Between Darkness and the Light

by Paul T. H. Mitchener

  “Don’t listen to him… I only lied to protect you,” a voice shouted from behind him. He spun around. “Mum!” he gasped. “Welcome, sister… we’ve been waiting for you,” the shadow said with another of its wicked grins on its face. Hazel rushed forward into Henry’s arms, and for a brief second they hugged one another, then Henry stepped back. “What are you doing here…? I mean how did you…?” he was about to say when he realised what the shadow master had just said. “What does he mean, sister?” he asked his mother. Now that he had Henry confused and almost where it wanted him, the smile on the shadow master’s face grew. “Another lie,” it said, sounding pleased with itself. “We were family… four children of nature,” it continued. “Your mother to heal nature, her sister to protect… my brother and I were to maintain the balance… One of the light and of course one of darkness.” Henry stood back from his mother. “Is this true…? Is this… this thing really you, brother?” he said with a hint of fear in his voice. Hazel nodded. “More deception… and more lies,” it said, again sounding pleased with itself.

  “Son,” Alfwald said, as he materialised out of the mist. Henry immediately called upon his powers, but for some reason they didn’t respond. “I am with your mother and no threat to you… The Wyvern senses that and will not respond,” Alfwald said, as if he was reading his thoughts. At first, Henry didn’t know what to do: he couldn’t trust his mother: she had been lying to him from the start and now here she was with the one person he hated the most. Alfwald had nearly killed Bree on two occasions by choking her, yet his mother seemed to trust him.

  Alfwald walked over and stood next to Hazel. The look on the shadow master’s face showed that it wasn’t happy seeing him. The smile was then gone. “You are not welcome here!” it shouted, but Alfwald was unmoved. “We are here for our son,” Alfwald replied calmly. “You have no rights here,” the shadow master bellowed, its voice so loud that it reverberated in the surroundings. It leant forward so that it was only inches from Alfwald’s face, with its lava-black and -red eyes burning with hatred. “And you have no rights to your son,” it hissed, but again Alfwald didn’t move. “We’ll let Henry decide that,” he replied, still unperturbed by the shadow master. Alfwald turned to Henry. “We are not here to tell you what you should do…Your mother and I are here for you.” Henry glanced at his mother, who just nodded and smiled. “The world is still in need of you… whether you trust us or not, the balance has to be reset.” He paused. “You are the only one who can do that… not me… not your mother and certainly not that creature… just you.”

  Henry paced away, leaving his mother, Alfwald and the shadow master watching on. He turned and looked up at the tall, dark figure. “You say my fate lies here…What do you mean by that?” he demanded. The shadow master grinned once more. “Here,” it said as it pointed towards the large obelisk that stood a little distance away. “Here… inscribed on this portal is your future,” it said, grinning from ear to ear. “Show me,” Henry ordered, and to his surprise the shadow master turned to lead the way. Henry hesitated a second and then, with Aelfgar in hand followed. Hazel and Alfwald held back a moment before they followed.

  It was uncomfortably obvious to Henry and his mother that they were not alone as they made their way amongst the countless number of graves, headstones and blackened, misshaped trees. Although they couldn’t see anything, they could sense movement everywhere, dark, formless entities hovering on the verge of existence. It was an unpleasant, eerie sensation knowing that you were being watched by countless numbers of undead; however, no one in the group felt threatened by them and they reached the obelisk moments later without incident. The closer they got to the large obelisk, the more imposing it became: it was huge even by Egyptian standards and it was impossible to say how big it really was, since it reached up and disappeared into the heavy, blue clouds swirling above it. It was as though the obelisk was the centre of this realm: all things seem to lead to it, including the clouds.

  On reaching its base, the shadow master stopped and waited for Henry, who was somewhat lagging behind, although he was amazed at the speed with which the shadow master covered ground. He was a little embarrassed at not being able to keep up. However, Hazel and Alfwald still held back deliberately. They knew that Henry was starting to question them both: it was understandable that he questioned Alfwald, but to question his mother was a sure sign that the shadow master was slowly starting to win him over. If they pushed him too much now, there was no saying which way he would go. So all they could do for now was to go along with him and hope that a little gentle guidance would help him see for himself what the shadow master was doing to him.

