WHERE GREAT SHADOWS LIE A shadow of the colossus fan story
Written by Christopher wood; Age 13
Edited by Nicole Wood
Inspired by Shadow of the colossus; Japan studios
No. of Chapters: ?
For all the fans out there
WHERE GREAT SHADOWS LIE
"They say great shadows lie
in a place that is for nigh
where beasts of both stone and flesh
contain anger blazing fresh
They say if a warrior were to claw and pry
he could save one left to die
where Dorman dark and thresh
seeks one to help him mesh
16 collosi's souls to buy
where great shadows lie."
CHAPTER 1
Panic. Fear. Dread. Mono. I ran, the soft soil, crumpling under my feet as I sprinted away. I could hear the monster, growling and seething. Its colossal hands swinging, its behemoth club itching to crush me like a fly. Every step was an earthquake, crashing just metres away. The chiming of chains, the breaking of stone, the snapping of trees, like twigs under its hooves were the only sounds audible. The hair on my neck tingled and sent waves of terror down my spine as the man like beast's evil, penetrating orange eyes stared into my heart itself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a concealing wood front. My heart pounded, thumping out of my chest, my every aching muscle telling me to stop, but I kept running, for Mono. I forced myself to push harder and harder. The thundering footsteps raddled both my mind and soul, protruding fear into the hearts of any human. With every step, the towering minotaur drew closer. It was so close now, it was as if I could feel its dark lifeless breath on my neck. Finally I made it to the tree line, sprinting through branches and thickets, ducking behind a strong tree only to gasp for air. I, Wander, the supposed warrior, hid behind a tree, shaking like a leaf, a coward. Yet I stayed there, gasping and wheezing, my heart racing as I prayed for the beast to depart, to leave us. I clutched my sword, holding it close to my chest. My trembling hands struggled to grasp the dark sword under its weight. I opened my eyes, first to wince by both fear and by the glaring sun, and I saw something painfully familiar; pine needles. My heart skipped a beat, my breath caught in my throat. In an instant my fear and pain was gone, like day after the night, and I saw Mono, laying on that god forsaken alter, her beauty sacrificed for the longevity of the queen, mercilessly poisoned and left for dead. Then I saw her now, on an alter giving life, waiting for me. It was as if I could hear her voice, cheery as ever, laughing at something I would never discover. I would stop at nothing to see her again. Suddenly, all my senses flooded back into my head, distant birds crying, the tree branches rustling together, caused by a wind, and the subtle light beaming through the leaves. Fear drowned out everything, but along that a strength to meet it. It had been only moments before, me running out of the grasp of the beast, but now, all there was was silence and peace, with only the sounds of nature to comfort me. Thoughts of Mono had instilled courage in me, one that I never could have mustered myself. Vibrating with both anxiety and a new found purpose, I slowly turned my locked head around the strong familiar tree. Through some low lying branches, there was nothing, just the dark, crumpled walls of the mountain surrounding us. Shocked, hurt and confused, I unconsciously re sheathed my sword and placed a broad head on my sturdy brown bow. Slowing my once rapid breath, I focused on the task at hand. I cautiously walked out from behind the tree, brushing the thin pine tree like branches out of the way, their pines poking my hands; only to see nothing. My still trembling hands finally slid of the scaly bark of the last tree, leaving the fortitude for the last time. Taking more and more steps from the tree front, I gritted my teeth in despise for what I knew I had to do. I stopped walking for some reason, the calm wind flowing through my hair. I didn't have to turn around to know what faced me, but I did anyway, only to see a colossal club falling toward me…
CHAPTER 2
It had been a peaceful day, the birds chirping, the pine tree branches gently swaying in the wind around us, and the cool damp spring breeze flowing through our hair. We had gone out hunting that day, and there couldn't be a better time to do so. I had been teaching her to use a bow, which frankly, she was in dire need of at that point. After a long, adventurous day, I had sat down by a rough log with her to get some much needed rest. We were talking about something, something I wish I could remember, just talking, with the rabbits and berries hanging from our hands, without a care in the world. Often we would talk about the queen, the marketplace, Emon, and about where we were going to fish the following day. Every day was that good, for a long time. As a little boy, in a meadow, I had given her a crudely made necklace of dandelions, I had thought it be a masterpiece. We sat in the grass, daisies and various vibrant beautiful flowers around us, though I had always imagined her among those blossoms. She had blushed and stared in awe at my retched creation. She didn't have to say what she felt about it; we both knew. It was at that point I knew that we were going to be friends for a long time to come, us kids, falling in love without even knowing it. Somedays I would talk about my young horse, Agro, and on others days I'd bring her along with us, trying to show off, but it seldom worked. Sometimes we would see who could run the fastest, who could climb the highest, who could jump the farthest, who could shoot the most birds, lord help them, but some days we would just sit, and those were my favourite. Once, We had fallen out of a a tree, sobbing out of agony, I was not thinking about anyone but myself, only for her to rush to my aid without question, I looked into her determined eyes, and for the first time I saw something more pure that I had seen anywhere before, nor will I ever see again, more then nature, more then myself, more then any human. Even years later I often look back on those times with a smile. That was before the sword, before the sacrifices. Then, without a warning, the day came where every thing in my world fell apart.
CHAPTER 3
"Here, let me help you with that," I said to Mono, who was sitting to the other side of the boiling stew, hung on top of a simmering fire. "No, thats all right, you already have enough on your plate, quite literally in fact." We both shared a chuckle. The stone brick rectangular room was enchanted by the smells of rabbit, fiddleheads, potatoes and carrots. However, the room was very humid, it being a room similar to a basement meant that there was no windows. I wiped the sweat off my brow as I continued to cut up the juicy rabbit into small pieces. I had required this particular rabbit only hours before, when I went hunting at dawn. She had collected the vegetables from her garden. I glanced across the black charred pot, only to see her face wobble in the heated air. Glistening sweat dripped off the pot, reflecting her face just before it fell. We worked in silence for a while, but none of us were really focusing on what we were doing. I looked at her again, for a while this time, trying to determine her mood, I was so distracted in fact I didn't even realize that I was still cutting the rabbit. "OW! Son of a -" A worsening little prick of pain stabbed into my finger, caused by my carving knife sliding into my thumb. I saw a little dribble of crimson ooze out of the cut. Even with the initial pain gone, it still sent little waves through my hand. "Sigh, even when your sitting down your reckless, what is this, the 3rd time this week?" Mono remarked, only glancing up from the red potato she was skinning. "Hey, I am not reckless, your the one who fell out of a tree and sprained her ankle." Another sigh. "You do fully well know you fell out too, right?" My hand still ached thoroughly, with a dribble of red sliding down my wrist. I felt the floor vibrate as she pushed the red chair out from under her. The old chair, with the paint chipping off, groaned in submission as she pushed it behind her. Even her steps were remarkably graceful. "Fine, I'll help you, but only because you supplied that rabbit." She said as she walked over to my chair on the other side of the pot. "Don't forget the fiddleheads," I teased "That barely counts!" She shot back. Once she got to me, she knelt down to eye level, pulled out a cloth from her back pocket, dampened it in a small wooded bowl that was beside my old chair, she held the rag above the bowl, letting the clear water drip out into the surface of the water, causing such insignificant drops cause ripples in the one clear liquid, warping the reflection it portrayed, then gently, but rather firmly, wrapped it around my finger. The cool water at first stung, but momentarily caused waves of relief cool down the pain. She then unwrapped the now stained red cloth, dropped it beside me, and began walking back to her chair for the bandages she had rolled up by her chair. I stared at the cloth, watching the blood slowly seep out into its damp surroundings, the vines slowly breaking away, causing an effect similar to the growth of a tree. It trickled and turned, it broke off and met again. Mono was then back at my chair, placing some old man's bead in the same bowl, then dressing it on my wound. I was mesmerized by the urgency of the way she worked, she was always one step ahead of her self. "Wow, I would never have expected you to remember that." I said after a while of silence. "Remember what?" Mono inquired, as she wrapped the bandage around my finger. "Well, that lichen is beneficial when dampened and placed on a wound." "Don't forget you can eat it." She exclaimed. "Yes, but you can also eat bark, does not mean you want to". I said. It seemed like she was thinking about something, only to break the quiet. "There you go, though I do doubt you wont need another one in the next hour." Mono said as she gathered up her things. Just before she went back to her chair, I noticed the bloody wet rag one last time. The once drop of blood had seeped out and transformed into an elegant red rose. I looked back at my rabbit, all cut up and ready to be put into the pot. The juices of the wild rabbit glistened, reflecting the room around us. I held the meat and deposited it into the broth. The stew shook and rattled, various other ingredients coming to the surface, angered by the disturbance, then slowly settled back into peace. After an hour or so, the stew had been completed, and she was dishing it out into two, wooden bowls. The aroma was nothing short of amazing, the potatoes, carrots, fiddleheads and that fresh rabbit all mixed together beyond belief. She then placed in my hands a wooden spoon, although I almost dropped it when she put the meal in my hands. The bowl in front of me was overflowing with a piping hot brown stew that stimulated my nose with every waft of steam. Rich chunks of rabbit and potatoes, were encased in a sauce of spices, covered in a white cream. It was truly bewitching. I barely got out a thank you before I dived into the feast. Not known to me, but this would be our last meal together. It truly is weird how something so perfect can get destroyed so fast.
CHAPTER 4 coming soon