Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  Neila looked around, smiling, then continued.

  “The only projectile weapon these creatures have is their breath. Every type has its own. The shadow dragons have fire-breath. This can be created by the two different glands. Both make a specific fluid. When these fluids mix, they immediately burst into flames. Of course, to prevent the flames from forming in their mouth, they take a huge breath, then blow it out while squirting out the fluids. With this, the shadows can create a powerful flame-column, which can be around one hundred and fifty feet long. Although there was a dragon once who had a two-hundred-feet-long flame … so better be careful!” Neila warned her students playfully, who nodded. They never stopped writing, however.

  Everybody knew that the shadow dragons were exterminated in the Dragonwars, their accomplishments still deserved respect. Even though nobody dared to ask how anybody could measure a dragon’s fire-column …

  “As you all know, the bright dragons have ice-breath. This can be—” The words fell off her mouth suddenly. Both she and Cameron became stiff, as they obviously felt something that made them tense. The students exchanged questioning looks because they were not sensitive enough to notice what disturbed the others.

  Then Neila stormed out after a quick glance at Cameron. Opening the door, she ran into Halgor, who wanted to get her. The air was vibrating around them as the World’s Power almost boiled. This meant that the Rim had opened again.

  “She is here,” Halgor stated the obvious. In that same moment, the unusual feeling disappeared.

  “The guardian …” Neila whispered worriedly. They said the teleporting word almost in the same moment, which took them to the library door. The elven hurriedly deactivated the rune on the entrance before they barged in.

  They had arrived just in time. The undead servant had not touched its victim yet, only froze her in the air and called her to it.

  “Enough!” Neila snapped, which made the servant cease the attack immediately. The girl fell on the floor, unconscious. Halgor strode to her and rolled her on her back to examine her.

  The girl’s skin was very pale and almost ice-cold. Her lips turned to blue; her eyes did not react to the light when Halgor forced them open to see the pupils. The dark mage hurriedly put one hand on her forehead, while he signed a rune above her heart with the other. As he chanted the spell, the rune lit up, as if it turned into fire, then melted into the girl’s body. Shortly after, her skin regained its colour, and her breath evened out.

  The elven flared an angry side look at the servant, who gazed off to the distance.

  “It is my duty to capture all intruders and uninvited guests. No exceptions,” whispered the undead with a flat voice.

  “Well … from now on, this girl is an exception. Tell this to the others too!” ordered Neila solemnly, then she motioned it to leave.

  She was angry with herself. This was a rookie mistake from their part. How could they forget about the defence system of the Tower? They created it because they thought that they should be ready if somebody ever got to the ‘wrong side of the Mist’. Surely the invader must be stopped and, in some cases, terminated on sight.

  Neila just shook her head and sighed deeply. They got lucky this time. No other servant showed up, and it looked like their guest would survive. So there was no use in thinking of it any further. She had learned the lesson.

  The Master eyed the strange girl, who now moved her head and moaned. Then she opened her eyes. At first she just blinked in confusion, but when her gaze found Halgor, she faintly smiled, whispering something under her breath. With the help of the elven, she managed to take a seat in one of the armchairs.

  The two mages followed her every move worriedly. They could not know how the uninvited guest would react to their magic. So far everything seemed fine. She did not look sick, only startled, yet mostly curiosity shone in the green eyes. However, the Masters knew the following short period of time would be crucial.

  Silence fell on the library. Nobody knew with what or how they should move on.

  “Well … here she is …” mumbled Halgor, stating the obvious. His gaze showed questions.

  “Yes …” agreed Neila briskly. “And how should we talk to her? Mind-writing maybe?”

  “I would not recommend language learning by magic of any kind,” argued the dark mage. Then he added, “So it comes down to communicate by hand-signing or writing.”

  “Writing won’t do. We cannot know what kind of spelling she uses or how. In the common tongue the characters can mean sounds or even syllables, while you elvens use one character for one sound.” Neila shook her head, then caught the girl’s unsure gaze.

  She obviously did not know what they were talking about. Maybe she only hoped that they would not harm her. In their eyes, she was not considered very dangerous, or else she would not be sitting there, comfortably in that chair. They would not even bother themselves with her health if they only wanted to get information …

  Suddenly, the guest’s stomach started to rumble in hunger. Every eye looked at her, which made the girl blush deeply. Neila, still discussing the matter with Halgor, just motioned at the basket on the table, which contained lots of fruits. The girl managed to smile faintly, then carefully picked one. She inspected it from every angle, smelt it, then carefully bit into it. She wrinkled her nose at first, but then she ate it with an excited gaze.

  The Masters did not really think that the fruit could cause her any harm. Although Halgor had only realised this problem now. He had never heard of a newcomer before that had had any struggle with the food or water or anything else in their worlds. But just because he had no knowledge of such a death, it did not mean that it never happened.

