Shadewalker

The forest was dark, so dark that even the leafy trees looked charred and dead. Fog blanketed the ground, weaving between the black-branched silhouettes.

The light flickered, and the traveler sighed, slapping his flashlight back to life. The beam barely penetrated the dark trees and fog, only to reveal even more dark trees and fog.

Somewhere close by, a crow cawed, making the traveler jump and curse under his breath. He was more on edge now than he’d ever been, and the feeling was only compounded by the silent, endless forest. The bird’s cry had made the traveler notice the lack of crickets’ and cicadas’ calls. When the crow went silent, the forest followed suit.

Choosing a direction at random, the traveler continued his journey, suddenly aware of just how loud his footsteps were, echoing off the trees and alerting anything that might be hiding in the fog. Something dark slunk past him, and he jumped, dropping his flashlight. The light went out as soon as the light hit the forest floor, and the traveler had to feel for it. Just as he grabbed the light, something with sharp claws grasped his hand. The traveler jerked his hand back, shaking the flashlight in the hopes that it would work. When its feeble beam came back to life, the traveler swung it in the direction of whatever had grabbed him, hoping to scare it away. The beam revealed a thorny vine, still swinging from its contact with the man.

The traveler laughed, putting a palm to his forehead and breathing out slowly, trying to calm his nerves. “It’s just my imagination,” he whispered, taking a moment to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. Now that the adrenaline rush had passed, he felt utterly stupid.

Something nearby growled, and the traveler was jerked back to his current predicament. His flashlight was almost dead, and he had no clue how long it would be until the sun rose. He decided to save the little power he had left, clicking off the flashlight and stuffing it into his pocket. As the darkness closed in around him, the traveler leaned against a tree to rest. Things slunk in the fog around him, and in the light of a sliver of a crescent moon, he tried to determine whether they were real or not.

In fact, he was so focused on the shapes in the fog that he didn’t notice me sneaking up behind him.

Lore by @Bibbit
From @Cherryfleck