Chapter 15: Declaration
Ariel stirred when she felt the brush of a breeze through the feathers of her wings. Her skin felt warmed by the light coming through the grand windows of her bed chamber as movement within her arms woke her completely. Opening her eyes, she saw Dane lying next to her still asleep. With slow movements, she pulled herself onto Dane's chest and lay her head back down to listen to his breathing. She jumped a bit when she felt his cool hand on the small of her back, running over her skin to the middle of her wings. When he looked down, he was greeted with Ariel's sleepy smile and messy hair as she rested her chin on his hands.
"Finally awake, are you?" Ariel asked softly, pulling her body across his chest to meet his lips.
"That I am, Ariel." Dane smiled. The previous hours had opened a new path to them, bringing the two of them closer than they had ever been. No longer would there be any doubt of distance, usage or goddess and mortal. They were no longer bound together be a simple contract. They were, together, more. They were a family. Ariel pulled herself up, stretching her arms over her head. Dane reached and hand to her thigh, noting that her stomach appeared to be protruding ever so slightly.
"Ariel? Are you…" Ariel looked down to her stomach, putting a hand to the small swell in her stomach and grinned.
"It would appear so." Dane lowered his brow, propping himself up on his elbow while putting a hand to her stomach.
"How? It's only been a few hours as I can recall." Dane asked.
"You forget my love. Time moves differently here in my temple." Airel chuckled, leaning down with a gentle kiss while reaching for her dress piled on the floor.
"How long has it been within Usoria?" Dane asked, wincing a bit when he realized that he still sometimes fell into the trap of wanting to do research over being with Ariel.
"From what the sand fountains say, it's been about three days." Ariel casually replied, finally pulling on her dress only to realize that the waist was somewhat tighter than she had remembered.
"THREE DAYS?! It's only been a few hours! I must return now." Dane jumped from her bed, drabbing his clothes and pulling them on as fast as he could muster. He was just fastening the belt of his pants when Ariel's arms pulled around him and hugged him firmly.
"Can't you stay just a bit longer? The Mirror of Time has shown me that our child will be the one to rid the world of Darkness. You don't need to study yourself into ruin." She asked, laying her head on the back of his neck and pulling her wings around him.
"Ariel, my goddess, you yourself have said that time moves differently here in your temple. I would stay for all eternity if I could. But there are those in Usoria waiting for me. Our child may be the one to rid the world of the Darkness, but until that time I will study it so that our child will have the needed knowledge to defeat it once and for all. I promise that I will return in one month's time." Ariel breathed long and slow, pulling her arms around Dane tighter for a moment before letting him go and assisting pulling on his shirt.
"I will hold you to that Dane, my love." Ariel replied kindly, kissing him deeply. When Dane returned to the chapel, he found a very well-guarded caravan parked before it. Mars and Vieren were standing on the front steps arguing with whom Dane guessed to be a soldier from that caravan. As he neared, he could begin to catch what Mars was saying.
"…as I have explained to you multiple times, the Master is not currently in. There is now way of knowing when he will return!"
"Then I demand to be let into the building where I and my soldiers will search for ourselves. This in an urgent matter that we must speak to your 'master' about immediately." The Guard as well as the four soldiers that had accompanied him to the steps all drew their weapons. They were about to force their way past Mars and Vieren, when Dane appeared before them in a flash of bright light. His icy stare instantly stopped the soldiers, further making them back away as light hummed to life at the end of his staff.
"What is the meaning of forcing your way into my house?" Dane asked, slamming the end of his staff on the marble steps making a sheet of light erupt from it. The guard whom had spoken before switched the hold on his sword and pointed to Dane.
"Are you the one called the White Mage?" he asked with a loud sneer. Dane locked eyes with him, the blank stare in Dane's eye enough to make the guard swallow, switching his grip back.
"I will ask again; who are you, and why do you force your way into my house?" Dane asked, every word said with slow force. The guard relaxed his stance, producing a symbol from under his glove.
