The Dark

by Marianne Curley

  Within seconds these black clouds roll across the hillside, darkening the area around us. Lightning, in amazing colours of purple, green, yellow and brilliant red, streaks across the sky, spreading its tendrils in all different directions.

  Ethan shakes me, and has to scream to be heard over a sudden burst of strong wind. ‘Move!’

  We start running again, as fast as we can without falling over, but that cave Ethan was talking about is still far away. We’re not going to make it. Thunder, like I’ve never heard before, shatters the ground, making us stumble over wide-opening cracks. The air thickens, and hail starts to fall. But this is no ordinary hail. Besides the fact that it’s freezing cold, this hail is jagged and heavy, like large, sharply-angled rocks. And when it hits something solid, it explodes, burning a hole in its wake. It’s as if the ice itself is composed of an unstable element. At least unstable in this world.

  ‘Here!’ Matt screams out. He whips his shirt off and throws it over my head. I squirm around until it covers the both of us, glancing up to see Ethan doing something similar with his own. So now I have two layers of fabric protecting me. I doubt it will have much effect, but it’s worth a try. Anything would be, to protect us from this strange exploding hail.

  ‘Look at that!’ Matt calls out, keeping his head low. ‘The hail’s causing fires.’

  ‘Unbelievable!’ Ethan sounds stunned. ‘Look at the holes in the ground.’

  We keep running, leaping over the increasing number of holes. But it gets harder with every step as the sky grows even darker, so much that it would be easy to believe it were closer to midnight than four in the afternoon. As the hail and deafening thunder intensify, I notice the shirts being held over my head start turning red. The guys are using their arms to protect me! They’re covering me, while taking most of the hits from the hail themselves. I scream and tug at their shirts, trying to find their arms. ‘Pull them down! Stop, you idiots! I can look after myself!’ They ignore me and continue to hold their arms purposefully out of reach.

  Up ahead the tree-line draws closer, and the prospect of finding shelter under the canopy of the forest has us push our weary legs to their physical limits. But just as we get there a streak of purple lightning screeches over our heads, striking the tree directly before us. The power of the hit tosses us metres into the air. The three of us scramble around on all fours, momentarily disoriented. And if the other two are like me, dazed and deafened as well. Somehow we crawl to the forest edge, skirting around the tree, now nothing more than cracked and burning timber. Slowly the ringing in my ear decreases and my hearing returns.

  Once inside the canopy of the forest the hail eases, but the storm intensifies, ripping trees from their roots and overturning boulders that twenty-ton cranes would have trouble shifting. It feels as if this storm has a purpose, and that purpose is to gobble us up!

  ‘Here!’ Ethan yanks on my arm. ‘This way, I think.’

  I see where he’s heading, even though he can’t see it yet himself. It’s so dark in here, both Ethan and Matt would only be able to see a few feet in front of them. But thanks to my skill of sight, a gift from Lady Arabella last year at my Initiation in Athens, I can see much further. I take over the lead, and in a matter of minutes find shelter beneath an overhanging ledge forming the entrance to Ethan’s cave.

  At last the three of us try to catch our breath. Ethan and Matt both collapse in a huddle on the rocky floor. Hail has left horrid cuts on their upper bodies, faces and arms and heads. They’re both bleeding from the wounds, but their burns are worse. And the way Ethan is holding his head, he could even have a mild concussion.

  I try to get my breathing back to normal quickly and start working on healing them straight away. I take Ethan’s arm, but he pushes me away. ‘Do Matt first.’

  Matt protests, but I snap at him, ‘You’re only making Ethan wait longer by arguing, so shut up, Matt, and let me do my work.’

  It seems to take for ever, the stench of their burning flesh overwhelming me for a minute so that I find it difficult to start visualising what needs to be done. I force myself to concentrate. Finally they’re both healed and the three of us sit under the protective rocky ledge staring out at the strange storm that’s now settled into a heavy rain depression. Drenched to the bone, we huddle together for warmth. The temperature has fallen to somewhere near freezing point.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ Matt asks.

