Between Darkness and the Light

by Paul T. H. Mitchener

  Now resigned to the fact that she had no other option, she walked over to one of the large trees and, like Bert, pulled up a root from two adjacent trees and placed them together. They immediately entwined. Bree stood back and watched as the tree roots twisted and creaked as they distorted themselves into an opening just big enough for her to pass through. She hesitated a moment and by using all her senses checked to ensure that nothing was about to follow her. To her relief she sensed nothing, so without further hesitation and not waiting to leave anything to chance, she turned, and by using every ounce of her energy ran through the opening as fast as her tiny legs and wings would carry her.

  It was early evening by the time Henry, Alk and Mylon reached the palace. The guards at the gates did nothing to challenge them. Instead, they stood to attention and allowed them to pass. Once through the gates, they made their way across a large, outer defensive courtyard to another gateway, again guarded by two sentries. Once through the second gateway, they had to make their way across a huge courtyard that looked to be an exercise or training area. Surrounded by enormous stone walls, the large, dusty open courtyard was heaving with all kinds of activity; everywhere they looked there were soldiers, several groups training in combat, whilst others in formation were jogging and running around its perimeters. Alk and Mylon received several waves of acknowledgement from some of the more senior officers. They both waved and smiled back, despite their feelings. It was too early for anyone else to know what was happening; besides, if things got worse, they would all know soon enough.

  Once the three reached the far side of the yard, Alk opened a large, heavy wooden door and, after motioning Henry and Mylon through, closed it behind him. Once inside, Henry found himself standing in a large, stone-built corridor. The arched ceiling towered above them by twenty feet or more and beneath his feet was a well-worn, cobbled floor. “I’ll go to the watch and let them know we’re here,” Alk announced. “You take our friend here up to the living quarters and I’ll meet up with you there.” Mylon nodded and motioned to Henry to follow him while Alk headed in the opposite direction.

  Mylon picked up a good pace which Henry found difficult to match. “Wait a bit,” he puffed. Mylon stopped. “Sorry… I’m always on edge when I come here… which thankfully isn’t that often.” Henry finally caught up with him. “Why’s that…? Don’t you like it here?” he managed to puff. Mylon gave him one of his smiles. “It’s not the palace… it’s my father… We haven’t seen eye-to-eye for many years now… That’s why I work with the perimeter guards… It keeps me busy and out from under his feet.” Mylon winked and gave him one of his smiles, turned and headed off down the corridor.

  After several hundred yards they turned down a short side corridor which led to an old, worn, stone spiral stairway. “This leads to the private quarters,” Mylon announced without looking back. Henry was still finding it difficult keeping up with him, and by the time Mylon had reached the top of the stairs, Henry was still only halfway up.

  Once at the top he saw that Mylon had already gone through the heavy wooden door, and surprisingly was nowhere in sight. Stopping just before he entered the room, Henry sensed something wasn’t right. The Wyvern started to burn inside him, telling him that danger lay ahead. Slowly he peered around the door. He felt the warmth of the room on his face and the sweet smell of burning incense. The room looked to Henry to be some kind of reception area, with walls covered in elaborate tapestries consisting of what humans would call fairy tale creatures such as unicorns and dragons. It was a large room with a large number of plush seating areas and large cushions. Henry took a second to look around the room, but disturbingly Mylon was nowhere to be seen.

  Cautiously, Henry entered the brightly lit room. Nothing looked out of place but something was still warning him to be wary. Suddenly Mylon appeared at a door on the other side of the room. His face said it all: his eyes were wide open with a shocked look on his face. “We’re too late,” he mumbled, leaning against the door frame for support. Henry rushed over to him and took hold of his arm. “He’s dead… my father… he’s…” Mylon couldn’t finish. Henry pushed past him and what he witnessed was almost too much for any man to stomach: the whole room had been torn apart with blood everywhere and scattered among the debris was what remained of the king.

  Henry escorted Mylon to one of the large seats and sat him down. Mylon slumped back, staring out into the middle distance. “That’s my father’s room…” he said, not really talking to anybody in particular. “We’ll wait here for Alk… He shouldn’t be too long now,” Henry said hopefully, not knowing what else to say or do. He felt that he should be out there hunting down whatever it was that did this, but he had a good idea of what creature was responsible for the king’s death, having seen the same carnage the day before. He hoped that it was one of the two wromps he had killed in the park earlier. If so, that would mean there was no immediate threat. However, he couldn’t rule out that there might be others out there ready to strike. It seemed like an eternity waiting for Alk to return. Mylon had said nothing since slumping in the chair, and was still staring out at nothing, his eyes full of tears. Finally, Alk made his way through the wooden door. Seeing the look on their faces, Alk froze. Without speaking, Henry indicated to him to look in the other room. Alk gingerly walked across the reception area, hesitated at the door to the king’s chambers, and glanced back over to Mylon, almost knowing what to expect.

  Alk took a deep breath and then, without entering the room, he looked around the door and, with disbelief reflected on his face, stepped back, still holding his breath. He stood motionless for a moment, tears now welling up in his eyes. This man had seen many a battle and had seen many a sight… But to see his king like this… Anger suddenly replaced he tears. “Did you see the thing that did this?” he bellowed. Henry shook his head, still kneeling next to Mylon. “So why are you still here…? Why?” Henry gave Alk a stern look. “Why do you think?” he replied, looking back at Mylon. “I’ll go and alert the guards,” Alk said, heading towards the door. “Wait,” Henry shouted to him. Alk stopped and turned to face him. “Wait…? Wait for what…? Wait for someone else to be torn apart?” Henry got up. “No one else is in danger… except the council,” he replied. “Did you see any sign of an intruder or has anyone else been attacked? No… I’ve already told you who the targets are… If anything, you should be arranging protection for the council.”

  Alk stepped back into the room. “Mylon is safe as long as he is with me… but the others ain’t.” Alk tried to compose himself a little but the hurt and anger still burnt inside him. “So, what do we do now…? We’ve no king… and no leadership except for me and a few other old farts, as you put it.” Henry nodded towards Mylon. “We do have a king,” he announced. Mylon’s eyes lifted and fixed on Henry’s, then looked towards Alk. They locked eyes for a moment and then Alk nodded in agreement. Mylon looked back at Henry. “You are the king now, Mylon… I’m sure it’s not something you wish to hear right now… but the fact remains…Your people need you.”

  A few hours later, Alk had already arranged for protection for all the council members and for the king’s remains to be removed by a few trusted members of the guard after swearing them all to secrecy. They placed his remains into the family crypt, safe until a proper state burial could be arranged. Once the king’s death had been announced, they would have widespread panic on their hands, so it was important that the circumstances surrounding the king’s death should not be allowed to be known publicly. Alk, trying to make clear the circumstances leading up to the king’s death, wanted to know what had happened to the two guards who should have been posted at his door. There were no signs that they had been killed or otherwise… So where were they? He called for the commander responsible for postings, a young, nervous-looking elfin officer. Alk felt the king’s death could have been prevented if the guards were still at their post.

  “Well, man!” Alk bellowed at the poor, confused young officer. “Answer the
damned question…! Where are your men…? Why are they not at their posts?” The poor commander seemed to shrink each time Alk bellowed at him, not giving him much chance to answer.

  “What’s your name?” Henry said, quietly interrupting Alk. “Trammell, sir,” he replied sheepishly. “Well, Trammell… it’s important that we know what happened to the two guards who were meant to be guarding your king.” Trammell looked at Alk and then back to Henry. “Lord Venton, sir… He instructed me to release all guards and that all the men were to assemble in the four towers yard… They were to practise drill for tonight’s banquet.” He looked back to Alk. “I was made to believe that the king was in agreement… They are still in the yard… or were when I was ordered to report here.” Trammell still looked confused. “Sir… do you wish me to get them for you?” Alk shook his head. “No, lad… it’s alright… but it’s my sad duty to tell you, lad, that your king is dead… killed…” Trammell went white and tried to say something but Alk placed a large hand on his shoulder. “Not your fault, lad… but we must speak with Lord Venton… Do you have any idea of his whereabouts?” Trammell shook his head. “No, sir… not since this morning… I would think that he’s gone home to get ready for tonight’s events.”

  Mylon got up and walked over to the three. “Well, Commander… then we’ll start there… Come with me.” Alk blocked Mylon as he tried to head towards the door. “Is that wise…? I mean, in your state of mind and all,” Alk said firmly whilst locking eyes with Mylon. Mylon faced up to Alk and said in a threatening manner, “If Venton is even partly responsible for my father’s death… he will be held accountable… Now get out of my way.” Alk stood his ground. “My friend… I agree that we need to find him for questioning… and in order to do so… we’ll need him alive, Venton isn’t man enough to orchestrate such a plan on his own…We’ll need to know who else is behind this.”

  Mylon stood facing up to Alk for a few awkward seconds, then stepped down and turned towards Trammell. “Take a company of rangers with you and bring him back here… to me… and don’t take no for an answer.” Trammell nodded and left the room to follow out his orders. His king was dead and he knew that he was partly responsible for it. Shock started to settle in whilst the realisation of the situation hit him. Alk nodded to Mylon. “Right, move my friend… What are we going to do about the creature that did this?” he continued. “Nothing,” Henry stated. They both turned to face him. “The creatures responsible for this are already dead… They were the ground wromps we encountered in the park… They had already killed the king… before trying to kill the next in line.” He looked directly at Mylon. Alk walked across the room to where Henry was standing. “You know this for sure…? I mean, you know there are no other creatures out there ready to strike?”

  Henry felt exhausted and slumped down onto one of the big, padded chairs. “I can say for sure that the two we encountered in the park were responsible for… for this,” he said, indicating towards the room where the king had been killed. “And I’m sure that they are not the last… If you wanted to eliminate the entire council, you wouldn’t just send three assassins… not to kill over twelve people… no… I believe there are still at least another two or three more out there, maybe more… One thing I know for sure… If we go looking for them, we’ll never find them.” He paused before continuing. “They’ll never give up… they can’t…The burning pain within them will ensure they will try everything in their power to get to the prey… They need to kill to ease their own pain.” Henry looked to Mylon. “And, my friend… I’m afraid to say that you are their prime target… If we set traps here and at the council members’ homes and wait… they will come to us.”

