Between Darkness and the Light

by Paul T. H. Mitchener

  Just then, Sophia stepped out of concealment, feeling now was the time to show herself. “I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show yourself,” Hazel said, smiling. “Nothing gets past you, sister,” Sophia said with a smile on her face. She turned to Henry. “Your mother’s right… Bree’s safe and with me… So put your thoughts towards more pressing issues,” she said sternly as she approached him. “Acca made it very clear that this thing had to be destroyed.” She gave Alfwald a quick nod. “Alfwald,” she said, dismissively. Alfwald just nodded back in response. As Sophia reassured Henry that Bree was safe, Hazel took a moment to walk around the obelisk, trying to find any weak points or an entrance, but it looked solid and the more she studied it, the more misgivings she had. Relieved to hear that Bree was safe, Henry turned his attentions to his mother as he absent-mindedly played with the Moonstone around his neck. But it was obvious to him, as it was to the others, that his mother couldn’t find a way to bring it down.

  On noticing the Moonstone, Alfwald’s eyes lit up. “That’s it!” he shouted. They all looked his way. “The Moonstone,” he said pointing. Henry looked down at it. Until now, he had forgotten that he was still wearing it. “What use is it…? Nobody except me can use it,” he said, but to no one in particular. Alfwald stepped forward and took it in his hand and studied it a while. “Sophia,” he said, without looking up from the stone. “Do you process any of your powers here?” Sophia shook her head. “None,” she replied, a little confused as to where Alfwald was going with this. “Good… it may just be possible,” Alfwald said to himself. Henry took the stone from Alfwald’s hands. “What?” Without answering, Alfwald looked up at Sophia. “It may be possible for you to use it.” Hazel was about to interrupt him, but Sophia put her hand up. “Let him finish, sister,” she demanded.

  Alfwald walked over to the obelisk and started to run his fingers across the inscriptions. Moments went by as the others watched him walk around it. He stopped. “Here,” he said suddenly, still a little confused. They all walked over to see what he had found. “Look… here,” he said, pointing; at first, all Henry could see was more writing, a lot more faded than the other face, but then he could just make out a symbol identical to the shape of the Moonstone. He reached around his neck and took it off, holding it a few inches away. He was surprised to see that it would fit into the symbol perfectly. “Not too close,” Alfwald warned, as he pulled Henry away. “It could activate a trap if you try anything… Give it to Sophia.”

  Henry did as he was told, now even more confused as to how Sophia was able to hold it when earlier his arms went right through Bree. On seeing the look on his face, Sophia smiled. “Acca allows us to touch, feel and hold inert objects only… Not flesh and blood: that way we can harm no one here and no one can harm us.” She looked down at the stone, then back to Alfwald. “What have you got in mind?” Alfwald gave Hazel a smile which made her catch her breath. She had missed him so much and to see that wonderful smile again after so long… She smiled back and held his gaze for a second but Henry interrupted them, now feeling a little awkward. “Well,” he said, “how’s this going to work…? It almost killed my mum when she tried to use it and Sophia has just said that she has no powers here… That leaves only me.”

  Without answering, Alfwald held Hazel’s hand. “Are you able to channel your powers through your sister?” She looked a little puzzled. “I’m not sure,” she said. “It would be dangerous for you to use your powers on the Moonstone… It would probably kill you this time… And your powers alone won’t be enough.” Alfwald let go of Hazel’s hand and looked at Henry. “Using your powers may result in the Wyvern becoming trapped… If that happens, all will be lost and the shadow master’s influence in your world would grow even stronger.” He stepped a little closer to Henry. “But it may be safe for your mother to channel her powers into the stone through her sister… Sophia can’t be harmed here and your mother wouldn’t have to touch the stone.” Nobody spoke for a moment, each going over the idea in their own minds. “How safe?” Henry asked, abruptly. Alfwald shook his head. “I’m in no position to say… I can’t be sure if it would even work,” he replied. “You’re not sure,” Henry repeated. “Well, that’s just great and dandy… If that’s the only idea you can come up with… then I suggest we all go home and think again,” he said sarcastically. “Henry… if it’s the only chance we have in defeating the darkness… then I must take it,” his mother said softly. Sophia interrupted. “It could cost you your life, sister… Have you considered that?” she said, sounding concerned. Hazel nodded. “If there was any other way… I’d take it… but there isn’t,” she replied, holding back her fear.

  Hoping to come up with another solution, Henry slumped down on one of the smaller headstones to rest a little. The blue haze was starting to affect him in some strange way. He had felt nauseous the moment he fell into this realm. Along with the headache, his eyes were now starting to blur, but, more worryingly, he was having trouble thinking straight. He rubbed his eyes and then took a brief moment to look around him. It was truly the strangest place he had ever seen. Dark shadows lurked at the corner of his eyes, appearing and disappearing in a heartbeat, which only added to the fact that this realm or place didn’t make any sense to him at all. If this was really the underworld, then why were there graves here – hundreds, if not thousands of them. Surely the bodies of the dead were buried in graves in his world, whilst the spirits and their remaining life forces roamed freely in this one.

  Tired and confused, Henry rubbed his eyes again, then suddenly jumped when Alfwald placed a hand on his shoulder, taking him by surprise. “We must talk,” Alfwald said quietly. Henry sighed and nodded. “Here… sit,” Henry said, and moved over so that Alfwald could sit next to him on the headstone. “I owe you and the nymph an apology… or an explanation at least,” he said, looking over to the two sisters who were standing talking to one another next to the obelisk. “I had no intention of harming her,” he continued. “Here I am myself but on earth… well… I had limited time and limited responses.” He paused. “I needed you to listen to me… to join me, but I struggled to find a way to communicate with you… I meant her no harm.”

  Henry didn’t respond. In his eyes at least, no amount of excuses could ever justify harming Bree. Having said all he was going to say on the matter, Alfwald stood up. “I believe your mother and aunt are waiting… but remember no matter what happens, you must not kill the shadow master.” To Henry this sounded more an order than a request. “All we need to do is take its power… We do that by destroying the obelisk.” Henry got up to face his father for the first time. He was as tall as Alfwald but, unlike his father, he didn’t have an imposing stature or build. Alfwald was strong and looked every bit a warrior, whereas Henry was still a teenage boy, untidy with wet, shoulder-length, red hair that clung to his face, and with no experience at all in life. For a brief moment they just stood measuring one another up, then Henry smiled. “Well, Dad… let’s get this over with.”

  Suddenly the ground started to shake again, but this time so violently that all but Sophia fell down. The blue, hazy clouds above them started to swirl violently, centring around the top of the obelisk, turning blacker by the second until they were almost as black as coal. The blue haze was now gone, replaced by a dark grey mist and thundery storm clouds that swirled faster and faster around the top of the obelisk. Red lightning bolts crashed down around them, one hitting the obelisk, sending fingers of red lightning that wrapped themselves around it until it was fully enveloped by a brilliant, red electrical charged cage. Hazel staggered back to her feet but the wind was so strong she had to be aided by Henry and Alfwald to stand, who had both rushed over to her the moment they were back on their feet. Sophia had vanished completely. Although they knew that she couldn’t be harmed, they were still concerned as to what had happened to her, but more importantly, what had happened to the Moonstone. The dark, damp mist got darker and thicker by each passing second, then slowly t
he mist started to take shape directly in front of them. First, two large, burning, red eyes materialised from the swirling clouds, staring down at them with such hatred that they could feel the pain as it burned into them. Hazel put up a defensive shield to try and protect herself from its effects, but Henry didn’t have to: he was already protected by the Wyvern. “Fools!” it bellowed. “You think it would be this easy… We have anticipated your every move,” it continued. “We manipulated you… deceived you to do our bidding and now I will take what rightfully belongs to us!” it bellowed with its two red eyes fixed mainly on Hazel and Alfwald.

