Dark Horizon
Chapter One
The Truth Unfolds
Isaac just couldn't sleep. He lay in his bed staring at the roof thinking about the quest a few months ago. There just were some things that didn't add up. Why the Wise One wanted to stop the lighting of the lighthouses? Isaac knew it because corrupted men would use it to rule the world but there was something more to it than that. Isaac decided to take a walk, The fresh night air might do me some good, he thought.
Vale had been rebuilt and it looked just the way it had been all those years ago, minus Mt. Aleph.
Isaac sat round the waterfall that flowed through the center of the small village, watching the water sparkle in the moonlight like tiny diamonds. Then a hand touched his shoulder which brought him out of his thoughts.
"Can't sleep, huh?" It was his girlfriend, Jenna. Isaac just shook his head. They sat there for what seem to be hours. Then Jenna put her arm around Isaac. He just sat there quietly
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing." he replied.
"Come on, I know something's bothering you. Now come on, tell me."
Isaac said nothing.
"Ok, then." she said softly, "I'm going to go back to bed. Good night" And with that she kissed him and then started to head back.
"Wait" Isaac called.
"What?"
He motioned her to come and sit beside him again.
"You're so beautiful" he told her.
"You're so sweet" she replied. "Now what did you want to tell me?"
"I just feel there's something more to why the Wise One didn't want us to light the lighthouses. Like there was something more that he wasn't telling us."
"Like what?" she asked, puzzled.
"I don't know but something just doesn't feel right. Like we haven't finished our quest or something."
"Well I'm cold; I think I'll go back to bed. You coming back?"
"Nar, I think I'll stay up a bit more."
"Ok. I love you" she whispered.
"I love you too. Good night"
Then she left and headed back for bed. He knew she'd never be able to help him if he found out what was bothering him. He couldn't bear to lose her again and if she found out there would be no stopping her from fighting with him. He couldn't let that happen. Then all of a sudden Isaac felt something.
"Why do I feel cold? I've felt something like this before, but where?" He just couldn't put his finger on. So he thought that some sleep might do him good and with that thought we went back to bed.
XXX
Alex moved his fingers. Doing that felt incredibly difficult, but he didn't even feel surprised. He paid no attention at the stabbing pain in his chest or that his left leg had bent in an unnatural position.
The only thing that mattered to him was that he was alive.
He was alive!
A muffled laugh escaped through his lips in an obscure gurgle and he barely noticed he was spitting blood on his face. He was alive despite all the pain he felt. He was alive despite that he barely felt his limbs under all the pain.
He sat up and hissed as his ribs objected. He tried to push the feeling in the back of his mind and forced his body to obey. He had made it; mere pain could not stop him anymore.
It was night and the sky was covered in dark clouds. Part of Alex was happy and surprised for that he had not disappeared with the mountain. He almost stayed to watch the sky for a while, but remained in control of himself. There was no time; he had to concentrate on staying alive.
His leg was broken and touching it sent painful waves through his body. He saw bone stick out of his calf and had to turn his eyes away.
The air smelled damp and Alex suspected it had just rained. He didn't feel cold though, in fact he felt uncomfortably hot. He brushed sweaty hair from his face thankful for that at least his hands were fine.
Water.
As if lead by instincts Alex rolled on his side and yelped in the process when his body had everything against it. He had to lie still for a moment and let the pain subside and only then he could concentrate in the small pond next to him.
Rain had created a pond in a small hollow and Alex shoved his face eagerly in the water. It cooled his burning face and he raised it only when he had to breathe again.
Then he drank as fast as he could.
The water tasted of dirt and blood that had washed off his face. Alex didn't mind, living was much more important. He almost choked as he drank and he had to stop to cough and drew a breath.
It didn't hurt.
Alex froze in shock as he felt how his body was healing on its own. He was too surprised to do anything and only after the strange, calming feeling had faded he dared to move.
"Fascinating," he said, examining himself. He had no broken bones anymore and the raging pain was a mere memory.
Alex lifted his eyes in the sky. The water had healed him. Now his thoughts were clearer as well, and he suspected it was because the lighthouses had been lit. The Golden Sun had risen above Mt. Aleph so it was only natural that the nature near the mountain had been affected by it.
He snorted in amuse. If mere rain water could heal a dying person... what would he be able to do with his new powers?
At least not defeat the Wise One, a nasty voice in his mind whispered.
"I merely need practice," Alex muttered. That had to be it. He wasn't used to his new powers yet, but in time he would learn to control them and would fulfill his dream.
Ruling the world...
