Elegy: Lost Shadow

It Begins

   Soaked and drenched was all I was as I ran to the hut that rainy day. The sky was dark and I was exhausted.  I could barely keep going. I was in a lot of pain as I could feel it corrupt me yet, I couldn’t let it go. All I knew was that I had to get it to that hut. Otherwise,  my whole reality would shatter.
   I managed to make it there somehow and the morning sun's rays signaled at the coming of a bright day. One whose worth was never reserved for me. I looked at my hands which were completely consumed by black fog as I wondered,  What was it for?
   Suddenly,  thunder roared as I felt out of place. It was so loud it caused a ringing in my ear. Everything glitches out. Though it did, I was still drenched. But it was different,  it was not only by rain water but of the blood of those who fell.
    Their bodies grew cold as they laid there helpless,  motionless….and dead. The rain only making whatever heat they had left fade away that much quicker.
    There I stood as I felt the gentle breeze lightly brushing against my exhausted body. I looked to the sky wondering what it was for. I heard a call for help as I saw a child walking towards me. “No more, I don’t want to live like this anymore. “
     Kano was startled awake that morning,  he felt hollow as though a part of him was missing.  He was tearing up with no clear understanding as to why that was the case. He dried his tears as he looked towards the desk. An hour glass which was placed on it was glowing,  giving a projection of an analogies clock which read, 07.00AM .
     “Damn it, I am late!” he exclaimed as he got out of bed that morning.  His body was a bit on the sore side but he knew that he had to make a beeline for the forest to partake in his usual endeavors.
     He got dressed and he picked up his black bag as he set out to red star forest. “Calida, I will be off now.”
      On his way to the forest, he had to get past a waterfall. He took his way around it and once at the base, he gazed up at it. “It’s a good thing I found a way around it….how many times did I almost fall anyway?”
       He removed two wooden bottles and filled them to the brim with water. As soon as he had finished,  he packed them in his bag and continued walking.  Before long, he had arrived. There was a massive wall of tall thick trees. They were around forty meters in height and there trunks averaged to about eight meters wide. They were close with only about two meters between them.
      Passed that wall of trees was red star forest, the most dangerous place in all of  conflagraflaria. He went into the forest and went to his usual spot, it was a place close to a river that came from the nearby waterfall. The waterfall was the source of all the water bodies that existed in the forest. Its branched out forming several distributaries which formed the various water bodies.
     He took out his bag and set a lot of traps. It was time to hunt. As all animals had to go to the river to drink water, it was the ideal position. Same plan as always. He didn’t really understand why but he felt exhausted that morning. He felt as though he had been running the whole night. Before he had realized,  he had fallen asleep while leaning on a tree’s trunk.
      As soon as he opened his eyes, he stood up and walked towards the place where he had set all his traps. When he arrived,  he saw that they were set off with what set them off no where in sight.
     As he continued walking towards them, he felt as though the ground had become soft, so soft in fact he had began to sink. When he looked at it, it was covered in a black fog. On it, was a grinning mouth made of a blue fog. He panicked as he tried to escape.
    He was startled awake, hyperventilating before catching on that it was only a dream. He attempted to calm himself through a series of deep breathe as he began feeling cold. He got up and decided to go and check on his traps.
     No sooner had he arrived than he saw that all his traps were set off with what set them off nowhere in sight. It was as it was in his dream. He felt hesitant to take a few more steps as he felt as though what happened in his dream was simply foreshadowing of what would soon transpire.
     He walked towards them before catching a whiff of an intoxicating aroma. At that moment, he realized that he had to find the source of that aroma as he was feeling a bit hungry. After walking around for a bit, he tripped on a rock and fell. He fell into a shrub bush which didn’t hesitate to prick him for attempting to pick a fight with it.
     Because of the fall, he was able to locate the source of that aroma. It was a pot of stew. As it seemed really good, he assumed that it was edible, no poison, no anything.  So, he helped himself to it.
      He sat down and noticed that there was a plate on the ground as well. Well placed as though he was being dared to try it. After having a plateful, he stood back up. I will just wait for whoever made this to comeback before I get any-…
     As he was thinking,  he was knocked to the ground. He sat back up as he thought, that seriously hurt. When he looked up, he was dazed. He was in the presence of a beautiful girl. She was dressed in white, had long black hair and on each of her wrists was a golden bracelet.
      “Miss,…what is your name?” he asked as he got back to his feet.
“My name, I am Anemone, “ she replied.
“Listen Anemone, I have a favor to ask of you. Do you mind moving away for a bit so that I can locate the fiend that attacked me.” He turned his back to her attempting to locate the fiend that could have done that to him.
     I wonder what she could be doing in here….thus place is a danger zone recording the highest death poll year round. He thought forgetting that he was the idiot who found food in the same place and thought eating it was a good idea.
     It was only after the second strike did he realize that the fiend was there the whole time, standing behind him. It was that seemingly innocent girl. She might not have looked the part but the power behind her strikes told the whole story.
     He sat up and touched his head only to realize that he had cut it open from the awkward landing.  He could feel the blood washing down his eyes. As he was about to wipe his blood, he felt fabric press against his head as he was met by an apology.
     “sorry about that.  I assumed that since you were here alone, you had to be strong. Also there was the fact that you appeared to be a crazy person. “
“crazy?.... how?” he muttered as he wiped the blood from his eyes.
        “How to put it gently, what normal person finds food in a creepy forest and decides to eat….then there is the fact that you called me a fiend. Not to speak out of context but fiends are actually very ugly.”
       So what….am I supposed to go “Sorry about that.”
“What for….you are just lucky that I didn’t it. You shouldn’t apologize to me since I never caught the food.”
