Light and Darkness
Prologue
A wave of pain washed over me as the heat became unbearable. I was sweating bullets, and my long black coat was only making things worse.
I reached inside my coat and brought out my only possession: a large knife with a curiously shaped blade. As the heat rose, I saw it begin to steam.
I needed to get out. Now.
"You cannot escape us, Kylar Deatheyes!" a voice called.
Another voice chimed in, one that I knew well but couldn’t remember.
"I'm sorry, Kylar, but this needs to be done." The voice seemed to taunt me, sitting just beyond my memory. Not that I had a memory anymore.
I had woken up this morning in this cell with a blank mind. No memory. Just a black coat, a knife, and a perception in my grey eyes that no other man had.
The door wasn’t blocked, but every time I tried to exit a fireball came through. But now I had no choice: run or die. I took a step out, and was nearly knocked over by a ball of flame. In a reflex action, I hurled my knife at the man who had launched it from his spinning Charkams, knocking him down.
Another man walked slowly towards me, showing no sign of fear at all. On the contrary, he seemed to inspire me with a feeling of… no, not fear exactly, but apprehension. "No matter who you kill, no matter what you do, you cannot escape your fate, Kylar Deatheyes. You are still only a boy". He seemed to speak into my mind.
I ground my teeth. "Don’t call me that!" I yelled. I knocked him down and stared into his eyes. One of my powers was the ability to see into people's soul, and see what crimes they had committed. This man was… Empty. I could see no soul in his eyes, no crimes, no events, no good deeds, nothing. It was as if he had no soul, but that couldn't be possible… Could it?
Then I saw a large spiked axe come swinging at me. It caught me on the ankle with the flat of the blade, tripping me, but I lashed out with my knife twice, which gave the man wielding the axe an X shaped cut on his forehead. He cried out: "How could you strike your own father in this manner?" I ignored him. Until I was safely away, he was not my father.
I leaped over a broken wall, barely avoiding a blonde girl with bladed steel knuckles. She seemed startled. "Kylar, I thought you were-"
I swerved around her, and dodged away. There was an explosion behind me, but I didn’t heed it. My entire mind was focused on escape. Then a buffet of cold water struck me with such force that it lifted me. I saw the edge of a building as I flew over it. Then I was falling. I barely caught onto a railing on the edge of the opposite building, and I chanced a look back. I saw four men and one girl all dressed in long black coats standing at the edge of the balcony, hoods hiding their faces. I dropped from the building onto the back of a passing wagon. Exhaustion took me then, and I slept. When I woke, the wagon had stopped, and I was in the royal city of
Chapter 1
Any child who looked at me that first day must have instinctively known that I was trouble: I nearly got attacked several times. But the kids weren’t the worst: I was homeless, with no money and no hope of regaining my memory, and with a dangerous enemy. Worse, I couldn’t remember who they were.
That night, I slept in a doorway. When I woke, it was to a stern lance guard hovering over me.
"You can't sleep out here, son." He said. He was a gray-haired senior officer, and had probably thought that I was a runaway.
"Uh, sorry." I said as I got up. I started walking away but I felt suddenly weak and drained. I fell, and I heard the guard say "Poor kid" as unconsciousness took me.
I awoke to find myself in warm sheets and a soft bed.
"What the heck-" I stopped, because I heard voices from the outside. I could only hear bits and pieces of what they were saying.
"An unusual boy… Black coat… Strong and agile from his looks…" I slipped out of bed, snatched my clothes from a chair by the bed, and crept to the doorway.
"I'm sure he'll be just fine." A woman of about thirty-five stood with her back to the doorway talking to a man at the door. "I know that he's a runaway, Jesse, but you can't take him to the orphanage. Besides, if he ran away from home, how long would it take his parents to find him?"
"'His parents', as you call them," I interrupted, "Are his mortal enemies. And I'm not going to any orphanage."
The woman turned around, surprised. What I probably looked like, standing there in my black coat and gloves, with cold grey eyes and an expression to match, was a cultist with the fervor of a fanatic. The man at the door took that opportunity to exit. I could see her debating whether or not to comment on my appearance. I didn’t give her a chance.
"Where am I?"
"You are in Mel-Hale." The woman said. "You were brought to me by a guard I know, who said you were a runaway. You were sick, but He refused to take you to the doctor because he thought your parents would find you."
I sighed with relief. They weren’t suspicious. Although I wanted to find out who I was, I knew that I wasn’t normal. No one with powers such as me could ever be normal: that was the one thing that stuck in my head.
"And what are you going to do?" I asked.
