XIII Chronicles of the Midnight Shadow

[Valentine]

[NOTE: The chapters are a bit rushed, but I'm doing my best to even the ones I am writing right now out so that they aren't as quick. Also, chapter one has two character deaths, so if you are not sure you want to read, then please go no further.]

There exists not one universe, but many. We humans, on this planet called “Earth,” live in the Malex Universe, at present time. But there exists a place where time and space mean nothing, where every single universe and every single moment in time collides into one; the Edge of the Universe. No one can reach it, for it is out of the reach of all except for the ones that lived there: the Ancients.

The Edge of the Universe is in the form of a island, with space being the ocean surrounding it. The Ocean, which acts as a giant Fountain of Youth, played an important role in the lives of the Ancients, which had different purposes and different cultures between each universe. For example, in this universe, the Ancients were Warlords, and are going through this universe as we speak, looking for planets to destroy. In the Hades Universe, the Ancients lived on that universe’s only planet, and have become man-eating creatures. In the Alpha Universe, the Ancients live at the Edge of the Universe and were recently rare, due to only two Ancients being alive. Now, however, the Ancients in the Alpha Universe have grown once again.

In the Alpha Universe, the Ancients lived in the very center of the island, in a shining Utopia made of gold and silver. It was Belock, the City of the Ancients. In the center of Belock stood The Castle, where the royal family lived. According to legend, a single Ancient appeared in every universe, and then developed from then on. In the Alpha Universe, for example, the Ancient that appeared was The Wise One; he was called this for he built Belock with his bare hands, and then made himself a bride from the dirt of the island, and became the ruler of the culture that soon became a reality. As each son or daughter of the King and Queen became of age, whichever child was the eldest of the offspring, they would have one year to find a mate, and then they would take the thrown as the new rulers. That’s the way it was, and that is the way it would always be, for three trillion years. During then, the Ancients slowly created new planets and new galaxies to fill up that universe, and then created all of the species of the Alpha Universe to take up those planets. It wasn’t until three trillion years after The Wise One appeared that the Ancients started making new species based off of their own DNA, and the project was lead by the youngest son of the King and Queen.

When an Ancient is born, the Ancient is mortal. But there was a solution to this problem: The Ocean. Any Ancient offspring that bathed in that ocean would become immortal, and could only be killed by themselves or another Ancient. Now you are probably asking how billions of Ancients could fit in a single city. Considering space and time didn’t matter at the Edge of the Universe, they could all fit in Belock. Anyway, at the age of five, every single child would be taken from their parents and sent to The Academy, where every Ancient offspring would be trained in both mental power and combat skills, incase the need for self-defense arrived. Then, after two years of training, the offspring would be allowed to pick their own personal name, and then would be sent back to their homes.

Shadow smiled and waved to people who greeted him as he walked down the street. This was common for him, considering he was the King and Queen’s youngest child. His siblings, Shelke and Zeus, were back at the castle with his parents. He didn’t mind his siblings one bit, especially Zeus, who was to take the thrown in a little less than a year. Zeus had always teased Shadow when he was younger and usually bragged about being the future king, but Shadow didn’t even want the thrown, nor did his sister Shelke. Ah, Shelke; she was the sweetest young girl you could ever meet, with his long red hair and golden eyes. Zeus, with spiky black hair, golden eyes, and his tall body, was always looking after Shelke and Shadow. Not that Shadow blamed him anyway.

It was a particularly sunny day in Belock. Shadow had decided to take a small walk just to get fresh air, his silver hair blowing a bit in the breeze. He was tall for his age, standing over most of the adults he passed by. His golden eyes were closed as he walked and enjoyed the slight breeze. He had been feeling a strange feeling in his gut all day, and he thought the fresh air was all he needed. But he was about to find out that it wasn’t a stomach-ache or anything of the likes.

Then, everything went silent. The sky turned black, and the city’s lights automatically turned on. Everyone looked around, wondering what was happening. Most of them looked at Shadow, as if thinking he might have an answer to what was going on. In reality, Shadow didn’t even know what was happening, and he was looking around as well.

The ground shook and fire lit up the sky; there was an explosion from somewhere near by. Every screamed, and they screamed even more when suddenly, people were being attacked by… themselves? Shadow watched as people ran from others with razor teeth, and he watched as the ones that were animalistic jumped at the normal people and ate them like cannibals. Shadow shuddered, and he jumped into the air, landing on a rooftop and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading for the castle.

