I raced through the forest, darting from shadow to shadow. Rain poured and lightning flashed across the sky. I pulled my hood up over my head and grabbed a tree trunk, pushing off the trunk and grabbing a tree branch, then flipping onto the ground on the other side of the chasm. I hit the ground running. I dived into the mouth of a cave to catch my breath. I leaned against the wall, panting, fighting back tears. I could still hear the explosions in the distance. I heard the loud, clumsy feet of the Daytroops, coming closer. I slipped into the darkness as they passed. Once they passed, I darted out of the cave and ran. I slipped on some mud and landed in a pond with a loud splash. My head went under and I struggled to get to my feet. I climbed out of the pond, and heard the sound of a Daytrooper's gun firing. I stood perfectly still, hoping they had missed. I bit my lip as I heard the sound of the Death Penalty, as we Shadow Warriors called it. When a Shadow Warrior is killed, they use their last breaths to plunge their sword into the ground and cast everything within a fifty yard radius into complete blackness, allowing any other Shadow Warriors to escape. It makes a high pitched ringing noise when activated. If I wasn't effected, I was safe, for now. I had to keep moving. I couldn't cry. I had to be strong. I was one of the few remaining Shadow Warriors. I had to find safety. I began running again. I could see lights in the distance. Houses! It was a village! The minute I left the shadows, a bullet from a Daytroop gun whizzed past my head. In a split second, I had my sword in hand and my hood was pulled up, concealing my face. The five Daytroops advanced, guns at the ready, golden armor glinting in the moonlight. I jumped high into the air. I flipped over, dodging three more gun shots, and landed on one of their shoulders. I knocked him into the other guy and jumped onto the ground. I ducked as one of the troopers swung at me with a sword, grabbing his wrist and flipping him over. I threw a knife at another guy, hitting him square in the chest. He fell to the ground as the others got to their feet. I jumped to the side as one shot another bullet at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little girl watching in awe, unaware of the danger she was in. One of the troopers brought out a grenade and threw it at me. I dodged it easily, but saw it flying towards the little girl. Fast as light, I jumped and drew my sword. I sliced the grenade in half and it exploded. I was thrown into the side of a building, but thankfully the little girl was safe. I struggled to get to my feet, blood trickling down into my eye. I wiped it out just in time to see a bullet coming at me. I ducked and it flew over my head, hitting the wall and bouncing back towards the men. They dived out the way just in time. The little girl ran to hide behind my back. I could hear her crying. She clung to my arm, burying her face in my shirt. I grabbed her and jumped up onto the house. I turned her around to face me.

"Hey, were is your mom?" I asked her. She shook her head, tears streaming.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I said. I picked her up again and jumped to the other roof, dodging another bullet. Were they trying to shoot the girl? I wondered.

"Were is your mom?" I asked again. The little girl took a shuddering breath.

"I don't know. She went missing along with my dad a long time ago." She said.

"Do you have any other relatives?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Who cares for you?" I asked in disbelief.

"A friend of my father's. He is a Daytroop general." She said.

"Oh, crap." I muttered. I slapped my forehead. Now they were going to think I had kidnapped her.

"You have to trust me, okay? I'm going to get you back to your father's friend." I said. What was I thinking? I wasn't thinking. All I knew was that I wanted the little girl to be safe. The little girl nodded and wrapped her arms around my neck. I swung her around so she was riding on my back and jumped from the building onto a fence post then onto the ground behind the Daytroops. They spun around, guns at the ready, but I put my hands out to stop them.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" I shouted. The Daytroops didn't move. I slowly helped the little girl off my back. She ran towards the Daytroops. One of them dropped their gun and embraced her in a hug. While they were distracted, I tried to escape by jumping onto a nearby tree. I grabbed the tree branch and flipped on top of it. I was about to jump again when there was a gun shot and my hands and legs were tied. I fell out of the tree, landing hard on the ground. I reached for a knife, but felt somebody's foot on my side.

"Don't move a muscle, Shadow Warrior. You're coming with us." A voice said.

