HERE ARE MY FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF MY STORY, FOLLOWED BY A PREQUAL SUMMARY, ENJOY AND TELL ME IF YOU LIKE IT, THANK YOU =P
Chapter 1
The man of shadows
This story starts with a character, as most stories do. The difference between other stories and this one is that our character has no motive. The sky is covered in blackness, yet the moon shines its radiant and penetrating light throughout the thick darkness of the surrounding forest. The fog is thick enough to suffocate those who suffer from claustrophobia, yet the moon light is so powerful that it breaks through the fog with little or no effort. To those walking the ground maybe this light is not so comforting, because in this forest perhaps seeing nothing is better than seeing anything at all.
This means nothing for our character though. He walks silently and fearlessly through the thick fog as if he could see every twig and needle, his pistols swing faithfully by his sides while the dew drops build up on the handles from the fog, his hat which never seems to leave his head stays transfixed upon his head covering his bright blue eyes. His hair is dark and long and although he has not bathed in maybe a week it seems to shimmer with cleanliness in the parts that stretch out past his hat. His jeans worn with holes in each knee and shoes scratched and scarred from previous battles, A cigarette pursed between his lips as he moves with quick and deadly silent steps through the night. Some people would be swallowed alive by these woods, but for our character, the woods seem to be afraid he will swallow them. The man of shadows emerges through the night.
The man of shadows runs with blinding speed through the woods. It has been maybe eight days since he had last seen civilization; he had water, yet little food. Though the man of shadows had a remarkable ability to adapt to his surroundings, he had guns after all, and ammunition to boot. If he needed food than he would kill it, and even the fog couldn’t save a small critter from being shot by this man, not only his aim but his intuition was very sharp, some may go as far as to say impossibly sharp. However his water canteen was full, he had not taken a drink in perhaps 30 hours and had not slept for two days, though he never stopped running except to look at the stars and sun to maintain his direction when the forest would allow it. But what was his direction? Did he even know? Yes, it was east. Why? This he didn’t know. It had been like this for Ten years...Or had it been more? He cared not the time, only that he would continue until he found reason to stop. What reason? He asked himself this all the time. The answer was simple. Who am I? The question seemed simple to most, but to the man of shadows it was a complex web of missing memory’s and pieces of time.
It was time to sleep he thought to his self, though he was not tired. The man of shadows had a mind that seemed to separate itself from his bodies basic needs; he could run until he died from thirst or exhaustion with a feeling of indifference as he did so. And even though these basic human needs did not bother him nor affect him, he still knew the limits of his body. So it was time to rest and eat. Yet he had no food, so he must find some. He casually strolled around a circular area covered with trees around him and checked his surroundings. He noticed a large bush which looked familiar in the background. He walked up to it and examined the small and bright red berries the plant bared. In this forest he knew he had to be careful because some things could nourish and fill a starving stomach as others could be the last food you would ever eat. He plucked one of the berries and placed it on the ground. Gently and quickly he drew his knife from a slot tied tightly around his boot and bottom half of his leg, it was a dagger of about 8 inches long and both ends sharpened to a point where a mere touch could break your skin, old as time yet looked as though it had just been placed out of the fire in which it was forged. He placed the knife tip to the center of the round berry and sliced it open from the middle, it gushed out red filling of both liquid and pulp. It was safe to eat, for he knew of another berry this forest grew which looked identical but the insides filled with a blue liquid which was not only poison to the mouth, but also to the touch.
He had found food; even so he made a short and brief sigh inside his head. He had been eating green plants and vegetation for the last 3 weeks, and the man craved meat for the first time in a long time. The man started to collect berries, pulling each one off in a gentle motion. The berries didn’t need to be forced, for each one was ripe as could be. As he had collected maybe a handful he heard a faint rustling sound that was so quiet that it would escape a canine’s ear. He froze[FONT=宋]，[/FONT]and like lightning Gavin snatched up both his guns and whirled around eyeballing his surroundings for the intruder. His eyes beamed as he saw nothing, yet once again he heard the faint rustling sound, “An animal.” He muttered out loud. The man of shadows holstered the pistol in his left hand but left the gun in his right where it was. Gavin had not been a better shot with his right hand, it’s just that it mattered not what hand he would use in this situation. He kept true to silence as he pointed his gun into the darkness, his ears open shutting out the sound of the locusts and other insects of the night, waiting for yet one more sound to mark his shot. A moment went by when he heard nothing, but Gavin knew that a sound would emerge, and as expected the rustling sound returned as the man ears caught its exact location in a tree nearby. Without a moment’s hesitation the man of shadow pulled his aim upwards to a tree branch almost invisible amongst the surrounding fog, drew his aim a little bit left, and fired. The gunshot was like a strike of thunder in the quiet night and even made the sound of the insects halt for moments after, the only thing that following the loud cracking sound was that of a raccoon’s body plummeting to the earth with a “thump”. The man of shadow strolled casually through the fog to find the raccoon lay dead on the ground with a single shot fired directly through its skull. Gavin picked it up by its two hind legs and carried it with him. “I am sick of berries.” He said out loud as he ventured to find a decent open place to construe a fire. He walked another 10 minutes until he found a small open grass patch amongst the endless trees; the fog seemed to be thinner here for some reason. Gavin unsheathed his knife held tight against his shin and began to skin the raccoon. The animal was not big, nor did it have a lot of meat on it, yet it would be enough to please the man of shadows, more than berries anyway. The blade sliced cleanly through the skin on the ankles of the creature and as the man began to pull the hide off of the creature, he began to let his mind wander. The big black eyes of the raccoon reminded him of a man, not just any man but a black man he had seen. The man of shadows had traveled much distance over a long time and it was not the first Negro he had seen, but he was reminded of this Negro for different reasons he was still unsure of. Perhaps it was the piano the man played, and boy could that colored fellow play. He remembered being hypnotized by the rhythm of the notes the man had crafted. It was unusual to see a black person in this world, even more unusual to see one that could captivate the attention of the man of shadows. Hell, to be frank it had been unusual for any colored man to captivate his attention since he could remember. Yet the man of shadows had weaknesses as any man does, and music was one of these weaknesses, it just seemed to stick with him. The man of shadows still had faint memories of songs that even he could not remember from where or whom they came from. Alas even so the Negro was not the thing that grabbed the attention of the man, it was the other man…him. For it was not the first time he had laid eyes upon this man, and in this world seeing the same person twice was not coincidence, it was choice. He pondered as to what choice this man could possibly have. Gavin continued the skin his meal and began to make a fire.