  That night found Bree asleep within the shelter of one of the brightly coloured trees. The night was almost still, just a gentle warm breeze. The two purple moons lit up the landscape around her in a purple, hazy light, giving the night a soft, comforting feel. It was a beautiful place, a haven that most would find easy to feel at peace; but unfortunately for Bree she didn’t feel at all peaceful. This night she found herself restless, dozing in and out of a restless, tiring sleep, and the short times she did sleep she dreamt of her Henry. In her dreams he wasn’t in danger, but she felt that the people around him were. There were dark images and moving shadows surrounding them, none of which took any particular shape or form, but all were intent on harming others.

  Bree had always had the gift of foresight, and her visions always came to her in dreams. However, her visions were never of just one outcome, they were more multiple options of what could be… depending on the actions of others. She slept uneasily, tossing from one side then to the other. After a few hours of tormented visions she decided to give up trying, not wishing to see any more of the dark images and the carnage that they inflicted.

  She sat up and rested her back against the tree, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. Her thoughts were again of Henry and on being close to him once more. Just the mere thought of seeing him again made her feel much better; however, her visions still haunted her, even though she was now fully awake. She had been sat for some time, looking out across the purple-hazed landscape trying to think happier thoughts, going over in her mind what she would say when she saw Henry again. Then something got her attention. She sat forward slowly, sensing that something was out there somewhere, watching her within the tall grasses. Despite the fact that she knew that something was out there, she didn’t feel threatened by it. She trusted her senses, knowing that, whatever it or they were, they posed no danger to her.

  She sat up a little more and looked to see if she could find where they were hiding. There was more than one, that much she knew. She stayed quiet for a moment, then, after a moment or two, she noticed a small movement in the long grasses to her right. She focused her senses on the area to find that there were definitely two individuals about fifteen feet or so away from where she sat. “You may come out if you wish,” she said softly. “I have no intention of harming you,” she said calmly, trying not to spook the two individuals. The grass rustled a little and Bree could hear the two whispering to each other. The grass rustled again, and by its movement she could see that they were heading directly to her. Eventually they emerged from the grass and out popped two of the strangest little things she had ever seen. Bree smiled: she had seen many strange things within her lifetime, but these two took the biscuit!

  Standing just a few feet from her were two round balls of bedraggled fluff, no more than three feet tall, their brown eyes as large as saucepans. Both stepped forward a little and smiled in unison, a soft, warming smile. “Hello, little miss,” one said. “Hello, little miss,” the other repeated. Bree didn’t respond at first, still taken aback by the two cute little creatures. Their ears, like their eyes, were also overly large, and reminded her of rabbits’ ears, but their arms seemed to be too small for their bodies and hardly reached around their middle, and she could see no evidence of legs… just feet sticking out from under the fluff… But it was dark and they could be concealed under the light brown, fluffy fur that covered their entire body. Bree couldn’t help smiling: they really did look quite a sight covered in dried grass and twigs.

  “Hello, little miss,” they repeated again, one after the other. “Oh… yes… hello,” Bree eventually replied. They moved a little closer and this time Bree noticed that they did indeed have legs, albeit short ones. “We noticed little miss earlier,” one said. “Yes… yes… we noticed you earlier,” the other repeated. “Was watching over you… danger and dark things lurk,” the first said. “Yes, danger and dark things… out there in the darkness,” the other agreed.

  Bree looked behind them across the meadow, but didn’t see or sense anything out of place. “Grog… They call me Grog,” the first continued. “Nog is my name,” the other followed. Both sounded almost childlike. “My name’s Bree,” she finally said, “and thank you for watching over me,” she continued, not knowing what else to say. “Come sit with me.” The two fluffy bal
ls looked at each other, nodded and then moved over to where Bree sat and squatted down next to her. The closer they got, the more amazing they looked.

  Bree was still smiling despite herself. They were incredible little creatures to look at. However, Bree was only too aware that what you see is often not what you get in life. But she had no such feeling here. She knew that they meant her no harm… And to be honest, she welcomed the company. In the absence of Henry these two funny little fellows would do nicely. Bree sat forward. “What do you mean by dark things…? What kinds of dark things lurk out there?” she said, looking out in the distance. Grog looked to Nog to answer. “Ground wromps… little miss… but not just any old ground wromps… these have powers,” Nog said whilst looking into the darkness beyond. “Yes, little miss… Powers,” Grog repeated.

  Bree shuffled a little, now feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea of ground wromps prowling around out in the darkness. She had never liked them, even without their new powers. They were unpleasant to look at and were always creeping around looking for dead things to eat. Whenever she had the misfortune of seeing one, they were nearly always tearing into a carcass of some poor creature. She shivered: the mere thought of them gave her the creeps. Nervously, Bree pushed them a little for more detail. “Ground wromps aren’t dangerous… they’re just scavengers… and never a threat.” Grog smiled but this time the smile looked a little more sinister, making Bree feel that she may have made a mistake by being taken in by their appearance. “Yes… little miss,” he said in a sinister manner.