Shadow didn’t like what he saw, not one bit; as he entered the throne room, he saw three bodies on the ground, which sent tears down his eyes, for the bodies were of the King, the Queen, and Shelke, lying on the ground. He even watched in terror as the bodies suddenly stood up, and they lunged at him with hunger-filled eyes and razor teeth. A sword appeared in his hand, and he sliced through them as easily as a bread goes through butter. Tears falling as he put the sword away afterwards.

He looked, and noticed that the hidden passage behind the throne was open, meaning that someone had gone through to the one place that was more forbidden than any other: the Chamber, holding The Machine. The Machine had been built as part of a side project that Shadow had been working on to open a portal to anywhere in space and time, even to other universes. The moment Shadow saw the open door, he ran through.

He heard a small humming by the time he got to the Chamber, and what he saw angered him. Standing there, in front of The Machine’s control panel, was Zeus. Behind him were the eight magnetic rings that created the wormhole, spinning as they dialed out the Universal Address, wherever Zeus had chosen. And by the looks of it, the rings were almost done dialing up the location.

Zeus looked up and smiled at Shadow, who glared. “And so my little brother comes to avenge the deaths of our people. Not that it was at all a total loss; just look around.”

Slowly, Shadow looked at the creatures that were in the room with Zeus. All of them were like the others, except the faces he saw on them confused him. And then it made sense when he saw that one of the creatures looked just like him. “You took them from the Hades Universe.”

Zeus grinned. “Naturally, yes. I went to that universe, gathered them, and then came back here and hid them in the Chamber for three months.”

The sheaths of two swords appeared on Shadow’s back. “Why did you kill them?”

Zeus shrugged, looking at the control panel. “Do you know what it’s like to be the most hated person in this city? I’ve heard everyone muttering things behind my back. You were always liked because of that stupid prophecy. I was hated because of it. So now, I’m going to go back to warn everyone about the creatures in the Chamber, and then I will be the hero. And you…” He looked up. “You know what will happen. Treason is punishable by death, after all.”

Shadow drew one of his swords. “I’m not going to let that happen.” As the rings stopped spinning and moved into their stand-by position, a small black hole appeared: the wormhole. Zeus drew his own sword. “That’s a shame then. I have thirty seconds before this wormhole closes, so I guess I can kill you before then.” As he lunged forward, Shadow did the same.

They jumped off of the Chamber walls, clashing here and there with sparks flying off of their swords. As they did, the clock on the control panel slowly counted down, making the fight tenser for both of them. As they landed on the ground, Zeus ran for the wormhole, intending to make it through before it closed. Ten seconds; Shadow threw his sword at Zeus, and Zeus threw his sword at Shadow. Eight seconds; both of them were stabbed, and fell to the floor, dieing. Five seconds; Zeus muttered something under his breath, as did Shadow. The timer beeped as it reached zero, and then the wormhole disappeared. The two bodies lied there, and did for billions of years. Eventually, the cannibalistic versions of the Ancients from the Hades Universe killed themselves for food, leaving Belock to stay uninhabited.

[Yuliya]

Wow, that was really good. The only thing I'd really suggest would be to make things a bit clearer in the last paragraph, it was a bit confusing and I had to read it a couple of times. Other than that, it was great!

[Valentine]

For thirteen years, the planet Galethor in the Alpha Universe had been home to the most violent war in its history. The home was home mostly to half-dragons, humans, and dragons. That all changed the day the NecroSoldiers appeared, lead by their self-proclaimed General Stalker. His hatred towards all beings of the world fueled the war, and now, after thirteen years, he planned to finish it by killing off the last surviving dragon clan, DarkDreamDestiny, named so by its creator, a woman by the name of Sairia. She was the only one to make sure there was a perfect balance in light and dark through the land of the dragon clan, herself ruling the Alcanian Plains while her good friend, Keilantra, controlled the Midnight Shadowlands. The only thing dividing these two lands was a strip of great mountains.

Every year, on August 1st, there was a comet that passed by Galethore. It had been doing that for the last fifty years, along with a second comment, however, thirteen years ago, the second comment disappeared, and then the NecroSoldiers appeared.

