Dawn of Darkness: Book 1 - Full (Where The Shadows Stalk)

by Adam Watson

  Dray looked up, standing behind the fallen beast was the bestial with the bull head; it stood there still and quiet. Dray could only stare at it in disbelief. Had it really just saved his life? It stood there calm and unmoving, hands by its side, despite the unnaturalness of its melded face, it looked almost ... friendly.

  "Kill it!" It was the Oracle. She was standing behind the beastman with a look of intense focus on her face. "Dray, you have to kill it now." Dray rubbed his eyes and grimaced. Kill it? ‘It’ had just saved his life. "Take your knife out and stab it in the heart ... quick! I can't control it much longer." Stab it in the heart? It was defenceless. Where was the honour in that? Killing an unarmed opponent was against everything he had ever been taught, but killing one that couldn't even fight back ... well, that was as bad as killing a child.

  "Dray, you have to hurry. I'm weak, I can't hold on!" Dray closed his eyes and sighed, he knew what he had to be done, even though the very thought disgusted him. There's no honour in battle. He pulled the knife from his belt and slowly walked towards the beast, as he did he could see it removing its chest plate.

  He looked into its eyes. There was no anger, no malice, no ill will. It seemed to be watching him calmly, unmoving. Dray held the knife up, looking at bare flesh where its heart would be; his hand was shaking like a leaf. I can't do this, it's too easy, it's wrong. It just saved my life, and this is how I repay it ... by killing it?

  "Hurry Dray please." The Oracle, he had to protect her, he had to finish the mission, he had to honour Commander Galleon’s dying command. He gave his life for both of us. I can't let that be for nothing. He tensed, then made himself plunge the knife - the beast fell to the ground, dead.

  As Dray fell to his knees exhausted, he thought back to what had happened over the last few weeks and sadness overwhelmed him. Behind him he could feel the Oracle standing; she placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

  "Dray, are you all right?" Dray stared ahead at the carcass on the ground; the light of life now gone from its eyes. No, I don't think I am.

  "I've done terrible things, Oracle." The Oracle remained silent for a moment, perhaps thinking about her own ordeal. How could she possibly judge Dray after that? After Lily? After Jarrod?

  "We all have Dray." Dray turned around and looked into the eyes of the Oracle. We all have? "This place may have been a good place once, but it is becoming corrupt and tainted by the influence of Solus Bal." Dray continued to stare into the eyes of the Oracle; in his mind he knew it made sense, but he just couldn't believe the world could change so quickly. The Oracle looked down to the ground, unable to match his judging gaze. "Let's just get out of here," she murmured. Yes. That was the best idea he had ever heard. Let's leave this place and never come back. Dray stood up and took the Oracle by the hand.

  "Do you know the way out Oracle?" The Oracle smiled, it was good to feel him touch her again, even if it was just holding hands.

  "Dray, please don't call me Oracle anymore." They were friends now and furthermore he was her Torac - her divine protector. Having him call her Oracle felt strange, and besides, she wasn't so sure she was worthy of the position anymore. Oracles were revered as the holiest of holies; her experiences in the Temple of Kara had left her feeling extremely impious.

  "Call me Kayla, it is my name after all." Dray smiled at that. Kayla. He liked that name. Memories of her naked beauty came flooding into his mind. How could I question her? How could I doubt? he thought. It seemed stupid now to have remorse for the creature that had tried to kill them. It's my duty to the Oracle. Suddenly it was clear in his mind, he wanted to protect her, that's all he wanted to do, and no matter what happened, that is what he would do. He swore it.

  "How do we get out of here then Kayla?" The Oracle smiled, her Torac was with her, Tempus was with her, and soon they would be leaving this foul place.

  "We have to go further down. There are escape tunnels that can take us from this Temple and beyond the city walls." Dray sighed with relief, it was the best news he had heard since the attack. "Let us go and leave this mess behind us." Dray couldn't argue with that, and he started walking down the long stone corridor still holding on to the Oracle's hand.

