The Shade

Samuel felt the Shade nearby and he took comfort in its presence. It had been seven days since the last time Samuel slept and it was about a day ago the Shade appeared. It floated from the distance, a bleak and cloud-filled sky obscured a mountain range in the distance. In the other direction, a coastal city and beyond it, an island, just a few miles off the shore. Samuel didn't feel tired, though. He felt restless.

"Hello, Shade." Samuel would greet the Shade, a translucent, human-shaped shadow that danced in the wind like an errant tissue or the hair of a carefree girl. Samuel considered that for a moment. He wasn't quite sure he knew any carefree girls. None that simply let their hair dance around in the wind. Or maybe he did. He really didn't know.

"Hello, Shade." Samuel offered, so lost in thought he'd forgotten he'd already greeted the Shade. That simple oblivion that ocurrs when the lines of reality and fantasy begin to blend was almost welcome. Seven days of sleep deprivation and Samuel was no longer concerned with anything that was concerned with anything that concerned that life he lived so long ago yet so recently.

"How are you doing, Shade?" Samuel offered. The Shade offered no response save his listful dance in the breeze. Samuel considered the dance for a moment and decided it reminded him of the ballerinas and dancers of old. The ones that would move on a stage purely for the art of dance and the enthrallment of onlookers. Surely that was the Shade's purpose. It was here to enthrall Samuel.

"Why do you entice me so, Shade?" The Shade listfully lingered in the wistful wind a moment longer before dancing towards the coast. Samuel dutifully followed, his mind racing as to what the Shade wanted. It was so hard to tell.

The Shade led Samuel through the coastal city, down alleys and lanes choked with smoke rolling from the buildings that had been set ablaze. Samuel remembered something at the edge of his mind. Fearful of falling too suddenly, Samuel took his time. He wanted to make sure he remembered it right.

There was outrage. A ship came in to dock. Several young children went missing. Someone found them. Samuel remembered now, the children were found on the ship. The captain swore he had nothing to do with it, but the city would hear none of it. As he was put to death, the captain swore a curse upon the city that they would know no peace until his soul was allowed to rest, freed of all accusations of guilt.

The Shade beckoned. Samuel found himself led down another alley, the flames of a nearby building also beckoning to him. All these Spirits, competing for his attention. Samuel felt flattered and humbled that he should be so desired. He lumbered on towards the Shade.

Samuel stopped as the Shade stopped and watched what the Shade watched: A young man with a sword attacking a sailor from the captain's crew. The young man valiantly attacked the sailor but to no avail. Instead of the song of steel ringing in the night, the young man's death cry would be his final song.

The young man toppled over and the sailor walked past the Shade and Samuel, paying neither any heed. Then Samuel watched as the Shade bent over the young man. The Shade parted slightly, about where Samuel guessed the Shade's mouth would go were the Shade a solid creature with need of a mouth. With a clouded mind, Samuel watched the Shade siphon the pool of blood forming around the young man. When it finished, the Shade turned to Samuel. And smiled.

Where before had been nothing but formless Shade, now the Shade had been adorned with lonesome lips. They sang a mournful song of only one note, eerily similar to that of a tugboat in the distance warning that they are near. After a moment, the Shade finished his song and the two acquaintences moved along.

"Where are you taking me, Shade?" Samuel asked and was, again, answered by the dull hum of silence. Samuel shivered slightly, his vision slightly obscured by a sudden mist. He followed the Shade down an alley when the Shade suddenly stopped. Samuel stopped, too, looking around. They stood between two buildings, basking in the rage of the fire consuming the wooden structures. As Samuel began to truly embrace the warmth, the buildings crumbled, supporting beams consumed by the ravages of flame.

Samuel stepped back, careful to not let any burning embers catch him. He turned to look at the Shade who simply hovered above the flames. He turned back to Samuel and led him down a busy road. Unarmed townfolk ran towards the fields while armed guards rushed towards the coast, the direction Samuel and the Shade chose to take.

Samuel followed the Shade as he weaved in and out of the sea of people. Guards ran full speed into the Pirates racing up from the coast, the song of steel clashing with steel playing over and over mixed with the careful rythym of screams of anguish and the muted cries of the dead. The Shade glided to a stop where one Pirate had become cornered by two Guards. The Guards' actions were quick and fatal for the lone Pirate who crumpled in on himself as the Guards quickly raced for their next attempt at glory.

The Shade moved to the fallen Pirate, siphoning his spilt life once again. Samuel watched intently as the Shade began to take a more solid form. While it still levitated above the ground, the Shade was no longer floating or gliding, but merely hovering. The head was also more defined, wisps of stray hair taking form from the grayness of its previous obscurity.

Samuel felt more at ease with the Shade than ever before. He followed it without need of the Shade's beckon, now. The streets were emptier now, Samuel noted. The mist was even thicker now. Still, Samuel tracked the Shade down one alley and through another. The Shade took no direct route and diverted neither towards or away from flame, Guard, or Pirate. Samuel felt as though perhaps the Shade was moving purposelessly or worse, as a way of testing if Samuel would follow it unquestionably.

Samuel continued unfailingly, never once giving the Shade reason to doubt his commitment to following it. Onward Samuel trodded, his sight so locked in on the Shade he took no notice of anything else. Occasionaly Samuel would detect signs of life nearby, voices calling out or the sound of combat, but onward Samuel would follow the Shade.

The Shade stopped once more, this time Samuel paid no attention to the fight. Instead, he stared at the Shade, studying it. The Shade now had a defined head and what appeared to be eyes and a mouth. Samuel watched the Shade as it surveyed the battlefield. Vaguely aware of people fighting near him, Samuel simply continued his study with complete apathy for the battle raging around him. Soon the fighting stopped and the people scattered about. The Shade simply leaned over and siphoned more of the sweet, sanguine ichor from several bodies.

Samuel was only periphirallly aware that the targets of the Shade's thirst were not quite dead. Seemed like they were close to death's door, but had only knocked and were not yet welcomed in. Samuel thought back to each target before and could remember the slightest hint. A stolen gasp here, a shudder there. Nothing could be done for any of the Shade's meals, but now Samuel was aware. And Samuel didn't really care.

Samuel found the concerns of all these people rather tiresome and simply wanted to finally sleep. The world got fuzzier and fuzzier but sleep would still not embrace Samuel. Instead, he focused with all his might on the Shade and did everything he could to keep up. It seemed the Shade was now much more physical, it seemed to have an actual body and legs that were walking. The Shade (could it still be called that?) moved deliberately towards the coast, now at a much quicker pace and on a more direct route.

Samuel followed the Shade to the docks where a small group of Guards and Pirates fought. Samuel watched with detachment as the Shade pulled a sword from his belt and helped the Pirates slay the Guards. With fluid motions the Shade sliced up with his sword then pulled the bested Guard in close and jammed the end of his sword into the Guard's stomach, finishing the job. The Shade and the Pirates would make short work of the remaining Guards, delivering mortal wounds to each of them.

The Pirates showed neither Samuel nor the Shade any gratitude, instead moving further into the city while Samuel watched the Shade's grisly ritual. The Shade bent over each Guard, siphoning the blood from their bodies and from the street. Samuel watched in fascination as the features of the Shade started to take fine detail and complex form. He saw the Shade's body become rigid and fixed. Samuel noticed the force of gravity seemed to adjust itself, taking less firm a hold on himself while tightening its grip on the Shade. Samuel knew the Shade had been made whole.

Samuel followed the Shade aboard the ship and below decks. The top deck was littered with mops and buckets, making the Shade's journey that much more difficult. Samuel, however, simply hovered past without thought or effort even though he did not see them until he was on top of them. All Samuel could see now was the Shade and about a foot in front of him.

He continued below decks until the Shade came to a double row of cages. Each cage contained a child, two in some instances. The Shade opened the nearest cage and pulled the child out. Samuel watched with disinterest as the Shade pushed the child's head to the side, exposing its neck. The Shade clamped its jaw shut on the child's neck, devouring the child's life before Samuel's eyes. The child's lifeless body fell to the ground when the Shade was done with it and still Samuel felt nothing.

One by one, the Shade did the same thing to every child kept in the cages, drawing no interest or concern from Samuel as he felt the world fade slowly. Not that Samuel cared about fading from the world. Samuel felt an embrace much like sleep slowly start to creep along his very being. Before that comfort reached his head, however, the Shade turned and looked at Samuel with human eyes that betrayed inhumanity. Blood staining the lower mouth and four protruding fangs were all that was different between his own face and the face of the Shade. Samuel thought it odd, but felt nothing else as the comfort enveloped his whole being and Samuel faded to nothing.

The comfort lasted for but a moment, however, as Samuel awoke a moment later to find himself in the middle of a field. Off in the distance, Samuel could see a range of mountains obscured by the mist and overcast skies. In the other direction Samuel saw a coastal city. The city appeared to be in danger, however, as fire brightened the skies above and smoke filtered up. Off behind the city was an island, just a few miles off shore. It had been eight days since Samuel last slept, but he wasn't tired, merely restless. Samuel looked once toward the mountains, then back towards the city. He felt the Shade's presence, and it comforted him.

"Hello, Shade." Samuel said as the Shade beckoned him to follow towards the city.