From Light to Dark (13 page)

But the Exile was wrong. “I can’t.” Eref said. “All I’ve done is bring everybody trouble. I just want to live like a normal person. In Light World. This is where I belong, Exile. I’m a Light Person. Let me go.”

“Is that really all you’ve ever wanted?”

“Yes.”

“This is truly all you care about? Your only dreams have been to be ‘normal’?”

What was he getting at? Eref thought of his internship bagging groceries at the Life emporium. He thought of his favorite games on the mountainsides. He thought of his bedroom. Block bed made of stone, light shining down on him all the time. Yes. Of course he was a normal Light Person. That was what he wanted.

“Tell me about Balor,” the Exile said.

Eref bowed his head. Ever since the stoning, he’d tried to keep Balor from his mind. It was too much to think about their friendship, their pranks. Their promise.

“Tell me about Vul.”

Eref looked back at the Exile, his temper rising. “Why should I? How do you even know about these people?”

“I told you. I’ve been watching.”

“Vul’s different,” Eref said angrily.

“Why?”

“Because she’s from
Dark World
.” His tone came out all wrong – he hadn’t meant for “Dark World” to sound like a dirty word. Eref cleared his throat. “I wasn’t supposed to meet her. I shouldn’t be involved with—”

“Why not? Would she have escaped if you hadn’t been involved?”

Eref paused. No, he honestly didn’t think she would have gotten away. Nobody in Light World ever did. The Eighteener Entrance was inescapable.

And that, of course, was the flaw in his own plan right now. There was nowhere safe to hide. In Dark World or Light.

“Tell me about Caer,” the Exile said.

“What about her?”

“What should I say when I get back?”

“What do you mean?”

“Should I tell her to forget about saving Vul? Should I tell her you left her alone at the end of the world?”

Eref looked around at bright, beautiful Light World. A week ago, he couldn’t have imagined troubles like this. Now his life was completely turned around.

This was his home. He belonged here. And yet… he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t leave Caer and Vul. He couldn’t give up everyone who had helped him just for a selfish desire to die in the sun.

It was like having his own life ripped from his body. Eref had never felt such pain before, even at the End. Now he realized why he’d come here, why the Exile had brought him through. He was here to say goodbye.

Caer needed him. He thought back to the time their hands had joined, and they had made such a beautiful light together. It had felt even better than the sun of Light World, a soft and gentle glow that put an end to all suffering.

Maybe there really was life after death.

Eref took a deep breath and looked at the Exile. His heart felt heavy as a rock. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

“You are the one who will save the worlds.” The Exile said this like it was a simple fact.

“What?”

“I should start earlier.” The Exile leaned on his cane and creaked to the ground until he sat cross-legged. Eref still stood at a distance, feeling the bright, dry air of his world. If this was goodbye, he was going to cherish every moment in the sun.

“Long ago—over nine hundred years ago, actually—there was a war. You wouldn’t have heard about it.”

This was true. Eref had never known of a real war at all. He was familiar with the concept. Learning instructors used to say that the confusion of youth was what caused wars. They said the Eighteener Entrance saved them all from that fate. But he’d never heard of a war actually happening.

“It was a war over a place called the Safety.” The Exile leaned forward. “I think you have heard of that.”

Eref nodded. “Caer mentioned it. And so did someone in the Learning when I was younger.”

“The Safety is real,” the Exile said.

“But how can that be? Caer said it was in between Light World and Dark World. I fell between our worlds. There’s nothing there. Just blackness.”

The Exile smiled. “That doesn’t mean anything. I created that hole in the ground, Eref.”

Eref inadvertently took a step backward. “You what?” Was this man serious? He hadn’t even been at the stoning.

After a long breath, the Exile said, “I need to explain more.” He rubbed his temples, apparently trying to decide where to begin. Eref watched and waited.

“About nine hundred years ago, there were no Light or Dark people.

People looked like me. Both dark and light could be found in the sky at all times, and we existed comfortably together. Our world was called the Safety.”

“We? You were there nine hundred years ago?”

