He did not answer.
Because he felt it.
Not wind.
Not sound.
Pressure.
The question did not reach his mind.
It stopped somewhere in his chest—
caught in the same tightening pressure spreading through the air.
A presence pressing against the skin of reality.
The shadows thickened, rising like smoke forced into human shapes — faceless, shifting, unfinished.
Then they moved.
Ojadili thrust his spear forward.
The weapon sliced through the nearest figure.
No resistance.
No impact.
The shadow rippled — then folded around the spear shaft and surged toward his arm.
He released it instantly.
The spear clattered uselessly to the ground.
His fingers tingled where the shadow had touched the weapon—
not pain,
but absence.
As if something had tried to pass through him
and failed only because he let go in time.
A shadow lunged.
He rolled aside just as it struck, the air hissing where his chest had been.
It did not stop.
The moment it missed, it collapsed—flattening against the ground—
then surged upward again from a different angle.
Not attacking where he was.
Attacking where he would be.
Ojadili twisted mid-step, barely avoiding the second strike as it sliced past his shoulder, colder than water, sharper than steel.
"Do not let them touch you!" Udonkanka shouted as he moves around trying to know where Obiagheli is.
"Oby!" He screamed.
Too late.
Udonkanka's shadow surged upward and wrapped around his leg.
He screamed as cold darkness climbed his body like liquid night.
It did not crush.
It did not bite.
It pulled.
As if trying to peel him out of himself.
His voice warped as he screamed—
stretched thin,
like something else was pulling it from inside him.
For a moment, his shadow did not match his face.
Ojadili lunged, grabbing his (own) arm and dragging him free. The shadow stretched between them like tar before snapping back and reforming.
The second strike came faster than the first.
Not random.
Adjusted.
They remembered.
They changed.
More figures peeled free from trees, rocks, and bodies.
Even the shade beneath the cooking basket trembled and rose.
The clearing darkened though the sun still burned above.
The creatures circled them.
Testing.
Withdrawing.
Reforming.
Like wolves measuring prey.
Some came high.
Some low.
Some did not move at all—
until he committed to dodging the others.
Then it struck.
Ojadili blocked with his forearm on instinct—
and instantly regretted it.
Cold exploded through his limb, numbing it to the bone.
Ugomma grabbed a fallen branch and swung. The wood passed through one figure — but the air froze around her wrist.
Frost spread along her skin.
She gasped.
Ojadili pulled her back.
"Stay close to me." He said , his eyes fixed on the shadows.
He can't let anything happen to her .
The figures shifted again.
Flattening.
Sliding along the earth.
Reappearing behind them.
Adapting.
Even their own shadows betrayed them
stretching, shifting, misaligning—
forcing them to second-guess every step.
There was no safe ground.
Only ground that had not attacked yet.
The forest began to change.
Every object with shadows begin to move closer , blocking the sun .
An Infinite Darkness Technique .
If that happens all possible light will be blocked .
And Ojadili can't see.
Distances stretched unnaturally.
The path to the village looked farther away than it should be.
Sound dulled, as though wrapped in cloth.
Even their movements felt delayed—
as if the world needed an extra heartbeat
to decide where they were.
Udonkanka turned in circles.
"The clearing is moving," he whispered.
"We need to stop it " Ojadili said.
But even as he spoke, the ground beneath his feet felt subtly wrong — like walking in darkness instead of soil.
" Our own Shadow " Ojadili muttered with understanding.
Ojadili reaches for his necklace which at that moment is the only thing close to a weapon they had .
The shadows on hearing that surged again.
This time from below.
A black arm erupted from the earth and seized Udonkanka ankle, dragging him down.
He screamed.
Ojadili lunged and caught him .
The shadow stretched between them like a living rope.
Udonkanka then pulled out his stone necklace .
The Shadows move in not giving him a chance to attack his own Shadow.
But Udonkanka isn't dumb.
He throws it to Ojadili who struck it downward to thier natural shadows .
The Shadows felt the pain and moves aback .
" I guess we can't be faster than our shadows" Udonkanka said .
Ojadili attempts to hit their natural shadows once more .
But then __
His shadow shattered into drifting smoke.
But the smoke did not vanish.
The Shadows then stop manipulation of their shadows.
To now Indulge in a real fight.
They first split into smaller forms and retreated.
Learning.
Always learning.
Then the smaller forms , nor in unison .
Ugomma had left the scene quietly to look for Obiagheli .
She found her unconscious .
still breathing.
Relief.
She pulled her to a safe position and moves back to know if she can help in anyway possible.
They attacked together now.
The smaller shadows lunged at once, with cries like babies forcing Ojadili backward.
Another struck them from behind.
Ojadili pivoted, dodged, rolled — but every movement cost strength.
He could feel it draining.
Not from muscle.
From something deeper.
Not exhaustion.
Extraction.