  “Here,” the shadow master said with a stern tone, pointing to the base of the obelisk. Henry gingerly walked over and looked where the shadow master had indicated. At first, he couldn’t make out what all the strange symbols meant. Then his mother came up behind him and placed her hand softly on his shoulder. “Use the Aelfgar,” she said softly. Henry looked up at her. She tried a quick smile. “Just trust in the Aelfgar,” she said. “Call just a little of your powers… They are eleven inscriptions and it would enable you to read them.” Henry placed his hand on top of his mother’s and gave her a smile back. Fearing that he was losing Henry back to his mother, the shadow master pushed forward, knocking Hazel away from her son. “Stand back, woman!” it bellowed. “Let the boy find out the truth for himself.” Henry gave the shadow master a look that made it back off a little, his eyes burning yellow, a sure sign to the shadow master that it had overstepped the mark by touching his mother.

  For a few tense moments Henry just stood with his yellow, fiery eyes burning into the shadow master. He could sense its fear as the Wyvern’s powers penetrated its mind. But he immediately withdrew when he realised what he was doing: he was allowing the Wyvern to take control again. He knew that if that happened, the Wyvern would destroy the shadow master in a heartbeat, and that wasn’t what he was there to do. However, Henry thought that he knew what the shadow master’s game was and decided to play along a little until he was sure of its next move. It was imperative to have a better understanding of what was going on here: the wrong move now may mean death to him and his mother, and that was a risk he wasn’t prepared to take.

  Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Henry’s eyes gradually went back to normal, but he could still see the fear reflected in the eyes of the shadow master. Henry looked to his mother to see if she was alright: she gave him a sad smile and nodded, reassuring him that she was. He gave the shadow master one last glance and then concentrated on the inscriptions on the obelisk. Holding the Aelfgar in both hands, Henry called on the Wyvern to respond. Slowly he allowed the power to run through his hands and into the spear and then called it back. Immediately his eyes glowed yellow, but this time not as intense as it was a few seconds earlier. It was now a softer glow as he concentrated on controlling both powers: using the Aelfgar enabled him to call upon an ancient elven magic which aided him to read ancient writings, and in seconds the inscription became as easy to him as reading a book.

  Sensing the Wyvern’s and Aelfgar’s powers, the shadow master backed away and stood some distance from where Henry was kneeling, intensely reading the inscriptions. It had overlooked the fact that Henry was half-human and would need to use his powers to read the elven inscriptions. Just the mere sensation of the two powers that Henry was emitting made it fear for its life. Henry ran his fingers softly over the strange, carved lettering, his breathing slow and calm, as he fought to control the beast within. Hazel didn’t take her eyes off the shadow master. Her son was vulnerable, his back turned and his concentration elsewhere: it would be a perfect time to attack him. Unlike her sister, Hazel was there in body, and had all her powers to call upon if the dark one made a move towards him. Alfwald, however, had no such powers or even a weapon, but he wasn’t there to fight, he was there for his son and, of course, Hazel. He always knew that one day she’d need him again and he had waited all thes
e long, lonely years to ensure that he was there for the only love he’d ever known.

  Also aware of the shadowy presence of the formless spectres that lurked within the graves, Sophia and Bree crept ever closer to the obelisk, the black shadows appearing only for the briefest of seconds. Again neither felt threatened by their presence but, like the others, both felt more than a little uneasy, giving Bree shivers down her spine. Sophia stopped suddenly and put her finger to her lips, indicating for Bree to be quiet. “Voices,” she whispered. Bree listened intently. One of the voices she didn’t recognise, but there was one that she did. “Henry,” she gasped. Sophia immediately whispered to her to be quiet as they crept forward to hide behind one of the larger headstones. Although they weren’t there physically, it felt real to them: they could feel the earth beneath their feet and the coarse texture of the carved headstone as they placed their hands on it to peer over the top. They could just make out four shadowy figures, one of which was Henry. The other three were not so clear, as the black mist crept in front of their vision. “We’ll have to get closer,” Sophia whispered. Bree nodded.

