But Wident is on his knees now, I watch as his light pours out of him and into me and listen as his promise is cemented with the ceremony of light. Wident finishes. I accept his fealty with a shake of his hand. But it's not over yet.
The people around the table gather around me, each swears fealty to me under the ceremony of light. Eight in total, including Wident and Gray. Each time their light leaves me I am left a little more drained than before, the ceremony of light is tiring.
The halls to the council Hall open and more survivors pour in - this just have been planned before I arrived and on the condition that I survived London, they would swear fealty to me. Even now, their faith in me unshaken and absolute. It brings tears to my eyes as the last survivors of my people give themselves over to me.
The swearing goes on for over an hour, thirty-six magi in total swear fealty to me - all the survivors in the safe house. Throughout the entire ceremony, Katie is by my side holding me hand. Lending me her warmth and comforting me through the long night.
The last magi finishes his oath, his light returning to him. He rises and walks to stand with the other survivors. They are gathered before me. Wident nods to me. I realise they want me to say something.
As I go to speak, light explodes out of me. I am left weakened. I reach for my light but it's gone, I look up and see a huge ocean of light above me. It's rolling and crashing against itself. It begins to shrink down, every inch it reduces in size the light comes closer to me. I'm expecting it to soak back into me. But it doesn't.
It's the size of big bottle now, it's shape constantly shifting. It glides down in front of my face and I put my hands out. The light drops into them. The shining flash begins to fade.
In my hand is a crown. A crown of brilliant light, six spikey points reaching out of it and ending in pure white. The survivors cheer now. Wident motions for me to place the crown on my head.
I do. As the crown settles down, I feel my light returning to within my reach. I extend my mind and pull on it lightly. My new well is within the crown. Instead of a constant aura of light surrounding me like a cloak, my light now rests in this crown.
The survivors are still cheering, and one by one they kneel.
"All hail the Lightbringer, King of the Light." Wident's voice booms out. The crowd cheer for a few moments longer before Wident starts ushering them out.
Each one shakes my hand and whispers words of encouragement to me before vacating the hall. Soon there are only five left in the hall with Katie and myself.
"Remarkable." A small old man to the left says, I recognised him from the ceremony of light. "The first king of the magi. There was a Prophecy once that described the crowning. But no faces. No time line. Remarkable."
Wident calls us over to the table and we take the two seats at the top. Wident begins introducing us. We already know Gray (the legendary battle leader of the El-Odun, Water-born), next is Bert (a scholar who mastered in biology, he is also water born and was rescued by Wident and Gray), Phil (the previous leader of the El-Issir, Storm-born, Wident introduces him as the greatest sword fighter of his generation) and finally Melanin (she is also El-Issir, a powerful caster and the previous leader of the storm born task force). We share pleasantries for a few minutes as the introductions are made.
It is very easy to trust these new acquaintances after the ceremony of light proved their undying loyalty and honesty.
We finish the pleasantries and I immediately tell them of the battle with the darkness in London, fighting it out of the sanctuary and finally witnessing the ending of the black house. Wident gasps as he realises Horal died inside.
I told them of the choice given to Katie, and they agree that she made the right choice - much to my disbelief. I thought they would hate her, but they immediately accept that the Lightbringer is the only chance of our victory, and each and every magi that came to fight understood and accepted the possibility of dying for the cause.
I give them a moment to take it all in, they now know without a doubt that there are no survivors - and I know how difficult that is to accept.
I then move on to our journey out of London and across the country to the safe house, explaining that I couldn't activate a portal as I had never been here before. I tell them of the attack by the new traitors, all of which were casting with darkness instead of light.
Then I tell them about my vision of Gandrea. This is met with shock. Melanie warns of the potential for a trap, I agree with her. But the group slowly comes to terms with it and we all agree that there is no choice but to believe in the possibility of her existence and the answers that she could provide.
I tell them about the dragon and its existence on the physical plane, not just ethereal like Katie's and I explain to them how I believe one of the abilities she can teach Katie would lead to her dragon being summoned physically too. They all smile at this, minutes before the thought of being supported by a Dragon of old seemed impossible - now they were faced with a possibility of two real Dragons. Their sparks of hope grew as I told them of the vision.
I finished with Gandrea's warning, and her question. There is silence all around now.
Wident speaks first. "So, she talks of the creator. Scholars have long researched the possibility of a being that came before the darkness - with very little progress made over the centuries. If this is indeed true, then we may have a much larger problem on our hands if we do indeed finally manage to destroy the darkness."
Everyone around the table agrees that this is indeed grave news, if true.
I tell them about the rest of the journey, no more attacks. I also tell them of our training, my casting and sword fighting and my attempts to teach Katie to cast. I explain to them how strong her well of fire is, and if she learned the ability to cast she would be a great fighter.