“If it wasn’t you then who was it?” he asked as he was still trying to remove the blood from his eyes.
       “I actually found them trapped…let’s say east of here.”
Oh, that explains it….she was the one who took them. He thought as a hint of rage tickled against his throat.
        “I am done…..I am just hoping it isn’t too tight.” When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the cloth she used to bandage his wound was torn off her shirt. She tore off quite a bit of it. He got back to his feet. “Wait……I almost never tied it properly. “ As soon as she was done readjusting it, she said, “I just noticed just now but your eyes are releasing a black fog of sorts.”
      “What do you expect? You startled me.”
She replied, “You need to get that checked, that isn’t normal."
“You are not wrong….then again, I suppose this isn’t normal either. “ he said as water rapidly formed and encased her. The air cooled as it froze completely encasing her. The once black fog coating his eyes changed to blue. As soon as he sighed, mud gathered from a distance and from it a man emerged.
    He turned to face him. It was around half past noon when the man emerged.  Even though it was noon, it was chilly as it was cloudy. A gentle breeze made its way to the scene attempting to clear the really tense atmosphere that was present.
     Suddenly,  Kano jumped back as he fell to his knees. I almost never noticed it. A stone flew up to me. I think it formed from out of thin air. Close to me even. He was hyperventilating.
    He got back to his feet before he asked, “What do you want?” He began walking west of the ice case to somewhere more open.
“I am here to kill you,” the man replied as he walked towards him not allowing him to move too far away.
      “Is that a poorly constructed joke….I have never met you,” he replied. Then again, I wouldn’t know. He is wearing a bull face type of mask and he is clothed in black. I don’t honestly think that’s a coincidence. He came from the earth but he is still very clean. Not even a speck of dirt on him.
     “Does it matter…..I am here to kill you…so I will kill you.”
Kano could no longer walk because he could no longer move his feet. His feet were consumed by the earth. At looked as the ground as he attempted to force them out. When he looked ahead, he noticed stones flying towards him. They were about seven in total.  He was unable to dodge as he couldn’t move. It was a direct hit.
     He fell to his knees as he felt the earth loosen its grip. He was hyperventilating as for a second, he believed that was the end of him. I am lucky that they were only made of sand…but still, they hurt like hell.
     He placed his hands against the earth as he thought, I guess he really is out for blood. One hit and I can’t help but cough out blood. I don’t really get what I did but whatever it was must have been serious.  He noticed a few more stones flying towards him before he jumped back. His once black boots were covered in mud.
     I will just have to bring him down and ask him….there is no way I am letting myself die here.
He thought as water gathered around his right wrist. He aimed two fingers at the man before saying,  “Water bullets.”
     Shot after shot, he fired a series of condensed spheres of water. In response,  the man fired sand bullets to counter. Each of their shots collided completely neutralizing their effects. Around him, he felt the sand begin to rise. This forced him to jump back.
    He was distracted for only a second but that was enough time for one sand bullet to go undisturbed and find itself buried against his torso. He felt as though all the wind was forced out of his lungs as he was brought to his knees.
     As he was hyperventilating  he looked up only to see a massive hand made of earth attempting to crush him. He rolled out of the way only to be forced to jump back by a series of sand bullets shot at him. He is gradually forcing me back ….he is trying to avoid me getting close. It just means that he isn’t sure what I can do yet.
     He saw the hand made of sand crumble as he held out both his arms. Water condensed around both his feet as he took aim, holding out two fingers per hand. Water bullets.
    Like a machine gun fully equipped with Ammo and given to a mad man, the number of shot bullets only grew by the second. The more water he shot, the more that condensed around his wrists.
     What started off as a bullet counter for counter quickly changed as the number of bullets he shot became too many to counter accurately. Sand gathered around the man and formed a giant hand which shielded him from the incoming volley.
      As he was shooting,  he noticed sand rising behind him. From it an arm formed attempting to crush him when he dodged and continued firing. More hands began to form as more sand gathered . Each of which was hell bent on crushing him.
      Something doesn’t make any sense…..why are they flailing wildly. By now, one of them should have been able to hit me.
     He shot yet another bullet. This time, the hand that was shielding the man crumbled thereby allowing the bullet to make its way through. As that was happening, one hand successfully grabbed him. It squeezed him tightly as the arm connecting the hand lengthened and pressed him against a tree. It handled him violently as it squeezed him against the tree.
     That makes more sense….the only reason I could dodge even with my insufficient speed was because he couldn’t see. Doesn’t matter though,  I shot his throat just now.
     He felt the hand squeeze him tighter. The man removed his hand from his throat  as he let sand crumble and fall off. He blocked that….no wonder it is getting stronger. I feel like I am going to suffocate. I will be surprised if nothing is broken yet. He thought as he coughed.
      He began releasing a blue aura as water condensed around the giant hand. It squeezed him tightly before bashing him against the ground. It let him go before crush him with an open palm strike. That was the deciding factor as his aura dissipated.
      The man then began walking towards the ice case. Sand gathered in front of him as he shot it at the ice. The sand bullet was forced to scatter by a water bullet. Kano was back to his feet again though he was stumbling.  His breath ran shallow as he felt as though his lungs would burst. He was coughing.
       I almost forgot…..if I…..die here.. she will probably get killed as well. He raised his trembling hand as he took aim. As soon as he shot, the hand grabbed him and hit him against a tree before bashing him into the ground.  For good measure,  it open palm struck him again.
      He was shivering as he raised his hand. Water began condensing around it.  He was shot by a sand bullet which forced him back down. The hand got ready to crush him.
“Is this how I die……so simple and unsophisticated,  I feel like a lamb to slaughter. But it doesn’t me….I feel so cold…its raining…I am really di-….”