《The Shadows Orphan》 Prologue Prologue Aaron was running for his life. He had known not to investigate sounds, but he hadn''t been able to control his curiosity. He had been careful about it, he stayed down wind, keeping himself to the shadows. Yet for some reason the creature had still noticed him. He ran towards the river he knew was in front of him. He was going to cross the river using a path of boulders that jutted up from it. The creature that chased him walked upright like he did, but it was not at home in a forest like he was. He could hear it tearing through the woods behind him, never taking the easiest path. He didn''t think it could keep its balance on the rocks like he could. He hoped it would fall into the river, and be swept away by the current. He wished he knew how it had been able to notice him, and how it was able to track him after he had erased his trail. He knew how to run quietly, how to erase his scent and his tracks, yet no matter how far he ran from it, the dead thing always found him. He had tried to kill it, even knowing it wouldn''t work. This is not the first time he has seen dead things that still roam around. He had once seen a dead bear with its back legs ripped off, dragging itself along, looking for prey. He had played with it for a while since it wasn''t a threat to him. But despite cutting and stabbing it, he couldn''t kill it. He eventually dropped a boulder on on the bears head, but to this day it¡¯s squirming where he left it. But unlike the bear, this thing was a threat. It ignored the thrust he made with his spear, and grabbed at him. With the spear still stabbed into its neck, it had tried to bite him while he fell onto his back. Fortunately, the other end of the spear got stuck on a rock, giving him a few precious seconds to roll out from under it and run away. He didn''t have the courage to face it again. He had fought in many life or death battles, but none that were so futile. The river was just ahead of him. Even in his current situation, he couldn''t help but notice again how beautiful it was. The sound of rushing water, and the way the sun made its surface sparkle. But he knew that despite its beauty, once something was caught in its current, it wouldn''t be able to escape. There was a row boulders criss crossing through the narrowest part, with about 4 feet between each one. He couldn''t rush this part, or he would make a mistake. Taking a few seconds to calm his breathing, he hopped toward the first boulder. His leading foot slipped forwards, but he reacted in time to stop himself from falling. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. -Dammit, if i can''t do this, then i should turn around and let the monster tear me to shreds!- He had crossed this path many times, and he hadn''t had such a near miss in a long time. When he was halfway across the river the monster cleared the forest. It had cloth that covered most of its body. The only flesh he could see was on its hands, and the neck up. Most of it¡¯s skin was blackened, hanging off in strips. He wondered why it had originally worn so much. Some animal fur to cover the dangly bits, and something to wrap around its feet was all that was needed. ¡°Its a shame the first creature i met that looks like me, turned into a monster.¡±, He muttered. Nothing that gets caught in a chaos storm, survives intact. Some animals change into monsters, some disappear into thin air, but most just die. The thing chasing me was most likely already dead when the storm hit. He doesn''t know how he knew that. His name was also something that came to him like that. Thoughts sometimes popped into his head, and so far, they had all been true. Storms that have rain that glows blue should be a beautiful sight, but they had always filled him with dread. Now he knew why. The thing was pacing up and down the rivers shore, staring at him. -This thing needs a name. For now lets call it a walker.- The walker made a lunging jump to the first boulder, and landed without too much trouble. ¡°Shit, its better balanced than i thought.¡±, he growled. Turning around, he prepared to hop to the next bolder, but he paused, having come to a snap decision. He couldn''t run forever. When it tried to jump to his boulder, he decided he would shove it into the river. Clenching his fists, he turned to face the monster¡­To be continued ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can somebody tell me why when i try to upload chapter 1, either the font size, or letter color is messed up? it also had [ITR] around each paragraph. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 I can say from personal experience, that watching your potential death hop towards you is more than a little unnerving. When the walker reached the boulder closest to me, I felt sick. I couldn''t stop the tremor in my hands. Its easy to face a threat in the heat of the moment. But when you have to wait for the danger, you start to wonder if you made the right choice, or what''s going to happen if you make a mistake. Firming my resolve, I shouted, "Bring it, you smelly bastard!". With a growl, it jumped towards me. Squatting down a little, I slap it''s hand away, and pushed the walker away with my other hand. I feel only a moment of happiness, before my foot is yanked out from under me. Dropping me to my death. For a few moments, I am completely disoriented. I thrash wildly in fear, not knowing how to swim. For only a moment my head surfaces, and I suck in a huge breath. I have no idea what''s happening as I am being dragged along by the current. The sound of rushing water a constant. I don''t feel my head hit the rock, just the right side of my head going oddly numb. As things start to fade, I wondered why things had to be this way. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Beginning The earliest memory i have, is about the time I was attacked by a mutated rabbit monster. It looked kinda cute, until it jumped over and bit my ankle.(Tell anybody about this, and i will deny everything.) I was too young to realize the dangers this forest has, and naively wondered around. I think i remember looking for¡­ something, but i can''t remember what it was. I now scowl at the idea of me walking around, shouting and crying. I was basically inviting something to come kill me. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. It wasn''t hard to escape the monstrous beast. No, the trouble came when it¡¯s poison started to attack my body. I think that was a turning point in my life. A moment where the type of person i would be was decided. I decided then, that I would be strong. So strong that I would never have to feel pain like that again. After that i hid myself, watching the hunters and their prey. I copied what i saw, over and over again, and i felt myself getting stronger every day. It felt so addicting, improving myself so that i could conquer my fears. As i was all alone, this was a good mentality. The drive to be strong was necessary. Without that drive, i would have been killed long ago. I didn''t have a home, learning fast that if i thought something looked comfortable and safe, odds are something bigger and meaner would also. I followed the river mostly, running from predators, and staying in one place for a few nights if i found easy prey. It wasn''t a easy life, but it was the only one i had ever known. The memories that showed up sometimes, helped massively. Only so much could be learned by observing other animals. Tactics were obvious when you watched a hunter, hunt its prey. But when you lack the teeth, and claws of a beast, its hard to fight as equals. The memories fixed that. It made me smarter, it told me how to make myself stronger, faster. How make my eyes, ears, and nose sharper. It told me that I had something inside me that could make me strong. And eventually, it did. I no longer felt fear for most of the animals i found. I actually enjoyed hunting prey now. I could run up to most animals and smash them to bits. But i continued to stalk my prey. The challenge was all i had to live for. My memories of that time are broken. I didn''t think. I acted mostly on instincts. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Present The first thing i notice is how cold i am. The second, is that i can''t see anything. -Where am i?- I get myself to my feet, and wave my arms around, feeling around for something. I dont know if somethings wrong with my eyes, or if i¡¯m someplace really dark. I hope this place is just dark. I can enhance my eyes to see in near complete darkness. If there isn''t any light here at all, that means nothings wrong with me. I slide my hand through my hair, and notice its wet. I give my hand a sniff, and notice the familiar scent of blood. I shiver, and hope i''m not broken. I would never survive with my nose and ears alone. -Thats odd. Why isn''t there any sound?- Theres no sound of life, no sound of wind passing by. I rub my fingers together to see if my hearing is broken, but it seem fine. ¡°I see you¡¯ve awoken.¡±, a booming voice said. I spin around trying to find the source of the sound, but it came from all around me. I¡¯m starting to panic. I cant find it, and whatever IT is, it sounds large. ¡°Dont worry, i don''t intend to hurt you¡­ yet. It¡¯s so rare that i get to see others, it would be such a waste to indulge and eat you.¡± ¡°.....¡± ¡°Can you not talk?¡± ¡°.....¡± ¡°Well thats boring, i guess i should go ahead and eat you.¡± ¡°I talk, I can talk¡± ¡°Yes, it seems you can. Though you''re not good at it. Tell me, what''s your name?¡± ¡°Aaron, m my name is Aaron.¡± ¡°How did you come to be here? You''re too young to be here by yourself, so you must have come with someone.¡± ¡°No one, i¡¯ve always been alone. I fell in the river with the dead thing that was chasing me. When i woke up, i was here. Why cant i see anything?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. There was a heavy pause, then the voice said, ¡°Can you see this light?¡± I couldn''t. When i realised what that meant, i went numb. I knew i would die soon, die without a chance to defend myself. ¡°I can see from your reaction that you couldn''t. Hmm¡­ I could do something for you, but it would hurt, and it would come with a cost.¡± ¡°Why would you do something for me?¡± ¡°We both know what its like to be alone. And now you know what its like to be forsaken by the light. But mostly it¡¯s because i think you¡¯ll be hot when you¡¯re older, hahaha.¡± I hope that thing is a female, if not¡­ I shiver again. ¡°If you accept this, you will be marked. You will be shunned, and even hated, by people who make judgments based on appearances. That is the price my help will cost. Will you accept?¡± -I dont really have a choice here, do i?- ¡°I accept. What do i need to do?¡± I¡¯m waiting for its answer when i feel sudden pain. It feels like something is stabbing into me all over the place, then tunneling around inside me. I collapsed onto the ground, crying out in pain. With the feeling of something tunneling into my eyeballs, i pass out. ¡°Nothing. You dont need to do anything.¡± ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, i think i fixed the earlier problems. Just so everyone knows, -this- indicates thoughts, while "this" is used when somebody is talking. This is my first attempt at writing, so don''t be too harsh. :)