A Cynical Shadow's Return

Chapter 2

     The words on this tree were no regular words to Agnus. These words carried a dark, insidious aura, and to Agnus, it was very familiar. Sitha wiped any excess vomit from her mouth and looked over at Agnus, who was standing there, frozen.
        “Agnus,” she said worriedly and walked over to him. “Agnus, are you okay?” She put a hand on his shoulder and noticed that was shaking, which took her by surprise. Maybe Agnus was afraid of seeing dead bodies, she wondered, but it was not the bodies that made Agnus act this way. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of his face, his hands were quivering, and eyes were widened as fear itself wrapped its arms around his body.
        “I-I…” Agnus looked down at the ground, thinking for a moment and Sitha put another hand on him in an attempt to calm him down. He could barely get his words out as they were all piling up inside of his throat.
        “It's okay, big guy,” Sitha said, softly, patting Agnus’ shoulder softly, “you don't have anything to be afraid of.”
        “I-I should have told Reko,” Agnus finally said, seems to be calming down. Sitha looked up at him, confused.
        “Told Reko what, Agnus? That you're afraid of seeing dead bodies?” Agnus shook his head.
        “That doesn't scare me...Did you see those words on that tree?” Sitha looked at the tree that Agnus was looking at, but she could not see what Agnus could, so she shook her head and looked back at him.
        “Agnus, there's nothing on that tree, but blood.”
        “I know what I saw, Sitha, and it's not good at all. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I do know that this isn't the first time I've been dealing with it. In fact, this is the third time I've dealt with it. It all started when the spirits brought me back to life.”

     Two years ago, Agnus laid at the very bottom of a ravine in his bear form. He opened his eyes slowly and raised up, briefly looking around at his surroundings with his blurred vision. When his vision was starting to clear up, he looked up at the top of ravine and saw Reko staring down at him. Agnus happily roared at Reko and began running up the ravine's slope to get to him, but Reko turned and walked away from the bear before he got too close. He saw Reko walking off into the forest when he reached the surface and went on running behind him. He wondered why Reko kept such a far distance between the two of them. It felt like he was upset with Agnus and wanted nothing to do with him after forcing Reko to put him out of his misery. He roared at Reko again and ran faster to catch up to him, but then Reko vanished without a trace. Agnus skidded to stop and looked around for Reko, and even roared for him, but the only response he got was a demonic, maniacal laughter that sounded like it came from all directions. Agnus jerked in surprise and looked around at his surroundings in hopes of finding out where the laugh came from.
        “A little lost, aren't we,” the demonic voice said, giving off a condescending chuckle. “You were expecting good old Reko, weren't you? That's too bad. You were hoping to be reunited with the man who killed you.” Agnus growled and roared out into the forest in attempt to scare off whoever was speaking to him, but it had the opposite effect. Instead of scaring away the voice, a darker version of Reko morphed up to the surface. His body was slumped over, his skin was gray, eyes dark red, teeth sharp with stains of blood on them, and he wore a devious, cynical sneer on his face.
        “Well rejoice,” the doppelganger said, “because you're looking at his shadow.” Agnus glared at the shadow, completely unamused, and went on his way to leave from the shadow, but he could not move an inch.
        “Leaving so soon,” the shadow asked, circling around the massive bear. “What's the rush? You can't be in that much of a hurry. I bet you're wondering who I am, why I'm here, and what you're going to have for dinner. I'll start with the introduction. Let's just say that I am no ordinary shadow, but more like a parasite. I feed off of the negativity of you mortals, until I am able to create a physical body of whomever’s shadow I choose. Reko, for example, wasn't the only one I fed off of either. I've also taken delight in feeding off of his little brat’s negativity. The process isn't fully complete, but I do want to cause a little carnage, and as Tasaloo’s strongest, you'd be perfect vessel for my special gift.” Agnus continued to try and get away from the shadow, but it was no use; he couldn't move a muscle. The shadow let out a demonic chuckle as it approached Agnus. Agnus didn't know it, but he was shaking with fear uncontrollably. Never before has he been powerless to stop anything, nor did he like the pressuring presence of pure darkness and evil.
        “Now about dinner,” the shadow said, “you'll be dining on Darzay and Reko's corpses. Reko specifically. Don't worry, big guy, I'll take good care of you. You won't even feel a thing.”
        “After that,” Agnus in the present said to Sitha, who was intrigued by the story, “he took over my body, and gave me his ‘gift.’ I don't know why he wants me dead again, but I do know that I need to tell Reko about this, so at least he'll know.” To think he could actually be so afraid, Sitha thought to herself. She, too, was afraid by just seeing how afraid Agnus was, because she has never known him or Reko to be scared of anything. She gave him a sympathetic hug, hoping it would make him feel better, but Agnus just sighed.
        “The second time I dealt with him was when I fought Zubelon.”
        “Agnus, listen to me,” Sitha commanded. “You're not about to let whatever this thing is bother you. You're going to be you like always. I'll be by your side no matter what.” Agnus smiled and hugged Sitha back, which made her cheeks heat up a bit.
        “Thanks, Sitha. I really needed that. I feel better already.”
        “I-I’m glad you do, A-Agnus.”
        “Oh, we should get moving before I miss lunch.”
        “Okay,” Sitha responded, stepping away from Agnus, “Lotus has waited on us long enough, anyway.”
        “Oops, I forgot about her. Sorry Lotus!” Lotus got up from laying down and barked at the two of them, then began leading the way with Agnus and Sitha following behind her.
        “So, Sitha, were you thinking about eating that body back there?”
        “Umm, Agnus? You do know that if you ate that, you'd be a cannibal, right?”
        “I don't know what that is, but I wouldn't be that. I'd still be Agnus. Also, when a bear is hungry, he's not picky with what he eats.”
        “Being you, is your best attribute.”