Shadow of the Dark One

Chapter Five - Where the Wind Blows

Prince Sano stepped along the outside of the Inn, keeping distance between himself and the tan, wood walls. He stopped to close eyes and listen to the sounds of the night, then opened two slotted, yellow cat-eyes. Everything within sight was now lit. Anything man-made bore a halo, an unusual rim of lighter tones.

A ring of glowing energy outlined the entire town, all of the things touched by man. The tree trunks wore the halo, even the moonlight-glistened water in the troughs. The garden plants and flowers were aglow, everything except the far tree-line. It bore no such travesty. Sano saw the wagon parked near the stable. It glowed as well, but something dark moved behind it, passing into and out of the stable as if going straight into the wall.

As Prince Sano crept silently, he heard each of the nightly noises, yet his ears distinctly separated them individually. Crickets chirped, scraping and nibbling on the dying grass. Spiders rustled about, watching over their cricket prey. Small, bright colors appeared, glowing specks littering the landscape.

Tiny yellow and green dots moved about in the grasses, barely moving, but still noticeable. Larger, red dots hopped to catch a green dotted spider, while yellow eyes in the trees watched over the red. There were watchers abound watching every creature of the night. He'd come full-circle, tying the ends of their nightly loop as he watched them all.

The dark thing reappeared behind the stable. It carried itself in a black form, pitch black, without arms or legs. He'd seen it before and wasn't afraid, but it'd been many years. The black mass hovered, releasing small, slithering parts of a trailing tail when it moved. "A spirit," he whispered.

The Prince sat down and crossed legs. He waited and watched the spirit moving back and forth, from the wagon to the stable and back again. Then, the glowing halo of the wagon became displaced by a growing shadow. It was coming for the young Prince, moving very, very fast.

"I am beholden," said Prince Sano, standing and revealing a slender glass wand. The spirit slowed and vanished, only to reappear near the wagon again. "And, you are... not here." He continued walking in the direction of the wagon, using slow, silent steps. He twisted hips to one side, lessening his profile in the dark.


In the back of the bar, the two soldiers searched cupboards, coat-closets, and linen cabinets for the 'almost' thief. The guests had already been questioned and knew nothing. Something felt strange about the man's appearance, something indescribable.

Jed placed a hand on Ricardo's shoulder. "He's either upstairs, gone back outside..."

"Or he's still in the bar," said Ricardo. "Probably serving food from the corner kitchen."

"I bet he works here," said Jed, one eye on the kitchen, the other locked onto the inn-keeper.

Both men casually strode over to the man behind the bar and separated, each pacing around the outside at either end. The inn-keeper quickly slid over the counter-top, knocking off and busting glasses he'd just cleaned.

"He's my brother, I'm sorry,' he said, heading straight for the kitchen. A cook minding the flat skillets stood with his back to them, wearing an apron and touting a rag wrapped around his head. He proceeded to grab a butcher knife as the inn-keeper nestled next to him.

"I don't want any trouble," he yelled at the men, holding the knife high in the air.

"Did you take any of our stuff," asked Jed, pulling a long knife of his own from a hip sheath. Ricardo peeped over Jed's shoulder, giving a stern-faced growl, smacking a fist on a table.

"I, I didn't take nothing," shouted the thief. "I wasn't gonna take nothing, unless..."

"Put down the knife and let's talk." begged the inn-keeper. "He didn't do anything."

Behind the approaching men, a crowd of people gathered. One picked up a chair, another held a long fire-poker. Jed and Ricardo reacted by dropping knives and raising hands. A moment later and they were thrown from the inn, landing out in the cold. Thunder howled from the next hill, the tree-line painted in a fiery mauve. It flashed several times, letting them know they were in for a treat of rain, or worse.

"Guess we'll spend the night in the wagon."

"Fart in your sleep much?" laughed Ricardo.

"You know it."


Prince Sano stood between the wagon and the public stables. Horses brayed and trampled inside the walled fortress in nervous anticipation. Sano's yellow eye sockets became a milder green. The ghastly apparition rounded the corner, startling him.

"I am the name of blood." said the Prince. "Who stands before me?"

The dark entity sank lower to the ground, its tail forming an anchor into the soil. Even though it was semi-transparent, the images seen passing through its dark shadow were too obscure to make out. Slowly twisting upon itself, one could see the folds of something trapped beneath, as if small hands with tiny fingers were trying to escape, but could not.

"Fooooollll." spoke the spirit, barely forming a nose and mouth in the center of the foggy darkness. Below this, tiny tentacles dripped to the ground and dissolved. "Foooooollll Yooooooouuu," it said as if sand fell and screeched a spoken noise, seeing the two men coming down the hill toward the Prince. It folded tightly around itself and shrank, twisting and absorbing into a point, but the Prince reached a hand and touched it before leaving, right before removing itself from the worldly realm. "Fooooollll." still echoed in his mind.

He shuttered, capturing a broken thought from something which couldn't possibly form an absolute thought, only questions. "Cold." said the Prince. "Ice." He raised the hand and crunched tiny ice crystals by rubbing fingers. He shook himself to control the shivering that had befallen him and pushed out the cold, revealing fierce, red eyes. Hearing the two men's footsteps, he shut them again and tilted his head to meditate. Sano breathed deeply, exhaling a pure icy breath.

"What're you doing here?" asked Jed. "I thought you were in the inn."

"Could have gotten yourself hurt, standing next to our wagon like that," yelled Ricardo. "We almost..."

"Shut up, kid," yelled Jed. "Get in the back of the wagon."

Prince Sano sat on the wagon's open gate while the two soldiers attempted to sleep farther toward the front. Neither knew what happened that night because, when Jed awoke to look for him, he was gone.