"I am Triston, Captain of the 8th regiment to…"
"Get to the point!" Mars shouted, quickly met by Dane's hard stare.
"Let the man finish." Dane answered with the same slow force he had spoken to the soldier with before turning his attention back to the man, signaling with his hand to continue.
"…to the King of Zakuman, Leon Lionheart. We come seeking the aid of the Aurora as there appear to be creatures made of shadow appearing. We've come to understand that you lot are the ones most experienced in this matter and to that end we were commanded to speak with the leader of this place at all costs." Dane stared at the man for a long while, flexing his jaw for what seemed like ages as he thought.
"I am Dane, the White Mage. Tell me, does the Grave Site from the Ragonian Slave Trade still remain?" Dane asked, his speech returning to its normal pace and rhythm.
"Yes, why is that relevant?" the Guard asked raising an eyebrow as he sheathed his sword. Dan began to turn away, speaking with greater speed than he had before, but with more authority.
"Tell your men to be ready to leave within the hour. I will go with you back to Zakuman." Dane commanded, walking back into the chapel with Mars and Vieren close behind, giving them instructions as he went.
"Go and gather your Shinning Rods and whatever spell books you need. Vieren, find Orchid and Lotus. Tell them to meet me in the Lab as soon as you find them." Mars and Vieren split off as he walked with great speed, almost knocking acolytes over within the halls. In his lab, Dane began gathering his notes, bottles and a small black crystal he had made from solidifying Darkness. As he gathered his things, Lotus and Orchid walked in, both of them leaning against the door jam.
"What is it this time? Is it something fun?" Orchid asked, perking up a bit at the prospect.
"No, it isn't. You two are to accompany Mars, Vieren and I to Zakuman. There, we will face a powerful Darkness; a stain on all human kind. You will help me study it." Lotus huffed and rocked his head side to side, cracking his head as he chuckled.
"Why should we help you with this? We've already told you how to find the root of any given Darkness haven't we? Besides if it is as bad as you say it is, there won't be time for studying."
"Regardless of the study, we need to vanquish it. This Darkness is one of many Great Stains on humanity that need to be taken care of and will yet lead to a solution for the Darkness as a whole. We will need all the help you can give." Orchid drooped her arms and hunched her back.
"Awww, that sounds so boring! Why can't we just go take care of some Omens like always do with the Acolytes?"
"Because we will need your power. This is a Darkness that can't be called an Omen. It is worse." Orchid and Lotus continued to whine, even as they mounted double on a horse walking with the caravan. But eventually their whining gave out, sitting in impatient silence until Captain Triston spoke.
"I am happily surprised that you are coming with us back, but may I ask the reason for the urgency?" he asked. Dane sighed softly and began.
"Your kingdom from what I have studied was established solely for the purpose of guarding the gravesite of the Ragonian Slave Trade. The creatures that you have been seeing now are Omens; shadows left behind by the people killed there. If these Omens are left alone, it will only get worse. We are going to the heart of the problem: the gravesite itself." The captain sat back, pursing his lips, lacing his fingers together and resting his elbows on his knees to support his chin.
"That would explain why we haven't been able to hurt them in any way."
"You tried to fight them?" Vieren asked with a near squeak in his voice.
"Yes, though those that did were often overcome with some sort of mind magic that left them frozen with grief or began fighting each other. They are the best men we have, unfazed by anything, any yet they were brought to their knees just by being in their presence."
"That is the power of the Omen; they are the manifestation of those emotions from those killed in that grave."
"Have you tried anything else?" Mars asked, squinting his eyes and turning his head slightly.
"We tried calling on Clerics of Nanahuatzin, Haim, Ariel, even Minerna herself. But they were unable to do much of anything against them." Mars turned to Dane who sat motionless.
"We will attempt to vanquish this Darkness that infests the world here." Dane answered flatly, staring down to his staff and the large Aurora crystal in the center of its crook-like design. His thoughts were drawn back to what he faced when he and Mars had gone to the grave of the Darlaus Crusades.
