Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  Elnor stepped to Carus and helped him up, then they followed the mage. He even marched angrily—he still had not retracted his powers—so the wraith could hardly keep up. His body was visibly shaking.

  They moved fast and in silence to a place where no magic could be detected. Nobody wanted to risk giving away their little meeting, if the Rim could be easily pinpointed. However, even if they reached such a place, Indrek’s spies could be still there. So before they actually opened the Rim, Carus asked the elven to wait a little until he scouted around.

  After the cute little meadow proved to be safe, they could proceed.

  The dark mage twisted his mouth when the scÿta declared that it was safe to use magic. He did not trust either of them, not even Elnor, who was Neila’s cousin. Regardless, he had no choice.

  After they got to the rainforest, the ‘guests’ immediately started to throw off some clothes. The elven waited a little to warm up.

  “By the Gods! What kind of a weather is this?” complained Elnor, who seemed to choke in the warm, damp air.

  “Hmm … so this lies on the other side of the Anaca-lake. Interesting.” Carus glanced around; he had solved the warm problem the easiest way—he took his original form back. He did not look more than a fairly man-shaped puff of mist or cloud, gliding in the air. His ‘legs’ did not even touch the ground. Only his completely dark eyes stood out from his whitish form, which always seemed as if they wanted to pierce through flesh and bones, straight into the soul.

  Halgor, of course, sensed this immediately. There were enough wraiths in Varomor for him to learn their unique auras. Then he caught that Elnor wandered off a little.

  “Careful, it bites,” he warned the kobold, who immediately jerked back his hand. He glanced at the elven with pure astonishment, then back to the cute, vivid red flower-thing. Then he caught up to the others, although he looked as if he were sent into an upside-down world.

  “Are we there yet?” whinged Elnor a few steps later, with which he earned Halgor’s disapproving stare. The paragon just shrugged as he jerked away from a leaf’s touch on his arm. His eyes darted around, wary.

  Then a clearing appeared before them, with something terribly dark billowing on it.

  “The famous Mist. I always wanted to see it from up close,” noted Elnor, eyeing the black mist before him with a raised brow. His phlegmatic behaviour caught Halgor’s attention, but he said nothing.

  As they approached the Mist, it opened a thin path for them. It took only a few steps to get through it. But in the garden, the guests halted for a moment, as they gasped open-mouthed at the Tower. Halgor smiled contently at this, holding himself proud.

  “I welcome you to Varomor.” He played the host, which made the kobold even more baffled. He must have known about the Tower of Mysteries near Nightfort, but it seemed that he had no idea that that building was one with Varomor. Which meant that Carus had told him nothing about the elven’s invitation circles ago.

  Halgor had put together some pieces from Enargit, so he knew that the wraith kept this secret even from Indrek. Why? That would be a question to which the elven really wanted the answer. It also meant a little hope for their cause.

  Then Neila appeared at the entrance of the Tower, which made Elnor smile. However, when he caught the cold stare of the Warrior, he became unsure and glanced at the elven. But the mage’s eyes only mirrored his doubts. Everything lay silently around them; no apprentice or dragon could be seen anywhere.

  “I am happy to see you here.” Neila broke the silence with a firm voice, then she said a few words which made everybody disappear.

  Almost everybody.

  Halgor sighed when he stood alone in the sunshine, but then started for his own business.

  The guests looked around in the study searchingly, as Neila gestured them to sit.

  “Wow, congratulations, dear cousin,” said Elnor, eyeing everything. He even gave a beholden whistle as he wandered around in the comfortable room. He behaved so loosened up that it made Neila raise a brow. He had never behaved anything like this during those few times that they had met since the Wars. He seemed a completely different person from what she knew.

  As she watched the paragon strolling, she mused upon him a little. She was curious about what he had become. He had an opinion about everything as he touched, poked, or prodded every little thing everywhere. He said nothing in particular, but with his behaviour he made the distrusting Neila keep her eyes on him. Which maybe was the point, so she reminded herself to proceed with caution.

