Shadows of the Mind, Part 1

Shadow snapped awake, snarling and biting at some unknown enemy. It took a few moments for him to realize that he had been dreaming, but he still wasn't sure he was alone. In fact, in this odd, hard, shiny, tube like cave, he often felt like he wasn't alone. There were...things...spirits here, all around him, just out of sight. Entities, mournful ones; something tragic had befallen them.

Another growl could be heard disturbed his contemplations, echoing off the hard surfaces of the cave. Shadow crouched down into a pounce, preparing to "veil" himself when he realized that the sound was his stomach. Once aware of it, the hunger took precedence over everything else. He was safe, it had only been a dream; and if the spirits haunting this cave tried to threaten him, well, he had more than enough ways of dealing with them.

Shadow strolled toward the entrance to the cave, contemplating whether or not he should hunt. His hunger was strong, but the last time he had hunted, the rage had taken him and he wound up slaughtering an entire herd of stone goats, and most of their two legged keepers called Churls. The three that remained were wounded considerably, but Shadow had brought himself under control enough to "veil" himself and flee. Luckily for him, they had left a few of the carcasses and no traps for him.

Shadow stopped just outside of his cave to survey the local terrain and check for dangers, although it was a futile effort. He hadn't seen a living creature within a mile of his den in months. His last hunt had taken him nearly half a day to get to. He gazed up at the sky. Besides the few, extremely large, scavenger birds that were floating around the clouds, there was nothing around. The sky in this world had a constant red-orange tint, usually unbearable hot and dry, with the exception of the violent storms that often left behind floods. The nights, however, were dark, quiet, and cold. Dark was something Shadow enjoyed. The land around his den was relatively flat, with a few large hills, like the one his cave was in. There was one, incredible pointed structure, made of the shiny, hard material, and stone, that emerged at an angle from the ground. It looked to be a temple of some kind, but Shadow couldn't tell.

Shadow began his descent. As soon as his paw hit the dusty earth, a feeling, or perhaps better defined as an emotion, washed over his dark form. Death. The earth was dead, almost devoid of life. But these days, death was his business. He stopped to take a scent from the air. More stone goats, perhaps five or six miles to his east. He took a few moments to stretch, and then turned his back toward the setting sun, and began to walk.

An hour or so later, Shadow found himself stalking a small herd of stone goats. He had veiled himself to their senses, and to anything else for that matter. This herd didn't look like they had a keeper, but one could be hiding in one of the numerous, rocky outcroppings that dotted this plain. He was creeping slowly towards a male at the edge of the herd. Shadow was going to try a different tactic on this kill. His scorpion-like tail curled up, and his stinger began to secrete a small amount of poison, just enough to kill the beast. He was close enough to feel the beasts breath. He took a slow, deep breath. Then he struck. The stinger caught the beast just below the jaw, in its thick throat. It didn't take long for his paralyzing venom to take effect, the beast falling to its knees and then toppling over on its side. Its fall was slow enough not to startle the herd, and most had moved on, to find more grazing. Shadow marveled at these beasts for a moment, they seemed to never sleep.

Shadow was just beginning to the drag his kill behind an outcrop, when an orange blue light flashed in the middle of the herd, causing them to stampede. Shadow instantly veiled himself, and began searching for cover. It didn't take long for the herd to vanish into the night, leaving only the light. Shadow approached it slowly, checking the area around it for anything that might threaten him. The light seemed familiar to him somehow. The memories flooded back into his mind. He was at home, in Ai, looking for something, someone..everything else was hazy. But this light, it was responsible for his presence here. Perhaps it could...

"Powers are converging, dark child of Ai.." a voice called from the light. Shadow froze. He wanted to run, but something stronger, curiosity perhaps, kept him from doing so. "Your veil does not hide you from my gaze, there are few powers that could..." Shadow found himself lowering his veil, but he did not relax his cautious stance. This thing might have an answer, a way to take him back home. It knew where he was from, perhaps it had the power to restore him to Ai. Perhaps it was the power that had taken him. "I know your true name, and I know that you have lost it, as well as your home and your memories. I can restore these to you."

"At what price?" Shadow found himself growling out. "What would I have to do?" Anything, anything to get him home, to have his name back, to remove this rage, anything that would take him away from this.