The Darkest Light: Book 1 of The Inferno Prophecy

by Mulholland, Daniel

  Thirty-Five – Homebound

  I opened a portal first thing in the morning, the purple rolling fog filled with electricity as it crashed against the glass. We stepped through one by one, the portal led us into the empty council hall in the safe house.

  There was no one around, everyone must be sleeping. I sent my light out to make sure everything was okay. The first thing I noticed was the new people. More than thirty non-magi.

  "Bert has been hard at work." I tell the group.

  I sent my light out into the sanctuary using a pulse, in the light is one thought. Courtyard.

  I can feel everyone waking through the light, and they begin to gather in the courtyard. It takes almost twenty minutes for the entire safe house to gather, Bert is the last.

  There are whispered voices, no one knows what's going on.

  "Gray, Wident, Melanie and Phil. You will come with me into the courtyard, the rest of you wait here. I'll call you." I tell them, nods and murders of agreement.

  We head to the courtyard, when we steep through the stone archway the survivors cheer. The group of non-magi stand off to one side, unsure of what's happening.

  I walk straight to Bert and embrace him. I eye the non-magi. He nods and grins at me.

  "What a tale we have for you!" I tell the crowd. More cheering.

  I raise a hand to calm them.

  "Some of you know what our mission was, some of you don't. So, let me start from the beginning. I received a call from a very old warrior, a woman named Gandrea" a lot of shocked gasps at this, of course only a select few knew of this beforehand, "and so we set off on a trip to Arizona, where the vision called me. When we arrived, we faced an army, thousands of black cloaks stood between us and our destination."

  I let this sink in for a moment, a realisation that while we had been training and gathering forces, the darkness had been raising an army of unimaginable numbers.

  "The six of us fought our way through this army, decimation its forces. Half of them fled in fear. We made it to a small hut and I spoke the words of power. But nothing happened! The black cloaks closed in. Two of us were beaten unconscious. I lost myself. Only three of us fought on. And then we were surrounded. Our shields were faltering." I looked around at everyone now.

  "And then. In the sky above the desert; a roar, a tongue of flame. Beating of wings. And then it was above us. A Dragon!" I roared the last word. The crowd loved it. Shocked gasps followed by cheering, almost disbelieving.

  "It tore through the traitors with flame and tail, tooth and claw, leaving them in heaps of ash and writhing limbs. A Dragon! So, without further ado. Please give a warm welcome to the safe house to Gandrea!" I sent a small pulse of light with her name.

  A few seconds later she stepped out into the courtyard. No dragon. Good. She was going to develop the drama I had begun. The crowd went wild. Some whispered to each other while the others roared.

  "Thank you, thank you. Now. I have someone very important I want you all to meet. Thor!" Her final word a pulse also, I smiled at her.

  Thor came bounding into the courtyard, growing with every step. Soon he was close to full size and looking out over the crowd gathered before him. There was silence. And then looks of surprises. Smiles. And cheering.

  Thor had spoken to each of them privately, greeting them all personally. And they loved it.

  "Now, now. We're not finished yet." The crowd quietened, but the excitement was palpable now, it could be felt in the air. "Gandrea taught me and Katie how to master our abilities. So now I want to introduce you to an old face, and a new. Katie and Thin!" Another pulse as I called to them.

  Katie stepped into the hall with Thin wrapped around her shoulders, as soon as they were into the open the little cat sized dragon jumped off her shoulders and flew into the air spiralling up in a straight line, she began to grow to full size. And then she roared and a huge burst of flame exploded from her mouth, she began to glide back down, landing next to Thor. She turned on the crowd, and I knew she was greeting them all too.

  The crowd were crazed now, even the non-magi were roaring. Their homes and livelihoods had been destroyed, they had fled and went into hiding, barely surviving. A world of magic had come from nowhere and left their world on the brink of destruction. And then a new group met with them, asked for their help, told them they would fight the evil. And they had joined with us. And now, finally, hope. For everyone. Magi and non-magi. A Lightbringer and two Dragons.

  "But we're still not done! Now. I want you to meet someone that has been thought dead even longer than Gandrea. A man that has given more to the fight against the darkness than most of you will ever know, a warrior of unmatched skill, our saviour, the first Lightbringer. ACHILLES!" The last word rose into a scream and I threw my light into the world until an explosion of light rocked the safe house. Silence all around now.

  And then he stepped into the courtyard. Tall and broad. Powerful with every step. The crowd remained silent. No cheering. Just shock. Shock that the man that had saved them all and their world was now standing before them, returned from the dead when they needed him most. Everyone in the crowd watched them all with wide eyes. The first Lightbringer. Two Dragons. Two dragon born. And at the head of them all, the last Lightbringer, the king of all magi. And then they roared.

  I let it go on for a few minutes before raising my hand.

