Darkshore

by C S Harrop

  Asha stepped over to the melted chest keeping her emotions fully under control and concentrated with her outstretched palm until the marks glowed a brilliant blue. Moments past then suddenly multiple bolts protruded outward simultaneously in clouds of dust. Asha crouched down and slowly lifted open the lid and reached carefully inside and lifted out what seemed like ash coloured scaled armour. Laying the items gently on the ground taking note of a chest piece along with long forearms braces and matching boots that all had a finely carved design engraved into the hard dark leathery surface. Lastly, Asha lifted out what seemed to be a full body base layer made with a kind of soft but smooth material in which Asha had never felt before.

  “Interesting but not unexpected. These Asha are not the kind of armour you would get down in the market square. They were forged by the very fire of the dragon of Angar, your father’s home country. The armour are crafted with dragons scales and the base layer which goes under the armour is made from dragon skin that can protect you from any environment hot or cold,” explained Elder Fallon in total awe lightly touching the surfaces. “You see Asha dragon scales are indestructible only their own fiery breath can unmake them. What your father has given you here is more priceless and rare then anything I know of in this world.”

  “Are you saying my father was Angarian, I thought he was from the Tudorian Valley like my mother?” Asked Asha taken aback by the news but at the same time joy that her father had thought of her and given such a precious gift.

  “Your father is definitely of Angar he has the no nonsense temperament that all Angarians have. Did you know he met your mother right here in Myst it didn’t take them long to fall in love.” Explained Elder Fallon.

  “I never knew that, Aunt Elora wouldn’t tell me anything about my family only that they loved me very much.”

  “She couldn’t you see, it broke her heart that she was unable to tell you much more just in case you accidentally spoke just one word for Onyxia’s spies to hear. It was a risk she was not willing to take,” said Elder Fallon.

  “I wish I knew them Elder Fallon, why me? Why did this have to happen to me?” Questioned Asha with clenched fists and rising anger. “I promise I will make that witch Onyxia pay for what she has done.”

  “Calm yourself child her fate has already been written. Your father’s blood certainly runs through your veins,” replied Elder Fallon with a hint of a smile.

  “My markings on my palms, are they of Angarian Elder Fallon, or am I Tudor like my mother?” Asked Asha feeling that pieces of her life and heritage are starting to fit together giving her a place in the world and not just a vagabond roaming the lands.

  “Yes Asha, you take the markings of Angar. But before we delve deeper you should get dressed and I’ll meet you back in the main hall, the prophecy is upon us,” replied Elder Fallon stepping out from the room and disappeared down the corridor.

  Asha stood motionless and overwhelmed staring at the armour wandering if her father foresaw her coming to Andoria and to train as a Guardian, which also means he must have known it to be a pivotal moment of the prophecy depending on the path she chose. With her attention soon flicked back to reality she dropped to her knees and started lightly touching the armour with her fingertips feeling the hard leathery texture and engravings. The thought of her father making this armour for her with the fiery breath of the dragons made her feel warm inside and for the first time in what seems like an age a smile slowly grew on her face.

  The armour was tight fitting that felt strange at first as it came down in scaled armoured section from her neck stopping halfway down her thighs. With a large belt at the waist and a selection attached compartments with her Angar family crest engraved on the buckle. Overall the armour was surprisingly very light and the base layer that had a faint vain like pattern fit like a second skin that was the perfect thickness and flexibility. She walked around the room a couple of times altering and shifting in her armour and braces until the fitting sat just right, she stopped and took a deep breath then looked down at herself with a sudden feeling of pride and importance and a much needed sense of belonging.

  Back in the main hall Elder Fallon stood patiently stroking his greying beard pondering over future events with the hope Asha will be up to the task and what her next step should be. A Short time had passed when Asha appeared down the corridor. A completely different person seem to be walking towards him, his lined face spoke volumes has he tried suppressing a smile. Surprising himself how far Asha had come in her training and maturity in so little time. Most importantly, Elder Fallon knew in the back of his mind that she was now better prepared to fulfil the prophecy from the emotional girl who first came to Myst.

