The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy

by Mulholland, Daniel

  I pull light out of my crown and guide it into the glass plane in front of me, it immediately shoots up and melts into an oval shape. I can see the fog rising up against the glass. With a small flash of light the fog turns purple and the portal is activated.

  I go first, I step through the portal. I'm momentarily blinded by the flash of light as I cross the barrier. And then I'm through. My vision returns. I'm standing on a hill looking over London.

  All I can see is rubble and fire. Still burning even now, months later. No building is left standing. The bridge is gone. Big Ben. It's all gone. The city has been completely levelled.

  I see flashes out of the corner of my eye as the others come through. Small gasps as they look out over the city. Katie grabs my hand and squeezes it, the other hand covering her mouth. I can see tears in her eyes. Any hope of survivors is gone within seconds. There can be no one left alive in that devastation before us.

  I tell the others it's time to go back. We've seen everything we need to see, it's time to go to Arizona and find Gandrea.

  I move back to the portal and guide my light into it, a small flash as the portal activates.

  As I move forward to step through, the world is enveloped in darkness. I can't see anything. I feel Katie's hand in mine, she's holding it very tight.

  "Thomas? What's going on?" That's Katie. I can hear another voice close by. Phil. I hear the whisper of his blades drawing.

  Are we under attack? I ask myself. But I feel no heat no magic being cast around us. I quickly stretch my hand out, searching for the portal.

  "STOP! Now!" The voice is everywhere. In the air, coming up through the ground, I can hear it reverberating through the ethereal. The darkness.

  "You will stop. You will not travel to Arizona." The dark voice booming all around us as we stand inside a void of nothingness.

  I laugh. The voice grows, angry now.

  "If you continue down this path, I will extinguish the light of everyone you know and love. All of you."

  And with that warning, the voice ebbs away. The darkness begins to fade back into the light. And all around us are traitors.

  Thomas immediately summons his sword of light, he feels the light course through him, ready guide him. He welcomes it. He has yet to test his new physical prowess with the help of the light. He sprang forward. Quicker than ever in seconds three of the traitors lay dead. His sword a blur as it cut through the air with deadly power and precision, and everywhere it landed - traitor died. He threw a stream of water to his left as Phil dived into the traitors to his right. His own twin swords a spiral of flashing electricity before him, dropping traitors all around him.

  I lashed out with water, fire and storm. Using my new gifts to swat our enemies down. Blackcloaks were swallowed by water, some exploded as lightning struck them, and some burned to ash as my fire engulfed them. But most of them fell to my sword. Limbs and heads rolling as I ducked and spun through the company of traitors.

  There weren't many. Perhaps twenty at most. And in just a few moments they were all dead. Katie and Wident stared at me, funny looks on their faces. Phil moved towards me, a smile on his face. And Gray just nodded. Approvingly.

  I stepped through the portal, the others behind me.

  A flash and we were back in the courtyard. Everyone was waiting for us. Shocked gasps echoed through the crowd of survivors as they saw us. Covered in blood and cuts and burn marks. The smith stood to the side with our suits of armour.

  We donned them. The council suited up - even Bert.

  We said all our goodbyes and I activated a new portal. This one would take us to Washington. From there we would travel through portals to New York, Dallas, California and finally; Arizona.

  I shake Berts hand and nod to the smith before stepping through the portal.

  We arrive somewhere far from the city, in a small forest of dark oak and wide flowering branches. It's a beautiful sight after the months spent inside the little stone safe house.

  We set camp for the night. I light a little fire. We eat together.

  I settle down on a log, Katie cuddling up against my arm. I smile at her.

  Twenty-Nine – Beware

  Katie

  He was smiling at her. She smiled back as best she could. But she couldn't shake the memory of his eyes as he had cut down the traitors. He was enjoying it. His eyes told a story of joy and amusement as his sword and his water and his fire and his lightning cut down enemy after enemy. Swallowing them up in brutal and powerful attacks.

  She knew she loved him deeply, she could feel the ring on her finger. He had proposed and she had said yes without a thought, for no thought was necessary. But the man that had destroyed those black cloaks was not the man she fell in love with. It was not the kind and selfless look of the man she adored.

  She was worried for him. So very worried. His willingness to do absolutely anything it takes to win, to beat back the darkness, was leading him down a terrible path. She worried that she wouldn't be recognise him at all soon.

  She tightened her grip on his arm and looked around the camp. Wident was sitting directly across the fire, he was watching them. He had a curious look on his face, perhaps he was as worried as she was.

  Gray sat to the right, his eyes also on Thomas. But he was not worried. He looked proud. A small smug look on his face. He was thinking about all the traitors that they would kill together.