Alex stood up and looked around. He was near the former Mt. Aleph and the lights he could see far away had to come from the new town of escaped Valeans. The poor souls had no idea what was going on near them.
He would have to find a place to rest and the following day he would start making new plans. But at first he would have to heal himself properly.
XXX
Isaac was woken up the next morning to the sound of chattering. So he got up put his clothes on and went outside see what all the commotion was about.
"Hey, Isaac!" a familiar voice called. He turned to see his best, and childhood friend Garet waving at him round by the sanctum. He started to wander over to see what he wanted. Nearly the whole town was there. The great healers were there, his mother and father, Felix and his family as well.
"What's everyone here for?" Isaac enquired.
"Didn't you hear?" Sab said, one of the local guys in the village. He lived very close to Isaac's house so they knew each other very well.
"Someone swore they saw a blue figure floating away last night"
"What!" Isaac exclaimed in surprise. An image appeared in his mind. "Alex…" Isaac muttered to himself. "So that's who I felt last night"
"What was that"? Sab asked.
"Oh nothing". Isaac knew very well he could only tell the Great Healer about what he knew. Then he remembered what the Wise One had said about Alex.
"He knows a great deal more than you. He knows that when all four lighthouses are lit the light will gather at Mt. Aleph forming the Golden Sun."
Then he knew he'd heard the name Golden Sun before, but where? Then it hit him he raced back home.
"Where's Isaac going?" Garet inquired.
"Who knows?" Sab said.
Isaac remembered he'd read about the Golden Sun forming in one of his books in his room.
"There you are." He said finding the book.
He flipped though the pages to find the section on the lighthouses and the Golden Sun.
Once all the lighthouses have been lit the light will gather at Mt. Aleph thus forming The Golden Sun. He who obtains the power of the Golden Sun will be able to obtain anything his heart desires, So read the book. Isaac swallowed a lump in his throat. This is what they hoped to prevent but a single soul had obtained the power of the Golden Sun and would not hesitate to use it to get what he wanted. Dominion over the world.
Isaac slowly walked back to the group around the sanctum.
"What's wrong Isaac?" Jenna asked, worried about him. "You look like you've seen a ghost".
Isaac just handed her the book. She read the page Isaac had open. Horror took a hold of her as she read it.
"What are you going to do?" she said shakily.
"I don't know yet".
"There was no way Alex could have survived Mt. Aleph collapsing"
"There is if he had the power of the Golden Sun"
Later on that day Isaac arranged a private meeting with the Great Healer and told him what he knew.
"So you said you felt this feeling before." the Great Healer inquired.
"Yes, in Sol Sanctum when we went with Kraden and found the Elemental Stars" Isaac stated.
"And you're sure its Alex?"
"Yes. No doubt about it. I could sense he was strong in Sol Sanctum but never strong enough to sense it from the remains of Mt. Aleph".
"Then this confirms our worst fears. Alex has the power of the Golden Sun, but I sense not all hope is lost. This is strange but I sense some of the power of the Golden Sun here in this sanctum. How is that possible? I will have to meditate and try and make some sense out of this. Go get some sleep Isaac; it's grown late and you need rest".
"Yes Great Healer." And with that Isaac left to go home.
"What wrong dear" Isaac's mother, Dora, asked. "You haven't touched your dinner yet."
"Huh?"
"You all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I think I'll just go to bed, I'm not that hungry".
Isaac then got up and left the table and headed upstairs.
Dora looked at her husband. Kyle shook his head. So she didn't push the matter.
"Goodnight" Isaac said as he wandered up to his room.
"Goodnight, dear."
Isaac couldn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned, breathing heavily.
Alex laughed at him menacing.
"You can't stop me" he gloated.
Isaac watched in horror as he started killing everyone he loved.
His mother, father, Garet, and Felix were all killed right before his eyes.
"And now for the main event"
"No, please don't do it" he begged Alex.
But it was too late; Jenna was hit by a blast that went straight through her followed by a bright white light.
Isaac sat up so quickly that he almost hit Jenna who was sitting on his bed.
"What are you doing here" he whispered.
"I just came to see if you were alright. I mean after you found out Alex had the Golden Sun you just haven't been yourself."
"I just don't want you to get hurt"
"Look I'll be fine. You just get some sleep we've got our students to train in the morning."
"Students?" Isaac asked, puzzled.
"Oh, that's right, you weren't at school the day they announced our new studies, were you. Well there are some new children who want to learn more about Psynergy and about being an Adept. So we were chosen, being the strongest in the village, to continue their training." She explained.
"Really? Cool. Well I'll try and get some sleep then."