Chapter 2
The Priest
Dmitry Winnipeg sat at his empty table, taking in his ale, and taking in the filth. The filth of a world gone mad, the filth of a world riding at the very whips of darkness, the filth of nearly everything around him. The lighting of the room was one of a faint sunset behind the mountains, a mixture of electric bulbs and candles surrounding the atmosphere of drunks and addicts. It was better than it could have been though; many of the surrounding towns had not bulbs due to the burning of the eastern shores. The houses of assembly left for such items were at desperation for coin to create anyhow. In these days farming or raising wild stock was the frontier of payment for such articles as opposed to a short lived currency. Dmitry thought that maybe being poor was better in these lands, for when someone has too much, he is sure to lose it quickly. Dmitry’s face was one of a very light complexion, some might say that he had a perfect face; others would call him a “pretty boy” which was ironic as Dmitry thought there was nothing “pretty” left in this world. Long smooth silk pants streamed down the priests legs with vertical black stripes traveling from the bottom to the top of his white pants. He wore a long sleeved cotton shirt which at one time might have been white, but what was now darkened grey from soil, blood, and smoke. His hair was a dirty blond at a length past his shoulders, yet tightly pulled behind his neck in a ponytail. He wore a crimson red robe, one of very light fabric that appeared elegant, strapped tightly to his collar and shadowing the sides of his body. The cape/robe had hidden all but tips of his gleaming blades, and on the inside of the cape flaps his bag of holy articles remained strapped in a way to pose easy access if one should need them. He wore black cloth shoes that seemed vulnerable to sharp stone on the ground; yet pose surprisingly sturdy strength and very capable speed when worn on the right person. He peered around his environment at the rag group of people surrounding him at tables and booths, perhaps a couple dozen people drinking and gambling what little they had to offer, most of the time people bet what they did not have and would be killed if he could not pay. Its places like this that Dmitry had to keep his eyes in avoidance of those around him, yet transfixed on the environment as to be ready for anything. The whores of the room do the same, standing in the backs of the room with indifference to those around them. They just lay in wait for a person to show a sign having wealth, drugs, or anything material to offer, it is than they will approach this person. Even these women could not be trusted. They were merely the potential whores of the devil himself he thought. Dmitry was a religious person, a religion passed down through a few generations. His tribe was one of the Insindals, or Sindals for short coming. Dmitry was not old, nor was he young, perhaps in the mid thirties, although in this day and age, it was easy to lose track of one’s birth years. People made much eye contact at Dmitry yet it was usually only for brief moments. Many people could recognize his robe and his kind were considered dangerous to most people who would foolishly think to steal from them. For his kind was known to feature strange powers beyond that of a normal man, an ability given to the preachers by a rite of passage which included much prayer and consumption of “blessed” water found in stray parts of the world. This was true; Dmitry had forgone great trials of pain, dedication, and prayer to have some of the abilities that he bears. However Dmitry was not just any religious man, he was a religious hunter, and he knew who he was looking for. He had seen his target one time before, perhaps a month ago or more. Dmitry continued to drink his ale as the rhythmic tone from the piano did a poor job of concealing the evil and hatred that lay in this room. In the corner of the room three men sat together drinking whiskey, dressed in worn jeans and shirts with boots and guns cloaked under their jackets. One of the men had a very ill look about him and would not stop setting his eyes upon Dmitry, perhaps it was a loathing and understanding of the difference between their souls, or maybe even the primitive urge of wondering what values that the priest carried, or maybe both. None the less Dmitry paid this man no heed and gave them no reason to intrude upon him. “There will be a time of reckoning for those men.” He thought to himself, and he would be sure to know which side he stood on. This is what brought the priest to the saloon, he had gained a day ahead of his target, and as this was the only town within many miles radius of his travels, he was sure that the man of shadows would be here eventually. For Dmitry was on a mission, not to spread the word of god, but to kill the ally of the devil himself. The devil had many tools in this world, sent upon these lands. The man in black had come to Dmitry in his dreams, in his ceremony, and in his heart, he knew this man was evil. Dmitry did not think that the man of shadows knew his use to the devil, for no men do, only that where ever he went, and whatever he did, was in opposition to the lord himself and against the nature of a peaceful heart. Dmitry would recognize the man when he made his appearance, yet the man would not recognize him. Dmitry rubbed the sweat off of his forehead with his hand, and took another drink of his beer. The priest continued to ignore the beaming eyes of the thugs in the back of the bar. One of the hookers had made her way closer to one of the gamblers who it seemed had come up with a large amount of the playing chips, leaving the other men looking disgruntled. He heard the men arguing about the possibilities that cheating was involved. “Get da fuck outta here with that, you be playing foul amongst us aint you?!” exclaimed a bulky man who had just lost half of his better tokens. “I been playing the same as you, just better, you wance!” The man replied. The other two men shot an evil look to the bulky man in an attempt to say “back off.” For the other two men still had a chance to turn the tides of victory into their favor. The four men continued to play in silence as the attention of others that they had caught went away from them again, everyone continued to drink or smoke. The saloon had been filled with the smoke of many different kinds of tobaccos, some even mind altering. Through