"I was barely able to overcome that beast, that creature. This is the site of something far more powerful." Looking at his hands, he caught sight of Mars and Vieren looking out the windows across from him.
"Mars had been overcome easily, but he has trained so he shouldn't be as easily overcome. Vieren however hasn't faced anything worse than a large Omen. But the love for his wife is strong making his Light robust; he should be fine." Looking out the window beside him, he caught sight of Orchid and Lotus riding beside the wagon. Would they even be affected by what waited for them? Yes, they had been changed by the Darkness, however that didn't mean they could no longer be affected by it.
"What is it that lies in wait for us?" Dane thought, pulling out his notebook and reading over his Darkness transformational spell. If this didn't work, then he would have to try something else.
"There might not be enough time to try something else." Dane swallowed hard and turned back to his notes. He had to succeed.
Tahir had been lost after losing his family, resorting to becoming a mercenary for hire just to keep his mind off their loss. But it didn't bring much money in, usually eating only when he got paid which only brought in a few coins every few days. And between the times that he wasn't working, the memories would come back. He and a few other had banded together for survival, sharing what little coin they made between them. All of them had lost family, some still had children to care for.
"If it hadn't been for those damn shadows…" he thought as he slowly ate part of a loaf of bread he had purchased. Those damnable clerics of that sect said to be fighting off the shadows, they were also to blame. One of his friends disappeared with them when they were hired by what he later found to be a beautiful Shamaness of the Dead City Azwan: Hilda.
It was more given an opportunity for them to direct their anger than anything, something that Tahir fully understood now. But still, it was a job that paid well, very well. He looked down to the heavy pouch on his belt, lumpy and bulging from all the coins in it. It was more money than he had seen in years.
His thoughts turned to his friend Omar and the children that had been left behind after their latest job. After being paid by Hilda, he and the band of mercenaries collectively took up watching over Omar's two young sons. Gahlib and his wife Qamar lost their own children to the shadows and took the brunt of providing for them, helped greatly by a generous gift my Tahir. He looked down to the small chain hanging on his palm having a small locket with a lock of his Wife's and daughter's hair within it.
"What am I to do Talea?" He asked quietly, picking up the locked at opening the cover to look at the picture. His rage against those clerics still burned, but he had been forced to question his actions when he found that he and his comrades had only been used to further Hilda's plans, whatever they were. A knock on the door snapped him out of his thought, tucking the locket within his shirt and going to open it. When he did, he was faced with his friend that had disappeared.
"Jamal! You're ok!" he said stunned. His friend nodded crookedly, asking to come in. With an eager swing of his hand Tahir stepped aside allowing him in.
"What happened to you? It's been seven months since you disappeared with those clerics in a flash of light. Where have you been?" Jamal chuckled as he slumped down into a chair at the table, taking his dagger from his belt and slapping it onto the table.
"I have been all over the eastern desert traveling with a lovely Acolyte of the Order of Aurora named Hanna."
"Did you kill her?" Tahir asked, speaking through clenched teeth and curling his lip. Jamal picked up his dagger by the butt and stood it on its tip, spinning it around making it dig into the wood slightly.
"No actually, I didn't." He answered bluntly. Tahir's face went red, his fists balled up tight and his heart beat so hard he swore it would burst from his chest.
"WHY THE HELL NOT?! They are the ones not doing their jobs! Why should we show them any mercy? They are responsible for your family's death! And you just LET one of them live?!" Tahir thundered. Jamal sighed, catching the dagger from the table and thumbing the edge as he leaned over his knees.
"Oh trust me, I wanted to: I still want to. But Hanna at least showed me what they are trying to do. They aren't simply trying to rid the world of these Omens as they call them. They are also trying to prevent more from being made."
"That still doesn't forgive them for their inaction!" Tahir growled, slamming his fist on the table hard enough to make the side of it burn with pain.
