by Luis Robles
Gavril loved the sun. He loved the warmth he felt on his skin as the sunrays hit it. He thought that the light of day was the best thing that could ever happen to life. He enjoyed the sunrise, how it lit up his fields with bright and wonderful colors. It was because of that love for the sun that Gavril would wake up several hours before sunrise each day. He would wake up just so he could see, with his own eyes, the sunrise that would warm his crops.
On the second new moon after Harmony was born, a small light of fire made its way through the night sky much like a shooting star. Gavril happened to be the only one awake at the time, the only one who saw where that fiery star landed. It wasn't far from him, at least he thought at first. And since he still had a few hours before the sun would rise, he decided to go looking for it. He walked and walked; but with each minute that passed, the matter became more urgent. It was as if that fiery star was calling him. Finally, after almost an hour of walking, he stumbled upon the fiery star. It was just there, right in front of him, floating just a few centimeters above the ground. The fallen star glowed intensely as it turned in place slowly.
Gavril could not help but to stare at the fallen star. The star called him; the star needed him to carry out its will. But it wasn’t calling for Gavril to take over him; it was more of an invitation to help it. With each second that passed by, Gavril’s will to help the star grew stronger and sank deeply into his heart. The star promised Gavril power, strength, and immortality. The star would tell Gavril how to achieve those things, the things his heart truly wanted. A part of Gavril’s reasoning told him to run away, to run away as far as he could from that star, but it was too late. Gavril’s deepest darkest desires were shown to him, and he wanted them.
Gavril took the star from the ground and held it with great care. The star called to him even with more intensity until Gavril eventually asked, “What is it that you want?”
“Magic…” the star whispered.
“I will help you,” Gavril answered, trembling.
Seconds after, the star melded into Gavril’s hand, causing him an immense amount of pain. Gavril screamed and held his hand tight. The pain he felt was so much so that it brought him to his needs and, shortly after, left him unconscious on the ground.
A few hours later, the sun woke him up; he was dazed, and it took him several minutes to remember everything that happened. When the memory was clear, a smile appeared in his face. However, the smile that Gavril wore that day wasn’t a good smile, no not at all; instead, it was the smile of something dark within him, the smile of the dark side of magic. The fiery star and Gavril became one.
With each day that passed by, Gavril’s heart grew heavier with envy of the Nulians’ power. He wanted to have magic. Power was constantly on Gavril’s mind after that night. The thought of him having magic intoxicated his entire being, poisoning him with desire. He wanted to take the magic away from every single Nulian, and he would not stop until he figured out a way. He believed that only he was entitled to it and that no one else deserved to use it.
He spent his days analyzing the magic of the Nulians, looking at how effortlessly the creatures worked the lands. He knew that if any other living creature could have magic, he could have magic as well. The village’s violet-haired child made matters that much worse for Gavril, as he knew that the child’s violet hair was a direct result of the violet moon. He wanted to be sure of it, so he planned to meet with the child’s mother.
As the days passed, Gavril’s chance to meet with the violet-hair child arrived as Lyn took her child for a walk around the village. Gavril approached Lyn unassumingly as he walked back to his farm.
“Good day, Lyn.”
“Oh…hi, Gavril, good day,” Lyn said, trying not to converse with him.
“I believe I haven’t had the pleasure to meet your child up close. They say that he has very nice violet hair,” Gavril said, trying not to look at her child.
“Oh… Well, this is Harmony, and yes, his hair is violet, maybe because of Mal’s grandparents,” Lyn forced herself to say, trying to be polite to the respected farmer.
Gavril then turned to look at Harmony as he slept in the small wooden carriage. Paying total attention to the sleeping child, he was able to notice a subtle violet glow on the child.
“Your child is truly special,” Gavril said as he was getting ready to leave the conversation. “I must get back to the farm, forgive my intrusion. Say ‘Hello’ to Mal for me.”
“I will… Goodbye now,” Lyn replied, trying not to be rude.
