Shade of Darkness

by D. N. Leo

  “There you are! You’re not going to the ceremony without anything in your stomach.” Orla’s voice, soothing like an Irish lullaby, drifted in from the doorway.

  The woman—beautiful with a perfectly oval face, striking eyes, and long dark hair—was impossible to dislike. She always had an exotic aura around her—cheerful, happy, and appealing.

  “I’m just about done here. We have a bit of time left, but I need to use that time to set up a plan with Nathan. Thank you, Orla. I’ll be okay.”

  Orla smiled. “When Caedmon comes back, I don’t want him to blame me for letting you get too skinny. I know the majority of that five foot eleven frame of yours is muscles. You won’t lose those. But you do have some sizzling curves—and if you don’t eat enough, you’ll lose them. That’s an unbearable loss for a female creature of any kind!”

  “How I look has nothing to do with Caedmon or what he thinks, Orla. I know what I said at the Peak. But that was in one of my weak moments. It won’t happen again.”

  “Saying you love someone is a weakness? What kind of insanity is that? Is it the mage thing? You’d be better off converting to sorcery. Dark magic would never be so silly.”

  “I thought your love for Lorcan was subject to a dark magic curse before. The two of you almost didn’t make it out of Ireland alive.”

  Orla laughed. “Well, the moral of that lesson is that dark magic didn’t prevent us from loving. It just said there is a price attached to love, and it challenged us to see whether we were prepared to pay the price. Obviously we were, and we beat the hell out of it.”

  Alyna smiled. “All right. I can accept that love is bravery, in your terms. But let’s talk about that later. I’ve got to go now.”

  “Alyna.”

  She stopped at the door and turned back. “Yes, Orla?”

  “Love isn’t bravery. Accepting it is. And in that sense, you aren’t a brave girl. I don’t know Caedmon’s wife. But I know his father, and thus I could say I know the sentimental DNA of the LeBlanc men. They fall head over heels for strong women.”

  “Look, Orla, I appreciate what you’re saying. But I don’t exactly have time for love talk right now.”

  “Now is the time, Alyna. You have to make a decision.”

  “Like what?”

  “You can’t be the mage of bloodstone.”

  “But I’m the leader. Am I the mage of bloodstone?”

  Orla shook her head. “Your previous leader didn’t have a chance to give you the full picture of what you’re taking on, did he?”

  Alyna had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear. “Can we talk about this later? We’re coming really close to the time I need to be at the temple.”

  Orla nodded. “Yes, it’s the time to seal your destiny. The bloodstone wakes every few hundred years, and every time, it takes a guardian. It could be any creature. In this case, because you’re a mage, you’ll become the mage of bloodstone.”

  “And?”

  “It’s an eternal role. You’ll protect the key, and you will belong to it forever. You will not be able to have a soul mate, a life partner, or your family.”

  “Why not?”

  “The key was made from the Scorpio king’s blood from the Bloodstone Mountain. He’s the most sadistic evil creature in history. Don’t you know anything about the legend, Alyna?”

  “Kinda. Actually, no. Pukak never told me. But if being the guardian has such consequences, why do so many creatures of all kinds kill for the opportunity?”

  “Power, Alyna. The Scorpion king will work for you and give you whatever you want within his power—of which he has plenty. All he asks is your complete devotion to him. It’s your choice, really.”

  “So how do I know if I am the mage of bloodstone?”

  “When the key rises, it will cast a shadow on the one taken as guardian. You can summon the key, but don’t let it cast its shadow on you if you don’t want to be the mage.”

  “But it has to take someone, right? So will it then cast a shadow on someone else?”

  “Let it take whom it wants, and most importantly, it has to be a person who wants that kind of power.”

  “But the problem is—”

  “Yes, I know what you’re going to say, Alyna—what if the person who takes the power is a badass? Well, then you have effectively handed over invincible power to evil.”

  Alyna whirled on her heels, pacing back and forth.

