Images of battle flashed before his eyes. A glowing warrior clad in white light grappled with a figure that was shrouded in shimmering purple energy. The two battled across the side of a dark mountain. The very clash of their titanic battle illuminated the rocky slope around them like flashes of daylight in an otherwise dim, dismal world.
Something’s wrong.
As the epic clash unfolded, the sinister, energy-shrouded warrior gained the upper hand and the warrior of light lay on the ground in defeat. The light faded from the warrior, and he was replaced by a battered, bloody Orlon Rin. The other warrior mercilessly raised his blade to finish off his adversary, but paused with the sword high overhead.
I must save him.
Rushing forward, he struggled with everything he had to save Orlon Rin. Brilliant, burning light gathered in his hand in the form of a dagger and he clutched it tightly. Before the giant blade could fall on his master, he threw the shining dagger into the purple-shrouded warrior’s back and the man staggered slightly from his attack.
It’s not enough. I wasn't... strong enough.
The purple-clad warrior turned and with him came the blade that had threatened to claim Orlon Rin’s life. He stood, frozen and unable to move, as the blade came straight at him and pierced through his chest. An instant of pain was followed swiftly by a cold numb that spread through his body as he was lifted off of the ground. The purple energy disappeared from the warrior and revealed a man with black hair and a gentle face. The man’s tear-filled eyes were completely different than the monster that had been fighting Orlon Rin and he knew that the man was sorry for what he’d done.
I forgive you.
There was no time for him to worry about himself; he knew that he was going to die. He heard his voice struggling to beg for Orlon Rin’s life. As his vision faded, he saw the sorrow in the man’s eyes, and knew that his master would be safe.
Thank you.
Darkness enveloped him. In the distance, he saw a shining light brighter than the sun or any star, but it didn’t hurt his eyes to look at it. It looked so bright and warm; he could almost feel its heat through the vast darkness that separated them. The light beckoned to him with a voice that he couldn't hear but instead could feel. The light was as familiar to him as his own heartbeat, though he knew that he’d never seen it before.
Am I dead?
Before he could give in to its call, however, a shadowy voice called out to him from the darkness around him. The second voice he could both feel and hear, and he knew that he’d heard it before. It was a voice that had neither face nor body and yet whispered softly in his ear as if the speaker were standing just behind him.
“Excellently done, young one,” the voice explained to him.
“Who or what are you?” he asked the darkness, suddenly finding his own voice.
“I’m not sure that you’d be able to understand my answer to that question, so for now, we’ll say that I’m a friend.”
“What’s happening to me; am I dead?”
“No, not really; I’ve spared you that grisly fate.”
“Why, I don’t even know who you are?”
“You are the first to show such unwavering courage and devotion. These are essential qualities that I’ve spent countless years searching for, and now I’ve found them... in you.”
“But you kept telling me to run away and abandon my master. How am I supposed to trust you after the things that you've said?”
“It was necessary to test you. Had you turned away and run at any point, you’d have failed my test. Instead, despite my attempts, you refused to turn aside, and in the end you gave your life to help your master.”
“I thought you said I wasn’t dead!”
“You’re not,” the voice said resolutely, “at least not anymore. I require your help, so it was necessary to revive you.”
“What do you need my help for that’s so important? First, you put me through all of these tests, and then you bring me back to life. What do you want from me?”
“I’m trapped,” the voice whispered. “In truth, I’m a prisoner. A truly powerful demon holds me captive deep within The Nightlands and only you can free me.”
“What? How am I supposed to do that? I just died fighting a demon, and you were able to bring me back to life while you're still imprisoned. You must be amazingly powerful to be able to revive and then talk to me from across The Nightlands, so how can I defeat a demon strong enough to hold you captive?”
“I realize that it’s hard for you to believe, but you must believe it. I cannot explain my situation to you in any other way that you’d be able to understand.”
“You said that you’ve been searching for countless years for these qualities, just how old are you?”
“Ancient; even I am unsure of my true age.”
“Are you a demon?”
“No, I am not a demon, nor am I any other kind of dark creature that roams this world.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m trapped and broken and in desperate need of your help, that is all I can tell you.”
“Do you expect me to help you when you’re purposely avoiding my every question?”
“Yes, I know that you will. You’ve never been able to turn away from a person in need. I know you will not abandon me.”
“You don’t know that, there’s no way that you could know something like that? Maybe I’ll just go home and forget about this.”
“That’ll never happen and we both know it. If you decided to go home and abandon me, you’d torture yourself about it for the rest of your life. Abandoning the one that gave you your life back is not something that you're capable of.”
“This doesn’t sound like you’re asking for my help, it sounds like your demanding it.”
“Far from it, I simply understand how your mind works. Remember, you are the only one to ever pass my test, and I don’t make mistakes. That being said, the choice is still yours to make.”
