The Dark Materials

by Amanda Churi

  Anxiety setting in, she rotated her eyes through the interwoven tree branches and closely knitted trunks, the ominous hoots of owls and chirps of crickets masking the sounds of any possible threats that could be approaching at this very moment.

  A dull glimmer of red reached out to her peripheral vision. Daisy snapped her head to the source, surprised when she noticed it was right in front of her.

  Sluggishly, Sam set her head square, her eyelids parting a mere sliver as she began to break free of Cecil’s spell. She kept her resurgence quiet for a minute or so, her eyes swishing back and forth like a metronome as she tried to take in every ounce of sight that her mind could gather before at once, she was fully awake, her head whipping up and pupils immediately settling on Daisy.

  “He’s still gone?” she whispered, her voice strong and dark.

  Dumbfounded, Daisy nodded.

  Sam scoffed, battling with the ropes as she tried to free her arms. “Thank God,” she spat. She rotated her wrist about, slipping it in between a gap in the tight rings as she flimsily began to untie the first knot that she could reach.

  “I-I don’t understand,” Daisy rasped. “How long have you been awake?”

  “Since that dick decided to lay his hand on me,” she snarled, gradually plucking knot after knot until she finally reached the heart of her cocoon, smirking darkly. “Gotcha.”

  “You were faking?!” Daisy pressed, watching in disbelief as Sam undid the last of her bondage, standing up and stretching her arms wide.

  “Not really; he actually gave me quite the hit,” she explained. “No point in giving him more of a reason to keep his guard up, though. The less you resist his magic, the quicker you usually recover.” She stretched her spine, yawning nonchalantly as she resituated herself. “So, you want to get out of here, right? Yay or nay?”

  Daisy didn’t know what to say. She didn’t necessarily trust Sam, but she trusted Cecil less…

  That itself made her decision fairly easy.

  “Yes,” Daisy replied, clearing her throat as Sam approached her, swiftly pulling apart the large balls of rope and humming an upbeat tune while doing so. The calmness of her body language left Daisy unhinged. “Are you not scared?”

  “Psh, not really,” she admitted gruffly. “After what that bastard did to me, I will be satisfied with death as long as I double-cross him first.” The last of the ropes fell around Daisy.

  Sam extended her hand to the distraught child, Daisy struggling to take it as she was hauled up onto her wobbly feet. A moan inevitably escaped her lips, every bone and muscle in her small body throbbing as she fought off the curse that continued to circle in her veins. She focused her attention on Sam’s bright blue eyes, trying to evaluate her from the inside out as she was forced to place her trust into yet another stranger. “Why didn’t you wake up sooner?”

  She shrugged. “No need to risk blowing my cover too early.” She turned about, her eyes calculating what lay at every angle. “So, you gonna take me there or what?”

  “Huh?” Daisy asked, raising her brows. “Where?”

  Sam smiled. “That little cottage that you and your father used to live in. Cecil told me all about it; seems like a nice place to train you, and he doesn’t know where it is.”

  “…Train me…?” Daisy repeated, shocked by the revelation of events. She took an unstable step back. “Uhm… You’re a… Thing too? A Cecil?”

  Sam burst out into uncontrollable laughter, hugging her gut with her free arm as she pulled Daisy back towards her, nearly bringing the child to the earth. “Ha! A Cecil?!” she replied gaily. “Hell no! And thank the heavens for that!”

  “T-then how are you going to—?”

  Sam’s laughter ceased, the urgency in her gaze increasing as she shushed the youngster with a finger against Daisy’s lips. “Shh,” she requested crisply. “Now is not the time for explanations. Let’s just get there and get there fast before Cecil comes back. Agreed?”

  Daisy pushed her finger away. “I don’t even remember where it is, you weirdo,” she argued. “And why can’t we go back to Phantome instead?!”

  Sam’s face fell flat. “He’s probably there as we speak; he wouldn’t leave you without a good reason. Besides, trust me… You aren’t safe there anymore. Best for you to just focus and find that cottage.” She winked. “Weirdo.”

