Walking in Shadows
by Moonlit_Stardust
First published
Long have the shadows been, but now one walks them. A being not of this world, cast to the shadows.
A being dropped into a dark forest of shadows, ripped from his reality and shoved into another.
Seeking help he finds nothing but pain and torment, what will he do?
The shadow path is now open to him, for he Walks in Shadows. Where will the Darkness take him? Well let’s find out.
Shadow of the Forest
I find myself laying down on what feels like dirt, very much in pain, though why I don’t know. The last thing I remember is walking down the stairs outside of my apartment and that’s it. It’s an odd feeling, having a gap in your memory like this. You know something is meant to be there but no matter how hard you try, all you come up with is a white blank and a headache.
I move my hand slowly to my head, it hurts like hell but then again what doesn’t at this point. Rubbing my head seems to make some of the pain go away but now I have to get up off the ground and I just know it’s gonna suck Horse Dick.
…..One word: ow.
Okay I am unstable as all hell, but I am now standing and from one look around I feel like I am in a demented version of the Sequoia National Park. It’s just tree after tree after tree as far as I can see in every direction. I don’t like this one bit, mind I love the outdoors….. But this place has this kind of bad mojo about it and every instinct I have is telling me to get the fuck out.
“Well, I have a sudden fear for my life” is all I can mumble right now and boy is my throat and mouth dry, It feels like I have gargled sand.
I need to get out of this forest, it gives me the creeps to no end. But which way do I go? I guess it can be any direction seeing as all there is are trees in any given line of sight. So look around, what’s the thinnest underbush in any given vector. What was it people said? The thinnest amount is the way most traveled?
Looks like the thinest is to my general left from where I was laying when I woke up, that might just be the best way to go. I must be close to the edge of the forest, maybe less than a mile or two? If I was any deeper the underbrush would be taller and thicker. I need to keep a decent pace but at the same time be careful and as quiet as I can be, as there is no telling what lives in this place.
“Right” I mumble “I don’t know how long I have until Dark, so let’s get moving” and what kind of predators come out after dark goes without being said.
With that in mind I start my hobling walk, it still hurts to move but it’s lessening the longer I move. I can only hope that the pain will be gone before I get out of this forest, I know I am no longer on Earth if by nothing other than the taller than they should be Trees. With how close they are together, it’s a wonder how I didn’t end up inside of one when I was…..transported here? Portaled here? However I got here.
You know, now that I am on that train of thought how did I even get here; where ever here is, in the first place? I mean I know I am not in my world anymore as that was easy to tell from the get go, but just how far off the mark am I that being transportaled here made every fiber of my being hurt.
Hell, how do I get back? I left so much behind, my mum, my home, my dog. Can I even go back home? Am I stuck here never to see everything and everyone I love! No, no, no I can’t start thinking about that, not now, I need to find a way out of this forest and maybe someone to help me. Survival first, then breakdown.
Thinking of that, am I alone here? If not then what kind of beings exist here, will they be friendly or will I be attacked on sight? Can they even speak the same language? Do they even USE vocal communication like I do?
As this is all spinning through my head I start slowing my pace through the brush of the forest, eventually leading me to stop in a small clearing. I can see more light ahead of me signaling an edge to the forest and my freedom of it.
But as I stand there I start to think if I even SHOULD leave the forest, at least should I leave it now. I don’t know what is out there or even IF there is anything out there to begin with. For all I know it could be a barren wasteland or a desert.
Then again I know little about the forest I am in anyway, for all I know it could be far safer out there. As it stands I am still getting that creepy feeling even though I am slow close to the edge of this place.
So I guess it is a toss up between staying in here and potentially dying and going out there and also potentially dying, boy what a choice!
I let out a sigh and sink down against a tree, I guess I can peek out past the tree line and see what’s out there. If it’s a barren wasteland I can just stay in here and follow the edge until I find more hospitable lands and if it’s not I can head out of this creepy forest and find whatever passes for civilization.
With my plan of action in place, my sanity at it’s breaking point and my adrenaline pumping I get up and head for the light at the edge of insanity. As I pass the tree line my sight is robbed from me for a moment and as it comes back I am astonished.
Green fields, flowers and small animals, trees much smaller than the monsters in the forest, bushes and to my relief I can see the tops of what I can only assume are buildings in the distance. They are still a good distance away, maybe two and some change miles but it is at least comforting to know that who ever calls this planet home is civilized to a small margin.
Once my astonishment passes I start walking to what I am going to call a small village, it will take a couple of hours due to the distance, but at least I might be able to find help.
Or so I hope, for all I know it could be a village of Cannibals or cut throats and I am walking to my doom.
As I am walking I get this feeling of being watched, though I quickly shrug it off as the animals paying attention to what they think is a predator. Though that feeling doesn’t go away and as I reach the half mile into my walk the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and I start hearing a low but growing whistling sound.
I stop and spin in place, trying to find the growing sound. As the sound reaches an ear splitting volume I look up, the last thing I see is a blue appendage connecting with my forehead.
Thwak!
Then black.
Author's Notes:
Well here we go!