the thickness of the smoke the doors of the saloon flopped open and the man of shadows walked strolled casually into the pub. Eyes shifted from their mindless tasks of drowning sorrows and greedy plotting and met him with an awkward silence, many took one glanced and looked away. While as tranquilly calm as the man’s eyes and face appeared, he looked as deadly as any. His guns were not carefully hidden by any means, and even though his appearance of small amount of luggage insisted that he had been on the road for a long time, the man showed not even the slightest sign of weariness. Dmitry’s eyes widened in excitement briefly even though he had expected him this whole time. Only a few men kept their gaze on him, probably only to make sure they didn’t end up on the wrong side of the gun. The man of shadows pulled out a chair and sat at a table on the opposing side of the room as the priest. A skinny brown haired waitress walked up to him “nothing is free here, if you want something to drink you gots ta be payin.” The women arrogantly said to the man. She was met with a look of slight amusement mixed with surprise from the man of shadows. He reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a silver coin and placed it directly on the table, some looked at the coin in envy for its valuable was not nearly as arguable as many other coins in this world. “It would please me to have a beer, and maybe some fresh meat if you have any please.” The man in black said in response. “I think I can find some chicken in the back that may do, so long as you ain’t have no religion for them.” Exclaimed the lady in a rather annoying voice. “That would be fine.” replied the man. With that the waitress snatched up the coin and took a beer off of the tray she carried upon her shoulder. Setting the beer down in front of the man she walked away rather quickly. Dmitry tried not to force too much attention upon the man in black as not to draw his attention, but he found that task difficult. He could not put his finger on it, but unlike others that Dmitry had hunted, this man seemed different. He had no doubt the man of shadows featured evil buried inside of him, but it was a different kind of evil. It occurred to Dmitry that if some stranger were to ask this man if he personally thought of himself as evil, he would answer with “I am only as evil as fools make me to be.” This thought slightly angered Dmitry. The minutes passed by in thoughtful silence for Dmitry, he knew he would not kill this man right here for two reasons. The first reason was that he may find himself distracted by the challenge of the man and end up getting shot in the back by someone else, the second reason was that this man already seemed prepared to die, no point in giving him what he expects if unnecessary. The priest considered he might be as closer to the man now than he ever will be again, at least while he is alive. For a moment the priest considered the ethics of killing someone he had never met before, but than he shrugged the feelings away, he had met this man before, in his dreams. How he felt was not going to intervene with what he must do, Dmitry was going to kill this man with all of his confidence and willingness to send him back to the darkness in which he belongs in. The time flew by with the melody of a black man playing the piano, the man of shadows had not yet made any sort of eye contact with just about anyone around him, and he was efficiently putting away the chicken that had been brought to him. The man of shadows was on his third ale at this point and Dmitry himself ordered another one as to not seem idle in the atmosphere. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes into hours, and after about two of those hours the man of shadow stood up firmly and started walking for the door. Just as the man reached the doorway, he shot a very mixed emotions glance directly into the eyes of the priest, a look of both anger and curiosity, Dmitry should have looked away but he did not. The two men crossed eyes with each other for almost five seconds before the man of shadow turned his gaze away and walked through the door. Dmitry took the last gulp of his remaining bee and began to stand up. The moment he lifted up off of his chair he felt a hand on his shoulder push him back down into his chair firmly. He remained calm and looked forward to see the man who had been giving him a stare down all night long pull out a chair and took a seat right before him, his eyes looked wild and mad and his grin looked fierce. Beside Dmitry stood two men posted behind each of his shoulders. The man in front of him began to speak. “I know not what you are doing around this area my friend, whether it be pillaging,” he glanced down at the priests outfit and back up to his eyes again, “or perhaps crusading. However I do not think there is a person in this room whom you could point at and tell me you know them, which means you come alone and unwelcomed.”
Dmitry let a grin begin to slip upon his face and spoke, “Well friend… you have just introduced yourself to me as a friend so perhaps I ought not to worry about it. And these lands I walk through belong to whom I work for. So maybe you ought not worry about that.”
The man gave the priest a bewildered look at the response given, and then a grin broke out on him as well, and he started to chuckle. “If these lands belong to your oh so mighty god... than where is your protection?!” He exclaimed while chuckling.
“Well one should hope he need not be protected in the lands of his fellow man. Either ways I apologize if I have brought you trouble with my visit, but as a matter of fact I was just leaving your town now so if you will excuse me I will be on my way.” Dmitry started to stand from his chair just to be shoved back into it again.
“No let me tell you what’s going to happen.” The angered man began to speak a little bit louder. “YOU are going to hand over to US whatever you have that is valuable right now, and we will let you leave this place tonight in a living condition. OR you can leave this place and the minute you do we will kill you and take it anyhow. How would you have it holy man?”
Dimity replied in a very calm manner “I apologize but I need what I carry and I do not feel obligated to hand it over to you. As it is mine you should not feel obligated the take it either.”
“Than there is the door.” The man said pasted with an enormous grin while pointing his finger at the exit.
