by A.L. Svartz
He sniffed around the air. Still floating over the destructed Shadow Keeper's house, he was trying to pick up his scent. Looking in the direction that Umbra went off he waved his boney staff. An orange misty path was revealed, showing the exact movement and direction that Umbra fled in.
"I've found you Shadow Keeper," Vog announced. He drifted into the direction of the orange mist.
Remaining completely still, Vog managed to reach the exact park that Umbra crashed landed in. Floating down onto the ground, Vog observed the tree that Umbra struck. A large orange cloud of mist surrounded the tree. He knew that Umbra spent a lot of time at this location and passed through here.
Vog spun his head around, not moving his body from its stance, as he heard the sound of humans talking. Spinning his head back around, he lifted his staff in the air, slamming the bottom part down on the ground. The earth around him shook. He kept his face down. His bulky bone armor started to morph. Starting with his legs, they reduced in size, becoming more human. His large feet shrunk down, now with a pair of shoes taking its place. Vog's entire body was surrounded by a thin white outline. The white outline grew thicker, consuming his entire body. As the white outline started to dissipate, Vog stood there in a completely new form.
He stuck out his thin arms, flipping them over so he could get a look at his white palms. Noticing a melted puddle of snow near him, Vog walked over, getting a better look at his new form. He exactly matched Umbra. The dark hair, the tiny scars that were present on his left cheek. Even the clothes were the same. The staff was still in Vog's hand.
"Hey!" A familiar voice to Umbra yelled. "Hey kid!" Vog turned himself completely around, facing the three kids that were making their way over to him. They were the same group of kids Umbra had encountered earlier. "What did I tell you kid?! Huh?!" As the group approached Vog, the other two kids stood back while one of them got up in his face. "Why are you still here punk?!"
Vog could feel the kid's warm breath slapping him the face. "Step away," Vog said, his deep voice quickly forming into Umbra's. He waved the boy away with the staff in his hand.
Backing up slightly, the boy smiled, lungeing at Vog, reaching for his staff. Vog swung his staff at the boy, striking him in the face. The boy held his cheek, now glowing red, while he cursed under his breath. "What the hell man?! If you think just because you brought some stick with you means that you can defend yourself, you are mistakenly wrong." The boy shouted, retreating back to his two friends.
"You will fear the name Vog!" He announced to the group. "Bow to me!" Pointing his staff at the group of boys, he slowly swung it down, causing them to fall to their knees simultaneously. They had not control over themselves. As he lowered his staff even more, the three boys were now down on their hands. Vog continued to point the staff at the three as he slowly walked over to them, keeping his eyes locked with the one boy that was in his face.
"W...what are you d...doing to us?" The one boy that Vog struck struggled to say. He looked up at him, his mouth trembling.
One kid from the group broke free of Vog's trance, jumping at him. Vog acted quickly on this, smacking the kid in the face with his staff. He then pushed his hand out at the boy, but not touching him. Some magical force threw the kid over at one of the park trees. While he sat there in confused pain, Vog shot one of his bursts from the staff, causing the tree and the boy to erupt in fire.
The other two boys watched in horror as their friend vanished from their lives. Vog focused his attention back on the two boys. "I will do whatever it takes to protect the Two Worlds," Vog told them. The two boys had no clue as to what Vog was talking about. Their main concern was getting away from him alive. "Your lives mean nothing to me. But I could use them to my advantage."
"W...what do you m...mean?" One of the boys forced out. "A..are you gonna kill u...us? P...please don't. P...please."
"If you obey my commands," Vog started. "You will walk away unharmed."
"Hey, I ain't listen to no punk kid!" The other boy shouted. He managed to speak fluently, not stuttering like the other boy. "It ain't my job to be your monkey boy! Let me go!"
Vog walked up to the smart talking boy. He grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Punk kid?" Vog stated. The same white glowing outline surrounded him. After a second or two, Vog morphed back to his original form, his deep voice returning as well. "Do I look like a punk kid to you?" With one quick motion, Vog twisted the boy's head up, snapping his neck. He released him, letting his body drop to the ground.
The last remaining boy was in shock. Witnessing the death of his two friend's would psychologically scar him for the rest of his life. As much as he wanted to shout for help, he didn't want to upset the strange being.
"Are we going to have a problem with one another?" Vog stated to the boy. He focused his full attention on him now.
"N...no," the boy uttered. His eyes were forced to keep on Vog.
"Good," Vog said. "Both of our worlds our in danger, whether you know it or not. The boy you saw here before. Where did he go?"
