The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy

by Mulholland, Daniel

  "Katie please, you need to choose them. And now. They are the only hope of saving this world" I begged.

  "I can't... Thomas I love you. I can't." She was looking at me now, tears in her eyes while her whole body shook.

  "Is that your choice human?"

  I was on my knees in front of her now. Silently begging her to save my people, to let me die so there was still hope of winning this war. Tears broke from her eyes and she began to sob.

  "Yes." She said.

  And with that the world turned black. I could feel the void rolling past us and down towards the sanctuary. Suddenly I could see, the cloud of darkness had passed us. It was closing around the sanctuary, enveloping it in a globe of nothingness.

  And still the darkness closed, it was touching the sanctuary now, and suddenly it imploded, the huge dome of darkness being sucked in until all that remained was a small globe of darkness. Then it was gone.

  When the darkness had faded away, the sanctuary was no more. No explosions or fire, no screams as people died. Just gone. The sanctuary and all the magi inside swallowed up by the void.

  Twenty-Two – A Nation Falls

  The darkness was finally free. It had needed those weak human vessels to regain enough power to take its true ethereal form.

  And now it was free, free of those foul stenched meat suits and the little human thoughts that had come with it. Finally, it had access to the endless void and its infinite power. There will always be more darkness than light.

  It had destroyed the magi of light inside the black house before teleporting. Now it stood in a new Street. Also in London.

  Ahead of it was a small stone building with a huge read door engraved with a long twisting flame.

  The darkness remembered this place. This was where the light had banished it to the ethereal, forced it into a long sleep with no physical form. But also, the spot that it had awakened. As the dragon and light were finally reunited, the Prophecy had been fulfilled and finally the darkness had woken.

  It could sense magi inside, the dregs of their kind. Scholars, elderly and children. The ones that could not or would not fight, out of weakness or fear or inability.

  The darkness laughed and unleashed a stream of darkness upon it, breaking through the wards as if they were nothing. It filled the sanctuary and exploded. The walls crumbled and the roof collapsed, there were screams this time and the darkness soaked them up, dragging the dying souls into its well, each soul joining with a plop and it felt as its pool of ethereal darkness grew with each new addition.

  It was over in a matter of moments; every living thing inside had been extinguished and the sanctuary was left in ruins.

  The darkness teleported.

  Now it stood in front of a large white house, the humans called it The White House, but it was not the magi white house - no, inside there were only two magi. And the man the humans called the leader of the free world.

  The darkness attacked, and everyone inside died. The White House was no more. The darkness absorbed the souls and teleported once more.

  Now it stood in a front of another building, close by to the white house. They called this one the capitol. Inside were a lot of people, and a few magi. And the darkness attacked, once again the building crumbled and the souls were absorbed.

  The darkness laughed.

  Part Three

  “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

  ― Martin Luther King JR

  Twenty-Three – A Vision

  I couldn't believe my eyes as I stared at the empty space where the Black House used to be. It was gone now, all the souls inside taken by the nothingness that occupied the void. My friends. Gone. Wident - the man that had taught me everything I knew. Horal - the greatest of us all, our leader. Faces flashed through my mind, all the warriors that had been a part of my team. The countless nameless faces of the magi I had summoned for the battle - ultimately dragging them to their death. Can it be called death? There would be no bodies to bury, no one left to remember them. Their light would not return to the ethereal. They were gone.

  I looked to Katie, she was frozen. Her arms hung at her side and her eyes were wide and watering as her eyes locked on.

  "I did this" her voice was barely a whisper.

  "No, the darkness did this." I turned, pointing to where the looming figure of shadow had been standing and laughing moments ago, as the sanctuary had disappeared in a poof of black. But the darkness was gone now. Rage coursed through me. I lashed out at a lamppost close to me, throwing my arm out in a stabbing motion. The lamppost collapsed in on itself.

  I shook my head.

  "Katie, come on. We have to move." I tell her. She doesn't respond for a minute or two.

  "Where will we go Thomas?" She asks quietly.

  I think for a moment before making my mind up. There is a place to the north, in the English countryside, a safe house for magi.

  "We go North. There is a magi south house. That is where the survivors will go." I didn't finish my sentence. If there are any.

  We cover a few miles the first night. We make it out of the city centre. We break into an empty house that is for sale. It's in a nice quiet neighbourhood. A long stretch of houses, lush green gardens. Peaceful.

  We wake early and sneak out of the back, to avoid any unwanted attention. We walk for miles and miles. We pick up some provisions from a newsagent as we go. Water and food. London is a big city, at the end of the day we still haven't made it out. The sun went down at around 6pm, and it started to rain shortly after. We decided to call it a day and stopped at the next for sale house we came across - a detached house on an old country road, no one nearby.

  I sleep through the night, I wake up tired. My muscles are aching, Katie tells me she is too tired to walk today. We make the decision to stay here for the day and another night.

  I leave at midday and walk back the way we had come, there was a small strip of shops about two miles away. I remembered seeing a sports shop and that is where I go. I buy a two-man tent and two sleeping bags, I pick up a cooking pot and a portable hob. My next stop is a supermarket just down the street, I pick up some more food and water. I head back to the house.

  She's waiting for me, I can see her peeking out of the living room window. I smile to myself as I walk up the driveway and into the house. She rushes to me and I take her into my arms. I kiss her forehead softly.

  "I missed you." She whispers to me.

  "Me too, beautiful." I reply.

  The dark comes, we are huddled in the empty living room in our new sleeping bags. Our arms are wrapped around each other, sharing our body heat as the harsh English winter bites at us.

  I wake with her in my arms. I don't want to move. I wish I could stay here forever, this beautiful woman in my arms - in our own house, peace. No more walking or running. No more war. I savour the thought for a moment. A soft smile teasing my lips. She nudges me as she wakes. She sees me smiling at her and returns it. I kiss her then. The kiss lasts longer than I thought. Her arms are around my neck. Her lips part for me. I hear her breath catch as I turn into her.

  The kiss breaks and we both take a huge gulp of air. We laugh at each other.

  And then it's time to go. We pack up the water, food, pots and portable hob into the rucksack that came with the tent and sleeping bags. I sling the pack over my shoulders and we make our way out of the house and continue down the road and into the country side. We leave the city and its housing estates behind and enter a world of beautiful bright green fields and forests of dark green trees. The colours blend into each other as rays of sunshine cut through the branches and illuminates the fields of grass. A beautiful sight.

  I take one look behind me, the city stretching out into the distance. Everywhere I could see were skyscrapers and huge office buildings, Big Ben and the houses of parliament. The shard. I could even make out the bridge and river from the hilly country we were in now.
It really is a fascinating city I think to myself. I can see the sun starting to set and I pick up the pace, Katie staying with me. She's much happier today. She's had a rough time since the sanctuary. She blames herself for their deaths. But she was given an impossible choice. I comfort her as much as I can, but I'm hurting. I watched on as my people winked out of existence. I was gifted an ultimate power and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I have never felt so useless as I do now, with all this extra power. It just isn't enough. We need something else. And now the magi are gone. Even the scholars and the elderly were killed. I checked the red house before abandoning London, all that was left - a charred and burning ruin. I could smell the burning flesh in the air. I sent my light out, but there were no survivors in the rubble.

  We make camp in a small field that night. The days are warm and the nights are cold. We cuddle through the night, warming each other. We make small talk. I tell Katie about my friends, Elliot and Michael. She tells me about her parents. I can see the tears in her eyes when she talks about them. She has hope that her dad still lives, but she knows it's unlikely and I can see that on her face when she speaks of it. She asks me what I will do after the war, her confidence in me unwavering and staggeringly complete. I tell her I want to spend my life with her. She smiles at that. I smile back. We fall asleep in each other’s arms again.

  It's warm when we wake. We drink and eat and then we walk. Another day walking in the blistering heatwave that is enveloping England right now. We're walking down windy country lanes, through big English fields filled with sheep and cows. We walk over the hills scattering the horizon. We laugh and joke. We continue telling each other stories. By the third night, we know everything about each other. I have never known someone the way I know her. We start to sing songs. Old American country songs, early 2000's hip hop and pop. I'm a terrible singer, but she encourages me, laughing the whole time.

  We spend our days sweating as we march on through the country, we spend our nights huddled together for warmth - and then the nights are warm too, but still she rolls over into my arms. She feels safe there, I know.

  We're into our fourth day in the country now.

  "How far now, Thomas?" She asks me when we stop to eat.

  "Another two days walking," I reply, "we will see the wards tomorrow."

  She nods. We small talk while we finish eating. And then we're walking again. The sun begins to set at 8pm, the days are beginning to get longer.

  We set up camp at the mouth of a vast forest that stretches on for at least a couple of miles. I put some soup on the hob. It only takes a few minutes to cook and it's easy to carry. I pass Katie the water.

  "I think -" but my sentence is cut off as I feel a huge burst of heat behind me. I spring to my feet, instantly throwing up a heat shield to surround us. Katie staggers to her feet, taken off guard. I can see her aura of fire bristling - her dragon sensing danger.

  I pull on my light and shape it around me. I need some craftings. I think to myself.

  I can see them moving through the trees now. Long billowing black cloaks - traitors. At least a dozen, perhaps more. There is no light here aside from the dim light coming off Katie's aura, my light being in the ethereal. I throw a slither of light into the air, dragging it into the physical world. Suddenly the surrounding area is illuminated and I can make out the traitors properly.

  Thirteen of them. They're fanned out and moving through the forest in a long line, coming in to surround us. The heat is coming from their heat shields - giving them away. If not for the heat shields we would have had no warning. The one furthest to the right and the one furthest to the left start turning in, I can see darkness shrouding them and I shiver. Their pools dark ethereal, corrupted.

  I send two streams of light, one at each. Their shields waver but the light dissipates, a cloud of darkness dripping out of their skin. And then they're all around us, spreading in a circle and moving closer to close the gaps between each of them.

  They all attack together, fire and darkness blending into each other as the strikes stream towards us. Katie roars and the first black cloak is swallowed by fire, his scream being cut off as the flame flared up and disappeared, leaving a charred body falling to the floor.

  I quickly pull on the light, forming it into a sword. I spring forward and cut another Black Cloak clean in half, my sword of light slicing through flesh, tissue and bone. He falls to the ground in two. It's not like the movies, they don't slide apart before crumpling. They just topple. Two thuds.

  I flick my sword in the direction of the next black cloak in the circle and let go - my sword shoots out in a straight line, it pierces the black cloaks head and carries on into the neck of the next one. Two bodies drop.

  A third body drops behind me as a thin stream of fire impaled a black cloak through the stomach, it hits him with such force that his body is lifted off the ground - his mouth a huge O before his body falls.

  There's eight left now.

  I throw a ball of light towards one and pull my sword back to me, turning. I hear the tell-tale sound of a body dropping and the burst of light fading, I jump towards another Black Cloak and swing my sword overhead bringing it down on top of the head of a traitor, cleaning his skull in two. I quickly turn and see two more fall as fire engulfs them, Katie darting in and out.

  I turn towards the last four. Darkness explodes from one, it reaches out and is then pulled back in. When the darkness fades, the black cloak is gone. He fled. Another one follows. And another. There's one left, I can see him pulling his light into the centre of his body - the same as the other three did. I unleash a huge wave of light and it hits him like a tidal wave. His body is thrown thirty feet. He's dead. His body lying in the middle of the green field, twisted at unnatural angles. I shudder and let our shield drop.

  Katie collapses onto the wooden log we were using as a seat. She's drained, I can see it on her face.

  "It's okay, there's no more." I tell her, trying to comfort her. She just nods.

  The ground begins to vibrate, I look down. The grass is shaking - but there is no wind. I almost lose my balance, I spread my legs and plant my feet to keep from falling. I turn, looking all around. I see smoke rising in the distance and I make for the small hill next to the field, hoping for a vantage point.

  I climb the hill, I already know where the smoke is coming from before I reach its summit. London. The city is burning.

  I watch on in horror as the buildings begin to collapse, huge waves of dust and smoke exploding into the sky before the dust rains down on the city and the smoke billows up into the windless sky above the city.

  It only lasts for a few minutes, I stand frozen still as I watch my city topple and be swallowed by the ground. A few minutes. That's all it took for the big, densely populated city to be reduced to nothing. My heart is beating very fast now. I can feel rage pumping through me like blood. They destroyed it. They killed them all.

  They must be stopped. But what can we do against the darkness and its armies? There is no victory to be had in this war now. There is no one to support us, to fight with us. And that's because of me. I played into the darknesses hand and United all the free magi in one building.

  I can feel a thumping in my mind now, growing and growing. Soon it feels like a hammer and a chisel trying to break through my wards. I lose my footing and begin rolling down the hill. I feel my arm catch on a lump and my body weight landing on it. I hear the snap and feel the sharp stab of pain.

  But I can't see now. My vision is darkness.

  A light in the distance now. Growing. But it is not ethereal. It's the dim orange hue of a flame, growing and growing. I can feel the heat pulsating off it. Am I awake?

  The flame rises and rises and suddenly it's swallowed by a huge beast with long leathery wings. Each flap of the wings brings a new thump on my wards.

  Soon the beast is above me, spiralling around me. It begins to descend and lands on top of the hill. A smaller figure jumps from its back and begins bo
unding down the hill. Katie?

  But it isn't Katie. It's an older woman. The same brown lengthy hair with the curly tips, the same deep eyes.

  "Thomas." The same soft voice. The same smile.

  "Who are you?" I ask.

  "My name is Gandrea, Dragon Born of the El-Assum." The soft voice responds. So, like Katie.

  Gandrea. Gandrea died 1500 years ago! I tell her this much. She chuckles for a minute, and so does he dragon. A throaty coughing sound as the huge beast shakes with mirth.

  "You must come to me. I have much to show you, and Katie." She states. The smile still on her face. Her dragon still chuckling.

  I worry that this might be a trap laid by the darkness. I tell her this. No response.

  "What do you have to teach us?" I ask, angry now.

  "If you have any hope of defeating the darkness, you both must master your powers. Light and fire. I can show you how. You must come to me before it finds you. You will not survive another encounter with the darkness without my guidance." Her voice still soft, understanding. Comforting almost.