Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  Basically Neila was the reason he left his Homeland in the first place. They became inseparable almost from the moment they had met. So how could this have happened? This was the question Cameron really wanted to know.

  If she was capable of doing this, she would be capable of doing anything …

  However, the war was not lost yet. He had lost only a battle, even if an important one.

  The fury in him almost took over completely. His feelings swirled around as a hurricane with a force he knew might not be calmed down. He felt that he could burst at any moment. He trembled.

  Cameron did not even recognise that he channelled these dangerous forces into his flight. He moved with incredible speed for himself, and thanks to his fury, with ease. It still took him a whole day to reach known lands. In that moment, his mind started to take notice again. The Sun almost set when he saw a city in the distance. It could not be anything else but Nar.

  The reptile did not really know why he came here, nor whom or what he sought. His reasonable mind fled to a corner, shivering in fear, letting his emotions manage him.

  The arrival of a bright dragon created a huge confusion in the city and almost made the inhabitants panic. Although the newcomer did not mind them; he looked for a place to land on the main square.

  Scÿta and werewolves surrounded him as soon as he touched the ground. But the dragon only gazed at a window in the huge mansion in front of him. A dim light shone there.

  “What is your business here?” barked the Commander of the wolf guards, which made Cameron slowly turn to him. The fury shining in his red gaze made the guardsmen draw weapons.

  “I am here to see Indrek,” answered the reptile slowly. The guards exchanged unsure looks, then one of the scÿta ran into the house. A few moments later a man appeared at the entrance.

  At least, he appeared to be a human, but Cameron knew well that he was not. The man wore a deep-blue tunic with black trousers and boots. He had a darker tone of skin than usual, and he tied back his waist-long black hair. The only thing that showed his real identity were his red irises, with vertical pupils.

  “What are you doing here, bright one?” asked Indrek, seemingly annoyed, although he truly was more curious than anything.

  Cameron only stared at him for a few moments, as if he tried to decide what to answer and how.

  “If I know correctly, you want Enargit’s death. And my enemy’s enemy is my friend,” he said slowly and stiffly. He looked as if he had eaten something very distasteful.

  The Ruler of the city showed true surprise, yet he felt more content. He knew Enargit’s name well enough for his taste, albeit he thought he had died a long time ago. It seemed that he was mistaken, so he had to get to the bottom of this.

  “Then we shall go in and talk.” Indrek smiled, motioning Cameron inside, but greed shone in his eyes.

  Cameron took human form, but he stayed put for a few moments. He stared firmly at the kindly smiling Ruler, who could hardly wait for his guest to finally move. When he saw the will settling in the bright’s eyes, the Ruler’s grin widened. He turned around to lead him into his study, although it was with ill feeling, showing his back to a bright dragon. He could feel the other’s stern gaze on him.

  “Well then …” Indrek closed the door behind them after entering. He motioned his guest to sit down, who stiffly obeyed. Then he ordered drinks and something to eat. After those had arrived, Indrek sat down in the armchair, facing Cameron.

  “So, to what do I owe this pleasure of having you here?” The Ruler broke the silence as he served them a glass of juice. He looked calm, although his eyes showed the truth. If Cameron saw anything from that, he did not show it.

  “I only want Enargit’s death. Nothing more,” answered the bright. “But let me ask you this first: is it true that you both are from the same era?”

  “Yes, we were both born long ago, in a very different age, if I may say such a thing, and were always rivals. But … as far as I know, Enargit is dead.”

  Cameron just raised an eyebrow questioningly.

  “If whom I speak of is truly the same Enargit, he told us that he was imprisoned by Lexénia, who also let him prevail. He could not answer how. But, if he is telling the truth, I am fairly curious, how could you live this long?”

  Indrek twisted his mouth. He did not like what he had heard. He had a different agreement with the Goddess, who seemingly had changed their arrangement for her liking.

  He did not want to share such personal aspects of his life with the bright, however. On the other hand, if he wanted the other as an ally, he could not afford to not answer.

  And he wanted this, very much so.

  “Lexénia, of course,” Indrek said briefly, as he glanced at the other to see, was it enough? He was not going to tell more.

  He did not have to either, because Cameron seemed satisfied. After all, from the moment a God’s name arose, nothing could be certain anymore, only some results which they could see with their own eyes.

  Silence fell on the study.

  Indrek looked searchingly at his gazing-off relative while he wondered. Their alliance truly would be a great one. He had a question swirling in his mind, but he had to be careful how and when he asked it. He had a hunch about the answer.

  “Well then, if you do not need anything at the moment, my servant will lead you to your shelter. Sadly, I cannot give you a room in here, but I assume the brights’ tastes haven’t changed much, so you would not like it anyway.”

  Cameron just nodded, so the Ruler rose from his seat. He started for the door, but then he suddenly halted, holding the doorknob. He turned back a little, as if he had just remembered something to ask.

  “Oh, and while we are on such good terms now, I would very much appreciate if you could give me some information about that Tower also.”

  The bright dragon jumped to his feet as if he were bitten. His eyes flared.