"I simply planned on trying to give you a normal life." The woman said quietly.
I held out my hand. "What's your name?"
She shook my hand. "Blue."
"How do you do that?" She asked as I gazed into her eyes and felt my eyes go blue as I saw her soul bared before me. "Why do I feel as if you were probing my soul, and searching for something?"
I shook my head. "I can see the souls of people, what they have done, and all their crimes. Be glad, though: you have passed the test. I believe you."
She blushed, and surprisingly seemed unsurprised by my power. "You were wearing these when you were found." She held up a pair of words on a chain. They read "Arc Caster."
"Is that my name?" I asked myself. Something inside me said yes.
Three years I stayed with Blue, learning the ropes, figuring out how to live, and learning to wear something other then black. In time, the memory of my escape faded, although it did not go away entirely. I turned 19, and became a man. I took up training with a master swordsman, known as the Sandtiger for killing a pair of sandtigers in their lair when he was only 16, and he still had the claw scars on his face to prove it, as well as a necklet of claws taken from his vanquished foes. Those years passed quickly for me, and the day came when I knew that I needed to leave the fortress city of
"You're from Elanor."
"Elanor?" I asked. "How?"
"Your accent." She shrugged. "You have lost your memory, that much I can tell by the vacant expression in your eyes, but there is something deeper there, something else." When I said nothing, she placed her hand on my shoulder. "You were born for great things, Arc. Make me proud." She seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "You've been like a son to me Arc. I want you to know I'm as proud as any mother could be. I love you like a son. I hope you find what you're searching for. I want you to be my son." Before I left, I embraced her, the closest thing to a mother I had ever known.
She had called me her son.
I travelled west, towards my hometown of Elanor.
Chapter 2
I arrived in the outskirts tired, dirty, but happy. Here at last I had a home, somewhere that could be a link with my lost memories.
I felt the weight of the sword I carried, Rainer, the hilt of the blade where the tip should be when you wear it on your back. It was a secret of mine to have the sword reversed. My way, your hand had merely to move a couple inches up and back, while with a conventional shoulder-harness for the sword my hand would have to travel up to shoulder level. It saved precious milliseconds, which were vital in warfare. It could mean the difference between life and death. Rainer was also a dual-blade: it could split down the center if you wanted it two, giving you two swords with which to fight. It had been made for me by the Sandtiger himself, as a reward for completing his advanced training.
I was standing on the
"Well, what do what we have here?" I asked pleasantly.
"It appears that you have a young lady by her shoulder, sir." She was good. Smooth in a crisis, she knew how to turn it back on another.
"Why were you stealing my bag?" I asked her bluntly.
"What do you care?" she asked defensively. "You just want to turn me in."
"It all depends." I looked into her eyes, and felt my eyes flare blue for an instant as I looked into her soul. Her eyes were a stunning green, to contrast her fiery red hair. "Are you trustworthy?"
She put a hand to her forehead and broke my intense stare. "Stop looking at me like that."
"I can see that you have lied in the past, Vi." I was not unduly bothered. "But I don’t think you want to lie anymore. Not until you learn how to master a sword, that is."
"How do you know me?" She demanded.
"I can see your soul in your eyes, Vi." I said gently. "You haven’t had an easy time. Here" I tossed her one of my few gold pieces. "That should take care of you for a bit, anyway. By the way, would you happen to know where a good inn is?"
She pointed down the road, and for the first time smiled. "Whats your name?"
"I am known as Arc Caster."
"Well, thanks." She handed me a small copper charm. "When you get to the inn, show the innkeeper this, and say you’re a friend of Vi's. He knows me."
"Bartending doesn’t pay all the bills, I see."
"You have no idea. I might see you there if your still there tomorrow."
"I don’t let people run around with my secrets." I warned. "If you tell someone about me seeing souls, I will find you. Don’t worry, I'll be there tomorrow."
She hesitated before continuing on her way. "I don’t know what it is about you, but something tells me to keep your secrets. Don’t worry, I promise not to tell anyone. And I always keep my promises."
I nodded before leaving. "I'll hold you to it."
The next morning I awoke at the inn. Having acquired a place to stay, my next order of business was finding work, and a teacher. It was my ambition to become a Shaka'Do, which was sort of like an assassin who worked for the kingdom, only far, far more skilled. "Assassins have targets," my old teacher Sandtiger had told me once, "Because assassins sometimes miss. A Shaka'Do has deaders, because the person they are after is dead, they just don’t know it yet." It also was training for rigorous warfare, and only the finest warriors completed the two year training course.