“Yes,” the Exile said, as if his age should not be surprising. “The Safety gave us long life and strong health. Our health also gave us special powers. I am actually thirteen hundred years old.”

Eref looked at the bony old man sitting on the ground. Ancient, yes. But over a thousand years old? No one in Light World lived beyond one hundred, and that was pushing it.

“The average lifespan of a Safe Person was a thousand years. But then things changed. Five people who found themselves reaching the ends of their lives got greedy. They wanted more. They devised a plan to live forever. They captured the daughter of a prominent Safe family. Do you know what a daughter is, Eref?”

Eref shook his head.

“In the Safety, married couples created their own children out of love and raised them as families. A female child was called a daughter. A male child was called a son.”

This was new to Eref. No compounds devoted to raising engineered children? How did untrained couples learn the skills to bring up babies?

Several feet away, two young fire dogs prepared to fight each other over the meat of the dying ocanroc. Eref watched them crouched low, growling. He knew they’d wait to strike until the ocanroc had stopped breathing. Light World had rules, even among the animals.

“In those days, there were two powerful families whose surnames were Luminous and Opaque. They had never liked each other very much.

“These five greedy people captured a Luminous daughter and cut off her head. She was twelve years old—considered an infant in those days.”

Eref’s jaw dropped. “Why did they do that?”

“It was just the first part of a terrible plan. They left her head on her family’s doorstep with a forged note bearing the Opaque seal. In reality, the Opaque family had nothing to do with the murder at all.”

“What did the note say?”

The Exile looked hard at Eref. “It said
Light Person
.”

“Why?”

“This was their plan. Next they took an Opaque son and cut off his head. The son was nine years old. They left his head on the doorstep with another note. This one bore the Luminous seal. Can you guess what the note said?”

“
Dark Person?
”

“Yes. The greedy people who did these things wanted to start a war between the families. It worked. Soon Luminous and Opaque were fighting in the streets. Friends of the opposing houses joined sides and fought, too. The violence escalated over several years. Anyone who tried to stay neutral was slaughtered by any number of horrific forms of attacks.”

One of the fire dogs barked and pawed the ground, his teeth bared. The ocanroc sputtered.

“How did you survive?”

“I am—well, I was at the time—a very powerful mage. It was my job to teach metaphysical skills to the most promising intellects in the Safety. However, once the war was underway, the five men and women who had committed the crimes kidnapped me and put a binding spell on my magic. They forced me to use my powers for their purposes.”

“How could they do that if you were so strong?”

The Exile looked Eref dead in the eyes and said, “They had stolen the Moonstone.”

Eref knew of the Moonstone. The most powerful gem in existence. According to their lessons in the Learning, it was the source of all power and light. Few people had ever seen it in real life. The Governors kept it locked in the Center and moved it only to bless stonings and Eighteener Entrances.

The Exile went on. “That was the worst thing that could have happened. With control of the Moonstone, they were more powerful than everyone else put together. These people could control me with barely any effort at all.”

“How did the war end?”

“It ended when they made me separate the Safety forever into two opposing worlds.”

Eref stared at him. “Light World and Dark World?”

“Of course. Now those five people are the Governors of both worlds. They travel back and forth each month through my cave to rule over both lands and spread their lies. Over time, the citizens have even physically changed to adapt to the new environments.”

Eref thought about this. It explained a lot of things he’d wondered about his whole life, but he could still think of a few missing pieces. “Why do they lie to us? Why do they want us to stay apart?”

The Exile looked up. “They are sucking the life out of you, little by little. Think. The average lifespan of a Safe Person was a thousand years. What is the average lifespan of a Light Person?”

“Seventy. Maybe eighty, I guess.”

“The Moonstone allows the Governors almost unlimited power. One of those powers is the ability to lengthen their lives by stealing years from other people. They’ve been cutting your lives horribly short for hundreds of years so that they can live forever. It all starts at the Eighteener Entrance. From that moment on, your soul belongs to them, dwindling away so that the Governors can consume the time you will never use.”

“But what about you? You said you’re over a thousand years old.”

One of the fire dogs paced back and forth near the ocanroc, stopping once or twice to sniff. The helpless ocanroc whined.

“They’re keeping me alive, too. As a slave. My power has been thinned out to a bare minimum. Once a month I have to meet them at their offices to transfer them through my cave and help divide the stolen life they’ve stored in the Moonstone. Only I have the knowledge and skills to handle this procedure. It takes all of my remaining strength each month to do what they require.”

Eref’s head swam. There was too much to comprehend. It didn’t seem real. Finally, he focused on the immediate and asked, “What do you need me for?”

“I’ve been watching you. You’re smart. You see through their lies. But it wasn’t until the day you shut off the lights that I knew you were the one.”

“I was the what?”

“Even though the Governors have tried to keep all powers to themselves, it’s still here, lying dormant in the worlds, waiting to wake up. It has awakened in you. You have innate metaphysical ability within you.”

“No, I don’t,” Eref said. He’d never done anything remotely magical in his entire life. If he’d had special powers, he wouldn’t have let Balor go to the Eighteener Entrance. He wouldn’t have been sentenced to death by stoning.

“You do,” insisted the Exile. “Do you have any idea what it takes to power Light World? The sun comes and goes day and night, but your lights remain on constantly. This is the Governors’ design. It keeps you afraid of the dark and of Dark World. This in turn keeps your worlds from joining together and learning the truth. The light in Light World is kept on by immense metaphysical power.”

“But that’s not true,” Eref said. “There are switches. It’s just electric power from the Moonstone.”

Behind him, the fire dogs growled louder. The poor ocanroc must have finally died. Eref moved a little closer to the Exile to stay out of their way.

“The magic runs like electricity through wires. Switches act as breakers that can be shut off when certain buildings are empty. This conserves the Governors’ power. A person could easily pull a prank by flickering the lights in one room.”

“Yeah,” Eref said. “That’s all I did.”

“But that’s not all that happened, is it?”

“No. The entire world went dark. It was some kind of malfunction.”

“It was your power. That’s the only thing that could have interfered with the Governors’ magic. When you touched the switch, your magic ran through all currents and shut Light World down. You communicated with the Moonstone. That is your special ability. You can protect others by calling upon the power of the Moonstone.”

Eref almost laughed. This man had to be lying or insane. Eref couldn’t really have been responsible for what had happened that day. It had been merely an accident. Something had gone wrong. It wasn’t magic.

Violence erupted nearby in a vicious dog fight. The animals puffed out their fur and snarled and lunged and bit. Eref moved a few more feet to the side. It was not wise to interrupt hungry fire dogs.

“Would you like me to prove it?” The Exile struggled for a moment to stand and then hobbled toward Eref.

“Yes.”

He walked forward but didn’t stop at Eref. The Exile passed him and moved toward the fire dogs.

“Those dogs will kill you,” Eref warned.

“Not if you stop them.”

The larger of the two fire dogs turned and snarled at the Exile.

“Are you crazy? I can’t do that. Each one of these is stronger than five Light People.”

“I would like to help this ocanroc. There are some healing herbs in my pocket. Ocanrocs are helpful with my gardening.”

“It’s dead,” Eref said. “The dogs are going to eat it.”

“He’s not quite dead. I’m going to help him. Fire dogs eat plenty; there’s no need to let this poor animal die for their greed.”

Both fire dogs started to bark, baring their teeth at the Exile and Eref.

“They’ll kill you for it.”

“Help me save the ocanroc, Eref. In turn, I’ll help you save the world.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Use your power.” The Exile stepped closer. The larger dog bent its head down and growled.

Eref didn’t understand. The Exile could perform magic – Eref had seen him produce food out of nowhere –, but how could he think Eref capable of it?

Seemingly unafraid, the Exile walked between the fire dogs and bent over to touch the unconscious ocanroc. Not a second later, both dogs leapt on him, barking and biting. He fell to the ground on top of the ocanroc.