The new few moments passed in silence for everyone, Dmitry and the filth before him locked eyes for what seemed like forever, both faces emotionless with nothing left to be said. From the perspective of the three men Dmitry was probably considering his options of giving the men what he had right there and then or trying to make a run for the exit and into the woods that surrounded the saloon. In truth, Dmitry was considering killing these men right here, or taking them outside to kill them. “Oh, why the hell not” Dmitry thought to himself.
Dmitry took his two hands raised to hands over the table shaped flat with the fingers, revealing both of his palms to the man sitting in front of him, who looked confused at this gesture. He slapped both hands flat on the table making a very loud slamming sound. The men got surprised by this action and blindly started to reach for their guns or knives, but the very moment after the priests hands met with the table a flaming fire began to break out in front of his hands, and quickly traveled across the top of the table. Two lines of fire dived quickly to the opposing side of the table at the thief sitting before him, and when they met the end of the table they leaped directly at the man engulfing his entire body in flames at the first touch. The man fell out of his chair screaming wildly as the other two men paused in shock at the site of their friend burning to death. Before the other men could continue to grab their pistols the priest stuck both hands inside his robe grabbing each of the curved double bladed knives, and without the slightest turn of his head or body he took his crossed arms and flung them outwards with a blade in each hand colliding with the throats of each man behind him, slicing each of their throats in one simultaneous motion and spraying blood upon Dmitry’s already crimson red robe. With his arms still stretched outwards the two men’s bodies fell down to the ground before them. With all that being said and done the priest took the table cloth end and wiped the blood off of his blades and sheathed them back into place under his robe. He stood up and casually walked out of the bar without even glancing at the screaming man as he quickly burned to death. Those who blocked his way were quick to move aside.
Chapter 3
Flight of flame and firepower
The fire burned brightly through the forest while the man of shadows smoked; pondering the thoughts of the holy man he had seen two separate times. He had not thought much of these types of men, to him they were nothing more than the rest of the people wrecking havoc and terrorizing the world around him. The only difference is that they had an excuse.
The man of shadows continues to stare into the flames keeping sharp ears on the environment around him yet letting his gaze sneak away to admire the flames he had created, hell it wasn’t like you could see anything through the fog and darkness anyhow. The food had been cooked and eaten already and the remains of what was left over had been tossed upon the ground falling prey to the next scavenging creature that should cross this way, he considered what it may be. Some of the wild animals and beasts he was used to seeing still felt somewhat odd when he crossed paths with them, however not all of them. Some things Gavin had crossed seemed almost to fit in naturally while others gave him the feeling that they were out of place.
The man of shadows briefly considered he may meet the priest that “coincidently” traveled the same path as him; he quickly abandoned this thought as if it were of little importance. The Man of shadows KNEW he would have to cross paths with him once again, yet he did not fear at this thought, but more or less a feeling of weariness for he had grown tired of things slowing him down. The man of shadows considered what cause a priest could possibly have with him if he truly was on the trail. Sure Gavin had killed people before when it had called for such times, but in his eyes he did not compare with a very large percentage of people in these lands. The man of shadows thought nothing more of these holy men then your average flawed man, with the exception of some fucking magic rocks and over consumption of poisoned water.
It would be sunrise in a maybe four or five hours, and the man of shadows could not sleep even though he knew it was imperative that he did, it had been a couple days since he had. Nevertheless he did not sleep; he just continued to stare, deep into the flames…as if waiting for something. That is when it happened.
Through the crackling sounds of the burning twigs the man of shadows heard a very faint sound in the air, a very dim whirling sound, as if thinking in slow motion he heard and “felt” the sound grow slightly louder, and closer.
The man of shadows took the reflexes of a lizard and the speed of a tiger; launching himself directly off of the ground he was crouched upon, and backwards. Right before he crashed directly onto his backside he felt the heat and instant pain of some form of blade slice through the side of his thigh, making a sharp grunt of pain as he landed. The pain of his new injury was all but forgotten as the adrenaline and desire to fucking kill this man set itself deep inside of him. He threw his chest directly up and forward while sitting on the ground, whipped out both of his pistols in a flash, and let five bullets fly in the direction the blade had come from.
The man of shadows took the reflexes of a lizard and the speed of a tiger; launching himself directly off of the ground he was crouched upon, and backwards. Right before he crashed directly onto his backside he felt the heat and instant pain of some form of blade slice through the side of his thigh, making a sharp grunt of pain as he landed. The pain of his new injury was all but forgotten as the adrenaline and desire to fucking kill this man set itself deep inside of him. He threw his chest directly up and forward while sitting on the ground, whipped out both of his pistols in a flash, and let five bullets fly in the direction the blade had come from.
Not even waiting to hear any confirmation of a direct shot the man of shadows began to roll on the ground in the direction of the closest trees with haste. As he rolled on the ground he witnessed another curved blade dived fiercely into the ground of where he previously lay, yet to his bewilderment as his vision passed by it with on more roll the blade had vanished leaving nothing but the blemish in the dirt. He threw himself off of the ground diving behind a very large and thick brown tree.
How did this happen? The man thought to himself as he sat against the enormous tree on his ass, his legs bent before him and his pistols pointed upwards positioned in front of his chest. A lot of shit had happened to him previously but people getting the jump on him were just not one of his things. He waited behind the tree for the priest to make another sound, either to attack him or change his position but nothing happened. After about three minutes of waiting the man of shadows began to grow impatient of crouching behind the tree, so he decided to speak.