"So, the famous swordsman has arrived."
I smiled at Vi as I sat down at the bar. "How about a light breakfast before I die of starvation, oh bartender?" I teased. "Good morning to you too, Vi."
She shouted something towards the cook's chambers. Then she turned towards me. "So what's up? Why did you come to Elanor?"
"Not again." I wagged my finger at her. "I never let anyone know my business until I know some of theirs."
"You are smart." She giggled.
"Well, it's not like your stupid." I grinned. "I'm planning to become a Shaka'Do."
A slight hush fell around me. From that alone, I could tell that Shaka'Do's weren’t popular, even if they were honored.
"Well, good luck." She punched me playfully. Then she drew close and whispered in my ear. "I'm free after three in the afternoon. Can you meet me at the central fountain?"
"All right, but why?" I asked.
"I'll keep your secrets," she said with a devilishly attractive smile, "if you show me how to use a sword."
I waited for Vi at the fountain, and found her to be chronically on time, almost to a fault. Still, the lesson went rather well, although we didn’t hang around the center for our lesson. Instead, we went to a nearby shack, and practiced away from the public eye. Vi seemed to have a natural talent for the sword, and she did extremely well. However, she still didn't know the art of war, and she wanted me to teach her that. It was hard, but in the end, I ended up learning as much at she did.
In return for my efforts, Vi taught me stealth. How to creep through the undergrowth silently, how to leap from one tree to the next using only one arm and two feet so you can hold a weapon in the other hand. How to make yourself nearly invisible by blending in. She also taught me the arts of theft and smuggling. I wondered where she got it all from, but there was no doubt that she had done it before. I saw her as a soul treated unkindly by the world, and this was her effort at redemption. At least, when I was with her she wasn’t out robbing someone. She was an honor to be around, a person to die for.
Chapter 3
"Keep the blade up!”
I raised my sword Rainer to meet my trainers challenge. Two whole years had passed since my arrival in Elanor. I began to feel that I had made a life for myself.
Clash! Sword crashed on sword as the final test of my abilities went on, as it had been for the last ten minutes. My instructor was my last opponent as I tested myself to see if I was worthy of the title Shaka'Do.
"Feet never flat, up, up!”
I twisted my sword in a spinning figure eight that ended with an upward twist. My trainer, Reynar Thule, parried with a peculiar thrust. I leapt in, out, and to his left. His two handed battle blade swished harmlessly over my head. I brought my blade to his throat.
"You have proven yourself worthy of the title Shaka'Do." My instructor said. Then he jerked me forward. "Come. There is not much time, and I can feel that you are the one whom I have been keeping this for."
I followed him to the back chamber of the training hall. There, in a glass case, was a strange sword, with a name inscribed upon it.
"'Shear'" I read. "But Shear is the name of the legendary Sword of the Night Angel. How did you get this? And why give it to me?"
"Many years I have been its guardian." He said sadly. "And its wielder. When I grew too old to use its power, I laid it down for the next one to come. You are the successor who I seek. Look." He grasped my arm and showed me two red scars, like a large bite on my forearm. "The mark is left only by the Fangs of Shear." He pointed at the two curving teeth near the end of the blade. "You have felt its bite before, though you do not remember now. And you have the power of a Night Angel."
"A Night Angel?" I asked. "What is that?"
"A Night Angel is a man whose job it is to weigh the guilt in a man's soul, and deal out judgment accordingly. Only you and I are able to see men's souls and their crimes. You are the last Night Angel, and you bear the mark of the Fangs of Shear. This sword is yours!"
I was speechless. The older man laughed. "You are wondering how I knew of your power. It's in your eyes, when they blaze as you read someone's soul. Go now, and take up Shear!"
"Hold up." I stopped him. "What makes you think that I am the one to take up this sword? What am I supposed to do, become a vigilante? I will not kill for pleasure, old man."
"No." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "You are a meter out of justice. I was the last Night Angel, and I alone know the power that Shear contains. When you see the crimes in a man's eyes, you will know what you need to do; but not before you commit a crime of your own."
"What? What crime?" I asked, confused.
"Shear is an extremely bloodthirsty sword. It possesses a soul, and you may find that at certain times it may speak in your mind. At all times that you hold it, you can feel what it is feeling. Shear enjoys nothing more then being stabbed into a body and drenched with blood. It will affect the way you think about killing. Be cautious, but know this: I have named you the Night Angel, and you can no longer pretend that you are a normal person. You have a destiny apart from other men." He turned and showed me to the door. "I hope that you will make me proud."