Gavril took a step towards his farm and passed by Harmony’s carriage, letting go of a tiny leaf he had in his hand. The wind took the tiny leaf closer to the sleeping child. As the leaf got within a few centimeters of the child’s face, the leaf simply disappeared. Gavril was able to see the leaf disappear, from the corner of his eye, as he continued walking towards his farm.
Grave anxiety overtook his mind that night. He was sure that humans could possess magic—Harmony was the prime example. As he lay down to sleep, his mind became twisted, contracting in ways that no other human mind would. Greed consumed Gavril as he slept that night, making him lose all of his humanity.
The next morning, as Gavril arose, he knew what he had to do. To take the magic from another being, he must consume its life and consume the very source of its existence. Gavril knew that he would be going against nature and against life. And he also knew that he would go against life at night when the village was asleep and no one would know.
While the village slept, Gavril set off towards one of the barns where some powerful Nulian oxen that farmed his lands slept. He entered the barn quietly, being careful not to awaken the powerful beasts. As he got near the beasts, he covered his nose with a thick rag and opened a jar that had powerful sleeping herbs inside. The fumes from inside the jar quickly circulated throughout the barn, sending the Nulians into an everlasting deep sleep. That night, Gavril consumed the blood of the Nulians; thanks to the fallen star that was a part of him, his twisted mind and darkened heart gave birth to dark magic.
Gavril left no Nulian alive in the barn that night. And each time he tasted the blood of a different Nulian, he grew in strength. More so, with each Nulian that he consumed, its memories went along with it, becoming part of Gavril’s memory. Gavril now knew as much about magic and its origins as the Nulians. Even the memories of the Nulians on the night of the violet moon were now his own. “That magical child’s power has to be mine,” he thought to himself. The obsession for power grew immensely that would soon devour his existence. For the remainder of the night, he just sat down in a corner of the barn, plotting his next move, trembling with so much power inside him.
As the sun was coming up, Gavril could not wait to test his new powerful body in the warmth of his precious sun. He was anxiously waiting for the sun to illuminate his fields.
“I can feel the power running through my veins,” Gavril said to himself as he looked down at his hands. “I can see much clearer than before, and hear what’s happening far away, and even inside of me, the fire burns within.”
When the sun finally lit up the cornfields, he ran outside the barn and into the sun as fast as he could, reaching the center of the fields in a matter of seconds.
“What? What is this?” Gavril asked aloud in excruciating pain. He looked down to his hands again and watched them slowly burn. “It can’t be! No! No, no! Not this, don’t take this away from me!” Gavril exclaimed as he twisted and turned with pain in his voice. Not wanting to accept that his precious sun was taken away from him, he screamed his lungs out in agony and then finally retreated into the shadows. In the shadows, he waited until nightfall.
By going against nature and life, what was most precious to Gavril was taken away from him. He would be condemned to live in the shadows for the rest of his existence.
“Did you hear that? It sounded like someone was in a lot of pain.”
“It almost sounded like a wild animal from the mountains.”
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“Nonsense, I didn’t hear a thing. Both of you must be going insane.” The villagers talked amongst themselves as the tiny village came to life that morning.
Everyone went on with their daily routines as usual, everyone except Mal and Lyn. Sensing that what they heard in the morning was peculiar, they both sat down at the small wooden table, unable to touch the breakfast that stood before them.
“Has anything out of the ordinary happened lately?” Mal asked, finally breaking the silence as his leg shook.
“Not anything that I can think of… Wait!” Lyn said with a shortness of breath, and her right hand held up to her chest. “Gavril… He seemed very curious about Harmony, just yesterday as I took him out to the village.”
“Pack only what is necessary. We shall leave tonight when no one can see us,” Mal said as he stood up from the table.
“But where do we go?” Lyn asked with her eyes wide open and face filled with fear for their well-being.
“We’ll head to Amerillian. I know a few trustworthy people there, and it’s just a few hours away. For right now, I will go out into the village and look for Gavril,” Mal said as he was putting on a leather garment.