  I feel Ethan’s shoulders lift, unable to answer. Slowly he turns his head in my direction, his eyebrows rising. I can almost see his thoughts ticking over. He’s remembering the strange phenomenon I experienced earlier, giving me a warning of what was to come. He’s figuring it out, thinking I had some sort of ‘vision’. But I’m not sure he’s on the right path. I’m also not sure I want to hear his theory. My mind’s in a mess right now, a headache beginning to take shape.

  If I did receive some sort of ‘vision’ or warning, who’s to say it will happen again? It was hardly a warning at all really. That storm erupted too quickly. It would be a useless skill to have in that sense.

  ‘Isabel? You got any ideas?’ Ethan’s hand does a wide sweep of the devastation surrounding us, and I notice a slight tremor he can’t conceal. ‘Is this what you saw? This … this hurricane?’

  But how can I tell him this storm was not exactly what I saw, but more the tail end of what I felt? What I saw is unexplainable. A place of darkness, pain and suffering, where fear and despair lock around your heart like a cage from which there is no escape.

  I shudder suddenly and Matt tries to warm my arms with his hands. ‘I’m OK!’ I say these words with more force than I mean. Instantly I’m regretful and start to say so, but he gets up and moves away, leaning against the edge of the cave opening.

  ‘Isabel?’ Ethan reminds me that I haven’t answered his question.

  I keep my voice soft enough so Matt doesn’t hear. ‘I’m not exactly sure what I saw, Ethan. That “vision” was very strange. And this storm, it’s just so unreal. I can’t be certain the two are connected.’

  We’re silent for a moment, and the rain begins to ease. And if I’m not mistaken, patches of blue sky start breaking through where trees have been uprooted. ‘Who would have thought this beautiful sunny day would have ended this way?’

  ‘Exactly,’ Ethan says. ‘What I want to know is why we weren’t warned.’

  I gaze at him in a puzzled way. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Aren’t hurricanes usually tracked for days before they hit land? I heard the weather report this morning. There was no mention of a hurricane.’

  ‘We don’t get hurricanes, Ethan. These are the highlands, not the tropics. And it’s not even summer!’

  ‘So what did we get?’

  My eyes drift to where Ethan has picked up a small stick and started poking at a rock between his feet. ‘Look, I don’t really know, but it had a lot of power. Did you ever see hail like that? Ice that ignites when it hits something solid?’

  He stares at me. ‘What are you saying?’

  I don’t want to scare Ethan or anything, but he is asking for my opinion. And I know he wouldn’t want to hear a watered down version just because it isn’t pleasant. He’s not like that. ‘There’s something else.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘It felt to me as if the storm came through the sky. As if it came from another world.’

  Chapter Two

  Arkarian

  They’re coming to see me, and they’re looking for answers. Ethan, in particular, seems anxious. Whatever he’s seen has shaken him badly. He’ll want an explanation. And while I’ve lived for six hundred years, accredited master in the hierarchy of the Guard for many of those, I certainly don’t know everything, as Ethan often likes to tell me. Even the Tribunal are experiencing surprises lately with Lathenia in such a rage.

  Of course Isabel is coming too. I glance down at my clothes – black pants, blue jumper. I pull the elastic out of my hair, it falls loose arou
nd my shoulders. What will Isabel think? I stop myself and take a steadying breath. What does it matter? It’s not as if she will notice. She once believed herself in love with Ethan. Perhaps she still is.

  ‘Arkarian!’

  It’s Ethan, calling from just inside my chamber’s secret door. As usual when he’s overwrought, he can’t screen his thoughts from me, no matter how hard I train him. One day it could prove dangerous. There are plenty of Truthseers out there in the world and they’re hardly going to announce it to anyone. Marduke was one while he lived, as well as all nine members of the Tribunal. And of course truthseeing is one of Rochelle’s skills.

  ‘Did you see that thing?’ Ethan storms into my work station with Isabel trailing behind.

  ‘Hey,’ Isabel says with a small smile.

  ‘Hello, Isabel.’ Total blank. She’s masking her thoughts well.

  ‘Did you see what happened up there?’ Ethan asks, trying to look calm. ‘What was that? What does it mean?’

  Holding out my hands, I produce three wooden stools. The same three I made as a young boy. The only items I managed to salvage from one of my childhood lodgings.

  The three of us sit in a triangle, and I’m glad to see they haven’t brought Matt with them. Even though he’s been in training for quite a while now, he’s still not comfortable in my chambers. The equipment startles him – soundless technology, centuries ahead of its time. I remember when he first peered into my 3-D holographic sphere, and realised he was looking into the past, he wanted to get out so fast, he would have gone through a wall if it wasn’t made of solid rock.

  Ethan’s fingers close around one of my arms. ‘Arkarian! What was it?’

  ‘I’ll explain what I know. But you have to tell me what you saw first.’

  His hands fly into the air. ‘It was incredible. Something falling. Black clouds like … like … nothing I’ve seen before.’

  ‘There was this sound,’ Isabel says.

  Isabel’s words, more than Ethan’s, send a chill up my spine. That unusual storm this afternoon has aroused my suspicions. I have to keep assuring myself that even the Goddess, consumed with grief for this whole past year, would not want a rift to form between our mortal world and any other. ‘A sound, Isabel? What sort of sound?’

  ‘A shredding sound. Ear piercing.’

  Her words make my heart beat hard and loud. ‘Tell me about those first moments. Did you notice anything unusual? A strange light? A smell or odour? A glimpse of darkness?’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ Ethan replies in a rush. ‘All of those things, I think.’

  Isabel frowns. ‘I don’t remember an odour, only the smell of your skin burning with that hail, Ethan.’

  ‘You have to believe us, Arkarian. It was … eerie. Our hair stood on end!’

  ‘I believe you, Ethan.’ I just don’t want to create panic, I add silently. Even in the depths of her despair at losing Marduke, or her anger that a member of the Guard could eliminate her highest-ranking soldier, why would Lathenia take such a risk? Has she lost control of her objectivity, even her sanity?

  Ethan sits, and using his training, attempts to calm down. It’s unusual seeing him like this. He’s experienced a lot of strange happenings in his time with the Guard. It’s usually hard to faze him.

  ‘Where do you think that storm came from?’ he asks.

  Isabel is already making her own assumptions. ‘That storm was unearthly, that’s all I’m going to say.’ She looks straight into my eyes. Suddenly my thoughts are hurled into confusion and I find I have to look away. I try to think why. I know that I’m on edge. Everyone is at this time. Our spies say Lathenia is close to discovering Ethan’s identity. And she knows I was the one who planned our strategy the day Marduke was killed, so she wants to take her revenge on me too. But as I don’t circulate in the mortal world any more, Ethan is more at risk.

  It could be because Isabel’s words are so near the possible truth.

  I force myself to return a steady gaze and choose the words that won’t increase their fears. They have to remain calm to keep doing their good work. And while Isabel’s powers still haven’t completely emerged, her healing skill is unequalled in the Guard’s history so far. ‘Lathenia is simply in a rage at losing Marduke. It’s the first anniversary of his death today. Try not to concern yourselves too much.’

  Isabel says softly, ‘She has a very dark rage, Arkarian.’

  Ethan jumps in, ‘I’ll say. Isabel knows all about it. Just before the storm hit—’

  She whacks him with the back of her hand. He almost falls off his stool.

  So, there’s something else. Something that happened before the storm hit that Isabel doesn’t want me to know about. I focus on Ethan for a second, but he’s trying hard to conceal his thoughts. And while he’s not succeeding very well, he has managed to scramble them enough so that I can’t make any sense of them. Well, if Isabel wants to keep something from me, that’s her choice. I won’t intrude. My only concern is that what she keeps from me has something to do with what she saw up on that ridge today. I don’t want either of these two getting involved in something they can’t handle.

  An awkward silence follows. Ethan finds himself suddenly fascinated by each hairline crack in the rock walls, while Isabel, whose face has turned the colour of blood, studies the tips of her brown boots. I decide I’d better put them out of their misery before they both bolt for the door. I have other things to tell them, but first I have to ask, ‘How is Matt’s training progressing?’

