The Shadow

Chapter 1 - The Valley of Shadow

Tubin stumbled across the dark plain, the mountains looming up just miles to the south of him. He was hoping to find someone, anyone, so he wouldn't feel so alone. He raised his hand and focused his mind, trying to tap into that hidden reserve of energy deep inside of him. The spell worked and, for a brief moment, the land was illuminated by a bright flash of light three times.

I hope someone notices. He thought, and sat down on a small hillock in the plain to wait.

About five minutes later, he noticed someone walking towards him, a silhouette in the darkness. He stood up and waved, trying to catch their attention. It worked, and they started running towards him, waving. The person reached him, panting. He appeared to be about the same age as Tubin, but quite a bit shorter, as Tubin was 6' 3" and everyone was shorter than him, and he had a huge black scar that covered the left side of his face and stretched down under his shirt. Tubin cast a small spell to make a little orb of light that floated above his shoulder so they could see each other better.

"I'm Tubin"

"I saw your light flash and came running, thinking I might find a fellow dabbler, and here you are!" said the boy. "My name's Ty by the way" he said, holding out his hand. Tubin grasped it and shook firmly.

"I'm actually not so much of a dabbler." Said Tubin with a proud look on his face, "I was actually the apprentice of a great wizard."

Ty's eyes widened at the prospect "Woah... So you must know a lot about magic!"

Tubin shrugged. "I know a few spells, but I was not with him for very long before, well... before he passed away."

"Oh..." Ty said, looking a little disappointed. "Well, I've heard there are creatures that lurk in the dark, so we should probably get moving."

"Yeah, we should try to find some shelter." They walked off to the north.

As they walked, Tubin began to really notice the landscape around him. There were mountains to the north, south and east of them, and to the west was a huge forest stretching from across the valley north to south. To the east was also hills ranging north to south and past them was a huge crack in the mountains, as if they had been split open by some giant being.

After about an hour and a half of walking they saw a light to the west that seemed to be approaching them, so they stopped to wait for it. When it arrived, the light was a torch held up by a burly figure clad in platemail and holding a broken sword. "Hail!" Shouted the figure, raising his word hilt in the air.

"Hello there!" shouted Tubin, standing up and waving. When he reached them the person was, for all his bulk, actually the shortest of all of them.

"Hmm..." He said. His voice was very gruff. "I seem to be the dwarf of the party." He shrugged and held out a hand. "The name's Jackal. Andrew Jackal." Tubin took his hand and shook it.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Tubin, and this is Ty."

"Hi there." said Ty

"So what are you fine gentlemen doing out here?"

Ty shrugged "We don't have anywhere to go, so we were wandering."

"Well I think I saw a house to the north-west of us, we could take a look there."

Tubin's eyes lit up. "Yeah! We might find somebody there who can help us!"

Jackal grinned "Well come on then. It's not more than a fifteen minute walk by my reckoning."

As they drew closer they saw a dim light coming from one of the windows.

"It looks like somebody's home." Said Ty