FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Prologue

"Come home, my son. You have a future ahead of you."

These words were on the young hunter's mind this day. His mother, the tribal shaman had begged him to hurry back the previous sunrise. Darrylar Stormshadow, who was a man in his mid-twenties, was a member of a 30 strong tribe of hunter-gatherers, predating the archaic period of Native American culture. Dar's clan lived south of the great lake region.

It was a beautiful fall day. The ground was beginning to freeze with the winter's harsh approach. The glaciers on the northern horizon constantly creaked and rumbled. And the herd of mastodon, which the hunters had been chasing, was in sight now, at the far end of valley split by a river. Dar's people crept along for the rest of the day, seeing that the elephant-like animals had come to a stop at a favored watering hole.

The dire wolves had to be kept hushed so as not to alert the mastodon camp to their presence. Four of the fifteen men had headed off on the trail of a large cat in order to track it down and drive it away until the hunt was completed. The men needed to capture and kill two of the young bulls to provide a tenday for their families. Nightfall descended upon the encampment a few hours after their arrival. Each man was fully enshrouded in furs to ward off the glacial chill in the night air.

They were used to this kind of weather. It was the world they lived in, all they knew was the open tundra, the near alpine forests and the large animals that shared the earth with them. Dar could not imagine a life as being anything else. His father was one of the elders and his mother was the witch doctor. Every night the men and women danced around the fire worshipping the spirits of the earth and the netherworld beyond. The children would play with stick figures and small drums. During the daytime the women would carve and cook the meat that was gathered while the men would gather what edibles they could for a short radius. They also followed the seasonal migrations of the beasts that kept them fed and warm.

Dar held the first watch with his brother and several of their friends. The night was quiet. The moon was full and shining down on them. The mastodons past the next ridge were for the most part asleep. A few were up all night, spooked by howls some distance away. Dar was watching the stars; he could only begin to fathom the stars and the streaks of blue and white even farther away in the sky. A few shooting stars went by. His mind was at peace and he knew he would sleep well. It would also be the last time he would rest so easy. He knew not what the next day held and if he could change the outcome, he would.

The tribesman had snuck up to within 20 yards of the shaggy beasts by the time the sun peeked its face over the lip of the valley. The rays of light reflecting off the snowy patches temporarily blinded some of the wolves, causing them to yelp. A bull reared up on its hind legs and stomped down hard again, trumpeting its alarm to the others. The heifers and their calves oriented themselves and took off across the shallow pond. The older bulls tried to keep between the humans and their own kin. This was when the dire wolves were set free. One or two were tossed away by the beasts, but the rest got the bulls turned around and stampeding.

Dar and his brother forced a younger bull to separate from the herd and chased it down the riverbank to the east. A few extra had joined them; the hounds were nipping at the flanks of the towering animal, driving it onward. Several hundred yards later a similar group had appeared coming down a slope to the side. Dar had his spear in one hand and was charging in hoping to hamstring his prey. This enraged the other bull which got to Dar first.

Darrylar did not feel any pain as he was driven into a watery grave by the enraged mastodon. Its tusk snapped off as the point drove against the stones of the riverbed. Dar's brother was distracted with trying to bring the animal down. The young warrior's last thought was to bring food back to his family. The animal went down nearby as blood flowed downstream from the body. A portion of tusk jutted out from the poor soul's back, having driven through a lung and out the front of his chest.

Dar opened his eyes to a dark place full of shadows. It seemed he was alone. There was not a soul to be seen or a sound to be heard. The young warrior put his fingers to his chest, feeling at the hole there. He was not sure what had caused it, not knowing he was dead.

Dar had been walking for hours through the darkness until he heard a voice. It had a beautiful sound to it. The voice was like his mother's beckoning to him. He followed it until he came to a wall. The young man reached forth feeling for some sign of life. Failing to find anything he turned around and nearly jumped out of his loincloth. There was a shadow figure standing there, seemingly studying him. He could fell its voice in his head, such a melodious thing.

"Do you want to go home?" The question sent shivers through the man's spine. He nodded yes, not understanding the consequences. From then on, Dar would never be at peace again.

---

---

Chapter 1

The cloaked form sat down next to him, and offered Daryylar Stormshadow a nod. "Greetings stranger, it's been a while." The eternally young man looked to the stranger, lifting an eyebrow, took a sip from his neon colored drink. "Do I know you?" he said. The old man chuckled and pulled back his hood with one hand revealing a face of weathered lines and crystal blue eyes, the pointed fangs in the mouth revealed his nature.

Dar smiled broadly, set his now empty glass down and swung his hooves around, to face his neighbor at the bar. "I do remember you, it's been how long?" he looks at the man's face closely, looking for some sign of the years, having forgotten as time having no value with him." The bartender refilled the glass with that same neon colored drink and Dar took another sip from it, his other hand putting another credit down on the countertop. This was quickly snatched up by the bartender on his next pass.

