Shadows of The World
A Short Story by Jimmy E. Ramirez

Leon the Great, a warrior who has been in many battles hears speculation of a powerful weapon used to cause destruction to the world. This weapon is said to be hidden deep within a rain forest where evil spirits rest. The sun is seen going down as Leon begins gathering comrades to journey along with him. He gathers up five men to go with him, each having a purpose or reason for going. They each gather weapons to take such as daggers and plain swords. They then say goodbye to their loved ones and are about to head off with Leon as he tells them that they will now be only known as “The Light Knights.” The moon is seen in the sky as it begins to rain, Leon and his men begin the journey by traveling on their horses through the valleys of their village. There, they discover a tree by the name “Tree of Mystification.” Leon gets off of his horse and walks up to the tree. “Hello there…” the tree says in a deep voice. “Who is it I am speaking to?” the tree asks. “Leon” replies Leon. “And what brings you here Leon?” asks the tree. Leon falls to his knees and replies “I need your help.” A moment of silence is heard as Leon is about to speak. “My men and I are traveling to the rain forest where a powerful weapon is said to be hidden. I am asking for your guidance and protection.” Leon looks at the tree as the tree says “You speak of this weapon, but do you know for sure what it is?” Leon looks at the tree with no answer as the tree continues to say “this weapon you speak of is a weapon of strong force. It is very powerful and may cause destruction depending on whomever carries it. I can guide you in the direction of this weapon, but you will need a high amount of protection. An amount I can not offer to you. That being said, I will give you half the amount only because you have your men to journey with you. Good luck to you and your men.” Leon stands up and gets back on his horse. Thanking the tree, Leon continues to journey with his men to the rain forest.
They are getting closer to the rain forest as the rain begins to get harder. They arrive in front of the forest and stop. They gaze at the trees of the forest and notice the reflection of the moonlight hitting the ground and over the trees. Leon gets off his horse and starts to walk through the forest. His men do the same and begin to follow him. They all walk looking cautiously around them. Continuing to walk through the forest, Leon sees a big glowing sword sticking out of the grass in the forest. Mud is surrounded by it. Leon and his men continue to walk toward it as sounds are heard coming from the bushes near them. They stop as their horses get terrified and run off through where they entered from. Leon and his men turn to watch the horses run. They turn back to the bushes and see a black shadow that is an evil spirit burst out of it, as it begins to fly around them. Three more evil spirits burst out of other bushes and trees and also fly around them. Leon and his men are now cornered by the evil spirits. More footsteps are heard walking toward Leon and his men. They see that an evil looking man wearing a hood over his head by the name “Jack The Grim” is standing on the other side of them, he is with five of his other men who are known only as “The Shadow Knights.” Leon and his men are still cornered by the evil spirits circling them. Jack and his men are seen on the other side of the sword in front of Leon and The Light Knights. Leon's men begin to run forward to Jack’s men and begin to pull out their swords. The Shadow Knights pull out their swords and battle against The Light Knights. The evil spirits begin to circle the sword by flying around it as Leon pulls out his plain sword and continues to walk forward to the spirits who are protecting the glowing sword. Leon raises his sword and swings it toward the spirits causing them to disappear but appear somewhere else in the forest. Jack pulls out a scythe and begins to walk toward Leon who is close to the glowing sword. The Light Knights are seen defeating The Shadow Knights who begin to fall to the floor with blood covering them. Jack walks up to Leon and swings his scythe at him but he blocks it with his plain sword as a piece of it is shattered. Leon drops his plain sword and looks around to notice that the evil spirits pick up the weapons used by The Shadow Knights to defeat The Light Knights causing them to fall to the floor. He then looks back at Jack who is coming toward him with his scythe, swinging at him once again. A bright white light is then seen around the forest, getting brighter and brighter. Jack gets blinded by the light and drops the scythe to the floor where it falls next to Leon’s right arm. Leon looks at the scythe and then back up to the light as he notices the spirits of his men flying out of their dead bodies. He sees them rush over to the evil spirits as they begin to fade away into dust. The spirits of Leon’s men then disappear into the air, causing the moon to get brighter. Leon looks back at Jack who is rubbing his eyes. Leon picks up Jack’s scythe, walks up to Jack and swings it at him, the sharp end of the scythe slices Jack’s head off and it falls to the floor hitting the ground instantly. Jack’s body then falls on its knees and continues to fall forward, causing his body to hit the floor. Leon throws the scythe to the floor next to Jack’s body. He turns around to face the glowing sword and begins to walk toward it. He gets up to it, puts his hands on it and slowly pulls it out of the ground. But the evil spirit from Jack flies out of his body and toward Leon. The spirit then goes into the glowing sword, causing it to dim. Leon pulls the sword out of the ground as it causes the moon to change gray. Slowly, the sword begins to corrupt Leon, causing him to lose a little bit of flesh. He then looks at the sword and watches it morph into a glowing scythe. He begins to walk back to his village as we see he is slowly transforming into a skeleton.