The darkness rolled on, getting closer and closer, the cackling louder and louder. Three figures stepped out of the darkness. I inspected them with my ethereal.
Darkness shrouded them. No, I took a closer look. The magi had a very distinct aura, the light of a magi was outside the body, coursing along limbs - usually arms as they cast, for me and Katie it covered all of us. But these three... The darkness coursed through their veins, under their skin, the darkness was in their very bones. They were not powered by darkness. They were darkness.
A new jolt of fear. Katie's hand tightening on mine, a look of fear on her face. I tried to look confident. An attempt to comfort her. I don't think she bought it, a sad smile now, acknowledging my attempt.
"Ah. Lightbringer. We meet again." Three voices echoing throughout the hall. The voice didn't match the bodies. The three humans being possessed were quite young, two maybe early twenties, one earlier thirties at most - the voice sounded ancient, deep and thunderous. I recognised the voice instantly.
"You came to me before, when you woke. I remember you." I spoke.
"Very good, human. Very good." The voice was darkness itself, it creeped into me and made me shiver with fear. It felt like it was draining my soul, any happiness inside me was extinguished, there was only fear. Only terror.
The darkness threw its hands up, all six, darkness exploded out of each hand. Six streams spreading out through the hall. At the ends of the darkness grew globes. The globes turned to spheres. The spheres turned to large glass ovals. Portals.
The portals came to life and magi immediately started pouring through. Pure black cloaks flowing down and covering each figure as they emerged. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. A hundred. They melted through the six portals, answering their masters call. Each figure that stepped through caused the portals to flare - instead of flashes of light like our portals, each plop seemed to pull the light away, each flash of the portal bringing complete darkness. And then they were all through. An uncountable number, more than a hundred traitors’ magi at least.
The remaining warriors formed a circle around me, facing every direction. Eight of us in total. Facing an army of black cloaks.
The attacks began almost immediately, I reached out to the warriors forming a mental bond.
"I will shield us. I will not be able to attack, it will take all my energy to stop hundreds of attacks reaching us. It will be up to you to attack back" I spoke through the connection. Little snapshots of thought and emotion rebounded through the bon, each one signifying their understanding.
It began. I threw up a huge dome of light to surround us as the attacks roared towards us. Fire and flame mostly, some weapons, some attacks of pure darkness. They hammered at my shield, the first wave of attacks left me on my knees with my power drained. Katie grabbed my hand, I felt the fire and light coalesce once more. I felt strength surge through me.
I stood. Pouring more power into the shield. The warriors began to fire back. Black cloaks fell all around us. But for every one that dropped there were ten more to take his place. There were just too many. My shield began to waver again. I was straining as I poured my very life into it. Light exploded out of every inch of me as it flowed into the shield, desperately trying to hold it.
A thwack. My shield shattered.
Twenty – One Last Stand
Katie could feel Thomas through the connection that was created when her fire had combined with his light. She could sense his feelings, his emotions.
She sensed the dread that throbbed through their connection as he forced his light into the shield, the moment he realised it wasn't enough, and finally the defeat when his shield shattered.
The instant his shield cracked open, three of the fire born warriors dropped dead. The incoming attacks continued to rain down as each warrior threw up their own Shields to attempt to survive the onslaught. But their Shields didn't last, and one by one they blinked out of existence. Each second that passed, another warrior fell. Within moments they were gone, all that remained were Katie and Thomas.
Katie was watching Thomas now, he was on his knees. His hands out in front of him. He was totally defeated; his power was completely drained. Even her dragon was tired, the heat from her charm paling in comparison to its usual fiery glow.
The attacks stopped. Thomas's light and her dragon swallowing every blast that came their way. But she knew it wouldn't last. She could see the fire dimming, the light fading. There must have been another fifty traitors surrounding them, the warriors had unleashed hell upon them for as long as Thomas's shield had lasted. But it wasn't enough, not even close.
"You are defeated. Surrender to me. Give me your light so it can be extinguished. I will give you the power of the darkness, your magi will be even more powerful." Those creepy three voices echoing out, sending chills down Katie's spine.
Thomas was shaking. She could see him buried in deep concentration, she could still feel small ebbs of his emotion seeping through their link. But even that was fading now. They had faced down an army of darkness, they had come so close to that final victory - but had ultimately failed. She could imagine the thoughts going through Thomas's mind, his ultimate fear, failure and the realisation that the men that had followed him into this battle, who had placed their trust in him and his power were now dead, scattered all around him.
He looked up at her and she was taken aback. A smile spread across his face, he was shaking with laughter. She didn't understand. She was shaking her head in confusion now, his smile just grew wider. He winked.
"You made a mistake," Thomas was looking at the darkness now, the three bodies that move like robots, not quite normal, "you showed me how."