The man yawned slowly, scratched at something on his side, and glanced out the window at the starscape, that he'd never get fully used to. He was thinking of the answer, and then spoke when it came to him. " it's been 230 years, my old friend, and you don't look a day older for it", he sighs and straightens up some , his back popping in several places," I'm getting old my unholy friend." Dar looked at him, always knowing this would eventually happen as it does always to those of the mortal nature. He ordered a bottle for the man, and handed it to him when he got it. The old lycanthrope nodded and chuckled," will you ever die?"

The demon laughed, startling a few of the other customers. Then he spoke seriously," I know.... I know, someday it might happen." He sighed and slumped forward a little bit, wings kept against his back twitching some, then going limp. "Life is far too long it seems, look at all of these folks here, different races, only a few of them have ever heard of Sol, yet alone the planet earth" he chuckled sadly and finished off his current drink. "Where do we fit in?"

The old man stared at the youthful immortal, next to him for some time. He let go of a deep breath and patted Dar on the back gently, speaking heartedly, "well I don't know about you, but my old bones are kept up and about due to the kids." He chuckled and looked down at his wrist communicator, seeing a missed call from his grandson. "I never knew a werewolf could reach old age, but I feel it fast approaching."

The demon smiled, seeing the call and hearing mention of the kids. "I can't believe your grandchildren have grandchildren themselves, I remember when you were young, a fellow soldier in the Sol War. He suddenly flinched and studied his own right arm, which had been removed by some weapon that prevented it from growing back. He didn't feel any pain, the glass-steel bones moved effortlessly with but a thought, a twitch of the muscles of his chest and back. It felt like it was a part of him, besides the fact he couldn't feel the cold air or a woman's caress across flesh.

The old man gave him a wolfish grin, and spoke out loud, a little bit drunk, "I remember how much you whined about that, seeing your arm blown away in those bunkers, the doc tried to patch you up and you kept telling him that it would regenerate on its own in no time." He looked at his friend's face, and saw the brief hatred flash through those weary eyes, those eyes that foretold millennia of age, mounted into a face of utter youth. He sobered up enough to know not to keep on the subject, so he changed it. "How is your little one doing?"

Dar looked into the old man's face, his expression full of mirth, touched with loneliness. "I haven't seen her since the Orleans 5 civil war. Last I heard, she had seduced one of the high councilmen, turning him and his countrymen against the rest of the bunch. I heard it was humorous to watch, 12 men at each other's throats over a woman, who walked away with all of their money." He looked over to a patron who had just fallen off his seat, an expression of shock on his face, to hear these two men, one an old geezer, and the other some sort of humanoid flying creature, conversing about such mayhem as if it's a big joke.

Dar simply smiled at the drunkard and turned back to his friend, not watching the man get up, and take off like a bat out of hell. "I guess he didn't have the stomach for the drink." With this, Dar took another gulp of his drink, the neon liquid known as nova's kiss leaving a cooling sensation as it went down. The old man across the way just smirked, watching all of this. He yawned and stood up, bones creaking. Dar stood up with him and helped him to his feet. Shaking hands with the guy, he offered a smile and a nod, "I'll see you around, Max!" Max grinned and gestured to some of the women in the bar, "and you behave yourself, you hear." They both laughed and began making their way across the cantina. Several tables were loaded with various games of the gambling nature. A crowd of aliens were scattered around a serious of felt tables, playing what reminded Dar of billiards. He and Max parted ways near the crowd, leaving Dar there pondering the nearest game.

One of the players, a thin and lanky specimen from the Orion sector was trying to use his racial telepathy to push the target ball into a particular hole, and was frowning since the energy field of the table kept on locking the ball in place. No one thought he was trying to move it, they just saw the, thinly built, creature breaking a sweat. Dar chuckled, feeling the energy waves emanating from him. He turned his head slightly, feeling someone watching him. Whoever was watching him was deep in the crowd. He tuned the crowd out; listening for words directed his way. He was used to this, the curiosity of some folks.

A young woman brushed up against Dar, trying to cozy up with him. He quickly wrapped an arm around her, to keep her from making a fool of herself and falling. She nuzzled his neck, noting how warm he was. Dar mentally voiced a no into her mind. She gazed up into his eyes, perplexed by the glow of the orbs. Time around her and this hunk seemed to slow down. He gazed back at her, white and blue fires in his sockets, respectively. Her breath caught and the demon could smell the heavy intoxication on her lips, he also saw both misery and lust in her eyes. A poor creature, he thought, looking for shelter and company, if but just for a night. He pushed her away and turned around, stepping away.

The girl stood there, wondering why no one else saw those frightening eyes, she suddenly gulped and rushed off to the women's room to hug a toilet. Some of the other girls laughed at the drunken girl. Others stared at the retreating form of the demon, trying to figure the odds of getting to know him. An archaic song started playing. Half of the bar began dancing to Bon Jovi's 'It's my life'. Dar stepped out into the cold night. A figure stepped from shadow to shadow, following Dar out onto the parking range.