"I...I'm not sure," the boy said. "I...I just t...told him to b...beat it. T...that's it, I s...swear."
"You will find him for me," Vog instructed. "I will release you for now."
Vog touched the tip if his staff to the boy's forehead. He thought Vog was going to blast his head off. Instead, a cool sensation surrounded the boy. The tip of the staff was glowing a different color than before. Vog moved the staff away from the boy's forehead.
"For the time being, you serve me and only me!" Vog said. "You will find the boy and bring the necklace he wears to me!"
"What did you do to me?" The boy asked. He started moving for freely now.
"You have gained some help from me," Vog said. "A limited supply of power has entered your body. Use it only to find the boy! You are my Shadow Seeker. If you even think about betraying me or running from your mission, I'll know! And I'll find you!" The boy now stood up nice and tall. He kept opening up his hands and closing them. "Now go after him!"
The boy limped away from Vog, doing as he was told and going after Umbra.
Vog stood there motionless, watching the boy limp away until he vanished from his view. Turning away, the orange mist that he was following before reappeared, leading him into a new direction. Not worrying about if his appearance might shock and frighten people, Vog lifted himself off of the ground, following the misty path.
Everything around still remained in black and white. The city that Vog was floating through seemed rather dull without color. People from below pointed up at the strange creature floating through their city. Vog had paid no attention to them, as he knew that The Dark Sun would be setting soon.
The orange mist was leading Vog towards an alley. As he floated over to was the alley, the people that were near ran for their life and screamed. Down at the end of the alley was just a long cement wall. Finding this strange, Vog slowly pointed the tip of his staff down the alley. Charging up his staff for a large burst, he fired it. A very large and loud explosion came as the fire blast made contact with the cement wall. Chunks of cement flung in all directions.
As the smoke started to clear, Vog could see that the orange mist was leading him to something. Behind the destructed cement wall was the inside of the strange shop that Umbra recently left.
The only person that was present in the shop was the owner, Stee. Hiding behind one of his shelves, he peered his head around, observing the destroyed front entrance. He watched as a figure was walking through the smoke and into the shop. Grabbing a small dagger that sat on the shelf he was hiding behind, Stee was ready to defend himself. Out of the smoke, Umbra emerged.
"Umbra?" Stee slithered out. He dropped the dagger back on the shelf. Coming out from behind the shelf, Stee approached Umbra. "What are you doing here? I thought you wandered off. You better get out of here. Vog could be near."
Umbra grabbing Stee's throat stopped him from talk
ing. Stee used both of his hands to try to push off Umbra's one-handed grasp. Umbra lifted Stee off of the ground, still holding him with one hand by the neck. Stee kicked his feet around, trying to strike Umbra. He tried speaking, but as he did Umbra tightened his grasp. As he was starting to blackout, Stee noticed that Umbra wasn't wearing his newly acquired cuffs.
Letting out a couple of coughs, Umbra opened his hand a little, enough for Stee to talk. "You...your not Umbra," he struggled to say.
"What makes you say that?" Umbra asked, forming a smile.
"Where are your cuffs?" Stee asked.
"You gave the boy the cuffs!" Umbra shouted. His voice had changed and now sounded like Vog. The white outline formed around Umbra. As Umbra now was glowing a blinding white, his entire body started to morph. Once the blinding white outline started to settle, Stee could see that it was not Umbra that was holding him up, but Vog. "Now the boy has a way of defense!" Vog tossed Stee back towards the shelf he was hiding behind, knocking it over. A large cloud of dust lifted into the air.
Stee laid motionless on the ground. He tried to regain his breath after nearly being strangled. As he was rubbing his neck, Stee leaned up. Vog was now floating above him.
"Where is the Shadow Keeper?!" Vog demanded to know. "I know you've made recent contact with him. Where did he go?!" He pointed his staff down at Stee. He remained quiet. "Answer me this human. Or be destroyed. Even without your help, I will still find him."
Instead of answering Vog's question, Stee quickly turned himself around, dashing towards the back door that Umbra exited out of earlier. Vog floated out from under the structure, back out towards the alley. Charging up his staff for a larger blast, he shot it straight into Stee's shop. A huge explosion of fire engulfed the building. The sound of the explosion did not interfere with Vog, but did make a few people nearby cover their ears. Vog backed away more as the entire structure collapsed on itself.
"I will still find you Shadow Keeper!" Vog shouted to the sky. "The Dark Sun still remains! You are still powerless! And I am more powerful than ever!"