A Light Beyond The Darkness

by Sherry Gist

  "So your not here as our queen, right? Mags asks.

  "Right." Danielle replies.

  Mags slaps Danielle hard in the face, "No one asked you to come. If you are here to put anyone down then this is not the place and if you ever speak about her negatively again, I will kill you, my queen." She said savagely.

  Snickering back at Mags ,"If you believe you can then make your move."

  Instantly, Sherry turns coldly, " Touch Mags then I will break you and they will never find your body."

  Turning back towards their goal at hand. The three arrive finally to Iceland and the freezing snow. Their legs, arms and breath are so cold that their teeth chatter. The land is desolate, cold and baron. There is no life here only white snow and ice. The wind is cold and it feels as though needles are piercing their skin. Mags and Danielle struggle to keep up with Sherry who walks more and more quickly towards the cave. Danielle falls and is helped up by Mags and Sherry. Finally, they reach the base of the mountain and discover that they must climb.

  Chapter 3

  "Just freaking great!" Danielle says.

  " What is it?" Mags asks.

  " How in the holy hell are we going to climb this crap?"

  " Easily." Sherry says as her claws extend.

  "Ummmm.... excuse me. I have no claws. You know all of us don't have those." Mags takes off her bag and pulls out a hook and rope. She throws it up the mountain.

  " Mmhmmmm!" Danielle says as she gets even louder.

  " What is it woman?" Sherry asks firmly.

  " Well, how am I going to get up the mountain?"

  " Well I guess the pampered life has made you soft." Mags begins laughing and snorts.

  " I'm not soft." Danielle grabs the rope away from Mags.

  Mags goes to speak, but doesn't. As Danielle puts her weight on the rope, the rock it was attached to, slips which makes Danielle fall hard on her back.

  " Dumb mountain!" She screams.

  Sherry grabs the hook and throws it up. She tells Mags to go first. Mags quickly climbs the mountain. Danielle struggles up the mountain with Sherry close behind. She climbs with her claws. Constantly snickering at how long it's taking Danielle to make it up the mountain. Which she does.

  "We...need....to take a break." Danielle says out of breath.

  " Really?" Sherry laughs, " Maybe you need to start back hunting for yourself." Sherry begins coughing again. More and more blood is in her saliva.

  Mags pats her back as worry about her friend grows.

  The giant gate is now before them with signs of the underworld on both sides. They all stand before it.

  Sherry reads the words that Absalon has given her, " May peace stay with you and let your heart guide you and the love that you have found last forever."

  These words make the mountain shake and tremble and the gates open. They walk inside, their breath is taken by the heat. Its so hot here. The cave is lit with only the torches on the wall. They reach a river of lava and see the Grim Reaper waiting by a boat.

  "Amazon," he says grimly, "You are not to be here."

  " We must speak with your master." Sherry says boldly.

  The Reaper looks them over and says these four words, " You shall not pass." Then he says, " There are trials here in the underworld and none of you will make it back. Turn back. Turn back." He pleads with them.

  Danielle stands before him, her queenly voice ringing, " Grim Reaper, we request a ride on your boat to the first trial."

  "Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you." He says and as he does, an all too real chill runs down their backs.

  They arrive to the first trial, it is the trial of truth. Standing before them is a book, it's closed and locked.

  The Reaper explains, " To get to the next trial, this book must be opened and the truth spoken."

  They all touch the book and their minds goes back to when they were all girls training. They see a young queen, Danielle, with the queen and a young Sherry and Mags who are fending mostly for themselves. They remember Danielle's mother, whom for some reason, they had forgotten.

  The Reaper laughs and asks, " What's the worse thing you have done?"

  Mags looks at the Reaper, shaking her head back and forth, " No. You want to know our deepest secrets?"

  "No." the Reaper replies, " In order for you to go to the next you must tell each other all!"

  Sherry looks at her sisters there and is the first to tell, " Mags, I hated you! Every time you excelled and I failed, I hated you. I love you sister, but I cursed you. Danielle, I have never cared for you. You have always downed me. Always made me feel less important. Why?"

  Danielle looks at her, " Because....because."

  "Why Danielle?"