Like the shadows were feeding—
not on flesh,
but on whatever allowed him to keep moving.
His breath shortened.
His vision pulsed.
The shadows did not rush.
They wore him down
Luckily,Udonkanka moved and pull Ojadili out of their grip . He felt his muscles strained but it wasn't time to give up.
Udonkanka grabbed his fallen spear and stabbed wildly.
The blade passed through a figure — but this time the shadow did not ignore it.
It climbed the spear.
Flowed along the shaft.
And lunged toward his face.
The spear also change direction and moves towards him.
Ojadili caught the spear on time .
Udonkanka pulled a mysterious blow that sent the Shadows flat to the floor .
" Where is my Oby" He screamed with rage .
" She's safe " ugomma said to him from the safe zone , she stood.
Udonkanka sound died in his throat as two shadows merged into a larger mass before him.
It struck.
He was thrown to the ground.
Air burst from his lungs.
The sky spun.
He tried to rise.
The shadows were faster now.
Stronger.
They pinned his arms.
Cold seeped into his chest like river water at midnight.
His heartbeat slowed.
No.
No.
Ojadili saw him and tries to move to save Udonkanka but just then the Shadow won over Udonkanka as he becomes unconscious.
The smaller shadows wrapped him .
Across the clearing, another shadow separated from the pack.
It glided toward Ugomma.
She tried to pull Obiagheli away, but the ground itself seemed to resist her steps.
The shadow rose before her.
Reaching.
Ojadili's vision tunneled.
Rage exploded in his chest — bright, violent, alive.
He forced his arm free.
Skin burning with frost, he dragged himself forward.
"Ugomma!"
He grabbed her wrist.
The shadow seized her other arm.
Pulling.
Splitting.
The pull intensified—
not just against Ugomma—
but against him.
For a moment, it felt like they were both being separated from the same point—
like the world itself was trying to divide them.
Her grip slipped.
Not from weakness—
but because her fingers no longer felt like her own.
The Shadows succeeds in making her unconscious and wrap her up .
Ojadili roared and pulled with everything left in him.
The shadow tightened.
" It's time , let's force him to do it " A feminine voice from the shadows said as they agreed .
But just then .
The Cloud dimmed.
He blacked out .
The forest went silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
As if sound itself had been removed.
The shadows froze.
They felt the fear.
Mid-motion.
Mid-strike.
Mid-breath.
Then Thunder Roared.
Another form of Ojadili took over .
A Heavenly armour though not complete formed around his chest running to the hip .
His eyes blaze with lightening.
The pressure changed direction.
No longer pressing inward—
now forcing everything else back.
Not walking.
Arriving
The creatures recoiled .
Ojadili then strike lightening towards the shadows.
Round and round to all of them .
But that was a mistake .
The Shadow beings had evolved above Godly powers .
The Lightening as it strikes the shadows,
it backfires .
It hits Ojadili in perfect direction without one missing it's target .
Ojadili collapsed beside Ugomma, gasping.
" Oh no " The Shadows murmurs disappointed .
" Let's take him to our realm " The Leader Shadow said .
" What about the others " The female shadow asked .
The Leader ignored her .
They bundle Ojadili to leave .
They dragged at Ojadili's body—
not carefully,
not urgently,
but with purpose.
As if removing him from something not yet finished.
Just then .
light flickered.
It cut across the clearing in a thin, silent line.
The shadows reacted instantly.
Not confusion.
Recoil.
The line spread—
not bright,
but absolute.
A boundary.
And within it—
a figure stood.
Still.
He had not arrived.
He was simply there.
The air shifted.
The crushing pressure that filled the clearing did not disappear—
it changed direction.
What once pressed inward now forced everything else back.
The shadows trembled.
Their forms thinned—
stretched—
distorted—
as if proximity alone threatened to unmake them.
A ripple passed through the mass.
Not fear.
Hesitation.
As though something beyond this place
had not yet been called.
A name pressed at the edge of form—
And for the first time a shadow spoke out of fear .
" We need to call Powmdow"
It broke.
Forced back into silence.
Slowly—
unwillingly—
they withdrew.
Yielding space.
As they receded, the ground beneath them darkened—
" It's time " The leader shadow said.
A mark burned into the earth.
A palm imprint.
Shaped like a ritual calabash seal.
It pulsed once.
Then stilled.
The figure did not move toward it.
Did not react.
The shadows gathered instead.
Not retreating.
Reforming.
Their bodies collapsed inward—
folding into one another—
compressing—
thickening—
until the clearing could no longer hold their original shapes.
A single mass began to rise.
Larger.
Denser.
The ground beneath it cracked slightly.
Even the light bent around its form.
The Ultra expansion .
The figure watched.
Silent.
Unmoved.
But with understanding.
Then—
he exhaled softly with a smile .
A smile we recognize.
Not tired.
Not strained.
Just… disappointed.
he said quietly .
"I don't think we need to do this ."