  The elven mused upon this for a few moments longer. He had never truly thought about how new species could continue their lives as if nothing happened. The dark mage knew about sicknesses, which represented themselves differently in each of the three worlds, and he knew that some races were more or less sensitive to them. He had never required any deeper knowledge in the subject; however, this might bite him in the ankle now.

  Halgor and Neila silently discussed the situation as they kept an eye on their guest. The girl ate absently, glancing around the room. She had a good appetite, trying not to chew or slurp too loudly, unsuccessfully most of the time. She managed to save her strange outfit from any stains though. It proved to be a difficult job, considering how juicy the fruits could be.

  Meanwhile, the mages tried to find a solution for the communication problem. They would rather not use any more magic on the girl if possible. She still seemed fine, which meant that she could probably handle any magic. But the Masters did not want to push the boundaries too hard. At least, Halgor would not. Neila, on the other hand, somehow dismissed the health of their valuable guest, which the elven could not understand. In every other situation it would be Neila who would consider their possibilities first, then use the most dangerous one as a last resort only.

  The dark mage tried to argue, but he could not think of any other solution in a hurry. And even he admitted that they were running out of time. So in the end, Halgor agreed to use magic to ‘put’ their language into the girl’s mind. But he did not like it, nor did he try to hide this fact. He sought for some kind of crack or mistake in Neila’s logic; however, it seemed quite flawless. In her opinion, if the girl could create a Rim between their worlds, then the Energies must be similar in them, thus in her. As for a conclusion, there should not be any problem if they decided to use magic on her, which was the fastest way for her to learn the common tongue.

  Halgor twisted his mouth, but stayed silent. He knew Neila enough not to argue anymore when she became stuck on an idea of hers. If she settled on something, there would be nothing that would stop her doing as she wanted.

  “Then it is settled. But I’m afraid I must return to my students,” the elven said reluctantly, then he started for the door. He spent more than enough time away from his class, in which he had interrupte
d a very important, delicate spell. Furthermore, he decided that he would rather avoid the furious Neila and would only come back when she calmed down and was thinking more clearly …

  “Of course, you leave now … You always leave all the work to me, while you sit back and relax!” Neila snapped, which made Halgor turn back in the doorway.

  “This is your case, is it not?” he asked with a wry smile. Neila’s gaze flashed anger, so he just left, hurriedly closing the door behind him.

  Neila could only rage silently for a few moments while staring at the door. In her eyes Halgor just did not want to do such ‘mediocre’ work, such as trying to communicate with someone. Of course, later on he would gladly return and try to take over everything …

  The Master exhaled sharply. Halgor just confirmed her assumption that he would only get involved when he wanted to, rather than when his help would be needed. She wanted him to stay, to help her; however, it made her furious that she had to ask for everything. If he really never sees that I need his help, then maybe I am better off without him, Neila thought angrily.

  Then she felt the questioning gaze at her back, so she took a deep breath and tried to forget about the mocking elven. She wanted to calm herself before turning to her guest. The girl probably did not understand the happenings, and she did not deserve any more pressure.

  After Neila restrained her wrath, she turned around with a smile.

  “Well then, let us proceed,” she murmured as she walked to the girl, who watched her with a wary curiosity.

  The Master held out her hands to put them on the girl’s head, but she jerked away. Realising what she had done, she blushed and motioned for Neila to proceed. The mage gave a soothing smile as she continued. She concentrated and formed her mind into the proper state. Then she tried to ‘copy’ the common tongue into the other’s mind as she would copy a book, just in a slightly different way. When she finished, she thudded down in the armchair in front of the girl, never taking her gaze off her.

  The girl just put her hands on her temples, rapidly blinking. She probably had a terrible headache from the immense amount of information that was put into her head in a very short time. She had to take her time figuring it all out, which never proved to be an easy task.

  Neila knew what she went through. So while she waited, she ordered some refreshments with something to eat, as well as a specific tea, which she knew was good for headaches. As she glanced at the tormented girl, she sighed. The tea would be more than needed, but alas not nearly enough. The guest sat in the chair, her knees pulled up, rocking her body, as she massaged her head. Sometimes she moaned silently. She clearly had a terrible time.

  The Master read a book until the girl looked up. Her gaze still seemed hazy, but she managed to pull herself together well enough. The mage took a deep breath.

  “How … did … you … get … here?” asked Neila very slowly and clearly, hoping that the other would understand. Then she poured a cup of tea and handed it to her.

  The girl listened intently as she took the wooden cup. She understood all right, but it took a while for her to give an answer. She tried to speak in an unspoken language, which was and at the same time was not in her head. Probably she could not even translate any of it to her own tongue.

  The guest could not make any sense at the beginning. Just like a young child learning to speak, she tried and tried with little success. Neila waited patiently, not wanting to hurry or embarrass the other in any way. She could relate to the situation.

  “I … know … don … a … with a Feeling … struggle … in … me … for year … s … I now … accepted … Thus it … Thus it … em … It took over … myself … The Feeling did … a lot of items. With me. Then I found here a way,” the girl replied slowly, incorrectly, mixing words up. Furthermore, sometimes she used her own earthly words. But the more she spoke, the better she became. It was still difficult for Neila to understand.

