Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  Halgor had to stop thinking when they finally reached the tree, where the clothes lay hidden. He panted heavily, gulping, as his mouth became full with saliva in the cold air. His breaths surrounded him as huge white puffs, as if he had become a bright dragon, while he changed back. He often had to use his napkin too.

  The elven did not want to admit it, but the running had drawn more power from him than he anticipated. It was a long time ago when he last had to run this long and fast.

  As he quickly changed, Elnor threw himself on a trunk, trying to catch his breath. The Sun was setting, and they wanted to get back to Varomor as soon as possible.

  So Halgor created the Rim as soon as he was able to.

  Stepping through, they almost choked in the hot, damp air, yet they started to run again. Luckily for them, the Tower stood nearby; they reached the Mist soon, which gave way. The companions did not even slow down as they barged into the garden, drawing a few surprised eyes. Halgor almost skid to halt, when Eryn changed direction to meet him.

  “I … want … to … talk … to … Enargit … aahh … and the paragon …” the elven mage panted, leaning on his knees before the wraith, who stared at both of them with pure astonishment. However, he obeyed without any further ado. It obviously was not a coincidence having the elven back almost at the same time that Neila disappeared.

  “Now …” Halgor straightened up again, holding his aching side. “We should go to the study,” he muttered to the kobold beside him, who could not even nod. With a few words, they found themselves in the comfortable room.

  Elnor started to throw off every piece of clothing he could, then threw himself in a chair and started fanning himself. Even his tunic seemed to be too much, not to mention his thick trousers and boots. Meanwhile, Halgor leaned on a table, as with his other, shaking hand he poured a drink for himself. At this moment, Enargit and Veilon barged in with Eryn at their heels. The wraith wanted to go, but the heavily gulping Halgor growled something, holding up a finger to order him to stay. When the elven finished his cup, he took a deep breath.

  “So, what happened?” Veilon broke the silence with a tense voice, which made the other glance at him.

  “You know where the Master is?” Eryn asked almost at the same time. Halgor nodded, which made everybody uneasy.

  “She is at Lexénia’s stronghold,” replied the dark mage.

  The others just looked at him questioningly. He cleared his throat then explained.

  “I don’t know how she got there or when. But she is there. If I am right, there was a little scout there, a group of shadow dragons. Only one of them could make it back to Nightfort, bringing the news with him. He gave his life in the end,” he finished grimly as he leaned again on the table.

  “We need to go right away! Indrek’s on his way too with his armies,” added Elnor with a very solemn voice.

  “Yes, but first, maybe you could tell us WHAT happened that made Neila loose?” Halgor turned to Veilon with flaring eyes.

  “Nothing!” the Ruler snapped. “Nobody said anything to her. She slept after you left.”

  Halgor did not seem very convinced, yet he stayed silent. He only twisted his mouth. Especially after Enargit too just shrugged, swaying his head.

  “Anyhow, we must go as soon as possible. I am thinking just after the Moon reaches its zenith. Here is only the afternoon, but at Nightfort it is dark already,” said the elven. Enargit obviously did not like this at all, although he and Eryn left without a word to spread the news.

  “And what about Cameron? Could you talk to him? Won’t he betray us?” asked Veilon when the door was shut behind him.

  Halgor did not answer right away. He sat in one of the armchairs.

  “No, he won’t; at least, I don’t think so. But even if he tells Indrek that I was there, he has bigger problems now than dealing with me. However …”—he sighed in dismay—“he has a comfortable life there.”

  “So he won’t come home. This is not good …” muttered the paragon Ruler as he folded his arms. “This means that he will face Neila on Indrek’s side. This is bad … very bad …”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” snapped Halgor.

  “If you don’t mind me saying so, in truth, it doesn’t matter,” cut in Elnor from the other chair, drawing all attention. “From what I could gather, what happened, happened. The damage has been done. Cameron, or even you, Halgor, could beg Neila on your knees, gaining nothing. I don’t know what pushed her beyond the line, but getting her back from there …”

  Elnor swayed his head.

  The rivals stared at the illusionist as if he had just committed the biggest Sin in Life one could ever do.

  “That being said, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to tell us what you have foreseen.” Halgor turned back to Veilon, who flashed a painful grimace.

  “It wouldn’t be any use to us,” he finally replied firmly. “The point is, nobody has the slightest chance against Neila alone. We must face her together to stop her.”

  “IF you can …” added Elnor sarcastically, with which he earned the other’s piercing glance. He just shrugged at that. “But we can do nothing if we just sit here, discussing things, planning endlessly. We must act, now. First things first: we need rest. So if you don’t mind, I will find a nice little corner to curl up in and have a little shut-eye,” the kobold said, and he started for the door.

  The mages looked after him as if he had gone mad, then Veilon hurried after him before the kobold could stumble upon something dangerous. With this he also cut off Halgor’s further questioning regarding the Ruler’s knowledge of the future.

  The elven remained alone in the study. He felt nervous like he never had before in his life, which made sleep elude him completely. He paced in the room, trying to prepare himself. When his legs started to argue about this, he threw himself into the armchair and closed his eyes. He immediately fell asleep, although he could not rest for long. A servant woke him, as it was ordered to do so by the elven beforehand.

  The time had arrived to move out, so after Halgor warmed up his sore muscles and joints, he hurried down. He quickly picked up something to eat as he passed by the kitchen, then he headed out to wait with the others in the garden.

  Almost everybody was already there, standing from one foot to the other in the darkness. The dragons also crouched silently, looking as serious as they could. Even though fear shone in many eyes, loyalty overruled it. Even Veilon seemed to be grumpier than normal as he scrambled on Nightfang’s back. Enargit stayed silent; he did not offer any little suggestions or mock anybody. Nighthunter seemed to be shivering under Halgor.

  But however afraid one was, nobody bolted. Everybody waited in perfect order for the Leaders to say the word. The air became tense. Everybody knew that they were not ready for this fight, yet they must.

  Then Enargit gave the word—advance! The dragons with their companions took off. The hundred and twenty-one dragons formed groups of ten in the air, which contained at least four dragons, who had an apprentice or mage on their backs.

  The only exception was the leading Enargit and his group. Behind him flew Nighthunter with Halgor, Nightfang with Veilon, and another young shadow with Elnor.

  When the reptiles took their places in the formation, the Leader opened the Rim to Nimron, as close to Lexénia’s stronghold as he dared. He knew the landscape there better than anybody else, so he would be the most able to actually create a Rim there. It should not take more than a few moments to do so, especially for the Leader.

  Yet something went wrong.

  As Enargit tried to look for the perfect spot in the energies, he felt something … unusual … as if the World’s Power behaved differently than it should. The energy-flows seemed to be somehow flowing out from their typical channels. They felt as if they were boiling, billowing wildly without any rules or order.

  The shadow Leader was the closest to the wild freeness of the Energies, so he could get them under control the best.
Yet even he had a difficult time doing so. The misbehaving forces really gave him a tough time. As a result, it took some time for him to actually make a point stable enough for a Rim. And even after he did manage to open the Rim, it felt different—the air constantly shivered around it, as if the whole spectacle could collapse in any moment.

  “What’s taking so long?” muttered Veilon grumpily when he saw and felt the dragon’s difficulties. He frowned at the flickering air, then at the trembling Rim. It felt anything but safe.

  “Hurry, I do not know how long I can keep it open,” said Enargit, then he flew through the Rim.

  The army followed him swiftly and in order. They arrived comfortably close to the stronghold.

  But what greeted them on the other side took them by surprise, shattering their formation easily.

  “Wha … what’s going on?” cried out Halgor as he tried to take Nighthunter under control again.

