Chapter 9: Understanding
The Order of Aroura gained renown in Usoria over the comfortable rush of five months. All six clerics kept their reach limited to the Victarani province as they were so few. Other clerics and bishops began begging to be taught their ways for an advantage in combating the creatures made of shadow.
The news of having to break their oath of celibacy kept most from accepting, and Dane couldn't blame them. Some of the traveling bishops were aged and well set in their ways. Others just couldn't bring themselves to abandon the orders they had been dedicated to. Clerics and bishops as a whole were few, and despite the need to fight these creatures, clerics and bishops of the deities were needed as well.
With direction from Dane and a few weeks of searching, the Order found the Forest of Peace near what most called the Mountain of Healing. Here the trees grew so thickly the sun was completely blocked out as if it were permanently night. Over the months, enough funds were gathered through offerings and gifts to build a dedicated cottage for them. Despite the forest having been found, they still needed to find a suitable location to build.
"Why would you pick this place? It's so dark and hard to get to. If anyone wanted our aid, they might be lost." Pharamund noted, using his staff as a torch.
"Maybe it's a metaphor? Seeking out Light within the Darkness?" Vieren suggested, picking his way through the shrubbery, holding out his hand for his newly married wife, Tasia. They met in the modern city of Kernala when Vieren's arm was broken by a particularly violent shadow creature.
"No, no, Vieren. It is nothing so intellectual. I heard of and searched for this forest a long time ago. During my search, I met Ephenia and decided to research The Darkness more closely instead. In recent weeks, however, my research has stalled. Finding this Forest may advance it once more." Dane explained, tightening his grip on Ephenia's hand while leading them through the trees.
"But why here? I feel as if my shoulders are around my chest." Mars asked with a breath of awe and apprehension.
"I had hoped that a dark place would ease my study of the Darkness," Dane answered when he held up his staff and dimmed the light emanating from it. Pharamund followed suit as the others maneuvered to one another in the dark, pulling Tasia and Ephenia into the center of their ring.
"What's the matter?" Tasia asked with a whisper.
"Something is watching us," Dane whispered. Tapping twice on his rod and slowly raising it above his head.
"Shield your eyes." He whispered.
The violet-eyed beings watched the traveling group with disdain. The forest's dark hid most of their violent form, but even it couldn't hide their glowing violet eyes.
"They are the ones."
"They are the reason."
"Why did they do it?"
"What did I ever do to them?"
"I was pushed too far because of them!" The chorus of whispers hung thick in the air, each a painful melody of memories from a long-passed life. Each creature harbored a desire, a deep insatiable need for justice of their own doing. Some of the beings crept closer to the traveling band, limbs quivering in anticipation; the justice they sought was so close, but something held them all back. It wasn't a fear of being defeated, no that fear had long since left them. It was the fear of being no more, of not attaining the justice they sought.
Something among these people, these murderers, was making even the strongest of them shudder. The blue and green-eyed beings were among them, watching from afar. They didn't fear that something as much, but they still felt unrest surrounding the traveling group.
And then they stopped.
"I will crush you!"
"You will wish you never embarrassed me."
"I will show you the pain you caused!"
"You will pay for your sins!" The multitude of whispers thickened, closing around the traveling group, overpowering their fear of that something. The need for revenge, justice, and resolution drove them on. The blue and green-eyed beings stayed back. They had no vengeful intentions, and playing any kind of trick now wouldn't be as funny, not with the others surrounding them; instead, they decided to pull away from the depressing air.
All at once, the entire area was engulfed in blinding white light. The violet-eyed creatures shrieked in pain as their bodies were shredded to scraps. Flashes and spears of light split the darkened air, tearing through the creatures and trees alike. Hissing masses of whispers arose as the creatures were dispatched. Within a few moments, the area was silent, with only the humans' breathing hanging in the air. The blue and green-eyed beings looked at each other, blinking away the rainbows in their eyes.
"What was that?" the Green-eyed being asked.
"I don't know, but it makes my core feel like it's vibrating." The Blue-eyed being answered.
"Let's get out of here!"
"You have no argument from me!"