  “Even if I knew something, I wouldn’t share it with the likes of you! I am only here to see Enargit die, nothing further. I can put up with you only until then,” he barked, then stormed out without saying more, almost running over the servant in the corridor.

  Cameron boiled in anger as he walked behind the servant. He did not watch for anything—not the people on the main square, nor the houses around. He did not care about how the citizens behaved, or what they were up to. The fact eluded him that everybody, who lived enough circles or not too much, wore leather armour and weapons.

  Cameron hardly noticed when they reached the rim of the city. But when trees surrounded him, his awareness returned. He blinked a few times in surprise, then he realised the woods near the city were almost completely cut down to make room for the army.

  A huge one at that too, from what the bright dragon could tell. Kobolds, humans, elvens: they all became equals here. All must serve the Ruler’s will, whether they wanted to or not.

  Werewolves strolled everywhere, keeping everybody in line. Their huge wolves followed them like live shades, never letting their owners out of their sight. Their tents stood a little bit farther away on a meadow, also in neat order.

  They had few jobs, however; everybody seemed too uninterested to do anything.

  Cameron looked around, amazed by the order and unity of the army. He hardly believed it, even when he saw it with his own eyes.

  “The dragons are sheltered not far from here in the forest,” said the servant, which struck the bright one.

  “Dragons …?” he mumbled, but the human did not reply. Obviously he was instructed to speak only when it was absolutely necessary.

  So the reptile let it go. But fear started to climb up his spine. The thought that there were still shadow dragons wandering around in this part of the human world made him wary.

  Suddenly he realised, despite how big the army was, everything stayed quiet. The soldiers talked softly, saying only a few words to each other. There were no games played anywhere, nor any other social activity. Only a few seemed
delighted with the situation, who now sang a vivid song about how they would crush everybody and rule the three worlds.

  Cameron inhaled deeply when they finally left the tents behind, reaching the treeline of the remaining forest. Here, he saw big shades moving around—his distant relatives, shadow dragons.

  The pair stopped there for a few moments. The servant glanced around; maybe he wanted to make sure that no shadow would attack.

  Cameron took his original form back as more and more pairs of eyes settled on him. As a bright dragon, he had a bigger body than the shadows, yet he did not feel safe at all. But nothing bad had happened to him so far, so the servant left.

  Cameron crouched on the ground where he stood, not wanting to move a muscle. He hardly wanted to admit it, but he felt afraid. Strangely, however, not really for his life. One by one he could take on a few shadows, maybe even if they paired up. But not so many. It was pointless to think about it.

  He became confused for very different reasons.

  For one, he truly believed before that all shadow dragons, living or dead, were destroyed during the Dragonwars. Yet he was mistaken—big time, obviously. The shadows swarmed the lands as far as he could tell. Luckily, they gave him no attention at all.

  For two, everything else seemed upside down too. Maybe the shadows could prevail somehow; stranger things had happened. But seeing werewolves arranging kobolds and elvens, ordering them around like their superiors … They were in charge, obviously, which could have been believable in a prison, somewhere in Greylands. Not in Nar, however, which was always a free city from such entities.

  After a while, Cameron started to calm down. Nobody could stay in fear forever, so he tried to rest as much as he could. He always liked sleeping in a forest, but he found it disturbing that the shadows did too. He knew almost nothing about them, only what they could do to him if they wanted him dead.

  The next morning, he was startled awake by a rustling bush. He immediately took a deep breath to freeze anything or anybody, but when he recognised Indrek, he let it out softly. Only a few leaves turned frosted.

  “Get ready. We’re leaving,” announced Indrek, which made Cameron look at him questioningly.

  “To where?”

  “Where you will lead us, of course. Where the rebels are gathering.” The Ruler made a wry smile.

  Cameron got immediately very aware. Finally, his time had come—when he would see the falling of Enargit. Finally, he would have justice.

  Then, if he was in the mood, he would settle things with Neila and Halgor.

  As Cameron watched Indrek ordering his soldiers to depart, he felt his body shaking in excitement. He was ready, truly, as if all anxiety was washed off him.

  “I will fly on you.” Indrek turned to the bright, which made him blink a few times.

  Cameron almost asked why Indrek did not just change forms, but something held him back. Some sanity still raised its voice in the corner of his mind, keeping him out of even more trouble. The little voice screamed as loud as it could—run, run as far and fast as he could, before something more horrid happened.

  The reptile just stared at Indrek, stunned. But time was running short, and the Ruler became more annoyed than before. He wanted to take off immediately, so urged Cameron to do something, before anybody saw them like this. Undecided, unsure. It would look ill in the eyes of the soldiers.

  And Indrek could not have that.

  Finally, anger rose in Cameron again, taking over his mind. So he obeyed. But when the cursed shadow climbed on him, he felt really strange.

  Defeated … As if a wild animal gave in to domestication.

  He did not really awaken from this stupor until he flew beyond the invisible line, which represented the well-known lands. The warrior in Cameron immediately rose, so the dragon could finally comprehend what he was doing.

  He suddenly realised he knew nothing about where he should fly. Neither times he looked at … well, at anything specific which could help him now in any way. He had some idea of the direction, but nothing more.

