Hey all. I'm new to this fan-fiction writing thing. Here's the prologue, something which came off the top of my head, and inspired me to start this story. The content's a bit raw; no graphic violence or anything like that though, and the next few chapters should lighten up the mood! The structure is hopefully not too confusing, but my style's there, and I hope you guys like it!

So, enough with the blabbering, onwards! I present... Prologue: Darkness. Enjoy!

A hiss of silver.

I screamed again - a pitiful, weak, quavering plea for mercy. The thin, tattered wreck which was my body shivered, trying in vain to stave off the evening chill. Another half-crazed, animalistic screech filled the air, and my drifting state of mind barely managed to attribute the sound to my own throbbing throat. I sank to my knees, exhausted, defeated, waiting for some response to my last cry of defiance.

Silence. It merely continued its relentless pursuit, eager for its prize, its prey, its feast. I could feel this cold presence rapidly close the gap between us. The end was nearing. I had chosen to stop, to submit, to end this hunt. All that was left to do was wait.

A hiss of silver. A flicker of red, of primal hunger.

And then, without warning, an instinctive will to fight on kicked in. A moment of crystal clear clarity. No! I would persist, struggle onwards, and perhaps... I would... survive. Spurred on by this irrational glimmer of hope and an uncontrollable sense of sudden, absolute terror, I spun around abruptly and resumed my reckless charge...

This one was a stubborn one, but it would inevitably end the same way. Not in pain, of course. No, that was a simply ineffective, superficial, insignificant technique - something the Pridestalker would use. Death? Ah, that was just a trivial side-effect which just seemed to affect most of my prey. Completely unintended.

No, what I utilised was something far more powerful, something embedded into the essence every sentient being. Well, every sentient being apart from myself.

A hiss of silver. A flicker of red, of primal hunger. A gust of darkness.

Branches whipped angry, red marks onto my exposed skin; thorns stabbed mercilessly through my clothes into soft, vulnerable flesh. The dense foliage which I had thanked time and time again for providing cover during my hunts now hemmed me in, hindering my movement and escape options. Despite my desperate plight, I couldn't help giggling at the irony of it. The hunter had become the hunted. Oft repeated, I'd never thought it would apply to myself, an orphaned Freljordian who had lived off nature for the last half a decade. Why me? I was a nobody. This predator - whatever it was - was wasting his time. I couldn't help it, and chuckled again.

This was getting surprisingly tiresome. It was time for the hunt to end. I doubled my pace, gliding gracefully through the pines and firs which smothered the snow-scape. I cast my senses outwards, tasting the reassuring emotion of Fear exude from my target. Still within my radar. Abruptly, it faded, to be replaced by something light-hearted... laughter?

What a pleasant surprise, I hadn't had one filled with madness in ages. The hunt was slowly but surely consuming his mind, and soon all that'd be left would be a well of raw, primal emotions. I shivered in anticipation. Fear. Delicious.

The victim sprinted desperately across the open stretch of northern grass, fists clenched, his breath coming in ragged, uneven gasps. Glancing quickly around, his face registered shock and horror at his surroundings, but this was unexpectedly cut short by a burst of unnatural laughter. He was going insane, and he appeared to realise that as well. Pinching himself so hard that a trickle of blood began to flow from his palm, the young man closed his eyes and fought to regain control of his mind. Sighing deeply, he looked at the twin ravines blocking off his left and right again. Impossible terrain.

The die was cast. It was time to see if the natural phenomenon known by locals as 'The Caverns' had an exit.

Stumbling into the underground system, he found the air, like last time, unnaturally clean and crisp. The orange-brown walls of sandstone and packed dirt and dust formed neat, rectangular passages, sloping gently downwards, curving this way and that in a massive, yet intricate pattern. It was most definitely man-made, though no one seemed to recall when exactly this cave system was created. No one had dared go deeper to find out.

Onwards he raced, hardly thinking. The only thing that mattered was to get away, as far away as possible, from that indomitable predator. When he finally stopped to allow himself a brief rest, he noticed that he was in a small cavern, lit dimly at the far end by queer, fluorescent stones. And engraved unmistakably on that far wall was a short line, elaborately carved into the sandstone.

Here, you shall find what you seek.

The young man swore. A cryptic message. How cliché. How useless.

Groaning in despair, he began surveying the bare cavern, searching for anything – a loose stone, a hidden lever, even another cryptic message – anything that could possibly provide him with an exit.