"Is anyone hurt?" Dane asked, slowly lighting the area so as not to blind anyone. Pharamund, Mars, and James followed suit, revealing Tasia to have a small gash on her forearm and a burn mark on the side of Xenos's face. Tasia quickly went to him and began applying a disinfectant from a pouch of medicinal supplies on her hip. As she worked, her brow pursed in bewilderment.
"What is it?" Xenos asked when he saw her face change,
"I-I'm not sure. Your skin is just turning to dust." She stammered, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a small sharp knife. As she did, Tasia cast a glance to her arm, breathing a sigh of relief when only blood was present.
"This might sting a bit." She said, cutting away what appeared to be rotting flesh. But with each passing second, the wound was only becoming worse.
"The more I cut the faster it spreads!" Tasia exclaimed, trying to get ahead of the rapidly growing sore.
"Let me try." Ephenia insisted, holding her hand to the wound, careful to limit herself to the amount of power a human would use. But Xenos's injury was much more stubborn than a superficial burn; it reminded her of the injuries on Dane's arms a few weeks prior. Ephenia carefully applied her divine power to the wound so that it wouldn't be apparent as to who she really was.
She first cleared away the rotting flesh then closed it over quickly, but it would leave a scar for the rest of his life. Dane had explained to the others that she was the last fairy of Usoria, and to an extent, they all seemed to accept her, which allowed her to use a slight bit of divine power without question. She could use more and leave no scar. But the ruse would be broken. When she asked why Dane wanted to keep her identity a secret, he reminded her that Deities walking in Usoria was unheard of for the average human. If humans found out who she really was, they may have any number of reactions, most of which were not pleasant.
"That's fairy healing magic for you. Always an immense blessing to watch you work, Lady Ephenia." Mars commented, offering a drink of water to Xenos. Ephenia smiled in thanks, hiding her hands as the 'divine shine' faded from her fingers.
"Did you use some?" Dane asked quietly. Ephenia nodded as Dane took her hand and kissed her knuckles, his sleeve covering her clasped hand.
"Thank you. Now, let's continue on. I think we are close to the ideal spot." Dane announced, directing the others out of the area. Dane, however, lingered for a time. Something was there in the dark. A pair of presences he had felt ever since he first met Ephenia. They were near and had been so for some time. But the light from his staff and the surrounding shadows prevented his seeing them. Perhaps once they had the cottage built, there would be time to explore and know what these presences were.
A combination of strength of arm and knowledge of magic soon had the two-story cottage built. It was smaller than they hoped, but it was comfortable enough to give Vieren and Tasia their own room, as well as Ephenia and Dane for the money available. The others agreed to share a room with the understanding that if needed, they could expand. Once the building was complete, Pharamund and Mars set about making soft lighting crystals around some trees to light their way.
Dane then began research in earnest for extracting and eliminating the Darkness in the world once and for all. He started small, creating salves, potions, and elixirs to help him extract tiny bits of Darkness to contain and study. Perhaps if he could narrow his search to the 'shades' of Darkness as he had done before, he would be able to better identify and apply his Light.
He would discover new 'shades' of Darkness with each passing day, but it was far more intense than he could quantify. His research with Menodora revealed in total seven distinct shades of Darkness. His study at the cottage in just under a month showed more than a hundred, with more appearing daily. Some were similar, but all had their unique signature making it nigh impossible to know how to apply his Light. One day, Ephenia came into his study to see Dane leaning on his hand, furiously scrawling notes on parchment.
"If you write any harder, that paper will catch fire." She chuckled, standing next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders.
"I've managed to find the method for extracting Darkness, yet have not been able to find one thing that will help me to get rid of it en masse." Dane sighed with an edge of frustration as he leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ephenia looked all around them, noting dozens of small bottles containing what appeared to be black vapors.
"Perhaps all these are giving you problems." She suggested, reaching for one of the bottles to look at it in more detail. But as she picked it up and brought it closer, she began to feel a fear settling into her being. The moments passed slowly as it started to form into a fear of… Dane? She pulled her hand away from him as the fear began to split and become something else: shame. The fear split again, this time, fear that the guilt she felt would be discovered. Questions began to form in her mind.