Dar knew he was being followed; he had developed a knack for these things, early on in his life. He stepped into the shadows between two land cruisers and waited. He became one with the shadows, his breathing blending in with the hum of climate control units. The asteroid that stretched off into the distance was riddled with reinforced housing structures. This was one of the fringe human settlements. Here aliens from all over crossed paths with the humans that had spread far and wide. Dar suddenly remembered what it had been like to first reach orbit from Earth, a day he never imagined up till that point. That was about 1400 years ago. He suddenly closed his eyes, feeling the presence of his stalker nearby.

The hooded woman peered around the cool engine of the parked craft. Her target was near, her senses told her this. A man signaled from across the way. She nodded and moved past the vehicle, trusting her fellow paladin. These were members of a cult created centuries ago by a priest who had discerned the true nature of beings such as their prey. The woman gulped as the lights went out leaving oily darkness. She stepped forward into the darkness with her energy saber extended, the light showing several feet of space around her.

Dar stepped into the gloom behind her, wrapping a slender hand across her face, shutting her up. She tried biting at his fingers but didn't get much of a response for it. The weapon dropped from her hands as she was pulled back into the shadows. The other warrior chanted a few words and the darkness was banished. The starlight shone on the ground surface revealing a blade handle. He climbed up onto the craft next to the demon. Dar's eyes were searching up and down, from side to side; making sure the doors wouldn't suddenly open to either side. The woman was squirming in his grasp. He held her weapon arm behind her back, as much as her body armor under the robes would allow. The pain was making her eyes water, but the demon didn't notice. The man up above loaded his rifle, pointed straight down at the demon. Dar noticed and suddenly stepped back, forcing the girl into the path of the blast. He cringed as the energy scraped the flesh of his cheeks, the girl in his grip screamed as the invisible blast enveloped her, being cut short as her lungs vaporized. Her ashes coated the demon's face and chest and lay in a pile on the ground.

The man grimaced at his companion's fate, whispered a quick prayer and prepared to fire again. His heart was pounding in his chest, his fingers fumbled a bit. The demon was grinning at him, if that could be called much of a grin, the demon's teeth were exposed and his cheeks were bare to the bone. The man gulped realizing in these few seconds that his chances were slim. The gun was ready again, and he couldn't see anymore. He screamed a horrible sound as black fire spread across his nerves, his face felt like it was on fire as his eyes had burned away. He could see images of a massive furnace in his mind. His body was telling him the pain was real. Dar had used his natural inner fire to set his prey's nerves on fire, starting with the eyes. The demon walked away from this, knowing no one would ever know what happened.

A couple of hours later, Dar was coming in for a landing at his little housing unit. The tissues of his face had regenerated by the time he parked his craft. Drunkards and prostitutes littered the corridors. He pushed past a few as he made his way to his doorstep. Dar typed a code into the digital keypad next to his door and he stepped in once it let him. One of the drug dealers had been creeping towards him and suddenly sighed at another lost deal. The door sealed up silently and relocked itself. Dar's home was all that he really wanted in life. A digital mosaic on the far wall showed icy tundra. This was one of the things that had really struck a memory within him. He was a creature of fire and shadow, but the memories of home that this picture inspired sent him back millennia, to a time of peace and mortality. He sighed and sat down on his bed, a cat came walking over to him meowing, and he smiled warmly and started rubbing the purring cat's back. This was his life it seemed, always keeping on his toes, and spending time as close to home as possible. A panel on the wall across from his bed opened up, the image of a woman appearing on the screen. Dar just chuckled and let it ring for a bit. Illusia, pleasant as she could be to talk to, was checking up on him.

Dar stretched, and made himself comfortable against the back wall, a pillow behind his head and his cat on his lap, he answered the phone. He offered his old peer, and later queen, a tired smile. "Well, this is a delight!"

The woman on the screen smirked and looked at him with his cat, then made a joke, "you always did have a soft spot for those, didn't you. I'm surprised you don't have puppies." She smiled sweetly and then looked right at his face. "Things aren't going the best right now; those silly knights in their robes have delayed me again." The demon tilted his head, showing curiosity, "Oh the same knights, that attacked me earlier tonight?"

Her eyes brightened at that, "I see you're still here old man. I was worried you might be getting sloppy." She winked at him playfully, before continuing, "How did it go?" He chuckled and rubbed his still tingling cheek. "It was two of them, a man and a woman, the woman feel into my trap, while her fellow misfired and killed her. He clipped me though; those weapons certainly have their value." He scratched behind the ears of the cat, smiling down at her. He looked up and frowned at the words that Illusia was saying.

"Want me to kiss your buubuu?"

She busted out in laughter at the look on Dar's face. Several shades of hatred pass through there, and then disappeared in a chuckle. "I'm alright, you know me, I heal quickly." She looked down at his arm, studying the near transparent armatures and rods that made up the limb and back up to his face, speaking softly, "Not always Dar. Time doesn't fix everything." He nodded, only too happy to agree.

"How goes the hunt for the artifacts?" he asked, changing the subject back to the first topic. She sighed and looked off to the side for a bit, obviously studying something, then turning back to him. "I've made some progress, I only need a few more of the items and then we can recreate the ancient magic." Dar nodded, taking it all in, wondering where the remaining artifacts were. It had been millennia since the disappearance of the Eternian dark lord. Eternia was one of those nations that had been dismantled when the UN of the 19thcentury had reconfigured Europe. Of course it felt like millennia since that treaty.

Illusia sighed loudly dragging Dar's wandering thoughts back to the present. He looked at her and chuckled, "you seem exhausted." She nodded," I certainly am, I'll talk to you when I have more info." He nodded and started rubbing the head of the cat vying for his attention. He chuckled and yawned, his mind looking forward to some rest too. It had been a few days since his last good rest. He glanced up at his friend on the screen and offered her a wink, and a smile.

"You go get some sleep now young lady, the cosmos know I need it." She nodded in agreement and killed the connection. The demon made himself comfortable in his bed, which was easy due to the fact that a zero-g bed consisted of an antigravity field and a solid film that rode the cushion of nothingness. He gestured at a motion sensor which set the lights to a very dim setting. The only light left in the room came from the digital tundra. It's soft glow penetrating only so much of the chamber. Dar closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling deeply, bringing on a deep trance-like state after some time. His cat curled up on his chest and went to sleep also.

Dar was walking across the frozen world, the icy ground crunching under his weight. This place felt oddly familiar, yet something felt entirely wrong. The wind was blowing past him, causing his skin to steam from the blowing snow. He stumbled to the ground as though something tripped him. Dar shivered slightly, growing a bit concerned that he could feel cold. The man stood up and looked in every direction. There was a young human standing nearby, watching Dar's every movement. The elder reached forward a hand to the young warrior, who in response to this foreign being drew his war-axe.

The warrior of the reddish brown skin, and the long black hair carefully approached the winged man cautiously. He got up to within a few feet of him and stopped suddenly, confusion showing on his face. Dar's eyes went wide in utter shock. This was him that he had come face to face with. The two gazed over one another. The young warrior spoke in a familiar tone, tainted with an ancient accent.

"Welcome home, my friend."

Dar could no longer speak; nothing seemed to work for him at that moment. He dropped his guard and managed to accept the embrace that the youth was pulling him into. He could not make any sense of this. The young Stormshadow's face started weathering at a fast rate. The warrior wore a warm smile, even as he quickly began to age in the demon's presence. Dar watched in horror as the young man quickly grew old, the hair turning from black to gray to silver to white, and those eyes watching him, as though nothing was happening. Hot tears began their way down Dar's face, something foreign to him, as he watched the man, become a decrepit. He shook his head, not wanting this to happen, the man was now leaning against him for support.

The old man backed off, using a staff for support. He did not want to die, not now, not tomorrow, but his time was coming for him. He started falling forward. Dar went to catch him and caught flakes of mummified flesh. The still living native turned completely into dust, Dar fell to his knees trying to catch him. He began sobbing as the dust sifted through his fingers, joining the sand at his feet. He stood up and looked around, a hot desert wind blasting at his flesh. There was nothing around but fields of sand and dust. The demon felt utterly alone, he had been forgotten by all that mattered to him in his unending existence. He looked to the sky, trying to recall even his own name. This act was pointless as even that had slipped from all knowledge. His primal roar cried out into the dusty night. There was not a soul to hear the anguish in this one, not even an insect.

The demon woke up all of a sudden, drenched in sweat. His heart was pounding in his chest. He licked his lips, making sure they weren't parched. He held up his mechanical limb, and sighed in relief. He was all here. And the most important thing, he could still recall his identity. He was about to move, then he realized the cat was still asleep. The demon smiled affectionately and went back to sleep.

The rest of the night had been quiet and restful. Dar woke up sometime in the next afternoon to the hungry meowing of the feline. He chuckled and sat up; he reached for the bowl and poured some high quality cat-food into it. He deeply enjoyed the company of this one, who would not judge him for who he was. He rubbed the back of the feasting cat, thinking about that frightening dream of his.

Dar was, for the first time in a long time, afraid of being forgotten. It occurred to him, that he should begin writing the story of his existence. Maybe one day when he found a way to pass on, it would be read. Until then, he would just have to deal with the fact that he was a nearly forgotten piece of history.

The store keeper looked at the humanoid with a strange look. "Why in the world do you need a keyboard for your home console, you know the technology today is all voice activated." The demon just shrugged, not bothering to reply, having already explained that he wanted to write some things down. The shop keeper looked at the man's face, and just gave up on complaining. He went into the back of the shop and pulled out a holographic keyboard kit. "Here you go Sir, just as you wanted, that will be 30 credits. Dar looked at him, thinking to just take it, but nodded in thanks and handed over a device with a large number on it, this number decreased by 30 and the shop keeper handed it back. "Thanks for the business, do come back again."

Dar settled back onto his bed after hooking up the holographic keyboard. The cat came over and stuck her face through the keyboard image. The demon chuckled and gave her some attention. He looked at the computer interface, seeing the image of the cat's face on the screen. This made him happy for reasons he was not sure of. He began his story with the day that he died.

Chapter 2

It was a cold desolate morning. The near artic wind was whistling across the field. Tall patches of grass covered the ground, so far untouched by the mega fauna this season. There was a row of cairns off to the side. This was where clan Stormshadow buried their dead. It was a stone on one of the older piles that began shifting. Any onlooker would have been clueless as to why the rocks were beginning to fall off the pile.

One rock rolled away to reveal a hand, not rotten or desiccated, but fully intact. It pushed the larger rocks away, followed by an arm and another arm working to clear the pile. Dar sat up from his grave, and looked around, barely recognizing this place. He understood now that he must have indeed been dead. The young man pulled himself free from the now rubble pile. He studied the burial robes that covered his form. He then proceeded to strip down so he could study himself. He realized that the shadow from what he thought had been a dream had healed his injuries. He couldn't sense it though which had him confused. If he was healed, then where was his new companion? Little did he know that they were now one and the same. A frail mortal form wrapped around an immortal coil.

The young man, twice born into this world of tundra, redressed to avoid the bite of the wind, and looked around. He recognized the burial grounds of his kin. Many generations of Stormshadow were buried in this hallow place. Dar could not know, but he was not among the most recent of the dead. He had been retrieved from the cold river on that eventful day about 60 years ago. His mother had blessed his tomb, while the other warriors had provided him a proper send off. His brother was buried next to him, and his mother was in a long line of wise women burial spots. Dar would not know any of this until he would arrive back at home. He found his prized spear next to the depression in which his rotting corpse had lain at rest. The young man wrapped up tight in his furs, reached around and tucked his long mane of black hair into the garments and took off down a trail. Later that day, Dar had chased down some food and had it cooking over a fire. He repeated this early into the night and then again the next morning. It was not until later that day that he had come into the encampment. No one had recognized him, but the wise woman and her mate knew his name. She knew of him from the tales that had been passed down by her own mother, who had been the warrior's niece on his brother's side. They accepted him as a gift from the gods, a warrior returned to the living to serve some purpose. Within the next week, there had been multiple nightlong rituals, thanking the gods for the return of the warrior to their own.

Several years after his reemergence into his clan, something terrible was about to happen. The council had been in touch with spirits warning of a star that would skim across the night sky and leave again, after fully enveloping the world with its light. In the middle of the spring, when the herds were moving once again, there was a star that was getting brighter and brighter with every night.

It was a clear night and Dar was keeping a watchful eye on some of the sleeping children. He had wished that he had some, he knew that one was on the way with a woman that he been courting, much to the approval of the elders. She was snuggled up at his side watching the stars. Dar looked down at her, smiling, then he glanced up into the night sky. The star that had been getting brighter and brighter was filling the sky like the daytime sun. The woman looked up at it too, buried herself into his side, her mind registering only panic. A few of the others were woken up by the light and looked up into the heavens. Something was terribly wrong with this event.

The sky lit up, brighter than any daylight, and the flaming orbs, which seemed to be almost flying in formation, shot overhead. Before any words could be spoken, these orbs detonated high overhead and off a little bit into the horizon. Children woke up crying, their ears were pounding. Some of the adults swooned, falling to the ground. Dar pulled the children and the mother of his own to be, close to him. He held tight to them, watching the glaring light suddenly fill the world. His eyes only saw light as a shockwave hit their encampment. Everyone was knocked off their feet; the wind howled blowing away everything that was not securely anchored down.

Dar heard screams, before he felt the bite of flames. He instinctively held onto those who mattered to him. His vision was gone, his eyes burned by the searing light. His skin felt like it was on fire and then pure agony swept through his body, from the muscles down to his core. He fell over the children, his body, being carbonized by the heat wave. His world was no more; there was only darkness and the sound of his own breathing.

The warrior gulped, he recognized this dark tunnel. He got up to his feet, feeling like his skin was on fire. He noticed he did not have his furs anymore, seeing as those had been incinerated. He closed his eyes, picturing what they had looked like; he did not know what had inspired him to do so. He opened his eyes again and saw that he was once again dressed. He followed the same passage as before, only to open his eyes.

The sky was horrible to look at. The sun was barely visible behind a miasma of dust and soot. The air was hot and hard to breath. Dar forced himself to a sitting position and looked around, trying to get a sense of what was going on. He had been blinded from seeing the cosmos open up. He felt his face carefully with one hand, the fingers thoroughly exploring his jaw, then his cheek. He tenderly poked at one of his eyes and winced. When the ache was gone, he realized he could see his fingers just fine. This had him worried, but also at the same time, a bit joyous. How was he able to return to the living intact?

Dar panicked suddenly and looked around; there were no corpses this close to the celestial explosion. He saw only himself and windblown streaks of ash across the charred ground. All of the grass that had covered the near frozen plains around the camp was gone. The pen with the dire wolves had been annihilated; leaving still smoking husks of what must have once been the wolves.

He allowed himself to cry over the loss of his clan mates, and the woman he could have shared a family with. His brother would have been proud, he thought. Dar did not know what he was going to do. He finally composed himself after spending the rest of the day in sorrow and mourning. He had built what cairns he could for all those, he knew to be dead. Two days later, he was bent over in pain, his stomach was trying to gnaw into itself, it seemed. His head was pounding from lack of substance, and his throat was dry. He did not know how much longer he could go on like this. A few hours later, he collapsed next to one of the cairns, his body failing from starvation. He begin to dream of his friends and family, especially of the children. This dream was followed by another episode of walking through the tunnels, trying to find a way out.

Dar woke up with a gasp. He was lying face down on scorched earth. Had it all been a dream? The young warrior, he still felt young, looked up to the sky, still to see the wretched miasma that was going to hover around for a while. He pushed himself to his feet, his mind remembering the hunger pains, but not his body. Maybe it was time that he tried to leave this hell hole behind. He looked up at the sky, remembering which way the passing star had gone, and decided to head the other way, sure that he would starve to death again in a few days. Until then he was going to put one foot in front of the other, and see if it brought him any salvation.

It had been a few fairly uneventful months by the time that Dar had arrived at the Atlantic Ocean. The most interesting portion of his journey had been crossing the Appalachians. One day when Dar had been making his way through the hills into New England when he came across something that nearly blew his mind.

The young man, who thought he was the only living creature in the tortured hills, spied one morning, a great reptilian beast crawling out of a fissure in the earth. He had never seen such creatures in his lifetime. There were no tales among his people of lizards even matching the sheer scale of what he was witnessing. This creature had been long dormant, having been awakened by the pain of the planet.

The great wyrm, pulled itself free of its earthy womb. It gazed up into the sky, not having seen sunlight in many millennia. The creature slowly opened its wings, stretching them out to their max, and testing the muscles. It did not know that it was being observed by a human, not that it knew what a human was. The last thing it had remembered in its sleep was the echoing cry of pain, from Mother Nature herself, deep into its mind. It had taken a while for him to waken and free himself from his hole.

With a mighty shout, one rivaling the greatest of hurricane winds, the mighty dragon leapt from his perch and off into the sky. It was off to see what kind of shape the world was in. Dar watched the magnificent creature take flight, and continued to gaze in its direction even once it vanished into the distance.

He wondered what other surprises this world would hold in store for him. Dar was also thrilled that as he came up the summit of another one of these hills, he could see the hills beyond flattening out. His journey would hopefully come to a rest soon, he thought. He knew from stories passed along to his clan from other such clans, that there was a massive body of water in the direction of the rising sun. This was his current goal, to get to this coast, and look for more people. He did not believe he was the only one left in the world; well he did not want to believe such a thing.

Dar had barely made it to the rocky shore, before he once again suffered from organ failure, and felt the cold grip of death. Only this time, he had a tutor waiting for him. Death had taken his body once again and Dar was standing in a shadowy world. He could see the ocean in front of him, but it was dark and oily with occasional hints of large animals swimming through its depths. He gazed all around, looking for something in this new world of shadows. A shadow rose up out of the rocky ground next to him and whispered out loud, 'So what next, Stormshadow?" Dar looked to his companion and shook his head.

"What can I do? There is all that water in front of me, and nothing but ash and flying lizards behind me." He sighed and let his shoulders sink low in defeat. He turned around and gazed back the way he had come. "Well I can tell you, my friend, I am not going back that way, so now where can I go" The two figures stared out into the distance, a massive creature breached the surface and went back under again, leaving ripples in the surface.

"It is time to teach you something, it seems." Spoke the shadow. Dar turned to look at him and suddenly clutched his head. Everything spun out of control. It was hours later when he finally regained consciousness. He looked around, and still saw the oily ocean ahead of him. There was no longer a shadow next to him, but some shadows were creeping close. Dar looked around at them, turning to face the forms of darkness. He instinctively reached his hand out towards the one to his right. It shrank back and stayed put for a few seconds too long. A smile spread across his lips, he spread his fingers wide, as if getting a grip on something. The thing let out an inhumane scream and was drawn towards the focal point in the center of the palm. Its features became surreal as it was stretched across the distance between them and vanished into Dar's being.

