The Assassin of Shadows

*~Shadows~*

I sprint through trees and jump over rocks. I'm eight now. As I'm heading for the river something suddenly something changes, it feels as though something was pressing against me, like something was stirring within my gut. I slow down and turned to have a look around, my breathing uneven because of the running.

"Hello?" In the distance I can hear sticks snapping. Something was wrong...something felt...off. I turned on my heel and started walking. It feels as if something was watching me so I picked the pace up to a jog. Despite being eight years old, I am fast and lean for my age, I've had to adapt. The skills that my brother taught me, things like hunting, shooting a bow, and using throwing knives have come in handy throughout the years I've been on my own.

Of course, I wasn't as good when I first started fending for herself, but I have had plenty of practice and I have had to become better otherwise I would have died.

I start running, the shadows suddenly seeming thicker. There was something strange about these shadows not only could I see them, but I could also feel them. I could feel them in my veins, in my heart, like I was the shadows. My heart speeds up and suddenly the shadows start to surround me. Consume me. I stop running and panic takes over, I steps backwards, my heel hitting a log and I fall backwards down a hill. Half way down my foot hits a branch and pain shoots through my leg.

Once I reach the bottom I sits up and wriggles my toes and spikes of pain bite at my foot. Tearing a piece of the material off my tunic, I wrap it tightly around my foot and ankle. Slowly rising to my feet I swallow, shoving the pain in my ankle down. Deciding that it's getting late and nightfall will be here soon, I limp towards my makeshift home. It's not great but it provides shelter, and that's all that matters.

What usually takes a ten-minute walk, takes a good half an hour because of my stupid leg but, I manage to reach it in time to start a fire. I was never good at this but, I have become better over time. I takes several attempts but it eventually ignites. The small flame builds up as I add small twigs and kindling. Once the flames are big enough I add a couple branches and a small log so it turns into a lasting fire. Settling down I begin to take out my small supply of berries and some rabbit meat from the night before. I cook the meat on the fire while I eat my berries, shivering at the cold wind I reach for my blanket and shuffle closer to the fire. I think back to the night that my father gave me the blanket moments before he died. Tears prick my eyes and I shove the memories deep down into my mind. Once my food is done I sit back and eat it.

My mother was the one that taught me to gather berries, teaching me the tricks to identify the edible ones from the ones that could cause a slow and painful death. My brother secretly taught me how to hunt, the tricks of being stealthy, the way to walk and roll your feet so you're as quiet as a mouse. He gave me a hunting tunic and a bow along with a hunting knife. I've had to mend the tunic and adjust it to fit my growing body. I taught myself to stitch which has proven to be a necessity out here. I grabbed my deer skins and laid them by the fire. I remembered my first kill and how I had cried, but Jake had only given me a blank look and said, "It will be easier over time." He had then put a hand on my shoulder and made me stand. Later that day, he'd come up to me and hugged me and told me that he was sorry he didn't comfort me earlier, but he only did so that to toughen me up.

I closed my eyes and thought about earlier, how I seemed to turn into shadow, the darkness that I had felt in my veins before I became the darkness. How I seemed to melt into it and how it seemed to bend to my will, if only for a second. I started to drift off then I heard a soft cracking of twigs and all my senses became alert. I silently reached down into my boot and grabbed the makeshift knife hidden there. It wasn't likely to do much damage but it would stun them giving me enough time to grab my proper knife by my bag, and my bow on the other side of the fire.

I waited a couple more minutes before I slipped from my bed skins and crouched in the shadow of a tree. The familiar feeling of darkness lacing my veins and I looked down at my arms and almost screamed as I seen my veins going black, even the ones that weren't usually visible. They were jet black against my pale skin. I crept over to my bag and grabbed my knife. I looked in the reflection and, sure enough the veins on my face had gone black too. I felt dizzy and had the urge to vomit, but I pushed the feeling down.

This is impossible...maybe I ate some bad berries and I'm hallucinating?

I heard another twig snap and I whirled around. Silently creeping into the shadows I stalked to where the noise came from. I looked around, but there was nothing there, then she heard a faint whimper coming from a bush nearby.

Huh?

I lowered my knife and walked to the shrub on my left. Gently, I parted the leaves and found an abandoned wolf puppy. It was so small I assumed it was the runt, it was black, not very common in wolves around here, it had light blue eyes with flecks of green, its left foot was white and it had a white tipped tail. It was shivering from the cold, it must have been attracted to the heat of the fire, Gods it was awfully skinny. I crouched and put the knife into my boot. I slowly reached my hand towards the pup, noticing how my veins had gone back to normal, the tiny wolf cowered in response but, ever so slowly, moved to sniff my hand. It gently put its head in my hand so I took the opportunity to pick the small pup up. Tucking it into my cloak I went and sat by the fire marveling at how small it was, I checked the gender and it was a boy. Gazing into the fire, about five minutes later the pup started to crouch low, snarling at a moth that was flying around.

I laughed and said, "You're a feisty little guy aren't you? I'm going to call you Kemper. Where I'm from that means Warrior or Battle Fighter." Kemper wagged his tail in response. I reached into my tunic pocket and grabbed out some left over rabbit meat. "Sorry buddy, I know it isn't much..."

Kemper ate the meat, licked his lips, and then curled up at my side. I gazed at the small bundle then stroked his head and laid down on the furs.I drift off to sleep thinking about how glad I am to have some company after all this time.

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So, this is chapter 2. What'd you think? Credit goes to PanicAtTheRealness for her amazing cover, I am absolutely in love.
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