“Please be careful. Don’t be reckless,” Lyn pleaded.
Mal headed straight towards Gavril’s home, walking nervously but determined to find out why Gavril stopped to talk to Lyn. When he reached the seemingly empty home near the southern farmlands, drops of sweat ran down Mal’s forehead, as he feared that Gavril was up to something. Mal pounded on Gavril’s door with his palm wide open in an attempt to make it as loud as possible.
“Gavril…? Are you in there? Come outside for a second, we need to talk,” Mal said, agitated as ever.
“Why don’t you try the crops? You might be able to find him lying down somewhere under the sun,” a villager said as he was passing by and saw the urgency in Mal’s face.
Almost immediately, Mal turned and headed towards the crops. As he got there, the situation intensified. The fields were empty; there was no one in sight, and not a single Nulian was working the fields. That was an extremely rare sight; even on a rainy day, Gavril would always have some Nulians working the crops. Realizing that Gavril was indeed the cause of the morning’s horrifying screams, he headed back to the tiny village.
“What did you find out?” Lyn ask as she continued packing while Harmony was still sound asleep.
“I think those screams that we heard this morning were of Gavril’s. I went to his home but did not find anything. Then, I went to his crops, but there was no sight of him there, either. I don’t know for sure, but I fear the worst, Lyn,” Mal said as he got near and started to help Lyn pack.
“Not even in the crops? How about the Nulians working the land?” Lyn asked as she went to go pick up Harmony from his crib.
“No… There wasn’t anything working the lands. Where is my dagger?” Mal asked, turning to Lyn as he finished packing.
For everyone else in the tiny village, the day continued as usual. Villagers did ask for Gavril amongst themselves and thought that it was rare that he was not present. However, they did not give the situation any further thought; instead, they just went on with their day, knowing that Gavril would appear eventually.
Mal and Lyn grew more nervous. Time passed slow for the couple as they waited almost in silence trying to hear the things that was happening outside their home. As the night arrived, they checked and double-checked their rations and checked the well-being of their child as well. Harmony seemed to be completely unaware of the situation. He was perfectly happy.
“Do you have everything?” Mal asked, breathing heavily, with one hand on the door latch.
“Yes. We have to very quiet. Harmony is falling asleep,” Lyn said, walking towards the door as Mal opened it.
The tiny village was dark, cold, and silent as Mal and Lyn walked through it. Suddenly, Mal stopped and reached over for Lyn and made her stop as well. A dark silhouette appeared to be standing within the shadows of the night, right on the edge of the village.
“When I tell you…scream for help with all your lungs,” Mal said to Lyn in a faint voice, his gaze fixed directly on the silhouette.
“Where are you going, Mal? This village is so nice. Surely, you wouldn’t want Harmony to grow up anywhere else,” the silhouette said with a dark voice as it took a few steps towards them. “So much power is within that child, it would be a shame if we let it to waste. Don’t you think?”
“What do you want from us?” Mal said as he tried to hide his fear.
“Did you not hear what I just said? It is obvious to me. Give me your child, and I will leave you two and the village alone. I promise to take good care of him,” said the silhouette as it kept walking towards them, slowly revealing its identity as the light of the moon hit its face.
“Gavril…? What happened to you?” Mal asked in horror.
Gavril’s body, as well as his face, had completely changed. His skin was no longer suntanned; it was pale and white. His hair was no longer bronze; it was pitch-black. His eyes were no longer of a light brown; they burned in almost a white incandescent tone. His body was no longer a body of a human; his body was bigger and bolder.
“What? This?” Gavril gestured to his body. “This is what it is like for an ordinary human to possess magic,” Gavril said, with his hands extended in front of him and slightly to the side.
“Just let us leave in peace, Gavril. You already have magic, you don’t need our child,” Mal pleaded, still holding on to any hope he had left.