  "There's a stairway leading down at the end, we must follow it. On the lowest level of the dungeon there is a secret passageway that leads to the tunnels and from there we can escape." Dray looked curiously at the Oracle.

  "How do you know?" he asked, the Oracle swallowed hard and looked away. There was no way she was going to talk about what she had done in Lily's body - she didn't even want to think about it anymore.

  "I just do." It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, and he knew she was keeping something from him, but he had his secrets too, how could he tell anyone he had just slaughtered a young woman for basically no reason at all. She was calling the guards! Some part of his mind told him it was self-defence. All the guards were dead. How could he have known that? He walked faster. The sooner they put this place behind them, the better.

  8. THE BROTHERS: AMALICIA CITY

  It had been two and a half months since that fateful night when the two brothers had found themselves reading King Aurien's 'Call to Arms' in Greegan's bedroom, but now they were finally on their way to Amalicia City.

  It had taken quite a while for the brothers to convince their parents to let them go. It had entailed many weeks of Aiden being exceptionally nice, sucking up and sometimes even begging. Greegan, on the other hand, had a different approach to the situation. It involved yelling, screaming and smashing up the place - that had led him to almost coming to blows with his father.

  In the end, it was only after they both simply told their parents that they were going to Amalicia City whether they liked it not, that their mother and father quite happily agreed and let them go - it was as if they had been waiting for the grown-up approach all along.

  That conversation had been weeks ago, now the brothers found themselves on a river boat on their way to Amalicia City. First, they had caught a small boat used for the transportation of goods from Thorngrove to Talem’s Bend on the Colgne River. At Talem’s Bend, they bartered their way onto the Scully Eagle - a medium sized riverboat used for transporting cargo and paying passengers between Talem’s Bend and Amalicia City.

  Refusing to pay for a ticket, Greegan made a deal with the Captain that the brothers would work as part of the crew in return for a free passage to Amalicia City. At first, the captain refused. To this Greegan simply sighed and placed one of his giant mitts on the Captain’s shoulder.

  “Really Captain,” said Greegan, slowly squeezing the captain's shoulder. “I implore you to please reconsider. I give you my word that we won’t be any trouble. We just need to get to Amalicia City as soon as possible.” Greegan was intent.

  Aiden was getting a little nervous as the crew had gathered, some of them had swords, big swords; big swords with a curve in them that could hack through their soft bodies like a scythe through wheat - and they had nothing. Somehow, somebody had forgotten to pack the weapons.

  Aiden was furious when he found out. His favourite sword, old faithful, and his bow, the one he made himself - gone. Both of them fucking missing! It was a basic concept, pack the fucking weapons - they had only just started their adventure, and already things were not going according to plan.

  Even his spear would have been better than nothing. But did that get packed? No, of course not! Nothing got packed! Nothing of use anyway. Not even the water bottle! Between them they had seven pairs of trousers and thirteen shirts, but what about the equipment they needed to survive? Where was that? What were they supposed to fight with? A rolled up pair of trousers?

  Still, what could they do? They were already at Talem’s bend when they realised. Greegan blamed Aiden, Aiden blamed Greegan, and the two brothers almost came to fisticuffs in the middle of the Talem’s Bend port. In the end, they decided to agree to disagree and buy new weapons when they arrived at the capital, and it was for this reason that th
ey were skimping on travel tickets.

  The Captain glared at Greegan, it was clear that he was in pain as his eyes were slowly beginning to bulge. Greegan's grip was firm but hard. I will squash you like a fucking melon.

  “Everything all right Captain?” came a voice from behind Aiden. Greegan’s size seemed to be making everyone wary.

  “Fine, everything’s fine,” said the Captain, through gritted teeth. He seemed to be eyeballing Greegan’s bandana now. Greegan had taken to wearing a light blue bandana with an intricate black pattern of the royal emblem on the front ever since he read the pamphlet that Edward Dante had given Aiden - now he had become an almost fanatical royalist.

