Darklight 6: Darkbirth

by Forrest, Bella

  We were dragged swiftly through the peaceful plane, Ruk showing us a group of light orbs, clearly arbiters without bodies. They floated nearby, just above the tips of the stiff grass.

  One, the color of thick cream, moved forward to address a large yellow light floating in the center. "Un, we've confirmed that there are no sentients around for miles, but Eyr will continue to scan the area. Now is the time to begin enhancing the barriers."

  Un, the yellow light, turned to the other orbs. "Excellent work. For the next stage, we will follow Ruk's instructions. Ensure you follow them precisely."

  A red light floated higher, climbing above the rest. Ruk. Something about him seemed brighter and bolder than the orb form I’d witnessed prior to him assuming the humanoid body he’d kept stashed at his estate.

  "Thank you, Un," Ruk said, his voice brimming with pride. "Ahn, Lek, Lo, and Sen, for this process to be successful, I will require your energy as well as my own to craft these spells."

  The orbs bunched together as if pulled to each other by a magnetic force. The pressure in the air changed, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention as I watched the other orbs surround Ruk. Crackling energy sparked from the other arbiters. The breeze picked up as the orb form of Ruk inhaled the energy from the other arbiters into his center. Slowly, he began to ascend. His orb form expanded as more energy poured in. Bolts of power danced behind him like lightning, auroras of madness flickering across the sky. I opened my mouth, awed, as I saw the barrier begin to take shape. It looked like an iridescent curtain covering the face of reality, undulating in the wind. It was… beautiful.

  "You think this a lovely sight now," said present-day Ruk, standing beside me. There was a hint of pride beneath his typical dry tone. "You're already embroiled in all this, and the Mandate of Secrecy has long been broken, so I decided that if I were going to tell you my history, it would be best to start at the beginning. What you see is from long before the Separation, back when the three planes existed in far closer harmony, for better or worse. I must stress to you that the Separation was a choice made by my kind, as they admitted at the sentencing. At the time, we thought it best, me included. However, it was not a necessary or inevitable natural event as some arbiters like to imply, perhaps to romanticize our own history."

  One of his splayed hands gestured to the orb version of his old self. "Although a barrier existed between the Mortal and Immortal Planes, it was far more permeable. It was not that way in the beginning. I do not have the time to show you, but trust me when I say those times were strange. The world was a chaotic place and dangerous for humans. So our first action was to intensify the barrier between the Immortal Plane and Mortal Plane to stop all creatures from traveling between them. The one exception was vampires, which we designed to be able to pass through."

  It was absolutely surreal to see something close to the beginning of time. I stared, disbelieving, at the world around us.

  "You’re the one who created the barrier," I clarified. Ruk's old form crackled with the energy his fellow arbiters gave to him.

  Present-day Ruk shrugged as if it were nothing. "It was already there in vestigial form, but yes, I strengthened it to its current extent. It was the most difficult undertaking we'd ever done. After all, most creatures could pass between the Immortal and Mortal Planes before that. We had to put a stop to it. That time before the barrier was strengthened, by the way, is why you have your ancient folktales and ghoulish stories of monsters in the Mortal Plane. There was knowledge deep in the human subconscious, passed down by some cultures.” He gestured to the sky, littered with its few soul-lights. “Previously, the Higher Plane was easily accessible from the Immortal Plane, and the arbiters actually spent most of their time in the latter. But if the Separation was to occur, it was decided that we needed to completely close off the Higher Plane from the lower planes. So we created a way to intensify the barrier. After that, we planned to modify the creatures of the Immortal Plane and create the perfect self-sustaining system to keep the balance of light and darkness in the lower planes. I’ll admit that it all seemed very exciting." He shot a conflicted look at Dorian. "And I will also admit that I had a part in shaping vampires, but my main role was as the architect of the barriers. No one has more understanding of the barriers between worlds than I do. Though I drew energy from others, they were very much my creation."

  The light changed, the shift in mood prompting a sense of melancholy in my chest. It was as if Ruk’s memories were all tinged with a subtle grief. The amber lighting bleached to a whiter, drearier light… something closer to the gray I had become so used to seeing in the Higher Plane. The meadows of grass shifted, moving in a dance of their own design.

