The Darkest Light
By Daniel Mulholland
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© 2017 Daniel Mulholland
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:
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Prologue
A burst of light and suddenly the darkness was not alone in the void. It had succeeded. A new entity began.
But the darkness had made a mistake, for the light did not share its desires. The light wished to explore and to create. And so, the light left the darkness alone once more.
The darkness heard whispers in the void. Whispers from what? It did not know.
But soon the whispers turned sour. It told the darkness of the lights creations. And so, the darkness went.
It found a planet filled with creation. Dragons and humans. In a small stone house on a small Isle it could sense a group of humans controlling the light, using it to construct.
The darkness was enraged and attacked.
It corrupted some of these humans. Turning their light to darkness. The darkness set its followers onto the followers of light and began a war that would last for Millennia.
The light returned from its travels and found its creation killing itself. The darkness laughed and attacked the light. The darkness lost itself to its rage and the light had no choice.
All around these two beings of immense power, the lights creations died and burned. The Dragons were brought to extinction and the light was weakened so much its powers to gift the ethereal and create, were lost.
But the light succeeded. In a small box of glowing light that would burn for eternity, the darkness was trapped. The light buried this coffin deep in the earth beneath the little stone house.
And there the darkness would remain, buried in its infinitely glowing grave for thousands of years - until, as foretold in the Inferno Prophecy, two beings of fire and light would make their fated meeting at this very place and the power of their beings would bring an end to the darknesses cage.
This is the tale of The Inferno Prophecy. Immerse yourself in an adventure that will see two unlikely heroes rise, side by side, to fight an evil of unimaginable power. They will watch as their people and their loved ones are massacred, they will witness the destruction and chaos as cities and countries burn and topple. And together they will make one desperate stand against an evil that wishes to see all of creation burn.
The Inferno Prophecy is fulfilled.
Part One
"Man is the only creature that dares to light a fire and live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned to put it out."
— Henry Jackson Vandyke, Jr.
"Each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."
— Edgar Allan Poe
One – Survive
Slap. Slap. Slap. The only sound I could hear was the slapping of my feet on the wet tarmac as I raced through the side streets.
Left. Right. Right. I met every corner at breakneck speed. Streetlights greeted me at every turn, their light blazing through me, guiding me home.
My ears adjusted, I could hear the rain pouring down. A rhythmic thudding as my blood rushed and my heart thumped.
I turned the corner and I felt my foot slide and my leg buckle, my knee hit the ground and I felt pain and in a heartbeat, I was on my feet and running again.
Three corners left and I would be home. But I could hear them, they were gaining. My fear hit fever pitch, every atom of my body screamed and my knees buckled at every step.
I raced around another corner, almost running into a wall as I tried to angle around the lamppost.
The Al-Guul were getting closer.
My heart froze as I remembered the faces of my friends as we ran, one by one they were struck down, each one being reduced to ash. Elliot's look of horror and his silent cry of agony as fire exploded from his chest. Michael's look of innocent bewilderment as a flame axe swooped out of the sky and beheaded him and the heart-breaking sob as the ground beneath Peter turned to lava and swallowed him whole.
I pushed these thoughts aside, I turned another corner and my left knee buckled again. It was badly grazed, blood was pouring and it was starting to numb. I forced myself back to my feet and pushed on, one corner left.
I glanced over my shoulder. I could see them now. Three tall shapes, billowing, pure black cloaks. Their hands blazing with flame. I turn back, looking ahead, as a ball of fire exploded in front of me, knocking me off my feet. Fire exploded out of the ball, stretching across the street, burning anything it touched. It lasted a few seconds before the flame was pulled back into the centre of the little fiery globe.
The flames started to pulse. I screamed, I reached for the light and threw up a heat shield. Guiding the light into an oval shape and using it to heat a layer of air to extreme levels - a good defence against fire attacks, the shield worked by using the enormous waves of heat to dissipate incoming attacks.
A bang and fire, the ball exploded. Flame poured into the world, crashing down the street towards me. I could feel it as it crashed against my shield. I could feel my shield wavering, waning. I felt it shatter.
As my shield winked out of existence, so did the flames, I threw a quick glance behind me as I jumped to my feet. They were on me. I raced around the last corner, the traitors following closely.
I could see it up ahead, a plain house with a huge mahogany door trimmed with red. A single red flame reared across the beautifully dark wood, a door bell rested on the wall at head height to the right.
The house was too far, I would be caught before I reached it. I tried to formulate an attack plan in my head, I couldn't think. I couldn't concentrate. I needed to make a stand, but how could I beat three Al-Guul masters? I had spent my recent years training to be a scholar, I had no experience with battle spells, I hadn't had a magical duel in two years.
