Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  This last question was directed at Setal. As Neila’s gaze caught his, even the God became stunned. He had never seen such deep pain and suffering, which now held his attention. She did not let go his gaze, even if he wanted to turn away. He became mute, unable to answer. He completely froze where he stood.

  He had never thought, or imagined, what kind of a creature he created. At the beginning, he created borders for Neila’s power, for her own and everybody else’s safety. But in that moment she surpassed them as easily as if they were never there. How, Setal had no idea. However, that tornado of power was closing on to their level.

  “I want answers to these questions,” she said, stepping closer, which made Setal breathe even faster.

  Pictures emerged from somewhere deep inside him, which were thought forgotten. They struck his mind like lightning, making him even more miserable. They made him remember about their Home, which they left behind a long time ago.

  His superiors demanded answers this way when he meddled with topics he should not have. When he broke law after law because of his curiosity and thirst for knowledge, until he became an outcast. He chose exile by will instead of punishment, although he wanted anything but to be alone. Then his prayers seemed to be heard because he met three others who felt the same way about Life.

  But Neila has nobody. She is in the same situation as I was. And I made it so, he realised bitterly. Suddenly he felt terribly heavy and empty at the same time, as his mistake leaned on him.

  “By the love of …” murmured Yverion, eyeing the paralysed Setal beside him.

  In the last few seconds he and Arisha watched their friend closely because they felt something. They did not like his behaviour, nor his reaction to Neila. It was too similar to his breakdown just before they actually left their Home. Although he seemed to find himself again after that, diving happily into the new possibilities and plans.

  “Something happened,” said Arisha quietly. The God of the Seas only nodded.

  “We must do something,” he rumbled.

  Then he started for his friend, who still only stared into Neila’s eyes with a deathly pale face, standing still as if he were turned to stone. It seemed that whatever he accomplished after they left their Home shattered into pieces.

  However, Yverion could not take a step when suddenly everything became pitch-black around them. Arisha and Yverion turned to the newcomer calmly. The darkness had different effects on them than on the mortals, so they could see Lexénia arriving. She stepped from what seemed like a deep-black Rim.

  Nobody cared about Enargit’s confused murmuring, asking for help, nor that Neila became disoriented and let go of Setal’s gaze.

  “Let me help,” said Lexénia softly. Her voice, as always, seemed like warm velvet. She approached the others gracefully.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Setal, who now also regarded the newcomer. But his voice sounded broken and without strength, his body exhausted beyond imagination.

  Lexénia measured his broken condition with one quick look, then stepped to Neila, who just stood there, obviously not aware of the happenings. Seemingly the darkness clouded her mind enough to sedate her, forcing the tornado around her to calm down. It disappeared after a few moments. Nothing shone in her eyes now, as if her mind slipped out for a cup of tea somewhere far, far away. Enargit also stayed silent in the background, probably worked out that there was no need to panic, or do anything.

  “You really thought that I would miss … this …?” The Goddess of Death motioned at Neila as she stepped beside her. “This I could not look over. And now I will do something about it. Let me take her for a short time.”

  “Wh … what do you want to do with her?” asked Setal, stepping closer. Although he seemed that he could collapse. On the other hand, certainty shone in his eyes, showing that he would do anything to protect Neila.

  Lexénia gave a sad smile at this. In that moment, she seemed not the person who would mock the other just to have a little fun. The situation did not let her do so.

  “Worry yourself not, my dear. You’ll get her back safe and sound. I do not wish to harm her,” she answered calmly.

  Yverion and Arisha glanced at Setal questioningly, who seemed still firm. Seeing his distrust turned Lexénia’s smile bitter.

  “You know that I cannot lie.”

  “Why do you think that you can help her?” asked Arisha, concerned.

  “Because when the light shines so bright that it blinds you, only darkness could give salvation,” she said softly, almost sad.

  Lexénia softly touched Neila’s forehead. She collapsed immediately, grabbed by the Goddess. Her features were peaceful, however, as Lexénia held her in her arms. She used a spell to ease her work; otherwise, carrying an unconsciousness body would be very heavy for her, even if it was a woman’s body.

  As they left, the darkness disappeared too, making Enargit startle awake, as if he were asleep or entranced. He shook his head to get rid of the fog sitting on his mind, then looked around. He felt sick, although he still realised that his friend was missing.

  “Where is Neila?” demanded the shadow dragon more sharply than he intended. Setal flashed an angry glance at him.

  “Lexénia took her to talk to her.”

  Enargit’s jaw dropped. He was so stunned that he could not speak for several moments. He stared at the God, who quietly discussed something with his companions. At that time Setal seemed composed enough to wave away his worrying friends. They all turned to the reptile, who just blinked.

  “You need not to worry. She will be fine.”

  “How can you say that?” gasped the Leader, slowly regaining his voice. “You gave her to her biggest enemy.”

  “Lexénia promised she will give her back safe and sound. She cannot lie to us, so you need not worry. But now she is the only one who can bring her salvation.”