  “Well, seeing as how you support our good king, Aurien, I’ll let you board as part of our crew in return for a free passage to Amalicia City.” Greegan smiled and let the Captain go whilst Aiden breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Now on board with you, you have work to do.” That was one week ago, now there was only one more day of travel before they arrived in Amalicia City.

  Aiden’s spirits were finally starting to lift. Ever since he set foot on the ship he had been working like a dog; the crew giving him all the jobs they didn’t want to do. Menial tasks such as washing the dishes and scrubbing the deck or serving the slop they liked to call food. He couldn’t complain though, as the one time he had, the Captain simply asked what other skills he had - which of course were none; none that related to the running of a ship anyway, so he was stuck. Greegan fared no better, scraping seagull droppings from the crow nest wasn’t exactly Aiden’s idea of the high life, but he smiled anyway - he only had to endure it for one more day.

  In fact, Aiden was now the happiest he had been since they embarked on their journey. The sun was out, its golden rays beating down on him. The air was fresh and crisp. There was a breeze blowing off the calm waters of the river, overall there was a feeling of joy in the air.

  “All right, you landlubber!” screamed the Captain. “Just because we’re one day out from Amalicia City doesn’t mean you can slack off. Now scrub that deck!” Aiden went back to work. I’m going to scrub your face in a minute. “I want this deck shining! I want to see my face gleaming off its surface!” You’ll see your face in its surface all right; right after I plant it there. “That’s better! There are no free rides in life lubber! You remember that!” The Captain apparently finished with his berating, stormed off. Next time I’m just going to pay for a damned ticket! But nothing could dampen Aiden’s spirits now, not even the grumpy old sea captain; for the sun was still out and still beating its golden rays upon him, and there was still a crisp breeze blowing, and most importantly of all - there was still only one day to go.

  ***

  That evening after the chores were finished, when sun had gone down and the moon had risen high into the night sky, and most of the crew had gone to sleep. Aiden and Greegan lay awake discussing what they were going to do when they got to Amalicia City.

  “Well, I say we go to the City Hall first and get the relevant information on the proclamations.” Greegan was laying in his hammock, one leg hanging over the edge. The crew had four makeshift hammocks in the cargo hold; these were often used by passengers such as Aiden and Greegan - temporary crew unable to afford a ticket. The other passengers, those able to afford a ticket lived in relative luxury, sectioned off on the other side of the vessel.

  "It makes sense Brother, but we will also have to visit the smith and the store to get new supplies." Greegan grimaced - the supplies were still a sore point.

  "That will be the last of our money gone, Aiden. We will have to make sure that the first job we get makes us money."

  "It will Brother." Aiden was certain of that. He didn't care what happened or what they had to face, he would rather die than go home and tell his father they failed on their first proclamation. Oh, wouldn't he just love that! Seeing his sons come running home with their tails between their legs. He could see the smarmy look on his father's face right now. "Don't worry about that. You just worry about what you are going to do with all the gold we're going to make." That made Greegan smile. He liked gold, he liked gold very much, and there were many things he could think of spending gold on - like a personal chef for one.

  "The food on this ship is shit," he remarked, as he had done every day since they left Talem's Bend. "I mean, yeah all right we're on the river ... I get that, but fish ... every fucking day? That’s just bullshit!" The food on the ship had been Greegan's main gripe the entire voyage. Even when he had to scrape seagull droppings off of the crow's nest, it hadn't caused as many problems in Greegan's world as the lack of variety in the menu. At one stage he had the chef bailed up in the kitchen, and Aiden had to go in and personally calm him down.

  "Soon we will be eating like kings. Just think Greegan, this time tomorrow we'll actually be in Amalicia City." Greegan couldn't wait. Gold ... everywhere. What would he do with it? What would he eat first? Truffles? Caviar? Caviar on truffles? If he had a choice of eating anything in the world, what would it be? He wasn't sure, there were so many options - he would surely be tossing and turning all night thinking about them.

