Latest posts of: Blademasterbobo

He ran after the shadows, but they constantly evaded him – always dancing away from his grasp, sometimes just out of reach, sometimes so far away he could barely see them. This damn chain held him back from them! If only he could be freed from its tight hold around his chest. Each movement was made progressively more difficult by the heavy weight that constantly pulled him backwards. This battle between catching up with the shades and pulling his load caused him to lose hope sometimes, but never for very long. The shadows rarely waited for very long, which gave him little time for despondency.

He stopped to catch his breath. After spending a little while regaining his energy, he noticed that the shadows were becoming increasingly restless. With a heavy sigh, he shrugged his shoulders and began to push forward once more. The chain cut into his chest, and the weight continuously sapped his strength, but he ignored his discomfort and focused solely on his quarry. Most of the day passed him by in this manner: a small stop for breath, a determined shrug of the shoulders, and then the chase would continue until he was once again halted by fatigue.

As the sun began to set, they came upon a large stream. The now elongated shades quickly crossed the waters. Keeping his gaze firmly set on his prey, he hefted the weight up onto his shoulders and began to cross. As he entered the stream, the water pulled at his legs, threatening to topple him over. While the stream wasn't especially deep, he knew that if the water forced him to drop the weight, the combination of the strong currents and slippery metal would cause him to lose the small amount of ground he had gained on the shadows, or, even worse, force him to look away from them.

The shades were waiting just ahead of him, taunting him with their endless motion and seemingly boundless energy. Even in stillness they exuded a restless aura that sometimes deceived him into hoping they would soon tire. He knew they would not wait for him for very long.

Suddenly, his concentration was broken by a loud splash. Something slammed into his back, causing him to drop the weight as he flailed about, trying to keep from toppling over. He almost turned his head to look at what hit him, but quickly caught himself and shifted his energy into getting the weight back up out of the water before the shadows left him behind. He pulled at the chain, slowly lifting the weight back up out of the water. Another splashing sound came from the stream, this time from his right. With a final pull on the chain, he lifted the weight out of the water and steeled himself for the next blow. The object smashed into his side this time, but he managed to keep from dropping the weight again.

He struggled forward, coming up to the edge of the stream. A smaller splash came from behind. He felt a sharp pain as something stabbed into in the small of his back, almost causing him to yell out in pain. Shifting the weight to one arm, he reached towards his back and began to move forward again. Yanking what felt like a barbed, slimy hook from his back, he finally trudged out of the stream. He tossed the object behind him without bothering to look at it, dropped the weight onto the sand, and after stopping to breathe for a moment, once more began to chase after the now distant shadows.

For a long time it seemed as if the shadows might leave him behind, but they never quite escaped his sight. He would sometimes have to stop his pursuit in order to pull the weight out of some entangling roots or a soft patch of sand, but he never paused for more than a second. Any amount of time wasted would cause the shadows to leave him behind. The chains were beginning to cut into his skin, small wells of blood forming around each link as they bit into his flesh. Sometimes he would carry the weight, but it took nearly all of his energy to carry it for any longer than a few minutes at a time. Finally, the distance between him and the shades began to lessen.

Shortly after he began to catch up, the sun began to set. The shadows took on an increasingly evanescent quality as the darkness advanced, until they finally disappeared from his vision completely. He sat down, using the weight as a small stool. After a few moments of waiting, a rustling sound came from behind. He closed his eyes for the first time that day, and when he reopened them, a small amount of bread and water sat next to him. After eating, he found a clear patch of ground and slept.

A shrill scream awoke him to the advancing dawn. There she was, frantically beckoning for him to come towards her. He merely looked on, not bothering to waste any energy in an attempt to save her; rescue was something he had long ago found to be an impossible task. He stood up, stretching and preparing for the new day ahead of him. She cried out once more as the shadows grew up around her, eventually blocking her form from his vision. He waited, seemingly apathetic to her plight. Finally, the shadows engulfed her completely.

He began to move forward, breaking into a slightly faster pace as the shadows began to separate, causing the chains to dig into old scabs and callouses. The shades started to gain a more frantic movement, finally separating and shifting away from him. Time had brought forth a new day, but time was misleading: as he pushed forward, he could sometimes swear that this was the same moment he had always lived in – running forward, with the shadows just out of reach. Thisistoaltertablewidthsomethingsomething