  "You're my sister!"

  "I know I'm your sister. We are sisters."

  "No. You're my sister. Our mother is the same woman. Different fathers."

  "What? Do you mean? My mother is the queen?"

  "Was the queen, but I silenced her. I killed our mother."

  "Why? What happened? Why would you keep this from me?"

  Danielle just shrugs and says to Mags, "Mags your father is Sherry's father. You are also sisters. We are all sisters."

  Mags and Sherry look in disbelief. They can't believe that she has held this deep secret for years.

  " How? How could you be capable of this?" They ask in unison.

  " I had to be strong for the Amazons."

  The Reaper laughs, " There's more."

  Mags looks at Sherry with tears in her eyes.

  "What? What is it Mags?"

  "I'm in love with the idea of Hybrid."

  "What? What do you mean?"

  "He is just there for you, Sherry. He's so strong and so supportive. I just wish he would look at me."

  "Have you...?"

  "No!" She says loudly, " I never. He never." She says.

  After a few moments of staring and a heartfelt sigh, Sherry and Mags embrace. At this show of truth and faith in each other, the book is opened. Danielle approaches them cautiously, but they push her away.

  "How could you hide this from us? What gave you that right?"

  Chapter 4

  "I told you that this would be hard." Laughed the Reaper.

  Mags and Sherry stand together, but Danielle sits in the back.

  " This is why I came."

  "What?" Sherry asks, " Why you came?"

  "My sisters needed me."

  "Your sisters?" Mags says firmly, " You have never showed us one iota of kindness. And never has been there. Never showed us you even cared. Why now?"

  "Why?" Danielle's voice trembles as she speaks, " Because when Sherry died that day, I lost it. I realized what was having the throne without family to share it with. I love you. We are sisters and the throne meant enough to me to kill for it, to punish you for it, but what does it mean if I don't have anyone to share it with."

  They ride speechless to the next stop. They arrive to find that it's a book of fear.

  "I know what is it we're afraid of ." remarks a pissed off Danielle.

  "Only it isn't that." the Reaper laughs.

  A figure rises from the lava. It's their mother! She stands before Danielle and Sherry.

  Danielle starts shaking in fear, tears roll from Sherry's eyes as she goes to speak, " Are you really my mother."

  Her mother, Queen Diana, looks into her daughters eyes for the first time and simply nods.

  Danielle goes to run, but finds herself frozen by the queen in which she so coldly murdered. She looks into her eyes and she asks the word which she is allowed to speak, "Why?" Danielle eyes fall down to the ground in shame, " I couldn't wait for the throne. I wanted it now. I was selfish and...." Screaming now, she says, "You wanted me to be you and I couldn't. I wanted to run things my way not yours."

  These words make the queen shake her head, "You have still learned nothing." She goes to return where she came from, but Sherry cries out to her.

  Reaching for her mother, "
Mom I never knew."

  The Reaper allows Diana to speak. She tells Sherry just how proud of her she is and that she will be watching over her. After those words are spoken, Diana disappears.

  Sherry breaks down, ' She had a family.' She thinks to herself, ' She wasn't alone when she thought she was.'

  "Its time to go." Mags says firmly.

  "No." Laughs the Reaper, "It's your turn." He says as Damien appears smiling and laughing.

  "Did you forget me love?"

  Shaking her head, she hides behind Sherry, "No. No."

  "You didn't tell your friends the truth, did you? Did you tell them how you enjoyed our time together?"

  "No! You raped me!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, " Stop! Get away from me! Stop!" Damien approached and Sherry and Danielle stood in his path.

  "One more step monster and you die!"

  Damien laughs, " I'm already dead."

  "Then I will end you permanently." Sherry says.

  The Reaper says, " Enough! You've all passed.

  They leave for the next test.

  Chapter 5

  They arrive to the final test.

  The Reaper laughs, " There is a sign on this book. It's the book of death and to open this one, one of you must bleed out." He laughs some more, " One of you will not make it out alive!" Three swords appear before them. They all grab one. Sherry and Mags nod in Danielle's direction and walk toward her.

  Shaking her head, she said, " Please. Please don't."