There was a girl sitting in a tree around midnight that night, looking towards the sky at the comet, which shone its pale blue light on the small world. She had enough light already, for the tree stood next to a small lake with glowing blue water and a waterfall. This was the only place she could get away from the world and the war, the one place only she knew about. She preferred to keep it secret, for good reasons. When she was younger, she came to this spot and hid just to get her father, Rath, angry. It was close to her home anyway; she lived in the Celestial Kingdom, a kingdom that for the past thirteen years had been aiding General Stalker in his war against all of the dragon clans. But when her father died, she took control and started to aid the last dragon clan, and she wasn’t going to change that anytime soon.

She noticed something, however: it was either her imagination or the comet was getting bigger… and bigger… and bigger. She jumped out of the tree and looked at the sky, wondering what was happening. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she realized what was happening, and she jumped to the side, just being missed by the comet, which was erupted in blue flames as it is. It collided into the small lake and the flames died out, but she didn’t expect to see a boy’s body in the water instead of a rock.

The girl’s instincts kicked in almost instantly as she jumped into the lake water and swam as fast as she could, grabbing the boy as he sank and bringing him to shore. She laid him on the ground, taking a close look at him. Oddly, he wasn’t burnt, nor were his clothes, which she had never seen any like them before. That didn’t surprise her, though; after all, he was apparently the comment the entire time. His skin was pale and smooth, while his face definitely made him out to be a teenager by the looks of it.

She brushed a wet strand of silver hair from the boy’s face, and listened closely. Good, he was breathing, meaning he was alive somehow. She looked down at herself and blushed, seeing her clothes completely wet, but she knew that they’d dry off fairly quickly. She waited by the boy’s side all night, waiting for him to wake up.

The first thing Shadow heard as he woke up was a voice, belonging to a girl. “Good, you’re alive. For a moment, I was worried.” He opened his eyes; bad idea, since he hadn’t used them for the last three billion years. As he waited for his eyes to adjust, he heard someone gasp. And as his eyes got adjusted to the light surrounding him, he had trouble taking in what he saw. Kneeling over him was a girl, no older than him when it came to his body’s age, which was around seventeen. She was quite beautiful; she had long silver hair, icy blue eyes, slightly tanned skin, and high cheek bones to match her rosy cheeks.

As Shadow tried to sit up, he fell to the ground. His body was still week from the immense sleep it was in, and he waited for it to gain strength again. He looked around, and then at the girl still hovering above him. “Where am I?”

She sighed. “You’re one mile from the Celestial Kingdom, that’s where.”

“What do you mean, Celestial Kingdom?” And then a different idea came to mind. “What is your type?”

“Huh?” the girl asked, giving him a strange look.

“What is your species?”

“Half-dragon.”

“Then I’m on Galethore,” he muttered. “The only place we let half-dragons on. First half-dragon to go on a different planet couldn’t adapt well enough.”

The girl still gave him a strange look. “Did you hit your head or something?”

Shadow finally sat up. “What do you mean? Surely you know who I am.”

The girl was suddenly close to him, observing him up close. Shadow didn’t breathe, not liking how close she was to him. “Nope, I’ve never seen you in my life.”

Shadow thought a moment. “What year is it?”

“Does it matter?” the girl asked back. “Even if someone from this place knew you, we wouldn’t know about it. Stalker destroyed all records of the past.”

“What is his race?”

“NecroSoldier. He’s the leader.”

Shadow gave the girl a puzzled look. “NecroSoldiers? There’s no such thing. I never made them.”

Now the girl was really confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“How many years has this place been around? What are they telling you?”

“Three billion years.”

Shadow blinked. “Three billion years?! That means that I’ve been floating in space for three billion years!”

Then the girl realized something. “How do you have golden eyes? No one around here has them.”

He hesitated. “What do you know about the Ancients?”

Now the girl blinked, and she smiled, jumping up and down. “I can’t believe it! They’ve finally sent one!”

Shadow stood up slowly, giving her a puzzling look.

The girl stopped. “There’s always been a legend about the first people ever to appear on this planet. Stalker destroyed all records except one which we got our hands on, which talks about a race called the Ancients that can never be killed. The Ancients must have sent you to rescue us!”

Shadow went silent, and the girl blinked. “What?”

Shadow sighed. “The Ancients never sent me. My name is Shadow… and I’m the last Ancient alive.”