"Not without a fight." I grumbled. I cut the ropes on my feet and hands and kicked the man's leg out from underneath him. I drew my sword and took a few steps back, warding off the troops with my sword. They all had their guns pointing at me.

"Just back off, okay? It's bad enough you destroyed my home! I saved that little girl and now you want to kill me?" I snapped, pulling my hood further over my head, casting my face into shadows.

"We don't want to kill you." One of them said. I snorted.

"Just like you didn't want to kill my father? Oh, and how about my mother, hmm? Didn't want to kill her either!" I said, taking a few more steps back. "Well, I am not going with you without a fight, so if you want to take me in, fine! But I will not be humiliated by going peacefully!"

"Suit yourself." The man said as hundreds of troops came into sight behind him. "But you are one, we are hundreds. It doesn't take much light to scare away a shadow." I straightened up, my fingers closing around my dark powder.

"You may be right, but shadows dwell where the light cannot touch. And night always returns." I said. I threw some dark powder on the ground and everything turned black. I turned and ran. By the time the darkness wore off, I was miles away at another village, bleeding and hungry. I stumbled along and collapsed in the middle of the town, my sword making a chiming noise as it hit the stone. I couldn't move. Every single bone in my body hurt and I was light headed from loosing blood. I could hear my heart pounding, my vision going in and out of focus. I saw feet coming towards me, but couldn't move to stop them. They were sandaled feet, not the feet of a Daytrooper. I didn't, no, I couldn't protest as arms picked me up off the ground. My fist was still clenched firmly around the hilt of my sword and it scraped along the ground, turning the ground black where it touched. I tried to move, to keep my eyes open, but I slipped into unconsciousness before I could even stop my hood from sliding off my head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Everything replayed in my dreams. We were sitting peacefully, about to go to bed, when the first explosion went off. The walls caved in and the Shadow Warriors were scattered. For years, the Daytroops had hunted us down. The Shadow Warriors were becoming a thing of the past. Our regiment was one of the last ones. Every time I learned of one of the attacks, I would always wonder what we did to anger them. My mother had always told me it was started a long time ago. The legend goes that the daughter of the Moon, Night, was fast, agile, and dangerous. The son of the Sun, Day, was strong, brave, and also very dangerous. When the Sun would set, Day would be chased off by Night. Night would always sneak up behind Day and scare him in to hiding. Day despised Night, and one day, decided to get revenge. He went to the towns and began gathering recruits. He called them the Daytroops. When Night learned of what Day was doing, she gathered the most skilled warriors and recruited them. They became the Shadow Warriors. And ever since then, Day and Night have battled. Some months Day is wining, others Night has the upper hand. But the battle rages on, one being unable to rid the world of the other. But then things took a turn for the worse when the Daytroops harnessed the Sun's powers. The Shadow Warriors fled before explosions and fire, extreme heat and brute force. Seeing her troops in turmoil, Night supplied the Shadow Warriors with Swords of the Shadows. The swords contain the power of Night herself. The only problem was that no one could figure out how to unleash that power. The sword by itself was powerful, but we haven't even dipped a toe into it's true power. A power that could destroy the Daytroops forever. Daytroops! Instincts kicked in and my eyes flew open. I leapt to my feet, sword drawn. I looked around the room as I pulled my hood up over my face. There was a man wearing sandals and jeans with holes in the knees. He wore a plain white shirt with dirt smudges and a stain that looked like motor oil. He had a surprised expression on his face. I put my sword away and moved into the corner, automatically feeling better in the shadows. I crossed my arms.

"Uh, thanks for saving me." I said. He blinked a few times, but didn't say anything. I cleared my throat and he snapped out of his trance.

"You....you....you're a Shadow Warrior?" He asked. I sighed and pushed off the wall so I was standing straight.

"I'll go if you want me to." I said, used to being rejected. I began walking to the door, but stopped dead in my tracks. Someone was coming. I glanced out the window and saw the glint of gold as they walked up to the doorstep.