"But I don’t want to be a Night Angel!" I protested.
"You must, Arc Caster." The old man sighed. "you are branded with the mark. You must do it, or Shear will consume you." With that he shut the door on me and I was left alone in the street.
At about six o' clock pm, I walked into the inn where Vi worked and I stayed. "Give me the strongest drink you have, Vi, I don’t think I'm sober now and I definitely don’t want to be."
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned, as she passed me a glass of liquor.
"look." I pulled out Shear slowly. Her eyes widened.
"I thought so." I sheathed it again, quickly.
"That’s… wow." She stole my glass of liquor and downed it at a gulp. "That’s fantastic."
"Hey, you two mind?" a slender man with a large axe was reading near us, and he had an X shaped scar on his forehead. "I'm trying to work without disruption."
"Sorry," I began. "But this is a public place. You can't expect everyone to be quiet just so you can do some reading."
"I said can it, infidel. You should go before I have to hurt you."
"You bastard. No one is leaving here, unless you are." I said. The alcohol must have been pretty effective. He drew his axe and smiled wickedly.
"Unless you got an answer for this, "little man", shut your mouth and get out." He stood. "My name is Dmitri, and I don’t waste my time bandying words with the lower class."
"Steel is the best answer I can think of." I whipped out Shear without even bothering to look in his eyes. His manners were enough. "Is that all you can say to a Shaka'Do?"
At that everyone cleared out of the area we were in, and hid behind tables. Dmitri swung the axe, and I struck with the speed of a lightning bolt.
Had I been sober, I would have considered my actions beforehand. But now that I was drunk, I felt only vile rage that Dmitri would say something like that when we weren’t even bothering him. Not about me, and NOT about Vi. I opened up his arm in what had been intended as a simple superficial wound, but he bled quickly and collapsed. Some men dragged him away. I wiped Shear on his tunic and sheathed it, suddenly sober. I hoped the man lived, I hadn't wanted to kill. Everyone around me went silent for a moment, and then one by one they all departed, leaving me and Vi alone.
"You gonna leave me here too?” I asked the striking redhead.
She sighed. "Of course not, Arc. But I can see their point.” She sighed again. "Arc, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. I know now isn’t the best time, but I feel that I need to tell you as soon as possible. I know that you have achieved the Shaka'Do, and I’m just a bartender, but do you think that there could ever be a chance that you could care about me? I think… I think I might be falling in love… with you.”
I was stunned by her openness. Was this really Vi speaking? Before I could answer, however, Vi sat up and placed her hands on my cheeks and drew close so I thought she was about to kiss me.
"Please.” Vi whispered. "I need to know.” Her green eyes seemed to be drawing me closer and closer…
At that moment the war bugle sounded from the wall. Enemies were attacking. The bugle sounded to call all soldiers to the gate. My new ranking as a Shaka'Do stressed that to remain a Shaka'Do I had to participate in the defense of my home.
I got up. "I need to go.”
"No! Arc!” Vi cried. "Please … don’t go… Stay with me…”
I shook off her clutching hands, and sadly ran to the main gate. I desperately wanted to tell Vi how much I really did care about her, but my duty called me away from her. As I sprinted through the city towards the wall, my mind wandered through our past. I had known her a good while. We had grown close throughout the twelve months I had lived in the city, and we had no secrets from each other, as well as a deep trust in one another that others would call incredible: if they knew about it. High ranking people weren’t supposed to have such a good friendship with the commoners, so we had hid our friendship, instead communicating across crowded halls and squares in a discreet manner. A note slid into the bartender's hand when she passed the customer a plate of food was not noticed by the others at the table. And a meaningful glance from the girl serving drinks to the to-be Shaka'Do guest was not uncommon, for there were many love-struck girls in the town. I really didn’t know why, because whenever I looked in the mirror I only saw a slim young man with a mustache and beard who had unnervingly intense eyes. And now Shear.
The roar of heavy battle machinery startled me from my thoughts. I was on the wall top, and looking down, I saw a sight that made despair shoot through my limbs. Thousands of hideous, demonic creatures were organized for an attack on the castle! I heard the thud of a battering ram being driven against the gates. Then something huge cast a shadow over the wall tops, and I looked up in time to see one of our catapults hurl a huge boulder into one of the enemy siege towers, causing it to collapse. But the demons far outnumbered our men. Looking with a spyglass, I could see that not all of the troops were demons: I could make out contingents of human ninjas, and even a hideous giant! It was about as tall as the city gates, and it was the giant that was swinging the battering ram: a huge bronze hammer that he swung again and again at the gates.