  The shadow dragon behaved very confused, he could hardly stay in the fluttering air. His whole body shook terribly, making it almost impossible to fly.

  Everything seemed and felt to be boiling around the dragons—the energies obviously went crazy as they streamed all around. They bubbled up, flooding the ground, then crawled up in the air, filling it like a living energy-net.

  Everybody looked around utterly stunned in the unbridled world, especially the magic-users.

  Normally they should not feel the World’s Power as more than a comfortable tingling, which could be dismissed easily. However, what now surrounded them made them completely numb, both in mind and body.

  It felt so intense that many apprentices and dragons became sick shortly after they arrived. It seemed as if their bones themselves quivered. A few shadows even lost control of their wings, forcing them to land. But they could not find sanctuary on the ground—on the contrary, the forces were even stronger there.

  The earth itself was struggling under the pressure of these powers—trees creaked as they twisted in their stand, swaying uncontrollably, sometimes breaking. Pebbles trembled, rolling all over the ground, but even the bigger boulders shivered. Everything seemed to move, rumble, or crumble.

  As if these were not enough for a retreat, the magic-users were seriously hurting in their minds. The forces around them gave their powers as well; they had a unique and strong bond with them. If the World’s Power ‘behaved’ differently, a mage would know. And at the moment they acted more than peculiar, which almost made the magic-handlers lose their minds. Even the non-magical persons, or the animals, could feel sick. The forest looked completely empty under the army as all moving things fled the area.

  “By the Gods, what’s happening?” cried out Veilon in dismay as he struggled to keep Nightfang under control. Beside him, Halgor had the same problem with Nighthunter, but even Enargit seemed troubled to stay in the air.

  As the paragon Ruler whirled around with his dragon, something caught his eyes, making him momentarily forget about his aching body. He saw a huge dark blob moving on the ground in the distance towards Lexénia’s stronghold. Above the smudge, dark dots circled, led by a bright spot, which shone like a gem in the sky.

  “There’s Indrek! How could he get here so fast?” shouted Veilon in surprise. Halgor beside him tried to spot what he was talking about. Elnor also joined them with his dragon, staring at the slowly moving black army.

  But before anybody could say anything more, another spectacle drew their attention. They gasped at it, forgetting completely about their struggling army. They almost did not hear Talek, Eryn, or Agony’s shouts behind them as they tried to keep some order in their lines.

  In that moment, at the highest peak of the tallest tower, a flaming bright spot appeared. The fiery creature spread its wings, as if it could draw power from the chaos around it. It gave a proud roar, challenging the world. But as the companions looked closer at the creature, they discovered somebody sitting on its back. The stranger held their brightly shining sword high. They seemed indestructible, as the person sat on the great flaming dragon’s back, seemingly facing Indrek’s direction.

  The stranger even seemed to feed the forces all around, which spread out, crumbling everything even further. The ground shook more, starting to wave like water, only with greater force. And when it could not stand it anymore, it burst into a million pieces, or broke in two with a terrible roar. The air filled with tiny sparks and lightnings.

  Everything buzzed, shrieked, or rumbled in pain.

  “What did you say about the howling tornadoes and flaming dragon …?” whispered Enargit, in complete astonishment, as he stared at the huge dragon in the distance with widened eyes. He even left his mouth open. Elnor just slowly shook his head, too stunned to reply anything, just as everybody else from the companions.

  “The Overlord … Neila’s sitting on the Immortal’s back …” gasped Veilon. He did not seem to believe what he saw, that all of this could be actually true.

  “This is the Overlord, against whom you fought during the Dragonwars, is he not?” asked Enargit hoarsely. The others only nodded. “The Immortal, who was created by Lexénia, and who is her loyal subject?”

  “Indeed …” whispered Halgor.

  “Then how …?” asked the dragon, still utterly baffled, but he only got a few shaking heads.