  Carus, on the other hand, stood in one place, in his solid form. He just measured and maybe categorised everything as he waited patiently.

  In the next moment, the door slammed open as Veilon and Enargit entered. Behind them a servant came, who settled down a tray with drinks and bites to eat. Then it left, leaving the companions and the friends alone.

  “Hey, Veilon …” cried out Elnor happily, tapping the Ruler on the back, who just stared at him, stunned. “I can see that you have a good thing going here. You set eyes on Varomor too, eh?” He chuckled, which made the mage widen his eyes even more. He completely lost his voice. Not that he would have any chance to say something as the kobold turned to Enargit.

  “Well now, look at you, stranger.” He walked around the dragonman, measuring him from head to toe. He put on such a show that nobody paid attention to Carus, who stayed in the background, still silent.

  “My name is Enargit,” said the Leader, following the paragon with his eyes. “And you must be Elnor. Please, have a seat, and we shall begin.”

  “Oh yes, the ‘very important quest’.” Elnor chuckled again, although his voice seemed to be teasing. He took a chair with big gestures, then he started to pick from the food on a small plate. Carus sat by him, curiously eyeing the companions.

  “Well, I assume that Eryn told you why we summoned you here,” began Neila, interrupting the continuous babbling of the paragon. He had something to say about everything.

  “Yes, of course. And I don’t think that it’s such a good idea,” hissed Carus coldly, as Elnor had his mouth full with some fruit. The Warrior took a deep breath as she stared at the scÿta, who swallowed but stood the piercing gaze.

  “Why not?” asked the Master with such a voice that made Veilon and Enargit exchange glances. She seemed calm, her tone was soft, yet she emitted pure tenseness, as if this was the silence before the furious storm.

  The Ruler and the dragon discussed what could go wrong in the meeting before they came here. They were counting on some bickering, although it started sooner than expected. They had no idea how much Neila would tolerate, or how she would want to make the guests change their minds …

  “Honestly, Neila, when did you last visit town?” asked Elnor, playing with his plate.

  “You know as well as I do: when I visited you,” replied the Master firmly.

  The paragon glanced at her, his golden eyes showed nothing of his earlier behaviour. He seemed very stern, as if he knew exactly what he was capable of.

  “Well yes, the situation looked … bad back then. But … nobody cares about that now.” The paragon shrugged, which made Neila frown. “Look,” he continued, swinging his fork, “maybe everybody is in fear, and some even have a good reason to be afraid, but they are mostly humans anyway. Most townsmen don’t have anything to worry about. If I were to be honest, the kobolds are thriving there because Indrek pleases them in every way. And the elvens too. The fact that a few humans don’t like that …” He shrugged again.

  “So you’re telling me that Indrek is well respected, and nobody wants to get rid of him?” snapped Neila, her eyes flaring in anger.

  “No,” cut in Carus coldly. “We are saying, leave him alone. You CANNOT get close to him because there are no rebellious groups in the city. Resistance is non-existent.”

  “EVERY tyrant has tyrant-killers!” cried out the Master. She seemingly started to lose her cool, which made Veilon and Enargit exchange glan
ces again.

  They miscalculated a little, thinking that they would not get such a simple refusal. It would not mean any good if the Warrior would not have its way …

  As the kobold Ruler glanced at their guests, he saw the recognition in their eyes. They obviously had an idea whom they were facing. Especially Carus, who had had the pleasure to meet with Neila’s bad side when she visited Indrek. The wraith became tense, sliding his hands closer to the blades on his belt. He was ready. Elnor also stiffened a little, as he looked at his cousin.

  “Indeed,” agreed Carus carefully, “but there are no organisations. We are speaking of a few persons who had some minor setbacks in their business. It was our job to eliminate all resistance, so I know—”

  “Oh, well now … You actually did Indrek’s bidding, like every good minion!” barked the Master. She became more and more furious. “Tell me, why did you become a scÿta? Why do you obey his orders? Not to mention you, Elnor! I thought you both had learned to tell the difference between good and evil during the Dragonwars!”