Looking around me, I saw that the wall guards were just standing there in shock. "What are you doing?” I yelled. "Fight!”
I picked up a crossbow and began sending arrow after arrow down into the enemy troops. The other soldiers followed my example. I felt a satisfaction that I realized with a start came not from me but from… Shear.
A siege tower dropped its huge ramp onto the wall top. Hideous Black skeletons poured out. A sword came at me from behind, and I whirled and sent Shear home into the demon's throat. Another came low, and I kicked it out of the man's hand, and slew him too. Suddenly, the field seemed empty. There were no more men in the tower, and the men were setting alight to it. I cleaned Shear on the cloak of a dead foe.
A deafening crash followed. The ram broken its way through the outer gate! At this rate, the inner gate would soon fall. I could be of more use there, in physical combat, then in archery on the wall. I swiftly ran down the stairs, but stopped in my tracks when I was only halfway down.
Vi was standing there, held back by a huge soldier! He had come in from a siege tower, and had slipped past the defenders. As I ran towards them, Vi drew a dagger and plunged it into his arm, and dragged it in a circle, a maneuver I had taught her to use if she was ever grabbed by an enemy. That’s my girl, I thought with an instant of pride. I thought Vi could handle it by herself. However, with a bellow of pain, he slapped her and reached for a sword.
Drawing Shear, I hurled myself at them with a cry of rage. How dare they even touch her! The man turned with the sound of my cry, but it was too late. Seconds later, all that was left of him was a mangled corpse.
I stood over the fallen soldier, trying to catch my breath. "You okay?” I asked Vi.
"Y-yes.” She stammered, clutching her bloody dagger.
"Its okay, Vi.” I said, giving her a hug. "It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”
"I can take care of myself, but thanks for the offer… I was just…” Vi trailed off. "But now you’re here. I trust you.”
Behind us I heard a loud crash. The inner gate had fallen. "Vi, take cover-"
Before I could finish, something struck me on the head, and I knew nothing more.
I awoke in the stairwell some time later, with a throbbing headache. I was still clutching a blood-covered Shear.
I got up and looked around me. The city looked like a tidal wave had crashed on it, so great was the destruction that the enemy had wrought. I could hear screams of innocents as they were chased by the soldiers. Vi was gone.
Vi!
I forced myself to get up, and began running towards the fortress. Vi would have taken shelter there if she could. When I reached the gates, I found them barred. I nimbly ran up the wall until I could grab the edge of the gate and climb over. I landed softly on the ground, and I ran to the balcony. Looking out into the courtyard of the fortress, I saw a sight that made my blood run cold. A man, leaning on a Black Scepter, stood before some kind of vertical altar with his arm swathed in bandages. Tied to the altar was my friend Vi. Sitting in a circle around her, tied up, were a bunch of kids.
He was going to execute Vi!
Something inside me snapped. It wasn’t like either time before, not like when I had fought the drunk at the inn or when I had been shooting arrows at the beasts from the wall. It was like the time when Vi had been in danger before, from the enemy soldier, and my rage grew overpowering. But now, It was ten times worse.
Literally roaring with rage I sprinted into the midst of the guards that surrounded the event. The first guard's eyes told a tale of murder. "Murderer!" I yelled as Shear parted his head from his neck. The next guard came at me with sword drawn. "Rapist!" I screamed as my blade sliced into his stomach. The battlefield resounded with my cries. In that instant my transformation was complete. I was now the Night Angel in truth, wielding Shear based on the crimes these demonic skeletons and men had committed.
And I hated myself for it.
I almost reached the black cloaked figure when he lifted his hand, and I felt as if I had hit a wall. Boiling water shot out from the man's uplifted hand, and engulfed me. I felt a presence trying to invade me. No. I said in my mind, talking to the presence that was trying to engulf my mind. You can't do this. I am the Night Angel. I pushed it back with all my might. I will not allow you to do this. I am the Night Angel. You cannot win. I am Arc Caster. When I said that the presence seemed to recoil. It broke off abruptly, but in its haste to depart it left a small part of itself behind. Then the part that it had left behind inside me transformed into pure heat, and I saw my skin begin to blacken, but then a cry sounded from beyond the tidal wave that engulfed me, and the water disappeared. However, the upper half of my left forearm was burned black with a single white rune on the palm, a watermark. The air tingled with the memory of magic.
