Authors: Vanessa Black
Soul of Darkness (13 page)
The magic inside of me took over without my knowledge…without my permission…without my control.
I felt like a loose cannon.
Maybe these men in robes were right: Maybe I was just too dangerous for this world. Perhaps I shouldn’t be allowed to liv
e―
as I carried so much powe
r
yet seemed unable to control it…
T
he young man’s body stood unmoving, the presence within listening attentively
―
waiting for her to give herself away. She was very near, the presence was sure of it. The convertible’s tires and engine were still giving off heat.
Though it was very hard for humans to sense it
―
all warmth having almost completely vanished
―
the small remaining amount of heat was easily detected by the entity inhabiting the bodies of not one but all men gathered around the abandoned car.
And of countless beings throughout the universes.
As the men’s human senses strained to hear the slightest of sounds, the presence picked up something else: the element of magic…powerful magic…dark magic. Immediately, the entity knew it was her…knew it was the one who carried Darkness.
For, if there was one thing Evil recognized above all, it was the essence of its fiercest rival. And Darkness
was
and had always been
its most dangerous enemy.
But it hadn’t always been this way.
Long ago…long before gifted humans had even begun to discover the existence of magic and their ability to wield it…Darkness and Evil had inhabited the same space in harmony, each keeping its distance from the other and separately gaining power by draining the life forces of numerous beings across the universes.
Until Darkness had become greedy…
Darkness’s ability to plant its seed inside of any living creature and patiently lie in wait until embraced by its host enabled Darkness to control and thus destroy life.
And with every life destroyed, light was extinguishe
d―
the light within living souls, the quintessence of everything pure and good.
And so, Darkness’s power had grown…and its hunger for destruction along with it…until its whole existence was filled with one single purpose: to destroy world after world until there was no light left throughout the universes…and thus become all-powerful.
To that end, Darkness had stopped at nothing to seduce the one soul who wielded magical power beyond that of any other living being:
Persephon
e―
as she was called this time around; named after a Greek goddess, the queen of the underworld. How strangely fitting, for that was where Evil would soon be sending her soul.
She had to die. Otherwise, if Darkness made use of her and succeeded, Earth would be destroyed. It would bring Darkness one step closer to achieving its ultimate objective. And with the additional power obtained from the destruction of Earth’s souls, neither Evil nor any other force to be reckoned with would have the strength to stand in its way.
If Earth was destroyed, nothing would stop Darkness from conquering the universes.
And that would be the end of Evil.
For Evil fed off the malevolence of hateful beings who embraced their evil nature. Unlike Darkness, whose power derived from and grew through the absence of souls and thereby their light, Evil thrived on the foul deeds of the creatures it possessed and was powerless without corporeal form, without bodies to do its bidding.
If all worlds were destroyed, their inhabitants annihilated…if evil intentions ceased to exist within the natures of living creatures…then so would Evil itself. To survive, it needed hosts. Without them, Evil would blink out of existence.
Evil could not let that happen. It had to stop Darkness from destroying the Earth…or else Darkness would become too powerful. And though it was easy for Evil to get into the minds and poison the hearts of malevolent beings, it could not enter creatures that did not already possess a vast amount of Darkness, whereas Darkness could plant its seed inside of every single living soul
―
light or dark.
Which meant: Darkness had Evil at a disadvantage, and the only way to cross Darkness’s plans was to kill the powerful…and
only
…creature that could bring about the fulfillment of Darkness’s quest.
And so, Evil had embarked on a quest of its very own.
Decades ago, it had infiltrated the minds of those men and women belonging to the Haven who had later on ended up leaving its fold. Ever since Morrigan had reemerge
d―
Evil had used them, used their magical abilities, to hunt her down and kill her. In that way, it had once made them kill Morrigan in the body of a little girl.
But the attack at the castle had not brought about her death, and the knife that had pierced her heart only a while ago seemed not to have fatally wounded her.
Darkness must have saved her.
And it must have tried to cover its tracks and keep its domineering presence within her and the fact that she was Darkness’s child hidden…but Evil could still feel her…she possessed too much dark power not to leave a trace. If she had died, Evil would have felt it.
As it could feel her now.
She was hiding out a short distance from where its men stood.
This time, Evil would not let her escape…this time, it would see her destroyed.
For,
it
was Evil…
…and
she
would not stand in its way.
M
y body was shaking violently, but it was no longer from nerves. Magic was rippling over me, tearing through me. Every single one of my atoms seemed to pulsate with energy. Aaron and Aidan were trembling beside me, their bodies assaulted by powerful waves of magical energy through our joint hands.
