Searching for Darkness

by Leah Ward

  A man and woman stood on the side of a mountain, in search of the cave that contained the Book of Darkness.

  ‘Nefarious, don’t do this.’ The woman said.

  ‘I have to; I cannot let you destroy the book. I cannot let the fates come true.’

  ‘You do not control the fates; destiny makes its own path no matter what you choose.’

  Anger rose within Nefarious and fire flashed. The man and woman were burned to nothing but smoldering ashes. The book remained safely hidden inside the cave, and Nefarious disappeared.

  CHAPTER 13

  Edwin gasped and awoke in the middle of the night from an intense dream. He knew it had to have been a vision of the past, yet unfortunately it only consisted of voices and landscape. Edwin would have loved to have seen a visual of his parents.

  After awakening he realized he was curled up to Lena, almost spooning her. He debated on moving or not, not knowing if Lena would find it awkward or annoying if she woke up and found him so close to her. He decided it best to move rather than risk possibly being yelled at. Lena still frightened him, which was probably because he was fearful from being tied up and dragged by her.

  Slowly he inched away, yet there wasn’t anywhere to move to. Once he had put enough space in between them for it to be reasonable, he laid his head back down and tried to fall asleep.

  In the morning the sun trickled through the cracks of the rock and shone on Edwin’s face. Sleepily, he woke to find he was alone. Terrible thoughts ran through his head immediately, but he pushed them aside. The backpack was still there, but her bow was missing. He figured Lena was most likely hunting for breakfast, or gathering berries and other fruits.

  He crawled out of their hiding spot and noticed there was no sign of snow or leftover hail. He expected to look out and see a white wonderland, with a thick glaze of ice over it, but it wasn’t anything like he assumed. It was actually incredibly warm outside, enough to where he knew soon he would be sweating. His eyes searched for Lena, but they couldn’t find her.

  He rolled the blankets up and put them back in the pack and slung it over his shoulder. Unanimously he decided to walk just a little ways to see if he could spot her.

  Trying not to stray very far, he kept a close eye on their spot in case she returned from a different direction. A hundred yards or so away he heard flowing water. He followed his ears, he was parched and the thought of water made him immediately perk up. When he reached the water’s edge he found Lena’s bow leaning against a tree on the shore, but she was nowhere to be found. Why would she just leave her bow and arrows and wander without them, he thought.

  Right next to the bow, on the other side of the trunk was Lena’s shirt and pants. The clues were adding together quickly in Edwin’s head, and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

  Lena’s head suddenly popped out of the water, where she had been underneath all this time.

  “Edwin? What are you doing?!” She ducked back into the water up to her chin. The water here in this part of the forest wasn’t as clear as in the other part, so Lena was safely hidden.

  “You were missing so I came looking for you, to make sure you were alright…” Edwin said, not sure of Lena’s mood.

  “I am taking a bath, I hadn’t taken one in a few days and I know this part of the river is safe. No piranhas, no worries. Well, for the most part anyway.” Lena said.

  “Oh good, my last experience in the water wasn’t the best.” Edwin said jokingly, looking around at the trees to avoid looking in her direction.

  “Well, I don’t want to sound rude but, could you, by chance, go away?” Lena said, waving her hand as she spoke.

  “Oh, yeah, sure,” Edwin said nervously, his cheeks flushed with red.

  “Then you can get in and take a bath. Not that you need it or anything…” She said, completely sarcastic.

  Edwin did need a bath; he was filthy from head to toe and hadn’t taken one since he left. He walked a few yards away and had his back towards Lena the whole time. She got out of the river, dressed herself, and came over to where Edwin was.

  When he turned around to face her he was taken aback. Her hair was soaking wet but still wavy. The little streaks of brown were still in her hair so Edwin at least solved the dilemma of whether it was actual dirt or not. Her skin was cleaned of the dirt marks and she somehow smelled of freshly picked flowers.

  “I packed a soap bar for you, it’s in the backpack. There should be a washcloth too. Have fun!” Lena said as she went to grab her bow.