Dar closed those fingers, and then snapped them open, a stream of darkness shooting out towards the next specter. It shrieked in agony, as its own energy collided with that of the blast and ceased to be. The last shadow leaped at the young man, claws diving deep into Dar's flesh. The warrior pulled his opponent close, wearing such a smile. He wrapped his arms tight about the shade and absorbed it completely, the holes in his chest turning into mere images which blew away into the grey dimmed world as streams of dust. Dar clutched his head again and screamed in agony.

He woke up later, and couldn't remember things that should have been easy access in his mind. He shook off the feelings of forgetfulness and looked around. He was still in the shadow realm. Dar looked to the north, and then to the south, not sparing the west a glance. The man decided to head south.

As Dar made his way down along the coast, he came across signs of previous human encampments. These were all tainted with Shadow-stuff, and denizens of this plain roamed the darker shadows. A few weeks into this trip brought Dar face to face with a storm, a thing of nightmares. The wind was mournful with its howls, the dark rain pounded down against the shore. The rain lasted about a week. Dar trudged steadily along, forcing himself to drink from the icy cold liquid forming in puddles on the ground. The warrior did not dare drink from the black seawater.

One day, after the storm had moved on, Dar was sitting on the sandy beach of a small inlet fishing. He had crafted a spear out of some material he found on the beach; they must have been bony remains of some sea creature. He did not know what he would catch, but his stomach was growling.

Something eel-like bit the end of his line and Dar waded out to spear it. The thing wriggled as he dangled it in the air. It was a perversion of nature it seemed, but Dar figured it was still food. He set it out to dry after rubbing it with some sea salt he had collected before he entered this realm. The young man laid down to take a nap, and suffered an uneasy sleep. When he awoke, the sun was up and the shadows were gone.

Dar sat there and rubbed his eyes, his thoughts feeling slightly scrambled. What was wrong with his mind, he was having a hard time even day dreaming. He sighed and looked to his meal. There hung a sea snake, being baked by the sun. He pulled it down and took a bite out of the fleshy hide. He plucked a few ribs from his teeth, broke some more away from the carcass and dug in. It was satisfying to get something into his stomach. Later that day about midday, the man got his gear together and started off again for the south. Sometime near the end of the next ten-day bought Dar to some true remains of community.

Here and there, lie scattered structures, some of them had already been claimed by the sea. Dar couldn't find any human life, but he did find some hastily dug graves in the swampy earth. He snapped at one point, screaming at a patch of shadows. Something in them attempted to flee, but fell victim to the mournful rage of the Stormshadow. As it came into view of the young man, Dar's eyes fell upon it. There was darkness in those orbs, as darkness spread from the fingers. Dar screamed his rage at the shade and smashed his hands together in a thunderclap. Shadows all over the place suddenly deepened and the shade was forcibly dispelled into the mist. A little while later the light had to returned, leaving a quiet Dar curled up by a burnt tree stump. He was holding onto his legs, trying to hide from the world. 'What had he just done?' he wondered. Where was all this rage coming from? He thought maybe he was punishing himself for the death of his unborn child, and all the other children. Maybe it was the fact he couldn't die and go to a peaceful afterlife with all those who had been part of his life. He buried his head in his arms and fell asleep after a while of trying to lose himself in the blackness. It wasn't until the next morning that he awoke to the crashing of the surf nearby.

Dar looked up and watched the crashing waves for some time. It occurred to him that these people may have built sea going craft. With this thought in mind, the warrior got up and trudged onwards, stopping occasionally to drink what fresh water he could find, and fish when needing to.

He eventually came to a beautiful sandy beach with several canoes resting above the tideline. Dar didn't see anyone around and gazed out into the ocean. He also noted the stone structures partially submerged in the surf. This was indeed human lands, but it seems that they had either fled or died. The skies were clear again; well clear enough to see the sun and the moon. The land was getting colder and Dar did not understand the climate catastrophe that was beginning. He only knew he needed to get away and make human contact if possible.

It was a few days later, that Dar was finally ready to head out to sea. He had spent a day out in the bay searching for food. The resourceful warrior had hauled in a shark, and a fair catch of fish. The shark had been run through with a spear, after which Dar had been forced to let the beast die of blood loss. The next day had been spent skinning the kills, and salting the meat with salt from the sea. And the third was stashing away the meat, now loaded with preservatives, into one of the craft. Dar was determined to get out of this mess one way or another. A storm hit that night and the man collected what he could of the water for drinking supplies. In the morning he went out with the tide on the sturdiest vessel he could find.

For the first portion of this journey, the weather was remarkably clear, considering the haze in the atmosphere of dust and soil, and other post impact materials. Dar was for the most part riding past the coast, there would be times when he would get swept farther out to sea, only to be swept back in again by the wind. After several weeks, the land disappeared from the western horizon and it was now just Dar and his boat, and the creatures beneath the waves.