  Setal’s calm voice struck something in Enargit, who eyed the Gods as if they were insane. Because he fell silent, the Creators started to discuss something again.

  Enargit mused upon the situation. His heart wanted to jump out from his chest as his nervousness grew, which seemed ridiculous to him. He cared about Neila, despite his decision not to let any two-legged creatures close to him.

  He snorted at himself.

  During the last two seasons, no matter how much he tried not to, he became close to Neila, turning into friends—close ones at that, too. How and why? He could not even guess. But after Cameron left Neila, she turned into such a mess that he just could not let her alone. She was overwhelmed with Veilon’s presence and the troubles that that caused, not to mention with the war that she already considered lost.

  So Enargit wanted to help. He was not made from cold stone, as some thought; he could not let another creature suffer in front of his eyes.

  Even he did not know exactly with what he earned Neila’s trust. However, he became the only person who could come and go in and out from her room whenever he wanted. Nobody else was allowed, and usually she ceased to exist for anybody but him. To him, she never put on masks or raised walls. They talked about a lot of things, discussing theories about Life, telling stories of their pasts, or sharing their dreams, accompanied by a cup of terrific wine.

  Enargit even knew about her connection to Setal, which she kept as the greatest secret. He understood why she was shattered by Cameron’s betrayal, why she felt angry with Halgor. He could relate to her pain, what the elven’s ‘mistakes’ caused back in the Dragonwars, and to the decision when she stayed with him.

  The Leader was aware of the fact that Neila actually had a soft spot for Veilon too, from when the kobold studied at Varomor. Truth be told, the paragon almost succeeded. The only thing that held Neila back was Halgor, and that she respected their relationship.

  Although after their last argument, she probably would set the elven free. Then the paragon would have every opportunity with her, IF she decided to be available.

  Enargit would bet on t
he opposite.

  Overall, the shadow dragon knew a lot of things of Neila, which created a strong bond between them, whether the reptile wanted it or not. He could not turn back now, leaving her alone. He saw how the pressure was building up in the Master, which would burst. In his mind, nobody could prevent this from happening. Although he felt glad that the Gods became the spark of the wildfire, the crack that made the volcano erupt. He was not sure how anybody ‘mortal’ could survive otherwise.

  Yet at the moment he had another problem to deal with—question the Creators themselves. He probably would not have many chances like this in the future, so as a Leader, he could not let this slip. So he took a deep breath and interrupted the talking Gods.

  “What is your purpose with me?” he asked, which drew their attention. But their gazes showed that they had completely forgotten his presence.

  “If you have any questions, we will answer them if we can.” Arisha smiled, although mirthlessly, which made Enargit twist his mouth.

  “‘If we can’ … ridiculous …” he growled. “But ‘if you can’, please tell me who you are, why you are here, and most importantly, why have you created our worlds? World …?”

  The three friends looked at each other questioningly. Setal still seemed a little bit pale in the sunshine, yet he looked much more contained. Finally he smiled and gave in.

  “Very well … What could we lose at this point …?” he mused, then turned to the dragon.

  He held himself tall and proud. Even in a weak moment like that, he still seemed indestructible in the eyes of Enargit. The reptile felt uneasy as he stared at the God of Good, even though he probably would not hurt him. He could not do anything if he would decide otherwise, which bothered the Leader the most.

  “Our tale began on our Home planet far, far away,” started the Guardian of Plantlife. His voice softened up; his gaze became foggy. It was obvious that he had not recalled these memories for a long time now, so they hurt.

  “We belong to a species which has a master of understanding in what you here call magic. Our planet blossoms, and we live in perfect harmony and peace with each other and everything on it. Our thirst for knowledge is endless. We mostly wanted to discover the secrets the universe can offer. We researched ourselves, our planet, and then other realms, or planets as well. We discovered new dimensions, and so on. We have met many other races too. Some seemed no match for our intellect; others walked on different paths than us. Some turned to technology rather than magic; others could not imagine a better weapon than a stone tied to a stick. Some knew even more about the universe; others could not believe that we came from somewhere else.”

  Setal fell silent for a moment as he remembered. Then he took a deep breath and continued bitterly.

  “Overall, we truly lived in a perfect world. Everybody could do whatever they desired. Only one exception exists, only one was forbidden to everybody—Life. Every question which sought the meaning of Life, or how to create it, how it all began and so on—they all became Taboos.”

  “Taboo …?” asked Enargit, who started to be lost in the numerous information, since he could hardly understand their meaning. He heard words like never before and had no clue what they could mean.

  “Yes, meaning forbidden subject. It’s considered as the biggest rule-breaking, if you wanted to research Life, especially if you were interested in creating Life. Some aspects can be dealt with, like what separates the living from the non-living. We know through what points a species evolved. But what exactly made them like that, made them alive? What is the heavenly spark that made the many particles become alive …? Those questions are forbidden. There is a fine line between legal and illegal in this subject, so many rather eluded them.”

  Enargit only blinked. He had absolutely no idea what the God was talking about. He only saw their body language, which he could read well enough. These questions really upset them. Pain shone in their eyes, their features became grim. Even Arisha lost her charming smile.