  Aiden closed his eyes, the gentle sway of the ship in the river waters was slowly rocking him to sleep - despite his hatred of hammocks. It's not that bad. If they didn't have to work the whole time they were aboard, he might have even enjoyed the trip. This was the best part though - lying in the hammock and not having to do anything but relax. It was a good time to contemplate the future and imagine all the great things he could do. Soon we'll be in Amalicia City ... soon.

  ***

  The next day the Scully Eagle exited the river and sailed into the harbour of Amalicia City where the brothers said their goodbyes to the crew. Greegan was in such a good mood that he even thanked the chef and told him what a good job he had done with last night's flounder.

  The port itself was a large place, warehouses and stores were littered all across the docks. People were coming and going, business seemed to be thriving. Dockworkers were loading and unloading cargo on all manner of sea-going vessels; compared to some of the ships in the harbour, the Scully Eagle looked like a small row boat.

  Aiden noted that the harbour was divided, with the majority of the area devoted to the larger ocean-going vessels. On the east side, where the river entered into the harbour, was a smaller area that seemed to be allocated for local trade and river boats. In the centre of the docks themselves was a large fishing market with many fishmongers shouting their wares. The fish were of a high quality and freshly caught - they looked delicious.

  The brothers continued walking, taking in the sights and sounds, breathing in the crisp sea air and marvelling at the hive of activity which was so far from the sleepy little village that they had grown up in.

  The sun was out shining brightly, its rays glistening off the harbour waters, adding vibrant colours to an already beautiful view. Further out into the harbour was a large island that appeared to be serving as a base for the Royal Navy; many military vessels lined the docks.

  "So, which way do we go to get to the City Hall?" asked Greegan. The city was large, much larger than Thorngrove. The City Hall could be anywhere.

  ***

  Amalicia City, the capital of Amalicia, was one of the biggest and busiest cities on the continent. It was both a city and a nation undergoing rebirth. Twenty years prior, King Elias the Cruel ruled the nation under a reign of terror. The good Prince Aurien, nephew to the King, learnt in his youth of the past glory of Amalicia which his family had ruled since its inception.

  It had at one stage, long ago, been a much larger country, taking the entire eastern side of the continent; from the Cartagian Mountains in the south to North Ravona in the north. From Harlindon to the Quagmire Seas it spanned across - those were glory days for Amalicia.

  The peace did not last. A corruption seeped in, and the deterioration of Amalicia began. The great Lords of the nation began to rebel, war broke out, the land divided, and new nati
ons were formed, eventually ending with the world of Mya as we know it today.

  It was this history that caused young Prince Aurien to question the king. The prince’s father, Prince Hemalar, had often told the young prince that Elias was not the same man he had grown up with and had called brother.

  As a man Elias had a madness in him, a madness he never had as a child. Most people thought it was hereditary, it seemed to run in the family, but Prince Aurien thought it no coincidence that this ‘madness’ running through his family started with King Urlic, just after the appearance of the mysterious dark cloud at Gorath's peak. He had always suspected that the evil in Gorath, somehow influenced his family and not in a good way.

  The young prince saw the cruelty his uncle was inflicting upon his people and vowed to bring him down. His dreams began to fuel him, he dreamed of restoring his nation to its former glory, of ridding the land of evil and destroying the corruption within the government - he wanted to bring justice to his people. Justice and peace would bring a new age - a golden age of prosperity.

  He started by rallying the good Lords to his cause and with their help, he raised an army. He plunged Amalicia into a civil war, tearing the country apart, but the common folk knew that he was fighting for them and became his greatest supporters; many pledging their lives to him. They called him the ‘Good Prince’. There was much bloodshed on both sides, and many houses of the nobility were destroyed. Eventually good triumphed over evil, he became the ‘Good King’ Aurien.

  The first act Aurien performed as king was to reform the government. He replaced many of the corrupt officials who governed under his uncle with new officials loyal to him and the Lords who sided with him during the war.

  With new nobility and government came new laws, making justice fairer for all. The Amalician army was rebuilt using many of the soldiers who fought for him during the civil war. Their operations and duties were reformed, their weapons and armour upgraded. Their numbers expanded, but still, the army was considered small on a global scale.