"It's the Daytroops. I have to get out of here!" I said. The man bit his lip and I saw something in his hands. It was a syringe. Judging by the color of the liquid inside and the size of the needle it was full of knock-out gas. I groaned and punched the wall.

"Seriously? Can't I get a break?" I asked. The man slowly got to his feet as Daytroops came in the door. I drew my sword.

"They told me they wanted you, but they didn't tell me why. You Shadow Warriors are nothing but trouble." The man said. I kept my sword pointed at the Daytroops but my gaze never left the man.

"I don't want to hurt you, honest, but I will if I have to." I warned. One of the Daytroopers let out a little laugh.

"With all of us here?" He asked. I turned to look at him.

"All I see are a bunch of men in clunky armor scared of the dark." I snapped. The man with the syringe lunged at me, but I jumped up in the air and grabbed onto one of the rafters of the house. I wrapped my legs around it and grabbed the next rafter with my hands. Then I let go with my feet, swing and kicking some Daytroops over. I rolled on the ground and began running for the door. When I grabbed the handle, it wouldn't turn. One of the Daytroopers grabbed my arm, but unfortunately for him, it was the hand with my sword in it. I whacked him with the broadside of my sword and he dropped me, grabbing his leg.

"What in the world?" He asked. I shrugged.

"You don't mess with the Sword of Shadows." I said with a smirk. I sliced the door and kicked it hard. It went flying outwards and I ran out. I blinked in the sunlight. I glanced around. There was nowhere to hide in sight. I wouldn't survive if I set out again. In all black, I stuck out like a soar thumb in this desert village. I heard a Daytroop coming after me, so I did what was natural. I jumped up high onto the roof where they couldn't reach me. I sat there for a while, easily dodging all the bullets they shot up at me. My throat felt dry and there was sand in my eyes. I want it to rain. Then it would be darker. Wait a minute. Water! That's it! The well! I thought. I glanced around the town and saw the well. This was going to be dangerous, but ever since the Daytroops took over, the wells were connected. Kind of like a sewer system, actually. If I could get down into the well, I would be able to walk along the sides of the well system without having to swim the whole way. I took a deep breath. The well was rather far away and it wasn't really big. I would have to jump and hope for the best. I backed up to the limits of the roof and ran. I pushed off the edge with a flying leap. I flipped over in the air and landed feet first in the water of the well. I felt the stone scrape my back as I took a deep breath and went under. My body was like a pencil so I sank straight to the bottom of the well. At the bottom, my lungs were beginning to ache. I pulled the slides apart at the bottom and fell through. They closed behind me, trapping the water on the other side. I banged my knees on the metal floor, my sword smacking the floor with a ringing noise. I leaned against the wall, panting for breath. I coughed out water, my back stinging. I pulled off my hood and twisted dry my long black hair. I wiped water out of my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt, but it didn't do much good. My sweat jacket was soaked with water, so I reluctantly pulled it off. I rung it out and flapped it out. Then I laid it on a dry spot of metal. I took out my sword and pressed the tip of it to the shirt. All worn out spots turning gray, every cut or smudge, they all went away and the fabric turned ten shades darker. All the water was sucked out. I pulled the jacket back on and flipped the hood back onto my head. I looked at my surroundings. My ankles were already beginning to ache from standing on the curved floor. Water rushed through the middle of the long corridor. I looked at where I fell through. The only thing I knew about the tunnels were that they got bigger and they got smaller. Also, every twelve hours, huge fans would work in reverse to dispose of the old water in wells and fill them with new ones. I let out a sigh. The Daytroops were strange. They take over and change everything back to how they were lifetimes ago, but supposedly make it better by adding electricity and advanced technology that people back in the 27th century could only dream of. I shook my head and began walking. After a while, it became a rhythm. Walk a few yards, look left, look right, run. Hear a sound, freeze, then run. I didn't know what time it was, I couldn't see the sky. All I could see was the harsh artificial lights that stretched across the tunnels that were always on. I knew when it was midnight because the water in the wells would fall and the fresh water would rise. But other than that, I didn't know. I didn't dare stop moving because the Daytroops knew I was in the well system. But after the water rose for the second time, I was sleep walking. My eyes shot open when I heard someone call to me. I spun around, pulling out my sword and grabbing the shirt collar of the man who called to me. He had a scruffy beard and his clothes were old with holes in them. He wasn't a threat to me. I let go of his shirt and took a step back.