  “You’re making me dizzy.”

  “Do you have any suggestions, Orla?”

  “No. I’m best at pointing out problems. Most of the time, Lorcan and Ciaran, and in this case, Caedmon, would be the problem solvers.”

  “That’s not very helpful!”

  “Sorry, I know.”

  “All right, I really have to go. I’ll see how things turn out.” She turned to leave.

  “Alyna.”

  “Yes?”

  “In case you become the mage of bloodstone, and in case you lose your memory and all connection with your current life, can I tell Caedmon what you said at the Peak? Can I tell him you said you love him? That would be the last truth you spoke when you were still with us.”

  Alyna looked at Orla, whose eyes had darkened. The smile had gone from Orla’s face, and her tone was serious. She really didn’t want Alyna to become the mage of bloodstone.

  “No, you can’t tell him what I said. You don’t have my permission, whether I’m dead or alive.” She turned and walked out of the room before Orla could call her again.

  Chapter 36

  Just before noon, Alyna walked around the outside of the temple one last time. She had rehearsed things several times in her mind, but still, she didn’t want anything to go wrong with the ceremony.

  Nathan had done the same, but he walked in the other direction. They met at the main entrance of the temple.

  Alyna and Nathan arranged all the people they could gather and assigned them to strategic places in the temple. Although Amaraq and Ethesus together formed the strongest private security agency in the region, if the key could give people tremendous power, as Orla had said, she had to be very careful. Power motivated people a great deal, and with it, they could do the unimaginable.

  She looked to the top of the temple and could see the sunlight reflecting off its shiny white roof. She knew the interior of the temple was made of ice, but she hadn’t noticed the white stone roof before.

  During the ceremony, that gigantic domed roof would open when she summoned the key. The dome was so enormous she couldn’t imagine how it could move.

  “Magnificent, isn’t it?” Nathan said.

  “Yes, and we have to make sure it stays like that for as long as we can manage.”

  “Are you sure about this, Alyna?”

  “About what?”

  “Being the mage of bloodstone.”

  “You know about that?”

  Nathan chuckled. “It’s not exactly a secret. I think because you never wanted the leadership, Pukak didn’t want to bother you with it.”

  “Do you want the power, Nathan?”

  “If I say yes, you’ll beat the hell out of me. If I say no, you won’t believe me anyway.”

  She smiled. “I believe you. I know you’re not that kind of person.”

  He shrugged. “No one with a right mind would want to be the guardian of a piece of stone made out of a dead king’s blood.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “I can’t say no to Amaraq leadership.”

  “Even if taking the leadership means you might have to be the stone’s guardian?”

  Nathan looked at her and smiled. “You know what, Alyna, if you stopped worrying about doing the right things, your life would be a lot easier.”

  “Are you planning something I should know about?”

  “There you go again. I’m not even going near the stone, Alyna.” He looked off into the distance and pointed at some moving shadows. “We’ve got company.”

 
Alyna waved to her people, telling them to get into their appointed positions. “Let’s get inside,” she said to Nathan. She gestured the door to open and walked into the ice cold air of the temple.

  Inside, all the high-ranked branch leaders were waiting in position. Alyna was pleased. They looked ready. Everyone was excited, anticipating an event that would never happen again in their lifetime.

  The magnificent round area of the temple lit up, not from an interior light but from light the roof let in. She had never noticed that before. The domed roof allowed the light to penetrate but filtered the temperature so the heat never reached the ice inside.

  The icy lake in the middle of the temple that held the key at the bottom seemed to awaken. Maybe it was just her imagination.

  It was almost noon. It was about time. Alyna stepped onto a raised platform. She looked around at the people inside the temple and concentrated.

  “Before I begin, if any one of you intend to claim guardianship of the stone, make yourself known to me now.”

  An old mage standing at the far end raised his hand. “Don’t you want it, Alyna?”

  She nodded. “Of course I do. So if you declare your intention, I’ll fight you, and you can claim guardianship if you beat me. If you don’t declare, and you get in the way in the middle of the ceremony, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

  The man nodded and said nothing else.

  “Anyone?” she asked.

  Silence.

  Nathan cast a glance at her, a quirk at the corner of his mouth. He understood her intention. She didn’t want to be busy fighting internal people during the ceremony, and she didn’t want them to claim guardianship since she hadn’t had time to screen them.

  As for what she would do when the key chose someone, she had no clue. She had no desire to become the mage of bloodstone.

  It was time.

  The temple shuddered, and the domed roof started to split in the center. Sunlight shone into the temple, directly onto the frozen lake. The sunbeams streamed in on an angle, as it was not quite noon yet.

  Alyna concentrated and lifted her hands, palms down. She did what a mage leader was supposed to do—she summoned the Scorpio key.

  She could feel the vibration of energy. Something was awakening at the bottom of the lake. The rumbling noise of the crowd grew louder and louder, but it wasn’t because of the lake. They were being attacked from outside the temple. She looked at Nathan. He nodded and exited the temple. A handful of the branch leaders followed him outside.

  More noise echoed in—this time with more shouting, roaring, weapon clashing, and gunfire.

  The Scorpio key had awakened. She could see the shape of the gigantic piece of ice gradually rising to the surface of the icy water.

  Nathan charged back into the temple and ordered the door closed behind him. She looked at the door and saw no one was with him. He shook his head, letting her know she had lost her branch leaders. Then he rushed toward the middle of the temple, almost too close to the lake.

  Before she could question his action, he pointed his gun at the open roof and fired. As he did, a handful of creatures and shapeshifters from the other side of town dropped to the floor. More emerged from the edges of the open roof.

  Alyna’s hands were still connected with the source energy summoning the key. She couldn’t release it. She stood transfixed, watching her men either make their way to the roof and fight or fight the creatures who had reached the floor of the temple.

  Creatures were everywhere, in all shapes and forms. They jumped down from the roof like heavy drops of rain. They were outnumbered. She had lost several more men, and Nathan was wounded. She could see him fighting at the edge of the roof.

  Those creatures on the floor, if they were free and alive, didn’t touch Alyna. They needed her to complete the summoning of the key. They stood around and waited. She knew their plans now. They’d wait until the summoning was completed, and then they would challenge her leadership. If they beat her and took the leadership, they would be considered for guardianship.

  She had no problem with fighting one on one. But if they came to her all at once, or even if they took turns, she didn’t know how long she would last.

  She couldn’t afford to lose her concentration now. She needed to complete the process. She wanted to help her men in the fight, but no one could summon the key but her, so she continued.

  She didn’t underestimate the attack—she was just ill-informed about how many greedy creatures there were.

  Chapter 37

  Alyna could see the key. It floated on the water, partially submerged. It looked like a gigantic column of ice made of blood. Inside the ice, Alyna could see the shape of a scorpion. A large human-shaped eye in the middle of the scorpion’s head opened.

  It looked at her.

  But the process had not completed yet. Her energy was still connected with the summoning. And the key was still rising from the water.

  The commotion outside and on the roof subsided. She looked up, and a wave of relief washed over her when she saw Caedmon, in his long black coat, standing at the edge of the roof. His raven hair was tied back, and his striking gray eyes smiled at her. The image of him—a dark angel imprinted against the blue sky—made her stomach quiver.

  He had come back for her.

  Not only that, the subsided commotion told her that Caedmon hadn’t come back by himself but had brought a force with him to help her, an army of the kind the LeBlancs’ money could buy.

  He shot a hook over the edge of the roof and came down using a rope. He moved so fast it looked as if he were flying—but he wasn’t. He’d come back to her in human form, not animal, and that made her deliriously happy. He was in control of his body.

  Then she heard the sound of rushing water and a snapping sound from the lake. The Scorpion key had completely surfaced.