  Melanie sat with her legs crossed on the small grassy patch behind Wident. She was watching the stars and guiding a small spark up and down her arm. Practicing her precision. Katie had watched her do it before.

  Katie could just about make Phil out over towards the tree line. He was being swallowed by the shadow of the trees, but she could see the flash of his swords as he spun. He hadn't stopped practicing since the first bout he had lost to Thomas. He was obsessed with improving himself. He reminded her of Thomas in that way.

  She reached up and kissed Thomas before laying back over the log, she was getting tired. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her. She dreamed of death and war, and her dragon. She dreamed of her dragon a lot now.

  *****

  Wident

  Wident was watching Thomas. He wasn't sure what to make of the young man. He had been a good student. He studied hard. His memory was second to none. He had devoted himself to the learnings of the magi.

  He spent days buried in each of the books that were given to the scholar students, and her excelled. His studies and reports shined brighter than the other students. His understanding for the ethereal was incredible - even better than a lot of the old scholars.

  Wident knew Thomas had dreamed of being a warrior, his judgement clouded by the thoughts of glory and honour. But here he was. The greatest power the El-Assum had ever produced - and with his power was a knowledge of the ethereal that no other warrior had.

  His casting had improved over the last few months and he had become the first caster to master multiple elements. His sword fighting and physical strength had improved too, he had defeated the greatest living sword fighter time and time again before they left the safe house.

  And tonight, Wident had watched him rip through a horde of black cloaks like they were nothing. A look of pure glee on his face as he unleashed his terrible power and skill upon them. Each death seemed to bolster him more.

  And Wident was conflicted. Finally, they had a warrior that could lead the fight against the traitors and the darkness, but this young man was his student. He had spent the last decade of his life training and teaching this boy, and tonight he had witnessed a terrible truth. Thomas was losing himself to this war.

  Wident makes a silent vow to his light, that he will do everything he possibly can to council Thomas on right and wrong, and keep Thomas on the right side. He promises to make sure Thomas remains good.

  A flash of light from Thomas, his crown exploding out. Thomas is watching Wident now. Wident feels Thomas's light touch his own. He feels acceptance. The light accepts hi
s vow.

  Thomas is still watching Wident. A curious look on his face. And Wident wonders...

  *****

  Gray

  Gray hasn't been able to stop thinking about the battle earlier tonight. Thomas had proven to be even better of a warrior than Gray could have hoped.

  Deep inside of him he had a tiny slither of doubt that Thomas would be able to master the elements. And then he did. Months and months, it had taken him, the frustration building up. Hut finally he had summoned a spark with Melanie. And a few short weeks later, with Thomas's belief in himself restored, he had finally cast his first water spell.

  From their his skill had sky rocketed. The rest of his time in the safe house had been spent devoting himself to his new elements. And Gray happily admitted that Thomas was now a more skilled water caster than himself.

  Gray had turned from Thomas to watch Melanie. He liked watching her. She had an aura around her that pulled him to her. Her laugh cut right through him and warmed him. He thinks he's falling in love.

  Gray turns back to Thomas as an explosion of ought erupts from his crown and reaches out to Wident. Thomas and Wident are sharing a strange look now as Thomas's light returns to him. Wident's face is pale and he a begins fiddling with his notebook. Gray is curious.

  His eyes back on Thomas, Grays mind returns to thoughts of war. He had spent his entire adult life leading a task force against the traitors. Never in all his days fighting had he witnessed the sheer force and brutality he had seen from Thomas today.

  Gray makes a new vow, to support Thomas no matter the cost. He cows to follow him into the void itself if necessary. He will support every decision this young man makes, the final hope for humanity.

  Another burst of light from Thomas's crown. This time the light reached out to him and he senses the light accepting his vow.

  Thomas's eyes are on him now, a slight nod of the head before his attention returns to Katie.

  Can he read my mind? Gray asks himself, half-jokingly.

  *****

  Darkness

  The darkness sat alone in the new throne room of the new sanctuary of the Al-Guul. Its mind was racing. It couldn't stop going back to the power the Lightbringer ha unleashed earlier that day.

  It remembered as Thomas had mastered multiple elements and used them all flawlessly side by side in battle. And the darkness had felt fear for just the third time in its very, very, very long existence.

  Suddenly the darknesses mind flash back to the moment if its creation. A momentary change and suddenly it could thing, could breathe, could move. It remembered searching and exploring and looking for its creator.

  It remembered the moment the darkness had found its maker and the words it had spoken. It remembered the fear that had coursed through its entire being, the first time it had felt such a thing, and the shock it had been left in.

  "beware the wielder of the elements of creation, look for me at his coming and prepare - for with the mastering of the elements, I return. And with me comes the end of all things."