  It took the Master some time to adjust to the girl’s style, who also had a very strong accent. Overall, Neila could hardly put together anything she said. Only the other’s body language was certain, so the mage rather relied on that at the beginning.

  Slowly but surely they had a conversation. The Sun gently grazed the horizon when they arrived to one of the more important questions.

  “Why are you here?” asked Neila; her gaze held the girl’s.

  Rita thought about the answer, after she could comprehend the question. From her look, she had never really thought this through. She closed her eyes, and when she answered, she seemed as stunned as Neila. As if the truth proved to be so impossible that any other lies would be easily more believable.

  But the mage did not even have a chance to react because the girl obviously heard something that she did not. The Master could not even imagine what was happening. She had never been in such a situation before. So she watched, baffled, as the girl listened to something, and she started to mumble in her own language. Then she waved goodbye and disappeared. The Rim never even appeared as before, or if it did, Neila could not see or feel anything.

  The Master of Varomor leaned back, stunned, still just staring at the empty armchair in front of her. And Halgor missed this … The thought ran through her mind and she exhaled sharply. She sat there for a long time, absently, trying to work out this whole situation. She mused a lot about the girl’s last answer. She ran over it again in her mind.

  “Why are you here?” asked Neila.

  “Because I belong here,” came the answer.

  10. Life between two worlds

  Rita had just opened her eyes when Balint walked into her room. She tried a faint smile as he sat down on the bed.

  “How are you?” asked her father, looking at her searchingly. It seemed that she had fallen asleep since he let out the doctor.

  “Yeah … I’m fiiine. Only sleepy. Very … sleepy …” she mumbled, and when she closed her eyes for blinking, she fell asleep again instantly.

  Balint just took a deep breath and tucked in his daughter more. She sometimes moaned or murmured something, but he could not understand it. After he became convinced that she had everything she might need, he left the room and walked back to his workshop. While working, he was thinking about what could have happened to Rita.

  He just could not find any fitting explanation. Maybe drugs were involved.

  Balint shook his head frantically. No, he must trust his daughter. She did not even drink coffee. The only drug she happily took was tea, lots of it though. Any other seemed completely out of the question, especially psychoactive stimulants. She even avoided medicaments until she had no choice.

  Luckily she had a strong body, both mentally and physically. So how could she exhaust herself so much? Maybe her fantasy books caused this … he thought grumpily with a scoff. He himself never liked this genre. Nothing that was placed in a different-than-thereal world, for that matter. He never believed in dragons, elfs, dwarfs, or anything remotely connected to magic. He also loathed the so-called magicians on Earth, all types of them. These meant childish things to him.

  On the other hand, he too knew some things about the human mind, of how it worked. The body was weak, and the mind could be easily fooled, which became a solid foundation to the so-called magicians. Nothing more, nothing less. If one knows how to deceive the mind, their ‘magic’ will work every single time. Even after they reveal the key to the trick.

  Most interestingly, however, Balint believed in paranormal phenomena. He was also ‘capable of things’, like protecting something or someone precious without physically being near them. It was no mystery why nobody even tried to rob their house, even though some eyed their yard and workshop with ill intent. It would have been a great deal to them, robbing a good carpenter’s place. Not even the two dogs would give them too much trouble, if they meant serious business. But nothing had ever happened because Balint knew how to change the aura around the house and yard, so the intruders rather changed their minds. He could also se
nse whether somebody meant him a bad deal, or tried to con him.

  All this still did not mean that he was some kind of magic user. He was rather a realistic man, thus could not be fond of Anna and Rita’s love for fantasy—when they spoke about some world as if it existed, or wen they discussed something with dreamy eyes, like meeting dwarfs or fairies. During their childhood Balint could tolerate this. But after a while, it was more than annoying in his eyes. He always hoped they would grow out of it eventually.

  Nothing of the sort had happened so far, so he had a bitter taste in his mouth every time Rita wanted a new book. He tried gently, then not so gingerly to huddle them from that path to another, more suitable one.

  They had resisted relentlessly, especially Rita. This became the main reason for Balint to never teach anything about the power of the human mind, or of anything else that could be similar to magic. He refused to answer every question, to discuss certain controversial topics.

  This situation was the only thing between them that after a while became almost like a taboo. Rita probably hated him for it; sometimes she shouted such mean things during a heated argument in the matter. She clearly did not, could not, and after a while, maybe would not understand his decision about it.

  Balint really was concerned beyond reason about this. The thought that Rita may actually believe in magic made him skittish and wary. He truly worried that Rita might use this kind of knowledge for something harmful.

  Maybe this made no sense at all, maybe more than anything else. Anyhow, his instincts told him that he should keep Rita away from these things. So he did.

  At this point Balint decided that he would not get anywhere just by thinking over and over about the matter. She is simply tired. It happens to everybody. He finally ended the swirling thoughts.