S P I R I T

Prologue

I ran through the darkened hallways, limping heavily with each step. I couldn’t believe I did that. After so many years in that cage, I had finally managed to escape. I’m finally getting out of this wretched lab. I knew I was far from free... that man would never let me go that easily. But at that moment in time, all I could focus on was moving forwards. I had been down in that small room for so long, that I’d almost forgotten where the exit of the lab was. Thank goodness for my good spatial memory… just a few more turns and I’d be able to go home… no, I’d be able to find Katie and run away. We were both old enough to move out on our own at that point. But that wouldn’t be enough. Moving wouldn’t free us from that monster, we needed to leave town, leave the kingdom in general. Jeez, I would’ve gone to live with the humans just to get us both away from him. We could’ve gone halfway across the world and not even that would’ve insured our safety from him. But it was better than nothing. As I ran down the halls, I refused to look back. It was the middle of the night in a basement lab, I could barely see a thing. While the eyes of Darkspirits are made to see better in the dark, thanks to his experiments my eyes weren’t exactly in the best condition. It wasn’t much further. But, you couldn’t even imagine the overwhelming fear in my soul… when I heard his voice behind me.

“SHADOW, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! WHERE ARE YOU!”
I hear him say in a deep, soulless voice. I knew then and there that I wasn’t outrunning him. He was angry, no, he was furious. I could barely recognise his voice, I probably wouldn’t have known it was him if it wasn’t for my soul sensory. I recognised the aura of his soul very well. How could I not when he was the only person I’d been around for those past few years. I knew I couldn’t let him catch me. Not now, not when I’d finally gotten out. If I got caught, I wouldn’t ever get out again. He would ensure it by throwing me in some metal enclosement, or worse, a magic barrier. I had to get out at that exact moment or any chance I had left of living would be crushed. However, going full speed in my condition was impossible. I heard him once again, and I could feel him getting closer.
“YOU CAN’T RUN FROM ME, CHILD! YOU KNOW I CAN SENSE YOUR SOUL.”
What was I thinking!? How could I possibly have thought that escape was an option. I had grown numb to the never ending torture and experimentation. Staying there and staying obedient would have been considered merciful at that point. I made a quick right turn and fumbled to open the door. ‘This is it,’ I thought. ‘I’m out! I’ll finally see the outside!’ … Oh how wrong I was. I could’ve sworn that was the exit door! ‘Could they have done renovations?’ I wondered silently, unwilling to admit that my long term memory had failed me. I whipped around, about to run out of the room, when I froze… he was close. Too close. I could feel it, I could sense the soul who’s aura was so dark and evil, it could only be his. There was absolutely no way I could get down the hall in time, let alone find the exit. I looked around the room frantically for a place to hide. My common sense had left me in that moment, and the fact that he was a sensory type like me didn’t even cross my mind as I hid in the supply closet. I’d have been praying for my life had I believed in God. However there was no such God when I was screaming out and begging for mercy as my body continued to get broken and altered, my physical form being constantly broken down and rebuilt for the sole purpose of continuing the horrid cycle all over again. I sat there quietly, trying to steady and silence my heavy breathing. As I waited, I could sense his soul getting closer and closer, until I finally heard footsteps in the room… He was there. However, it wasn’t the clicking of the boots I recognised from the scientist I knew all too well… no. Those footsteps were slow… and heavy… large. They were the footsteps of an animal, no, a beast... Had I really made him angry enough to abandon his physical form?
“... Oh Shaaadowww. Come out, come out.”
I heard his soulless voice. The voice of the Dragon Darkspirit. It was so calm… it was scary how calm he was being… he was furious, yet spoke in a calm tone. I trembled violently at the thought of getting caught. My breathing began to quicken as all oxygen seemed to have escaped my lungs. Despite my constant efforts, I couldn’t stop myself from quietly gasping for air every few seconds. At that moment, I had never… ever… been so terrified in my life. So terrified for my life. Not when she died, not when I was physically bullied in school, not when he gave me those pills, not even when that evil man brought me in there and used me as a labrat. No… none of those events could even begin to compare to the fear I was feeling there. The fear somehow got so much worse when I heard him chuckle darkly.
“Your soul is under great stress, Shadow. It’s unhealthy with your disease. You best allow me to sedate you before it cracks under the extra pressure. Any more cracks in your soul could easily kill you.”
I heard his footsteps moving closer to the closet.
“That is, of course, if I don’t kill you myself first.”
I couldn’t move… but I knew I had to. He was going to find me no matter what. Even with my large, black feathered wings, it would be impossible to fly past him… my only option was to fight. I took a few deep breaths, knowing that if I wanted to have any chance of freeing myself, I had to do what he taught me over all those years… I had to push all my emotions aside… and face the experiment head on. I did it for the experiments didn’t I? I grew numb to them, to the point where none of them fazed me… where he could take me out of that cage and lead me to certain death and I wouldn’t react in the slightest. That’s what I had to do. That was the mindset I had to get myself into. I did it for the experiments… so just think of it as another experiment. One that I was conducting. Yeah… that was all I had to do… I counted down before I jumped out to attack.

“... Three… two… one.”