Now the girl blinked, and she sunk to the ground. Shadow kneeled down, looking at her. “I’ll help out around here until I figure out how I’m still alive, ok?”

The girl looked at him, and then finally nodded. “My name’s Angel, by the way.” Fitting name, Shadow thought to himself.

“Come on, I know this world like the back of my hand.” The two of them stood up and walked off, heading for the last dragon clan’s home.

[Peregrine]

Hmm, this one is sort of boring when it starts out. Its kind of interesting, but block after block of history is kind of over whelming to the brain, and when the action finally does start, it happens way too quickly. Its seems as though Shadow as no time to react as his parents and sisters are killed, and his fight with Zeus is also a little fast.

However, after the three billion years are up, the story gets loads more interesting. I really enjoy the style you've written it in and I am eagerly awaiting more. You did an excellent job.

[Yuliya]

I really like this all, but there's one spelling error that I think you made that's been bugging me. I think you mean comet instead of comment.

[Valentine]

admin said:

I really like this all, but there's one spelling error that I think you made that's been bugging me. I think you mean comet instead of comment.

Snap, I thought I fixed that... I'll change it.

As for Blue Falcon, these are the early drafts, I'm obviusly going to change them all in the future when I get done writing all of them.

[Valentine]

[NOTE: There's a quote in this chapter that states, "I, knowing the entire story all too well, think that his slaves knew this better than anyone." Please note that it is not talking about myself, it is talking about the narrator, who's identity will be revealed at the end of the book. Also, this chapter seemed a bit rushed as well, but it introduces yet another important character, so be happy.]

The home to the last dragon clan, DarkDreamDestiny, was surrounded completely by a giant wall that looked brand new. It was impossible to tell how tall the wall actually was, but there was a giant gate on one side of the wall that lead into the Alcanian Plains with the Plains’ main town Ralmob not far past the gates. A few miles past them, however, was the capital city for the entire dragon clan, Dragoon City.

Shadow felt strange by the time he and Angel made it to the gate. He felt like he knew this place, or at least something that was close by. Not just the planet itself, but something else. He looked behind him at the trail he and Angel were on but saw nothing, until…

“Look out!” he yelled, spinning around with a sword instantly in his hands. His shadow and Angel’s shadow had come together to form a large shadow, which raised out of the ground to form a figure in black armor and a black cape, with a helmet shaped like an eagle head covering the man’s face. As Angel saw who it was, she cursed lightly. “It’s Stalker,” she muttered, drawing her own sword.

Though General Stalker wasn’t looking at Angel; he was looking at Shadow, with eyes as black as coal and with a glare that would bring death to any mortal. “If you are here, then this war shall end quickly.” And with that, he was suddenly a shadow in the ground again, quickly slithering off into the light fog that surrounded Shadow and Angel.

The two looked at each other, and shrugged, continuing on to the gate. It took about thirty minutes, but when they got there, they were warmly welcomed by the gate keeper Twilight Shade and his younger sister, Tai.

The Alcanian Plains were, to a normal human from this universe at least, absolutely beautiful. Everywhere, there were large valleys and small lakes, with the planet’s warm sun shining on them. In the distance from the gate, Shadow and Angel could easily see Ralmob, and started their long walk. It didn’t take that long, which was odd considering the distance. But it made their journey easier.

If only it were that easy.

They had to walk completely past Ralmob and take three hours out of their time to walk to the capital, Dragoon City, where they would find Sairia. The only reason Shadow was let into the city was because Angel was with him, which was a good thing. Sairia was pleased to see Angel, however, she was curious as to who Shadow truly was.

“I don’t trust him,” she muttered to her mate, Belziac, who was standing next to her. She had long blonde hair, which made it hard for Shadow to hold back a laugh for… good reasons. “The last time a comet fell out of the sky, we got General Stalker and his NecroSoldiers. Why should we trust him?” It wasn’t until Belziac and Angel whispered something to her that she blinked. “Whaaaaaat?!”

“You heard me,” Angel said. “He’s the last. And that’s all we need.”

“Technically, no,” Shadow said finally. “I have to return to my city to gather my weapons. I’m no good without them. That, and I noticed that Stalker could easily get into the Midnight Shadowlands if he wanted to, see as he can become a shadow himself.” He obviously knew the geography of Galethore well.

