Chapter Six –
The Horrific Clash of Light and Dark
That evening, at twilight, a group of faeries, Elves, mortals, and other young Sentients – all within the range of fifteen to eighteen years of age – having finished their obligations to parents and other miscellaneous guardians at the banquet held in honour of Lærelin's king and queen, had run off into the gardens surrounding the capitol palace. Together, this group of fifty or so, headed by the crown prince Robeneron himself, had made the decision to play a round of Shadow-Sweepers.
Shadow-Sweepers was a long-time favorite of the magical faeries and Elves, and now, in the past few hundred years or so, the mortals had begun to catch on.
It was played thus: a prize – usually a bejeweled globe or something of that sort – was hidden in 'The Keep'. Each person present was named a 'Shadow-Sweeper', which basically meant that they all had to run around, every man for himself, trying to avoid being caught and tagged, with an enchanted burst of sparkling powder that glowed quite clearly even in the dead of night, by any other player.
Occasionally, groups would form alliances amongst themselves, in hopes of increasing their chances of both not getting caught and finding the prize. A lone player had to be very careful in his search, therefore, because these alliances could turn out to be quite wily, and some players would resort to anything, any kind of ruse or trick, in order to win.
It was widely understood that this game was meant purely for the youthful at heart, in spirit, and especially in form, for it required no small amount of running around, bending oneself almost double in order to avoid 'capture' by one's rivals, wriggling into unbelievable positions, climbing up trees, scaling walls, and crawling on all fours, to name a few.
Elowyn had returned to the room that she was sharing with Sala during her visit, and changed out of the outfit that she had worn to the banquet, after kissing both her sister and her brother-in-law in sisterly devotion, and wishing them every kind of happiness on their anniversary, and for the rest of their lives. Now, garbed quite smartly and almost invisibly in a black tunic, breeches, with boots and a knee-length hooded black cloak to match, a scarf all-but hiding her face, she stole furtively through the trees that were to be found in the area of the gardens that they were playing in. From further off, she saw – but more often heard – the game going on around her.
Shadowy figures dashed across the darkened, dewy lawn: one near to her cried out and came to an abrupt stop, having been tagged by another player. Suddenly, a burst of glittering blue sparks went up in the darkness, and she detected a faint smell of the powder on the air. More shrieks, calls, and crashing noises came through the air to her, including a sudden shriek of, "Sala – no! Tickling is not allowed!"
Knowing that she was out of both sight and hearing range of her fellow players, Elowyn decided that she was going to keep her record of winning at Shadow-Sweepers, and so, softly, her voice barely a murmur, she said a few words in faery and made some gestures in the air.
Suddenly, a volley of gigantic, thunderous firework explosions went off in the air above the castle, and shouts of, "Oh no! The grand finale's started!" "Blast it, now we're going to be late for the speech! Mum and Dad're going to kill us!" "Run!" went up in the area.
Elowyn smiled gleefully to herself, knowing that her trick had worked, and began to run for the woods, the white light of her searching spell streaking on ahead of her into the darkness. Booted feet noiseless in the carpet of grass that covered the wide-open lawn that she was striving to get across without being noticed, she moved quickly, without once looking behind herself.
* * *
Meanwhile, Robbie – who had not been present for Elowyn's pseudo-firework show – had been met by the mad dash of his friends and guests as they raced to get to the amphitheatre that the evening's final events: the speeches of his parents, their Cabinet, and others, were being held in. With great presence of mind, he stepped back just in time to avoid being trampled onto the marble terrace.
"Hey, steady on now – what's the rush?" he asked, a look of confusion on his handsome young face as he glanced at Sala for clarification. "It's not time for us to go in yet, is it?"
"No, but apparently someone decided to make everyone think it is," was his cousin's sardonic reply, and she gestured with one hand towards the gardens: drawing Robbie's attention to the slender, dark figure that was now dashing pell-mell, helter-skelter, for the hiding place of the prize.
"Oi!" Robbie shouted, sliding out of his normal cultured royal speech and into the common vernacular. "Elowyn's cheating! Elowyn!"
And with that, he took off after the girl, Sala close on his heels.
* * *
Elowyn laughed maniacally to herself when she heard the crashing footsteps and frustrated old-fashioned faery-language cursing of her nephew and the laughter of their cousin as they chased after her, through the woods. They wouldn't catch her now though – not unless she let them. She had too much of a head start.
She hid behind a tree for a moment: let them run by her, and then she dashed out from her concealment and passed by them, laughing, and slid down a steep hill, into the small valley beneath it, scattering leaves, dirt, and sticks as she went.
Leaping to her feet, she dashed on again, not once glancing back as she heard Robbie and Sala's chaotic progress down that same hill.
Then, all at once, a clearing in the trees came up before her, and then there the concentrated white light of her searching spell was, right before her, indicating the resting place of that which she sought.
Elowyn now finally looked behind herself.
Robbie and Sala were still a little ways off. Suddenly, however, she didn't feel like winning any more. She crossed into the center of the clearing and dismantled the searching spell. It went out like a candle, with the noise of a soft hissing breeze, and its glimmering light faded until it simply ceased to exist.
And then the forest was quiet around her: she could hear nothing but the noises of nighttime in the woodlands, with its music of crickets, cicadas, and nightingales, and the wind winding gently through the branches. Above her, through the interlocked branches of the trees, some of the velvety night sky glimpsed through, tiny pinprick stars shining here and there like diamonds. The air was warm, but not overtly humid: comfortable and familiar, with its scent of pine and earth.
Elowyn sighed.
* * *
"Fair maidens should fear the dark…"
Elowyn jumped.
She whirled around, staring into the shadowy trees with widened eyes: a brief flash of apprehension going through her eyes. The air seemed as if it had just gone a few degrees colder…
No.
"Elowyn!" Laughter and more crashing noises from within the woods. "Elowyn – come on now, where are you hiding? You've already established the fact that you'll win at all costs!"
Her lips opened to make a reply to that.
No sound came forth. Somehow, she couldn't make herself speak – or move, for that matter.
"I'm imagining things."
But all the same, she began to back up: very slowly, almost imperceptibly. She bent her knees a little, leaning backwards a bit, fingers outstretched – searching for something… There – the huge faery-created diamond that they had been using for the prize in the game that evening: a gem so large that many wealthy noblemen would have given their eyeteeth, at least, to own.
The forest seemed as if it had – as if it was – growing darker around her, contracting, closing in around her like a vice. She felt as if her skin was beginning to crawl, icy shivers of some nameless, unfamiliar fear racing through her body, threatening to overwhelm her mind with panic.
"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf…"
She sang the old nursery rhyme softly, under her breath: tauntingly, almost. There was nothing in these woods that could harm her – not so near to the White Realm, and Elladine and Arin's castle, at that. No specter of the Dark Realm would dare come so near…
All the same, however, she gathered the diamond into her palm.
Then: that same strange, inescapable and unrecognizable voice invaded her mind again, laughing at her softly, and then hissing into her head so that she could not banish it from her senses—
"Don't play with fire, little one…"
Elowyn straightened and looked about herself. She took a step backwards, thinking, but suddenly knowing that it was too late: Robbie, Sala – where are you?
Still, the darkness seemed to grow deeper, and close in around her…
* * *
Robbie stopped running suddenly, a bit winded, and cast about himself. Sweat was streaking down his forehead, plastering a few strands of hair to his skin. The forest seemed as if it had just gotten colder, and his skin felt as if it was crawling, although he knew not why…
"Sala…" he said, his voice very quiet. "Where is she? I saw her in that clearing just up ahead…and now it's gone."
His cousin was silent at his side.
All was still…
Suddenly – a huge, bat-like shadow came ripping through the trees, a shadow that was darker than the darkness, which hit the two young faeries like a shockwave after an earthquake, whirling them both around and nearly knocking them off of their feet. Robbie's eyes were huge as he stared, agape with horror, after it. "What is that thing?" he breathed.
But somehow they both already knew – it was evil.
"Elowyn!"
They ran.
* * *
Elowyn stopped where she was.
There was Something behind her.
Her fingers tightened around the diamond…and then she heard movement, from somewhere in the undergrowth at her back: the scrape of a horse-hoof in the dirt, the barest creak of a saddle, of leather, breathing…she could feel eyes on the back of her head…
Fast as she could, she whirled around and threw the diamond with all her might. Then, pivoting on the same foot once more, she turned back 'round and ran: ran for all she was worth. She heard the diamond hit metal, or something metallic, with a clang, and there was a noise of enragement – she ran faster – she saw two familiar figures hurtling towards her through the trees, heard them call out her name – "Elowyn!" – something huge and heavy, which moved with terrifying silence and speed, was bearing down on her—
No!
Suddenly, a gigantic, coal-black horse, with eyes that burned with a blood-red fire, wheeled around in front of her.
Elowyn stopped herself, staring at it with widened eyes that then traveled up to the helmeted head of the figure upon the creature's back; then she turned and tried to run—
A blast of something cold – freezing – electric, hit her in the back of the head, like a scimitar. She made it two steps further before she felt her body begin to numb, to freeze. She fell to the ground. Complete silence. Then, sharp, black hooves came into her blurring vision, stopping before her. There was a whooshing sound – like wind moving very quickly, or – rather – someone dismounting, a creak of leather…and then a pair of armored black boots appeared, directly before her, inches from her face.
She was fading, fading from reality…
Robbie and Sala's wild, heartbroken screams – "Elowyn!"
Then everything went black.
* * *
Robbie and Sala stopped short, in horror, when the rider in black suddenly disappeared...taking Elowyn with him. They couldn't make themselves move – they could only gape in absolute terror.
Finally—
"Back to the castle!" Robbie gasped. "Now!"
* * *
A/N: *chuckles to self* Such a bad boy… Oh. Ahem. Sorry, ladies and gents. Anywho, please review and let me know what you think of the latest events set forth here, etc. etc. etc., and perhaps soon I will introduce you to Evyrworld's mysterious resident Dark Lord, Jaedin of Sytherria.
And now, on to see if we can follow Elowyn and her kidnapper into the next perilous adventure…
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