  Edwin sat the backpack down and got out the cloth and soap. He was incredibly nervous to get back in the water after his first experience. He was also shy because Lena was still standing there.

  She noticed his hesitation. “Don’t worry. I’m going to go hunt for our breakfast.” She said as she grabbed an arrow from her back, readied her bow and walked off.

  Once Lena was out of sight, Edwin faced towards the river. Slowly he took his pants off and his shirt, and tiptoed into the water. It was warm compared to what he thought it would feel like. The sun was beating on his back as he walked further, making the river feel refreshing.

  Inch by inch he went in, until he was up to his shoulders. He took his hands and made a bowl shape. Dipping his hands in, he slurped the not-so-clear water, only enough to semi quench his thirst. Then he took the soap and washed his body. The water relaxed his muscles and by the time he was finished, he felt recharged, and smelled a lot better not to mention.

  Lena came back after what felt like twenty minutes or so, holding a lifeless medium sized rabbit by its hind legs.

  “I got breakfast!” She yelled to Edwin who was still in the water. Shyly he bent down and ducked his head in up to his nose at the sound of her voice. He looked out towards the opening in the woods to see her holding the rabbit above her head, proudly parading around their breakfast. He walked out of the water and the sun started to dry him instantly. He put his clothes back on, grabbed the backpack and walked to catch up with Lena.

  In that amount of time she had already gathered a few sticks, made a teepee style campfire, and had the rabbit halfway skinned. Edwin noticed that she had also rolled her pants up into shorts, trying to accommodate to the weather. Before Edwin reached her, he rolled up his own pants trying to make it seem like he had thought of the idea before he had seen her do it.

  He got the matches out from the backpack and lit the fire for her. By now she had the rabbit skinned, had detached the legs and separated parts of lean meat from its back.

  “Wow that was fast, you are really good at that.” He said to her. “Well, when you’ve been doing something for years you kinda get used to it.” She replied.

  They both put their rabbit meat on a stick and let it roast over the fire. While they were waiting for it to cook, Edwin asked about the next part of their journey. “Where do we go from here?” He said.

  “Well we will follow the river upstream the rest of the way. It will lead us up to the mountain areas. The cave sits on a flat surface near the top of the mountain. The only way to reach it is to climb, though. So that should be fun.” Lena said.

  The mountains were in the nearby distance so Edwin knew the hike upstream couldn’t be that long.

  “Fun? Climbing up the side of a mountain? Are you insane?!” Edwin said, terrified from his last experience of almost falling off the side of the cliff.

  “Well, it gives a great view at least. Plus you should be happy, the journey is almost over!” Lena said. Edwin wasn’t sure how he felt about her last sentence. What would happen afterwards? Would he just go home to Agmund and pretend like everything is back to normal? Would Lena go back to her tree home in the middle of the forest, continuing to live her days in solitude? Lena spoke again when she saw that Edwin was staring at the rabbit meat.

  “What are you thinking about?” She asked.

  “I’m just wondering what will happen afterwards. I can’t imagine how much trouble I’m going to be in when I get home.
And you...what will you do? Go back into the forest and live in your tree house alone?” Edwin said.

  Lena didn’t know what to respond. She hadn’t really thought about anything afterwards. She normally was like that though, never thinking of the next day, only enjoying the present day she was in.

  “I don’t know really. I guess we will have to see what happens when the time comes.” She said simply.

  Her voice assured Edwin that everything would work out the way it was supposed to. The faint smile after her reassuring words only made him feel that much better.

  Lena pulled out a canteen that she had filled earlier with water from the river and sat it next to them. Edwin felt gross drinking from the water he had bathed in, but he didn’t have a choice.

  The rabbit was cooked by now, and they both pulled the tender meat off the stick and ate it. It didn’t take long until they were finished, wishing they had more.

  Lena got up and kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out. “Well, let’s get going,” She said to Edwin.