A child had placed his hand on the forehead of the cloaked man. Silent Prophet. The word darted into my mind like a ghost. I shook it off. Blue sparks seemed to dance on the child's hand. He's invoking a spell! I realized. The Silent Prophet, as I had named him, began to twitch violently. His eyes rolled back. Then the child changed. It was suddenly a middle aged man, a white staff in his hand, and a hand full of power on the head of the Silent Prophet.
"Let him up, magician." I said. "I don’t want him dead." When the magician did not even acknowledge my presence, I forcibly removed his hand. He fell back with a cry, and The Silent Prophet immediately sprouted black bat wings and soared up into the sky. The magician gave me a venomous glare. "Look what you have done! I was dispatched by King Riser himself to capture a Silent Prophet, and you young rebel have destroyed my one and only chance! Who are you?"
"I am the Night Angel." I showed him Shear as proof. "And I am charged with the defense of this city as a Shaka'Do. I apologize for my thoughtlessness, but It was my wish to obtain from him information, and when you did not respond to my first urging I thought you meant to kill him. I also thank you for saving my life." I glanced up, and saw the Silent Prophet circling above us. I also noticed a strange X-shaped scar on his forehead. "He's still there, if you want to go after him."
"I'm sorry to interrupt," A voice from above us rang out, "but could you let me down?"
Vi! What was with me today that I couldn’t even remember my friend? I walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I'm so glad you’re here, Arc." She whispered. I cut her bonds and let her down from the Silent Prophet's alter carefully. Then, almost as an afterthought, I took off Rainer and my second shoulder-harness and gave them to her. She seemed startled. "Why are you giving me this?" She asked.
"Because you're good enough to equal me now," I said, "And the moment may come where I might not be there to protect you. I don’t want to see you die, Vi."
"I will be going after him now, Night Angel. I wish you luck." The magician interrupted. Muttering a spell, he sprouted white angel wings and soared off after the Silent Prophet.
I shook my head. "I wonder who he is." I shot her a quizzical look. "Do you know him?"
"No… But Arc, your arm…"
"I'll live." I was barely containing myself. "I'm just glad you're safe."
We herded the kids into a group. "Who are you kids?" I asked.
No one said a word.
"You're frightening them." Vi whispered. I realized that I still had my sword out and had plenty of blood on me. I immediately sheathed Shear and tried to wipe off what blood I could.
"Who are you?" Vi asked gently. A boy spoke up.
"We are orphans. The Black skeletons…" he trailed off.
"What's your name?"
"Yuan." He said miserably.
"And I'm Samira." Another girl chimed in. "It was horrible! Tell the man that I want him to kill all those nasty black skeletons! I hate them!" she started crying.
"Oh you poor things." Vi put an arm around the pair of youngsters. "How many of you have lost family?"
All of them raised their hands. Vi's eyes had tears in them.
"Nothing else for tonight." I interrupted with as kindly a voice as I could manage. "Come with us, and we can take you to a safe place for the night."
All of the kids stood. We led them to the inn, where most of them went right off to sleep.
"I'm going to stand guard." I told Vi.
"Good." She responded softly. "I'm going to talk to the kids a little more."
"all right." I gave her a peck on the cheek, and quickly left outside. Her face went red, and she touched the spot I had kissed her on.
Twelve hours later, I sat up straight, and knew immediately that I had been dozing. Turning around from the dawn, I entered the inn, and looked upon the kids I had saved. A voice cried out my name, and Vi came running into my arms. She was crying.
"Oh Arc, those black skeletons killed their caretakers! It was horrible! They ate them in front of their faces! Oh god, oh god…” she cried.
I closed my eyes and held her quietly. I cried myself for all the death I had dealt out. How could anyone do such a thing to these kids? It was something that I could tell Vi had gone through also, when she was young, and I pitied her and wished that I could have been there to help her out.
This was a girl I had saved. My friend. Our friendship had been strong before, but now we were truly best friends. I really did have feelings for Vi… But did I love her? I couldn’t answer that question yet.
Roars from outside startled me out of my thoughts. I reached for Shear, simultaneously giving out instructions.
"Everyone to the top floor!" I yelled. I prepared to hold the courtyard when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm not going to let you do this alone." Vi looked me in the eye. "These undead killed a lot of people, and right now I'm ready for some revenge of my own." She drew out Rainer.
I nodded grimly. I was ready for some revenge myself. "Let's kill these things. You hold the dining room, I'll hold the courtyard."
