Searching for Darkness

by Leah Ward

  Within a few minutes they flew over the cliff that Edwin remembered standing on when this entire ordeal began. So many memories flooded his mind from the sight of the cliff; he was almost scared of what might happen once he stepped inside that house.

  “There! It is there!” Edwin screamed, pointing towards a small house in a field, separated from the rest of the town.

  “Land further over there so he won’t hear us coming!” Edwin instructed, pointing towards the woods near the edge of their property.

  Satiya landed so softly that both Edwin and Lena were shocked she had even touched the ground.

  “Wait right here, I will be back.” Edwin said. Lena looked at him like he was crazy. “No, I’m going with you.” She said.

  “I’m sorry Lena but this is my problem to fix, and you are in no condition to come with me. In fact, Satiya can you take Lena to the doctor. The hospital is only a mile or two further into town, right past Town Square. I will meet you guys there.” Edwin said, his mind already made up.

  ‘Yes of course Edwin.’ Satiya said.

  Lena didn’t argue, she knew this would be better for them both, but she hated to not know what was going to happen. She wished she could give Edwin back up just in case.

  Edwin rubbed Satiya’s neck, and said, “Well, here goes nothing.”

  She nodded, and Lena could only look him in the eyes – she didn’t know what to say. As Satiya flapped her wings to fly away, Edwin was sure that he heard Lena said ‘good luck’.

  He turned around, faced the house and ran. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. When he reached the house, quietly he snuck around to the front door. Through the windows he could see his vision, acting itself out now. Agmund was in the kitchen, and the book was lying on the kitchen table. Edwin figured this was his best chance, to bolt through the door and blast the book with his fire.

  But, slowly he pushed the door open while Agmund had his back turned. When he was completely through the door, he crept towards the table. Just a few feet away from the book now… He lifted his hand…

  BLAST!

  Agmund had turned around and shot another bolt of paralyzing lightening out of his own hand. “Boy, how stupid are you?!” Agmund said, his voice raging with fury. He had missed Edwin by a smidgen.

  Then Agmund quickly picked the book up.

  “I can’t let you do this Agmund, you have already caused enough chaos to this world, and I can’t let you kill everyone who is left!” Edwin said, his voice firm.

  “Boy, I’m not going to kill them. I’m going to simply rule them. What fun would it be to rule a world with no one in it?” Agmund said smirking.

  “You aren’t going to rule anything.” Edwin said as his hand started to tingle from eagerness to burn the book to smithereens.

  Agmund snickered and lifted his hand, obviously done with listening to Edwin blather about ruining his plans. “Here’s to following your parent’s fate, step by step.” He said as he lifted his hand to conjure a permanent paralyzing potion.

  Before Agmund could strike Edwin yelled, and a stream of dark red fire came out of his hand, and came into contact with the book cover instantly.

  Agmund stared in disbelief, swatting the book, trying to put the fire out.

  “Do you know how the book is destroyed Agmund? Fire thrown by the Seer who found it.” Edwin said proudly.

  As much as Agmund covered the book, and even tried to douse the fire, it was incapable of being smothered. Agmund held the book close to his chest, realizing what Edwin had done, and that there was no way to undo fate.

  With his teeth clenched, and his eyebrows squinted, Agmund looked at Edwin with a fury that would have killed - if looks could.

  Before Agmund could strike, Edwin struck once more, this one full of the bottled anger he had held about his parents for so long. Another dark red flame burst out of his fingertips and drenched the book with fire. Not only did the flame cover the book, but it hit Agmund as well.

  The book fell to ashes in Agmund’s hands, and soon Agmund would do the same. He screamed with horror, begging for Edwin to put the fire out, to stop what he had done. Edwin tried to throw ice, or even an extremely cold wind to blow it out, but nothing worked. Slowly Agmund was devoured by the flames, but the flames didn’t stop there either. They spread to the floor, to the table, and soon to the rest of the house set to destroy all of the darkness within the house.