  Neila was walking on the edge of rampaging, although nobody could work out why exactly. She obviously overreacted to the rejection, which could not be the sole reason anyway. The air became even more tense in the room as everybody else started to get ready in case the mage burst.

  “Alright, no need to get upset.” Veilon tried to calm her down. “We don’t see the whole situation. Maybe you should start at the beginning, please,” he suggested with a smooth voice, although it contained a warning too.

  Neila only snorted, motioning them angrily to do so. She turned to the window, showing her back to the others.

  “It isn’t about the fact that Indrek is good or bad.” Elnor sighed, keeping an eye on the Ruler and the dragon. He did not seem to be concerned about them though; he maybe wanted to gather knowledge from their behaviour.

  “Order rules the city, even if he created and maintained it with a firm hand. Because of this, not even a kinwa could just slip in in the middle of the night. Do you even know how you want to kill Indrek? Or when? Would you crawl into his bedroom during the night, or would you rather swing your sword frantically in broad daylight?”

  “WHAT does it matter? I will rip his throat open, just get me close enough!” shouted Neila angrily. Enargit stepped to her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He obviously wanted to calm her down.

  “It matters a lot,” snorted Carus cynically. “Somebody of the scÿta is around him all the time. The others circle around in the city, or close to him, even after your little ‘truce’ with him. Indrek is not stupid; he knows that you want revenge.”

  “Yes, that is why I want to know everything about the scÿta. I can deal with them after,” said the mage, which made the wraith sway his head.

  “That is exactly the point of the scÿta: there are no two soldiers who are similar. They all fight differently, have different strengths and weaknesses. The variety is endless. Even ourselves don’t know who excels in what exactly.”

  “I cannot believe that the ones who fight on each other’s sides don’t know each other,” argued Neila in disbelief. “The Commander must know, and I think you too have ideas, who is where at the moment,” she added firmly. Carus only sighed again.

  “I see you don’t understand. We do not really fight side by side. Most of us don’t have partners, or if they have, those people are not scÿta. We work alone most of the time. Yes, we can recognise one of us, but we don’t really know who or how many scÿta are there. Not even Talon knows all of the assignments. Some he orders, some I, and these can be the same posts too. And of course, Indrek can meddle as he wishes, and we won’t know about it.”

  “How can you function like this …?” asked Neila obviously disgusted.

  “It is very simple. Everybody can know of the other that they are also scÿta. We can recognise one of ours because we have the knowledge how, even if we do not know them personally. We can find and see our comrades, even if they are hiding. But we know nothing more, only that if they are there, then they must have a good reason. We don’t question why one is somewhere, or what their job is. Everybody does their tasks the best they can do. We are the only ones who have free will in this manner. And our task is not really to keep the order; that’s the Guards’ job. But we mustn’t let anybody get in or out with the information …”

  “So basically, even if you are willing to help me, you couldn’t say anything useful,” Neila thought out loud. The wraith nodded, then shrugged apologetically.

  The Master’s eyes narrowed at this.

  “Why don’t you want to kill him?”

  Elnor gave a laugh at this.

  “Why would we? Because he managed to create a solid Empire? Because he made everybody’s life easier with his ideas? And the price for all of this waaaas … Yes, we are not free. Seriously, Neila … You know as well as we do that until the people are satisfied, nobody will do anything.” The kobold chuckled.

  “So YOU are satisfied?! What he did to Cameron is good?!” snapped the Master with smouldering eyes. The guests just exchanged glances.

  “Ahem … What do you think he did to Cameron?” asked Elnor softly, although his raised brow and tone suggested sarcasm.

  “Isn’t it obvious? He managed to turn him against us! Indrek tore my best friend away from me, and you ask, what did he do? Really?!”

  “Seriously, Neila. You blame Indrek for things, but please, hear yourself.” Elnor swayed his head, which made the Warrior even more furious. “I have met with Cameron, several times. And try to believe me when I say, if he would want to come back, he could. Indrek would let him go. But he did not want to.”