The Chamber Beneath
I jerk awake what feels like moments after my less than stellar impact with whatever the hell it was, my head is killing me to boot. It has brought back all the aches and pains from my arrival ten fold.
I try and bring my hand up to rub my head, but find that I can’t move it at all. I open my eyes and look down to my right to see my wrist. Bound in some type of binding. I then slam my head up and around looking at where I am, the area I am in is poorly lit and small. Maybe about the size of a small Basement from what I can see from my limited angle.
I experiment with my legs, only to find that they are bound too. I start jerking my arms up and down, there is some give to the rests on, what I can only assume is a chair, it would take time but I would be able to free an arm. Now just to figure out where I am and how to get out, I also need to figure out what to do if what is happening is what I think is happening and work out a plan of escape with force if nessicary.
Okay so assuming I was knocked out, and it's looking far more likely that was the case, then I need to keep quiet. I am in a place that I know nothing about and among what I can only assume is a hostile people.
I also need to keep moving my arm in the restraint, as I can feel the rest it is attached to moving more and more. I don’t know how long I have been here or how long I have been out like a light, for all I know it could have been hours or days and with no windows I have nothing to judge the sun's movement by.
It’s been roughly an hour since I came too in this room, and so far nothing has come down to greet me. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or not though as it might mean I have been left down here to rot. I am starting to get Hungry and have been thirsty since I woke up, didn’t trust any water I found not to give me the shits so I never touched any of it out in the forest.
About another hour, I think, later I start to hear what I assume in movement above me. It sounds like a good number of people, if I had to make a guess I would say between three and eight. They are walking around what I can only assume is multiple rooms, though that’s a guess at best. But if it’s right, then that means the above space is larger than the area I am in.
It’s maybe another thirty minutes before I hear the creaking of stairs in front of me, from the Rhythm it is only one person coming down them. I force myself to slump forward with my head down as I hear the pair of feet hit the last steps and the landing to the basement.
After a few moments there is a creaking sound and a few more steps that now sound like clacking metal.The sound of the approaching clacking get’s nearer and nearer as a resounding creek thud comes from the door likely closing behind the person entering the room.
The clacking sound stops right in front of me, whoever this is must be observing me. I try and keep my breathing steady and focus on my hearing so I can try and understand my situation and how to get out of this person's captivity. I move my wrist slightly to check the rest it’s tied to, it’s loose enough that one good yank will pull it away and free me.
I listen as the person starts moving again; to my left, around the back of me and then around my right side and back to the front. Completing a full circle, the scratching of a pen (did they always have that?) on rough paper and a slight Hum follows. It’s only a moment before I start hearing a few mumbles, though I can’t pick anything out with how low volume it is.
It’s maybe a minute or so later that I hear the first words spoken, thankfully in English, by my my captor.
“Subject shows no signs of waking yet, though whether that is due to head injury or not is yet to be seen”
If you suspect I have a fucking HEAD INJURY then why haven’t you taken me to a hospital ya cunt!
“To recount for the record: the Subject is a bipedal, hairless, ape like being. Due to a run in with a certain Overzealous friend, the Subject has been in a coma like state for three weeks, two days, eight hours and as such I can not assess the Subjects mental acuity, intelligence, ability or lack of to speak”
Oi! I am not an ape you Cunt! But holy hell three weeks? I must look like a mess, have they been feeding me or even giving me water or a substitute?! Then again, they likely don’t know what I eat and that also likely explains the aches and pains I have.
“Subject is of at least 6 feet or greater in height, has fur on it’s head with light coatings on it’s four apendages”
Appendages? Doesn’t she mean arms? There is a clacking sound again and within a moment I feel a soft poke at one of my arms.
“Subject has soft, but likely durable hide with visible if taught muscle structure underneath”
Oi! Stop it with the poking, stop it!
“When examined closer during subjects coma like state, it’s mouth sports both canid like incisors and flat crunching teeth inductive of both a Carnivorous and Herbivorous diet”
Okay so scratch my previous thought, they DID know what I likely ate, the more I hear the more I am starting to dislike this person.
“Subject has been showing general signs of malnourishment and Dehydration after two weeks, thus at the end of this session I will be attempting a revival spell to see if the subject can be forcefully awoken, though I will only do so after taking various samples”
Wait what? Spell? DID I get kidnapped by some Cult or something? And what does she mean by Samples?! Okay, okay I will wait for her to get in close to try and cast this so called “Spell” at which point I will attempt my escape through Force. I am NOT waiting for this Crazy Cunt to do something irreversible to me.
“I will now take blood and tissue samples from the Subject, though I will do so by Hand as we do not yet know what kind of reaction the Subject will have to Magical Fields”
Magic? What the hell is she talking about? I am really not liking this, but at least she is getting closer to me and that is exactly what I need. From the sounds of the clacks, I just need to wait a moment more.
Any moment now, wait for it. THERE! I Thrust my hand forward with Force and the Chair Rest comes away with the sound of popping wood, once it comes free I swing it and my hand to my right. Within a moment the swing makes contact with Flesh and then all that is heard is a Girly squeak and resounding thud.
“Eep”
Thwack
Thud
Author's Notes:
Chapter 2 on its way, let me know what you guys think and if you see a mistake point it out!