“I know not who you are, or why you wish me dead, but I can promise you one thing.” The words seem to echo throughout the darkened forest which has grown almost silent after the passing of the gunfire. The man of shadows waited for a response, hoping this man would underestimate the gift of receiving sound that he possessed.
“What might that be?” The priest spoke in a somewhat low tone, sounding as if his mind was preoccupied as to what his next move would be. The man of shadows knew where he was none the less, about 20 yards away, a real long way to be throwing blades through the darkness he thought.
“I can promise you that I am going to end you should you keep trying to fight me.” The man of shadows spoke firmly.
“So you’re saying it’s probably a good idea that I be heading eh?” The priest replied.
The man of shadows gave this thought a moment to digest, “Actually I think I’d still probably kill you, the only difference is you would make me work a little bit harder, either way perhaps you would like to first converse on the meaning of your death?”
The priest gave a mocking “humph” sound before he made his retort. “You do not make a very persuasive negotiation.”
How did this happen? The man thought to himself as he sat against the enormous tree on his ass, his legs bent before him and his pistols pointed upwards positioned in front of his chest. A lot of shit had happened to him previously but people getting the jump on him were just not one of his things. He waited behind the tree for the priest to make another sound, either to attack him or change his position but nothing happened. After about three minutes of waiting the man of shadows began to grow impatient of crouching behind the tree, so he decided to speak.
“I know not who you are, or why you wish me dead, but I can promise you one thing.” The words seem to echo throughout the darkened forest which has grown almost silent after the passing of the gunfire. The man of shadows waited for a response, hoping this man would underestimate the gift of receiving sound that he possessed.
“What might that be?” The priest spoke in a somewhat low tone, sounding as if his mind was preoccupied as to what his next move would be. The man of shadows knew where he was none the less, about 20 yards away, a real long way to be throwing blades through the darkness he thought.
“I can promise you that I am going to end you should you keep trying to fight me.” The man of shadows spoke firmly.
“So you’re saying it’s probably a good idea that I be heading eh?” The priest replied.
The man of shadows gave this thought a moment to digest, “Actually I think I’d still probably kill you, the only difference is you would make me work a little bit harder, either way perhaps you would like to first converse on the meaning of your death?”
The priest gave a mocking “humph” sound before he made his retort. “You do not make a very persuasive negotiation.”
“I was not trying to.” The man of shadows replied as he grabbed a fairly large stone from the ground at his feet. Without thinking he took his water bottle holstered to his side and popped the lid off of it, he gave the bottle a spiral toss through the air as it plunged into the flames of the fire that lay between him and his predator. The bottle crashed into the fire with a hissing sound as sparks and smoke flew up into the air above it cloaking the clear view of the small open area. With his other hand the man of shadows launched the stone east of where he sat hoping to draw false attention, and with that being done the man flew out from behind the trees with both guns drawn aiming forward. The handguns fired four more shells with thundering sounds following each shot as the man of shadows bolted across the grass and threw the smoke, diving behind another tree on the opposing side where he had just hidden, effectively cutting the distance between him and the priest by half of what it was. The moment his back slammed hard against the tree he saw a spiral blade glide through the air past the tree and into the area he had just printed across. After a brief second of the blade passing the man of shadows saw something he could not comprehend, he witnessed the exact same blade he had just avoided return from out of the darkness and fly across the same path it had previously traveled, returning to the man who had thrown it.
The cut on the man of shadows leg had begun to pour blood and the sting began to grow, he felt that he needed to finish what had begun rather quickly so he could tie his leg up to stop the bleeding. Crouched behind the tree the man of shadows started to reload his six shooters, pulling stray shells out of his pockets, realizing he only had so many more bullets unless he could reach his effects that lay next to the fire, but he seriously doubted that. The man of shadows began to speak to his enemy. “Tell me… do you happen to be one of those so called “men of honor?” He had hoped that his voice did not give away any fear or doubt in this statement.
“That’s depends on for what reasons you ask me such a question, I however like to think I am though.” The priest voiced out residing behind a tree nearby.
“I say we both present ourselves and fight like men, that way neither of us has to die hiding behind no fucking tree. What say you to that?” Replied the man of shadows in a curious tone.
“I am a noble enough man to do such a thing, but I highly doubt that you are such a man willing to do so in return.” Said the priest, also in a rather curious tone. The man of shadows found a touch of irony in the fact this man was willing to consider trust to such an option, seeing as he was driven so strongly to murder him in the first place.
“You may not make claims of my nobility, you don’t even know me,” Said the man of shadows.
The priest spoke merely a single sentence to the man of shadows, but the sentence crept into his mind and slightly disturbed him, “Do you even know yourself?”
“Well you can think as you will, I will give you my word no matter the worth of it to you, I will evacuate my shelter in effort to strike you down fairly, I place trust in the idea that you are a holy man, who will feel compelled to do the same.” The man of shadows stated out loud. And with that the man of shadows flipped the barrels of his pistols shut, pointed them in front of him facing the direction of where the man would appear, should he choose to appear, and lunged out into the open leaving the shelter of the trees, in an effort to close distance on his enemy.