And with those words, Katie felt her fire roaring to life, surging through the link into Thomas. She felt the truth from her dragon, Thomas had a plan, he needed the light to fade and the fire to dim, ready to answer his final call - one last display of incredible power.
Light and fire exploded out of his hands now, darting off the walls and around the room. Everywhere the light and fire hit, wall turned to glass, pools of smoke emerged from the floors and rolled against the oval glassy shapes. She knew what they were, she had come through one just like it to get here, to the black house.
Within seconds the glass doors had activated, portals were coming to life all around the room. Thomas was still staring directly at the darkness, laughing, as magi began to come through. These were not just the magi of El-Assum, she knew that immediately. Magi of all colours and sizes came through his portals. Thomas must have sent signals to every sanctuary in the world. And here they were, answering the call of the Lightbringer. Ready to make one last stand against the evil that corrupted their world.
The flashing stopped and the portals faced back into the walls around the hall. A deadly silence spread throughout the hall, pierced only by the laughing of Thomas.
The silence lasted only a moment before chaos broke out. Katie's vision blurted as the hall was drowned in bright flashes of light and explosions of fire as the two armies of magi went to war.
Immediately, Thomas unleashed his attack on the darkness. Streams of light and fire exploding out of his hands, Katie could feel her dragon pouring its power into his casting - desperately trying to gift him the power to defeat the enemy. But the darkness shrugged the power off, diverting it with his hands, the light and fire being extinguished as quickly as Thomas could summon it.
All around them magi were killed, by fire and light, darkness, cut open and torn apart by the incredible power that they had at their fingertips. Katie was huddled close to Thomas, urging her dragon to give him everything it had - everything she had.
Suddenly the darknesses shield broke, shattering as tiny pincers of darkness exploded out from around the three figures that were filled with the dark void. Within seconds of the shield shattering, the young woman with the sad face exploded - but not in blood, not gore, she exploded into light - a brilliant flash that left Katie unable to see outside of a blur w
ith dark spots flickering across her vision.
Thomas roared and raced towards the darkness, hoping to take charge of the battle and get an upper hand. But the darkness was ready, each of the remaining two figures summoning huge swords of darkness that were very similar to Thomas's sword of light - which roared to life in Thomas's hand as the gap between him and his enemy closed.
A roar filled the room as his sword came into contact with the first blade of darkness, an explosion rippled out and blew Katie off her feet. She was on her back looking up at the ceiling, a huge dome shape made of dark grey stone. She could see the flashes of light and fire being reflected off the stone as the battle raged on. She stumbled to her feet and looked around. Where she had last seen Thomas, now lay a body, unmoving and not breathing.
She edged closer, tears in her eyes and her heart breaking. She remembered finding her mom and the idea of losing another person she loved tore through her and fought her at every step.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the body was that of the young man that had been possessed by the darkness, Thomas must have killed another vessel. But Thomas was gone now, she frantically searched for him - her eyes darting all around the huge hall. But she couldn't find him, all around her was chaos and destruction, every man and woman locked into a deadly duel that could at any moment leave them dead.
She moved towards the entrance of the hall, her eyes moving all around her as she searched for him. She felt her dragon rear to life, also searching. She could feel the dragon locking onto the ethereal power in the air, and suddenly she knew where to go - her dragon guiding her. She made her way out of the hall and back into the dark corridors they had come through earlier. She could hear something now. Laughter. She saw a flash in the distance and she ran.
It took her a minute to catch them, Thomas and the last vessel of the darkness were fighting all the way through the sanctuary, balls of light and darkness crashing against each other as Thomas chased the enemy.
Katie felt a small spark of hope deep inside her, the darkness was running - Thomas had a chance.
They continued through the sanctuary, Katie keeping as close as possible so her dragon could lend its energy to Thomas. The battle never lessened for a moment, a constant stream of attacks rained down on both Thomas and the darkness, all around them wall and floor exploded as the two most powerful beings in existence unleashed all their might on one another. And then they were outside.
It was raining now, in a heartbeat she was soaked through her clothes as the thick droplets of rain poured out of the sky.
Thomas increased his attacks, she could feel the pull on her dragon and the light all around him - telling her that Thomas was unleashing his full strength now that they were outside. But the enemy's shield stood, each attack fizzling away as it came in contact with the dark cloak surrounded the darkness.
The darkness started firing out all around him now, into the buildings and houses lining the street. Katie could hear the screams of the dying people inside as their houses crumbled and exploded all around them. Thomas screamed and rushed toward the enemy, trying to close the gap so he could fight him with his sword - hoping to limit his magical attacks on the buildings in the street. But the darkness disappeared with a small plop and reappeared further down the street, laughing as it unleashed streams of fire and darkness into the houses. Each scream made it laugh louder, it was feeding on the terror, it's power grew with every death.