  Edwin ran to his room, grabbing anything of importance. He managed to collect a suitcase full of clothes, a few of his favorite books, his other pair of shoes, and a box of sentimental pieces of paper or jewelry that had belonged to his parents.

  By the time he was finished gathering his things, the flames had almost engulfed the house. He ran out of his room, dragging the suitcase behind him and bolted towards the door. Parts of the roof had caved in and were falling all around him. When he came to the door he opened it and jumped out. As he did, the rest of the roof that was remaining fell through and the walls of the house tumbled down with it.

  He kept running, afraid the fire would continue to spread, or that something may fall on him. Once he was far enough away and standing in the front yard, he turned around to look at the massive destruction behind him.

  As he watched the wood crumble to ashes and the smoke flair up into the sky, he thought about all the time he had spent with Agmund. Every meal Agmund had fixed for him, he never had to worry about food such as Lena did. Agmund ran their small farm, took care of every aspect, and the only thing he had asked of Edwin was for him to be home before dark.

  Every day the two of them walked to the cliff’s edge, talked and learned about each other, yet Edwin felt he hadn’t really learned anything about Agmund after all this time.

  He had had such a great father figure step up and come into his life, but for all the wrong reasons. Now what did he have? Nothing. He had no home, no parents, and no one to look after him. The only person he had in his life was Lena, who was struggling to survive, along with a white-scaled ginormous dragon to call friend.

  As he watched the fire, he realized that no one had noticed the smoke. No one had come to his rescue, or to see if everything was okay.

  He wondered if the world even knew of the disaster and chaos he just saved them. The earth continued to spin, and the population continued with its normality, while in the last week he had fought wolves and walking fish, stopped flowing lava in its path, trained a dragon for riding purposes, and defeated the darkest magician to walk the planet.

  Interrupting Edwin from his thoughts were sudden swooshes of wind. The leaves on the trees ruffled, the branches swayed and the smoke followed the breeze.

  And, just like that, the fire faded, the smoke evaporated, and the ashes flew out with the last gust of wind. It must have been Mother Nature’s way of saying Edwin’s troubles were being wiped away.

  Where there had just been a strong standing house only twenty minutes ago, there was nothing but a rocky ground, a smoldered foundation. Edwin’s jaw hung open in shock, as he stared at the physically pivotal moment before his eyes. Symbolically, he had just ended an old life, and began a new one.

  Lena!

  Edwin’s mind immediately wondered if she had made it to the hospital okay. He took off running towards the Town Square; trying to go faster than his legs could carry him.

  He ran past houses, farms, and the library that had given him a starting point for his journey. Still no one seemed to notice that his house had just burned to the ground, and that he was running covered in smut.

  Through the Town Square he darted, right up to the door of the hospital. He noticed Satiya wasn’t anywhere to be found, probably because it was too dangerous. He burst through the doors and begged the first few nurses that he saw to find his friend for him.

  “Where is Lena? She was bleeding badly? Wounds on her ribs?!” He questioned but none of the nurses seemed to know whom he was talking about.

  “She has to be here!” He yelled, beyo
nd frustrated at their lack of knowing whom he was referring to.

  Finally a doctor came up to him and put his hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “Son, are you alright? Why are you covered in smut?” He asked. Edwin completely ignored him.

  “Is there a girl that came in a little while ago? Long blonde hair? Wounds on her ribs, and she was bleeding badly?” Edwin asked impatiently.

  “Oh…yes…” He said and gently lowered his head, “You better come with me.”

  Edwin didn’t know how to respond, the doctor didn’t seem very reassuring that she was alright. They walked together slowly down the hallway.

  “So is she doing okay now?” Edwin asked, needing to know an answer.

  “She walked into the doors; I was the first one to see her as I was making my way down this very hall. She was drenched in her own blood, her face was as pale as a ghost and her lips quivered when she made eye contact with me. It was as if the world had been lifted from her shoulders. That she was so relieved she made it here, she fell to her knees. I quickly came to her attention, and one of my nurses helped to lift her onto a rolling bed. She had lost so much blood… We managed to clean her wounds and stitch her up but…I honestly have no idea how she managed to stay alive for that long.” The doctor said.

