Shadow: The Origin Of A Legend

Chapter 27

The night sky was alive with neon lights, flashing and blurring together. Stunned, I stare at the sky for a few moments, watching the billboards flash as the streetlights flicker and glitter. The streets are bustling with people despite how late it is, and cars whizz by on the road. From the dark alley I stand in, I feel like an outsider, a guest at a museum, looking through the glass into a foreign world. I'm almost concerned that if I breathe too hard the glass will fog up and I won't be able to see this amazing world anymore. I'd love nothing more than to immerse myself in this glowing and fantastical world, but I know that if I'm seen, it could be all over for me. What I need to do is to find an atlas, or some other form of map. Once I do that, I'll be able to find the quickest route from this city to The Heaven-Scraping Mountains. Slipping further into the shadows, I turn away from the open street and walk off, into the labyrinth of side streets and alleyways.

Sighing, I stretch and shake myself off. My foot splashes as I step on a puddle; looking down, I note that it's not one of water. "Hm?" Lifting my foot again, I blink down at it. A sudden metallic stench hits my nose--I didn't notice it earlier, since the city's full of people and scents and distractions, but I'm smelling blood, and lots of it. My stomach churns, and my eyes widen. "Where did all this come from...?" I whisper, looking around. A few feet away, there's another puddle, and then a splash of blood on the corner, with a bent and flickering street lamp marking the spot where someone was presumably smashed into the wall. Feeling sickened, I slowly and cautiously creep forward, adopting a defensive stance. As I turn, facing the alleyway with the stained corner, I see a streak of blood splattered on the pavement, leading down the street and ending behind a dumpster; a silhouette in front of it confuses me for a moment.

My eyes glitter as they adjust to the darkness, and I see someone standing there, looking down at whatever's crouched or seated behind the trash. I step forward, silently, my ears flicked forward. The silhouette is a human, and as I stalk down the alley they lash out with their leg, kicking out; as I approach, I can hear the human snarl, "Didn't you hear me, fuzzball? I said, gimme everything you got. Pay up!" They viciously rip out another kick; a groan issues from the person who I can't see quite yet.

"That's enough, don't you think?" I growl, lowering my head to look up at them, glaring.

They whirl around, stepping back slightly. "Who the hell are you? Stay outta this. It's just business." Their tone is rough, overconfident, but fear oozes from them. Intimidating them will be a piece of cake.

In an icy tone, I hiss, "I said, that's enough, don't you think?" Venom dripping from my words, I walk forward slowly. The streetlamp behind me flickers, fizzing with electricity; I know that my face is obscured by darkness. Perfect. Just the way I like it.

"Why do you even care?" The human snaps, nervous. Ignoring them, I step closer snd closer, only a few feet away by this point. They look back at their victim for a moment, and I speed up slightly while they're distracted, halving the distance before they can look back. Once they turn towards me, I drop my pace back down to what it was before; the result is a startled yelp issuing from them as they hop back a pace. 'H-How did he close the gap that fast?' Panicking, they ball their hands up into fists. "What are you, his boyfriend?" They sneer at me. "Playing the knight in shining armor? You goddamn f--"

Before they can finish their disgusting sentence, I lunge forward, unsheathing my claws--with a single swipe, I ruin their lefthand sleeve, a smug snarl flashing across my face as I watch blood spurt from the four scratches. The human screams, clutching at their wound, and for their efforts I punch them square in the face with my free hand, the clawed one reaching out to the ground to catch me. Staggering backwards, blood flowing freely from their now-broken nose, they stare at me with wide eyes. I let out an animalistic growl, crouched on the ground and baring my fangs, blood splattering my hand and they rapidly scramble away, petrified. I wait until they round the corner to turn and face whoever I just rescued; to my utter surprise, I come face-to-face with someone I never thought I'd see again.