  She was pushed back, and her energy disconnected from the key.

  The people inside the temple gasped as they realized what had just happened.

  The key glowed in crimson red. The sun hung in the sky at noon and shone down on top of it. The key started to spin.

  The energy and the aura of the dead king engulfed the temple, causing the creatures to slump to their knees and start praying. In that moment, some of them had forfeited the idea of challenging her and claiming guardianship.

  Good! she thought.

  Caedmon approached her. “You looked magnificent in the shade of the bloodstone.”

  On top of the ice column, a gigantic pair of wings emerged and grew. That was the moment. She knew it. It was casting a shadow, and it was reaching out for her.

  She looked at Caedmon. “At the Peak, before you flew away, Caedmon, you wouldn’t have heard it, but I said—”

  “I heard you, Alyna. I did.”

  “If you don’t hear from me again, those were my last words. I’ll keep my words, no matter what happens—”

  “What do you mean?”

  They heard roars from the back of the room. All the creatures had come back to reality after being mesmerized by the rising Scorpio key. They charged at Alyna, weapons in hand, demanding a challenge of her leadership.

  Caedmon whirled around, pushing her toward his back.

  Nathan descended from the roof and rushed toward them. He shouted at Caedmon as he ran. “Don’t back her up against that bloody key!”

  Alyna saw the shadow of the wings under the sun reaching for her, and the blood ice column that held the key was now releasing a strong force, pulling her closer to the lake and closer to the shadow.

  Caedmon turned and grabbed her before she could be pulled away. It tugged at only her, and no one else.

  The stone wanted her.

  Nathan charged between Caedmon and the upcoming challengers. His anger and his ferocity stopped the group of attacking creatures. It was only for a short moment, but it was enough time for Caedmon to pull her aside.

  “What's happening, Alyna? Why is the key pulling you?
”

  “It wants to take possession of the mage leader, Caedmon. If it casts its shadow on me, it'll make me mage of bloodstone.”

  She was pulled again. It was incredibly strong. Caedmon held her back, but he was skidding toward the lake as well.

  Nathan gathered more people on the ground and put down almost all the other creatures. The rest ran for their lives. Nathan opened the temple door and hurled them out. He then closed the doors and rushed toward Caedmon and Alyna.

  “Let go, Caedmon. I don't want it to pull you in, too,” Alyna said.

  He said nothing and continued to hold her tight.

  From the roof, a woman’s voice said, “I challenge Alyna’s leadership.”

  The pull on Alyna immediately stopped.

  Alyna looked up to the roof and saw a woman her age standing at the edge. Judging by her gait, the aura around her, and the way the light tripped over her skin, Alyna knew she was up against a prominent mage. This woman was important enough that the bloodstone considered taking her as guardian if she won the challenge.

  The woman jumped down to the floor, light as a feather. Without saying another word, she charged at Alyna.

  At the start of every fight, Alyna instinctively knew whether she had the upper hand or was likely to lose. She was afraid she was feeling the latter at the moment, but she stepped forward and took the challenge. She’d do her best. She didn’t want guardianship. But she wouldn’t let an evil creature claim the power, either.

  This internal conflict weakened her. She suffered several blows from the woman. She was focused on the fight and didn’t have time to see what Caedmon and Nathan were doing. She noticed an unusual quietness around her.

  Then she heard a bang from above. The key started to spin and cast its shadowy wings again.

  Alyna and the woman stopped fighting for a moment. When the woman looked up, Alyna glanced to one side and saw Caedmon. He seemed to be concentrating on his glowing wrist unit. And she didn’t know when Orla had entered the temple, but she suddenly stood next to Caedmon and Nathan.

  Alyna looked up and saw a large ring of light beaming down from above. The Scorpio key was spinning, but unlike before, when it displayed its power by trying to grab a guardian, this time it seemed like it spun to defend itself from a stronger suction from above.