"I know it doesn't, but at least give them a chance to do what…"
"Get out!"
"Tahir, will you at least…"
"I said get out! You are no friend of mine if you side with the enemy!" Tahir grabbed Jamal by the shirt, hauling him to his feet and throwing him out of the front door onto the dusty streets of Arentia.
"Perhaps you can accept what they are doing, but I will never do so!" Tahir slammed his door hard enough that a vase topped from its shelf onto the ground. Looking over Tahir noted that it was the very vase he had given Talea as an anniversary present the previous year. Heavily he walked to it, slumping to his knees and picking up the sky-blue pieces one by one.
"Talea, what am I to do?" he wept, clutching the pieces to his chest, the sharp edges cutting into his hands making them bleed. Looking up from where he knelt, he caught sight of Jamal's dagger still laying on the table as his eyes brightened.
"If those cultists won't do it, then I will."
The rest of the journey back to Zakuman was silent. Three weeks went by as they traveled West through the desert into the mountainous region of Al Neth. Here it was rather cool during the summer months, but brutally cold with constant snow during the winter. Once arriving in Zakuman, the Aurora members were given cloaks to keep warm as the end of fall was fast approaching as they traveled to the gravesite alone. It was a few hours south from the city, but as they neared where the grave was kept, signs of life began to die away.
The bark of trees was dry, fewer and fewer songs of birds could be heard in the air that smelled foul, more so the further they ventured. Vieren caught sight of a few large wolves watching them from afar but seemed to not dare come closer.
"I'm so board and my feet are cold. Are we there yet?" Orchid asked, hunching over and drooping her arms as they walked through a light layer of snow. Dane halted the group, standing silent for a long while as he looked around the area.
"Master?" Mars asked, lowering his staff readying for battle.
"We're here." Dane answered, scanning the area. Vieren accidently found a small grave stone carved with a cross at the top of its rounded shape. Moss and snow clung to its face obscuring the words carved into it until he brushed it all away.
"Here lie the lives of the Ragonians needlessly lost. May peace find them. This Stone is to serve as a reminder to what has happened here, that no man should forget all life is precious."
Mars and Vieren held their Shining Rods to the ready, light dimly humming at their ends giving the surrounding area a cold but comforting glow.
"Is something going to happen or are we simply standing here all day?" Lotus asked when swells of dark shadows rippled just above the surface of the snow.
"Master Dane?" Vieren asked, the light on the end of his staff becoming brighter.
"Stay calm and keep your mind about you. The emotions making up this creature are intense." Dane answered, lowering his staff's head to the ground, but keeping it lit. The snow seemed to melt away as a creature's hand reached up from the ground, pulling the rest of its body up. Neon green veins crackled to life all over the creature's body as more and more of it pulled from the ground. The creature's second arm slumped to the ground, burning the snow around it into blackened ash. Paper tearing echoed in the small canyon as its eyes opened, green smoke sizzling from the corners.
"You com heya lookin fo a fight do ya?" the creature asked, though no mouth could be seen.
"No, we have come to heal the wounds that have manifest you." The creature threw back its head, putting a hand to his forehead and laughing loud enough to make small drifts of snow fall around them.
"You tink dat you ahr able to take me out? You mus be done stupid to tink dat." The creature laughed, swiping at Dane only to be stopped by Mars with a barrier of light.
"Da mans dat made me possible neva got what dey desaved. Dae sit in dare jails and dare stocks, but dae do not get da deht dat makes me up! And you tink dat I want some healing?!" Vieren stepped forward, lowering his staff as Dane had.
"What was done to you was horrible to be sure, but those that did this to you are long gone. They died many, many years…"
"DAE WERE STILL ALLOWED TO LIVE! DAE NEED TO HAVE DARE BLOOD SPILLED AS I HAD!" the creature bellowed.
"What justice is dare if da ones dat took da lives of me are allowed to live?!" Orchid and Lotus were about to step in, readying an attack but Dane held his hand out.