  They started their journey following along the edge of the river upstream. Edwin thought about the dream he had last night, wishing that it had been more visual. “I think I can see in the past too.” He said, seemingly random.

  “You can? How do you know?” Lena asked, curious of what he saw. “I could hear Nefarious and my parents talking but they were muffled, and I couldn’t see them, only the side of the mountain where the cave is, I think.” Edwin said.

  Lena didn’t respond but only shook her head. She squinted her eyes and puckered her lips a little like she was thinking. Then finally she looked at Edwin and said, “Interesting…” as she stroked her pointer finger and thumb against her chin.

  “Why is that interesting?” Edwin asked worriedly. Lena looked around, still rubbing her chin.

  “No reason,” She said simply and changed the subject. Even when Edwin asked her again to explain, she wouldn’t.

  After about two miles of walking they saw a black shadow cast over them and when they looked up the sun was covered. “Uh oh…” Edwin said aloud.

  Lena looked at him and the two had the same expression across their face, fear. Without saying a word they both took off sprinting along the river, trying to stay hidden under the branches and large leaves of nearby trees.

  The dragon roared, which they took as a sign saying ‘yes I am coming after you’.

  If they weren’t positive that it was following them from the roar, the spitting of fire in their direction now convinced them. It caught the nearby trees and brush ablaze, making adrenaline rush through their bones. They were running faster than they thought fear could carry them. Smoke filled the air making it harder for them to breathe. They pressed on, desperate to escape the flames.

  The dragon swooshed down, narrowly missing trees or getting entangled in the vines. For a creature of its size, she was incredibly agile.

  ‘Stop running!’

  Edwin looked up and around, where did that voice come from? “Did you hear that?” He yelled to Lena as he jumped over a fallen tree trunk. She looked at him as if he was insane, “What? The dragon roaring at us before it mauls us to death?! Yeah I heard!” She yelled back to him.

  He knew it was impossible, but he could have sworn the voice had come from the dragon…

  ‘You are a Seer; nothing else could have burned him like that. You killed my child, and now it’s time for you to suffer the same way that he did!’

  Edwin’s stomach dropped. As if the dragon was screaming at the top of her lungs in anger, she let out the longest constant stream of fire Edwin thought imaginable.

  Sprinting at full speed will take its toll on even the strongest of athletes, and Edwin was no athlete. Him and Lena both slowed as smoke filled their lungs from their deep breathing. It was so powerful that Lena completely stopped and fell to her knees. Fire surrounded them, they were completely disoriented.

  “Do you hear that?” Edwin shouted.

  “No?” She shouted back.

  Exactly, Edwin thought. Besides the crackling of the forest fire, everything was silent. No dragon’s roar, no more flames being thrown, no swooshing from the dragon flying too low. It was too quiet.

  “We’ve got to go, now!” Edwin said as he pulled on Lena’s arm for her to move.

  Before they could think of where to move to a loud crashing noise came from behind them. Bursting through and knocking over several trees came the dragon at full speed. If Edwin had blinked in that moment he would have missed the entire ordeal.

  The dragon swung one of its massive claws, hitting Lena directly in the back. The other claw grabbed Edwin. The feet were so large that the claw wrapped around his entire body, entrapping his arms by his side.

  He saw Lena’s body fly through the air like the dragon had swatted a fly. She landed on the edge of the river and didn’t move; her eyes were closed. Edwin screamed helplessly. He yelled Lena’s name, but she didn’t respond. He hoped with all that was within him that he could see her wake up, and know that she hadn’t instantly been killed - that there was at least some chance for her to live. Yet, as he was carried off into the distance he saw no sign of her movement. He traveled so far so quickly that soon, he could no longer see her at all.

  He desperately blinked his eyes, hoping that this was just another vision and if he came out of it quickly, that he would be able to save them from this fate before it was too late.

  The more he blinked, the more he realized that this was no vision, this was his unfortunate reality, and none of his gifts would be able to save him this time.

