It's finally here. I'm sorry I haven't been able to upload the first chapter of Into the Dark as soon as I promised, the current worldwide situation.. Ya know.
"I sat down with my friend and devoted reader about why, what and how I wrote this story which took me 3 years.
Go to soundcloud dot com and paste /farure/tidepodecasts1e1 behind it to enjoy the last spoken "chapter" of Another one will fall.
Thank you so so so much for reading the previous story and reviewing, it means a lot to me and motivated me to keep writing.
"Another one will fall" first chapter uploaded on 12/10/2017. Last chapter uploaded on 12/10/2020."
English isn't my native language so please excuse my grammar errors. Please do correct me on reoccurring errors!
Enjoy.
The older demon looked at the kids, waiting in anticipation for her story. The elder always told the stories of their ancestors, not only their triumph and victories but also their trial and errors which the generations after had learned from and adapted to in order to evolve.
She sat down in front of the children who quickly scooted closer to her, their eyes widened in joy as she started.
"Gather around my children." The elder began. "For I will bestow upon you the tale of the 'Owaranai Yami'."
The young demons scooted even closer as the elder sat down to begin telling her tale.
"Over a thousand moons ago, there lived a creature, a demon like you and me, loved by his clan over which he ruled." The elder began. "They lived close to where we are now, they weren't a traveling clan like us though, they stayed on one spot, expanding their territory over centuries profiting from the fertile grounds and caring for their crops. All was well before their leader, a young heir, found a cave near the east mountain."
"What did he find?" One of the young demons asked in anticipation, he had heard a lot of tales from the elder, but non felt so close to home like this one.
"Patience, dear." The elder smiled as she continued her tale. "The mountain cave was build centuries ago, non of us know how long it has been there. The entrance was hard to find, hiding itself between bodies of rock, it didn't need any guards as the entrance was so hard to find. But HE found it. upon entering the cave, he was pulled inside by the sound of water, not the kind that drips, the kind that ripples. They say he found a lake, an eery glow making it a light source within the darkened space and when he tried to step into it, he was kept afloat. The lake wouldn't allow him inside the water so he stood on top of it."
A collection of murmurs arose from the group of children, each of them whispering their theory and suspicion to their peers before the elder called them back to the story.
"I guess some of you might be right." She smiled. "The lake was indeed enchanted, but not every enchantment is a good one. He got off of the water, dropped to his knees and drank the water."
A few gasps were heard as the elder emphasized the last few words.
"He had returned to the village without speaking of his finding, but as the night changed into day he had felt like he had gotten stronger, so he decided to return to the lake and drink from it's enchanted waters again and again, gaining more strength each time he returned to it. Every day the luminescent glow of the lake would faint little by little until it's glow was faint enough he had to bring a torch to find his way through the cave. The power he had gained however, wasn't an enchantment, it was a curse." The elderly woman spoke with her hands, waving them as she spoke and continued her story with an eery ring to her voice.
"Everything and everyone he touched got corrupted, their hearts blackened and lustful for more. They started looking, searching high and low in the hopes to gain the same powers as their leader. Not everyone became competitive in searching for it's source, if the demon affected was too weak, they would be found dead not soon after. It seemed this power their leader had gained was killing and corrupting the village. One after one they passed on to where we can't follow, to the great beyond. The young leader, consumed by greed, had closed the entrance of the cave with borders, so no-one, not even himself could profit off of the cursed waters. As the days wore on, the ground on which he stood started to decay, the grass and trees bowing to him as he passed them."
The elder stopped as she saw a few children eye the trees around them.
"Do not fear, the trees have regrown. When Enma heard of this powerful demon, he send a spirit detective to investigate. Spirit world would ask aid from these spiritually aware humans from Ningenkai. They were trained and hired to resolve problems from all three realms. But when the spirit detective arrived, he saw no forest, he saw a wasteland. When he came eye to eye with the demon, he tried reasoning with him without success. Forced to return to spirit world, the detective went back to Enma for advise. He had instructed some of human, spirit and demon world's best craftsman and five artifacts were created."
