Chapter 4: Dragon of the Shadows
Brighty sat at her vanity table, contemplating the little glass box now containing two beads. "Such a strange day," she thought to herself. She stroked her new card peacefully as if getting reacquainted with an old friend. "So many things happening that I don't understand...And yet, they feel right," she said with a sigh and gazed blindly into the mirror for a moment. Instead of seeing herself; she saw a pair of cold, blue eyes and a haughty smile. "I'd like to melt those eyes. Make them warmer," she murmured to herself and reached out to stroke the glass.
With a jerk Brighty snapped herself out of her reverie, "Oh god! It's finally happened. I've lost my mind!" She shook her head to fully clear it, glaring at her reflection, "Stop falling for the enemy, girl! Why do you always fall for the wrong guy?" She stared a moment longer at herself and then sighed, "Like you're gonna give me an answer." She turned out the lights and went to bed.
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The clock chimed the midnight hour, the time when shadows were at their darkest. Moonlight spilled in through the windows, making a valiant effort to hold the shadows at bay. But in the darkest corner of the room, where such brilliance dare not go, the shadows shift and swirl. Slowly they solidify, forming into a being; a cloaked and hooded thing carrying a staff of gold in one ebony gloved hand. Wrapped in shades of night, nothing could characterize this specter as man or beast, male or female, the living or the dead; a dweller of shadows, neither here, nor there.
It glided across the floor like the shadows it came from, over to the bed and the sleeping girl. The brave moonlight shrank back from this dark presence but the soft glow about the girl repelled the shadows that masked the mysterious visitor. "So it is you," a deep whispering voice vibrated from the depths of the hood. "Come out, we need to talk," it stretched out the staff over the slumbering girl and the eye that graced its top gave a sickly glow.
The girl glowed a little brighter for a second and shuddered lightly in her sleep; slowly a semi-transparent figure rose from the sleeping girl's body. Unlike the girl, who was clothed in pajamas, this one wore a white dress like robe. It was slit on both sides up to her thighs. She wore many bracelets and armbands, a gold platted collar that covered her shoulders, and a gold chain link belt around her waist. And throughout her red-gold hair were little golden beads, twelve in all.
The ghostly girl gave a slight smile, "Hello, Shadow. You finally found me."
The cloaked figure bowed mockingly, "You hide yourself well, my lady. Even for one such as I, it was not easy tracking you down." The shadows swirled and probed at the light around the girl, testing their strength.
The girl's eyes hardened as she stared at the shadowed one, "You should know better, Kadeth."
A burst of light repelled the shadows and caused the dark being to falter back a step, "I had to know, Spes. You're not at your full power yet. I would never have been able to sneak up on you if you were."
Spes sighed and moved to look out the window. The moon and stars bathed the landscape in a soft, protective glow, but their light could not dissipate the veil of worry in her heart. "That is true," she replied. "I don't know what happened or why my power has been scattered like it is. But by not having my full powers, I can hide myself from the enemy for now. Which is for the best, my new self has yet to accept her destiny, and thus far we are not one." She turned from the window to look at him; her green eyes seemed to pierce the gloom that he had lived in for most of his life.
Kadeth shivered slightly; he knew those eyes saw more than he would wish anyone to see. The shadows could not mask his soul from her. "The others are slowly waking. I can feel their presence in the darkness, as we once again take up our duties," he said. "You wake more gradually than the others; I could just barely feel you. It was but a chance that I stumbled across you this soon."
Spes nodded, "Yes, I can feel the Fates playing their hands in our lives again. I think it's only natural that you woke first. Living in the shadows as you do, you feel them shifting and building before the rest of us. I may very well be the last to awaken, which may be to the good in the end." She glanced at the sleeping girl, "She's stubborn and won't listen to me."
Kadeth laughed dryly, "Just as you always were. So sure you were always right; ready to sacrifice yourself at a moments notice. In the light of your caring and love, the rest of us dimmed."
Spes blushed lightly, "I only ever did what was needed."
"Especially if it was for him," Kadeth drawled.
Spes spun away from him with a wounded look in her eyes, "It doesn't matter now. I've met his present self and...he doesn't even remember who he is, let alone us. Besides, his heart lies elsewhere now."
Kadeth gripped his staff in both hands, "We've been asleep for too long. There are gaps in my memories, things I know are important and should never have forgotten. But even back then we didn't know half of what was going on."
"None of us did. Except for Atem..." Spes sighed and shook her head, "It's hard to know what is expected of us now. With our memories sketchy and not even knowing who the enemy is."
"They yet hide in the shadows of this world. They wait and bide their time for something, though for what I do not know. I have looked for them but in vain have I searched. They conceal themselves well," Kadeth said gravely.
Again Spes sighed, "So we are yet at a stand still. The enemy's influence and power is growing but we are powerless to do anything. Our master has no memory of himself and the other Sages are yet lost in the darkness."
The soft glow that always appeared to surround Spes began to dim. Spes started flicker in and out of existence as the shadows pressed in closer around her.
Kadeth reached into his cloak for something and then stepped closer to Spes. In an icy, hard voice he berated her, "So this is to be it? The leader and light of the Elemental Sages is just giving up? We, who have defied time and death itself many times over to keep this world safe, are now going to condemn it to the shadows? Maybe you're not the person I remember."
Spes turned to glare at him and the light around her brightened as she snapped back at him, "I never wanted this. I never asked to bare this burden or this leadership!"
Kadeth stood his ground as they faced off in a battle of wills. Light and shadow clashed, searching for the slightest weakness in the other. "Has the Light of Ra dimmed? Has she become a coward? Too afraid to face her duty? Because why? Because things seem too hard? Because she is feeling sorry for herself? If this is the best the Light has to offer, than it is better to leave the world to the darkness," he said, his voice dripping with scorn.
Spes stared hard at Kadeth for a moment more, then relented and smiled, "You always could bring me back to my senses when I faltered. And the burden I carry could never compare to yours, dear Shadow." Spes reached into the hood of his cloak and tenderly stroked his cheek. In the soft glow of her hand a very pale and stern face could be seen. Dark, almost black eyes stared back at her with a tortured look in them. "How you have managed for so many years to not fully succumb to the darkness is beyond me. Forgive me, my friend, for losing faith," she asked beseechingly.
Kadeth pulled away from her gentle touch to hide his face in shadow once more before replying, "Even the strongest of people need a reminder now and then." He held out a gloved hand to her, "Lady Light, you are needed again to guild us safely through the darkness." In his out stretched hand rested a little gold bead, "Will you take up your duty, Priestess of Ra?"
Spes covered the palm of his hand with hers and said lovingly, "I never left it. Just as you have always watched over and protected us from the shadows, I too have done what I can in the light of Ra's glory." Spes sighed as she took the bead from him and moved back towards the bed and the slumbering girl, "Now go. You've stayed too long as it is." She sat on the bed and slowly began to merge with the girl again, "Find them, Kadeth, we have little time left."
Kadeth bowed and retreated back into the shadows from whence he came, "I will, my lady. May Ra's light protect and keep you safe."
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Brighty gasped and sat up in bed; quickly she reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. She glanced wildly around her room, searching every corner with frightened eyes. But nothing out of the ordinary could she find and yet she felt words still hanging heavily in the air. Breathing raggedly, her gaze is drawn to her closed fist and slowly she uncurled her fingers.
There, in the palm of her hand, rested a tiny gold bead, decorated with that strange eye. "Not again!" She wailed in dismay, "What is going on!"