  Ruk spoke again, his voice carrying a resigned strength. "Finally, after hundreds of years of Immortal Plane time spent perfecting how the newly altered creatures interacted with the newly created or updated barriers and adjusting as needed, we entered the final phase of preparation for the Separation. Everything had to symbiotically interact perfectly, because once we set the system in motion, the intention was never to return to the lower planes." He sneered, perhaps more at himself than anyone. "We thought this was enough to fulfill the purpose given to us by the universe to oversee the lower planes."

  In this place that Ruk had taken us, I saw a circle of stones standing tall. They resembled the Stonehenge boulders, but these were the size of skyscrapers, reaching for the atmosphere. I couldn’t help but notice, however, still overwhelmed at the detail Ruk was able to conjure in this immersive space, that the air rippled slightly between the stones. Dorian had once told me that mirage-like flickering like this came from the presence of magic, but this looked different from the glamors I had spotted at other points in our journey. This reminded me of the glittering tapestry of light threads that I’d seen making up the barrier. Here, the magic of the stones must be connecting one plane to another… this was a portal. It must have been splendid to see in person, before Irrikus and his cronies began destroying the circles.

  Ruk began to speak again. I sometimes forgot that he was there because I was so taken with his memories.

  "Once we had arrived at a final form and physiology for vampires, we had to ensure that they knew and understood how to access the Mortal Plane. The barrier between the Immortal Plane and Mortal Plane was then too powerful to easily walk through as it had been previously. Yet we did not want to weaken it, so instead I created portals and linked them to the biological makeup of vampires so that they were the only ones who could use the stone circles. I was tasked with this job because this was my area of expertise."

  A few feet and several eons away from us, two vampires stood near the circle: a man and a woman. The duo regarded the stones as if the sleek rocks were gods, fallen to the Immortal Plane soil. I shared their sense of wonder—though mine wasn’t inspired by the stone circles, but by the vampires themselves. Their clothing was different from the tattered cloaks and homespun tunics worn by the vampires I knew, more closely resembling the sophisticated styles and tailoring preferred by the rulers. The colors were vibrant and gorgeous against the vampires’ forms, the fabric enhancing their ethereal beauty.

  Their appearance suggested splendor and an age of glory that had long passed. Disbelief coursed through my veins that we were actually getting the chance to witness this. I peeked at Dorian, wanting to watch his reaction. It must be shocking to see what the earliest ancestors of your species looked like. His eyes were wide with wonder, charmed and amazed by what he was seeing despite the gravity of the reasons we were being shown this.

  When the ancient, long-dead vampires spoke, their voices were as rich and alive as the images surrounding us. "This is a place of power, surely." The man reached out as if to touch the nearest stone, but hesitated.

  The woman nodded. "Undoubtedly. The barrier is so weak here, Min. I can feel it."

  “But is it safe?" Min asked, not taking his eyes from the portal. "Aster, I have never seen such a th
ing…”

  “Greetings, vampires.”

  The vampires looked up, startled, as past-Ruk barked his informal greeting. He sat in the form of a tiny rust-colored bird, his ever-present violet eyes staring down at them from his perch on one of the stones. He arched his neck and fluffed out his feathers. When he spread his wings, the red fell away to reveal gorgeous rainbow plumage. His voice was haughty, and he lifted his beak into the air in a decidedly melodramatic fashion.

  I arched a brow, giving the current Ruk a gentle, teasing grin, amused at his theatrics. The vampires must have sensed at once that they weren’t looking at a normal bird.

  “Wise ones, while you are great elders, you are but children in the grand scheme of the universe. Today, however, you are blessed, for you are witnessing something newly come to this world. It is our gift, but it comes with a burden that only your kind can bear. I grant you… a gate to the Mortal Plane so you may fulfil your role as bringers of balance across the two planes.” Ruk gave a dramatic pause. “Now, please, allow me to demonstrate the use of this construct that I have crafted for you.” He spoke with the fondness of an artist for his favorite piece.

  Dorian growled beside me, the sound almost involuntary. This was another unfortunate reminder of the fact that vampires were altered and shaped by arbiters to take over the duties they should have performed themselves.

  The woman, Aster, stepped forward, staring up at the strange bird. "What are you?"