The council agrees that they must devote the best scholars to training her, but I admit that there may be no way for us to teach her to cast and that skill might also come from Gandrea, as her well of fireworks differently from ours.
Our tale is finished now. There is silence around the table as the council soak it all in and contemplate everything that was said.
After a few minutes’ pass, I continue. I tell them that I plan to go to America soon, but first I need to devote myself to learning and training my powers and fighting. They agree that we should spare as much time as we possibly can to my training, we decide we cannot move forward unprepared anymore - we cannot rush into battle just because I am the Lightbringer.
I also tell them I wish to inspect all the craftings in the safe house, and I ask if there are any magismiths left with the skill required to create new craftings. Wident tells me there is one Smith here, perhaps the only living Smith left.
I nod to Wident and send him to find the smith, with that I call an end to the first council. We all shake hands and the other council members leave.
I stand now, turning to Katie. I pull her to me and kiss her for a moment. Then I wrap my arms around her and just hold her. For a time, we won't have to run, or fight. We can be together here, safe, while we train and prepare for the next leg of our journey.
There's a big chair at the head of the room, like a throne, I decide to claim it. There's enough room for both Katie and me, so we take a seat. She cuddles up to my arm and immediately starts dozing.
It's another twenty minutes before Wident returns with three men. Two are carrying a huge golden chest between them, the third is an aging man with long grey hair and burn marks all up and down his arm - the smith.
Wident nods to the two men carrying the chest and points over to the corner. They rush over and place the chest down before making their way out of the room.
"Lando, Grant! Thank you." I call over to them. They bow, surprised looks on their face as grey realise I know their names. They back out of the room with huge smiles on their faces.
I know every name of every magi that swore fealty to me. I nod to the smith.
"Thank you for comi
ng, Trevor."
He nods back. Wident is smiling behind him.
"Nice touch, using their names. You will be a great king." He chuckles, nodding to himself as he takes a seat at the table. He pulls out a long windy pipe and takes a puff. He sighs as he blows the smoke out. A content look on his old wrinkly face.
Trevor is standing before me now.
"Tell me, if I gave you two months and twenty magi, could you train them to forge?" I ask him.
He takes a moment to think, he nods towards a chair to my right, smaller than mine. I nod my approval and he takes a seat.
He thinks for a few minutes before replying.
"I believe so. I cannot guarantee they will forge with the same quality as myself, or any other lifelong Smith. But their craftings will work. Do you have a plan?" He asks me.
I nod. "I need as many suits of armour forged as possible. Enough to outfit an army." I tell him. In my mind, I think about a new army of magi, outfitted in magnificent armour like the days of old. I smile.
"And their castings?" He asks me.
"No castings. I will cast them myself, I have access to the ever light and I can imbue them all with the light of a caster." I reply.
The smith is smiling now as the possibilities cross his mind. An army. A true army.
Twenty-Six – The Masters
"Scholar!" I call over to Wident, he's asleep on the table. His loud snoring stops and he pokes his head up slowly.
"My lord?" He asks.
"Fetch me Bert." I tell him quietly, trying not to wake Katie.
I watch Katie sleep for a few minutes, she looks so peaceful. I can feel her soft breath on my arm and it sends shivers up my back. Once Wident is gone I slowly nudge her awake.
"Hey. When Wident comes back, I'll ask him to show you your room. You need to rest, it's been a long journey." I tell her. She nods sleeping and snuggles up against me again.
It's a while before Wident returns. I spend the time watching the woman I love.
Wident barges into the room, old Bert behind him. Wident nods and points towards me. I nod to the seat beside me and Bert collapses into it with a sigh.
I tell Wident to take Katie to her room and that she isn't to be disturbed. Katie gives me a kiss and then her and Wident are gone.
I turn to Bert.
"How much do you know about my powers" I ask him.
He smiles. "Wident told me enough."
"Then I assume you have come to the same conclusion as me?" I ask him, curious now.
"Life." His one word response. I nod to him, smiling.
I tell him that I wish him to show me soon, I send him to fetch Gray. He agrees and skips off, moving surprisingly fast for a man of his age. My request revitalising him. Giving him purpose.
I wait in silence for Gray. Bert is a biologist. He has spent his life learning of life. All life created by the light has a soul - this soul is the well. While most creations have no access to it, their Wells are still there. Untapped. Bert knows of my ability to draw and controls light from other humans and understand that my request is for him to show me how to link with other lifeforms. Plants and trees. Animals and even the grass. Flies and insects. All of them have Wells, and perhaps I can draw power from them too.
Gray arrives a few minutes later. He's a tall man with a hard face, he reminds me of Horal and a fresh wave of sadness hits me. I nod for him to take a seat. Even his eyes are hard set and always inspecting. His mouth a thin line and never changing.
