Between Darkness and the Light

by Paul T. H. Mitchener

  They both sat quietly staring out into the darkness, their hair ablaze, dancing flames shimmering off the wet leaves surrounding them and lighting up the woodland around them.

  The rain had now increased to a downpour, making it harder for Sophia to track the creature’s movements. Perhaps that was exactly what it had been waiting for… Sophia was taking no chances. Instead of using her defensive powers, she held out her hand and generated a small ball of white light. After a few whispered words she sent it out into the night, eliminating the entire woodland around them as it floated out into the trees.

  The surprised creature slowly came into view and to their horror they could see how large and hideous it really was. There had both seen some horrid sights in their time, but even by their standards this thing was hideous. One of the first things that stood out was its eyes. Hazel had seen the likes of them before: black, lava-like eyes with slits of burning red running through them. It looked like a mishmash of creatures, and was standing on two powerful, scale-covered hind legs, standing well over ten feet tall. Its head was bull-like in appearance and too large for its body, which itself was completely covered in scales and large, angry, pointed quills. Its jaws were enormous, laden with large, hooked, blackened teeth. Black saliva ran down its open jaw and onto the ground and hissed like acid as it reacted to the earth, causing it to blacken and die. To their surprise, it was much closer to them than they had thought, standing only a few yards or so from where they sat.

  Sophia lost no time. She stood up and immediately called upon her powers to generate two blue balls of fire which she sent hurtling towards the beast, hitting it directly in the chest. The creature reared backwards and howled with pain, making it drop down onto all fours, but to Sophia’s surprise her powerful attack did little damage to it. The power she put into her attack would have blown most creatures apart. She attacked again. This time, one of the fireballs hit it in the head; the second hit it in the eye, disintegrating it completely on impact. Again, the creature howled with pain, rolling around on the ground, rubbing its eye into the earth in a vain attempt to ease its pain. Eventually it got back up onto all fours and opened its jaws to roar with rage. It then lowered its heavily armoured head, revealing four larger, horny quills. The whole of the creature started to shimmer. Sparks of red light danced from one quill to another, and it dug its powerful back legs firmly into the ground, and then used them to catapult itself forward towards the two sisters and slammed into Hazel’s protective shield. Luckily for them, she just managed to hold it, but it took nearly all of her strength to do so.

  However, Sophia was caught off guard and was knocked backwards into their makeshift shelter, scattering broken branches and moss in all directions, but she managed to get back to her feet just in time to aid her sister to strengthen the shield. The creature attacked again and then again, slamming into their shield. It was becoming increasingly frustrated that it couldn’t get to its kill. It seemed to have a hunger… a real hunger to get to them, and they both knew if it got through their protection, they wouldn’t have a chance. The creature was so strong, stronger than they had anticipated, it had now forced Sophia and Hazel to stop their attacks on it and put all their efforts into shielding and protecting themselves. They both knew it would only be a matter of time before their strength wore out, and they would no longer be able to hold the shield. Chillingly they were both sure that was exactly what the creature was waiting for.

  It was trying to wear them down… and unfortunately for the two sisters its plan was working, because as long as they put all their efforts into defending themselves they could not attack it. Hazel decided that drastic action needed to be taken. If they didn’t do something very soon, it would be all over for them both. She looked towards her sister. “Take the shield!” she shouted. Sophia did as she was told and put all her strength into the defensive shield, allowing Hazel time to prepare to attack it back, but before she could, the powerful creature attacked them again, ramming heavily into the shield. This time the shield gave a little. “I’m not going to be able to hold… not on my own!” Sophia shouted back.

  They were both soaking wet and losing their strength fast. Hazel either didn’t seem to hear her sister… or, more to the point, chose not to. Using her small knife, she quickly cut the laces on her boots and pulled them off. Working both of her bare feet into the earth, she lifted both arms out to her side and shouted, “Just hold on!” Hazel slowly decreased her efforts on the shield, whilst Sophia increased hers to compensate.