On one such afternoon, the young man who was growing lonelier by the day, was leaning over the side of the boat, looking into the deep when something large swam by. This caused the young man to gulp and pull himself out of sight. Whatever it was, it seemed to be feasting. There were patches of red in the cold water. For the rest of that day the Native American kept huddled up in his craft. About a week later the storm came.

Dar held on tight to the ropes that he had strung from beam to beam. The storm was pushing the waves to easily massive heights. The craft had already plunged through a massive wave, dumping most of the salted fish over the side. This had been going on for the most of the day, but he was still hanging on tight, not only for dear life, but also control of the craft. The water was icy and every time Dar and his little craft went for a plunge he remerged shivering. After what felt like days, but were only a few more hours, Dar and his vessel rose up to the top of a massive crest. He could see only dark threatening clouds in all directions.

His few moments on top of that crest, looking down into the jaws of an abyssal trough went by ever so slowly. Dar pressed himself into the hull of his boat and was carried down, right into a collapsing wave. A board was ripped from its mounts and crashed against the young warriors head. The last thing he felt was agony. His world had gone into blackness. He never felt the current's grip on his boat suddenly rip upwards again, tearing it apart and launching him with it up into the air.

Dar was back on the shadow plain again. He thought he was dead, but this time he wasn't sure. He did not remembering dying, he only remembered the taste of cold salt water as it was blasted into his lungs. He could still taste it even now, but he was not suffering. In this state, he was free, it felt so dreamlike. Dar looked across the darkness and could see cliffs some distance away. He had no idea if those were real or not. His vision became fuzzy once more and the shadow environment around him was lost to blackness once again.

He could hear seabirds calling out to one another. There was the crashing of breakers, and creaking rumble of ice from some distant point. Dar slowly came to, wrapped in a waterlogged rope and almost literally strapped to some planking from the vessel he had borrowed. He coughed and sputtered, practically vomiting seawater in an attempt to breathe. After a few minutes of heaving forward the water in his chest, and some dry heaving due to the lack of food in his stomach, Dar realized that he was floating in shallow water. The sky was clearer here then it was where he had come from. He figured that that was a good sign indeed.

He felt the current pulling him closer to a stretch of sand at the base of some cliffs. There were pieces of ice floating in the bay all around him. Some were the size of his torso while others were of immense dimensions. He did not know where he was, or how far he had traveled, he did know he was starving, and had probably already died a few times from lack of food and fresh water. When Dar felt sand against his body he dragged himself up shore enough, hoping he was past the high tide line.

At this time Dar rolled his aching self onto his back, he gazed up into the nighttime stars and soon passed out. The tide in this small inlet was almost gentle. Over the next 14 hours, Dar had only been shifted a few feet farther out of the water, as he lay in rest and near death. Little did he know that he was being watched. Two figures hidden behind a stand of boulders were gazing at this pale short-eared man on the bank. They kept looking to him and then whispering among each other.

"What is it?" Whispered the young girl, appearing as a frail Caucasian woman with long thin ears, and a head of brown hair, she looked to her male companion, who was of similar build and of blond hair. He shook his head, not knowing. "Whatever he is, it's obvious it's a man, but he's not one of us, and he's the wrong coloring."

The two of them had departed and then returned later in the day with a couple of their tribal elders. The high mage of the clan bent low over the resting form of Dar, studying him, scratching his own chin in thought, he looked up to the others and spoke, " We must get this man some warmth and something to eat, it is a miracle that he is not frozen to death."

It was shortly after, that Dar came to. He was lying upon a sled, being escorted by a group of human-like beings. He struggled to sit up, and was gently laid back down, his head meeting a cushion made of rolled up fur. The woman who had laid him back down was so beautiful, his eyes had a hard time leaving her face, she seemed wanting to talk to him, but for some reason wouldn't. He looked to some of the others and got one's attention. It was a young warrior, roughly about his own age in appearance. He weakly raised his arm and tried to beckon, "please, talk to me." The elf did not understand and came closer for further examination. "I don't understand you, please try again."

The two looked at each other confused, until the high mage came over. "What's going is our guest ok?" The young man shook his head and replied, "I don't know if he is or not, he doesn't seem to understand our tongue." The old one nodded and sighed, thought for a few moments and then chuckled. "You will teach him our ways, my boy, and our language." The young warrior nodded and offered some food out of his sack to Dar. Dar looked at the food and then up to the warriors face, offered a nod and a smile, understanding the lack of communication. Little did he know that he would be a fast learner. He took the fruit and started into it. It tasted like something he had received once from a trader. It was slightly sweeter and far juicier though. Dar yawned, sleep wanting to pull him back into the darkness. He didn't mind, knowing these people obviously weren't out to hurt him. The last thing he heard as he slipped into the blackness of sleep was something about the Tuatha Dé and what he figured was a woman named Danu.

It has been updated.......