“Talk to Kei about that,” Sairia said. “She’s the one that controls that part of this land. She’s just too stubborn to do anything about that problem; she wants to kill Stalker all on her own.”

“May I ask why?”

“Stalker captured her when she was a child and performed experiments on her to make her a weapon,” Angel said, looking at the silver haired boy. “Just like my father performed experiments on me.” She pushed her shirt’s brim down just enough to reveal a scar on her shoulder to prove it.

“That explains it then,” he muttered.

--

General Stalker, the most evil, ruthless, heartless being of the entire universe, was easy to displease. I, knowing the entire story all too well, think that his slaves knew this better than anyone.

The underground base for the general and his NecroSoldiers was found under the crater where the first comet fell from the sky, the base quickly gaining nicknames from the slaves. Such nicknames included “the Underworld” and “Hell Itself,” though there were quite a few that earned their creators promotions because they made the general laugh.

The base was mostly made up of the general’s sweat-shops, where slaves were forced to work and create the NecroSoldiers’ weapons, vehicles, armor, and anything else that was needed. The slaves came from all around; anyone that the NecroSoldiers didn’t kill were taken hostage and forced to work. Any slaves that got out of line were given the “pleasure” of being personally killed by General Stalker himself, who showed no sign of not enjoying the torture he inflicted on his victims. Below, deeper beneath the planet’s crust, were the immense tunnels that served as homes for the NecroSoldiers and any “special” hostages. It had been rumored that one hostage in particular had spent ten years in those tunnels without being fed and still lived to this day, though no one ever dared to ask the general if this was true. Finally, at the very bottom of the base was the general’s private home, and it was only there that the general took off his eagle-head helmet.

And as I said, the slaves knew better than anyone else that the general was in a bad mood today. The moment he came to the sweat-shops, he started beating slaves left and right with a whip.

“Johnson!” the general called out, and at once a man in a black uniform with short-cut hazel hair appeared around a corner. “Grab the prisoner in cell thirteen and bring him to my quarters as once.”

“Yes sir,” Johnson said, saluting like a soldier and then walking away to perform the general’s orders.

Cell thirteen hadn’t been opened up in ten years, not since the general put someone in there. At this rate, Johnson believed the prisoner to be dead, since no one had dared to go and feed him. It was well known that the general had specifically said that the prisoner in THAT cell was not to be messed with. But before Johnson could open the door, the door slammed down and the prisoner walked out, his hair past his shoulders and his face covered by a beard and mustache that stretched below his shoulders as well.

“I’ll show myself the way,” he said, as if he heard every word General Stalker had said upon entering the base.

The man from Prison Cell Thirteen hadn’t expected the General’s quarters to be bright. Everywhere you looked, there were white marble walls, a marble ceiling, and floor. It seemed unlikely at first that a creature as dangerous as General Stalker lived in such a bright area. But it wasn’t the prisoner’s right to question it, so he waited.

Although the general never appeared, he called out from another room, “I have a job for you.”

The man couldn’t hold back a hard laugh. His voice was rugged as he spoke, “The general comes to a man like me asking for help? I’ve seen everything now.” A silver eye and a gold eye looked around the room for the source of the voice.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Kira. I can kill you as easily as you can kill me, but we all know that you wouldn’t dare touch me.” The voice of Stalker brought a chill to the room.

Kira shrugged. “Who’s the target?”

“A man you know all too well.”

“How should I know who you’re talking about? I’ve been in a prison for ten years, remember?”

“Does the name Shadow strike you as familiar?”

“Hold up. You know I don’t attack Ancients.” Kira glared at the room. “It’s bad for business.”

A cold laugh came. “Now there’s a joke! ‘It’s bad for business,’” the general said in a mocking tone. “You don’t have a choice.”

Kira suddenly spun around, a knife suddenly in his hands with the blade pointed at the neck of a man in white with his face covered by darkness. He didn’t move, but after a few minutes, Kira finally relaxed.

“You might want to get a hair-cut and a shave first though.” The general laughed a bit, before grabbing Kira and throwing him out of his quarters and into the hands of two guards. “Get him ready!” General Stalker barked as the two guards carried Kira away.

--

Shadow wasn’t ready at all for the blast that hit him. He and Angel had walked into Keilantra’s castle, and the moment they entered, a blast of darkness hit Shadow in the head and sent him flying backwards, his head hitting a wall. He fell to the ground, and then all he saw was darkness.