  As they closed in on her, the Reaper stirs and looks expecting for the blood of Danielle to spill. Suddenly, Sherry cuts open her arm and allows the blood to flow. As she does this so does Mags. At seeing this, Danielle lets the blood flow. The Reaper gets angry. His eyes begin to glow red.

  "What are you doing?" He asks.

  "The test," Sherry says proudly, "You said one must bleed out, but we are sisters. We are one."

  Hearing these words make the Reaper even angrier. So much so that he shows his true form. It's Hades! This entire time he's been with them, pushing and pulling them into these trials. "So you came for the soul of Twilight?"

  "Yes." They say in unison.

  "You stand together? Even though she murdered your mother? You still stand with Danielle?"

  "Yes." They say together as a unit.

  " Even though she loves your husband?"

  "Yes!" They say in unison, " We are Amazon. We are sisters."

  "Well, I guess there's nothing for me to do except give you what you want, right? Wrong! You come here demanding something that isn't yours to ask for. It's mine." He laughs, " None of you will leave this place." He says that and Sherry lunges towards him with Mags and Danielle following close behind.

  The battle ensues, but it is a short one. As Hades easily stops their advances. They are weak from the blood loss and their journey has been great.

  He now stands over them, laughing and asks, " Which one of you want to die first?"

  They join hands and prepare for their last breath when a punch from the sky sends Hades flying.

  "I came for my wife’s soul." Comes a growl and a hard thud.

  It's Hybrid!

  Hades laughs, " So you to choose to die?"

  "No, I came to live." He lifts Twilight up to her feet, he looks into her hollow eyes and she coughs blood again. She's dying.

  Hades laughs, "Without her soul, she's an empty shell."

  "Your right." Hybrid responds, "Only you don't hold her soul. I do!"

  He kisses Twilight and a light appears around them and all becomes clear. Their bond! That's where her soul was.

  Hybrid and Twilight need each other like air. That's what was missing.

  She knows all! Her past, her present, and her future. The kiss engulfs them and they begin floating.

  Hades attempts to hit them, but they are completely protected by Diana, the true Queen of the Amazons and Daughter of Zeus.

  Diana grabs Mags and Danielle's hands. They all fly from the cave. Diana closes the gate and locks it. Then she begins to fade away into the darkness.

  She tells her girls that she loves them. Danielle apologizes to her mother and with a nod and a smile, she is gone.

  Hybrid holds his Twilight tight in his arms as they look over the mountain.

  Danielle grabs her sisters hands and whispers, " Rule together?" They each nod in agreement.

  As they return to their homes, Sherry, Danielle and Mags takes their rightful places as the Queens of the Amazons. They rule with love, peace and prosperity. Once again the land is filled with these.

  As for the hybrids, they fulfilled their destinies. They stopped the evil forces that tried to arise against them and their home. Aurora, the youngest of the hybrid clan, became a seer. She is able to predict the future and watch the realms. She helps protect them from Danger. Maggie's daughter, Ellie, became a great warrior in her own right, with wings of a dragon and the strength of a hybrid, she was nearly unmatched by all who opposed her. Legends are being written about her as we speak. As for the twins of Queen Mags, the story takes a turn, Alexander left to rule the north and Apollo to conquer the south. The brothers are not close, but if the need arises then they will be there for their mother. Mags found love in the arms of a fisherman. They live happy and long lives and no matter what the situation that arrives, her warrior spirit yet lives on. Danielle found happiness between her queenly duties and watching over her sisters. She stays quite busy. This leaves Hybrid who stands by the side of his beloved always. He always knew she was destined for greatness and now he has got to see everything full circle. He watches her when she sleeps as if she will never wake and when she's awake, he watches as if she will never sleep. Their love has stood the test of time!

  The legend says that the birth of the hybrid would bring peace to the realms. It speaks of how powerful this hybrid would be. She ( Maggie) would ride in the clouds on the wings of a dragon, but it didn't tell you the story of who would teach and raise her, of an Amazon woman who would fight heartache, demons and face even her own death. She was the reason this story was written and without her, the hybrids would not have saved the world.

  " I know because I'm her hybrid and I was there." Hybrid says with a secret smile.

  The End.