  "And now it's time for a council meeting. Thank you all for coming out this morning to greet us, but we must start planning our attack immediately." One more cheer and the crowd began to disperse.

  I nodded to Bert and we walked back into the safe house and to the council hall. Thin and Thor were on the table playing. Chasing each other and nipping each other’s tails.

  Katie and I sat at the top of the table, Gray and Melanie to one side, Wident and Phil a little further down. Bert's seat empty.

  Bert arrived a few minutes later with a non-magi in tow. He introduced the man as General Macklin. An ex-SAS commander. I liked him immediately. A tall man with a serious face and a kind smile. I shook his hand and told him to take a seat.

  "It's good that you're here, I think you will be able to help me with something. Ever since the fall of the magi, I've had an idea. A small elite force of non-magi. With guns." I tell the group. Mostly confused looks returned.

  "But how? How would a non-magi fight a caster? One blast of fire and they would be dead." Phil explains to me.

  "And that is why I have not put it into action before now. However. Now, now I have a crafting that can turn the tide." I tell Phil before turning back to Macklin. I see Gandrea smiling, even Katie is nodding now as she understands.

  "What if I told you I could make you impervious to all magical attack no matter how powerful?" I ask Macklin.

  He smiles. He takes a minute to fully think it over.

  "Can magic be used to stop bullets?" He asks me.

  "There are ways to stop or divert bullets, even destroy them mid-flight, however it is not something a magi normally wards against. If they don't know it's coming, there will be no defence." I tell him. He nods the entire time. He's excited now.

  "Then I think a small elite forced trained in SAS tactics would be devastating against magi." He tells me finally.

  "Good. Then go. Recruit any of the non-magi to your squad. And begin their training immediately. I will go to the smith and begin the craftings." I nod to him and shake his hand before he backs out of the hall.

  "Bert go with him, make sure the men he chooses are right for the task." I tell Bernie.

  He nods. "Of course, Thomas." And leaves the hall.

  "Gray, please meet me here in an hour." I tell Gray. Quickly nod at the others and then I lead Katie out of the hall. We make our way through the safe house to the smith.

  The walls are all lined with old oil paintings now, each painting is an Al-Kanea. A small pocket of the world inside each one, if you watch long enough you will see the pictures move. They are not animated. Inside each frame is an
actual snapshot of the world, or other worlds.

  We make small talk with people along the way, catching up with some of the Friends we made during our months training here. It takes us close to thirty minutes to make it to the forge. And when we do, it's packed with people.

  The smiths’ apprentices are hard at work. I see the smith sitting on a work bench, watching. He catches my eye and I give him a quick nod and we make our way into the back room.

  I give the smith a hug, so does Katie.

  "So, tell me, how goes our armour?" I ask him.

  "Thirty-seven suits as of this morning, soon we will have enough to cover our magi and our new non-magi friends." He sneered at the non-magi part. I wondered if he had something against them.

  "Perfect. I need the ten finest suits taken aside and kept back for me, I'll be back this evening to engrave them with a casting." I tell him and leave. I'm a little disturbed by his obvious malice towards the non-magi.

  I take Katie back to our room now. We eat some food and we talk. Soon it's time for me to meet Gray, I give her a kiss and leave.

  A few minutes later I'm sitting in the hall with Gray.

  "I need you to do something for me." I tell him

  "Anything, you know that." His reply.

  I nod. "I need you to go to London and scout the area around the old sanctuary. We will need to know exactly how many black cloaks are in the area before we make our way to the Vault."

  Thirty-Six – Reborn

  Gray was cold. Very cold. He was standing in the small living room of an abandoned house that lay in ruins. It was just up the street from where the old El-Assum safeguard once stood. And now it was just rubble and ruin.

  All around him the city was destroyed. Houses and buildings left crumbling and decaying as corpses lay in every street and house.

  Thomas had sent Gray on a mission to ascertain the number of traitors in and around the old sanctuary - for directly beneath the sanctuary lay the Vault of Souls. An old El-Assum ritual hall where the elderly gave their light away freely. A place the mighty provide the resistance with enough power to create a new army of magi to fight against the darkness.

  His mind was on Melanie now. He loved her. Her light contagious laugh warmed his heart, he shy smile, her dark emerald eyes. He definitely loved her. And she loved him. And that surprised Gray. He had never felt this way about a woman, it took him until the end of the world to find love. He chuckled at that. He was chuckling a lot more lately.

  He was also proud. Proud of himself. All his life he had strived to be the best he could be, the greatest caster of his house, finally, leader of his people. And he had achieved it all. But all of that paled in comparison to his new mission, to help the Lightbringer destroy the darkness. A calling of the ages, perhaps even destined.

