Tyrant in the Shadows

Challenge One

04-14-2021

She was running. She didn't know why but she was running. She looked to her surroundings to try to figure out why but nothing gave her any indication of why. It wasn't sunny like when she'd run for joy and it wasn't dark and damp like when she'd get scared at something in the bushes and run home terrified. She knew she should know why she was running but she couldn't figure out why.

Why am I running?

She asked herself this over and over.

Why am I running?

She didn't know why but she didn't stop either. She just kept running. When she tried to listen for something following her, she didn't stop.

Of course, the thing following her made no sound.

It was a shadow. It had gotten into her mind, covering the parts it wanted in a shady silence. So she could not remember why she was running. It just made her keep running, it liked playing with its food. And this girl would definitely be its food. She had no defenses, none of the magic that would keep her safe. Not to mention the nearest outpost with those magic holding individuals was nearly fifty miles away.

Knowing this, the shadow was cocky. He did not know that the outpost had been tracking its energy field, waiting for a recurrence of its power that would only come when it found its next prey. Now that it had, they knew where it was. And they didn't intend to let it catch the girl.

The shadow was stalking the girl and the heroes were stalking the shadow. Only the heroes had any clue of how this was going to end.

Run little girl, the shadow thought.

Why am I running? The girl thought.

We will save her, the heroes thought.

And they would. They wouldn't fail. She was important, as all human life was. She could not be allowed to be taken by the darkness.

One of the heroes grabbed the girl, holding her in his arms. Her shell fought to keep running, that's what the shadow told her to do, but her mind told her she was safe. The battle took less than five minutes, the light and shadow weavers knew how to deal with even the highest level of threats, and this was a low level.

When they finished they went to the girl, her shell still trying to run. The shadow weavers knew there were shadows in her mind, that's how she was being controlled, she'd seen this hundreds of times before. Luckily, now, she knew how to remove the shadow. She wouldn't have to watch anyone else slowly lose every bit of control they held over their body as the shadow spread.

It took her seconds to take out the shadow. The girl collapsed, breathing hard when it was gone but the light weaver that had held her still kept her from hitting the ground.

"What was that?" she whispered, eyes closed while she breathed hard.

"That was a shadow. From the king of the underworld. Don't worry, you're safe now," the shadow weaver smiled.

When the girl looked up into her black eyes, she was confused, there was no pupil, no iris, no white, they were just pitch black, almost like her, though hers were red. She looked to the man holding her. His were the same way, though yellow.

"You're like me," she whispered.

They smiled at her and bowed, then left, their job done.

I had a 20 minute timer to write this so it's quite random. Don't mind it.