"Aw come on!" Orchid whined, shrinking back a bit when Dane gave her a look filled with molten daggers.
"If we were to simply outright kill everyone then the eventuality would lead to everyone killing everyone without reservation. There would be no justice at all." Dane answered. The creature clenched it hands, lowering it head and beginning to shake as black vapors began to seep from its back.
"Den your justice is not wert anyting!" the creature howled, swinging again at Dane only to be blocked by Lotus with his bare hand.
"That's it. I've had it! I'm bored and I want something to do! Orchid!" he shouted, the twins disappearing, kicking up snow where they had been a moment before. The creature began to twitch and reel as something was hitting it from multiple angles, driving its face into the ground as the twins reappeared.
"That was easy." Orchid said with a disappointed sigh.
"You fools!" Dane snapped, watching as the creature picked its head up off the ground, its bottom jaw splitting away in a jagged mouth. Its roar was enough to blow away loose flakes of snow in cutting clouds across their faces and hands.
"YOU HUMANS AHR ALL DA SAME! I HATE YOU ALL!" the creature bellowed with a shrill voice as a wave of Darkness exploded from it, enveloping everything around them. But the wave passed with nothing happening, or so it seemed.
Mars unfurled himself from his guarded position, looking over to Vieren and instantly lunging at him. Vieren gave a shout and he held up his staff and began to dual with Mars, blasts of light being directed into the walls and ground as they fought. Dane stood, stoic against the wave, gritting his teeth as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. Lotus and Orchid looked at each other and their own hands, trying to figure out what had happened.
"Hey. Hey Dane, what…"
"Don't talk to me filthy forest rats!" Dane answered between gritted teeth. Orchid and Lotus both raised an eyebrow, floating into the air before him.
"What did you call us?" Orchid asked, a plume of fire appearing in her palm.
"Wait." Lotus said, grabbing her arm and quelling the flame.
"This isn't Dane speaking."
"The words came out of his mouth!" Orchid exclaimed, holding another plume of flame in her other hand.
"No, this creature is the cause of it. Its infected their minds, making them hate each other. This creature is making them feel what it feels." Lotus answered, turning his attention back to the shadow creature where it sat watching the scene unfold before it.
"RELEASE THEM!" Lotus shouted, throwing a blast of magic at the creature. At first the Creature did nothing until the magic hit it, knocking it against the ground behind it, instantly freeing Dane, Mars and Vieren.
"What happened?" Vieren asked as he blinked his eyes quickly.
"No time! Get the creature before it gets you again!" Lotus exclaimed just as the creature was getting back up. Dane breathed hard, wiping his eye before holding out his hand with his palm to the creature.
"Mars, Vieren. Work with the twins and keep the creature busy. I will prepare the final blow." As he spoke, vapors from the creature began to gather in his palm slowly overtaking his mind once again with feelings of hate and greif. With a monumental effort of thought he reached into his bag and pulled the small crystal of solidified Darkness from it. With small squeeze, its power seeped through his hand allowing him to combat the emotions assaulting his mind.
Vieren and Mars both held their staves forward, light building then thundering from them, blowing holes through the creature. The creature howled, quickly getting to an upright position as it swung at them. Mars teleported away as Vieren stayed put, light erupting from his staff and halting the creature's immense hand. The creature's second hand blocked the light over Vieren as it was coming down but knocked away by Orchid with a blast of her own magic.
Mars and Lotus each took turns hammering the creature in the back, turning its attention on them with a swing of his hand. Lotus managed to teleport away, but Mars was unable to react. The brunt of the creature's hand slammed into his body, sending him flying back into a high drift of snow. Vieren turned his staff to the creature as spears of light shot through the creature's back. One of the small spears stuck into a finger of the creature, making it turn its attention back to him. Vieren smirked as he teleported away to reveal Orchid unleashing another blast of magic that spun the creature around. Mars met its spin with a blast of his own light, punching through the creature' head.
