"Enter." Thomas stated.
A young man, even younger than Katie and Thomas, entered. He was holding a long plastic wrap folded over his arm.
"Horal sends this, he wishes you to wear it for the briefing." and with that, he placed his package on the bed and left, closing the door behind him.
Thomas walked over, unfolding the package. Inside the plastic was a cloak. A cloak of bright white, adorned with golden flames spiralling along the hem and up either side. It was stunning.
Thomas was smiling and laughing now, and she couldn't help but join in, his laugh infectious, delighted.
But it only lasted a moment, and Thomas had a serious look on his face. He nodded to himself and began to change into his new cloak.
She was sombre, a million thoughts running through her mind. She thought about what was to come, war. She thought of Thomas leading the magical forces in battle. A spike of ice stabbed through her heart and she gasped. The thought of Thomas falling in battle crushed her, almost bringing tears to her eyes. She shook her head, desperately trying to regain control.
I've only known him for a few hours she thought to herself as she watched him dress. But she couldn't take her eyes off the man shrouded in light.
"It's time." Thomas said, all business, "come, we don't want to be late."
He held his hand out for her to help her off the bed, their fingers touched. A shock of electricity as their fingers touched, and a warming of her body. She looked at him, knowing instantly he felt the same.
They stood there now, smiling at each other, one last moment of peace and calm, and all too soon it was time to leave.
Fourteen – A Song of Light
We made our way through the sanctuary, a path I had travelled countless times over my years here. But this time was different. The halls and corridors empty, each footstep echoing off the stone walls. The dimly lit torches casting spikes of shadow across the floor and the walls in front of us and behind.
Katie was still holding my hand, she hadn't let go since we first touched. I could still feel the aftershock of the electricity and heat that had pulsed through me, beginning at my fingertips as our skin came in contact with each other.
I was watching her out of the corner of my eye as we walked, she was bouncing slightly on her heels as she walked, her long brown hair flipping back and forth over her face. And her smile. I could feel Goosebumps on my arms, the hair on the back of my neck.
She was shorted than me, perhaps 5'4, long brown hair that curled at the edges of her fringe, eyes of emerald green and a smile that shone brighter than the ethereal. She is beautiful.
We continued through the sanctuary, hand in hand. The sanctuary deathly silent, everyone had gathered at the hall for the briefing.
I was wearing the new cloak Horal had sent me. A long flowing cloak of the highest quality fabric elegantly constructed into the brightest white, with shaded specs of gold ringing the hem, merging into roaring flames of liquid gold that spiralled around the hem before winding up the sides of the cloak like an ancient elder tree. It was magnificent.
I was nervous. Very nervous. The only comfort was Katie, always by my side. I was going to enter a half filled with my peers, my elders, people I had grown with, learned with. Wearing this cloak. Being introduced as the Lightbringer. It was a scary thought.
We rounded the corner that lead to the event Hall, flashes of memory reminding me of the battle that had been fought and narrowly won in this corridor and the hall it led to, less than 18 hours before.
The floor and walls were clean now, no trace of the blood that had pooled and splattered. All that remained were the ghostly scorch marks left by the soft kiss of flame. A reminder of the battle, and the lives it claimed.
Katie tugged on my arm slightly, her big eyes watching me. I realise I had stopped to take in the hall, the memories. She nodded to me, encouraging me, smiling. I nodded back and we made our way into the hall.
There were people everywhere, as far as the eye could see. They had brought out the chairs and the council table. I could make out Horal standing at the head of the table, watching the congregation as people began taking their seats. When everyone was seated, Horal looked up - his eyes finding mine in an instant, I shivered.
"Thank you for coming, I know everyone is tired. It has been a long day and night for everyone here." Horal's voice boomed, comforting, powerful and unwavering. People quietened, listening to their leader, hoping he had a plan.
"I am going to introduce someone now. A man with the power to change this war, to help us achieve victory. With him I believe we can finally bring about an end to the endless fight, victory to the sanctuaries. Peace among magi. I want everyone to have an open mind. And faith." Horal's again, his head turning around the room, making every person feel like he was talking directly to them. He was exceptional at what he did, "Thomas - The Lightbringer!"
Silence. Every head turned, searching the hall for me. I froze. My nerves kicked into overdrive as one by one the magi saw me, eyes locking in. I saw shock, I saw fear, I saw disbelief. But more than anything I saw wonder and hope. The people of the red house trusted Horal completely, and he has given them the Lightbringer, and they believed. They desperately hoped.
Katie squeezed my hand and smiled. We began our walk to the centre of the room, to Horal. Every eye following us. Mouths hung open. Some had hands clasped in prayer. And some reached for me. And then a cheer began. Quietly at first. But it spread, and grew in volume.