  "Me?" Ruk twitched his bird head innocently. His beady lavender eyes regarded them warmly enough. "I am nobody, nothing of importance in the cosmic scale of things. But I was chosen to make stone circles such as these for your use."

  Aster and Min exchanged a look, then turned back to Ruk with fascinated gazes. She gave a small bow. "Please, teach us how to utilize this gift, maker of gates."

  Ruk looked to the portal, a small, satisfied smile somehow forming at the corners of his beak as he apparently mulled over this title. Maker of gates. It seemed surreal that this same proud creature had rioted against the old, powerful name only minutes before.

  Our surroundings began to blur, the land minutely shifting and changing as time passed, but the stone circle remained exactly as it was. Ruk appeared in various forms, each time as a different creature. As Ruk met more vampires, his forms grew larger. In one, he was a tiger-like beast with broad shoulders. In the next, he was a reptilian creature, similar to the form that he had taken when he broke out of the sanitarium. This form was so large that the vampires shrank back when he approached, but Ruk was quick to put them at ease. Whatever his form, he was always explaining the stone circle to a parade of vampires, eventually standing before a small crowd from a settlement that sprang up within sight of the stone circle. With each meeting, he grew increasingly smug but remained genuinely delighted to show off his work to an interested audience.

  I tore my gaze away to watch the present Ruk's reaction and saw that he’d closed his eyes against the onslaught of memories, terrible grief contorting his face. My heart ached for his past self. The sweet, theatrical, charmingly obnoxious little bird he’d been seemed so young, though by that time he’d already been eons older than I was now and ever would be.

  It became clear to me that at some point he’d grown affectionate toward the vampires. Sometimes, Ruk allowed them to ride on his back when he took a four-legged form, such as a velek, or when he soared through the sky as a redbill. When he sat with them around campfires in his humanoid form, I breathed in the scent of the ancient smoke, still astounded by what I was experiencing.

  The vampires of this time used strange, ornately crafted instruments of metal that I wasn't familiar with. I heard Dorian, awed, mutter incomprehensible things as we caught glimpses of the tools. It seemed to be a lost technology, perhaps from when the vampires were closer to the ruling caste. We watched dances, traditions, and drink preparations—some sort of celebratory tonic—as the smell of rising bonfires grew stronger. I tilted my head, trying to find the source of the beautiful music that teased at my ear. Eventually, I spotted a pretty young vampire girl playing something that reminded me of a flute, only intricately more complex, and with a sound that made me want to weep. It was a serenade, one that I imagined had not been heard in some time thanks to the ravages of war.

  Present-Ruk spoke. "You can see it in my face, can't you? You see my foolishness. I grew bigger, larger than life. I grew closer to them, like the naïve creative that I was. I was so curious. I was flattered that the creatures of this lower plane were so impressed with what I'd done. They loved my powers; how could they not? They had never seen anything like them before. I began exploring more and more of the Immortal Plane, first meeting with vampires and learning their ways. I gave them scraps of knowledge, as much as I could without getting in trouble, and watched them create and evolve their civilization. I enjoyed the physical way they built things. It felt… real. It was so different from the ephemeral, impermanent world that I was used to. I was proud that they took to their task of keeping balance and order so well. But, gradually, I grew curious about what else there was to learn, and so I moved on.”

  His eyes lightened with unfamiliar happiness as he watched the scenes unfold before us, briefly reliving some of his younger, brighter days. "I never told any of the Immortals I interacted with where I came from, and I didn’t reveal the existence of the Higher Plane, but I visited each race and learned from them. I went to the harvesters first. I wasn’t involved with their alterations but quickly became fascinated with their form and unique perspective on life. I went to the makers and wildlings next. I saved the rulers for last, perhaps because they reminded me too much of my peers, and I wanted to see the unfamiliar first. While I was exploring, I quietly fixed what I could when cracks appeared in the system we were implementing, but I thought nothing of it, thinking I was just smoothing a few wrinkles in the process. It was little things at first. I taught the makers little spells, small edits to the structures and places around me. Still, I was naïve. I thought we’d created a perfect society." He pressed his lips together to stop them from trembling with self-loathing. "I was overwhelmed with the detail and sheer variety of the life that the lower planes offered. I considered the realm to be my playground, and I thought there was no way for me to be hurt there. And that was true to some extent… though I did meet some beings that challenged my opinions."

