Grey stood in the empty clearing with his thoughts in disarray. The fight had crossed the bounds of what was humanly possible in his old world, and he was struggling to come to terms with what had just happened. Taking a seat on the hard ground, he felt the pain. His body felt like it was on fire, and the pain was excruciating now that the presence of the shadow on his mind had begun to fade.

  “Ki, what is happening to me?” he said between the bouts of pain now assaulting him.

  “You have just experienced a sliver of our power as the Umbra.”

  “I just took a man's head off with my fist, and you saying that is a sliver of the power of the Umbra. What am I because I don’t know what that was, but it wasn’t normal. In fact, nothing about what just happened was normal. That man I just killed changed during the fight. I’m not crazy, I saw him grow larger right in front of me, and he turned red. What the fuck was that about?”

  “If I’m correct, that man possessed the skill of a berserker. This allowed him to become inhumanly strong and have skin tougher than iron. It is why you had to use the power of the Umbra to kill him when your own strength failed you.”

  “A berserker like the Vikings? Are you telling me that guy had powers as well?”

  The implications of this changed everything about the challenge that lay ahead of him. He was no longer the apex predator with the skills to slaughter anyone in front of him when the people of this new world, where he found himself, also possessed skills and powers he had never encountered before. Based on the two men he had just fought, this new world was technologically inferior to the one he previously found himself in, which meant strength and the ability to fight were more prevalent to survive, making him just another regular man in this world of killers. A slightly cynical thought, as those were the first humans he had encountered.

  “Ki, have you figured out where we are yet?’

  “I have human, I know not the name of this world or where we are exactly, but based on the feelings of the shadows and the men you just fought, we are in a world where magic is prevalent, and people possess the skills which you would only read about in books of your old world.”

  “Magic? Like wizards and spells?”

  “It's too early to say what type of magic this world holds. But the possibility of there being powerful mages in this world is very real. This should not come as a surprise to you human as the light users are powerful mages. Not only do they wield the light the same way you will be able to wield the shadows, but they also have powerful warriors and other users in their employ.”

  Grey could only nod at that as the pain was only intensifying. Without another word being said, he felt Ki trying to get him to do something. A subtle tug at the strings of his soul. Knowing that there was much that he did not know about the new powers, he decided not to ask questions and follow the directions of Ki. Once again reaching into himself, he grasped the tide of shadows now occupying his soul and pulled at it. The shadows around the clearing were pulled towards him. However, this time they were not so aggressively violent and seemed to take on a much more sensual movement as they moved towards his body. His entire body began to be surrounded in a swirling vortex of misty shadows, and in a few moments, they dissipated. All the pain in his body was gone. The pain had receded to a dull throb rather than the raging inferno it had just been moments ago.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “The shadow heals you, Umbra, but remember nothing is given for free; now you must feed the shadows”, Ki said with a solemn tone.

  He felt heavy and tired. It seemed the healing he had just undergone had drained his stamina and willpower to a noticeable degree. Nothing was free. He no longer felt the mountain of pain, but he was still aware enough of his situation to know that the commotion of the fight could attract unwanted visitors, which he was in no state to combat. Taking a swig from his canteen, he forced himself to his feet and once again began his inspection of the clearing. He needed fuel that he knew. In his old world, a little rest and some food would have rightened him, but this hunger he now felt was different.

  Acting on instinct, he approached the ruined body of the large brute and placed his hand on his chest. He grabbed onto some intangible force that was now receding from the man and, in his mind, violently tugged on it. It was the darkness that had made up his soul, leaving him. The violence and anger had been the building blocks of the man’s identity. Drawing itself into him, Grey was momentarily dazed by the feeling of rage that he had begun to feel. It was an intoxicating feeling that made him feel like he wanted to burn the world down and destroy everything in it. Forcing the rage aside, he let it enter him. The tiredness started fading. The shadow's hunger had been sated for now, and he was free to continue his journey further into this strange new world. A small vibration within him from Ki confirmed this.

  With the pain and hunger no longer clouding his mind, he could finally take stock of the situation.

  “Ki, do you know what language they were speaking?” he asked.

  “I do, human deep within my memories, I have found it. It seems the Umbra had fought in this world before. I have given you the knowledge to understand it.” With that, he felt the shadow set on his mind for a brief moment, and in an instant, he felt as if he remembered something from a time long past. It was time to move on and gather whatever he could from the clearing.

  He examined the bodies of the two men without remorse to see if they had anything of value. Deciding that the armour and swords were too large to take with him, he left them be. He did take the few small throwing knives that the small man had used against him. He found a small pouch of coins on the larger man and swiped that, knowing he had no idea of their value, but he now had a little funds for the journey ahead. Next, he approached the campsite proper, preparing to scavenge whatever he could. He found a few things that would be useful to him as he went through their belongings, such as some dry sticks of some unknown meat and further rations, a full canteen, and other useful camping gear. Fully filling up his rucksack, he finally remembered the cage which had been blasted to the edge of the clearing.

  He approached it carefully, not knowing what had been inside. As he neared it, he noticed that it had been broken open due to the explosion of dark energy, and whatever had been inside had escaped.

  That when he felt his senses enhanced by the shadow scream in warning, and he threw himself to the side as something came crashing through the growth at the edge of the clearing right where he had been standing.

  A man only slightly shorter than him with short, cropped hair, wearing nothing but a pair of trousers, flew past him and came skidding to a halt. The air around him was swirling violently, allowing him to dash towards him at an incredible speed. He looked at Grey with a deadly stare.

  “Wind magic human, be careful with this one.”

  Rolling to his feet, Grey prepared for battle once more.

  But before anything further happened, the man slowly began to grin with a toothy smile.

  “I suppose I should thank you.”