The Soldier And The Shadow

i may make this into a full book. let me know what you think.

Jake breathed hard, massaging the stitch that had infested itself in his side. He looked around for a sign of his pursuer, nothing. His breath caught in his throat as a plastic bag floated down the street. Jake was standing in the middle of what used to be New York city. But now it was just an empty shell of the former glorious city. Ever since the Forgetting, nothing was the same. Now the city was fought over by two rival factions: the Dark Days and the Shining Nights. Jake was part of the Shining Nights; he was a low ranking soldier but was very gifted in the magic they dealt with and was looking at a fast promotion to the Inner Ring of Knights.

The person who was chasing him was a very high ranking member of the Dark Days, they might even be part of the group known as The Shadow Of The Sun. This group was a group incorporated within the Dark Days and included only the best of the best. If this person was a Shadow, as the members were known as, Jake was in a very bad position. He only thought this because of the high skill level of magic this person was using. He had only seen it once before outside of training, and that was when the leader of the Shadows personally came and murdered his master, and his dad, and his best friend Clay was never seen again after that day, whether he was dead or not, Jake knew not, but it was because of that fateful day that Jake became such a dedicated member of the Shining Nights.

At that moment, a fireball flew past his face, missing his nose by mere centimeters. He looked in the direction from which it had originated and saw the black-clad figure that had been chasing him. He was standing on top of a rusted out city bus and was completely shroud in shadow, despite the noon sunlight pouring in through the ruined skyscrapers. Jake stumbled as he ran to seek cover behind a run down BMW. When Jake risked a peek, his jaw dropped. This mysterious figure had just Summoned no less than twenty shadow minnions. A shadow minnion is a creature that is about two feet tall with the figure of a human, only their backs are bent as if from rhumatism and ther hands included seven very sharp talons. Their fiery red eyes were the only thing that shone light from these creatures made from pure darkness. The darkness that was their heads waved fiercilly as in made of fire.

These minnions were one of the many creatures that an accomplished shadow caster could summon fro the Other Place. The Other Place is a world of magic. It was from this world that the Forgetting came from. The Forgetting caused anyone that wasn't pure of heart, or pure evil dissapear. Where they went, no one knows. Ever since the Forgetting, the Books of Teaching started appearing to those who were Able...

Just then, a brilliant idea came to Jake. He stood up and looked out at the figure. He sudenly started waving is arms in a wild but precise manner, casting a complicated spell. The shrouded figure quickly threw the most powerful fireball he could conjure at Jake. Then, severalthings happened all at once. The fireball rebounded, multiplied, and intensified; These projectiles than incinerated the shadow minnions; Jake appeared in midair right in front of the shrouded figure and delivered a hard roundhouse kick to the head, sending the figure spinning throught the air to smash against a building and fall to the ground, unconcious.

Jake had made a Shining Decoy, a duplicate of himself that was powered by an enchantment that would destroy the shadow minnions; he than proceeded in casting the spell that would allow him to walk te space between himself an the figure instantaneously. He made hsi Shining Decoy snd up and start an incantation that would have cured the hiccups. Mistaken for a threat, the figure attacked, setting off the trap and allowing Jake the distraction needed to cast his spell. It was a trap tht worked beautifully.

He hopped down from the bus and walked over to the weakly stirring figure, pulling a shining dager soundlessly from its sheath at his side.

"Lets see who is under the shadow" he said. He than began an enchantment that would remove the shadow veil shrouded around the figure in a magical gust of wind. He cast the magic, making the shadow veil dissapear as if a cloud on the wind. The figure stirred and his face became visible. Jake stood rooted to the spot, shocked with disbelief. No, it couldn't be. Jake dropped hs dagger and took a step backwards. And then he seemed to find his voice.

"...Clay?"

Reviews

[Alexander Fox]

Clever names of the factions, clever idea for representation of our current world, and very pointed message in the ending. You keep writing stories such as this, and you may not need to finish school!

[SamBug]

This was very exciting. I definately enjoyed it and it was amazing!

[Beatrice Mars]

This is Intriguing. it's interesting and fast.I liked the names of the two groups, with the contraditions of their names.