  The two of them glance at each other, their eyes opening wide. Isabel’s shoulders lift, but not in a negative way, more a defeatist one. The look exchanged concerns me deeply. ‘Ethan, explain.’

  He flicks Isabel a strangely apologetic glance first. ‘Matt’s hopeless, Arkarian. Totally uncoordinated. Are you sure the Prophecy is talking about him? I mean, could the Tribunal have got it wrong? Maybe Matt’s not the one. Maybe he’s not even supposed to be a member of the Guard, let alone, you know, supposed to lead the Named.’

  ‘Matt was Named before his own birth. Before yours too, Ethan,’ I tell him simply.

  ‘Well, he’s not doing so well.’

  ‘Then you’ll have to work harder.’

  Ethan makes a scoffing sound as if the idea is outrageous. ‘I don’t know what else I can do. I mean, we train every day. And he’s stressing about not having any powers yet.’

  To me the answer lies there. ‘Ease up on trying to evolve his paranormal skills. He’s probably putting too much pressure on himself. That would only cause a mental block. But keep working on his physical skills. He’ll need those to defend himself. They’ll be a backup until his powers emerge and he has time to work on them.’

  Ethan sees my point. ‘OK, I’ll try.’

  Silence descends again, and I can’t put it off any longer. I have to tell Isabel about her forthcoming mission. It’s the moment I’ve been dreading. This mission has been rushed, with orders coming straight from the Tribunal, specifically from Lorian, none other than our own Immortal. Normally I wouldn’t be worried about sending Isabel on a mission, especially paired up with Ethan, but this mission has come with orders that refer specifically to me.

  I clear my throat a couple of times, buying myself some time. It has the opposite effect of making Ethan and Isabel stare straight at me.

  ‘Well now, there’s something I have to tell you …’

  Isabel leans forward and her aura embraces mine for a fleeting moment. It takes my breath away and I find I have to start my explanation all over again. ‘It’s like this you see … the next mission is to be yours, Isabel. But the details are sketchy. I’m not the one monitoring this time period, or the portal that’s starting to open as we speak.’ My eyes drift to the holographic sphere, then flick away.

  Ethan frowns. ‘So what’s the problem? When do we leave?’

  ‘This is what I’m trying to tell you: you’re not going with her, Ethan.’

  Isabel’s head snaps back a
s a smile takes form. She thinks she’s figured out what I’m saying. She throws a hand into the air, her voice brimming with excitement. ‘Yes! I get to do this one on my own. About time you lot started trusting me.’

  But she hasn’t understood. I tell her quickly, ‘It’s not what you think. You’re not going on your own.’

  She slumps back on to her stool, her mouth pulling into an irritated smirk. ‘Great. How can I show that I’m capable of working alone, if you don’t give me the chance? I may not have powers of physical strength, but I can take care of myself. I can dispense with a soldier as easily as the other more experienced members of the Named – Shaun or Jimmy, or Mr Carter.’

  ‘It’s not that we think you can’t complete a solo mission, Isabel. Quite simply, it’s too dangerous to send anyone out alone at this time. Normally it would be Ethan going with you. The two of you work well together. But my orders are a directive from the Tribunal, with no explanation offered or forthcoming.’

  ‘What are you trying to say, Arkarian?’ she asks.

  I don’t answer for a minute, wondering why Lorian would do this to me. Finally I just spit it out, ‘Isabel, I am going to be your partner.’

  She doesn’t say a word, but her mouth drops open and colour drains from her face. After a minute she collects herself and sits upright, taking a big breath.

  I think about her strange reaction, trying to interpret what it means, but draw a blank.

  She licks her lips. My eyes are drawn there.

  She notices and swallows deeply. ‘Right,’ she says, her voice strangely hoarse. She coughs into her hand and my eyes fly up to hers. Her mouth moves, but words seem to escape her.

  Ethan starts to laugh, breaking the tension that seems to crackle in the room. I look at him and he covers his mouth with his hand and shakes his head.

  ‘What’s with you?’ Isabel snaps at him.

  ‘Oh nothing,’ he says, looking like a cat with a bowl of cream between his paws. ‘So when do you two leave?’

  ‘Tonight,’ I say.