by A.L. Svartz
Chapter Four
A Little More Knowledge
The man led Umbra into separate room. Burning candles lit the small, enclosed area. The scent of old paper was looking lingering.
"Take a seat," the man calmly said. Umbra sat down on one of the four wooden chairs that were around a table in the middle of the room.
The strange man walked over to the bookshelf that was next to the table. He thoroughly searched the shelf, finally pulling out a red book with no title. Joining Umbra at the table, he slapped the dusty book down on the table.
"What is all this?" Umbra wondered. He was terribly confused. Who was this man, he thought. How does he know about the necklace?
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man started. "I mostly go by Stee. But I guess I should be the one asking you the questions, Shadow Keeper. Who are you anyway?"
"I'm Umbra," he answered. "You seem to know about the necklaces. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"So, I see you are not as informed as the last Shadow Keeper that I encountered," Stee said.
Last Shadow Keeper? Umbra thought. He has encountered another just like me?
"The strangeness that is occurring in the sky is called The Dark Sun. I won't go into much detail about the backstory. But for the next eighteen hours Umbra, you have no use of the necklace. The contact between you and your Shadow has been cut. Severed!"
Umbra was sort of relieved that he was finally getting answers. Someone other than his Shadow was helping him. "What about that strange figure?" He whispered to himself.
"Strange figure?" Stee heard Umbra say. "What strange figure?" In the back of Stee's mind, he had an idea as to who that strange figure might be, but waited for Umbra to explain himself.
Umbra was in a deep thought. He closed his eyes, trying to picture the figure in his mind. All that he could come up with was the same image that he saw in his dream. He felt as though the figure's misty yellow eyes were staring down into his soul. "I'm coming for you Shadow Keeper," the figure in his mind called out.
He jumped up from his seat, trying to catch his breath. The chair he was sitting in toppled over. He held onto his chest as he backed up into the bookshelf behind him.
"What's the matter?" Stee sarcastically said. He kept on sticking his tongue out like a snake. "Scared? You should be." He had both his hands together as he watched Umbra struggle.
It took a few minutes, but Umbra had finally calmed down. He ran his hand through his dark hair. In his mind, the word scared kept on ringing. Scared, I've never been scared, he thought. Umbra furiously walked over to Stee. He was still sitting at the table, the same smirk stained on his face.
Umbra grabbed onto Stee's chest, forcing him out of his seat, backing him up towards another bookshelf. As he slammed him against the bookshelf, his hat detached from his head. His slicked back black hair was revealed.
"I want some real answers now," Umbra whispered in Stee's ear. He gave one last shove before he released his grasp on Stee. "What the hell was chasing me?!" Umbra wagged his finger.
"Heh, you are scared," Stee said, slightly sticking out his tongue. "I knew it." He slowly bent down to retrieve his hat. Placing it back on his hand, he positioned it until he had it the way he liked.
"Answer me you snake!" Umbra shouted. He balled up both of his hands. "You seem to know a lot more than I do! Start talking!"
"I can tell that the necklace is already starting to poison your mind," Stee remarked. "Isn't it." A slight pause came. "Isn't it! You don't even realize how numb you've become. You've lost all feelings of guilt and love. Haven't you!" It was silent for a split second before Stee repeated himself. "Haven't you!"
Umbra un-balled his fists. What if Stee is right, he thought. "I've become so numb," Umbra whispered to himself. He backed up a little, giving Stee some room to step away from the bookshelf that he was pinned against. As a drop of common sense entered Umbra's mind, there was also anger. He grabbed onto the pendent of his necklace. Tugging on it, he snapped the chain off of his neck. In his hand he held the full necklace. "Here." He extended his arm out, offering Stee the necklace.
Instead of accepting Umbra's offer, Stee backed up again. He pinned himself back up to the bookshelf. Both of his hands were up as if someone was pointing a gun at him. Again he stuck out his tongue. He was breathing heavily through his mouth.
"Here," Umbra repeated, his hand still extended out. "I'm better off without it. Ever since my uncle gave me this, I...I haven't been me. I've lost myself."
"I ain't takin' it," Stee spat out. "You know well enough what will happen if I take that."
Umbra again was confused as to what Stee was talking about. "Explain. Now," Umbra said. "What are you talking about?!"
"Ok, ok," Stee quickly said. "Just get that away from me!" Umbra pulled his arm towards him. "Meet me at the table. I...I'll explain everything." Looping the chain around his neck, the severed parts magically reconnected.
Umbra listened to Stee. Making his way back over to the table, he stood up the chair that he toppled over before, taking his seat on it. Stee also made his way over, taking a seat directly across from Umbra. He placed his hand on the red book that was still on the table, sliding it over towards him.
"The necklace," Umbra blurted out. "Start talking." The room was completely silent. Some of the flames on the candles flickered.
"I see the Shadow of Darkness keeps all vital information to himself," Stee calmly said. He brought his hands together, placing them on top of the red book. "I'll go through this once." Stee held up his index finger before bringing his hand back down. "Now, there are three necklaces, the Shadow of Darkness, the..."
Stee was immediately interrupted by an outburst from Umbra. "I'm well aware of the three necklaces," Umbra barked. "I want to know what the hell is going on out there and what is after me!" He brought both his hands on top of the table. Digging his nails into the wooden top, he scraped off a very fine layer. It was obvious to Stee that it didn't take long for him to become corrupt.
"So your Shadow did teach you a thing or two," Stee said.
Umbra again barked at him. "I learned it from Pen."
Stee's eyes widened. "P...Pen you say?" Stee slowly said. Spit flew off the tip of his tongue. "H...how did you meet him?"
Umbra was trying to remember how Pen came in contact with him. "I'm not even sure if it was real or not," Umbra said, closing his eyes, picturing his first and only encounter with Pen. "It was in a dream I think. He was warning me about The Prophecy Destroyer. He was telling me that I would lose." Umbra opened his eyes. "That's as much as I can remember."
"He didn't mention anything else?" Stee said.
"Not that I can remember," Umbra gently said. "Why, is there something I need to know about Pen?"
Stee avoided Umbra's question, continuing on to what Umbra really wanted to know. "Since you are familiar with the three necklaces, I assume you are familiar with the hidden power each one possess."
Umbra shook his head. The concept was foreign to him.
Stee's famous smirk appeared on his face. He looked down at the red book, opening it up to a random page. Surprisingly, it was the exact page he needed to be on. Wetting his lips, he began reading from the book.
"Each of the three necklaces contain their own unique set of skills. These particular skills can only be unlocked by what is known as the Bloodbornes. Each necklace has its own Bloodborne. Only one Bloodborne for each necklace is alive at any single time. Once one of the Bloodbornes die, a new one will be born. When a Bloodborne acquires their respective necklace, their outer appearance changes. They now have near invincible powers. The powers they hold are even strong enough to kill The Prophecy Destroyer, making him a near-invincible being. If a Bloodborne should ever kill The Prophecy Destroyer, the necklaces that he has once destroyed will be revived in the very slots they were once forged in. The necklaces would then be imp
ossible to destroy. To this day, no Bloodborne has ever acquired their respective necklace, posing no threat to The Prophecy Destroyer."
Stee looked up from the book. He could tell that Umbra was very interested. "Caught up?" Stee asked. He tilted his head.
"So, does that mean I'm not a Bloodborne?" Umbra asked.
"You are not a Bloodborne Umbra," Stee said. "If you were, you would know. You would feel a surge of invincible power rushing through your body. You'd morph into a fierce and great warrior. The Bloodborne for that necklace is still out there, it's just not you."
"What about the figure that has been following me?" Umbra wondered. "Who is it? Is he the true Bloodborne?"
Stee looked back down at the book. He flipped across a few pages. Firmly planting his figure on one particular paragraph, Stee began to read out of the book again.
"Ever since the Shadows were created, they've reeked havoc on, what we call the Two Worlds. The Two Worlds consist of the world in which humans rule, and Nosidda, the origin of the Shadows. The inhabitants of Nosidda knew that the Shadow Necklaces could only be destroyed by The Prophecy Destroyer. Knowing that once the Shadow Keeper had put him away, they were able to roam freely, not worrying that the necklace might get destroyed."