  The child could hardly restrain herself from flipping out. This woman, even talking to her, still acted playful and coy, making Daisy all the more reluctant to obey. She was very odd, but at the moment, she was the only one who had any points racked up for being helpful.

  Reflecting on Sam’s proposition, Daisy thought long and hard. She closed her eyes, trying to branch out of her skin and remember the warm cottage that harbored nearly all of her first, recallable memories. She pictured the warm meeting room with the large table and the meals that she and her friends ate every night as she sat propped upon her father’s lap, being too small to reach the counter herself. Their laughter that only occurred at meals, when their worries were temporarily pushed away, was reborn in the depths of her happiest thoughts, along with her own giggles and smiles before all was whisked away.

  Those seldom joyous moments renewed her strength, and when Daisy reopened her eyes, a trail of shriveled pink blossoms and leaves shimmered in the dark, painting the forest in delicate fragments of rose as small particles of glitter and moonlight clashed, forming a now very obvious path that was once concealed.

  “Hmph. You make pretty nice trails,” Sam noted, quite impressed. “Come on, we need to hurry up. I don’t expect him to be gone much longer.”

  Sam took a step towards the iridescent path, but Daisy held her ground. Confused, Sam looked over her shoulder. “What?”

  Daisy did not speak for a moment, her heart pulling her in two different directions. Part of her knew that they had to gain ground on Cecil and hide, but she worried for her father, wondering if perhaps going back to Phantome was the better of the two options. “…If I go with you… Do you promise to help me finally understand what is going on?” she forced herself to ask in a fragile, mouse-like voice.

  Sam inhaled, startled by the unexpected question. Her eyes grew gentle, a soft, helpful smile caressing her lips. “Yes, little one, I promise.” She weaved her fingers tighter in between Daisy’s, encouraging her along with a light pull.

  Using that as her conclusion, Daisy closed her eyes as the two embarked on the trek back to the old base, Sam’s words numbing Daisy’s very core as she squeezed Sagey, trying to be strong. She remembered walking down the street with Lucy what seemed like forever ago, her black, pearly eyes raising her heart and sending a wave of security through Daisy’s bones—the promise of them forever being a family that once made Daisy so happy and whole was now nothing but an unreachable fantasy that would always be mist slipping through her fingers.

  Let’s just hope that you actually keep your promises, Sam…

  Once their feet passed over the glistening debris, whatever land they had conquered lost its shine, hiding their footsteps from any who dared to pursue them. Gradually, they became nothing more than mirages in the distance as they broke into their own clan, all while Tah waited, unprovoked and out of sight in the pools of dusk that dripped down from the thinning tree branches, coating her lithe body. Her eyes were shadows, and her skin was a thief of light, but her darkened presence could not even begin to compare to what she knew Daisy was getting into.

  …The only question was if it was worth it to help.

  ***

  Darkness danced around the King of Phantome that evening. He secluded himself from his people, sitting on the edge of Daisy’s bed and staring down at the small blue orb in the palm of his hands. Puteulanus was dim, the magic throughout the glass ball pathetically faint. Kevin’s hands trembled, his breath quivering as he loomed on the verge of breaking beyond return.

  How could he not protect her…? Perhaps not by blood, but in his heart, she was his daughter, and he cared f
or her more than he could ever know himself. Having her whisked away under his nose… Hearing her scream while he had been incapacitated—his child taken in the claws of a monster… How weak was he?!

  His sobs finally broke their master’s body, Kevin leaning forward as he pressed the minuscule orb to his chest. He convulsed uncontrollably, his teeth chattering and cries crushing his lungs. He thought he could do this—become king and make Phantome great. He had been so focused on that that he was blind to everything else; this world that he begged for his entire life was burning around him, and he hadn’t even realized it until the ashes were lapping upon the shore.

  He couldn’t even begin to imagine what Cecil had in store. He was no mere mortal who discovered Daisy’s secret, but a supernatural—one whose abilities were so unique that he had no clue what bloodline this creature came from.

