Between Darkness and the Light

by Paul T. H. Mitchener

  “Wow… that’s wonderful… What is it?” he asked before taking another sip. “It’s made from nectar… Many centuries ago, the Greeks and Romans called it the drink of the gods. They believed that it sustained their beauty and immortality… I have no idea if any of that is true… I make it because I love the taste… and I need to drink a lot of it to maintain my strength… These wings of mine take up a great deal of energy and hopefully it should be enough to see us both through tomorrow.”

  Henry sat back and rested his head and watched as Bree rummaged through her pouches. When she noticed him watching her, she smiled, making Henry blush again and look away hurriedly. “We must rest… it’s been a long day,” he said, trying to hide his red face. “It has indeed… especially for you, my sweet Henry… I’m sorry to say… tomorrow isn’t going to be much better,” she replied. “Your mother wishes us to meet with her before nightfall, so we will have to set off just after sunrise… It’s a good day’s travelling from here.” Henry placed the spear shaft on the ground next to him and turned to face Bree. In the soft, yellow glow of the shelter they both locked eyes. Bree gave Henry a beaming smile, the most wonderful smile he had ever seen. A little embarrassed, he gave a smile back and with that they both made ready their beds of grass and lay down side by side to settle in for the night.

  Henry couldn’t be happier. He knew without a shadow of doubt that Bree would be his lifelong friend. However, in his heart he hoped that it would become more.

  CHAPTER THREE

  With so much on his mind, Henry found that he couldn’t sleep. For most of the time he lay watching Bree as she slept. She was so beautiful, a little odd perhaps, with her grass-coloured hair and her wings, but there was a lot more to her than just beauty. She had a calming effect on him and made him feel as if he could achieve anything if she was there to support him.

  After a while he sat up. Bree opened her eyes and looked over to him. She had allowed the yellow orb light to burn down, but being a woodland creature, her eyesight was well adapted to seeing in the dark. She watched as he sat up and stretched his muscles. She loved everything about him, his unkempt, red hair and his brilliant, bright green eyes. She continued watching him for a moment, taking in every part of his handsome face. “Is everything alright, my sweet?” she asked, whilst sitting up. She leant over to light the little orb again. “You look troubled,” she said. Henry didn’t reply straightaway, instead continuing to stare out of the opening into the darkness beyond.

  Something had been playing on his mind all day, eating away at him until he could hold out no longer. He looked into Bree’s eyes and was immediately disarmed by her beauty. “Can you answer something for me?” he said, trying to fight the urge to just grab hold of her and kiss her. “I feel as though things are deliberately being kept from me… What is it that Acca, Bert and my mother are not saying?”

  Bree sat forward: he could feel her sweet breath on his face. “If I can,” she replied softly. “First of all,” Henry said, taking a deep breath, “what is the danger that the world faces and Acca and the others talk about between themselves…? And how am I supposed to do anything about it?” Bree was quiet for second or two and then moved a little closer to sit right next to him. “My sweet Henry… I would love to try and explain everything to you… but I’m sure your mother is far better suited than I am in these matters… Can it wait until the morning?” Henry felt as though he was about to lose his temper, not so much with Bree but because of the frustration he felt at not knowing. He felt as though he was being pushed from pillar to post, nobody wanting to tell him the truth, and he had just about enough of it.

  “Are you going to tell me or not…? Aren’t you supposed to be my guide or something?” he said a little too abruptly. “I am,” she replied, sounding a little hurt by Henry’s outburst. “I will try to tell you everything I know… which isn’t that much,” she replied in her usual sweet voice. “But in order to do so you must be patient… Like Acca I must take you a long way back in time… Some of what I say may be difficult for you to understand at first.”

  She paused, waiting to see Henry’s response. He didn’t reply, so she continued. “Okay… you already know something of the shadow master and the darkness… but not how they relate to all the things around us… My sweet Henry, there is… and always has been darkness in the world, long before there was light… Dark matter holds us all together… but on its own, life simply cannot exist… For that we need the light.” She paused a second. “These two simply have to exist together to maintain the balance of everything in the cosmos… They have been in existence long before life itself… Both, my sweet, are just as important as the other.” She paused and placed her small hand onto his. “To hold the status quo on this small world and way beyond… the two have always worked in harmony… However, the balance has always been slightly in favour of the light which has helped life in this world flourish… But before I say more, you must understand that when I use the terms light and darkness, it’s not how bright or how dark things are.” She paused again to be sure that he understood what she was saying. He nodded for her to continue.

  “It’s not always possible for any of us to say what’s good in this world or what’s bad,” she continued. “What may seem good to one person may seem bad to another… There are no clear lines… no absolute, but… most of us feel that we know the difference between right and wrong and, as such, try to live within those constraints… We hope to do what’s right, but more often we find a balance between the two… Because that’s what’s really important to this world: balance.”

  Bree paused again. “However, my sweet… it doesn’t take much to upset this fine balance… At the moment it’s leaning too much towards the darkness… Unfortunately, this is because the shadow master and its followers don’t live within the same constraints as us…Whilst the light tries to maintain the status and life… The darkness strives to increase its influence and tries to tilt the balance in its favour… to enhance its power in the world and if it succeeds… then it will change the whole world at its will… It wishes to turn this wonderful world of ours into an endless darkness… and won’t stop until it’s a lifeless shell.”

  Bree shuffled closer to Henry and placed her other hand on his. “I’m sorry if this all sounds a bit odd… but you asked for all the facts.” Bree gave a brief, understanding smile. “I know it doesn’t help you… but you need to understand where you fit into all of this…You see, those of us who work and live for the light have always tried to keep the balance in our favour, which has always aided life to develop and allow it to flourish in this wonderful world… Animals, nature and man… all one… and all in harmony.” She smiled again when she noticed the concerned look on Henry’s face. “Unfortunately, my sweet… things have changed for the worst… and have done so ever since man decided he no longer needed to live and work with nature to survive… Over time they discovered tools that would change the land and eventually change the world itself… forever.” She shifted herself closer still to Henry.

  “Man used his tools to suit his own needs… He uses them without regard for the consequences for the land and the wildlife that depend on it… That alone might have been manageable, but then man became greedy and started to take far more from the land than he needed… And as greed and the need for power grew… so did the darkness… It took the opportunity to latch onto all those many negative human emotions and started to grow stronger… Feeding on man’s fears and hates and desires, and doing its best to increase man’s greed fourfold.” Henry shuffled a little uncomfortably. Still thinking of himself as human, he didn’t much like what he was hearing, but he could relate to everything Bree was saying, so he decided to remain quiet, allowing her to continue uninterrupted. He asked the question, but that didn’t mean he liked the answer.

  Bree continued. “The darkness has always helped maintain the balance and up to now, has been content to be confined to night and the shadows… But recently the shadow m
aster servants, shadow walkers, have started to venture out at dusk and dawn, a sign that the balance is shifting…The shadow walkers prowl streets and towns and the people who live within… lurking in the shadows feeding on their fears, their envy and their greed, making the darkness stronger and bolder each and every day.” Bree now placed her hands on Henry’s cheek and turned his face to hers. “Humans are still a young species to the world and have much to learn, and they need time to allow themselves to develop to their full potential…They are the most creative and most curious about all species… but naive… Their creativity has helped them to develop their skills and technology faster than they can control it, and as a result innocently they have damaged the world more than any other species has ever done, both living and dead.” Bree paused to try and find the right words.

  “Humans tend to fear what they don’t understand, which makes them a dangerous species… Unlike many creatures, humans have the ability to show love and compassion to others and to care for other living species… However, their curious nature and need and desire to understand everything around them open them to negative and disruptive thoughts and actions… Food for the shadow walkers to feed upon…This negativity helps the darkness to grow and it will continue to grow as long as man put himself outside nature and the earth that nurtures them.”

  Henry loved the feel of Bree’s hands on his face. He had yearned for her touch ever since they left the clearing that morning. Her scent was driving him wild: it wasn’t the kind of scent that you could find in a bottle. It was just… well, it was just her. Being so close to her and feeling her breath on his face was almost overwhelming. He desperately wanted to hold her in his arms and never to let her go. Even after all that had happened and all that had been said, he still had to fight his overwhelming emotions towards her.

  “Are you alright, my sweet?” Bree enquired softly. “Your mind seemed to be somewhere else.” Henry snapped. “Yes…! I’m fine… Sorry, just trying to take it all in, that’s all,” he replied, going a little red-faced. Bree smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “You must try to accept what’s happening, my sweet… your life is in danger… and every point I’m making may help you stay alive and help me to protect you… If you don’t understand or except all that I’ve said… we’re lost,” she said, showing a hint of concern. “Okay… okay, I’m listening, but I still don’t know how I’m supposed to make people behave any differently than they do… And even if I could… would it make that much difference?”

  He paused a second to compose himself a little, and continued in a less aggrieved tone. “It’s just not possible to change people’s behaviour… Even if it were, how does anybody expect me to do anything about it…? I mean… I’m just a mere teenager… I have no skills… no talents and absolutely no experience with life outside my own little world… which up to yesterday happened to be a small town in Hampshire!” Henry blurted out with frustration. “In just one short day I’ve been told that my mother is some kind of wood fairy or whatever… my father was a Saxon warrior who was killed by my mother hundreds of years ago… but that’s not all… To top it all off, I’m not what I thought I am… Not much for a lad of my age to take in…? Oh! I nearly forgot… I’m meant to be a bearer of the Wyvern, whatever that means.”

  On mentioning the Wyvern, he could see the look of horror on Bree’s face. He put his head into his hands to give a silent scream. He was on the verge of losing his mind. Up to now he hadn’t really been taking in what Acca had said and shown, or what he had witnessed his mother do the night before, but saying it out loud helped it all sink in. Not wanting Bree to see him show any more weakness, he pushed her to one side and crawled to get out of the opening, and then disappeared into the darkness of the night with a worried looking, and rejected Bree following close behind him.

  Once outside, Henry walked a short distance from the tree hollow, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the night. He took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh, cool night air, hoping that in some way it would make him feel a little better. Bree was alongside him within seconds, but she suddenly grabbed his arm in warning. Henry looked down at her only to see that she had a look of dread on her face, but she wasn’t looking at him at all but directly in front of them. She seemed to see or sense something he couldn’t. Henry turned wearily to see if he could see anything, still trying to adjust his eyes to the poor light.

  At first, the only things he could see or make out were the shadows of trees and bushes, then as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could just make out a large shadow, a large cloaked and hooded figure standing just a few yards from where they were. The figure was well over eight feet tall, and darker than the night itself. It seemed to fade in and out of existence, one minute solid, the next almost transparent, and then back again. Henry had no idea what it was but one thing he was sure of and that was it wasn’t of this world… or the next. In its left hand it held out to the side a large sword which, unlike the figure, didn’t fade, it was solid… A sword Henry had seen earlier that day, the sword that was strapped to the waist of a Saxon: it was the sword worn by Alfwald! Why would this thing be in possession of his father’s sword? Then it dawned on him… Is this really Alfwald… his father?

  Bree edged forward, attempting to place herself between Henry and the creature, but Henry instinctively pushed her behind him and held her there. The figure didn’t move, a shadow within shadows, fading in and out of existence, sword held out away from its body, glinting in the broken moonlight. “You are the son of Aldin,” it said in a deep, harsh, breathless voice, more of a statement than a question. The voice cut right through both Henry and Bree like a knife. It wasn’t just words: the voice had a real presence to it. Bree struggled to get in front of Henry but again he held her firm, keeping her behind him and hoping to shelter and protect her from the creature if it decided to advance – not that he could do much about it if it did. The figure still made no attempt to move, but repeated what it had just said. “You are the son of Aldin.”

  Henry was terrified, but still managed to find the tiny bit of courage he had left deep inside to answer. Trying to stand taller, he took a deep breath and just managed to answer. “I am the son of Hazel… If Aldin is the same person, then yes… And if you are Alfwald… then I’m your son, too,” Henry replied, hoping not to provoke him. “Your destiny lies with me, son of Aldin,” it said, ignoring Henry’s attempt to stand up to it. “My destiny lies in my hands and no other,” Henry replied with an air of determination in his voice. Somehow he knew that a figure like this would recognise weakness, so he tried his utmost not to show any.

  “You have spirit, boy.” It paused. “You will join me so that we may fulfil our destiny together…You will come with me now.” Henry was now feeling a little bolder and shouted back to it, “I’m my own person and follow no one…! Especially not you… And as for joining you and our… so-called destiny…” He was cut short in the blink of an eye. The figure was now standing directly in front of him and only inches from his face.

  It had moved so fast that Henry didn’t even see it. It now towered over him, blocking out everything around them. The creature was so close he could feel the cold hand of death and the terrible smell of rotting decay made him shiver to his bones.

  “You will join me, boy,” it said now with more than a hint of danger in its voice, the sword still held out to one side as if ready to strike. Bree tried again to break Henry’s grip: it was her duty to protect him and she could do nothing whilst Henry held her back. But, despite her struggling, Henry still managed to keep hold of her and hopefully out of harm’s way. “I’ll join no one… I am my own man and I alone will choose my destiny… not you… not my mother… and certainly not a bloody tree!” Henry said with slightly less composure than he had a moment before.

  He was absolutely terrified but was still managing to pull on all his resolve to stand up to the creature. It bent over and leant forward so that its face was level with Henry’s and pul
led back its hood a little to reveal its eyes or, more to the point, the deep empty, black whirlpools that had replaced them. Henry held his breath but still managed to stand his ground. He was terrified, not just for his own safety, but also for Bree’s, and hoped if he could keep the focus on him it wouldn’t notice her. The breath of the creature was so foul it made Henry want to retch. “You are a fool…You know not whom you defy,” it said, as if it was a warning.

  Henry knew that he shouldn’t antagonise the creature any more than he already had, so he tried a different approach. “I know who… or, more to the point, what you were… I know by the sword that you carry… that you were once known by the name of Alfwald… the great warrior and clan leader.” He paused to take a breath and retched again due to the smell. “I’ve been told that you are also my father.” With that, the figure tended to grow even larger. It stood up to its full height and roared with a horrifying sound. Around them, the air suddenly went icy-cold as the shadow grew, sucking in all light around it, making the night so dark that even the creature itself disappeared.

  Henry took a step back, nearly falling over Bree. “You fool!” it roared. “You will join me… If not… the shadow master will destroy all that you care for… and all that you love.”

  With that, the creature made a gesture with his free hand as if lifting something or, more to the point, someone in the air. Henry felt Bree break loose of his grip as she was lifted into air like a rag doll with an invisible hand. Bree thrashed and twisted whilst holding her throat with her hands. All the while Alfwald held out his arm, suspended her by the neck. She just hung in the air and Henry was unable to help her. A second later, the creature opened its hand to release her, and with that Bree dropped to the ground, choking and coughing.

  Henry rushed over to where she fell, dropped down beside her, and lifted her in his arms, trying to assess if there was any harm done. “A warning, son of Aldin,” it said in a dangerous tone. “Everything you care for will be destroyed.” Henry was now in a rage and in no mood to play any more games with this creature. “Do what you feel you must… Just know this… I’ll never join you as long as there’s breath in my body.” He was determined not to be intimidated any further by the shadow: it could do what it liked to him, but had no right to harm Bree. Nothing was ever going to harm her as long as he was there to prevent it. “Now… Alfwald… I’m going to give you a warning… no, a promise… I’ll do everything in my power to stop you from whatever it is that you intend to do… and believe me when I say… I’ll make sure that you’re sent back to where it is that you belong… But this time for good!” he shouted, barely controlling himself.