  CHAPTER 14

  Dazed and confused she opened her eyes, very slowly. Her body ached with wretched pain. The taste of blood lingered on her tongue and teeth. She realized that she was lying belly down on the ground, and tried to lift her head. Her head felt as if it was fifty pounds or more, making it impossible to stay up longer than a few seconds. When it fell back towards the ground, she stopped and took a few shallow inhales. It hurt immensely to breathe.

  “Where are you taking me?! Why didn’t you just kill me like you did my friend?!” Edwin shouted at the dragon.

  ‘Because I want to savor you.’

  Edwin was enraged. He felt his hands warming, preparing to burst into flames. He wanted to control it, but it was no use. His mind wasn’t in control, his anger was.

  With all his might, his hands sprang open from the claw’s grip and fire shot from his palms up towards the belly of the dragon. Edwin began free falling from the dragon’s clutch, yet his concentration was never broken. A stream of fire was still burning into the dragon’s belly.

  The dragon roared with pain, and circled back down to grab Edwin once again. The claws reached and plucked him from the sky, holding a much tighter grip this time. So tight, that Edwin could barely breathe.

  Once again Lena tried to position herself upright. Her arms were like noodles, but struggling, she managed to lift up onto her knees. She took her hand and brought it around to her back to take off her bow and her canister of arrows. They had luckily taken most of the blow. When her hand slid back around her side, she looked to find it covered in blood. The claws had missed the center of her back, but had cut into her ribcage.

  Her breathing escalated as she began to panic. Darting her eyes around for Edwin she found nothing but his backpack. Then she recalled how the dragon had taken him, and apparently his backpack had been stripped from him.

  She crawled to the pack and pulled out one of the blankets. Ripping it into a slim but long piece, she wrapped it around her sides and tied it in front of her. At least it would soak up the blood and serve as a little pressure for the wounds to stop bleeding.

  Looking into the sky she saw no sign of a dragon, or its nest or lair. She had no idea where it had taken Edwin, and she had no idea what to do next.

  Edwin’s adrenaline lit his hands with fire, but he wasn’t strong enough to break free of the grip again.

  Soon though, the dragon slowe
d and came to a landing on the side of a mountain. It dropped Edwin a few feet, down onto the solid rock. Edwin rolled and flattened, as if he were made of molding clay.

  The dragon landed a few feet beside him, and intensely stared down at him, knowing this would be too easy. Edwin stood up, preparing to not go down without a fight.

  From the cave behind the dragon, a bird very similar to the one that had attacked Lena yesterday walked out.

  ‘This is my other child. You killed his brother’

  “Look, a dragon attacked my friend, what was I supposed to do?!” Edwin angrily yelled.

  The dragon ignored Edwin for a moment, and then spoke louder than ever, in a raspy deep voice.

  ‘You burned my child to death, now my child is going to burn you. The fate you caused for another is the fate you will be given!’

  She then moved out of the way, and gave what Edwin thought was a signal for the baby dragon to attack. The baby dragon started to spit fire, not as strong and heavily as the mother dragon, but to the same effect. Edwin ran in circles, weaving back and forth trying to dodge the blows, until one caught his arm.

  The outer side of his bicep was singed, and the flesh immediately turned bright red. Edwin yelped with pain, and clenched his upper arm.

  The baby dragon inched closer, like a cheetah about to strike at its prey.

  Fury rose within Edwin. First his parents were killed, and then quite possibly Lena. Now it looked as if it was his turn. He had been through so much the past few days; this was the final straw. Lifting his arm, he yelled as sharp icicles flew from his fingertips, stabbing the baby dragon multiple times all over his body. They came out of Edwin’s hands like bullets from a machine gun. The dragon was knocked off its feet and fell backwards. Scampering around, he managed to maneuver behind his mother, who was watching outraged and dismayed.

  She slowly made her way towards Edwin, each foot pounding into the ground below her. Edwin’s legs quivered from lack of stability. He stood firm in his position however, and blasted icicles once again. They didn’t have the same affect; they were like small needles to the tough skinned dragon. Edwin began to panic, and the mother dragon charged.