  “Now I see your father in you,” stated Elder Fallon gazing at a mature young woman in her dragon scaled armour.

  “Earlier you mentioned delving deeper in regards to my father and I have a feeling Elder Fallon there is something you’re not telling me?” quizzed Asha.

  “My dear, there are lots of questions in the world that should never be answered, but in regards to your father this is not one of them. As you know, the prophecy began the day you were born. Which is also the reason why your Aunt Elora has kept you safe by living in isolation your whole life. It took a lot of persuading to leave you in Elora’s care but even your father knew the danger would be too high to roam freely,” explained Elder Fallon.

  “What! I always assumed my father died around the same time as my mother, Elder Fallon is my father still alive?” Questioned Asha apprehensively not knowing what she would do with the answer.

  “You must understand Asha when your mother died curtain precautions had to be put into place to keep you safe at all cost. Even if that means a father not been able to see his daughter which would emotionally tear him apart,” Elder Fallon replied slowly walking around the room stroking his beard looking down at the floor in a kind of deep thought.

  “Is he alive, is my father alive Elder Fallon?” Asked Asha impatiently.

  “Your father is.”

  “My god, all this time I thought he was dead, why didn’t Aunt Elora tell me? Why hasn’t he come for me?” Shouted Asha finding this news hard to believe but very welcoming all the same knowing her father is out there somewhere.

  “Do you think it was easy for Elora to keep the truth from you, trust me it broke her heart doing so, your safety was her only concern. However, your father Kailan Bourn on the other hand has been in solitude on the Isle of Angar since your mother’s death. He took her death very hard and with his typical Angarian short fuse he headed east in a rage that shook the very boarders of Draknar single handily killing legions upon legions of orc. He eventually to give up the search for Onyxia, by this time you were already living with your Aunt Elora settled and in hiding. Your father eventually went back to his home on the Isle of Angar that is when I personally travelled there and explained to your father that you had actually survived and your mother had scarified herself for you. You can imagine his shock then I had to convince him to leave you in Elora’s care for your own safety, you can imagine how hard that was for a father but he saw sense eventually. You would never have been truly safe even in Angar if Onyxia knew you were there.

  The day I left Angar was the last day I saw your father, over seventeen years ago now but he never stopped thinking of you. He insisted to be kept up to date by your Aunt Elora which I arranged through various methods but always handwritten and never by message orb which could reveal your location,” Elder Fallon noticing a sudden weight had been lifted from Asha’s shoulders.

  “Why hasn’t my father joined the war against Onyxia he must realise what’s happening out there I thought he would jump at the chance to kill her?” Asked Asha.

  “I’m sure he would if there is one person Onyxia is scared of and that’s Kailan but he knows the prophecy is of the highest importance and he wouldn’t want to interfere which could have a devastating effect.”

  “I have to see him, I must leave for An
gar. My father will help me destroy Onyxia I know he will,” insisted Asha heading for the exit.

  “Stop!” Shouted Elder Fallon halting Asha’s mid step. “Your paths will cross in time and when it does this world will tremble with the power of the Bourn family. Your father has not sacrificed eighteen years of your life for you to abandon the prophecy for a family reunion. You must continue the journey that has been placed upon you and your next step started when you put on that armour.”

  Asha paused in thought fighting the temptation to just abandon everything and somehow make her way to Isle of Angar as fast as possible. Looking back glancing over Elder Fallon’s shoulder Asha noticed a glimmer of metal emanating from the sculpture of the Guardians symbol. Asha’s passion for the order cleared her mind almost instantaneously with a feeling of shame soon followed realising how easy she would have abandoned it.

  “I’m sorry Elder Fallon been a Guardian is my life now the thought of seeing my father is overwhelming and the burden of the prophecy is weighing heavily on my shoulders,” explained Asha.