I charged, swinging Shear with both hands. Smashing into the press of undead monsters I noticed that in their eyes I saw nothing, not a single thing good or bad. When I struck one of them down in a stroke that I was sure would kill it, he fell and rose again. It took a beheading or a direct cut in half to slay the monster permanently, that or fire, I discovered when I threw a bottle of liquor at the head of a monster and it burst into flames. Then I heard a crash, and I saw the door to the inn break open as a monster crashed into it. Then I saw a sword run through its head, and Vi was suddenly there, dealing out death to the undead, whirling Rainer's twin blades. I took a perverse pleasure in watching those who had killed get killed.
I do not know how long it took, but by the time we were finished the corpses were piled high. I knelt, exhausted, but trembling with anger. How dare these black skeletons kill thousands of innocents! How dare they try to kill these orphans! And how dare they have such blank eyes that even the Night Angel cannot see their souls. I started at that last thought, and realized that it came from Shear. I glared angrily at the blade, wishing it would stop talking in my mind, but another though crossed my mind. I wonder what other powers this blade has. I wonder… Vi came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me.
"What are these things, Vi?" I asked my companion. "Where are they from, and what do they want?"
She stroked my head in an effort to calm me down. "I do not know, but something tells me we are going to find out."
I stood. "Your right." I clenched my fist. "I'm going to find whoever did this, and make them pay." I looked at the stunning redhead by my side. "Are you with me?"
She smiled a smile so cold and wintery that it would freeze you where you stood. "To the death."
Seemingly out of nowhere, a winged middle aged man swooped down. It was the wizard from earlier today. This time, he seemed a bit kinder.
"Greetings, Night Angel." The wings disappeared into his back. "I see by the vermin corpses all around us that you are a true Shaka'Do. But where did the lady learn such skill?"
"From me, friend." I smiled. "What's your name? I can't keep on calling you magician."
"My name is Mavin." He shook my hand. "I am a level three mage in the Order of Wizards. King Riser sent me to capture a Silent Prophet."
"You mean that guy that was going to kill the orphans." I confirmed.
"Yes. The Silent Prophets are a group of magicians, they would correspond to just above a level four on the weakest level. That is why I was sent. Any level three would make mincemeat out of them. But the leader…" He sighed sadly.
"Their leader is referred to as the Lord of Silence. He would be a top level one wizard. I could not face him and live."
"Wait." Vi interrupted. "Start from the beginning."
"I have been sent to capture a member of a secret society called the Prophets." He began. "They are a fanatical group of wizards dedicated to wiping out all life in the world, using the dead soldiers you see around us. It is not clear whether they are alive or dead. By summoning up the undead armies, they have the potential to wipe out the entire
A long-buried memory from my childhood surfaced.
A wave of pain washed over me as the heat became unbearable. I was sweating bullets, and my long black coat was only making things worse.
I reached inside my coat and brought out my only possession: a large knife with a curiously shaped blade. As the heat rose, I saw it begin to steam.
I needed to get out. Now.
"You cannot escape us, Kylar Deatheyes!" a voice called.
Another voice chimed in, one that I knew well but couldn’t remember.
"I'm sorry, Kylar, but this needs to be done." The voice seemed to taunt me, sitting just beyond my memory. Not that I had a memory anymore.
I had woken up this morning in this cell with a blank mind. No memory. Just a black coat, a knife, and a perception in my grey eyes that no other man had.
The door wasn’t blocked, but every time I tried to exit a fireball came through. But now I had no choice: run or die. I took a step out, and was nearly knocked over by a ball of flame. In a reflex action, I hurled my knife at the man who had launched it from his spinning Charkams, knocking him down.
Another man walked slowly towards me, showing no sign of fear at all. On the contrary, he seemed to inspire me with a feeling of… no, not fear exactly, but apprehension. "No matter who you kill, no matter what you do, you cannot escape your fate, Kylar Deatheyes. You are still only a boy". He seemed to speak into my mind.
I ground my teeth. "Don’t call me that!" I yelled. I knocked him down and stared into his eyes. One of my powers was the ability to see into people's soul, and see what crimes they had committed. This man was… clean. Not a single crime… except for birthing a boy, except for twisting him, except for murdering civilizations, and except for the death of millions! I turned and sprinted away. Now was not the time for retribution. But one day…
Then I saw a large spiked axe come swinging at me. It caught me on the ankle with the flat of the blade, tripping me, but I lashed out with my knife twice, which gave the man wielding the axe an X shaped cut on his forehead. He cried out: "How could you strike your own father in this manner?" I ignored him. Until I was safely away, he was not my father.