Temin continued to stare at the shining light in the distance and felt his heart clench as he made up his mind. He doubted that he could survive such a journey into The Nightlands, but the voice was right: if he didn’t try, he’d never forgive himself.
Who or whatever this voice belongs to must really need my help if they’re willing to go to all this trouble to ask for it. I can't really walk away from this. I have to help; that's what a lightwielder does.
“I’ll help you,” he said stubbornly, “but not because you said so.”
“Of course,” the voice whispered.
“Now how do I get out of this place?”
“I wasn’t quite sure of that myself, but a solution has just happened to come wandering along.”
“What do you mean?” Temin asked in confusion.
Silent darkness swallowed his question. When no answer came, Temin grew agitated.
“Hello, where did you go? How am I supposed to get out of here?”
Temin raised his arms and they immediately struck stone. Suddenly, he became aware of the fact that he was lying on his back. Disoriented and starting to panic, he felt around him in the darkness and everywhere that he touched, he was greeted by unmoving, cold stone.
I’m trapped. Someone buried me. Is this another test? How am I supposed to get out of here?
Questions raced through his mind and his fear mounted. He was just about to start yelling when the stone to his left was suddenly carved away. Against the eerie glowing sky of The Nightlands, he could make out the figure of a man glaring down at him.
A horrible, hungry leer covered the man’s face for a moment, but as soon as he saw Temin, the man’s face quickly relaxed into a wide smile. A long, golden braid of hair dangled over the man’s silk-covered shoulder, but he swiftly stood up and swept it back behind him.
“I’m sorry, young man,” the smiling man said cheerfully. “I thought someone else was inside there, though, I can’t imagine why you’d be locked within a stone coffin. Lucky for you I wandered along.”<
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Prickles and chills ran up and down Temin’s spine and dread gripped him as he stared at the smiling man. The last time that he had encountered the man had been in broad daylight on the road with Orlon Rin beside him and he’d been frightened. Alone in The Nightlands, he was at a loss for how to describe just how terrified he was of the smiling man.
Where did he come from and why did he look at me like that? What was he thinking he was going to find in here?
“You should come out of there quickly, or you’ll freeze to death.”
Why can’t I stop shaking?
The smiling man didn’t move, but Temin suddenly felt something grasp him and pull him out of the sarcophagus. The invisible handler was powerful but gentle and Temin was quickly set down on his feet without injury. His legs continued to shake uneasily, but they managed to hold him in a standing position in front of the smiling man.
How did he do that just now? He didn't even move but he somehow moved me. Anedae protect me.
“What were you doing in there, boy?” the smiling man asked in a pleasant voice that seemed paper thin, like a pleasant perfume trying to hide a foul odor. “Where’s your companion from before, the blind lightwielder?”
“I don’t know,” Temin answered truthfully, surprised that he could find the courage to talk.
“Alone then, are you? Well then, why not travel with me for a bit? Company always makes a journey more enjoyable.”
“But you don’t know where I’m going,” Temin said timidly.
“True, but I get the feeling that you’re headed deeper into The Nightlands. What kind of person would I be if I left a helpless young man alone in such a dangerous place as this? What would people say about me? Besides, I don’t really have a destination myself; you could say I’m just wandering aimlessly.”
Who in their right mind would wander aimlessly into The Nightlands? There is something off about him, something terribly frightening, but maybe I should go with him. If he is this scary to everyone, maybe the demons will be too afraid of him to bother us. Besides, I don’t really want to be alone in this place and from what Orlon Rin said, this guy is quite powerful.
“So tell me young man, what’s your name?”
Temin paused warily for a moment before he replied, “Temin.”
“Temin? That’s a solid name for a wanderer,” the man said with a hearty laugh. “My name is Ducahn Lumin, an equally impressive name I must say. I am what you might call a lifelong adventurer, not a vagabond, don’t confuse the two, and I've come to this world in search of an adventure. What do you say? Should we go and find one?”
Temin continued to stare at the man in fear, his body shaking in terror. The man sounded jolly, almost comical, and nothing about him seemed threatening at all to Temin’s external senses, but his heart continued to be gripped by horrendous dread just being near the man. He remembered the terrible leer that the man had had on his face as he’d first opened the sarcophagus.
It’s like he’s more than one person, but I can only see the one on the surface. I’m not sure who or what Ducahn really is, but if he wanted to hurt me, I’m sure he would’ve already done it. I’m going to have to trust him, or I’ll be all alone here. I just wish that I could stop shaking.
“Well?” the smiling man asked.
“Okay, we can journey together.”
“Splendid, so where are we going?”
“I need to go deep into The Nightlands?”
“Oh, see, I knew it. What it is you're planning to do once you get there, your purpose so to speak, that I don't know.”
“There’s someone out there that needs my help, and I plan to give it to them.”
EPILOGUE
Devouring Darkness Page 55