“That’s not going to happen. That child and all his magic will be mine, whether your beloved wife screams for help or not. Even if the entire village turns against me, you will not stop me, they will not stop me, no one will stop me!” Gavril said as he continued to get closer.
“Lyn, do it now!” Mal shouted as he took out his dagger from the holster and ran towards Gavril.
“Help me! Please! Help me!” Lyn screamed as she took a couple of steps back.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Who is out there?” villagers shouted from inside their homes as they lit their candles.
In an instant, Mal found himself just a meter away from Gavril. Mal had to look up to meet Gavril’s gaze.
“If you think I am afraid of you, think again,” Mal said as he held the dagger firmly with his two hands.
“I don’t expect you to fear me, at least not yet,” Gavril said. Then, he heard the noise of villagers coming outside and turned his head towards the noises. “If you oppose me tonight, all of you will die.”
As Gavril focused his attention on the villagers, Mal launched an attack, driving the dagger straight into Gavril’s stomach. However, to Mal’s great surprise, Gavril only laughed as he retrieved the dagger without showing any sign of pain. Mal knew instantly that in just a few short seconds, his life would end. He turned to look at his beautiful wife and his precious child for the last time. Mal was smiling as Gavril sent him flying into a villager’s home with a single blow.
Lyn screamed immediately as her knees hit the floor with agonizing heartbreak over Mal. The ruckus woke up most of the villagers, and almost every single one of them started screaming from inside their homes.
“What… What did you do? Gavril, tell me! What did you do?” Lyn shouted with the entirety of her lungs’ strength.
“You aren’t anyone to question my motives. I am far superior to you, to all of you…” Gavril said, with his arms wide open as he assumed an arrogant stance.
A livid crowd quickly gathered around Gavril and his theatrics. They knew that the thing that was standing in front of them wasn’t human anymore. Gavril in fact looked like a hungry beast to them. But in the crowd, even the biggest coward was able to show some courage. They were angry and ready to take the beast down.
Lyn was a safe distance away from the livid crowd, along with the recently woken Harmony. When Harmony awoke, he did not start to cry, as if he understood the danger t
hey were in. Although an infant, the mark of a worried face was already noticeable. Lyn tried the best she could not to cry in front of Harmony, but all her efforts failed as tears kept running down her face.
“Get out of our village, monster! Go back to the crevice you came from!”
“You are not going to survive the night, not after what you have done!”
“You think that you are better than us? We’ll show you.” The crowd shouted at Gavril as he stood motionless.
“Your village, you say? Fools… As of today, this world is mine. I will take it all, including all your pathetic selfish lives!” Being able to control the magic he ingested, the last few words Gavril said emanated from thin air as he disappeared into the crowd.
One by one, each of the villagers that had surrounded Gavril started falling lifelessly to the ground. Gavril was moving so fast around them that they could not see what was going on. All they could do was scream as they watched other villagers fall to their death. In just a few minutes, Gavril had sent the angry mob to the next world.
The only ones that seemed to be left alive were Lyn and Harmony. Still in the same position, Lyn did not have the will or courage to move away from such a monster. She felt that she was alone in the world; she felt that all was over.
“Please don’t do this, Gavril. Spare us!” Lyn cried as she looked down at Harmony and caressed his delicate face.
“Why should I spare you? You aren’t any different from the rest of the villagers. Give me your child willingly, and I will walk away,” Gavril said, appearing in front of her.
“Gavril... Please… You don't have to be heartless...This is a child, for God's sake… Please..." Lyn staggered to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, trying to find hope within her. “Gods, be kind,” she desperately prayed, asking for mercy to tame the beast inside the respected farmer that she used to know.
“Heartless? Yours should know that I no longer have a heart, and that spot on my chest is now filled with fire. And you mentioned God? God has nothing to do with this. So it looks like you are on your own, my dear Lyn," Gavril hissed, towering over her like a dark mountain waiting to erupt. Lyn could only gasp upon seeing the evil emanating from his eyes. And she felt weaker, more resolute than ever that the evil has finally brought defeat to the goodness within.