The priest had been a man of his word, and also emerged from a tree facing directly at the man of shadows, it was not a clear view through the darkness, but it was clear enough for these men. A glint of moonlight reflected off the ends of the blades that the priest had clenched in both hands. In a very elegant yet deadly act of combat the priest spun around in a full circle using his body for leverage as he launched one of the glinting blades directly towards the man of shadows. Without even a moment of pause the man of shadows let fly another bullet that collided with the blade in midair, knocking it into the dirt, and simultaneously shot off a second shot with his other pistol. To second bullet flew right by the priest as he followed up with one more elegant spin that dodged the bullet and also propelled his second blade, the man of shadows blasted this one out of the air as well, and fired three more bullets directly at his target. As if already he had seen this happening the priest had snatched a small stone out of his pocket and heated up his hands to a searing flame as he tossed it directly towards the man of shadow, the stone burst into dozens of small rocks the size of bullets traveling almost as fast. The man of shadows acute vision was able to catch this and he quickly dropped to the soil on his stomach. The stones intercepted the shots and soared over the man of shadows head.
The man of shadows fired a few more shots from the ground at the priest who was now running frantically sideways in an effort to get an edge on the man of shadow, one of the bullets caught him in the shoulder and he tripped to the ground as well, but not before swinging yet another stone at him. This stone however did not turn into more stone but instead erupted in a three galloon surge of water that streamed through the air with much speed and collided with the man of shadows, effectively sliding him across the ground another foot.
This surge of water dazed the man of shadows momentarily as he had never really been assaulted with water before. He jumped up to his feet at the same time as the priest regardless of the assault and pulled the trigger of both buns just to hear a sharp clicking sound, “You son of a bitch!” the man of shadows yelled realizing the water had jammed up his revolvers.
The priest held out his hands toward the man of shadows with his palm facing him, and in a matter of two seconds a ball of flame the size of his fist had emerged and shot off in the direction of the man of shadows, streaking a trail of fire as it flew through the air at a rapid pace. He took the pistol in his left hand by the barrel and launched it right towards the oncoming fireball; the two met mid air halfway between them with a small explosion of flame in the air. At the exact moment the priest began to raise his arm to release another fireball, the man of shadows threw the second pistol with all of his might towards the priest, greeting a formed fireball still in the hand of its master. The fireball exploded in the hands of the priest, instantly engulfing half of the priest in his own flames, but destroying him none the less. The man of shadows began to sprint towards the priest as he fell to the ground rolling to cease the fire, but even through the heat of the pain the priest was still aware what was happening and released a fireball upwards towards the tree branches between the two enemies, engulfing it in flame and striking it down to the ground instantly. The man of shadows stopped running and quickly lunged backwards two feet barely avoiding the flaming branch that tumbled down separating the two men.
The man of shadows knew what he had to do, and without a breath of hesitation, he drew the knife latched to his ankle with excellent speed as he took the blade, and dove directly over the branch of fire blocking all vision, and through the wall of flames, and directly upon his god fearing enemy the priest, using his free arm to knock away the priests arm as he tried to construe one more fireball.
The man of shadows took his knife and thrust it upon the throat of the priest, and stopped directly at the breaking point of the skin for the only reason that the priest had stopped struggling. The man in black angrily muttered words to into the ear of the priest, words the priest had heard many times, but this would be the only time they would ever creep inside of his heart, “Where is your god now?”
“I say we both present ourselves and fight like men, that way neither of us has to die hiding behind no fucking tree. What say you to that?” Replied the man of shadows in a curious tone.
“I am a noble enough man to do such a thing, but I highly doubt that you are such a man willing to do so in return.” Said the priest, also in a rather curious tone. The man of shadows found a touch of irony in the fact this man was willing to consider trust to such an option, seeing as he was driven so strongly to murder him in the first place.
“You may not make claims of my nobility, you don’t even know me,” Said the man of shadows.
The priest spoke merely a single sentence to the man of shadows, but the sentence crept into his mind and slightly disturbed him, “Do you even know yourself?”
“Well you can think as you will, I will give you my word no matter the worth of it to you, I will evacuate my shelter in effort to strike you down fairly, I place trust in the idea that you are a holy man, who will feel compelled to do the same.” The man of shadows stated out loud. And with that the man of shadows flipped the barrels of his pistols shut, pointed them in front of him facing the direction of where the man would appear, should he choose to appear, and lunged out into the open leaving the shelter of the trees, in an effort to close distance on his enemy.
The priest had been a man of his word, and also emerged from a tree facing directly at the man of shadows, it was not a clear view through the darkness, but it was clear enough for these men. A glint of moonlight reflected off the ends of the blades that the priest had clenched in both hands. In a very elegant yet deadly act of combat the priest spun around in a full circle using his body for leverage as he launched one of the glinting blades directly towards the man of shadows. Without even a moment of pause the man of shadows let fly another bullet that collided with the blade in midair, knocking it into the dirt, and simultaneously shot off a second shot with his other pistol. To second bullet flew right by the priest as he followed up with one more elegant spin that dodged the bullet and also propelled his second blade, the man of shadows blasted this one out of the air as well, and fired three more bullets directly at his target. As if already he had seen this happening the priest had snatched a small stone out of his pocket and heated up his hands to a searing flame as he tossed it directly towards the man of shadow, the stone burst into dozens of small rocks the size of bullets traveling almost as fast. The man of shadows acute vision was able to catch this and he quickly dropped to the soil on his stomach. The stones intercepted the shots and soared over the man of shadows head.
The man of shadows fired a few more shots from the ground at the priest who was now running frantically sideways in an effort to get an edge on the man of shadow, one of the bullets caught him in the shoulder and he tripped to the ground as well, but not before swinging yet another stone at him. This stone however did not turn into more stone but instead erupted in a three galloon surge of water that streamed through the air with much speed and collided with the man of shadows, effectively sliding him across the ground another foot.
This surge of water dazed the man of shadows momentarily as he had never really been assaulted with water before. He jumped up to his feet at the same time as the priest regardless of the assault and pulled the trigger of both buns just to hear a sharp clicking sound, “You son of a bitch!” the man of shadows yelled realizing the water had jammed up his revolvers.