I stopped and turned, facing my pursuers. One by one they stopped and stared at me. Wary suspicion etched on their scarred faces.
The man to the right changed, his arm stretched behind his back and a look of fear transformed his face. Why would they fear me? A scholar student against three masters and they feared me?
I threw my hands up and cupped them together, I whispered my incantation and spread my arms wide - I felt a rush of wind and a roar in my ears as dragon flame streamed out of my mouth and raced towards the traitors.
The flame built and built. I could hear the screams of the Al-Guul and still the flames roared. With every second that passed the flames grew, burning brighter, hotter. I've never felt a power like this. not even from Horal. I could feel my energy burning away with the dragon breath. And then there was silence and cold.
I fell to my knees, one hand on the ground. I felt weak. Tired. The ground rushed toward me as light exploded from everywhere. My face hit the tarmac as a huge explosion roared to my right. I could hear voices to my left. Another flash of light. And then darkness.
And then I heard a new voice. An ancient voice.
"I am awake." A voice like thunder, echoing into nothingness.
Who are you?
"I am the dark. I am the void that swallows the light. The nothingness that eats the flame. Now go. It is not yet time for you"
I woke and jumped to my feet, drenched in sweat. My heart tightened in fear.
And then I heard something. Quiet at first. But rising. A shrill whistling. It took me a moment to understand the noise was coming from the ethereal.
War had come, we were under attack -
and at least one sanctuary had already fallen.
Two – Fire in the Night
So much screaming, her first thought, there is so much screaming. All around her, coming from the walls, the ceilings, the doorways. Screaming.
She made her way through the corridors, one hand on the wall, feeling her way through the cold, dark halls, her bare feet on the cold stone floor.
She reached an open door, and slowly made her way through. Then she felt the heat, it closed in on her from every angle, suffocating her in a cocoon of flame. Every breath she took burned her.
She saw two men standing at an altar at the front of the room, a big stone block with red drapes and some sort of red vase sitting on top. One man was pouring a thick, dark liquid into the vase and whispering the same words over and over. The other man was bent over the altar, a long sharp knife in his hand and blood dripping from his arm. The liquid.
And still screaming. She could make out the different pitches now. Women, men and children alike were screaming in anguish and terror and hopelessness. A shrill wailing filled her mind.
She edged closer to the men, trying to pick up on the whispers of the first man. She couldn't understand the words being spoken, being chanted, but she could feel them, feel power behind them - a power she couldn't understand.
The second man was getting frantic, he dropped the knife as he turned to the first man, a hand reached out to grasp his shoulder. 'It's now or never Artemis, our time is over, we must alert Horal before the sanctuary's wards fail'. Artemis shrugged the second man's hand off, but his chanting got quicker, deeper, louder.
A huge explosion in the distance, the building shook and she lost her footing, she slipped, landing on her knee. She looked around her, everything was blurry. And so very hot. She tried to clear her vision, she shook her head and blinked but her surroundings were impossible to make out now. She could hear a soft vibration, a whispered chant and she could feel the heat. The heat that burned her insides but left her skin untouched.
'WE MUST ALERT HOR-' A second explosion shook the building, followed by a rumbling underneath, cracking all around her, the girl opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, the walls were falling, the ceiling caving, a third explosion.
She woke. She couldn't move for a minute, the heat was still inside her, burning her. She could have sworn she could smell smoke in the air, feel the heaviness as she breathed. She threw one leg over the side of her bed and shakily stepped out. She almost slipped, slowly she steadied herself and had a real look around. She could see smoke, she could feel the heat. It wasn't in the dream; her house was on fire!
She rushed to her door, looking both ways, to her right flames licked along the corridor from the top of the stairs, to her left was her parents’ bedroom, door open. They never leave their door open, she thought hurriedly.
She rushed towards her parents’ room, pushing the door open and slowly edging in. It was dark, she couldn't see anything. She moved towards the light switch to her right. She slipped in something warm and thick. She landed on her knee and she remembered. Fire surrounded her, moving slowly towards her, closing in from every wall in the room. Artemis was screaming his chant as the second man slowly fell down the alter. Another explosion and she could hear the screaming again. Her eyes snapped open. She shook her head and looked down, but she couldn't make out what it was that had caused her to slip.
Fear spread through her body as she moved towards the switch, one agonising step at a time. Her hand stretched out in front of her, it touched the rough wall. She felt around for a few seconds before finding the switch and knocking the light on.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, the first thing she saw was the pool of blood spreading around the corner of the bed. Bloody footprints leading to where she was standing. Tears broke from her eyes and a small sob built up from her chest, rocking her as she moved towards the bed.