  “Now!” Hazel shouted, dropping her efforts on the shield completely and relying entirely on her sister to protect them. The creature must have sensed something because with its one eye it looked directly at Hazel, tilting its head to one side and then setting itself up for another attack. But this time, Hazel was ready for it, her hair still wildly ablaze and her eyes closed. In less than a second, she summoned up a whirlwind, picking up branches, fallen trees and log, and then sent them all flying towards the bewildered creature, hammering into it so hard that they sent it flying back into the trees, shattering them as it went. Hazel didn’t give it a chance to recover before she sent a second attack. The whirlwind was far too powerful for the creature and again sent it crashing back into the trees. Both sisters looked on as it struggled to regain ground. However, Hazel’s attacks must have hurt it quite badly, because at first it couldn’t stand, struggling amongst the mud and leaves and broken trees. Finally, it managed to get to its feet but was very unsteady.

  At first, it looked as if it was going to attack again but as it braced its back legs to do so, one of its legs gave way, making it stumble backwards and roar with pain. It was injured but was it enough for it to give up its fight? “Surely,” Hazel thought, “it must be exhausted and running out of strength itself.” After stumbling a number of times it managed to stand, and it was apparent to both sisters that it was in no fit state to continue its fight. Roaring at them in rage and pain, the creature stayed where it was for some time.

  Hazel decided she was going to wait no longer: she was determined to finish this fight once and for all. She walked outside the protective shield and towards the injured creature, but to her surprise it backed away. The closer she got to it, the further it moved away, deeper into the protection of the trees, tripping and stumbling as it went. Hazel stood watching as it gradually backed away from her and eventually disappeared out of sight and into the darkness. She used her senses to follow it. It was now making its way slowly back in the direction of the crossing.

  Satisfied that they were now safe, she walked back to Sophia who had by now dropped the shield. Both were exhausted and soaking wet, and covered in mud and leaves, their hair now no longer glowing and back to normal, wet through and hanging over their white faces. Hazel continued staring out in the direction the thing had gone, following its progress. It must have been hurt quite badly because it was travelling very slowly and making no attempt to conceal itself.

  She was still tracing the creature when Sophia placed a hand on her shoulder. “What on this earth was that thing…? I’ve never seen the likes of it before,” she said with a hint of fear in her voice. “It can’t be from this world.” Hazel just shook her head, still staring out into the darkness of the woodland, then without answering her sister, she walked over to where the creature had hit the trees. The entire area was blackened and dead from its touch and several large trees were shattered by the force of the impact. She stopped and knelt down, picking up one of the large quills that had broken off during their fight. She then noticed something shiny just to the side of her. She blushed away some of the mud and wet leaves before reaching over to pick it up. Sophia was now standing just behind her. “An elfin sword,” she whispered.

  Stepping forward, Sophia leant over to have a better look. Although it was now early morning and storm clouds loomed overhead, giving little or no light among the trees they could still see it clearly. Hazel sat back on her heels, now holding the broken, blood-covere
d short sword in her hands. She glanced up at her sister with a worried look on her face. “It must have been embedded in the creature’s body… and broken off during the fight.” She paused, looking at it in her hands. “That must mean it’s already been near the crossing and…”

  Sophia knelt down next to her and took the sword from her hands. “It looks as if it’s already had an encounter with the elves…” She said softly. “They’re well trained fighters…” Hazel said, trying to reassure herself. “I’m sure they would have put up a good fight.” Sophia agreed. “But they don’t have our powers to protect them… just fighting skills and I don’t think it would be enough against that thing.”

  She stopped at that point, saying no more and trying not to picture the struggle that may have taken place between the elfin scouts and the creature. If her sister’s powerful blows couldn’t harm it, it held little hope that the elves could either… That is if they were still alive.