  Henry stepped forward. “Haven’t you forgotten something?!” he shouted, trying to be heard over the wind. “You’re nothing against the Wyvern.” The mist suddenly started to swirl faster as the wind intensified. “Fool!” it bellowed. “You think that you’re a match for us!” It gave a high-pitched laugh. “You’re… a mere boy… whereas we are the masters of death itself.” The mist then took on a more recognisable shape, a black, hazy silhouette of a huge, misshapen man with long limbs; but still it didn’t take a solid form. The burning red eyes moved closer to Henry until they were only feet away. Still Henry didn’t back away. He couldn’t if he wanted to, petrified with fear as he stood looking up at its intense, burning eyes. The mist started to take another, but now a more hideous form, but this time more solid.

  The Wyvern immediately came to life, a sure indication to Henry that there was now a real threat to him. The mist twisted and turned, until standing only feet away from Henry, crouched on all fours, stood a hideous creature. The still vaguely human form was blacker than night and its legs and arms had become lanky and much longer, giving it a spider-like appearance. Its head was small, almost disappearing into its neck and it had no face, just a powerful, teeth-laden jaw and piercing red eyes. Black drool ran from the corners of its mouth as it opened its jaws to a terrifying, ear-piercing scream. Without hesitation, Hazel immediately shot a volley of green fireballs into its face. Although she had done little harm to it, the creature roared with rage and directed its fury towards her. This was no longer the shadow master they knew from old, but something quite different. Her brother had been somehow consumed by a force much stronger than she had thought, an unknown force that even she had never seen before. This wasn’t the darkness she had faced many times before, this was something much darker: this was pure evil. Hazel was frozen to the spot, too shocked to move as it headed directly towards her. Her heart sank, knowing that this thing was once her brother, but before it had a chance to retaliate, two powerful blows of yellow fire hit it on its rear leg, making it swing around and roar in pain. Not wishing to kill it, Henry decided to avoid the head and attack its fleshier part. He was, of course, unaware that this creature was not the shadow master, and that defeating it by trying to take it alive was no longer an option. It had to die: Hazel knew this but her son didn’t, and he was the only person strong enough to kill it.

  The creature’s attention now on Henry, Hazel took the opportunity to grab hold of Alfwald. “It has to be killed!” she shouted, trying to be heard above the sound of the wind and the cries of the creature. Alfwald had also sensed that it was not the shadow master, and nodded. “You distract it!” he shouted back. Hazel nodded and sent another volley of fireballs into the back of its head. The creature reared up and screamed as it turned towards her again. Henry was about to attack it again, but Alfwald surprised him by grabbing him by the arm. “Kill it!” he shouted.

  Henry looked confused: ever since he got involved in all this, it had been drummed into him not to kill the shadow master. Doing so, he believed, would affect the whole balance of the world. “It’s not the dark one,” Alfwald tried to say, but the sound of the wind drowned it out. “What?” Henry shouted back, sheltering his eyes from the wind and dust. “Kill it!” Alfwald shouted. “Just kill it!” The creature must have heard what Alfwald was shouting and turned its attention on him, and with one large, powerful blow from of its long, lanky arms, knocked Alfwald with such force that it sent him flying and landing hard somewhere out of sight. Now in a rage, Henry sent a bolt of yellow fire into its face. The attack was so powerful that it knocked the creature over onto its side. However, what Henry didn’t notice was that his mother was caught up in the attack. The force of Henry’s attack on the creature had knocked it off its legs and it landed heavily on his mother, crushing her entire body.

  Still unaware that his mother was lying half under the creature mortally injured, Henry moved closer for another attack. The long, lanky creature thrashed about as it tried to gain a footing. Now back on his feet and seeing what had happened to Hazel, Alfwald rushed to her aid. Just as he reached her, the creature kicked out at him with one of its long legs, but this time Alfwald was too quick for it. He dived to the ground just in time to avoid being ripped apart by its large claws. Grabbing Hazel under her arms, Alfwald just managed to pull her out of the way before it was hit again by another powerful yellow bolt. The creature roared in pain and anger as it lurched forward, catching Henry across the face with a powerful blow from one of its claws, knocking him clear off his feet and landing hard against a headstone, rendering him unconscious and bleeding from a large gash across his left cheek. Seizing the opportunity to finish him off, red bolts of lightning shot from the creature’s eyes. However, the Wyvern had done something that it had never done for any other host before: it instinctively blocked the attack by protecting Henry in a yellow ball. As the Wyvern shielded him, it started working its way quickly through Henry’s mind, telling him to wake, and urging him to get up and fight, and at the same time healing the wound across his face.