  “You will never be alone within the order, you will realise in time Asha that we are family also. As for your father and believe me when I say this, you will be meet when the time is right. I will send messengers to the Isle of Angar to inform him of your arrival and progress I’m sure he will be pacing not hearing from Elora for such a long time,” Elder Fallon said easing Asha’s mind.

  “I wait anxiously for that day,” Asha stated with hope. “But where must I go now Elder Fallon and what must I do to defeat Onyxia?”

  “Don’t worry about where or what you must do the prophecy is not a step by step guide it doesn't work in that way, it mentions certain events that have past and have yet to pass. Your path now is with the Guardian, events in the prophecy will happen naturally through you live your life. I believe my task is to point you in the right direction,” answered Elder Fallon. “But before we begin take this it is the cloak of the guardians it will keep you warm and dry in the coldest and wettest of places.”

  “Thank you I shall wear it with honour,” replied Asha fastening the dark hooded cloak around her shoulders with the clasp in the design of the Guardians three-ringed symbol. “Now Elder Fallon where must I go, I feel ready for any task you set me?”

  “Where you must go you can’t get to by foot, you must teleport or Dusting as it’s called around the Core but not in the usual way you may have seen,” explained Elder Fallon.

  “I don’t understand I thought teleportation is only possible using powder?” asked Asha a little confused.

  “There is a big piece of information I chose not to mention that’s wrote in the prophecy regarding the Lost Soul, which is you. What do you think happened to you at Witherbark when you were trapped up in the cage and then you suddenly vanished?” Elder Fallon asked.

  “Just the same as I mentioned before, knowing what I know now I probably teleported by accident, I also saw Aunt Elora so I was probably was hallucinating,” answered Asha.

  “You were not hallucinating Asha. Now this is the most important question I will ask you, did you know where you went?” Elder Fallon stroking his beard in a kind of deep thought.

  “It was hard to tell at first, I remember I was standing on a white sandy beach, situated in a cove surrounded by tall cliffs. It was twilight with the sun disappearing over the horizon and a large bright moon that shone down on a thin covering of mist across the calm waters that sparkled like silver. Oh and also a small wooden walkway that stretched into the sea,” Asha remembering the best she could considering the situation she was in at the time.

  “What I tell you next you might find hard it to believe but I speak the truth when I tell you this, you are what is known as a Shade,” Elder Fallon said watching Asha’s reaction closely.

  “I have never heard of a Shade before, what is one?” Asked Asha looking rather confused.

  “On very rare occasions a person will be born with the mark of a Shade on their palms along with their lineage,” explained Elder Fallon in a strangely deeper voice. Taking hold of to her hands tight and tighter still until his eyeballs rolled up and turned what Asha thought to clouds of grey. “The last Shade I blessed was over eight hundred lifetimes ago. A Shade has the ability to step from this world to the realm of the dead; most beings know this place as Darkshore. Only the chosen with the mark from the gods themselves are able to crossover at will, that person must be pure of heart with a lineage that have proved themselves far greater than any normal person or creature would dream of,” explained Elder Fallon with no thought or control of his own body and mind.

  Asha unnervingly pulled her hands free and took a few steps backward believing Elder Fallon had gone slightly mad or was a strange kind of test with some hidden meaning.

  “It can’t be true Elder Fallon. When I saw Aunt Elora walking straight towards me it was because I wanted to see her, I miss her so much. Ghosts don’t exist nor does the afterlife they are just childish stories and I don’t see how all of this talk of the dead is helping,” replied Asha feeling very uneasy at the sight and behaviour of Elder Fallon.

  Elder Fallon stopped short and expressionless. He opened his mouth abnormally wide then from nowhere he let out a loud bellowing noise that shook the whole room like an earthquake in annoyance of Asha’s generic beliefs hoping to free her stubborn mental blocks and open up her mind. Asha dropped to her knees in pain holding her hands to her ears as the deepened voice of Elder Fallon echoed around every room and corridor.