"Why did this happen? I did nothing wrong; why did he do that? Will I ever be worthy? How could I have been so stupid?" Ephenia's skin turned pale as the world around her faded away into a dark and pressing void. Nothing but her fear, questions, and shame drove themselves into her like spears of fire. As the weight of her feelings began to overwhelm her, the Darkness suddenly vanished. Dane pulled the bottle from her hand and gripped her to his chest, holding the bottle away. The stillness slowly calmed her as Dane's heart rhythm gradually brought her back to reality.
"Are you alright, Ephenia?" Dane asked with concern.
"What was that?" she asked with a shaky breath, as if she had been on the verge of tears. Something in the back of her mind felt like a hazy memory of saying those exact words, but it soon slipped away.
"What you were experiencing was the gathered emotion of someone who may have been abused or assaulted; I haven't been able to pinpoint what exactly happened." Ephenia wanted to reach for Dane's shirt and grip it as hard as she could to ground herself, but there was still a lingering fear.
"It felt… I felt like I should have done something different. If only I had…"
"Ephenia. Those are not your emotions. Breathe and listen to what I am saying. You have nothing to fear from me. I have not and will not assault you. Ever. Think back to what you know of me; don't focus on the present right now, focus on the past." It was a struggle, but Dane's words kept her focused enough to think back on when she first met Dane, what it was that drew her to him, and how she had fallen in love with him. A few moments later, her fears and shame were gone.
"How is Darkness able to do this? It's contained but flooded my mind so easily, yet you seem unaffected." Dane sighed with relief, putting the bottle away.
"This is a powerful pain, left uncomforted, tucked away within the human spirit where it festered. These are all secret pains of people who died or were consumed by it." Dane explained, motioning to the other bottles within the room with labels like abuse, abandonment, rejection, and loss.
"Without the knowledge of what it is or how to make sure it doesn't affect you, it will infect you very easily. All Darkness is like this. With what I know of magic, it is barely enough to maintain my control and not become lost to its thrall in this small amount." Ephenia leaned against his back and put her arms around him, noting that the room felt heavier than she first realized.
"Then why aren't the people of the world affected more? The power contained within this Darkness should send everyone into a spiral of depression and fear." Ephenia asked.
"Perhaps direct contact with Darkness like what you experienced, as opposed to indirect exposure out in the world, is what makes it so much more dangerous," Dane theorized. Ephenia put her hand on his shoulder, sliding down his arm and lacing her fingers with his.
"Come, a walk would give you a chance to clear your mind away from all this bottled pain." She suggested, turning him around and leading him out the door. Immediately Dane appeared to brighten, despite the constant night-like air of the forest.
Reaching back inside the door, he grabbed his old staff, leading Ephenia through the forest. They admired the plants that grew in the comforting glow of the Guide Crystals he and the others had made to light their way through the woods.
"It's them again." Grumbled the blue-eyed being.
"They always come out after a couple weeks. Maybe they're ready for another trick?" the green-eyed being answered, floating up next to the blue-eyed being.
"He doesn't have that thing that makes us scared, so maybe we should be able to get him good!" the Blue-eyed being giggled.
"Yeah! We should be able to try that snake trick again! It'll be funny to watch him dance and flail in terror!" the green-eyed being exclaimed. The two of them giggled and snorted as they searched for a dangerous snake. They managed to slip away from Guwaru and his constant scornful gaze, learning a thing or two about what snakes were hazardous to humans.
Once they had found their snake, the blue-eyed being picked it up, giggling as it tried to bite, only to catch a mouthful of wispy, smoke-like aura. The humans were hard to find again despite the man having long white hair and the woman having those brightly colored wings.
Eventually, The beings found them sitting on a rock, just talking and pressing their faces together over and over again. The blue-eyed being watched for a while with envious apprehension. But the green-eyed being scoffed and rolled its eyes.
"Look, remember what we were going to do here!" the green-eyed being scolded with a hissing whisper. The blue-eyed being squinted as if smiling and nodded. The beings waited for just the right opportunity when both of the humans stood.
"It's now or never! Do it!" the green-eyed being seethed. The blue-eyed being was ready to toss the snake but stopped when the man turned to them. He stared at them for a long while before speaking, probably to make sure the woman didn't hear.