  “However this could happen, she’s ready to charge at Indrek. We need to intervene,” said Veilon, who maybe got himself together the fastest, as if he could adjust to the situation more easily. He seemed deadly pale nonetheless, and uncertainty shone in his eyes, albeit he was obviously ready to fight. Just as the rest of them.

  Enargit nodded in agreement, and he turned around to give the order to the army, but he was surprised to see—almost no army remained. Most of the dragons had to retreat immediately because they could not handle the raging powers around them, or they had to take the apprentices into safety for the same reasons. The skies were full of uncertain circling reptiles, who obviously did not know what to do.

  However, the Leader had no time to think about the situation.

  “Alright, whoever can follow, join me. The rest go to safety immediately!” He shouted the order, then turned around, heading for Indrek’s army.

  He could not spend any more time worrying about the rest, although he would if he could. The ones who had to stay behind still were not out of danger, nor did they have an easy time retreating. Even though the apprentices or mages tried to help the dragons the best they could, most of them were too weak to do anything.

  Rita and Kira took the lead when they saw nobody else was able to. Agony, Talek, and Eryn managed somehow to join Enargit and the others.

  So the girls sought for a far enough place where they could wait for the leaders. Then they also organised the scouts, who always watched the skies.

  The girls felt still very worried about the members of the caste. They had spent enough time with them to know they must have felt devastated by the retreat. Even if the situation was way beyond their capabilities, they made a promise to Neila, which they now broke. They felt as if they had let down their Master, not to mention her other companions, such as Enargit.

  Little time had passed when all the inhabitants of Varomor joined the ‘safe-place’. The last ones to arrive were Agony, Talek, and Eryn. They lived to tell the truth about how Cameron attacked Enargit at one point, but then a terrible explosion forced them back. They knew nothing about the end of that battle, nor what happened to the others.

  Everybody became worried as the world seemed to crumble around them. They put their faith in the strongest of them, who had to face the danger alone.

  Enargit, alongside the others, headed forwards, right into the heart of danger itself. They almost immediately forgot about the rest of the army as they eyed the happenings in front of them. As they approached the Overlord, the powers rampaged with more and more strength around them. Nothing could feel safe from the forces that ripped out trees from their places, making them fly like darts through
the air. Or they made huge chunks of earth explode as they collided.

  The companions had to be very careful. Even the air itself could boil or bubble, tossing them around without a sign. These could easily tear them apart or injure them seriously.

  The companions decided to face Neila first, who seemed to set eyes only on Indrek. She and the Overlord still sat on the rim of the tower, although in the next moment the huge fire dragon spread its wings, then took off. He started for Indrek and his army, gliding slowly on the backs of the winds.

  “I have an idea,” shouted Enargit to the others, trying to outroar the buzzing of the air. “I will try to get to Indrek first. Maybe I can talk some sense into them and make the army turn around. They all will perish if they face Neila,” said the Leader to the others, who nodded. “You try to slow down Neila, if you can. But take great care, you must prevail!”

  The mages only nodded with a painful grimace.

  Arisha’s Chosen One broke off from them, gaining speed. He flew as fast as he could in the given circumstances. Luckily for him, the Overlord took his time, gliding slowly, as if he were taking a pleasant little trip. Which meant that the shadow should get to Indrek sooner.

  As he glanced at his brother and his army, he saw that the bright little spot at the lead suddenly changed direction, heading for him. Enargit gave a faint smile at this, although Indrek himself seemed to be arguing with Cameron about his decision.

  “I see … so you would rather face me first. Good,” muttered the Leader as he frantically changed direction to avoid a huge tree streaming at him. Even if everybody was in constant danger at all times, Enargit still thought that as long as Cameron and Indrek did not face Neila directly, everybody would be safer.

  The two dragons slowly got into attack range, when suddenly the world seemed to explode around Enargit. He felt that a cluster of air boiled up right beside him without any sign, then those ‘bubbles’ expanded, making him lose balance and fall to the ground.