  Stopping the bleeding and leaving a large scar running across his left eye and down his cheek, finishing just above his top lip, the Wyvern continuously urged Henry to wake, but he still lay motionless on the ground. The creature lunged forward time and again, trying to break down the protective shield surrounding Henry by ripping at it with its large, powerful claws; but the shield held and was showing no signs of weakening. Frustrated, the creature roared and turned its attention on much easier prey. Alfwald had propped Hazel up against a large, broken statue of an angel: she was barely conscious but alert enough to see the creature slowly crawling on all fours towards them. Alfwald had no defence against the creature, yet placed himself in front of Hazel in a vain attempt to protect her. Now sensing easy prey, the creature opened its jaws as it crept ever closer. No longer in a rush, it wanted to relish the moment now it finally had the opportunity to rip Alfwald and that woman limb from limb. Stopping just a few yards away, the creature slowly stood up on its long, lanky legs, towering above Alfwald and Hazel by fifteen feet or more. It was about to lunge down on them, when from behind Alfwald came a bolt of green fire, ripping into one of its legs and knocking the creature off balance, sending it tumbling over headstones and smashing into statues, shattering them on impact. The creature thrashed around as it tried in vain to get back up, stumbling time and again, but Hazel had caused too much damage to the leg. She sat forward and with the last ounce of strength left to her, sent another bolt, hitting it in the face. It roared in rage and agony as it smashed its way through countless headstones as it tried to get to its attacker.

  Exhausted and totally spent of energy, Hazel fell back against the headstone. On seeing her fall, Alfwald rushed to her side and knelt next to her and with tears flooding down his face, he took her in his arms. “Aldin,” he said softly. Hazel took his hand and looked up at him. For one brief second, time seemed to have slowed as she placed her hand on his cheek and gave him a weak but warm smile. “My love… always my love,” she said, with her last breath. Helplessly, Alfwald watched as her life gently slipped away. Her hand fell from his cheek, but her lifeless green eyes still looked up at him. Clearing his eyes of the tears that blurred his vison, Alfwald carefully closed her eyes. The cries from the enraged creature momentary blocked out by his grief, Alfwald knew that the creature would be lunging down on him any s
econd now, but he was already dead, killed many centuries ago at the hands of his love. Until now, he had fought death, hanging onto life in the hope that one day he could make things right.

  Looking down at his only love, he felt more dead now than he had ever felt before… Deep inside, he had existed for hundreds of years in the afterlife, and over all those long, lonely years he never felt so empty as he did now. He knew that it wasn’t possible to be killed again; however, his fragile remains could be ripped apart, leaving just the essence of his soul. Alfwald was way beyond caring: his love was dead and his rightful place was now beside her. He held Hazel in his arms, pulling her tightly to his chest: he closed his eyes and waited for his fate.

  The creature roared again but this time in agony, now fully refreshed by the healing powers of the Wyvern. Henry sat up and through the clinging, thick mist watched as two hazy shadows materialised alongside the creature. “Grog,” he breathed out, and without hesitation, Grog and his brother attacked the creature. Nog had transformed himself into the form he had shown Henry days earlier: he had grown to nearly twice his usual size and his fur became spikes. He turned his back to the creature and started to vibrate. Seconds later, dozens of arm-length spikes shot out from his body like spears, embedding themselves in the creature. It roared in agony as it rolled around on the ground, trying to remove the spikes. Grog then rushed over to Henry. “Master.” Henry put up his hand. “I’m okay!” he shouted. “Help me up.” Grog did as he was ordered and helped Henry up on his feet. Without saying any more, Henry sent two more powerful bolts of yellow flame into the creature’s body, ripping off flesh and burning deep into its stomach, before it had time to recover, Nog sent another volley of spikes towards it, this time catching it in the face. It roared and cried in agony as it tried in vain to knock them out.