Malcolm, the only one who didn’t appear to be influenced by the magical force flowing through me, nonetheless quickly removed his hand from my shoulder. Though I didn’t believe he was in any immediate danger of being affected, he seemed unwilling to take even the slightest of chances…probably a wise choice.
I tried to wrench my hands out of Aaron’s and Aidan’s grips and break the connection, but I might as well have attempted to move a mountain.
Meanwhile, fine golden threads of light had started to appear out of thin air and were swiftly wrapping around our bodies, picking up speed and roping us in, pulling us even closer together.
I was suddenly hit with a strong feeling of déjà vu. Somehow, this scene seemed very familiar…but I couldn’t quite place the memory
―
if that’s what it was. I couldn’t recall a situation in which something like this could have happened before.
Gazing through gaps between the ever denser growing golden coils of magically woven thread, I could see Malcolm move his lips and gesture wildly, obviously trying to convey something of importance.
But it seemed his voice could not make it past the threads of light surrounding me.
I heard nothing…could make sense of nothing…
The only sensations I felt were ones of being smothered and finding myself in a daze…as though locked inside a dream…or nightmare.
But whatever it was that had me in its grip, it went far beyond the terror of being caught up in a nightmare. I was not dreaming. There was nothing to wake me up from.
And there was nothing I could actively do to stop the cocoon of magic from being spun around Aaron, Aidan, and me in a whirlwind that had my hair flying wildly around my face.
It was out of my control.
All of a sudden, I felt Malcolm’s large, strong hands on my shoulder, shaking me, trying to get through to me in my momentary state of bewilderment.
Though it must have cost him a considerable amount of effort, Malcolm must have breached the magical barrier of the cocoon of light in order to reach inside it. Consequently, I was finally able to hear what he was saying.
“Persephone,” his shout reached my ears, though still barely audible as if reaching me through an immense thunderstorm, “break the connection.”
“I can’t,” I hollered back, struggling to be heard above the roar of the wind that had just picked up.
“You must,” Malcolm screamed, “If you do not stop the curse’s magi
c―
for it is the curse that is doing thi
s―
your instincts might take over to protect you.”
“That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea,” I yelled back, wondering why I shouldn’t just wait for my instincts to solve the problem for me.
“But it i
s―
a
very
bad idea!” he shouted, seeming quite alarmed by my position on problem-solving, “Your power will likely explode outward because you cannot control it. Take a look around you, Persephone. We are huddled together in a small cave. If you let your power erupt, it will crush Aaron, Aidan, and me.”
Oh my God, he’s right!
I thought, now panicked. If I didn’t find a way to stop whatever was happening, I migh
t―
or probably would
―
end up killing each and every one of them.
Closing my eyes, I delved deep into my soul to where my power lay, temporarily leaving my bodily awareness behind. In my mind, I stood gazing at the mesmerizing colors of the brightly shimmering light of my source of power. The black tendrils that had been wrapped around the beams of light were no longer to be seen. If any part of me had doubted my liberation from Darkness, the image I beheld was the final proof I needed.
I was myself again.
The darkness was still there…and it would probably always be a part of me…but it had receded to the center of my power and now rested exactly where it had before I’d embraced Darkness to bring Aidan back to life.
An immense relief washed over me at the sight of the pristine light surrounding and imprisoning the dark at my core. Never again would I sell my soul to Darkness…
Well, probably not,
my thoughts countered. What would happen the next time someone I loved died?
Bearing in mind that time was of the essence, I quickly tore myself out of my reverie and stepped into the light. Concentrating harder than ever before, I bade my power to countermand the curse’s magic.
Down to the last detail, I envisioned the golden threads stopping in mid-spin, hovering slightly in the air after having been immobilized by my power, and finally withdrawing…setting us free once more.
Having pictured my victory in my mind’s eye and feeling confident of having gotten rid of the magical threat, I stepped back out of the light, ready to reconnect with my body.
The moment I passed my source of power’s threshold, I could have sworn that out of the corner of my eye I saw something dark coiling between rays of light. But when I quickly turned around, it was nowhere to be seen.
Had my awareness already reconnected with my body, I would have felt goose-bumps erupt everywhere, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck would have stood up.
Had I merely imagined seeing what I could only assume to be traces of Darkness…or had dark tendrils actually reached out from the core of my magic? Had I been mistaken in thinking I’d broken free of Darkness’s clutches?
Or was this just me going insane…again?
Vowing to get to the bottom of things, my consciousness hurried to relink with my body so that I could tell Malcolm about my encounter.
“Malcolm,” I rushed to get the words out, though, for the life of me, I couldn’t quite say why I thought it was so urgent to make haste, “I just saw…I…just…”