"Why five?" Came a question from within the group.
"All your questions will be answered very soon." The elder paused before continuing. "The detective returned with the artifacts and the plan to seal the power, separated into the artifacts. A great battle ensued between the corrupted leader and the spirit detective and two of the artifacts were broken during the transition. After what seemed like an eternity, he succeeded in sealing the power into three artifacts, hiding one in each of the three worlds to prevent them from ever reuniting together. The demon who drank from the lake was merged with this power to the point where he couldn't be saved anymore, he disintegrated, disappeared completely, as the power was stored away, so was his soul. They say that, if you stroll these woods by night, you can hear the part of his soul, which is stored in demon world, cry out for the remaining two."
Some of the children tightened their grip on the arm of the child next to them. They screamed as someone emerged from the shadows of the forest.
"What are you all doing here? Don't plant the seed of fear in these children with your tales, Muma" A larger demon from the same tribe had emerged. "Hiina, it's late, come." He held out his hand to the child in question.
They walked back to their cottage in silence before the young child, Hiina, spoke. "Is it true?"
"Hmn?" Her father coaxed her inside the cottage.
"The tale of Owaranai Yami. Is it true?" Hiina looked at her father with large eyes as she slid underneath her blanket.
"Ofcourse not." He smiled. "You know Muma tells stories to scare you, there's no such thing. There are no artifacts, there's no lake, there is just a crazy old hag with a way to busy mind."
Hiina nodded and closed her eyes as her father kissed her on her forehead. "Sleep now, tomorrow we will venture towards a new area of these woods."
As the light dimmed, the demons retreated into their tents and cottages, a soft cry was riding the winds as it ruffled the leafs and made the trees sway.
Hiina didn't sleep, she listened as the grass softly ticked against the wall. The forest seemed restless tonight. She bolted upright in her bed as she heard something crackling outside, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge as it came closer.
...
"Koenma sir... Koenma sir!" George ran, waving a paper as he halted in front of Koenma's desk. "Koenma sir.. We have a problem."
"What is it this time Ogre? They forgot to refill the toilet paper so you used an important document to wipe?"
"No sir, absolutely not sir."
"Then tell me what's so important."
"We've received a mayday from a demon tribe near the mountain of Yami."
"Mountain of Yami?!" Koenma looked up in disbelieve. "I have heard of this mountain once, my father refused to speak of it when I ask him about it." He studied the document in his hand. "Contact Hiei and Mukuro, if it's near the mountain of Yami and if it's this prominent, they would be able to see it."
"Ofcourse sir, right away!"
...
"Why is it, that I am unable to be in peace.."
"Listen Hiei, this is important!"
"Hmn.."
"There's something in the woods near the mountain of Yami. I need you to either go there and see what's going on or observe from a distance." Koenma frowned. "I'm worried Hiei, if what I heard is true, we might be in some big trouble." With that, he disconnected the call.
"Hmn.." Hiei placed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the highest point of the building.
"Duty calls?" Mukuro called after him.
"Hmn, something about a demon tribe vanishing, nothing much, everyday stuff." Hiei hummed.
"If Koenma wants you to check it out it might be more than 'nothing much' don't you think?" Mukura smirked.
"Shut up, I'm checking it out and then I hope to be undisturbed for at least 2 more hours." Hiei scoffed as he continued his climb. Once there, he opened the doors to the balcony and surveyed the area.
"Near the mountain of Yami?"
"Can you not follow me for a second?" Hiei said agitated. "It's in the forest near the mountain of Yami. Is that still in your territory?"
"It is yet it isn't, it's the place where ones all three territories connected, Enki rules over it all now." Mukuro corrected.
"But it is in our field of vision." Hiei squinted.
"It is, it's right the-" Mukuro fell silent.
"What? Where is it?" Hiei followed her gaze and froze. "It was there, wasn't it?"
Mukuro felt a shiver climb up her spine as she eyed the gaping hole in the middle of the forest. "It's gone."
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I'm very curious of what you guys will think of this new story
See you in the next chapter!