  Hazel got back onto her feet and walked over to what was left of their shelter. She sat down on the sodden ground, picked up her boots and started pulling them back on. Taking out a new pair of laces from her shoulder bag, she went about lacing up her boots, but her thoughts were on her son. Was he with the elves when they encountered the beast, and if so…? She let the thought go: she needed a clear head when they get to the crossing, especially if they had to fight the creature again and they needed to get there as soon as possible to see if they could find any survivors. It had stopped raining but that gave them little comfort. The ground underfoot was muddy, wet and slippery, they were wet through, and it didn’t help when the wind got up and blew the water off the tree, periodically giving them both an unwelcomed shower.

  It took longer than they first thought to reach the barrier of thorny trees that made up the crossing, mainly due to the bad weather conditions, but they were still in fear of another attack from the creature and had to travel carefully, taking their time, and stopping to check at every point to ensure that the way ahead was clear before pressing on. At first, they found no sign of the elf scouts or any signs of any struggle, but after walking about a mile or so along the crossing, they eventually came across large areas of blackened earth, evidence that the creature had been there… Then their worst fears were confirmed: scattered amongst the bushes and blackened grass were what remained of blood-covered clothing, a uniform of some sort, and then, on closer inspection, body parts. Hazel dropped down onto one knee in tears, devastated by what she was witnessing, seeing first-hand what the creature had done to the poor elves. It was obvious to her sister that Hazel thought the worst for her son. Sophia placed an understanding hand on her shoulder and they stayed there for some time, feeling sick to their stomachs, staring at the carnage around them.

  Henry senior sat on the edge of the comfortable bed staring into the embers of the dying fire. He had no idea how long he had been asleep or how long he had been sitting watching the fire. He had a great deal on his mind, he found himself going over recent events time and again, so time to him had no meaning. The pain in his head and neck had eased, but wasn’t completely gone. He hadn’t seen or heard from Kreedy, the so-called librarian, since he woke, and wondered where the strange man had gone. Slowly he managed to get up but was still a little unsteady on his feet and had to grab hold of the fire mantel to steady himself, his head was fuzzy from either the accident or the potion Kreedy had given, or maybe both. Whatever the reason, he felt a little faint. Carefully he walked across the room, trying all the while not to bump into any of the many columns of books, just managing to gently squeeze between the columns, careful not to inadvertently knock one of them over. He was afraid that if he did, it would probably set off a chain reaction, each column knocking over the next in a domino effect.

  Increasingly fascinated by how many books there were, Henry senior squeezed between one column of books after another, trying to find his way to a door that might lead to the outside. It was amazing how many books the funny fellow had managed to collect. There must have been thousands, if not tens of thousands, of books, and equally amazing was how many rooms there were. Each time he found a door it led to yet another room, again all packed to the ceiling with multicoloured books. Finally, after negotiating several rooms and hundreds of columns of books, he found a large, wooden door supported by heavy steel hinges and locks. “An exit,” he thought. Henry tried to turn the large, gold-coloured handle on the door, but it was too stiff for him. “I really must get back into shape,” he muttered to himself as he tried the handle again, but this time using both hands.

  After a great deal of effort and a number of unrepeatable swear words he managed to open the door. He knew he wasn’t himself, but to have to use both hands just to open a door… He must be worse than he had at first thought. As he entered the room he squinted and shielded his eyes from the brightness. Once through, he found himself standing on a narrow ledge in large, round chamber. Around the ledge was an old, rusty iron railing encircling the entire room. He walked over to the railings, gripping them tightly with both hands and looked over the edge and was flabbergasted at what he saw. The rounded chamber seemed to go down for as far as he could see. The railed ledge spiralled all the way down until it was out of sight and the walls around the chamber were made up of shelves stuffed full of books of all shapes and colours. Running up though the centre of the chamber was a thick, metal, spiralling, corkscrewed shaft.

  He held his head, the pain was coming back a little, then he heard a humming, whirring sound coming from somewhere deep within the centre of the chamber. He stood very still, trying not to breathe so that he could listen and concentrate on the sound below him. It seemed to be getting louder by the second. Henry gingerly look over the railings to see if he could find where the sound was coming from, and immediately noticed three white lights slowly spiralling up out of the darkness towards him. It sounded like some kind of machine, he watched with fascination as it ascended ever closer towards him.