  They came to a stop in the hallway.

  “Wait, are you saying… She died when she stepped through the door?” Edwin asked, afraid of the answer. His heart was beating uncontrollably hard against his rib cage. His eyes began to swell up and he clenched his fists, fearing that he had lost the only other person on the face of the Earth that meant anything to him.

  “When she fell, she completely collapsed. My team immediately took her in and began working on her. She was dehydrated, lacked nutrition, and had lost so much blood that we were all baffled by her survival. Unfortunately, when we thought she had merely passed out, she had actually fallen into a coma. We tried waking her up, but voices, touching and even pain will not wake someone who is comatose.” The doctor said.

  “So what does this mean? Will she ever wake up?” Edwin asked, his eyes still swelling with unwanted tears.

  “Yes she may wake up, we can certainly be hopeful for that. She is stabilizing, and we have high hopes of her recovery.” He said, giving Edwin reassurance.

  “May I go in and see her?” Edwin asked.

  “Of course, there is a chair and it folds out if you would like to stay a while and keep her company. Are you her brother? Will her parents be arriving shortly?” The doctor questioned.

  “No sir… I’m all she’s got.” Edwin said sadly.

  “Oh…I see. Very well then…” The doctor said, and walked away to help another patient.

  Slowly Edwin pushed the door open; he walked in quietly and sat down on the chair next to her bed. He scooted the recliner closer, and grabbed her hand.

  Tears flowed from his eyes uncontrollably, “I’m so sorry Lena. I’m so sorry…” He said over and over.

  She didn’t wake or move a muscle. The hope inside Edwin’s heart wished that she could’ve just given him a signal, any signal. What he would give for her to just squeeze his hand, or smile at him to let him know that everything would be okay.

  Quietly he sobbed, his tears rolling off his cheeks and onto her skin. The sun set peacefully, and gradually darkness filled the window.

  CHAPTER 21

  3 Long Days Later

  Edwin was resting his eyes laying in the recliner next to Lena’s hospital bed. It had been three days; three very long days and there was no sign of her waking up. Edwin hadn’t left her side but a few times to use the bathroom and run out to get something to eat. Being that he had no money, he had to barter with the people selling bread in the Town Square, trading away some of his clothes. For fruit he found a few trees near the hospital and picked apples. Each time he picked a ripe one for Lena, just in case.

  Edwin could only hear silence, the screaming of silence. He wanted more than anything to hear talking, laughing, or any form of the two from Lena, yet nothing.

  He opened his eyes, and glanced around the room. Lena was in the same position, eyes closed. Her heart monitor beeped the same steady rhythm and her breathing was soft and quiet.

  Edwin closed his eyes again, day dreaming of their adventure they had had together. He was just beginning to drift when he heard a faint voice.

  “Edwin?” It said softly. At first he thought it was one of the nurses because it was so quiet he couldn’t hear any familiar distinctions.

  He opened his eyes, and looked around – no one was in the room.

  “Edwin, are you there?” It said again.

  “Lena?!” Edwin said ecstatically. His heart was pounding hard again, yet this time it was from excitement. He leaned over her bed, inches away from her face.

  “Say something again! Keep talking to me!” Edwin said, not containing his emotions in the slightest.

  “I made it to the hospital.” She said, lifting her head a few inches and smiling a smile that Edwin would cherish for a lifetime.

  She closed her eyes and put her head back down on the pillow. Edwin called the nurse in, just to make sure Lena was only resting, and no longer comatose.

  He went to the door and leaned his head out, shouting whispery, “Nurse! Nurse! We need you!”

  The nurse came rushing into the room, and Edwin told her how Lena had spoken to him and even lifted her head a little. The nurse called the doctor into the hospital room. The doctor checked Lena for responses, and when she cooperated Edwin thought that he might scream from over joyous relief.