The fight continued down the street and through a junction in the road, cars were driving past now. Every step the darkness took resulted in another house being destroyed, more lives lost. He took aim at the first car coming towards him, a small silver Peugeot. A flash of fire and the car exploded from underneath, the car crumpled and rocketed into the sky as the huge explosion blast out from the ground.
The darkness continued to laugh as Thomas threw all his power at the darkness. Suddenly the laughing stopped, Thomas's last attack had finally broken through. Instead of the darknesses shield shattering, there was simply a hole. Its shield hadn't fallen, Thomas had cut through it.
Thomas took the initiative and launched a huge stream of light straight down the street, all around them the world was swallowed by the immense light that exploded out from his casting. The light reached its target. A new explosion of light now, Katie's vision was gone. All she could see was an endless expanse of black stretching out before her. She heard a laugh. And a scream.
Twenty-One – A Choice
I was so very tired now. I was moving through the streets of London on shaky legs, locked isn't on a never ending back and forth battle with an all-powerful being. I could feel the light and the fire urging me on, filling me with power. But I was using it faster than they could give it.
Finally, a fire ball cut through the darknesses shield. I summoned everything I had left for one huge assault, unleashing a stream of fire and light that twisted around each other as it glided towards the darkness.
It hit. A flash of light and fire so bright it left me unable to see, my legs finally gave way as my body reached breaking point.
It took a few minutes for the light to fade and my vision to return, in front of me stood the darkness. It laughed. I launched myself towards it, my sword appearing in my right hand as I swung down towards its neck. My sword carried on, straight through the neck of the final vessel one final scream and its head rolled off to the side and hit the tarmac with a thud.
I just stood there, my sword hanging to my side. I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I had used more energy than a body could physically use and I knew it was only a matter of time until I collapsed. I let go of my sword and it fell, disappearing before it hit the ground.
I was too tired to feel victorious, too ashamed of all the lives that had been lost because of me - because of their hope in me.
Footsteps were coming up behind me. Katie. Soaking wet and more beautiful than I remembered, she was running straight to me. I threw my arms around her and kissed her on the lops, our first. A moment of shock as I caught her by surprise before she melted into my arms and kissed me back.
Heat seeped into my body and I felt myself coming back to life as we kissed, my heart was beating very fast. I could smell perfume on her. I breathed it in as her lips opened to meet mine.
Laughter broke out behind us. Dark and rumbling. A sound that reverberated from the earth below our feet. I broke away from Katie, spinning around.
A cloud of darkness was rising from the ground, it began to form the shape of a man. Eight feet tall. Broad shoulders. A spikey helm of shadow resting on its head.
"My true form. Did you think you could kill that worthless human and end me? I am the undying. The eternal darkness. I am everywhere and nowhere. " The voice echoing through my very bones, shaking me to my core.
"It's time. I saw this moment so long ago. Fire and light side by side while the forces of darkness fell to the armies of light. And in the rain a choice was given and a decision was made." The voice felt like it was coming from within me now.
"You must make your choice now, little human. Choose: save the person you are fated to love for eternity, or the last army of magi. Look behind you. They are still in the sanctuary, fighting. They are winning. And now you must choose." The deep voice now rumbling with amusement.
I froze. My eyes on Katie. I knew I loved her already. From the moment I saw her in the mess Hall, shrouded in fire. I knew. And behind me, amongst the last echoes of battle, my people - their faith in me unwavering. Without them all hope would be lost, the darkness would be able to raise a new army whenever he pleased - and the light had no such ability any longer. An impossible choice.
"I can't" I whispered. Rain still pouring down all around us.
Laughter boomed out. "The choice is not yours to make."
I looked at the darkness, its eyeless head tilted down to look at Katie.
"No. No. No. You have already killed my mom. I won't." Katie's voice quivering, her whole body s
haring and her teeth chattering.
"I did not kill your mother, little human. I did not wake until you found the Lightbringer. You will make a choice, and you will make it now - if you do not, I will extinguish your lover and your magi both. DECIDE!"
I reached for my light, ready to resume the battle with the darkness. But the light would not come, it would not answer my call. I could feel it there, I could feel it's emotions. Pity. It refused to answer my call, this decision was fated. There was no escaping it.
"Katie. Katie look at me. It's okay. Save them. Without them there is no hope of victory, if they die there will be no one left to fight the traitors. Please" I was beginning her, pleading with her. But she wouldn't look at me. Her eyes downcast now.
"Make your choice."
"Make it now."
"NOW!"
And still she remained silent. I could feel the darkness pooling its power, ready to kill the magi in the sanctuary.
The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy Page 8