"It's you. I know you're there, so come out into the light."
"Tell me, love. How human are you right now? I know this body is an avatar to walk among us humans. But how far does that extend?" Dane asked, sitting down on an outcropping of rock. Ephenia sat down beside him and thought for a minute.
"What is it you are asking? Are you asking if this body can bear children?"
"I suppose to some degree I am. But what I am more curious to know is whether your extended stays within this body affect you as a goddess? Is harm coming to you as you are? Are you irreversibly changing?" Dane asked. Ephenia thought as she looked over the nighttime landscape before leaning against him.
"There are many ways in which you have changed me, Dane. I may be a goddess, but during my stays here, I have been provided a glimpse of how precious, how disproportionately short your beautifully tragic lives are. There are sometimes that I curse my existence to know that I will outlive you and all humans alive today many eons over." She sighed, leaning over and pressing her lips to Dane's with all the passion she felt deep within her being.
"But then I remember all the time we have shared and how you have shown me that while your lives may be short, they are the most meaningful. If I could, I would abandon my post as a goddess so that I may live out my days with you." Again, she kissed him with slow but deliberate movements. Dane sighed, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I do not think I would even ask such a thing of you. The world relies on your existence, and it would pain me to know that the world you grew to love with me would be deprived of you. If and when the day comes that I do die, and it will, I will still be a part of it. I will live on in here." Dane pointed to her chest as Ephenia reached for his hand, placing it over her heart. It was a comfort to feel the warmth of his palm. She knew she could travel through the Memory Hall to relive this exact moment any time she wished. Sadly, she would never feel the memory ever again. She would never feel the warmth of his hand, the strength, the size of his touch this way ever again.
"Promise me this, Dane; you will find a way to defeat the Darkness, and you will never be taken by its thrall," Ephenia begged as Dane cradled her jaw before pressing his lips to hers with a long and firm kiss.
"I promise." He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers for some time before they both stood.
"I suppose we should be getting back. It's been a couple hours." Ephenia suggested.
"I will join you shortly. I have a few thoughts I wish to explore before returning." He smiled as she left, their hands lingering on one another for some time before Ephenia spread her wings and fluttered back to the cottage. Dane, meanwhile, turned his attention to the bramble behind the rock and stared hard at it. When he was sure Ephenia was far enough away, he spoke firmly.
"It's you. I know you're there, so come out into the light." Dane commanded as the blue and green-eyed beings came out into the light of the crystals. Before Dane could say anything more, the blue-eyed being tossed a snake at Dane. Instead of getting the panicked reaction the two beings were hoping for, Dane simply watched the snake land at his feet. The snake didn't do much for a moment. Instead, it flicked its tongue a few times as though righting itself. Dane reached down, picking up the snake and staring it in the eye for a long while before he casually set it down. The beings were in dumbfounded awe as the snake slithered back into the forest.
"Aww, come on! That was supposed to surprise you and make you dance!" the blue-eyed being exclaimed. Dane chuckled softly.
"You two are quite mischievous, aren't you. You both tried to pull this trick a long time ago." The blue-eyed being narrowed its eyes as the green-eyed being spoke up.
"Yeah, and after that, we were going to jump out of the bushes and scare you off. That would have been hysterical!" The green-eyed being laughed in unison with the blue-eyed being as they recounted their plans. Dane chuckled again as he listened to them speak.
"Yes, well, something like that would require that I be at least a bit afraid of you." The beings raised what appeared to be an eyebrow and looked at one another perplexed.
"Hey, how come you aren't afraid of us? We've jumped out at other people before, and they scream and yell as loud as they can while running away. But you aren't even shaking." The blue-eyed being scoffed, looking Dane up and down. Dane thought back to what Nanahuatzin had told him about who he was and why he was so attuned to the world's imbalance.
"Perhaps it is because I am not your usual human. Normal humans can't sense things as I do. The other humans that came here can also sense things that no ordinary human can." Dane answered with a grin, kneeling to better see the beings before him.
"Tell me, what are you? You aren't like the other creatures that are formed of Darkness." Dane said. The beings looked at each other, unsure how to answer.
"We are…" The green-eyed being began, stopped when the blue-eyed being nudged the other.