"But, a wary species in Nosidda wasn't going to deal with the Shadows abusing their home. A nameless species, not very strong, but very intelligent vowed to fight against the Shadows when The Prophecy Destroyer could not. They banded together, destined to protect the Two Worlds. Using the bones of creatures they have killed for armor, they scattered across both worlds."
"Knowing that they couldn't destroy the necklaces themselves, they were willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect others. Once they would find one of the Shadow Necklaces, they would put it on, releasing The Prophecy Destroyer. From there, The Prophecy Destroyer would consume the necklace, killing the last person that wore the necklace."
"The leader of these creatures, now known as the Shadow Hunters, was Vog. Becoming enraged when one of the Shadows wiped out his entire race, he vowed to get his revenge."
"That's it!" Umbra said. "That's the name the creature said!"
Stee closed the book, shooting out a cloud of dust. "Well, the book was right," he remarked. He got up for his seat, heading over to the bookshelf to put away the book.
"What do you mean?" Umbra asked, getting up from his seat.
"The book said that these Shadow Hunters were intelligent, and it was right," Stee said, placing the book back on the shelf. He turned around to see a familiar confused look on Umbra's face. "The Dark Sun? Shadow Hunter? Does this not make sense to you?" Umbra slightly shook his head. Stee let out a sigh before he explained the situation to Umbra. "Vog emerged from his world to track down the last Shadow, which is you. Knowing that the Shadows were defenseless under The Dark Sun, he knew that it was the perfect time to pursue you. Since your Shadow has been cut off, there is no way of him tracking you, so for now, you're safe."
Everything in Umbra's head suddenly clicked. It all made sense to him now. The strategic planning that this figure did was impressive to Umbra, and also scary. He feared that this creature would eventually outsmart him, like The Prophecy Destroyer failed to do.
"How much longer until The Dark Sun vanishes?" Umbra asked. He looked around the room to try to find a clock.
Stee looked over to the top of the bookshelf behind Umbra. An hourglass filled with black sand sat there. The black sand was on the upper part of the hourglass, slowly dripping down to the bottom portion. Between the top and bottom, the black sand seemed evenly split.
"It seems The Dark Sun is halfway past its life," Stee said, observing the hourglass. "You have just under nine hours left until you regain your powers. If I were you, I'd be on your way. Staying here just makes you a sitting duck. Vog will eventually find you, it's only a matter of time. He may both be able to track you by your Shadow, but he can track you by your scent."
"You have an hourglass dedicated to The Dark Sun?" Umbra questioned.
"I keep myself informed about all strange phenomenons, including this one."
"But how am I supposed to defend myself from Vog?" Umbra wanted to know. "What if he does find me? I can't win."
Stee also wondered if Vog managed to find Umbra. "Hold on," he whispered out, flicking his tongue at Umbra. Next to the hourglass that they were both observing, a small dusty gold box sat. Stee slid the box off of the shelf, letting it fall into his hands. Dropping the gold box on the table the two were just sitting at, Stee slowly lifted up the top. Umbra wandered over, observing the contents inside of the box.
"What are they? Umbra asked. Inside of the box were two dirty gold cuffs. The left cuff had a huge crack on it, almost splitting it in two.
"These were the exact cuffs that Pen wore during his final battle with The Prophecy Destroyer," Stee explained. "He unknowingly wore another ancient artifact while fighting it. Put them on."
Umbra reached into the box, pulling out the two cuffs. Even though they were fairly small, his hands were tiny enough so that he could squeeze them on. As soon as the cuffs were around Umbra's wrist, then tightened up.
"How will these help me?" Umbra said. He managed to get the cuffs on. They were fairly loose, but Umbra watched as they shrunk down, now firmly pressed around on his wrists.
"The blast that Vog fires can be deflected by these cuffs," Stee explained. "They're almost like a shield. Just keep them up." Stee simulated on how Umbra should use the cuffs. Umbra copied Stee's stance. "You need to leave now."
Stee led Umbra to another door that was in the room. Opening it up led to another alley. A rush of cool air blasted the two.
"Go!" Stee shouted. "He'll be coming."
Umbra nodded. He didn't really know how to say goodbye to Stee, so he didn't. Running out the door and down the alley, Umbra made sure to get as far away from this place as possible.
Chapter Five
Vog's View