  As it got closer, Henry could just make out an illuminated large, round platform that filled the entire chamber and was rotating around the centre column like a corkscrew, and as it got closer he could see standing on the platform, holding a handful of old books, Kreedy, who on seeing him waved and smiled. “Morning, my lord… managed to free the lock, I see… Been meaning to oil that old thing for a while… but as usual too busy… always busy… busy, busy, busy.” Henry didn’t reply. Instead, he watched with fascination as the platform got ever closer. “You’ve been out cold for a while… I suppose you must be starving by now… I’ll get you something to eat in just a mo…” Kreedy said in a happy, upbeat manner. “I’ll just finish up here first.”

  The platform continued spinning around the centre pole until it reached the same level as Henry and then stopped. Kreedy opened a gate in the railings and stepped off the platform and onto the ledge. “How are you feeling now…? Better, I hope?” Henry nodded and, looking around, said, “This place is amazing… What do you do with all these books?” Kreedy looked pleased with himself. “It’s our past… all of our pasts… it’s the library of life,” he replied, grinning from ear to ear. “Everything that has ever happened in this world is recorded here… in these books… and it’s my role in life to keep them updated and to care for them… Knowledge, my lord, is power, you know,” he continued. “But I’ll explain later… My tummy has started to talk back at me, so breakfast is the next thing on my agenda… What do you say?” Henry nodded and smiled. “Sounds good to me.” He suddenly felt hungry at the mere mention of food.

  A short while later, found Henry senior sitting at a large, wobbly, old, wooden table that took up most of the space in Kreedy’s small, cluttered kitchen. It, too, was crammed full of books. He wondered how on earth the strange man could ever find anything in this mess: everything looked so disorganised. After the hearty cooked breakfast and the numerous cups of tea Kreedy had prepared for him, Henry senior was feeling a great deal better than before. He had eaten mostly a
lone whilst watching Kreedy dash from one thing to the next, cooker to kettle, kettle to sink, and so on. However, Henry did need to speak with the strange man.

  Retrieving the spearhead before anyone else could get their hands on it was paramount, and he had no idea of where he was, and needed to find out the best and quickest way to get back to his house. Kreedy never seemed to answer any questions directly and always managed to turn them around so that he was the one getting the answers. Henry had to at least try and get some sense out of the man, but Kreedy didn’t stay still long enough to be able to get his attention.

  “Kreedy,” Henry shouted, still trying to get his attention over the noise he was making. At this point, Kreedy was halfway into a cupboard under the sink. All Henry could see was his skinny bottom sticking out. “What… what’s that you say?” Kreedy muttered, still with his head in the cupboard. “Kreedy… can you get out of there… just for one minute…? I need to speak with you,” Henry shouted again, but this time with an air of frustration in his voice. “What…? Ouch… bloody thing,” Kreedy said, knocking his head on the cupboard whilst climbing out. “What’s that, my lord…? You want to talk,” he said, rubbing his head and cursing under his breath. “Talk… my lord… Talk about what…? We can talk all you want… I have a lot to say… Knowledge is power, you know.”

  Henry was at this point close to losing his temper but tried his hardest to hold it back. “I know you’ve told me that already… but all I need to know is where are we… and how do I get back to my home from here…? I have… I mean, there are very important matters that need my attention… I really do need to get back,” he said firmly. Kreedy looked enraged. “Important matters…! Important matters!” he bellowed. “Just because you’re some posh, higher than mighty lord of nature doesn’t give you the franchise on all things important…You don’t see that I have important matters to attend to… Well, if it were not for me…” His face was so red it looked as if it would explode. Henry couldn’t help but smile. Kreedy was a strange-looking man at the best of times, but now… “I didn’t mean to…” Henry was about to say before Kreedy interrupted him. “So, I don’t have important things to do… other than care for people I found unconscious… lying on the road after crashing their motor car… saving you from the shadow master… no … no… I’ve nothing better to do with my time than rescue and care for the likes of you…!” Kreedy shouted but stopped when he realised that he was ranting.