Nothing. Only smooth, cold sandstone. The lone exception were a pair of long, strange, while at the same time, somehow elegant depressions, apparently a mould of some sort. Nice décor, but still fucking useless. Glaring at offending inscription, the young man allowed days of pent-up frustration and rage to take control; fear and madness were swept away in the face of such emotion. This could not be the end! This would not be the end!

He turned slowly to face the passageway, and all of a sudden, felt his face bathed in natural light. Natural light? Scrunching up his eyes in concentration, he glimpsed an opening in the distance, from the way he had come. The way he had come? Somehow, despite all the movement, a tiny part of the entrance remained visible to those in the farthest recesses of the network.

At that moment, it clicked. You shall find what you seek. And there was the exit. The entrance. They were the same. There was only one way to access the cave. The answer was to turn around. Running was simply delaying the confrontation, he realized, something which would eventually catch up. For there to be true hope, had to first give himself an opportunity to triumph. He would challenge the beast. He would fight, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

He was unaware that as he had formed these thoughts, the indentations behind him had started to glow; one, a dark crimson red; the other, a gleaming, refreshing turquoise.

Finally. A worthy one.

The young man sensed, rather than heard, the two colossal entities awake from their age-old slumber. Within seconds, they were upon him, enveloping his soul, his very existence, in a blinding shroud of pure, arcane magic. At first, he fought back valiantly, using brute willpower in a frantic bid to force these unwanted intruders out of his being. But gradually, it ceased to be a struggle; both sides steadily melded together in unspoken, mutual understanding.

Luxuriating in the feel of his new-found strength, he inhaled sharply, and let the two spirits flow through him. The young man bared his teeth, and let out an exultant roar, his face a mask of righteous fury. He would bring the fight to this Hunter.

For the first time in its countless eons of existence, the Shadow Hunter felt... something.

It understood, at long last, what exactly each and every one of its kills had experienced. No, it wasn't empathy; it was something else. It had started off as a tiny, barely perceptible annoyance, a worm gnawing incessantly at its underside. Then it had escalated, growing quickly into a wild churning, unstoppable and unavoidable.

Fear.

The urge to survive.

It darted nimbly back the way they had come, easily negotiating the underground labyrinth. Yet deep down, it knew it would never truly be free anymore. The two entities behind it radiated power, power from the very beginning. Despite knowing it was futile, the Shadow Hunter instinctively slid out a pair of sleek metallic blades. Umbra blades, legend named them. Its meaning could not have been clearer in the ancient language.

Blood. Death.

It was time for a last stand, a finale, a tribute to millennia of hunting.

'...'

The Shadow Hunter twisted and dropped into a defensive stance, sensing a new colossal, spiritual being. It was nearby, and yet it wasn't.

'Help is not coming...'

Flexing its blades, the Hunter snarled. ''And I suppose you came all the way here to gloat?''

'Help is not coming...'

''So, what am I supposed to do? Find help? In this damn cave system?'' It'd lost its composure again, in as many moments. Not good. The best hunters always remained calm. Except... he wasn't the hunter anymore... he was the... prey.

'Yes. Find help.'

The Shadow Hunter froze, shocked. Was this voice offering him a way out?

'Embrace the darkness.'

The ground trembled, sending storms of dust and stone swirling from all sides of the narrow passageway. Then, just as it began, it disappeared. Blinking away the grit from its thin eyes, the Shadow Hunter saw that a perfect circle of black energy had appeared directly ahead. At each pulse, flashes of stark, almost decorative, detail appeared on the entrance of the portal, only to be instantly replaced an oppressive darkness, a writhing mass which breathed and sighed.

So mesmerising; so enticing. The Shadow Hunter was utterly captivated.

'Embrace the darkness. Cross over.'

The Shadow Hunter eagerly obliged, stepping confidently into a world of blackness. He was complete. This was the perfect hunting ground.

'Welcome. Enjoy. In this timeless plane, you are the sole Hunter.'

The new liege smiled with sinister delight and acknowledged its lord, this unknown being. "You have my eternal thanks, my lord. This is perfection."

The voice, cold and commanding as before, was indifferent to its words, and continued to speak.

'From now onwards, you are no longer the Shadow Hunter. May the world live to dread the wrath of The Eternal Nightmare.'

If you liked it, please review! If you hated it, please review as well! xD Just keep the comments constructive, haha. Much appreciated!