Day 35: Darkest Shadows - Part 1.

Deep in the darkness something shifts. For the briefest moment life can be detected amongst the barren wasteland. As quickly as it appeared, it disappear back into the thickest shadows before flickering back into view further on.

Anyone who might be watching the scene would think it quite peculiar to witness something shifting in a out of the shadows. However, there was not a soul for miles to witness such an odd sight. And if the valley could speak it would reveal that this was, indeed, a very normal thing to witness.

See, the creature (we must call it a creature for it was neither human nor animal nor anything else commonly known to the world) is indeed shifting in and out of the shadows with each step it takes. As naturally as breathing, the darkness seeps into the pale skin that is not blanketed in heavy black fabrics. It sinks in and seems to consume the creature for a brief moment before disappearing from the surface. It was almost as if the body of the creature allowed the shadows to consume it before consuming them in return.

In this fashion the creature continued on its journey, disappearing here and reappearing there. It makes its way along the base of a rocky cliff that disappears into the heavy, grey clouds that hang down from above. The valley in which it walks has four distinct sides. One is the cliff that seems completely impenetrable and unscalable which slowly fads into the side with distant mountains. It was from that direction the creature seemed to be coming from. The side that parallels the cliff is endless valley which meets the sky on that distant horizon.

As to the side towards which it was walking, there can be heard a faint murmuring and the sound of continuous thunder. This is the ocean and towards this ocean the creature prowls.

The landscape, although beautiful in its own way, is of a bleak nature. Lacking in life, color, and all things that make the land come alive with movement. Grey tones of the rock mix with the grey tones of any brush that manages to creep up from the harsh ground. Dark clouds press down from above and suffocate the whole land, their heavy blanket stretching on for what seems like eternity. Because of this, tension can be felt pulsating through the air almost as if everything was waiting . . . waiting for something.

Moving from the mountains to the ocean, the creature was one of the only things that could be perceived as alive in the whole valley. The creature, and that is, the waves that continuously beat upon the shore and the wind that tears across this desolate place. These are the only three things of significance in this wasteland.

Upon closer observation of the creature, one would find it to be of a most interesting nature.

Little could be distinguished of its figure for the black fabrics that cling to the creatures body hid most everything from sight. However, it seems to appear almost human. Tall in stature yet frail in frame, the creature is most definitely female and could have been easily mistaken for the human species if it were not for two things. The way in which it, or as one may begin to say, she disappears within the shadows and her eyes.

Two piercing orbs that look out from lids rimmed with thick black lashes could hardly be described as anything besides otherworldly. The color of the iris is a grey that was wild as the ocean that rests against the valley. They flash with such a dark and forceful light that any who looked into them could feel the cutting edge of regret and fear sinking in their hearts. None could hold their gaze without feeling the darkness creeping into their own skin and consuming their soul.

And so this creature walks along. Eyes turned away from the sky, wind whipping her hair and clothing around with such hateful force, and a heart as bleak and as barren as the landscape around her.

To Be Continued . . .

To read the second part of this story, click here.

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt