"Can't we just go in?" The young Mysidia mage, Palom whined as he paced back and forth tirelessly.
"Not until morning." Cecil, a Baron dark knight said, poking at the campfire with a stick, making sure it wouldn't die out. They were at the base of the holy mountain, waiting for the morning sun to break over the horizon. "Why don't you try and get some rest, like your sister?"
From the ten behind him, Polam's twin sister 'Porom' was sleeping and could be heard softly snoring, and tossing and turning. The journey from Mysidia, the town of mages, had really taken it out of the young healer. From the moment they stepped outside of the town, monsters had swarmed them. Both of the young children had used every ounce of magic power they had. It wasn't till they got to the mountain that the monsters had seemed to die down, and Cecil thought it would be their only time to pitch a tent up for up the night. Polam had only rested for a few hour, and when he got up he claimed he was ready to go up the mountain; but Cecil highly doubted it.
"I don't need to sleep!" Polam yelled, "I want to show some monsters my magic power!"
"You won't be able to do that if you're too tired to cast magic!"
"How would you know?" The young boy said.
"Whats going on?" A tired voice said, as someone came out of the tent.
"Nothing," Cecil said, looking behind him to see the young white mage. "I'm just trying to talk Polam to get so more rest."
"Where is Polam?" Porom asked, rubbing her eyes.
Cecil turned back around and saw that Porom had disappeared.
"Gah, the fool!" The Dark Knight spat, "He must've run into the woods. I would've seen him run by me to get to the mountains."
"Oh no, we have to get him before he does something stupid!"
"Right!" Cecil agreed, grabbing Porom's arm and racing in the direction he thought Polam went in. Cecil knew that Polam would probably be able to be a good distance away thanks to his light clothes. Some weird green and white onesie and boots; while Cecil was weighted down by his purple tinted armour, that made a 'clank' sound with every step he took.
As the ran through the wood, dodging under tree branches and hopping over roots and rocks, a flare of fire flashed to their side.
"Polam!" They both said, sliding to a stop and darting in the direction of the fire.
"Help!" Polam cried, as Cecil and Porom ran up to him.
"Whoa!" Cecil said, focusing on three Zu's. It was hard to see them thanks to their dark feather, which melted in with the blanket of darkness.
"Theres three of them." Polam said, hiding behind Cecil.
"What did you do?" Cecil asked, putting the mask of his helmet down, covering his face.
"I got bored and saw them and thought I could blast them with my magic."
"You idiot!" His sister said, wacking him on the back of the head, "These are Zu's! Even the best mages in Mysidia would have a hard time taking one of these on, let alone three!"
"I made a mistake, I'm sorry!"
"What's done is done!" Cecil interrupting the twin's argument, holding his sword up to his chin, "Now we need to stop these monsters before they go after someone who can't protect themselves."
The twins pulled out their staves and braced themselves for battle.
"You two stay behind me." He order, "Porom, do you know protect?"
"Yes," Porom said closing her hand together, "Protect!"
Porom let her hands fly out to her side, with a bright white light expelling from her body. A warm feeling fell over the three as their defense sharpened.
"What should I do?" Palom asked, holding his stave tightly.
"Are you going to listen to me?" Cecil asked, "We wouldn't have this problem if you would have listened to me earlier."
"I know," The young mage said, "I'm going to listen now!"
"Ok, keep using fire on them."
"But Cecil," Porom said, "Wouldn't blizzard be more effective?"
"Yes, but blizzard won't create any light anything." Cecil started to explain, "You two may be able to sense where the monsters are, but I can't."
"Oh!" Both kids said, understanding Cecil's strategy.
"Fire!" Polam yelled, as a fireball flew at the Zu's. As it hit the monstrous bird, the air briefly filled with light.
"There!" Cecil grunted to himself, spotting one of the birds. He braced the sword on the side of his gut, spun around around in a circle, and struck the Zu, killing it instantly; its body fading away into nothing. "One down."
Cecil prepped himself to strike again, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Scwa!" Both of the remaining monsters screeched, before lunging forward.
"Avoid!" Cecil commanded, dodging out of the way.
"What?" The two asked, confused by the foreign word. The two monster brandished their claws against the two children.
"Ah!" They both cried, flying backwards.
"Polam! Porom!" Cecil cried, "Do not touch them!"
Cecil put his sword back to his chin and dark energy began to pulse out of his body. He felt his heart go cold, as his sword became lighter and easier to wield. He charged at the two monster and sliced through them like his sword was a knife and the Zu's were butter. The two monsters disappeared, leaving Cecil and the twins
"Are you two okay?" Cecil asked, running up to the kids.
"I'm okay." Porom said, steadily getting up, "Polam, are you okay?"
There was no reply from her brother
"Polam?" She asked nudging her brother, causing his mouth to drop open and him to start snoring loudly.
"Great, now he's asleep." Cecil said, picking the mage up easily, "Lets get back to came."
"Can we just put up another tent up here?" The female mage yawned
"No, it'll be safer at camp to sleep." He assured, picking her up and walking back to camp.
"You used it, didn't you?" She asked, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Used what?"
"Darkness. You used it, that's why you were able to kill those Zu's as easy as you did."
"You should rest." Cecil suggested, trying to dodge the question.
"You shouldn't be using it," Porom yawned, "If you're trying to cleanse your soul of it. You may end up losing your opportunity to do so."
"I know, just go to sleep."
The young mage gave up and gave in, falling asleep. Without her nagging right in his ear, Cecil was able to think clearly. The cold feeling was still lingering in his heart. When his king had ordered him to train as a dark knight, he didn't question the order. He actually liked how the power of Darkness helped him defeat larger opponents. Not only that, but he used it he didn't feel anything. No happiness, sadness, anger; nothing. So when he had to fight humans, he didn't feel how wrong it was to slice down people. That was why it was so easy for him to invade Mysidia and kill all the mages. When he first learned his ability, the numbness of his feelings only lasted until the ability wore off; but now it could last for a half an hour, or longer, after using it. That wasn't the only thing that happened when using the ability. It was as if a little piece of his heart was chip away every time he used it. It wasn't noticeable at first, but now he could feel the darkness cover most of his heart. It was like an icicle was pressed against it and it couldn't be removed.
As Cecil finished walking into the camp, he put the twins in the tent and continued to guard.