  “A lost soul trapped in a shade’s blight,

  she travels towards darkness

  a bringer of death and the first spark of light.

  Light against dark will be equally torn,

  from the ashes of a great war

  will bring a new age of a new dawn.

  What hangs in the noose will come to all,

  when surrounded by destruction

  her Angarian soul does not choose to fall.

  From out of the shadow will arise another,

  a second spark of light and

  like fellow Guardians you will call brother.”

  Elder Fallon’s eyes returned to a pale blue along with the normality in his voice. Although a little shaky, Elder Fallon clearly knew something had happened looking around the dusty room and rubbing his eyes for an answer to his lost moments in time. Asha was on the verge of explaining what just happened but held herself back. Explaining to him that his body had just been taken over by some higher being would sound unbelievable and he would think she had lost her mind.

  “Let’s explain what a Shade is another way shall we, as the saying goes - seeing is believing. I want you to clear your thoughts and think hard of that same white sandy cove and keep that image firmly in your mind, and then I want you to concentrate your power on that image,” Elder Fallon said putting the strange sensation to the back of his mind and continued as if nothing had happened.

  “I have no dust Elder Fallon if you want me to travel there.”

  “You don’t need it Asha, you’re a Shade.”

  “OK, are you sure? I could end up anywhere even on the coastal area of Mordrath,” asked Asha more concerned with his recent possession and why it spoke the words of the prophecy to her.

  “Humour me,” replied Elder Fallon with a weary smile. “We shall meet again when your role in this prophecy is nearing an end.”

  Asha bowed her head in acknowledgement then reluctantly closed her eyes and pictured the white sandy beach of Darkshore. It took her a few attempts to settle her mind from the recent events. Her palms began to shimmer with a faint blue aura, after a brief pause taking a last glimpse at Elder Fallon Asha relaxed and let out a short controlled breath - then she vanished.

  Chapter 15

  A Goblin's Tale

  Dawn broke with a faint fog settling on the quite streets and alleyways of the city of Myst. Traders were the only people up and about so early in the morning setting up their stalls in the best possi
ble spot with various merchandise to later entice and swindle the populace out of their wealth and belongings.

  The Core however has not had a quiet period for what seems like forever. Guardians came and went from the main courtyard leaving behind remnants of black dust scattered and dissolving throughout the air as they vanished. Riven and Willow had become restless for some time waiting for some movement from the Arch’s large oaken doors, to see their friend Asha once again and to see how much she has changed over the long period of time they had been away.

  Finally, they rushed to their feet as they heard a creak from the old hinges of the double doors as they slowly began to swing open. Stood there was the drained figure of Elder Fallon slightly hunched over, it looked to Riven and Willow the war and the prophecy was clearly pressing down on his shoulders. Riven and Willow moved quickly to his side offering aid along with the realisation there was one person missing - Asha.

  The cool refreshing morning air and a couple of slow deep breaths rejuvenated Elder Fallon rather quickly straightening his spine to his usual sturdy posture and took the pair for a steady walk back to the Spire.

  “Is Asha still in the Arch Elder Fallon I thought she would of completed her training by now?” Wandered Willow looking back seeing the double doors slowly close.

  “She has surpassed her training Willow better than I could have imagined and in such little time and at her age is quite remarkable. She is now on her own path of discovery seeking answers to questions she doesn’t yet know to ask,” replied Elder Fallon.

  “You know I don’t understand your riddles Elder Fallon,” Riven said shaking his huge furry head in annoyance.

  “It means what Asha needs now is life experience which naturally raises questions but when answered this forms wisdom which will make her much stronger in many ways. She knows her fate is to eventually face Onyxia but for her to get to that moment in time is unknown. With time unfolding with every sunset which only means the prophecy will come to a head sooner rather than later, I just showed Asha her destination the path she chooses to get there is for her to decide.”