She saw her mom, she was lying in a pool of her blood. A long gash across her neck told her all she needed to know. She couldn't see her dad. She moved back towards the door, unable to take her eyes off her mom, the slit in her neck grinning at her menacingly as she turned and ran from the room. She took a few steps before she realised she was heading into the flames.
She breathed in the smoke as she searched for a way out. You must alert Horal. She choked. The voice came from the fire. Slowly it parted creating a pathway for her. She didn't understand how this was possible, she was frantically searching for another way out of the house, away from the flames. She found none. Slowly she made her way through the centre of the flames, the blaze softly caressing her bare feet and her naked arms. She felt a shiver down her back as the flames touched. She felt an energy spread through her and for the first time since waking from her nightmare, she felt alive. Safe.
She left the house through the front door, racing down her street as people gathered, pointing to her burning house and whispering as she passed.
She knew what she needed to do, she needed to find Horal. But who was he? Where would she find him? And what was the warning she had to deliver?
She turned a corner as a young man around her age rushed past, he had tears in his eyes, pale white with a look of absolute terror on his face. Seconds later three large men rushed past and down the street in his direction, the men were covered in burn scars, white fleshy tissue and lightning bolts across their faces.
She heard an explosion in the direction they had gone, saw an eruption of flame and a burst of white light. I'm crazy. I've lost my mind. She thought to herself as she rushed after the strange men.
Three – The Mark
"Argh", I grumbled. My head hurts, my knee hurts, my legs hurt. I shake my head, trying to clear it. A low ache was rumbling underneath my right temple and I could feel something warm and sticky. I raised my hand up to touch it, moving my hand in front of my face I see blood. My blood. Must have been when my head hit the ground, I think.
I remember the light, the sharp pain that came with it. The voice. I shiver as I remember. And the flame, dragons’ breath. A basic fire attack, one of the first we learned at the El-Assum Sanctuary. I remember the power, the feeling as my energy drained and the flame roared a hundred yards down the street. I've never felt power like that, I think to myself. Even now I could feel it, a new power coursing through my veins, a heat I have never known. Is this what it feels to be battle-born?
I shake my head again. I need to focus. To heal. I close my eyes and let my mind slip - I feel my power flare as I dive into my mind. Something is different. I look around and see the slit, where once a small slither of light escaped was now a pool of bright light pouring through, fighting a current as it tried desperately to escape. I reach for the light, I can feel it in my hands, I shape it, I soak it up. I feel the light course through my body. I feel alive. So much power. I divert a small amount to my knee and the pain disappears. And my eyes open. I look at my knee, my pants ripped. Blood. I spit on my hand and rub at my knee, the blood clearing. No wound.
5 years ago,
"Come in, come in. Take your seats - and choose wisely, they will remain your seats for the next five years of your life" a deep voice rumbles from the head of the room. I push my way inside as thirty students begin fanning out across the long study room. I see Elliot take a seat next to Michael, Jordan and Peter and I quickly slide along the wooden bench, nudging him on the shoulder.
"Thomas!" he exclaims softly, giving me a quick hug. I give the others quick hugs as I settle in, my hands resting on the shiny wooden desk in front of me. All the desks were the same, dark mahogany and oak. A beautiful contrast.
The excitement in the room is thick, I can almost feel it. In fact, I can feel it, the air is humming with energy as thirty twelve year olds wait in anticipation for their first lesson in magic.
"Today we will be accessing our power and learning to heal minor wounds. I want you to do exactly as I say, and nothing more. When you first touch your power, you may want to use it, but please - w
ait for guidance. We don't want any accidents today!" the voice belonged to our first-year teacher, Scholar Wident.
"I want you all to close your eyes to begin with. Count to ten. Tune everything else out, I want you to concentrate on your count and nothing else. You will feel a slip, you will feel drowsy, your mind will retreat."
I close my eyes and count. I can hear snickering somewhere in the room, I block it out and continue counting. My body weakens. He was right, I can feel myself slipping. Is this what it feels like to fall asleep? A feeling you never remember? I wonder silently.
"Perfect, well done everyone!" booms Wident, "now I want you to open your eyes, your minds eyes. Not your physical eyes. You should feel the difference now that you're in the trance. Slowly open them and look around. What you see will differ for everyone. Some of you will see a well filled with light, others will see a small cut with light bleeding through, some of you will see huge objects of pure energy. When you find your light, I want you to touch it slowly. Take a tiny pinch of the light and hold it in your hands.".
The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy Page 1