  And that scared Kevin the most—this aura of uncertainty that enfolded the terrible situation, leaving him all alone to think the worst.

  “P-please, Daisy,” Kevin cried, his face melting, “if you can hear me, just hang on for now. I-I’ll find you; I promise I will! I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again…!”

  “You have to get her back first.”

  Kevin gasped, whisking his head and semi-blurred vision to the open doorway that Lucy stood in. She dared not to enter.

  He could hardly stand to look at the woman he so dearly loved. The black veins that encroached so long ago now covered her cheeks and began wrapping around her trachea like a banquet of belittled, livid vines. Kevin finally made the connection as he stared at her; the more area that the sickened blood vessels covered, the smaller her heart became as well, pushing out the emotions and characteristics of Lucy he fell in love with. First, she hurt Daisy, and then, she stood down as Cecil took her, letting him get away. Her shift in morals was becoming apparent to everyone now.

  “The knights were unable to locate Sam,” Lucy told him, her voice worn as she digested the begrudged glance Kevin gave her.

  Kevin inhaled deeply through his nose, pulling Puteulanus away and placing it beside him. “Of course,” Kevin scoffed bitterly. “The one person who may know just what the hell that thing is… Swell.” He looked away from Lucy, whose expression did not change. “Are the knights still searching for them?”

  Lucy nodded. “Yes.”

  Reluctantly, Kevin glanced at her from the corner of his eye, trying to analyze the woman who he once believed would stand by him until the end. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure. She was so different…

  He silently stood up, facing her but refusing to get close. His face was stone, and his eyes were fierce, but his insides were crumbling like sand. Still, he did not reveal his vulnerability, no matter how much it pained him to hold it in.

  Lucy hung her head, desperate to escape his festering wrath, but her feet refused to move.

  “Cecil knows that Daisy is a supernatural,” Kevin informed her civilly.

  Lucy’s eyes jerked up in disbelief. “What?”

  Kevin swallowed his frustration. “He said that he’s needed her since the beginning of time. I don’t know what exactly he was talking about, but he made it clear that he knew Daisy’s secret; perhaps he even knows more about her identity than we do.”

  Lucy folded her arms, leaning against the door frame. “He planned this, then,” she surmised quietly.

  Kevin sighed. “I guess he did… I just… Never saw it.”

  “It makes sense, though,” Lucy continued under her breath. “I saw the way that he looked at Daisy in the tavern—we both did. He obviously knew her somehow, but I don’t think Daisy remembered him. That’s the only reason he vouched to become our personal guard—so that he could get his hands on her when the time was right.”

  “But what would he want her for?” Kevin pressed.

  Lucy shrugged. “Beats me. He kept his intentions well hidden; unless we manage to catch him or Sam, we will probably never know.” She raised her eyes, her stare more frigid than the winter nights. “Guess it just proves that the supernatural can never be trusted, hm?”

  A growl rose in Kevin’s throat, and to suppress the urge to lunge across the room and use force against his wavering love, he turned his back on her and approached the window, staring down upon his kingdom. “I could always be trusted—”

  “Yeah, you tell that to Eero—”

  “That’s different!” he hissed through clenched teeth. “I was only trying to protect him, and it worked. I’m sorry that many cannot be trusted, truly trusted, like Cecil and Calla, but Daisy never did anything wrong. I never did anything wrong. I’ve never stopped fighting for what’s right, and I find it humorous that, even now, you doubt your daughter and me.”

  Lucy looked down at her small baby bump, rubbing it instinctively. “Daisy is not my daughter,” she growled. “The only child we are obligated to is the one that I am carrying.”

  Heat surging through his muscles, Kevin slowly looked over his shoulder, finding Lucy’s stomach. Confliction held him tight; as much as he always wanted a biological child, now knowing the circumstances and just who would one day be the mother of his own flesh and blood…

  Lucy sensed his uncertainty. “They’re yours, Kevin,” she said slowly.

  He forced himself to take a deep breath. What had he done…?