The creature caught sight of him, swinging its jagged hands down on him. Mars struggled to breath over the inferno of pain in his right leg, trying to teleport away again. But he was too slow as the creature's claws caught his leg. When Mars reappeared near Dane, he cried out as he watched the flesh of his leg begin to crumble into ash.
Dane struggled to make sure that he didn't succumb to the raging emotions surging through him when he caught sight of his leg. Memories of the Omen from the Darlaus Crusades flashed through his mind. It was really only with the power of Ariel that he managed to survive that. Would he or anyone at the Aurora have the strength to heal him?
"MASTER DA…" The shout caught his attention just long enough to see Vieren bitten clean through the chest by the creature. Orchid and Lotus both forged weapons from their magic, stabbing the creature though the head and freeing Vieren. But the damage had already been done as ash began floating up from his wounds.
"If you're gonna do something now's the time! We can't carry three people back to town!" Orchid shouted.
"Dare will be no justice for dem, just as dare was no justice fohr me." The creature growled, turning his attention back to Dane.
"And dare will be none fohr you edar, White Mage." The creature growled, raising its hand ready to strike. Dane willed himself to remain in control as he gathered the Darkness within himself, channeling it all through his love of Ariel. Holding his staff forward, the crystals howled with white light as sliver flames jetted from them. The wall of fire tore through its arm, enveloping the creature as it howled in pain.
"If we do not try rise above our base selves, there can never be justice! I release you of your hate and pain!" Dane bellowed as the light became brighter, stripping away all that remained of the creature into silence. Dane collapsed to the ground, heaving for breath as the hate and sorrow he had absorbed slowly dissipated.
"It's not enough. The Darkness of this place is not enough to vanquish the Darkness of the world." Dane heaved, looking up to see his comrades as they lay on the snow. Pulling himself to his feet, he stumbled to Vieren where he lay coughing for breath.
"I'm sorry Master Dane. I wasn't paying attention. Please look after…"
"Be still Vieren, you will be fine. You will be going home to Tasia yourself." Dane encouraged. Mars pulled himself up into a sitting position, easing the pain in his leg a bit with a healing spell.
"How is he Master?" Mars asked. But Dane said nothing as he tended to the wound of Vieren. But there was nothing he could do except watch as the ashes drifted up from his bite wounds. He needed Ariel's power to heal these wounds. Closing his eyes, Dane called the name of Ariel in his mind.
"Yes, my love, I hear you." Dane shook his head in surprise. But decided to think about it later.
"Ariel, can you channel your power through me? Two of my Clerics have been injured as I was by an Omen. I know you have the power to heal this kind wound…" The sound of Ariel's voice chuckled in his mind and he almost thought he felt a hand on his shoulder
"All you need do is ask my love. The contract we forged offers many a benefit." Dane felt as if a hand were sliding down his arm until it rested atop his. With careful pressure, he placed his hand on the wounds
"This may sting a bit Viren."
"Do what you need. I will endure." Vieren seethed through clenched teeth. Dane nodded initiating a healing spell that felt hundreds of times more powerful, burning away all the corrupted flesh and healing over the wounds. He did the same for Mars, but he would walk with a limp and the Darkness had eaten away some of the muscle. Vieren too would have some scars where the teeth had punctured his skin, a side effect of the Darkness infection.
"Master, I'm sorry that…"
"There is no need to apologize Mars. This was my fault for not getting to you sooner. When we get back to Aurora, we need to find places that are darker. This and the grave of the Darlaus Crusades didn't have the power that we need to cleanse the world of the Darkness."
"But there is no other. There are only a few places left that we haven't been yet, and they hold the same amount of pain and sorrow as these."
"We must search Mars. The Ultimate Light that we use, while a powerful tool, is not enough. I can use Darkness to enhance my Light, but even then, the result is only as strong as the Darkness from which it was drawn. We need to find the Ultimate Darkness. The Darkest of all history. Only from Ultimate Darkness, can the Ultimate Light be truly found."