I leaped over a broken wall, barely avoiding a blonde girl with bladed steel knuckles. She seemed startled. "Kylar, I thought you were-"
I swerved around her, and dodged away. There was an explosion behind me, but I didn’t heed it. My entire mind was focused on escape. Then a buffet of cold water struck me with such force that it lifted me. I saw the edge of a building as I flew over it. Then I was falling. I barely caught onto a railing on the edge of the opposite building, and I chanced a look back. I saw three men and one girl all dressed in long black coats standing at the edge of the balcony, hoods hiding their faces.
I reached into my belt, and brought out my large knife with a curiously shaped blade. After that first night I had never used it again. I stared at it in wonder. I had a feeling that I had more in common with them then I knew. I tried harder to remember. Remember… Remember… I stared at the blade in my hands until all I could see was a shifting haze. Remember…
Then: A young boy wielding a knife like a true assassin.
Next: Eyes flaming from grey to turn blue for a hot second where blue smoke rose from them.
And then: A teenager dressed in black having a vicious argument with his father.
Next: A woman thrown out of a doorway, a teenager crying, a man yelling.
Now: A man with an axe wounding his son during a training session.
"I hate you!" the boy yelled, lashing out with his knife, missing by an inch."I should have listened when she told me that you were bad! You are bad! And so are the Prophets!"
"Arc? ARC!" I looked up. I had collapsed on the ground with my head in my hands.
"There are five of them." I said quietly. "five Silent Prophets. I was supposed to be the sixth." I looked up, feeling sick. "I remember it all now. Dmitri Stafftide, Illidan Flamewheel, Arlene Blackclaw, Aran Darkblade, and… I … I cannot remember the fifth. Our leader was named Talon Dreadlord, the Dreadlord of Silence. My name… it used to be Kylar Deatheyes…" I wiped sweat from my forehead. "I was one of them. And that Prophet you were chasing, the one with the scar… he's my father… Dmitri Stafftide."
"Well, I know who you are, Arc, and you are not one of them." Vi said with surprising ferocity. "I know that you are a good man who wouldn’t ever join them. Never. If you used to be with them, I know that you aren’t now, and that’s good enough for me."
"A Dreadlord…" Mavin said slowly. "This is bad, very bad. Do you know what a Dreadlord is?"
"No." I said, puzzled. "Why?"
"A Dreadlord is a powerful man who has made a deal with the Darkness. He becomes a demon lord, and is imbued with a full arsenal of dark powers. He is darkness incarnate, and is far more powerful then a first class mage. In return for his dark powers he ends up destroying his home world, if he is allowed." He sighed sadly. "He was last seen in the city of
"So I go in there, knock off a few undead, and kill the Dreadlord, right?" I asked.
"It's not that simple." The mage conjured a picture of Kadara. "The place is a natural fortress, and there's only one way in. Once in, the place is like a maze, and there are guards everywhere."
"Well," I said as I sheathed my sword. "It's not something to deal with today. We couldn’t even travel far with these kids to look after. Come on, Vi, let's go home."
Later that night, I and Vi shared a room at the inn, where the other kids weren’t living. They were all sleeping in the housing complex. Vi was so beautiful in the low light, and I knew in that instant that there would never be another one for me.
Then she told me about the crime that a man named Kal-Zurd had committed against her, robbing her of honor, courage, spirit, virginity, and pride. It had been six years ago now, but she was still feeling the effects.
He had raped her.
I sighed in anger and sadness as I stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry… I wish I could take some of your pain so that you don’t have to endure it."
Vi laid her head down on my chest, listening to my heartbeat. "No. Don’t say that. I would rather deal with all of it then have you have it."
I wrapped her in my arms, the warmth of the embrace and the heat of our feelings sparking something inside me. "I'm used to pain after what I've gone through. I can take it. But even hearing of you in pain makes me want to… Oh, I just feel helpless when I know you're in danger!"
"No Arc." She snuggled up to me." I don't wish my pain on anyone but me. I am fine now. Just relax." She began massaging my back, which felt like heaven after my long horse ride.
"If there is ever anything I can do for you, please tell me. Promise." I gave her a gentle squeeze.
"I promise." Vi said as she squeezed back. "But don’t try and kill yourself over my pain, or I'll leave you here."
"Ok." I smiled. "You win."
"Good." She held me tight, not wanting to let go, for she knew I would be leaving her soon.
I looked deep into her eyes. "I love you Vi."
Vi looked right back."I love you Arc"
Our faces drew slowly closer and closer, until at last our lips touched and we kissed quite tenderly. We enjoyed the bliss of the experience, holding each other in our arms, knowing that our time together would not last, that one or both of us might die tomorrow, but still living and loving one another.
That was when Vi cried of sad but happy tears.
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