"Do you know why I've asked you here?" He nods. "Tell me."
"You are very intelligent Thomas. While most people would credit your greatest advantage as your power, I would credit your mind. You've spent your life absorbing as much knowledge as the scholars could throw at you. And now you are a warrior. With all the learning of a scholar. You have guessed - as many scholars before you have, that with a strong enough well of light it is possible to learn different classes of casting than the one your light was born into. You wish for me to try and teach you to cast water magic." His voice level the entire time, stating all of this calmly.
I nod, smiling again. "Yes. I believe I can master the elements and use them to battle the darkness."
"I assume you will also request the storm born to train you?" He asks me, I nod. "You know that there is no earth born survivors here? Perhaps none survived at all. Even if you master water and storm, the knowledge of earth is lost to us."
I nod. I had indeed considered this. I had spent the last few days hoping for survivors from each of the sanctuaries, to teach me. And now there would be no earth born to guide me - but more than that, I was left saddened by the truth that an entire way of magic was lost to the world now.
I thank Gray and excuse him, I ask him to tell Melanie to come to me. He nods and leaves the hall. I have a moment to think now and I consider all the possibilities laid out before me. If I could master storm and fire, my power would be unparalleled. I would be the first multi element magi. I am the Lightbringer, but not the first. The light has no physical form in the first battle the light had used a vessel willingly given to battle the darkness, and the darkness had used a vessel willingly given to battle the light. Achilles and Asrath. Light and dark. Achilles had been the first Lightbringer. But even he had not mastered more than one element.
Melanie takes the seat next to me. I watch her for a moment. A tall, broad-shouldered woman. All business neither attractive nor unattractive. She had a hard-set face like Horal's and Gray's too, but there were tell-tale wrinkles that showed she laughed a lot. I liked her immediately.
"Did Gray tell you my request?" She nods. "Do you accept?" Another nod. "Good. Thank you. Will you send your leader to me?"
"You are our leader." I dip my head slightly.
"Send Phil to me." I tell her. She nods again and leaves.
Not very talkative, that one. I think to myself.
Phil arrives a minute later. He must have been waiting.
A smaller man than Gray, but wide shoulders and even thicker arms, the tell-tale muscle of a physical warrior. He storms up to me with a smile on his face, pulls me out of the chair and embraces me in a bear hug - I reciprocate. We break, I slap him on his back and tell him to take a seat. He does.
"I want you to train me in sword fighting. The light favours the sword, for whatever reason. It guides me in battle. Makes me faster and stronger, it directs my movement. But it uses energy to sustain me - I need to be a fighter in my own right" I tell him.
"of course, of course. It would be an honour!" He exclaims in agreement. I bid him goodnight and he leaves.
I stumble out of the hall, Wident is waiting for me to show me the way to my room. I nod and follow him. I'm exhausted. As soon as I enter the room I collapse into the bed, darkness takes me.
*****
I wake early, the sun is shining into the room. I stagger out of bed and look out the window. It's a view into the courtyard of the safe house. There's people there now, sitting down on the benches and reading. There's two people lying in the small grass garden to one side, bathing in the warm summer sun.
I look around my room, it's a big room. A king size bed, I smile to myself at the small joke. There's a stone desk built into the wall to one side and a soft wool rug in the centre of the floor.
I leave the room and head back down to the council hall. Phil is waiting.
"Are you ready, King?" I nod, "I won't go easy on you. We will be practising with two handed wooden swords for now." He tells me.
I nod again and we make our way into the courtyard. We take up our stances in the centre. More people are gathering now, to watch.
He beats me black and blue the first day, I'm covered I'm bruises from head to toe. Katie had snuck in at some point and had watched the whole thing. She helped me back into the council room after the training was done. She was comforting me with soft words - but with a huge grin on her face. Finally, she could watch me fail after all of my showing off fighting the trees. I chuckled.
Gray was waiting in the council room and we immediately began practising water casting. Katie was over in the corner with Wident who was trying to teach her to cast. It looked as if she was having as much success as myself, which was none. Every time I guided the light into the water casting and unleashed it, all that appeared was flame. The two castings so similar that my light automatically formed fire. It would be a difficult task to change a lifetime of learning in the short time we have.
The next day was the same. Sword sparring during the day, casting in the evening. Again, I was beaten by Phil, who seemed to take great enjoyment from battering his king. That night I sat with Melanie and tried storm casting, Gray joined Wident and Katie.
I had as much luck as the night before with wager, every casting formed fire. No matter how much focus I placed on the casting, no matter the minute detail I placed in the forming of the symbol with the light - fire. Always fire.
The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy Page 11