  Everything around us went totally dark for a moment. Ruk clenched his eyes shut and shuddered. Finally, an image bloomed into being around us.

  Past-Ruk sat with a group of vampires next to a bubbling, milky pond. They were discussing a magical issue with a barrier—a portal that wasn’t connecting to the Mortal Plane like it should. Ruk, in a form that was modeled after vampires and looking much younger and more confident, nodded as he considered some of the points the vampires were making. Perhaps drawn by the conversation, something rippled through the water, and a pod of aquatic wildings popped up to the surface. The vampires laughed, pleased, as the wildlings produced a series of multicolored neon bubbles that drifted into the air.

  One wildling was bolder than the rest. She had typical brownish gray scales, but a wreath of silvery scales adorned her throat. She eyed Ruk and dove underwater. He lifted his eyebrows and peered into the pond, only for the wildling to resurface and squirt him in the face with water. The vampires erupted into raucous laughter.

  "Don't be annoying," Ruk snapped at the wildling and wiped his face with the sleeve of his robe. She grinned, her sharp teeth rivaling Ruk's own, and swam close to the shore in defiance. Ruk let out a frustrated snort, but the corner of his lips lifted. The playful wildling refused to leave.

  "I was just listening," the wildling said, still wearing the impish grin.

  Ruk sulked. "And what exactly did squirting me in the face have to do with it?"

  She blinked her large, greenish eyes. "Well, that was just because you were making a stupid face." The scene dissolved away as the vampires fell into laughter on
ce more at poor Ruk's expense.

  A watery landscape greeted us in the next scene. Past-Ruk had taken on his aquatic wildling form that I’d seen after the battle at the Hive and was swimming through milky water. The sounds were fuzzy, as if I'd plunged my own head beneath the surface. He darted after the wildling from the previous memory. In the bright light of the shallow water, her scales took on a starkly different look, glinting with teal and silver. The band of scales around her neck glowed bright white here. She was stunning.

  She led Ruk deeper until an underwater city appeared in the distance. It reminded me of the one I'd seen during our underwater trip to the Gray Ravine. She spun excitedly, pointing at various kelp-like plants and strange corals growing from the natural landscape. Ruk smirked, clearly amused by his new companion. He followed her through the city as she told the stories of the exquisite mosaic, intricately crafted from shells, that decorated the buildings.

  Present-Ruk took up his tale again. "I left the vampires and the gates altogether to explore the waters of the Immortal Plane with her." A deep regret lay buried in his tone. "I discovered an enchanting world. The aquatic wildlings had developed splendidly, changing and expanding in ways that I and the other arbiters never expected. When we’d altered the wildlings, especially the aquatic ones, we suspected that they might become more like your mammalian creatures of the sea in the Mortal Plane. But no. They were smart. They adapted." A bittersweet smile flashed across his face for the briefest instant. "Almost too clever for their own good."

  A pause followed as the wildling led Ruk out into a grand underwater coliseum that was far more beautiful and enchanting than the amphitheater from our trial. Every shade of blue—teal, aquamarine, turquoise—made up the gorgeous structure. From her playful miming, I assumed that games and sports were held here.

  "Wildlings, especially aquatic ones, often don't have names," present-Ruk said, matter-of-factly slicing through the majesty of the scene, "but when I explained the phenomenon of an aurora, which I'd witnessed on my travels in the Mortal Plane, she was totally delighted by it. So she called herself Aurora. She was a step above the others I'd met, that one. Vampire elders, rulers, even some arbiters couldn’t hold a candle to her… she was one of the most curious and intelligent creatures I've ever met. I scarcely considered her a subject of the arbiters’ creation, for she had forged her own life splendidly well, but she was curious about my tales. She wanted me to modify her body. She became acutely aware of the limitations that she had, and her goal was to one day traverse land as well as water. She admired my shapeshifting ability and teased that I was afraid she would surpass me if I tried to give her the ability. I didn't want to change her—" His voice hitched. Was there half a lie in that? Maybe, but it was clearly also true. Tears unexpectedly welled in my eyes, and I hurried to blink them away. This was unlike anything I’d expected from him. He clearly carried great grief for Aurora, and I desperately needed to know what had happened to her.