inn. Steven is supposed to play tonight and its the first time he's going to do so. Usually Steven just played for fun or like the day when she first met him he played while walking through the city. The day she met him he was playing not paying attention to where he was walking and he walked right in to her. They bumped heads and fell to the ground, a tangle of legs and arms. Once they untangled their limbs she looked in his eyes and was sure she loved him. She knows this sounds sappy but she doesn't care. Thinking about it often brought a smile to her face. Steven says something to her but she was lost in memory so she didn't hear him. "What... What was that?" she asked.
"I'm going up to play now." he repeats. "Will you be ok?"
"Of course, I'll be fine I have this. She lifts the cover to the bag she's clutching to her side and reveals a metal cylinder. He smiles and walks up to the stage. The metal cylinder in her bag was a device that Steve had invented a couple years before. It's a variation of the fireworks he makes for festival days at the kings behest. He said it works like fireworks accept there's a metal ball that launches out of it instead of colored flash powder. When she asked why he didn't give it to the king he laughed and called her to trusting. She thought about it and supposed that she agreed. She knew that she tended to look for the good in everyone. He pulled out his lute and struck the first note and the second and soon every one was singing along to the wondering traveler. Afterwards when he got back to the table he showed her that he got ten coppers for playing. It wasn't as good as the monthly stipend the king gave them but that was ok. She had been saving for months before agreeing to leave with him and with what she set aside they could live comfortably for years. Steven was in such a good mood that he over indulged in spirits before having to lean on Evelyn on the way back to the room. The next day they thanked the owner and went on their way. For weeks it went on in this fashion as they made their way across the countryside. They had just arrived at an inn called the resting wood and were bargaining for the room when a man stuck a knife up against Evelyn's back. Evelyn let out a small gasp and tried to turn but the man grabbed her arm, hard. The man leaned in and whispered into her ear. "Give me your purse and no one needs be hurt." She could smell strong spirits on his breath. It was so strong that the back of her nose burnt as she smelled. Steven hadn't noticed her gasp which she thought was a good thing. He would have blustered and faltered. He was always terrible under pressure. She slowly reached into the satchel at her side but instead of grabbing her purse she grabbed for the cylinder. She pointed the end under her arm and flicked a wheel at the end, there was a spark and a roaring bang. Many things happened at once. The mans arm and the knife at her back fell away as he began to scream. Steven jumped turning to look at her and said "Oh!!" The inn keeper fell over with a lot of unseemly language. Another man that was behind the potential robber was holding his arm blood running down and dripping off his fingers. The rest of the common room erupted into muttering and mild chaos as most were still unsure as to what had happened. After all the commotion began to die down two guards strolled into the inn and approached Evelyn and Steven. After hearing what exactly had occurred the slapped irons on Evelyn. Steven tried to protest but the bigger of the two guards placed a hand to his chest and shook his head. His eyes were sad but firm. Stevens eyes lowered as the guards led his wife out of the inn. He followed slowly.

A woman stood giggling at a handsome young man. He appeared to be engaging her eagerly as his hand drifting toward her hips. His hand didn't touch her though it blurred for a moment and then it was on the small of her back leading her to the chair that was pulled away from the table. They were in a beautiful restaurant, actually it was the most fancy restaurant in the city. Painted gold with subtle touches of pink and filigree etched into the baseboards and around the doors and windows. Tables were arrayed in a circle radiating from the center of the room. Victor often found himself in situations like this, he was one of the best pipist in the city if not the world. Young women whom were into musicians always wanted to know him. The only problem with his being a musician of such high caliber was that most wouldn't hire him. Fearing that for such talent it would cost to much. So he made his money in a less than noble fashion. After going out on the town with the women and sometimes men normally getting a free meal and some gifts he would lighten them the weight of the gold they carried on them and bid them a fond farewell. This fact was why Victor didn't remain in one town for longer than was necessary to fill his purse. Tonight after dinner he planned to make his way east to the next town. He sat listening to the woman prattle on until he thought he was about to nod off of sheer boredom. Standing he begged her forgiveness and offered the excuse that he had to relieve himself. Then he strode out into the night. He made his way to the inn where he was staying packed and left in search of a new town and better prey. That's how he always thought about the people he robbed. As he walked he pulled his pipe out and began to play. While he played birds in the area joined in. Not with normal chaotic bird song but the most beautiful bird song. It was so beautiful in fact that were you to hear it you would swear that it was composed rather than a spur of the moment song. Victor had a great gift the music he played could effect anything he wanted it to. He wasn't sure of everything he was capable of but what he already knew was that he could enrage even the most docile of people or cause sleepiness to an entire room simply by playing his pipes. Up ahead of him in the distance was a bobbing light about the size of a fruit say an orange or apple. He watched as the light zoomed straight for him at an alarming speed. It drew up just shot of slamming into his face and in the light stood a rather small half nude woman. Well she wasn't actually standing she appeared to be floating her skin radiating with light. She scowled at him stomped her foot in mid air put one hand on her hip and began to bombard him with insults. All the while waving her finger at him showing her displeasure.
"I can not believe you. Your a thief and a lowlife. All the talent you have and you use it to be a scoundrel. You belong in the gutter with the rest of the trash like you."
"Gwendolyn cut me some slack, we need to eat don't we. Plus I didn't see you complaining about the food last night. Bought by stolen money I might add." Victor said a note of pleading in his voice.
"Well why would I complain you paid for the food. The fact that you stole the money that paid for the food is irrelevant. Now if you had stolen the food that would've been a different story."
Victor just rolled his eyes and continued walking and playing his song. Fairies can be maddening at times. Their morals made sense in an insane sort of way. Like stealing food or money would be frowned upon but clothing or trinkets that they called finding unclaimed items. Then there were rules about whether or not it was touching the owners skin or not. Or if it was past a threshold. Threshold being the entrance into a house apparently if it was within that meant it belonged to whom ever the threshold belonged to. As he rounded another corner he could hear thunder beginning to rumble in the distance. It didn't trouble him he had a tent in his pack. Glancing towards Gwendolyn he froze the little fairy hovered in place gazing out to the distance. Her arms were wrapped around her and she was shaking like a leaf in a strong breeze.
"What's wrong?" He asked feeling more than a little nervous. He had never seen the fairy show fear and they had been in the middle of fights of all sorts together. Gwendolyn didn't answer instead she just pointed toward the sky and flew to his shoulder to stand there still shaking. As Victor looked lightning struck in the distance. The clouds rushed over head and cast the land in shadow. As he watched darker shadows began to rise from those cast by the clouds. Most were man shaped with horns and shadowed weapons but some were as big as house's. Still more were even bigger than that as big as giants from fairy tales. He stood stunned as they rose and began to charge toward the city and himself. Breaking out of his shock he turned and ran for the city he just fled.

Christian walked down the lane through the market. Merchants on either side were holding their wears out to him. Each one making exaggerated gestures and trying to speak to him. Most looked as thought they were screaming though he couldn't hear him. Christian was deaf, though he could read lips and sign. He was in the market because his cursed little brother. He was constantly going into the market trying to sell his knives. He fancied himself a blacksmith although all he ever made were knives. They were beautiful of coarse but in Christians opinion you needed to know how to make more than just one thing to be a blacksmith. Most of the merchants lining the lane had temporary shops made of thin poles with coarse cloth acting as roofs. Off to the left he saw his brothers shop. A blanket was laying on the ground with about forty knives arrayed in front of him. Among all the temporary shops his brothers looked like a beggars. Despite this he smiled out at the crowds of people yelling about how his knives were the best in all the world. Christian walked right to him and signed.
"You're a jerk." Robbie jumped and lowered his eyes. "You were supposed to help me clean the stalls to pay our rent. When I woke up you were gone and I spent twice the time it should have taken." He signed scowling at his brother.
"But its Friday and the best sales happen just after dawn." Robbie signed back.
"How much coin did you make?" Christian asked staring at him sternly.
"Well that's the thing." he stammered scratching at the back of his neck. Christian rolled his eyes and glared down at his little brother.
"You mean to tell me I cleaned the whole barn by myself and you don't have anything to show for it." Robbie smiled timidly hands out to the side shrugging a little. Christian reached out slapping his brother in the back of the head. Then he smiled pushing his brother aside and sat down next to him. They sat the rest of the day and did sell a few knives. Twelve copper pieces latter they packed up and started back for the boarding house were they lived. It was almost dark and shadows from all the buildings stretched long. As they walked forms rose up from those shadows stopping them in their tracks. Christian glanced at Robbie and his brother was frozen in place shaking as though a chill were upon him. One of the shadow creatures lifted its head sniffing at the air and turned to face them. The creature smiled ,well that's what Christian thought it did. It was hard to tell because of the things features. It looked like a mix of ram, wolf, and man. The horns on its head were rams horns. The face, fur, and feet were wolves and the rest of his body was man shaped. Actually it was quite beautiful in Christians opinion, horrifying, but beautiful. While he studied the shadowed form the sun completely set without his notice. When it did the shadow began to run toward them. Robbie still stood shaking but Christian reacted quickly grabbing the blanket his brother was clutching sand pulling two knifes from in its folds. He had them in his hands not a moment to soon the creature swiped at him and he brought a knife up to block the blow. It was as though he were blocking a bulls charge and he was thrown to the ground. He lifted his head and the world spun. As it came back into focus he saw the shadow turning to his brother. He leaped to his feet and then on to the creatures back. Dropping one of the knives he gripped the shadow by a horn and drove the other knife into its back. It took him several stabs but finally the horned beast went limp and fell. For about thirty seconds or so after it fell he continued to stab. Until he felt a hand touch his shoulder, he jumped and almost attacked before seeing his brothers pale fearful face. He stood and looked down at the shadowed form still wondering what it could be. Christian looked around to see that all the shadows appeared to be different than that of the one he had killed. Black blood was leaking from the creature and pooled at his feet he stepped back before it could touch his boots. The rest of the shadows stalked into the town and began ripping people from their homes and tearing them apart in the streets.

Gaven smiled at the man standing across from him. Which was strange because the man across from him was brandishing a large knife menacingly. Daniel had long since given up on trying to kill Gaven. For one thing it seemed as though the man was unkillable and for another he'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit that he liked Gaven. He and Gaven were on their way back to the city so that he could return the city guards money to him. This made Gaven chuckle and prompted him to inquire about the fact that Daniel had no problems with killing for money but took issue with stealing. Daniel gave up trying to explain and simply stated that he was going to return the money and be done with it. As Daniel sat watching his new friend stand across from the rather large man with the knife he began to smile as well. For two months give or take a few days he had tried to kill Gaven. His efforts had born no fruit. If anything he had hurt himself more than he had hurt Gaven. On more than one occasion he had thought to himself that the man was blessed by the God's. On one such occasion he had put poison into an entire bottle of wine he had drank from the bottle himself to prove to Gaven that nothing was wrong with it, and later that evening he had taken the antidote. Oh the antidote stopped the poison from killing you but the stomach cramps and other discomforts were unavoidable. Yet the next day Gaven got up packed camp and wondered off down the road. It was two days later when Daniel felt well enough to catch up with him. After many more unsuccessful attempts, Daniel had started to have short conversations with Gaven and not long after that he hadn't wanted to kill Gaven. Couldn't kill him it frustrated him at first but as Daniel always did he filed it under things that can not be changed and stopped thinking about it all together. As simple as that they were friends. The conversations became longer and the friendship grew. He sat at their camp fire a few nights back and told Gaven he was going to leave in the morning to return the money and to his surprise Gaven stated that he would come along. So here they were in an inn a days walk from their destination. Gaven had been in the corner of the room playing dice and Daniel wasn't sure what happened but all of a sudden the man jumped up and started calling Gaven a cheat. Daniel could get up and help him but he preferred to wait and see how it went. As always Gaven was supernaturally fast the man lunged at him and the knife clattered to the floor. The man stood clasping his wrist looking reproachfully at the knife. He turned his beady little eyes on Gaven who was still smiling. The man snarled out a curse and through himself at Gaven. There was a small grappling match and Gaven was holding the mans shoulder with one hand and his wrist with the other pulling the arm up behind the knife wielding mans back. He lent down and spoke softly into the mans ear. Daniel couldn't hear what he said but the mans face went pale as though he were ill. Gaven stood nodded at the man released him and made his way to the table without a backward glance. He sat across from Daniel and drank deep from his mug of ale.
"What was that about?" Daniel asked.
"I won at dice and he thought I cheated. So we had a small argument and I convinced him he was mistaken. I mean honestly I was just as surprised to win as he was. I never win at dice." Gaven answered.
"Why to you play if you never win?"
"I can't help myself, it's the only thing I lose at consistently. So I guess I'm a gluten for punishment." He said swirling his drink in his cup. A few hours and many drinks later they wondered out into the street. Night had fallen and grey clouds floated dreamily across the sky. Shadows were growing long and at the end of the street stood the man with the knife. This time however he wasn't alone he was joined by a half dozen of his friends.