Shadow Slave

The shadow’s words seemed to work - to a degree, at least, because the girl eventually stopped trembling. She still seemed frightened, trying to stay as motionless as possible... but a child was a child.

Soon enough, she grew bored and restless. Looking around with an expression of curiosity - a senseless gesture, since she could not see anything in the darkness, the girl spoke in a brighter tone.

”My name is Tatal. I’m this many years old.” She raised a hand, proudly showing the darkness her five tiny fingers.

The shadow did not respond. What did it care what this human child was called, let alone how old she was?

The girl did not seem to understand its reluctance to engage in a conversation, though, and asked after growing uncomfortable with the silence.

”What is your name, Dark One?”

The shadow frowned.

It did not care what it was called, either. But since the girl asked, the shadow tried to remember.

Its names were as countless as its past lives, the sea of them vast and meaningless. Eventually, its cold voice resounded from the darkness once more:

”I’ve been called by countless names in the past, in countless places. None of them have any meaning anymore, so... you can simply call me Shadow.”

The girl turned her head this way, then another, as if trying to determine where the shadow’s voice was coming from. Her attempts were futile, though, since it came from all directions.

She scrunched her face in confusion, then asked tentatively:

”Are you... are you hiding somewhere in the darkness, Shadow?”

The shadow was amused.

”No”

It paused, then added a helpful explanation.

”I am the darkness.”

The girl trembled again.

She remained silent for a long while, then suddenly asked in a curious tone:

”Shadow God’s name is Shadow. Aren’t you afraid that he will get angry at you for stealing his name?”

Hearing the question, the shadow felt something stir in the depths of its soul. It was an old, vague memory - a memory of a life it had lived once, a long time ago. Perhaps the very first it had been forced to endure in this cruel, never-ending nightmare.

The shadow remembered a chilling cold, the rattling of chains, and the pain of shackles biting into the tattered skin of its wrists. Step, step, another step... someone had asked something similar of it back then, all those many years ago - in the distant future.

What had it responded with?

The shadow stirred and spoke, its voice distant:

”Why should I be afraid of a half-forgotten, weakling god?”

Shadow God was dead, anyway.

All of them were, even if they were alive and well, terrifying the shadow with the unfathomable magnitude of their existence.

’Nothing makes sense...’

Feeling unpleasant, the shadow turned its thoughts away from the contradictory nature of its strange existence.

The girl seemed very impressed by its absent-minded statement.

”Because gods are scary!”

The shadow smiled in the darkness.

Of course, they were. There was nothing more terrifying than the gods, but it did not fear Shadow God’s anger. If the God of Peace were to get angry over something, it wouldn’t be something as trifling as the shadow using his name. The shadow was a far greater being than the tribesmen, but to one of the gods, its existence must have seemed just as fleeting and insignificant as theirs were to it.

The little girl, however, did not understand it. How could she? Even the shadow could not fathom the gods, so a mundane child - and the old man who had pushed her into the cave, as well, would not even understand what it was they were failing to imagine.

So, the tribesmen comprehended the gods in the only way they could muster, by projecting their own small and primitive way of existing on them. An unfathomable being was indescribably terrifying, but a being that was exactly like them, just far more powerful, was merely frightening.

Such a being could be reasoned with, after all, as far as the tribesmen were concerned. Ironically enough, the shadow itself had somehow ended up in the same category of beings as the gods. That was why the tribesmen had been trying to please it with presents, leaving the items they saw as desirable on the altar... fruit, meat, drinks - something that all humans would want, since all humans knew hunger and thirst.

The shadow did not quite understand the reason the old man had decided to sacrifice a small child to it. Or, rather, it did not want to understand... it had a feeling that understanding the reason would not bring it any joy.

Perhaps it was simply because the girl was precious to the old man, and so he decided that the thing he held most dear would please the shadow a great deal, as if it had an inherent value.

Or maybe he simply believed that the shadow was no different from the Creatures of Corruption and Awakened beasts populating the forests, and had a taste for human flesh.

It probably didn’t occur to him that the shadow had not eaten or drunk anything since the world was created, since it simply had no need or desire to.

’What a bother.’

The shadow sighed.

It considered the girl for a while, pondering what to do with her.

Eventually, the cold voice resounded from the darkness once more, sounding a little different.

”Why did the old man bring you to my cave?”

The girl hesitated, then said quietly, her voice carrying a hint of both pride and sorrow that she could not quite understand yet - the sorrow of being betrayed by someone you trusted.

”Grandpa used to be the strongest hunter of our tribe. But now, there are too few Awakened among us, and he’s old. He says that his journey to the Shadow Realm is drawing near... so, he has to make sure that you’ll watch over the tribe once he’s gone, Dark One. Uh, I mean... Shadow”

The shadow studied the girl with regret. One’s childhood ended when they lost their trust in adults. For this human child, that moment had come far too soon.

The shadow did not know why, but it felt sad.

Eventually, it spoke from the darkness, sounding tired:

”Go home, child.”

Its voice was as cold as before, but now, there was a hint of emotion in it.

”Go home and give your people my message.”

Tatal blinked a few times.

”W-what message?”

The darkness around her stirred, and then the cold voice spoke again.

This time, it felt like it was resounding from somewhere closer.

”Tell them that if they bring me a human sacrifice again...”

Even though Tatal was sitting on cold stones, suddenly, it felt as if she was being embraced by the shadows... drowning in them.

The shadow’s embrace felt peaceful.

As she sensed the world shifting around her, Tatal heard the last of its words.

”I will kill them all.”

In the next moment, somehow, she was not in the vast cave anymore.

Instead, she was in the heart of the village, having appeared there in the blink of an eye.

The light of day was harsh and blinding, and her visit to the dark cave seemed like a strange, frightening dream.