  The darkness shivered as the memory flashed through its mind. An uncharacteristic trait. Time was running out for the darkness now, Thomas was one element away from fulfilling the true Inferno Prophecy, a Prophecy that has waited six million years to be fulfilled - the darkness had to act.

  It sweeps through the new sanctuary and down into the dungeons. It approaches the prisoner. Filthy, smelly human. Covered in its own waste and sweat and urine. The entire floor stank.

  The darkness had plucked this man out of the black house at the moment of its destruction, Asrath had informed it that this man was a threat and could provide invaluable Intel on Thomas and his movements.

  "What is your name, filth?" The darknesses voice rumbles, the question echoing off the cold walls and metal bars.

  The chains around the prisoners’ wrist clank as he rises to his feet. He stares at the darkness. Defiance written all over his face

  "Horal." The human replies.

  "Well, Horal. Tell me of the Earth Born."

  Thirty – Apocalypse

  Katie wakes early the next morning, Thomas is already up. She finds him over at the tree line sparring with Phil. She can see Phil's frustration; his arms are bruised and there's an open cut on his face.

  Thomas sees her and calls it. Phil nods. She walks over to Thomas and he pulls her into his arms, kissing her.

  "I love you." He tells her. She smiles and tells him she loves him too.

  They head back to the campsite; the others are awake now. Melanie is cooking breakfast this morning. Katie watches her chop up some vegetables before throwing them into a big pot.

  Katie watches on, fascinated as Melanie uses her power to cook the soup. She summons her light and guides it around the pot. Katie hears the water sizzling as she heats it with her electricity.

  It takes only a few minutes for it to cook, and then she fills up six pots and hands them out to the group. It's delicious. Katie savours every spoonful - knowing that Thomas was cooking the evening meal. Her eyes meet Thomas's out the corner of her eye and they smile at each other, thinking the same thing.

  Everyone compliments Melanie's cooking, especially Gray. He spends a few minutes explaining just how perfect it is. Melanie is blushing and thanking him. Gray smiling slightly. Katie notes that it's the first time she has seen him smile.

  After breakfast, they pack up camp and begin their hike to Washington. Thomas tells her it's only two miles. It takes around two hours to get to the city. The walk reminds Katie of her journey through England with Thomas a few months earlier. She's happy again. The group are laughing and telling jokes.

  But the good mood disappears when Washington comes into view. The mood instantly sombre.

  Washington is gone. All that remains is a bridge. The rest of the city is left in ruin. No fire. Just rubble. All the buildings collapsed in on each other, sand has washed in over the city.

  Thomas remarks that it does indeed look like a wasteland. The view reminds Katie of the apocalyptic movies she saw when she was younger. And the truth finally hits home. This is the apocalypse. She has avoided the truth for as long as possible, but all over the world cities are being destroyed with fire and darkness, humanity is winking out of existence all over the planet. And the last hope that human kind has stands before her. The Lightbringer. The man she loves.

  They eat lunch at the top of a hill overlooking the once vibrant capital of the United States. After lunch, Thomas opens a new portal. Their things are packed up and they move on.

  Their next stop is New York. She remembers the images from Horal's looking Glass back at the old sanctuary. The city hasn't changed much. Abandoned to its fate.

  They make their way through the United States via portal, city after city decimated. The population dead. Dallas, Austin, Ohio, California. Katie hopes that there are survivors out there, hidden away in the country and small villages.

  The United States is just a waste land now. Heat, fire, sand and destruction in every city they visit.

  Finally, a week after their battle in London, the group arrive in Arizona. They stop to camp for the night on a small ridge on the middle of a desert. The view is beautiful. To the west, a long windy river and to the east sand for as far as the eyes could see. The intense sun casting waves of colour over the flat horizon.

  They all settle down for an early night, Thomas wants them well rested for the next day - he tells them they need to be prepared for anything. There are no complaints, everyone is glad for the rest.

  Katie dreams about her dragon again. It is every night now, every dream more vivid than the last. She spends the night flying on the back of her dragon, seeing the world. Places she had seen in movies, imagined from novels, fiction and real both. She sees places she has never heard of, never imagined or seen. Entire cities and landscapes created by her mind.

  She wakes up in Thomas's arms, she cuddles in closer to him. She feels safe in his arms.

  Thomas wakes
shortly after, his arms around her tightening. They stay like that for a while longer. But then it's time to eat. After they finish their normal breakfast of soup, it's time to go. They start their walk down the hill so Thomas can reactivate their portal.

  They step through. Thomas tells them it's a mile north, their destination. They begin immediately. They stop after a half mile to eat.

  When they're finished eating, Thomas has them put their suits of armour on. The six of them stand in the middle of the desert, sweating and uncomfortable. But he tells them it's a precaution, the darkness knows where they're going and there's a chance that it is waiting for them.