"LIGHTBRINGER, LIGHTBRINGER" they roared it now. A thousand voices combining, light sparked and danced. The people felt it too, they felt their light leave them, grow out of them. They looked up in wonder as the light formed a huge sphere, coalescing above the magi, a hum of energy spreading through the crowd like a song of light, and then that sphere moved, it slowly fell until it was level with my eyes. I stopped, staring. The entire room silent again.
"Light of all lights, we give unto thee trust and command." And then the light was gone, the humming stopped, and again the room was lit by torch. Silence reigned. Shock spread through the room like a roaring wildfire.
Horal regained his composure first, "Thomas, come. We must begin."
I walked over to Horal, bowing slightly before shaking his hand. He nodded with a smile and motioned for me and Katie to sit. We obliged.
"Magi! I have called you here tonight to hold a council of war. Yes, war. As you can see, our warrior brothers of sanctuaries around the world have joined us here tonight! For tonight, we hit back. For almost centuries we have battled the traitors, skirmishes. We have lost those we love, those we hold dear, but finally we have the power to defeat them. We have the Lightbringer!" Horal stopped at Lightbringer, he was playing the crowd, his voice dripping drama. And they loved it.
They were roaring again now, "LIGHTBRINGER, LIGHTBRINGER". Every syllable causing a thunder shock as a thousand voices rose as one.
Horal raised his hand, the crowds calmed. The briefing had begun.
Fifteen – The Call to War
"We are going to launch an all-out attack on the Black House, home to the Al Guul. We will split into three teams, I will lead the ground assault, we will take the perimeter and removed the guards, Scholar Wident, our most knowledge battle strategist, will lead the second team - this team will be tasked with penetrating the wards and holding the entrance. Thomas will lead the final team, our greatest warriors, they will be tasked with entering the house and destroying the Al Guul command, including Asrath." Horal stopped here, allowing everyone to digest everything.
Katie felt Thomas's hand tighten at the last word, Asrath. She looked at him curiously, he looked back. He is very attractive. She was attracted to him, physically and more. Heat spread through her when they touched, almost completing her. The few seconds they had stopped touching, when Thomas shook Horal's hand, had left her craving his touch, her being, every atom of her body calling out for him. His light swelled and touched her fire, and together they were c
ontent.
"Tonight, will decide the fate of this war, they do not know of the coming of the Lightbringer. But we have one more play - we have a Dragon! Open your ethereal and look." Horal's eyes were on her now and she suddenly felt nervous. She could hear a soft whispering spreading through the room as the magi entered their Wells, looking upon her through the ethereal. And she knew what they saw. An aura of fire, a swirling flame, and her dragon. More whispering, different this time. Chatter. For if they saw her aura, they also saw Thomas's.
For the first time in two thousand years, the sanctuaries of light had hope, hope that they could finally defeat the enemy and bring about peace. In front of them sat their greatest general, and at his command - the Lightbringer, and a Dragon.
A few minutes passed and the people quietened. Horal looked around the room, he took in every person arrayed before him. Smiling St each and every magi that had gathered here on the eve of war.
"We strike tonight. We will waste no time. We will bring the traitors to their knees and strike fear into their souls. The Prophecy will be fulfilled, and the light will rise." Horal, his words rising with every word until he finished with a voice that boomed through the enormous Hall of magi. They roared in response, cheering. They cheered for Horal, and the Lightbringer, and with a smile she realised they also cheered for her.
Horal quickly called an end to his briefing, he sent everyone on their way - informing them that the strategy meeting is now priority. The hall emptied quickly. All that remained were around a dozen magi.
One of those magi, a tall thin man with grey hair and smile lines, made his way towards Katie and Thomas. He gave Thomas a hug.
"The Lightbringer, huh? Who woulda thought. I remember the ray you walked into my class. Nervous as a squirrel. The disappointment when your mark was to be a scholar. And now! What a time to be alive, eh? I taught the Lightbringer to cast his first flame." He laughed, "and a Dragon. I didn't think I'd see either in my lifetime, but here we are." He turned to me, and before I knew it he was embracing me. "I'm Scholar Wident, it's my honour to meet you."
She smiled at him. “The honour is all mine Scholar, I've heard so much about you today. I'm Katie."
He nodded at her, smiling, before making his way back to the table and taking a seat next to Horal.
Everyone was seated around the table now, Thomas and Katie together, still holding hands. Sneaking glances at each other when they could.
"Thomas, you'll be leading the most important strike. It is imperative that you destroy their command, and especially Asrath. He must die if we have any hope of ending this war." Horal, pointing towards Thomas. “The rest of us are providing support, we will do everything in our power to take the black house and hold it for as long as we can. But we will be outnumbered, and outpowered, if the reports from New York are anything to go by."
Thomas nodded back, staying quiet. She knew he was thinking about everything that could go wrong, he was still scared of failing.
"Wident, you're the expert on wards, we will need to break through them as quickly as possible. We will need you to strike fast, they can't know the wards are failing until it's too late." Horal, turning his attention to the scholar.