The priest held out his hands toward the man of shadows with his palm facing him, and in a matter of two seconds a ball of flame the size of his fist had emerged and shot off in the direction of the man of shadows, streaking a trail of fire as it flew through the air at a rapid pace. He took the pistol in his left hand by the barrel and launched it right towards the oncoming fireball; the two met mid air halfway between them with a small explosion of flame in the air. At the exact moment the priest began to raise his arm to release another fireball, the man of shadows threw the second pistol with all of his might towards the priest, greeting a formed fireball still in the hand of its master. The fireball exploded in the hands of the priest, instantly engulfing half of the priest in his own flames, but destroying him none the less. The man of shadows began to sprint towards the priest as he fell to the ground rolling to cease the fire, but even through the heat of the pain the priest was still aware what was happening and released a fireball upwards towards the tree branches between the two enemies, engulfing it in flame and striking it down to the ground instantly. The man of shadows stopped running and quickly lunged backwards two feet barely avoiding the flaming branch that tumbled down separating the two men.
The man of shadows knew what he had to do, and without a breath of hesitation, he drew the knife latched to his ankle with excellent speed as he took the blade, and dove directly over the branch of fire blocking all vision, and through the wall of flames, and directly upon his god fearing enemy the priest, using his free arm to knock away the priests arm as he tried to construe one more fireball.
The man of shadows took his knife and thrust it upon the throat of the priest, and stopped directly at the breaking point of the skin for the only reason that the priest had stopped struggling. The man in black angrily muttered words to into the ear of the priest, words the priest had heard many times, but this would be the only time they would ever creep inside of his heart, “Where is your god now?”
SPOILER OF ONE HUGE APSPECT OF PLOT FOLLOWING
Ok the pre story has not been fully disclosed or diagnosed so just get past that and all will be gravy allright guys. other than that read the first three chapters and tell me what you think, I am specifically lookings for opinions of vacobulary usage, narratives (omnicient), description and ability for reader to visualize it, do you like this style even if you do not like the concept?
Actually the first bit followingi is not actually the story at all, its just a bit of information off the bat too describe the situation of why everything is so messed up. Its also supposed to set a theme that shows that even though the story represents a satire of setting it doesnt mean its going to stay that way, I am only concerned about the first three chapters as far as opinion goes and I am not going to put the prequal like that when it comes publishing time. Other than that the first three chapters are supposed to be confusing. Perhaps I should explain that more at the begnining. Actually I have been working on this for a few years and have about one and a half novels written and do not intend on putting so much information in the explaination of the setting so fast in the story, its just for you samplers to understand what I am going for. And even if there is a lot explained....trust me there is to be a lot more to understand as my aim is 8 novels by the end. I have roughly 180,000 words written alltogether (here is about 6,000). The intention is to leave a lot to be discovered along with 6 main characters by the end, different worlds, dimensions, illusions, and many different protaganists(despite what I give away in the intro here. Seriously do not take the first part too seriosuly as it will be more described later on and its just loosely scribbled down.
Basic Description of the given setting of the first chapters. Only created for the samplers but not added in the actualy story...features a relatively simple writing with lack of description or details and basic vocabulary (also not fully described as it dismisses major events imperative to the story), will not be featured in a published story. Feel free to skip to first chapter if not intrested. (contact me if intrested in more.)
What does simple mean? There was a time when the world was much simpler, yet the word simple is different in the eyes of each person. In the late 21st century the planet earth was in a complicated situation, yet a simple one. The world had always relied on the natural resources of the planet, for clothing, fuel, food, materials. The world had drained the planet to almost nothing, even war seemed useless. How could war create more resources? No it would only help deplete the last of what mankind had. Those who had run out long before others had learned to live on the basic needs to stay alive, and those who had grown accustomed to the luxury of abusing their resources began to panic. The only place left to turn was the universe. Despite the admirable efforts for space exploration in the last 100 years, mankind had been able to discover a planet outside of our own galaxy known as Gliese, what would be later known as the stepping stone to the universe. Gliese had water, plants, resources that we needed. However traveling back and forth to Gliese with the technology at the time was a useless effort, for we used more fuel going there and back than we could actually bring back. It seemed hopeless, that the world would just starve itself to death and humans along with it, a sad and bitter ending for all the glory of mankind…Until one day.