  Cameron started to wonder about how he could break this to Indrek. Luckily, the Ruler solved the problem himself.

  “Could you tell me something specific about the rebels’ place? I have walked the worlds longer than you,” asked the shadow dragon. Maybe he sensed that his companion flew unsure.

  “There is a huge lake near the stronghold they’re in, the one which a dragon cannot fly across without resting.”

  “Lexénia’s stronghold …?” asked Indrek dubiously.

  “Yes, why?”

  Indrek delayed his answer. When he did speak, his voice sounded hoarse, as if he was remembering something.

  “That was my main base back in the day. I know that place and its surroundings well. Why would Enargit pick that place …?” mused the Ruler out loud.

  Cameron stayed silent. His reasonable side had just enough sway on him to keep him from diving too deep into Indrek’s past. He must not get too close to him. For his sake.

  The Sun slowly set, letting the Moon take over the night skies. As light faded, the army started to complain. They wanted to rest, especially the dragons. Although they grew bigger than their original size, thanks to the ages they spend on this colder land, they still could not fly as much as a bright dragon. Especially not with soldiers on their backs.

  The men also grew tired during the day. Whenever they tried, they could not really rest on a reptile’s back. Even the kobolds exchanged looks and some humans murmured something out loud. Not too loud, of course; nobody wanted Indrek’s wrath on them.

  Twilight ruled the lands when the Ruler finally ordered his subjects to stop. A huge, relieved sigh rose from the army. The dragons just lay down wherever they landed, not bothering to search for a more comfortable place. Their soldier companions did somewhat the same—they moved around a little to ease their aching joints, then sat down on their blankets, leaning against their dragon’s side. Most of them ate something, then turned right in.

  Cameron was utterly astonished by all this. He would never have thought to live through such a thing—kobolds, elvens, humans, alongside shadow dragons, forming an obedient army together. They did not argue much; even the kobolds held their tongue.

  Even though Cameron felt glad that Indrek lay down a little farther from him, near a tree, it also seemed silly. They were the only ones who did not share their place, which made them stick out. Not that anybody cared, as the reptile realised when he looked around.

  Wherever he glanced, the scenery made him even more confused about his decision.

  Until now, everything was clear in Cameron’s head. Shadow dragons were evil, who rode with dark mages, or humans, maybe werewolves. On the other hand, now he saw kobolds and elvens amidst the soldiers.

  The former meant no true surprise. Kobolds, especially paragons, did not mind if somebody chose the ‘evil side’. But the latter … everybody knew that there was no such thing as a ‘dark elven’.

  Cameron could not really rest in this upside-down world. At the moment, shadow dragons were his allies, alongside the wolves, whom he had to protect instead of kill.

  It was just wrong.

  Then he caught one of the elven soldier’s eyes.

  The bright dragon straightened up from his crouch as he felt the cold fear crawling up on him. His motion drew Indrek’s attention, so he gave a faint smile and positioned himself in a more sleeplike pose. But he could not get rid of that gaze from his mind, which he would surely remember for the rest of his life.

  That empty, broken glance which belonged to somebody who had suffered such terrors in their lives that their souls broke.

  Cameron slowly realised how Indrek could put together an army in such a short time.

  This recognition filled him with fear, which made the reasonable part of his mind speak up again. It was still cornered by his fury, but it could scream sometimes loud enough for him to actually hear it.

  The bright dragon tried t
o dismiss it. The faint sound asked constantly: Where could the worlds have been headed if elvens, kobolds, alongside werewolves, on the backs of shadow dragons were going into war on the side of Evil?

  Then finally sleep came.

  The next morning, Cameron was startled awake by a soft touch on his neck. He was dreaming that everything was fine and dandy again with Neila. They both were in Varomor, happy as ever, as if nothing had happened.

  When he finally made out Indrek’s features, everything took its place again in his head.

  “Relax, my friend,” said the shadow Ruler softly when he saw the other’s confused gaze. “We need to get moving. We will reach the stronghold soon.”

  Cameron just nodded and evaded the other’s searching eyes. After Indrek got on his back again, he took off. But he had to break through the branches, and the Ruler still got almost jerked off by one.

  Slowly, everybody else followed him, and soon the army was on the move again.

  The Sun started setting when the dark stones of the stronghold came into sight. The enormous lake lay calmly nearby. It was called the Anaca-lake, as the Ruler casually informed his companion.

  “There is an old story about that lake,” continued Indrek, after Cameron asked about its strange name. It was a well-known fact that humans had named something of its specific feature.

  The shadow Ruler’s voice softened as he remembered, became nostalgic even.

  “This happened in the times when Lexénia persuaded us to leave our Home and cross to this strange land, ruled by two-legged beasts. We obeyed her wish to conquer this part of the world in her name. But the war is not the point now. We made this place as our headquarters, and of course, we were curious about what this land held. We tried to discover the other side of the lake too, yet nobody could fly that far, but one.”

  Cameron slowed down as much as he could, started spiralling in the air as he listened. The soldiers did the same. Seemingly there were no scouts anywhere who would raise alarm in the stronghold, nor any kind of other resistance.