"Uh, sorry. You scared me." I said. The man brushed himself off, muttering under his breath. He looked up at me.

"Hang on a sec," He said, revealing some missing teeth, "I swear I seen you before." I pulled my hood up over my head and crossed my arms, putting my wait on foot, not meeting his gaze. The man snapped his fingers.

"That it! I saw you on da news, I did! I don' know what you did to 'dem Daytroops, but they be real mad 'bout you! They be callin' you a cold blooded killer that would kill ya on sight! They is talking real nasty 'bout you, Night, why if I..." He said. I whipped my head around and looked at the man.

"Night?" I asked. He just kept talking.

"I would be bustin' down that there door and marchin' up to Day! Why I would slap him so hard he would go crying back to the Sun! Oh, boy! He would..." He said. I lost my temper. I shoved him against the wall and pressed my sword to his throat.

"Did you call me Night?" I spat. The man gulped.

"Hey, missy, I ain't meanin' no trouble, I was just tellin' you what them Daytroops said and they said that you were Night! Day himself came on the big screen and set some major reward for you capture! But I ain't interested in no money, no missy, I ain't picking no fight with Night. Hey, that rhymes." The man said hurriedly. I let out a frustrated and angry groan. Then, with all my strength, I hurled the man into the stream of water.

"I am not Night!" I screamed. The man scrambled out of the water and ran in the other direction. I sighed and sank down the side of the wall. I put my head in between my knees. I took deep shuddering breaths. Day himself was after me. I must have been delusional because I began arguing with myself.

"So what if Day is after you?" My mind said.

"So what? Day can track down a Shadow like a Blood Hound looking for bacon!" I argued back. "He'll find me and kill me."

"He will try." My mind argued.

"There is no way out."

"There are limitless options."

"They think I'm Night!"

"Use it to your advantage. Act like Night."

"Where is Night?"

"Does it matter?"

"I'm going to die."

"Would you get up off your lazy, good for nothing butt and straighten those Daytroops out?"

"That's suicide."

"What have you got to lose?" I raised my head.

"What have I got to lose?" I voiced. "What have I got to lose? Nothing." I jumped to my feet, new energy coursing through me. "I'll give them a piece of my mind. You can't kill a shadow. I have had enough of those Daytroops! Night be with me and help me fool them!" I said. Then I pulled up my hood and ran. I ran past several wells before I saw one of them open up. The moon shone through. That's the one. I took a deep breath and jumped into the water. I swam up through the rising water. I broke the surface and was immediately grabbed by a group of Daytroops. They were waiting for me. The dragged me out of the water and I let them. I acted like I didn't care, getting to my feet. I rung out my hair then shook it back in place. I put my sword in it's sheath and put my hands on my hips.

"Do you guys have anything better to do than sit around guarding wells?" I questioned.

"Yes, bringing you to Day." One of them said. I tapped my chin with a finger.

"Day....Day...Oh! Day!" I said, snapping my fingers. Then I examined my hand nonchalantly. "Yea, if you say so. He's a little full of himself, if you ask me. But whatever. I don't have anything else to do, so let's go." The Daytroops blink a few times and some of the older ones actually chuckle.

"She's Night, all right." Some mutter under their breath. Others say things like, "She hasn't changed," or "That's the Night I remember." I smiled on the inside. Maybe I could convince them I was Night. But then I realized something. That would make escaping a million times harder. If I act like Night, Day will kill me in the most painful way possible.

"Too late now." My mind told me.

"I'm going insane." I thought.

"No, you're not insane. You just aren't alone."