  “I don’t believe this!”

  “Then don’t, it’s your choice.” The kobold shrugged. “But you can believe this: you can march into the city with your sword in hand if you want to. IF you manage to cut yourself through everybody and finally get to Indrek, you can even rip his heart out. But … what will that change? Will you get Cameron back? Will it change anything in the past? I understand that you want revenge, but what good will it do?”

  “If you ask that, you understand nothing!” she barked back. Her anger started to vibrate around her and almost made the air flicker as well. Her golden gaze shone in pure fury, slowly overwhelming sanity.

  “I don’t care who thinks what, or how difficult this could be. I don’t care about anything BUT to see Indrek’s heart on a silver plate! And you …” She turned to her guests, who immediately jumped to their feet. They could hardly stand the Warrior’s heavy gaze. “You either help me or get … out …!”

  Neila’s force became almost visible around her as it swirled in the room. Her gaze faded as sanity disappeared, leaving only the pain, hatred, and revenge behind. A little nudge in the wrong direction and all would burst uncontrollably.

  Everybody was on their feet, ready to do something … anything to stop this from happening. Veilon and Enargit stared at the golden gaze which hung on them, yet she obviously did not recognise anybody. They did not want to move, or only very slowly, because nobody was sure what could be the spark.

  Veilon felt the cold sweat streaming down his back.

  “You better get out of here.” Enargit pushed the words out through his teeth to the friends. But his voice sounded hoarse, and it seemed that even these few words took all of his strength.

  “You too,” added Veilon. “I’ll try to calm her down,” he said, but he had no idea what he could or should do.

  As the others slipped out, the kobold turned to Neila, who obviously was not aware of the happenings. Her powers rampaged in the room like a tornado, although they still remained under her control. Maybe she even tried to fight inside.

  Veilon took a deep breath and tried to be as calm as possible. He knew how sensitive Neila was to other persons’ energies and feelings. If somebody felt distressed, with enough time spent around them, she became ‘infected’. So the paragon had to be as steady and stable as he could be, give
n the situation.

  He had a hunch that this whole thing could be traced back to basic insecurity. She had lost everything; despite that, she tried her best to deal with the happenings. She had no one to turn to when she needed, nor had a solid point in her life. Of what she could be sure would be there, no matter what, and she could find it if needed.

  But no such thing remained, so Veilon tried to be the closest thing possible to it. He had to prove that whatever happened, or might happen, he would be there. He would not leave, and Neila could count on him.

  Easier thought than actually done, however. Veilon took another deep breath, then another, until his heartbeat slowed down. He ought to stay calm and act with a cool head.

  “Neila, can you hear me?” he called out as confidently as he could.

  The golden gaze jumped on him, which made him freeze for a moment. He had no idea what could happen.

  He started forwards again, holding up his hands to seem as non-threatening as possible. He had managed to stop a panicked horse before, so he tried the same tactics. He talked further with a soft, soothing voice.

  “Neila, listen to me. Everything will be alright! We will figure this out. We will find a way to kill Indrek.” He slowly moved closer and closer. Nothing shone in those golden eyes but pure force.

  Veilon tried not to think about what could happen if something would set it off. Everybody must have felt the howling powers in the Tower, but he hoped that Enargit managed to keep the others out, if one would try to help. Especially Halgor. He even lamented a prayer of some kind to any God that would hear him to help.

  “Alright, Neila. Everything is alright. Now, listen to me … hear my voice,” Veilon whispered as he stepped closer. “We can solve this! Believe me, we … can … solve … this …!” he announced as firmly as possible.

  A spark flared in the staring gaze. A little flicker of recognition, which gave the Ruler almost new strength.

  As tenderly as he could, he touched her shoulders, which made Neila tremble. Veilon could not stop fear from grasping his heart as he got even closer. The powers swirled around him, threatening. But when he reached her, they started to fade, as if Neila could strengthen her control and was trying to actually settle things.