A breakthrough came to mankind, one that would change and shape the fortunes and the future of our race indefinitely. A government research organization known as “RAYCON” discovered something crucial to the improvement of universal discovery, a way to actually teleport. They had discovered that the key to teleportation was nothing more than a form of remote cloning. The scientists of Raycon devised set of experiments with two machines. One machine was intended to make a perfect absolute record copy of a living creature, every single aspect including the mind, while the other machine would simultaneously create the life form based off the imputed data of the previous machine. It worked; they had successfully created a long distance cloning machine. The following months experiments were to be done none stop, from one corner of the country to another. It was discovered that as long as there was an accurate reading of time in both locations than it could be done regardless of the distance. The idea was too effectively destroy the being of a life form in one location and then rebuild it instantly in another. A further break through was that they could also clone non living items such as metal, plastic, fuel, food, almost anything they needed. The next problem was figuring out the exact time of the places they would be going to…in other words the exact time in relation to the distance between planet earth and planet Gliese. They had done it; they created the very first “Doorway” to another world…though it would not be the last. However as groundbreaking as this discovery was for much of mankind, it was met with much criticism due to religious reasons. Many people thought that even though they were cloning exact copies of people, that we were playing god. The building of Gliese began, and back on earth people took to the streets in angry riots. However this was not enough to stop the committed American government. It was in these years that America began to show its true face of its people. Religion was abandoned for science, the face of Jesus and the bible that were once the backbone of the country became the ominous face of something that only slowed them down, and the amount of faithful people quickly began to deplete and die. America took their beloved miracles of science with much pride and gloating as they did when the first man landed on the moon. At first this created hope to others, but in the end became a very large problem. The earth was falling apart, people were starving and resources were almost gone, but not on Gliese. The expansion of Gliese was moving rapidly as they were able to find all the natural resources they needed, yet even so they proceeded to use most of the resources for the advancement of their new planet that they had founded. The world became filled with fear, fear that Americas resolve was to abandon Earth for this new planet, which the rest of the world would be left to starve itself to death and kill each other off. The pressure upon America grew as its allies and enemies started to question if this was the pursuit of resources for home, or was this the pursuit of a new world to call home. The American government fooled themselves into thinking that it was for both, but deep down even they knew what they were doing was selfish, yet paid no heed to the fear of others surrounding them, until they discovered a problem. For the first time in the history of the human race, they did not have enough people. As the creation of an empire on Gliese started to expand it also started to slow due to lack of workers. They now had numerous doorways for entrance and no problem getting what they needed on the planet, until other countries stopped selling them tools, and factories on earth had slowed production. They realized that for everything they had put on Gliese, they had taken away from Earth. They need alliances, desperately. With that came what no one could have imagined, world peace. People from all other countries were allowed to work on the advancement of the new planet. Government officials from all countries were involved in the huge expansion of mankind. There were more countries involved than in the United Nations. And the unbelievable result was that world peace never happened, until it was time to leave the planet, when the need for others came, and not just what they had.
3,000 years passed by. The planet Earth was all but forgotten, mankind had been united ever since. The race of men continued to explore the universe, never running out of things to discover. Galaxy after galaxy, world after world, mankind made its mark on the unexplored universe. It did not take long however to realize that they were not alone in the universe, countless life forms other than humans were discovered, both primitive and advanced. A treaty was made among the people saying that they would never attempt to take a home from another being, and it had been so…the universe was big enough for everyone. Some life forms proved able to communicate and some were not, some were made friends while others opted to be enemies, and none the less mankind had no time to make war with hostile forms. Every abundant resource the humans had were replaced by an even superior resource that was found during the exploration of the universe, we never ran out of whatever fuel we had to use, and if we did there was alternate sources of fuel that could be used. There was a doorway on every planet whether we made the decision to live there or not. Some planets contained terrible things from nightmares hosted upon them, and some galaxies were completely taken over previously by other forms of alien. Mankind was very careful to tiptoe through the universe as to not cause a galactic war. Our technology had become something the old Earth could only dream about. For as complicated as the world of humans became, it was simple. It was simpler than living on one planet, as long as we never stopped, we would never run out. The universe became more complex than any could have imagined, for some galaxies seemed almost like different dimensions of previous galaxies discovered, almost like the same existence with a different reality. With all of this new technology the world of humans discovered one of the most valuable things ever to have been discovered in their exploits, the creation of a time machine. The creation of the time machine came from another race whom the humans befriended known as the “Creolans”. The Creolans not only looked different from humans but thought differently from the humans. What were once tensions between the two races became a friendship after 200 years of living around each other in peace, and then the secret of time travel was passed from them to us, which would become the worst decision the Creolans had ever made.
Everything was going in the perfect direction for the human race, but one day… destruction came. The world of humans practically halted and ended. The doorways we had created spanning all over the universe had become our own worst enemy, as well as the enemy of others besides humans. A deadly air born virus susceptible to environments with and without oxygen was released upon the doorways, all of them. This event crumbled everything that we had, destroyed homes and life forms of all kinds, and killed over 99% of the humans in the universe; many did survive only to be slaughtered by others we shared the universe with, those who blamed us for releasing hell upon the discovered universe. Mankind had no idea what had happened, where it came from, who was responsible, or why it had happened. Many of the doorways created were torn down by both humans and aliens alike afterward. Now the enormous size of the universe was not simple anymore. The head of the humans were cut off while the body walked aimlessly in circles, all authority and law, and control had been lost. The humans became separated from each other, with no way to reach one another. Some had more than what they needed to survive while others had nothing and died. Some humans in different locations became enemies of the universe and were hunter and slaughtered by others. However some humans…were merely forgotten.
500 years went by. There universe continued to breathe a sigh for what once was, events that had happened were all but forgotten, as they were not understood even when they did happen. Technology that once was died out and became dirty or broken, humans were forced to start over from the beginning, yet with no history of who they are, where they came from, or what even brought them to where they are now. The world became confusing and nothing was simple. And this is where our story begins.
(The Idea of the main character is to chase him through his adventures to retrace his memory as he slowely gains it back to find out that he was a split personality person who implanted the virus upon the universe of men, then he sent himself in the future to finish the job. In the process of him going back so far in time he lost all of his memory of what has happened but retained basic knowledge, and as you proceed his mind piece by piece reveals to him the road he must follow while his insanity slowely starts to creep back inside of his mind It becomes a battle against the puppets who manipulate him, also a battle agaisnt himself as he regains his memorys and also his insanity, lso becomes a battle for his friends in relying on trusting him or killing him.)
As for anything else everyone will have to meet the characters, meet the end, and meet the adventure. If my publishing is succesful than this will be a very privelaged taste for everyone who witnessesd it.
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