"What?!" The green-eyed being hissed before the blue-eyed being turned to Dane to ask a question.
"What are you doing here, human? Guwaru has charged us with keeping our forest safe!"
"No, he didn't! You made that up!" the green-eyed being shot.
"No, I didn't! This is OUR forest! You can't simply come here and claim it as your own!" the blue-eyed being growled, lowering its brow to a scowl.
"Do you even claim ownership of the Darkness that permeates it?" Dane asked. The blue-eyed being was taken aback.
"Darkness? Y-y-yes. Yes! We claim that Darkness is ours too! You can't come in here to take it!" The green-eyed being shot wide-eyed stares back and forth between Dane and the blue-eyed being until Dane laughed heartily.
"What's so funny? You think we can't own something?!" the blue-eyed being growled. The green-eyed being became worried, remembering the feeling that always seemed to hang around this human. That feeling wasn't here, but perhaps he was just hiding it somewhere and would use it on them. They had both seen how easily he tore through those other beings with the purple eyes.
"No, no, I do not doubt that. But I don't think you can claim ownership of the Darkness in its entirety. It exists everywhere. Even within our very presence, it exists. It may very well exist in Guwaru's forest." The blue-eyed being backed down from its hostile stance, raising an eyebrow and speaking low to the green-eyed being.
"This human is strange." Dane chuckled once more and held a hand out to them.
"You beings are equally strange, I would say. You are so much more than a mass of pain and anger. And I would very much like to visit with this Guwaru you speak of." The beings looked at each other. They had always scared humans away for a good laugh, but now one of them was talking to them and even asking to meet someone they held in authority, despite their dislike of him.
"Come here tomorrow." The blue-eyed being said sharply, turning and floating back into the forest, followed soon after by the green-eyed being.
"What are you doing?!"
"That human is meddling so much here, and he's no fun! If we bring Guwaru, perhaps he can scare him away."
"Now, what is this about meeting someone, you two? I cannot be away from the forest too long, you know." Guwaru grunted, his arms creaking with each movement he made.
"It's a weird human that has moved into the forest. He's chased us and swatted at us, calling us monsters!" the blue-eyed being snickered.
"Yeah! He even said that he'd send a bunch of other humans after us if we stopped him!" the green-eyed being added.
"And what was he doing that he would chase you?" Guwaru asked, his raspy, gravelly voice echoing for a while, leaning over to better look the two of them in the eye. The green-eyed being stuttered, trying to come up with a reason.
"He was… he was…"
"He was cutting down trees to burn them for his campfires!" the blue-eyed being shouted. The blue light within Guwaru's being and eyes faded to red.
"I see. What was this human's name?"
"I think he called himself Dane."
"Then I shall see this human and put a stop to it!" he hissed, floating off in the direction the two beings had pointed him where this human was going to be. It didn't take him long to find the clearing where the human was, parting the trees with his broad body, speaking with a loud note.
"Dane! You dare come into the forests and cut them down for your mere fires?!" Guwaru thundered.
"Fires? Why would I be cutting down your forests for fires? Yes, I have burned some wood, but only that of fallen branches or trimmings."
"Are you not the human I was to stop here?"
"I was to meet a forest Guardian by the name of Guwaru. Are you he?" Dane asked with confused optimism.
"I am Guwaru. Have you not been torturing my charges? The forest spirits of north and south?" Dane raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Torturing forest spirits? I would wish no such thing! I am merely here to better understand the Darkness." The red from Guwaru faded back to a calm blue color as he looked over his shoulder to the two beings peeking out from behind a tree just outside of the light.
"Then you are the famed White Mage, correct?"
"Yes. What's going on here?" Dane asked with a degree of agitation.
"I must apologize, White Mage. It seems that I was misled. Now, what is it that you wish to speak to me about? My time is limited." Guwaru replied staunchly, fixing his attention back to Dane.
"I hoped to learn from you as to what those two beings are. But you have given me the answer." Dane smiled. Guwaru merely stared at him.
"I also hoped to understand the difference between them and the creatures created from Darkness itself," Guwaru grunted, holding his hands across from one another as images appeared between them.
