After closing my eyes, the torrent of nightmares flooded my very dreams once again. Within me was the very same monster I despised. Looming over me, taunting me to become him once again. It burned deep inside my psyche. As the hours passed, night terrors froze my body. Still, warm hands tried to calm me, but they did not reach the very depths of my plight.
"...Wake up..." Echoing in the depths of my head was Celia. Her voice was soft and caring. It was a guide to bring me out of the darkness. "You have to wake up..." Again, her voice reached deeper. My breathing grew heavy, and I strained to open my eyes. Just enough to see the morning dew of the sun brightening the sky. Celia's soft face looked gentle and warm.
"Celia?" I spoke softly. My hands clutched on her arm. Realizing my position, I quickly sprang to my feet and let out a deep sigh. Celia lets out a sigh of relief before approaching.
"Are you feeling alright?" She reaches out and gently rubs my shoulder. I place my hand over her own.
"I'll be fine once we wrap this up... I'd rather not think about last night for now." A hint of regret and guilt filters through my lips.
"I got the camp more or less ready to be moved; the hunting location should only be a few hours from here. I'll let you know when we are in the area." Lukia tosses her bow around her shoulder. The visible signs of last night's encounter have shaken up both of the girls and the potential fate they could have endured. There is a sign of hesitation before a look of determination overwrites the feeling.
"Good, let's get the job done." My hands twitch and shake briefly as I adjust my sheath and brush my sword. Setting back out into the open air of the woods and back onto the path, watching for any threats.
The travel went undisturbed, and we approached the known location of the beast. Lukia took point and was our guide through the woods. The cold air of the season brushed across each of our faces. A hint of decay caused my stomach to turn slightly as Lukia raised her hand to halt our movements.
"It must have recently killed its prey. The carcass should help us get any clues on the creature." Confident in her skills, Lukia slowly follows the scent.
"Remind me, these creatures were once the loyal beasts for the Demon King and his Lords?" I turn to Celia.
"Correct. They have many names, names that races would brand them. The most common name among Humans was Displacer Beasts."
"And what did Demons call them?"
"The beasts are rare; the only ones we saw were personal pets or beasts of war for our Lords and King. They had actual names given by their owners. But Demons had accurately named them Shadow Hunters."
"Shadow Hunters?"
"Mhm, the beasts were expert hunters like Lukia had claimed from her report. They stalk your shadows, prey upon them, blend with them until they become your shadow."
"Meaning?"
"They would be close to you as your shadow before you could realize where they were. It would be already too late. Their size doesn't seem to affect their stealth capabilities whatsoever. They can project their fur and bodies to blend perfectly into the environment; you will not notice them unless they move. And if they are spotted, they will quickly use the magic within their bodies to project an illusion of themselves to distract and confuse prey to escape. Only to once again blend in to kill their target. They are very intelligent but also straightforward creatures. They rely heavily on their stealth to kill. If they are caught in the open with no means to escape, they will suffer fatal wounds only to pounce and kill one last time before they suffer from the wound and die. This young pup should still be highly dangerous. Like I said, just keep an eye on your shadow; if not, hope you can survive its assault."
"Well, now I am really anxious about this even more," I respond with a gesture.
"Would you two be quiet? If I didn't know any better, the creature would have noticed and tracked us without hesitation. We need to find its tracks and see where-" Lukia stutters in her speech, eyes wide; her reaction strikes fear deep inside my heart.
Then I feel it, a cold chill through my entire body as death looms over me. A soft switch in the air alerts me of the danger directly above me; the piercing eyes of a solid black creature the size of a bear blend perfectly in the trees. Just a few feet above my head, the glimmer of its skin just barely moving catches my eye. The Shadow Hunter, still young, realizes it must act quickly. I press my hand on my blade and ready myself to strike.
"Don't move!" Lukia reaches out, seeing my hand touch my blade. The beast reacts to both my alertness and her outburst and leaps.
A cold sweat drips from my forehead as I jerk my body to the side, barely scraping by the predator's jaws. I land on my side and quickly kick up to my feet. Only to see the large creature already dipped past both Celia and me and once again hide itself in the wilderness. Knowing that it missed its chance to strike, it will be more cleaver in its approach.
"Caleb! Are you alright!" Celia approaches me, only looking at me. There is a deep feeling of cold again in my chest as she approaches.
"Celia!" Lukia acts first; I see it next. The Shadow Hunter blends inside her shadow, and its piercing yellow eyes flash momentarily as a large tendril-like appendage sprouts from its back, spikes protruding from it.
In a blur, the tendril moves like a viper striking, the quickness almost instant strikes toward Celia. It rips past her shoulder, blood shooting from the wound; she gasps and quickly conjures a ball of flames within her hand and tosses it toward the beast. It ducks and leaps to the side. Lukia nocks an arrow and fires. The arrow's tip grazes the creature, and the purple blood stains the ground briefly before it uses another tendril-like appendage to create another image of itself next to me.
"Eyes open! It's moving!" I shout, but to my own vain, I fall for its illusion as the image next to me stays still and doesn't move. My eyes dart back and forth, the focus shifting between both spots proves to be all fake.
I draw my sword and turn around to strike at my shadow. My instincts and fight for survival point me to it. I hold my breath as my blade is deflected by the vicious beast standing just a few feet in front of me. The Shadow Hunter extends its tendril outward; I react with my hand before me, focusing on my artifact. Summoning the magic within my body to produce a small bubble before me just in time to deflect the attack. Grabbing the dagger from my boot, I slip it between my fingers and throw it directly at the creature. It barely pierces its hide before falling to the ground. More purple hue blood splats across the ground. Its minor injuries make it more difficult to use its blending ability. Realizing it is outmatched, the creature uses both tendrils to kick up dirt and rocks as a smoke screen and produce a mirror image of itself to divert our attention as it runs away.
"Strike at your shadows now!" Lukia demands. We all react and attack our shadows. Each of our attacks hit the ground. A look of stress fills our faces as we clearly underestimated this creature. For such a young age, this beast has been hunting and living on prey every waking hour and has only grown to a much larger state because of it. I turn my head toward my companions, who all share the same thoughts: this monster will kill us...