After venturing "Out of the Shadows" with their first arc, Umbral creators Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten promise their Image Comics fantasy series will go down "The Dark Path" in Book Two, which begins Wednesday with the release of Issue 7. They've provided ROBOT 6 with an exclusive teaser for the second chapter of their story, about a young thief named Rascal who finds some unlikely allies in her fight to stop a stealth invasion by shadow creatures known as the Umbral.

"Part of Book Two is about how Rascal deals with everything she's learned so far, and the realization that all this shit has just been dropped on her," Johnston told Comic Book Resources in late May. "She's literally carrying the fate of the world around her neck, and that's not a good place to be for anyone -- let alone a young girl who's never left her hometown before. It'll lead to some dark times, and dark places, for Rascal. But at the same time, she's a character who thrives on adversity. Events will inevitably change her, and that change is something I'm really looking forward to dealing with -- not to mention readers' reactions to it."

Umbral #7, "Killing the Sunrise," goes on sale Wednesday.