"As I said, they are the forest spirits of the north and south, two amongst tens of thousands that exist in Usoria. In the beginning, the Great Mother Minerna created many, many beings to inhabit this world and planted them to await the call to be awakened. Many of these beings still lay in wait for their calling within my forest. But when the Darkness infected the world, these two were awakened by it and forever changed." The image shifted to a blue and green transparent creature with four stubby legs and small stubby spines on its head.
"They aren't hateful creatures, but they are bothersome with the 'tricks' they play on any number of humans."
"Would extracting the Darkness change them back into what they were meant to be?" Dane asked.
"As I said, the Darkness has forever changed them. Others, too, have been touched by Darkness, but they weren't as fortunate to become the mischievous pests these two are. If the Darkness were to be extracted, I doubt they would ever truly be what they were meant to be." Guwaru answered, his arms creaking as they settled to his sides once more.
"I am studying the Darkness to find ways of ridding it from the world. But I fear that its power is growing faster than I and my Order can combat. Would you be able to lend me more insights?" Dane asked with childlike earnestness.
"I keep the Darkness away from the creatures within my forest. It requires all of my power to do so, and I fear that my power will not be enough to keep them safe in the future. Until then, I cannot leave my forest to give you the assistance you require. I do know two who can." Guwaru growled, looking back at the blue and green-eyed beings.
"I would appreciate any help offered."
"Then so be it. I must return to my forest. I await your findings, White Mage. You two will assist the White Mage in any way that he sees fit as punishment for your misbehavior." Guwaru grumbled, disappearing through the brush. The green and blue-eyed beings begrudgingly came forward into the light. The blue-eyed being lowered its eyes, and its form seemed to slump. The green-eyed being appeared to be thinking hard about something as it neared.
"What's the matter?" Dane asked.
"What does that mean?" the green-eyed being asked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"When you were talking to Guwaru, you called us 'beings'. What does it mean?" Dane put a hand to his mouth for a moment, thinking hard about how he would answer the question.
"It means… It means to feel, to experience existence. To stand on your own and recognized the world around you; to feel the world around you."
"How can we stand on our own when we have no feet like you, human?" the blue-eyed being asked sarcastically.
"To stand on one's own does not mean literally to stand. It is a metaphor, a representation of being independent. Though having one's own feet does tend to change the perspective." Dane smiled.
"We also don't have hands, or faces, or squishy bits for that matter." The green-eyed being added.
"I suppose that all of those things can make the world appear different to someone like me. Would you like to know what the world is like through human eyes? Do you desire a human form?" Dane asked. The words of Guwaru came back to him, stating how the Darkness had forever changed these spirits. He had learned a great deal of transmutation magic. Coupled with his alchemic teachings from his days in Margata, he was confident he could do it.
"Would it hurt at all?" the green-eyed being asked hesitantly.
"I cannot say, I have never done something like this."
"What are we waiting for! That sounds like fun! Let's do it!" the blue-eyed being shouted excitedly.
"However, there is something that I must ask of you in return."
"What is it?" the green-eyed being asked, seemingly raising an eyebrow.
"You two have been affected by Darkness and as such have a very different view of it. I want you to help me understand and explore the Darkness."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, now make us into a human! Oh! And make us look the same. We always like to be together." the blue-eyed being exclaimed, bobbing up and down in the air. Dane chuckled at the blue-eyed being's excitement.
"You are going to need names if you are going to be human. I can't keep calling you 'green-eyed being' or 'blue-eyed being.'"
"What's a name?" the green-eyed being asked.
"It is a way to identify you. Another way of 'standing on your own.'"
"You humans are all so weird. You have so many things to make sure that you can all 'stand on your own.' It's so confusing." The green-eyed being said. Dane chuckled. Perhaps there were many things humans did that were entirely redundant. But it would be interesting to teach these beings the meaning and nuances of being human.
"How about this, your name from now on shall be Lotus," Dane stated, motioning to the green-eyed being.
"And yours shall be Orchid." He said, motioning toward the blue-eyed being.
"Such pretty flower names. I like them. Would you agree? L-lotus?" Orchid asked. Lotus said nothing, slowly nodding approval.
"Then welcome into the company of the Order of Aurora, Lotus, and Orchid."