  Painfully, he looked back to the window, watching the town congregate in the center of the small village. He cared for them, he really did, but he could not go down there to fully explain just what they were fighting here—not in his current mental state.

  Defeated, he pressed his forehead against the cold glass, wishing everything could go back to the way it once was… That he could have his powers back and be free of this dastardly, confusing emotion one called love—have it be just him, Daisy, and the dispersed Resistance…

  Wearily, he opened his eyes, thinking. Resistance…

  He was suddenly back in the forest, prepared to venture into Phantome for the first time in years. A tiger was his disguise, hiding the coward beneath the fur, along with the weakling little boy inside, who never seemed to get a grip on just what was important before it was all gone. He remembered the smoke as the village was attacked by Glasos, prepared to assess the situation with the Resistance at his side—

  When he saw him. Saw the man who he once thought of as a friend, who now held the title of enemy. Saw his faded, translucent face as he raced right by him with a Glaso in hot pursuit.

  He saw Cecil—as a supernatural, Kevin could, even when invisible, but Eero and the others only saw the vengeful spirit.

  He hadn’t thought anything of it then; there was too much chaos, but reflecting back on it now… He had been chased. Even then, there was something evil brewing in Cecil’s heart.

  In utter shock, Kevin slightly rolled his head to the side. What little air left in his lungs vanished, and Kevin stumbled backward as his eyes found the crumpled object lying next to Daisy’s bed, hardly catching himself.

  Lucy cocked her head. “What’s wrong?” she asked quickly.

  Kevin could not answer her; he could hardly control the movements his body made and the rate that oxygen was both absorbed and expelled from his vessel. As though he was an elder, Kevin gripped his heart with one hand, lumbering forward. He could feel his past closing in on him like an inescapable nightmare, his skin icing over and burning, remembering the old scars that no longer existed on the surface but would always puncture his heart.

  Rasping, he bent down, his fingers closing around the semi-charred bear. He raised up his first toy, holding it eye-level and remembering…

  How he would play with it as a young boy, sit down and tell it all of his secrets and fears… How tightly he held it when his mother lashed out at him, sleeping with its warm, comforting face in his chest, hoping to be spared of what he knew was to inevitably come one day.

  His horror exploded, Kevin grunting with angst and slamming the bear onto the bed. He left that damn thing in Lyüna to burn!
How was it here? How did Daisy get a hold of it?!

  “Kevin?” Lucy whispered, taking a single step forward.

  “She has my bear!” he screamed. “It should have been destroyed; it shouldn’t have fallen into her grasp!” He turned to Lucy, his eyes desperate. “What’s happening?! Why does it feel like everything is going wrong—that the world is breaking under my feet?!”

  Lucy’s face twisted uncertainly. “It’s a bear… Calm down….”

  “You are the last person who should be saying that!” Kevin raged. “It may just be a stuffed animal, but something brought it here!”

  She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, Kevin, I don’t have time to listen to your constant worries or watch you fall apart like a toddler. Clay insisted that he see Koral’s body so that the cause could be properly identified, and at least one sane ruler should be there, don’t you think?”

  Snarling like an animal, Kevin shot his flaming gaze to Lucy, who immediately turned away, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

  The buttons were being pushed at such a high rate that Kevin could hardly keep himself under control. Screaming, he grabbed his old toy and chucked it into the burning fireplace, panting as he watched the flames wrap around its body. He just wanted to watch it burn and know for a fact that he had rid himself of all of the pain, suffering, and mystery behind such a simple object.

  A burst of embers and fire shot from the logs, Kevin lurching back in disbelief as the bear was propelled through the air and onto the floor. It slowly rolled across the stone, coming to a stop right at the base of Kevin’s feet and glaring up at its old owner.

  Kevin stared down in awe. Whatever sick game was being played on him that tested his relationships, his morals, and his heart, he hoped it would end soon because he could not understand what was directly in front of him anymore. Nothing made sense, and yet again, the voice of the mysterious woman who reached out to him what seemed like forever ago haunted his brain: