by Blake Rivers
“Kill them all,” Ami finished, sighing a ruffled sigh before holding out her hand to him. “Come on then.”
Hero reached across the dance of fire for Ami’s ghostly hand, their fingers touching and sliding together in unison. He felt the magic there, the power that had made her almost translucent, and iridescent.
Suddenly, they were both flying up into the sky, curving an ascent across a summit of flames. As fearful as he was, Hero trusted Ami wholly, and kept his eyes wide open as they descended and landed heavy upon the town’s hill, now hell’s inferno. He had time enough to gasp a lungful of char and burn before they were off again, this time the leap taking them higher, through the thick smoke and ash, and down upon the dragon’s back.
Hero’s worn boots caught a scale as they landed, tripping him—but Ami held him steady.
“This is suicide,” she said, “for you.”
“Everyone is going to die, and besides, I have this,” he touched his sword, “and you.” His fingers stroked her wispy cheek, but fell as the beast crashed through blackened and burning trees, its talons tearing through layers beneath, cracks falling and opening like old sores, raging and bleeding—the world was hurting. He wondered, and not for the first time, how Legacy faired. Was it still there at all?
They held to the plates at the Dragø’s back, eyes on the sword within its skull; the sight and sound of the people gathered at the cliff’s edge came fast into view where they surrounded the temple. Hero felt the rook safe against his thigh. In the temple, he thought, I use it at the temple step. But he wasn’t planning on leaving without her.
Clasping her hand, Hero readied himself for the leap to the beast’s neck.
“We need to drive the blade down and kill it,” she said. “Are you with me?”
“Always,” he mouthed, his hand feeling the tight bond they’d formed months ago. “My princess.”
Fire bellowed and arced across the fractured ground, while screams and cries rose from the thousands gathered by the sea; waves gunned the rocky coast and fire ripped through the land upon the rise—and between the two, the innocents sheltered against their tower of false hope.
The two launched hand in hand and landed upon the skull, Ami twisting to grab her sword, and Hero to plunge two-handed deep with his own. The dark green fire whipped them, slapping visions like memories into their minds: the lush land of colour and beauty of the lakes, the forests, the wooded mountainsides, and of course, the skies of the vast, clear air, far above the flight of birds. Wings spanned and unfurled, never casting a shadow upon the land far below. Only peace above, tranquillity, harmony, until…the fall of the sky and the rise of the wizard—and who was to say which came first? Hero saw this and all that Ami had seen before.
His blade pierced the dragon’s armour and released Florina’s power, joining that of Ami’s sword, now sunk hilt-deep.
A moment passed as the Dragø slowed and stopped just shy of the temple.
Then he fell, swift and sudden, a blast of power exploding and throwing them back, away and into the darkness that awaited them.
In that darkness, Hero heard the birdsong, and the bubble of a virgin stream.
Chapter Twenty
…and there shall be light to follow the darkness, a voice said, somewhere.
*
She walked the short cut grass, stepping lightly up to the raised platform, one booted foot placed upon the first white step; it was so beautiful. The roses bloomed and flourished, all fallen petals forgotten bar one that spun and lifted, blood red and pale pink against the sun. It dropped, touching the clear water stream that now ran beneath the walkway. From there it went with the flow, past her and beyond, into the black trees of elsewhere. She watched it for a while, wondering where it would go now, to which world, if any at all? Perhaps it would find its way to Romany, lost forever she thought, somewhere… Perhaps she was still here, now part of this layer, this stranded part of a world gone. There was no way to know.
A giggle sounded, and Ami looked over to the arches to see the small girl who’d later be her mother, Grace, and beside her, smiling down at her, her shadow-self.
“Hello again,” the girl sang out.
Ami waved but the girl was already dancing away, spinning barefoot off the side of the platform and onto the grass, following the river’s course into the dark lands beyond.
“She cannot be away for long,” her shadow said, her body the exact double of her own, down to the clothes, the ruined leather outfit, torn and ripped and bled on. “She’ll be back.”
“What of the dragon? And Hero?” Hero, of course, Hero. She looked about but saw no trace of him here.
“You did it,” she said. “It has been done, and your man is with you.”
“What about the layers?”
“Healing slowly. They have been badly wounded, and already some are crossing over to explore. It’s inevitable. The damage has been done.” She touched the columns, stroking them, inspecting them casually. “Boom.”
Ami cocked her head, frowning. “Did you just say—”
“Boom,” she said again, and as she did a clap of thunder echoed over the word. Ami jumped. “Boom.” Her lips moved but the skies spoke, blue turning to grey, the sun blotting and hidden.
Boom.
The landscape changed and sunlight burned golden against flames that rose and settled across a wasteland of destruction. Everything was fuzzy, blurry, her hand coming away from her face red with blood. Her head pounded, and by the feel of it many bones were broken.
“Where the—how?” Ami wiped her eyes of the already drying, sticky wetness, the first clear thing seen, a white flare sailing through the sky followed quickly by another boom.
“Princess? Are you okay?”
Hero was beside her. She turned and fell into his arms. It felt natural, and she needed no explanation when he kissed the side of her head and ran his fingers through her hair, her plait undone and long gone. His voice soothed, close and gentle. “Look at this.”
Had her eyes closed? She guessed they had, for when she opened them, all seemed too bright. They lay on the grass, what was left of it, staring across at the felled body of the Dragø. It seemed now just a dark mass of scales, burning in its own flame, its long neck stretching to the very cliff edge, the destroyed head mercifully hanging over to the sea. Dead lay in its path, but also many thousands of the living, crowding around in hushed chatter, watching the beastie burn. A scale popped and scared them, launching high into the sky before exploding, this time in purple-green.
Ooo’s and aaah’s rose beneath nervous giggles and chortles, reminding Ami of cold November nights around a bonfire. Sparks fell to the grass and disappeared between the still exposed cracks of layers, the orange light strong, but growing weaker with the coming dawn. Some cracks began to close as power shot up and fell between them—but others did not. Ami guessed it would take a long time; there was so much destruction.
“It’s hers, Florina’s.” Hero sighed a shuddered breath.
“What is?”
“The power,” he said, pointing vaguely as another boom tore the night and sparkled out across the sea. “It’s all that’s left of her magic. She gave it to me.”
Ami turned in his grasp and looked into his eyes, seeing the sorrow there, watching a tear shiver and fall. They stayed like that for a time and watched the last of the power shoot and fall. Ami folded into Hero and when the time seemed right, they stood up and strode away from the burning dragon.
“Is she going to be alright?” a small girl asked as they passed the temple tower, away from the crowd.
He looked down to her, and then to Ami and smiled. “She will be.”
The girl nodded and reached up to touch Ami’s arm, but Ami could no longer see, think, or really walk on her own. All of a sudden she was just so tired. The girl let go and they continued on, Hero guiding her to a far edge of the cliff where no one was, where green shrubs still clung, hiding the fractured rock. There they sa
t and looked out to sea, out to the bloom of a new day at the end of the longest night.
*
He reached forward and kissed her lips, and she allowed it, smiling. “I’ve been wanting that for…a while.”
“Me, too,” Hero admitted. “I was only ever frightened of what it would mean.”
“But it feels right,” she said, and he nodded.
They let a quiet moment pass, his arms around her.
*
Sometime later, they passed through the crowd, dirty and scared, hungry and lost, all clustered around the temple. What were they to do? Some asked this, and some just wept and watched the eventual rise of the sun as it crested whole and magnificent across the eternal sea. Ami had no answer for them. None at all.
Together they entered the strange temple, the rook in Hero’s hand. Men and women knelt in rags facing the stair, the sacred well hidden beneath the last step down. They did not stir as Ami and Hero stepped up to their sacred altar and stood upon it.
He placed his hands around her waist.
“This might not work,” she warned.
He made no reply, only took Ami’s hand, the chess piece between them.
*
The shack looked the same as before, though it didn’t feel the same at all. There was no magic left; for whatever reason, the power had gone from the place. It was only old now, old and abandoned and cold.
Hero placed his hands on her shoulders and led her outside, and they walked together in silence, hands touching, almost too exhausted to hold. At some point the rook had disappeared, though by the time either of them had noticed they were already back at the cabins, and it could have dropped anywhere. Even Grammy’s supposed brother seemed absent, and all the lights in the big house were off—if there had been cracks between the layers here, they’d healed fast and were no longer evident.
Soon they were in the cabin, and when the night came it was mild and uneventful. Ami introduced Hero to the shower, taking one herself after he’d finished, and by shrinking her sword to a covert pencil once more, she was able to sketch out for him a new set of robes, pulling them from the page into reality. They were the same plain robes the Guard always wore, but they were clean and warm.
The rest of the night was spent in each other’s arms, and a few kisses in they fell into a sleep more sound than either of them had had in a very long while.
*
The morning came and went, and the afternoon had turned to early evening before they were ready to leave. Hero had showered again and dressed in his new robes, while Ami lingered by the cabin door, looking out on a world she knew too much about. The little path into the woods now looked neglected, and it seemed so long ago that she’d arrived. Something had led her here… Romany? Grammy? The power itself? She shook her head.
Hero stood beside her, set to return to Legacy, while Ami herself had packed for home though she wasn’t going home, not yet.
His eyes burned for her, and she wanted him badly.
“You should come with me,” Hero whispered, coming close, his hands sneaking around her waist.
“I will,” she said, “but not until I’ve found them.” Hero had told her of Raven and Florence, and though poor Raven’s fate was unknown, it seemed Florence had somehow changed with the power and become someone new—Infinity, another piece to a greater puzzle.
“You may never find them,” he said. “I don’t think Florence could have survived.”
“I think there’s more to her. She’s been changed in so many ways—she’s not like us. She’s a unicorn.”
“She’s like you. I wish I could come with you.”
“Your place is in Legacy. Keep a home for them to come home to.”
“I hate parting from you,” he confessed, reaching in for a tender kiss that she allowed. A second she would not, for a third would follow and then she’d never be able to let him go.
“I hate it, too,” she said, stepping back, “but until we know their fate, I can never be happy, and neither could you.” She pulled the pencil from her pocket, the shaft lengthening in purple strobes, sharpening to a blade.
Hero nodded, and stepped aside, allowing her a good swing.
With a circular motion, she cut into the ground, allowing the power to flow through as it sliced the layers and created her a portal to Legacy.
“Come soon,” he said, and with a fleeting stroke of her cheek, he stepped in.
The rift sealed a moment later, and he was gone.
Her knees gave as she collapsed to the floor in tears, letting out her love and her sorrow, and everything in between.
*
Ami collected her belongings and started up the long driveway, leaving the cabins, the house, and the shack behind. She’d left all the money she owed on the dresser.
Out onto the lone country road, her thoughts were with Hero, and sometimes Romany. She’d been so alone. She also thought of the Dragø and the wizard who’d sought to use him and study him.
Raven and Florence could be anywhere, true, but there was somewhere she could start looking. Deep in the dark mountains of Noxumbra, Adam had created a castle, a castle of dark and twisted things. In that castle Adam had sought their father, opening portals to numerous and unknown layers. Perhaps there was something there she could use? It was a start, and however dark a place, it remained part of her legacy.
Pausing her trek, Ami slipped the pencil from her pocket again and sketched a doorway in mid-air. It fell open, swirling white, purple and green.
“I’ll see you soon, Hero,” she whispered, and blew a kiss into the air, before stepping through into the rip, into the infinite unknown.
Did you like this book?
Now that you've reached the end, would you consider writing a review on Amazon? Reviews are the best way for readers to discover great new books, and I would truly appreciate it.
Please visit http://getbook.at/astepintodarkscape to be directed to Amazon's website.
Thank you,
Blake Rivers.
Books by Blake Rivers
The Assassin Princess
A Step into Darkscape
Of Colours and Shades (In Progress)
About the Revised Edition
I decided to revisit this novel to rectify a few oversights and to increase readability of the story. If you have previously read this book, you will notice some subtle differences in the use of language, and I’ve also tied up a few loose ends along the way that weren’t fully explained in the Original Edition. I hope you enjoy.
...and my thanks
I'd like to thank my constant source of strength and love, my girlfriend, Emi, who sticks by me through thick and thin. Additional thanks must also go to my beta readers for taking the time to go through this book and provide valuable feedback.
About the Author
Blake Rivers lives in the East of England, surrounded by acres of historical countryside, towns and villages. His first passion has always been writing, creating new worlds with the magic of infinite words.
www.blakerivers.com
Social Links
Facebook /BlakeAuthor
Twitter /BlakeAuthor
Website /BlakeAuthor