  “If somebody wanted to dig a little deeper into these, they were always ‘persuaded’ to do something else. Many did; some gave a little struggle. And there was me …”

  Setal took such a deep breath that Enargit would not believe was possible. Then the God continued.

  “I lived through so many things … never giving up my research regarding Life. No matter what the Sunleaders threw at me, I never broke. I faced them alone, resuming my research in secret. I could not trust anybody, could not talk to anybody. It became a disgusting masquerade.”

  The Guardian of Good covered his face with his hands. Arisha stepped to him and drew him closer. Enargit watched them with an open mouth. However he imagined the Gods, who created the world, somehow this picture never came to his mind. They seemed … normal.

  Although as he contained himself and mused further, he never actually thought about how he would imagine a god—how they should behave, what they should look like, and so on.

  Then a word swirled back to his mind which he overlooked at first—Sunleaders. The same name that was given to Neila during the Dragonwars by the people she saved.

  Yet he did not have any time to think about that because Setal regained his strength and continued.

  “I loathed this loneliness. And one day, I still don’t know how, but the Outriders arrived to my home. They brought me before the Sunleaders for justice. Maybe they would have executed me on the spot, when …”

  Setal fell silent again. Arisha held him even closer, which seemed to comfort him. They stood like that for a few moments, then the God of Good drew himself back. He smiled at her as he let her go, although they continued to hold hands.

  “To cut this short, we saved his skin,” Yverion cut in joyfully, lightening the gloomy mood. He patted the other on the shoulder. “We knew each other with Arisha for a while when this happened and decided to step in. After we sneaked him away from the Sunleaders, the three of us continued to hide together. We planned an escape. Everything was planned carefully, and when finally the day came, Lexénia found us … I still don’t know how she did it.”

  “She never told even me.” Arisha shook her head.

  The three Creators obviously forgot Enargit altogether. They chatted as if they had a family gathering, discussing some memories from the past. Because of this, they did not care to explain anything further. Why would anybody, if a group of friends came together who had known each other for a long time? They understood each other with half-words, yet an outsider like Enargit could hardly put together even half of the story.

  “I’d never imagined that anything intelligent could exist this far after the Cataclysm.” Setal gave a laugh.

  “If you can call these intelligent,” murmured Yverion as he shook his head. “Do you remember? On one of them, those silly inhabitants started to tell stories about little grey, big-headed creatures. Where on the Source did they get that, I’ll never know. But I was starting to form a theory about the levels of primitive, and where could those be …? They represented something I’d never thought possible. Even in minus …”

  “Yes, we know you were insulted. But it is good that I have found this dimension, is it not? It proved to be the perfect starting point for our experiments,” said Arisha, “although they might not be the best base-species.” She mused for a few moments on this.

  “Why do you think we changed them so much?” asked Setal firmly. “Their mentality towards things was completely unacceptable. Although they must have done something right because some of them managed to open a Rim again to our little corner of heaven.”

  “We could manage them rather well, I think,” argued Arisha.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” murmured Yverion. “Your kobolds want to destroy the remaining humans.” He glanced at Setal, who just shrugged.

  “What can I say? They know what should be considered normal.”

  “Rather what egotism could lead to. THIS they showed perfectly, after you gave them the Caracen at the Divide,”
the Guardian of Seas argued softly. Setal glanced at him disapprovingly. He opened his mouth to defend himself, when Enargit cut in. All three of them turned to the Leader, surprised. During their little family quarrel, they completely forgot about him.

  “Wait a moment!” he snapped. “I am completely lost. Please, we need to circle back to my original question. How did you find us?”

  “The how is not interesting, nor important.” Setal waved dismissively. “Its beauty captivated us immediately, however. Furthermore, it was completely uninhabited, so perfect for our experiments.”

  “Experiments …?” asked Enargit, and he started to feel as if he should not pry. Maybe he did not want to know these things …

  The Gods exchanged looks. Their mirth disappeared, leaving them stiff. From their looks they started to understand why playing with Life was considered Taboo …

  Setal broke the momentary silence.

  “It started when we wanted to research Life, how it could be created. We could not do that in our planet, so we looked for another. As a result, we have found this one. We divided it to our liking, then began the work.”

  “We travelled for a very long time, when we finally came across to this one.” Arisha took over. “During our journey we have discovered many new species; to some we became attached. So we created Rims to let them here.”

  Enargit felt really sick at this point. He became dizzy, and his stomach seemed to turn upside down. He fought against the sudden nausea. He suspected Big Secrets in the background from the moment he discovered the Gods’ existence. But this …

  “So what you are saying is that … we …” he stammered. He had never lost his voice like this, but now it felt like his throat was closing up.

  “For many years, nothing special happened. This whole thing didn’t happen overnight, you know,” mocked Setal a little, in his usual way. “After we left our planet, we started from zero again, which meant many, many failures at the beginning. We could not create Life from nothing. We tried, believe me. So we brought in existing specimens. At that time, we already had an idea what we liked to do, create, and such.”