  Gray could see two figures moving through the old sanctuary now, he ducked down behind the crumbling stone door frame. He pulled his light to each of his fists and poured it into a small, thin water shield. He could see the air blurring as the water surrounded him, he pushed his light back into the shield to thin it more so he could see through it clearly. He watched on as the two figures stepped around the rubble of the sanctuary and back out into the street. They were the first he had seen.

  They began making their way up the street, it was a long Street. It took a few moments for them to be close enough for Gray to make them out properly.

  He recognised on immediately and let his water shield drop, he sprang to his feet ready to sprint out to greet his old friend. But then he recognised the second man in all black. Asrath. He fell to his knees in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He refused. But there they were. Horal and Asrath. Together.

  Horal turned traitor? Gray thought to himself. It couldn't be. Not Horal. Horal had given so much in his fight against the darkness. His wife had been killed by a traitor a few years before. His son fell the following year. He was the last of his line now, because of the black cloaks. He would never.

  But here he was. With Asrath. Rage enveloped Gray. He pulled his light to him, a huge burst. He jumped out into the street and unleashed a stream of charged water directly at Horal. The water vanished.

  And then he was hot. He was burning. He could feel fire wrapping itself around him.

  "Horal!" Gray choked. "Why?"

  Thirty-Seven – A Long Night

  I was starting to worry now. It had been two days since I had sent Gray into London to scout the sanctuary. It was supposed to be a quick scout, a few hours. Get in, check the numbers of black cloaks and then portal back into the safe house. But Gray had not yet returned.

  I was sitting in the courtyard now, sending out pulses of light, pushing my limit. I had reached at least twelve miles now. But London was eighteen miles away, too far. I pulled my light back into my crown and did it differently. Instead of sending on slither out in a straight line and then arching it, I pulled on six strings of light and forced them to explode out instead of reaching slowly. The light shot away. I could feel it reaching out across the country side. And then I felt humans. The light had reached the outskirts of London now, four presences.

  All four were black cloaks, they were patrolling a small building at the rim of what used to be the city centre. Inside the building was a small pool of light, too small to be a magi. But I recognised the pool. It wasn't possible. The pool belonged to Donal, I had taken his light away. But that was his well. How?

  I pushed my light further in and felt three new presences, I recognised all three. I didn't understand at first, but then it dawned on me. Horal was alive! But he was being held captive by Asrath, and so was Gray. I could feel Gray's pain, he was wrapped in a sheet of fire. But...

  Horal was a fire caster, he was not imprisoned. Was he holding Gray? But why is Asrath free? Is Horal a traitor? I refused to believe it.

  I pulled my light back and sent a smaller pulse out to Achilles, summoning him to me.

  He arrived a few minutes later.

  "Achilles. I believe my old leader, Horal, may have turned traitor. He is holding Gray. With Asrath." I told him.

  Achilles shook his head and smiled.

  "No." his eyes were shining, "he stayed true. Thomas. At the first battle, myself and my best friend were approached by the light, it explained to us how the battle would be fought, and it gave us a choice. One of us would be the lightbringer, the vessel for the light for the battle - the lightbringer would pay a heavy price, they would sacrifice their ability to cast magic. But the fate of the other would be far worse. The other would have to bow to the darkness, allow his light to be corrupted, and would spend an eternity as a servant to the evil. The light gave us this choice. Asrath chose to be the pawn of the darkness, he sacrificed even more for this war than I did, more than anyone ever has, and I lost my greatest friend that day. The Light begged him to stay true, to remain good, despite all the hardship he would face. And he did; it would seem, I had doubted it. But then at the hut, he had abandoned the army. I think you guessed at the truth then, when he asked you if it was time. But he wasn't asking you, he was asking the light. And the light responded. I don't know what's happening with Gray, but Asrath is the truest of us all Thomas."

  This shook me, I had guessed something similar, I had guessed that the light was reaching out to Asrath, trying to lure him back to the light, but this truth was even bigger. Asrath was a great warrior, I had fought him for over an hour in the black house and he had bested me - with just a small amount of the power I had. With him beside us? Things were coming together now, pieces were moving into place and soon we would be ready to take on the darkness. There was just one more thing I needed.

  I nodded to Achilles. I stood up and moved back into the safe house. I make my way through the safe house until I arrive at my destination, it was a small hall near the council room, I had given this hall to Macklin and his squad. There were ten of them, including Macklin. They had been hard at work training for a few days now.

  I enter th
e hall, there is an obstacle course in the centre, the recruits were being pushed to their limits now, Macklin screaming at them.

  I chuckled as I watched, they were terribly scared of the ex-SAS Commander, and for good reason. Macklin was good at what he did, and what he did was bring men into line, he was an artist, a sculptor, and these men were his work.

  He notices me chuckling and smiles, making his way over.

  "What's up, Thomas?" he asks me, still smiling.

  "Just enjoying the show, General. How are they coming along?" I ask him.