  Keeping down low and using the cover of the mist and headstones, they both crept towards the four figures, being careful not to make any sound. Although they weren’t in any physical danger there, they had to be sure that they maximised their chances in helping Henry. Showing their faces too soon might jeopardise that chance. Besides, Sophia knew that they had the element of surprise on their side and choosing the right moment to make themselves known could make all the difference to the outcome.

  Minutes ticked by, as Sophia and Bree watched and listened. Now a lot closer to the obelisk, they could hear clearly what was being said and by whom, “That’s your sister,” Bree whispered, “but who’s that with her?” Sophia’s heart sank when she realised that it was Alfwald who was standing next to her sister, not the monster she had attacked at her home a day earlier, or the shade that took her sister back in the cave, but it was really him… in the flesh… Alfwald was now in the form that she remembered him best… as he was in life. A tall, dark, imposing figure, dressed in Saxon clothes and long cape. In life, she had always admired him… And if she was honest with herself, maybe a little jealous of her sister: at one time, many years ago, she could even imagine being with him herself. When she was a lot younger, Sophia had always put her duties and work before her own pleasures and had chastised her sister for becoming involved with a human. However, secretly she had always been envious of her. But that was a long time ago and the world had changed so much over the centuries, and unfortunately so had she.

  “What’s Henry doing?” Bree whispered, interrupting her thoughts. Sophia didn’t answer. Although she didn’t have any powers there, her eyesight was still incredible. She took a moment to study the wording on the obelisk, then grabbed Bree’s arm. “We have to stop him,” she said abruptly. “The inscription is a spell… if he reads it all…” She didn’t have to finish.

  She turned to Bree and took her gently by the shoulders. “You’ll have to stop him.” Bree looked mortified but managed to give one nod. “What do I have to do?” she asked. “Nothing… just go over there and stop him… You can’t be harmed.” She looked back over to where Henry was kneeling at the base of the obelisk. “If Henry is not stopped… we’ll lose him… Go,” she said, half-pushing Bree away, “but don’t let on that I’m here.” Bree nodded and without saying another word, she walked towards Henry and the others, slowly at first, but picking up pace with each step.

  The shadow master was the first to see her, then Hazel. “Bree, my dear,” she gasped. On hearing Bree’s name, Henry stopped reading and looked up. “Bree,” he called out, got up and rushed over and tried to hug her, but to his horror, his arms went right through her. He stood back with a shocked expression on his face. “It’s alright, my sweet… I’m with Acca,” she said, but he still looked surprised. “My dear sweet Henry,” she said, smiling, “I’m here in mind only.” Henry looked over to the shadow master: its eyes burning with hatred towards the girl. It really needed Henry to finish reading the spell in order to trap the Wyvern within the obelisk, and now the nymph had interrupted his plans. How was he going to get him to finish it now that she was here? Little did the shadow master know that Bree was fully aware of its plans, and within the next few seconds so would Henry.

  Bree stood on tiptoe and pretended to kiss Henry on the cheek, but he still couldn’t feel anything. Instead of a kiss, she whispered quickly in his ear, warning him that the words were a spell to trap the Wyvern and he was not to finish reading them. Henry stood back and she gave him one of her most brilliant smiles to try and reassure him a little. He took a moment to just look at her. He had missed her so, missed the sparkle in her eyes and, most of all, that wonderful smile of hers. He gave her a quick smile back then turned and walked over to his mother, and to her surprise, he took her in his arms and hugged her. Using the opportunity to warn his mother of the spell, he stood back and saw the tears in her eyes. Giving her a cheeky wink, he turned his attention back to the shadow master, who up to now had just been standing back, watching with anger burning in its eyes.

  Henry felt disappointed in himself for not realising what was happening. He had been warned that the shadow master was cunning, but he still couldn’t forgive himself for being deceived so easily. “You talk of trust and lies,” Henry said, with a hint of anger reflected in his voice, “yet you try to deceive me into reading that spell!” he shouted, not trying to hide his anger. The shadow master took a step back: it could sense that the Wyvern was waking up. It knew that it had lost its control over the situation, and its mind was racing to find a way to get it back. “What has the nymph told you?” it said a little nervously. “Whatever it is… it’s a lie… the inscriptions are just a foretelling of the future.” Henry stepped forward, again, forcing the shadow master to take another step back. “I didn’t mention anything about the inscriptions,” Henry said, his eyes now burning yellow.

