Song of Darkness By child_dragon "Two left BrightSong," I said. He nodded in satisfaction, and I turned to look around me again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw BrightSong open a gate, one of pure black. And I saw something else too, him sneering at me. In what? Anger? I turned to face him, and only saw the solemn, slightly sad expression he'd had since the beginning. You're imagining things, I chided myself mentally. "Darkness," he said, "the force of death and decay. Not necessarily evil, but the element that drifts closest to the more undesirable emotions." "What will I fight there?" I asked. Every shard's Guardian had reflected its element, but what would darkness be? He shook his head. "I do not know. I truly don't." I sighed and walked through, glancing at BrightSong out of the corner of my eye. His eyes glinted, but I couldn't catch the emotion. I shook my head. I was imagining things. It was totally dark, except for a small patch I stood on, in which a pale light seemed to brighten the gloom somewhat. I caught the glimpse of movement. "Terraile!" I said in relief, my heart returning to normal. She had scared me for a moment. "Yes, its me," she said, flying up to perch on my shoulder. "I won't be with you for long, the nature of the Guardian here is very different from ones you've faced before. I'm not sure exactly how, but I've got some important things to tell you first." I nodded. "One, never forget what Neopia is made up of. Two, never give up, no matter how tempted you are. Three, remember us. Remember your family and your friends. Four, the Shadows don't want to necessarily kill you. If you can be taken over and used for their purposes, they will do it. They can't by force, so be on your guard. And lastly, you could kill every Shadow in existence but not stop them. You've got to destroy the source, or we will still lose. That's all I can tell you. Don't ask me to elaborate, because I don't know anything else to elaborate on." "Alright," I said softly. "Terraile, I'm sorry you were dragged into this." She shrugged. "It's no big deal. My part as Heir is done, and I get a nifty bow out of the deal. You're task is much harder. Be careful, alright?" And she closed her eyes and dimmed from sight, finally vanishing. The light around me vanished also. Icy fear clutched my heart. I couldn't see a thing. There was just nothingness around me. I turned in panic, thinking I heard a noise. My heart was beating painfully, and my breath came quickly. I took a deep breath and forced myself to be calm. I listened, but heard nothing. Panic started to rise, and I forced it down. I thought frantically. What was darkness made of? Fear, for one. I gingerly sat down in the darkness. I would be calm, I told myself. If darkness was fear, then I wouldn't be afraid. Then I really did hear noises. Whispers, things moving in the darkness. I wouldn't be afraid. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. For what seemed an eternity, I sat there, a bead of sweat dripping down my face as I forced myself to be calm. The whispering ceased, and I opened my eyes again. It was slightly lighter, I could actually see myself now. "Kiddo," A voice said, and I turned. Terraile stood there, looking at me solemnly. "I thought you said you wouldn't be here." I said, confused. "I am," she replied. I started to walk towards her, then stopped. "I'm sorry," I said. "But darkness is and element of confusion and deception also. If it really is you, than you understand why I can't trust you, right?" I turned my back to her and didn't move. "Kiddo!" she cried, grief straining her voice. "Kiddo, I need you! Please?" I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the despair in her voice. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. Eventually she grew quiet, and I looked around again. She was gone. A soft laugh echoed around me. "Alright!" I shouted, "That's enough! Show yourself!" I held my spear up, searching for something, anything. "Show yourself!!" I demanded. The darkness seemed to shift, to gather in one spot. A darkness deeper than anything surrounding it, a blob of malicious intent, with a single black eye. "About time," I muttered, and ran towards it. I stopped just short. It hadn't moved an inch. I shrugged and stabbed the spear shard into its insubstantial form. It merely faded from view. "Too weird," I muttered, and turned. It had reappeared behind me. Again I heard its soft laughter. "Oh, so this is not funny now," I growled, leaping into the air. I dove for it, swiping with my spear, once, twice, and stabbing its single gleaming eye. Once again, it merely faded from view. I heard its laughter and turned, seeing it reappear again. "Okay, why can't I kill you?" I demanded. "And why would I tell you?" it replied. I gasped and stared in amazement. "Didn't expect a reply?" it said in amusement. I merely shook my head. "I'm a little bit different than the other Guardians," it said lazily. "As you've probably guessed." "So how am I supposed to get the shard if you're invincible?" I demanded. Its single eye rolled around to look at me. "If I told you, it wouldn't be much of a challenge, now would it?" it replied. "No, I guess not. But it is possible, right?" "Indeed." "Then fighting isn't how to get it," I mused. "What is darkness? Not necessarily evil, but some of the more undesirable emotions. Fear, hatred, envy, greed, bitterness, spite, selfishness, deception, and a bunch of others, but I think I've exhausted my vocabulary." The thing laughed. "Then let me supply some more. Being judgmental, cruelty, maliciousness, pride, and a bunch others. It takes a long time to list them all. Humanities done a good job thinking them all up." "Hold on a minute!" I said a thought dawning. Jenina had given her life to save me. Why? Because I cared and refused to fight for a cause I knew was wrong. I had always tried to be a good person, to love others. I looked at the dark cloud, a though in my mind. "Well, its worth a try," I said, and walked towards it. "What is?" it demanded. "I think I've figured it out," I said, mere feet from the Guardian. I reached out and touched it with one hand. It hissed and tried to pull away. I laughed. "You can't bear my touch then!" I said, "You are darkness incarnate, and I try to be the opposite of what you are." It shrieked in fury and tried to flee, but I leaped towards it, falling into the center of the cloud. An icy cold surrounded me, then a bright light streamed out, and the cloud melted away. I stood, looking around me in astonishment. Black mist now swirled within the spear, now a little taller than I was. "I didn't think that'd actually work," I marveled. **** Feel free to neomail me, I encourage it. I like feedback. Sabreur is really my brother, you can neomail him also, though I ask you to go easy on that. He's in college right now, and I'd rather not have him mad at me for getting a ton of battledome challenges, etc. Melody is also real, my best friend. She's in college too, her neopets name is horngodess, but I wouldn't suggest bugging her, she has a very demanding major and hardly any free time. Sakuko is also real, she's a really nice person.