The scholar was smiling and nodding, "of course General, of course. I can handle their wards."
"Excellent. The attack begins at 23:00 hours, we will open a fire portal in the council room. It will open in the street that the black house resides. Our attack will -" Horal was cut off as a group of men stormed in the hall, rushing towards the table.
"General! General. We have reports from Manhattan. Sir, the city has fallen!" A small guy wearing a light red cloak, warrior.
Horal immediately pulled on his ought, guiding it into the table and whispering a chant. The table cracked in the centre, a large glass dome rising from the splintered wood. A misty fog rolled around the dome, slowly it pushed against the glass and darkened. A few seconds later we saw the city of New York.
It was burning, buildings had crumbled, a wasteland stretched out across the city, a bridge lay in ruins. Even the water around the city was burning. The skyscrapers were falling, some tumbling to the side and causing even more damage as they fell. And everywhere in the city of New York was fire.
Sixteen – A Dark Plot
Life was good. The darkness stretched its limbs. All of them. All 12 limbs.
It was in a warehouse, it's three bodies sitting next to each other. The darkness could feel the light in the air and it reached for it. The light skirted around it, avoiding its touch.
The light was scared, the darkness knew this. The light had played its pawns to perfection. Here as the darkness woke, the Lightbringer and the dragon had returned.
But the Light was scared, for all the power in the world couldn't control its fear of the dark. There was no light in the void, no spark of hope, no soul.
And the darkness enjoyed the fear, could taste it. And the fear made it stronger.
The darkness had a plan. A plan set into motion 1,500 years ago, at its fall. The darkness had extinguished the light of an entire sanctuary. Brought it into the nothingness that was its domain.
And now it was his to command. This time the light would not be the only ethereal with an army, with power, with mortal beings to act through.
No, this time the darkness would win.
The darkness laughed and the light ran. The darkness laughed even more.
"Run along, run along." The laughing rumbled through the warehouse. Three laughs, combining to make a screech that sent the rats and the mice scurrying away in fear.
The darkness closed its eyes and dived into its well. It pulled on the darkness there, shaping it. And opened its eyes. It sent the darkness spiralling out into the ethereal and waited.
It took only moments and it could see. The Lightbringer. The dragon. Close together, touching. The light bathed in the fire. A match that had been fated since before the void had exploded into light and separated from the darkness, before the light had created its pathetic humans.
The darkness roared with laughter. And again, it closed its eyes, waiting for the next vision.
A city burning. Mmm it could taste the fear and the death and the terror of the people as their city burned and crumbled around them. But that was only the start. Soon the entire country would burn, and then the continent, and soon the world would be shrouded in darkness and flame.
The three darknesses laughed once more. The screech echoing to the far corners of the empty and abandoned warehouse, the splintering wooden frame and the decaying slate roof.
The darkness pooled its light and summoned him. And there he was. Pathetic, insignificant human that he was. But helpful. So, so helpful. He obeyed its commands without question.
"Asrath, Asrath. It has been so very long." The darkness, three voices melding together to make a sinister echoing.
"My lord." Asrath replied, bowing to one knee.
"Rise. Rise. You have served me well." The darkness hated this man, and all men. It couldn't wait to see them and their light enveloped by darkness.
"Give the command. America falls."
Asrath nodded, disappearing in an explosion of darkness.
The darkness laughed. Soon. We are so close now old friend. So very close to the end, and the beginning.
Seventeen – A Storm of Fire
"It is with a heavy heart that I tell you this." Horal spoke, he was standing at the head of the council table. We had gathered here to begin the attack on the Black House, a man had rushed in and whispered in Horal's ear. Everyone in the room had noticed the change cross his face.
There were around fifty of us in the room, I stood to the right at the head of my group. My men were veterans, stony faces and hard demeanours. Twelve in total. I recognised some of them from growing up in the sanctuary, the others were members of the foreign sanctuaries. A group of elite warrior magi.
And to my left stood Katie, I had pleaded with her to stay at the sanctuary. She
had refused. She made a good point about my light being stronger with her around, and that was undeniable. So, she was tagging along, Wident and Horal, at my request, had cast wards over her that would hopefully stop most attacks. They had hastily taught me how to pour strength into a ward casting, hoping that my larger pool of power would provide Katie with protection against all but the most powerful attacks - and everyone prayed that my group would meet the least resistance, hoping that Wident and Horal would decimate the defenders before we moved in to take out the high command.
Of course, no one talked about the power of Asrath - who had been alive longer than anyone could remember. Where normal casters called on the ethereal light to cast, Asrath pulled on the darkness. Some say he was there at the first battle, where the Darkness had corrupted his light and given him the power that the ethereal light had given to the rest of humanity - whether this was true was aside the point, Asrath would be our biggest challenge and everyone was planning their faith in me being able to overcome him.
The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy Page 6