  Realising that it had lost the opportunity to win Henry over, the shadow master had to find a way out and quickly. It wasn’t strong enough to stand and fight the host; however, it did have a few other tricks up its sleeve. So the shadow master stamped its foot and the ground around them immediately began to shake, making everyone except Bree lose their footing and fall to the ground. “The obelisk!” Bree called out. “Destroy the obelisk… it’s the only way.” The shadow master’s eyes burned brighter with hatred towards her. It had never liked her type: it had always found it impossible to be able to force them to serve him, and they would all rather die first… And over the years, many died at his hands. A red bolt of lightning shot from its eyes towards Bree. Henry tried to get to his feet to block it, but was too slow. The red lightning exploded on the ground where Bree was standing. “Nooo…!” Henry cried out. A large, evil grin spread across the shadow master’s face: it had always taken pleasure in killing, but more so when it came to killing “little, do-good nymphs”.

  Henry rushed over to where Bree had been standing, but there was nothing there. For a second or two he stood dumbstruck, staring down at the scorched earth, where only seconds before stood his beloved. He couldn’t believe that she was gone, but worse still, he did nothing to stop it. Another powerful bolt of red lightning exploded behind him. Henry spun around to see that the shadow master had turned its attention on his mother. However, she had managed to throw up a protective shield around her and his father just in time to block the attack. Henry was still in shock over losing Bree and the shadow master was using every second to its advantage. Still Henry didn’t move. With his mother’s hair glowing and flickering like fire, dropping her protection, she shot two green balls towards the shadow master but it managed to block them. Then, without thinking, Henry slowly but deliberately walked straight towards the shadow master, his yellow eyes so bright that they lit up most of his face. On seeing Henry approach, the shadow master nervously looked around it, threw up its hands, and melted in
to the mist surrounding it.

  Checking to see that his mother was alright and now a little more controlled, Henry turned his attention back to the obelisk. At first, he just stood looking at it: it was made up of large, solid blocks of black granite which were well crafted and the joints so tight that it would be impossible to even put a sheet a paper between them. How could he destroy something so large? The simplest solution would be to blow it apart with his newfound powers, but before he had a chance to make up his mind, Alfwald walked over and stood beside him. “Be careful, son… the shadow master won’t give up this easily.”

  Henry looked up at the obelisk, still with tears in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that Bree was gone. “This thing is a trap,” Alfwald said, breaking his thoughts. Henry looked at him. “What do you mean?” he said, looking back at obelisk. “I mean just that… it traps… souls… Destroy this and you’ll release tens of thousands of them, and in doing so, take away most of the shadow master’s powers.” Alfwald paused. “Although it is impossible for a trap such as this to incarcerate living beings such as you and your mother… It could trap me.” He placed his hand on Henry’s arm to ensure that he was looking at him. “But not being of living flesh… it’s possible that it could be a trap for the Wyvern as well.”

  Henry hadn’t thought of it that way. He naively thought that all he had to do was blow it apart by using the Wyvern’s powers, but Alfwald could be right. Except for tricking him into reading the spell, up to now the shadow master had done little else; he knew that it was next to impossible to defeat the Wyvern and the only two options left open to the shadow master were either to trick him to join him, which, thanks to Bree, didn’t work, or to trap the Wyvern and, to come to think of it, the shadow master was very keen on leading them here. “So how do I destroy it?” Alfwald looked over to his mother. “You can’t… but she can.” Hazel walked over to join them. “Your father’s right… My powers come from me, not from the Wyvern or from the spirit world,” she said softly as she placed her hand on his arm. For a few seconds they just stood staring at each other. “Bree,” Henry just managed to say before his voice broke. Hazel smiled. “She’s okay… she cannot be harmed here,” she said, placing her hand gently on his cheek.