  “She just needs to rest for a little while, and she should be back up and running soon. You’re very lucky.” The doctor told Edwin. Which, being lucky to have Lena was something he already knew.

  “Great doc, that’s really…great.” Edwin said, staring at Lena the entire time. He had never been happier.

  CHAPTER 22

  With each day, Lena grew stronger and stronger. By the second day after she had awoken, she was sitting up and talking to Edwin, laughing as if nothing had happened. Edwin told her of how he destroyed the book, but left off a few details: such as, Agmund dying with the book in his arms, and how he burned down his own house by accident. He figured it would be best to only tell her of the good news first while she was recovering.

  They talked about Satiya, and eavesdropped on the nurses’ conversations. Most of the time they would reminiscence on their exotic adventure together, and Edwin would tell Lena of the animals he had seen before she found him. Time flew by when they talked together, and before they knew it she was being dismissed from the hospital’s care.

  “So Satiya just landed in an empty field and you walked all the way here?” Edwin asked.

  “Yup, they said I passed out when I stepped through the doors. Lucky huh?” She said.

  “Yeah the doctor told me all about it when I got here. I know you couldn’t talk to Satiya but did she make any gestures about where she would go next? I wonder if we will ever see her again.” Edwin said, sad that he didn’t get to thank his dragon friend for bringing Lena to the hospital.

  “No not really, she kind of bowed her head, and then flew away.” Lena said.

  “Lena?” A voice said from the doorway. It was the doctor.

  “Yes doc?” She responded.

  “You’re all set to go. If you could come with me.” He said, and waved her and Edwin towards him.

  Edwin smiled at Lena, remembering how he had dreamed so many times of this moment the past five days. He scooped up his backpack full of clothes and what he had managed to grab before the flames claimed it.

  They both walked to the front desk where Lena had to sign a few papers, and Edwin patiently waited for her. He had no idea where he was going to go once Lena got home.

  They left the hospital, and started to walk towards Town Square. They had quite a ways back to Lena’s tree home. Edwin thought there would be no better chance than now to tell her of everything that happened with Ag
mund. Of course, if he didn’t do it soon, they would walk right past the burned house anyway.

  Lena started talking before he could say anything, but he hadn’t heard her for the loudness of his own thoughts.

  “So my stitches should dissolve in a few days.” She said eagerly.

  “Lena, there’s something I need to tell you.” Edwin said, not knowing where to start, and completely obviously that she had even spoken.

  “I’m listening…” She said.

  “Well… You know I told you I burned the book? Well…” Edwin said but didn’t get to finish.

  “Oh my God, Edwin! Are you saying you didn’t?!” She said, stopping dead in her tracks, mentally freaking out.

  “Oh no, no! I did! It’s just that Agmund refused to let it burn. He held it close to his chest and when I threw the fire, Agmund went down with it.” Edwin said, reliving the moment in his mind.

  “Wow… So he…” She said stuttering.

  “Yes, he died.” Edwin said.

  “That’s so terrible. I still can’t believe he did all those awful things. He killed so many people, and for what? For nothing.” Lena said, disgust in her voice.

  “So you had no idea he was Nefarious either?” Edwin asked.

  “No of course not, I just knew what he did to me and my mom, and that he practiced a lot of dark magic. I never knew he was this evil.” Lena said, still in shock.

  “Me either, well obviously I never saw it coming. In a million years I would have never even guessed that it was possible.” Edwin said, “How did he even get involved with that kind of stuff?”

  “I really have no idea. He never made any sense, and I was too young when he was around to understand anything. My mom wrote most of this stuff down in a journal and when I learned to read, I learned all about the ‘man’ my father was.” Lena explained.

  “Oh I see” Edwin said simply.

  “Apparently he would leave my mom and me for days at a time. Each time she had hoped that he wouldn’t come back but he always did. He always told her that it was something he had to do, that he didn’t want to but he was forced to…I guess deep down she loved him, but it would be much easier if he left her, than the other way around. Especially, since he was so violent.”