The Man's Journey II

It was pitch black in the valley of darkness, and very cold. Knelt in calm meditation, the man's eyes flickered behind his lids, focused on something unseen. The darkness moved toward him, surrounding and imposing.

"Give me strength," he whispered.

His eyes shot open and stared into the darkness.

"I am not afraid," he said evenly.

A black orb whizzed by his head, taking a lock of hair in its pass. The man's hand shot up, missing the orb by a mile.

"I am not afraid," he said more forcefully.

Another orb. It shot down low, grazing his leg and drawing blood. This time, the man could not help but wince a little.

"I am not afraid," he grumbled with wrath. He began to preternaturally glow, holy light flooding from his eyes and hands. I am strong enough, the man thought.

The darkness replied with a shotgun blast of black orbs, striking the man dead center in the chest. He flailed his arms as he was slammed on his back. He was afraid. But he could not show it.

Wrath. Yes. Fight fire with fire.

"I. . . AM. . . NOT. . . AFRAID!!!" his voice turned guttural, his eyes red and the light from his hands diluted with blackness.

Flipping to his feet, the man lunged toward the darkness with his fingers shaped like talons, striking first, then kicking. An aerial flip lead to two consecutive roundhouses, a reverse aerial roundhouse, and a dual pluck with his fingers. The darkness materialized in many different shapes, but the man overcame them. The orbs were first deflected, but before long he had a massive handful of dark substance.

"I AM NOT AFRAID!!!" he vehemently repeated as he began to devour the darkness he had scourged, black juices dripping from his face like grapes, feasting on the suffering he knew he was bringing the darkness.

"I am not afraid," he whispered with ecstasy. "And I have won." His voice was so guttural it was a bark.

Laughter rose up from his lungs. It was only a chuckle at first, but then voracious laughing exploded from his chest with his head pointed at the sky.

Pain.

It hurt. Badly. He grabbed his stomach and doubled over in agony.

"I won," he repeated, trying to convince himself. He wretched all over himself.