Soul of Darkness (33 page)

Nothing could stop the curse from running its course. Not the Haven, nor the forces of Evil…and especially not the pawns in the water below who had deluded themselves since the very beginning about having a say in their own destinies.

Humans…so small, so hopeless, so stupid. Not even aware of their own inconsequence. Whatever did the universe need human beings for? They were nothing more than bugs to be crushed by more advanced and powerful beings.

Beneath Darkness’s gaze, the water of the pond sluggishly rippled around the bodies of Aaron and Persephone as they approached and embraced each other. Kissing and groping, they moved toward a shallow spot where part of the rock protruded to form an underwater bench.

Darkness had them right where it wanted them. From the moment they had drawn their very first breaths, their destinies had belonged to Darkness alone. Everything had worked out exactly as planned.

It was almost too easy…

But then these humans were just so stupid…so unbelievably arrogant. How could they imagine themselves capable of triumphing over Darkness?

How could they even begin to believe they were any match for such a great power?

Darkness’s mirthless laugh echoed inside its possessed vessel as Darkness reveled in the scene below and prepared to witness the end of days.

Chapter 21 * Vortex

T
he ominous liquid of the saltwater pond rippled around our bodies as Aaron and I were caught in a wild frenzy neither of us seemed able to escape. Once again, I found myself powerless, incapable of controlling my own body.

We were helpless against the curse’s immense power, unable to stop ourselves while experiencing everything our bodies felt in a heightened state of awareness.

My whole being was on fire, my feverish mind paralyzed with fear and scorching pain as white-hot flames burned a path down my body.

The left side of my chest suddenly started to burn so hot that I would have screamed at the top of my lungs had I been in control of my voice.

Unable to move my head on my own in order to look at my birthmark, I instead glanced at my reflection on the shimmering water’s surface, astonished for a moment to see that there was no longer a black tinted strand among my gleaming red curls.

In-between our embraces, I caught glimpses of the rose on my chest and found myself staring at a once again vibrant image. My hair and the rose seemed to have reverted to their former colorful appearances once the dark sphere had left my body.

But the rose’s hue was of no importance. What mattered was only its state of bloom:

Thus will come about the end when the rose is in full bloom

And the rose was moving, changing fast. Petals opened one after the other until all but one had unfolded.

One last petal…

…
Beware impending doom

And as we were steered toward an underwater bench and Aaron’s hands started to undress our lower bodies, I watched in horror as the last petal began to stir the moment we were about to be joined…

A
idan felt utterly helpless facing the fallen debris that barred his and his father’s only way into the cave. They’d been caught completely unawares, suddenly finding themselves separated from Aaron and Persephone without the slightest clue as to what had happened to them or what had caused the cave to collapse in the first place.

Still too drained from their previous use of magic to create a portal, they were unable to transport themselves directly into the cave.

“Why can’t we even open a portal for this short distance, just to get us past the debris?” Aidan asked his father, frustrated by his own powerlessness.

“Because we have exhausted our magical energy too greatly in too short an amount of time. Ever since Evil started to track us down, we have continuously been busy protecting ourselves and fleeing by relying on our powers. We ended up using too much too often without enough time to fully restore ourselves…and it has taken its toll on us.”

“Then what the hell can we do to keep the world from ending…if we can’t even make use of our powers?” Aidan demanded.

“I do not know about being able to save the world…However, what we need
is inside that cave. Therefore, we should concentrate on getting past the debris by any possible means. Which minus magical ability means physical labor. So, let us move these stones as swiftly as possible to create an opening large enough to crawl through,” Malcolm instructed.

“What do you mean by ‘what we need is in that cave’”? Aidan couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, I did not particularly want to disclose this, but the salt-water pond inside that cave can be used to restore our magical energies,” Malcolm stated matter-of-factly.

“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Aidan asked incredulously. How was it that his father always kept the most important information to himself and never divulged anything he didn’t ‘particularly’ feel like sharing? This habit was enough to drive Aidan up the wall! ‘Particularly’ because this kind of scenario just kept recurring!

“I did not mention this before because I feared you would approach the pond with less caution once you heard of its power of magical restoration. And while it is true that it contains an immeasurable source of magical energy, it is also…first and foremost…highly dangerous and should only be used as a last resort,” Malcolm explained.

“So, you’re saying: Without an incredibly good reason, don’t even think about approaching it,” Aidan said.

“Exactly, my boy,” Malcolm answered, sounding pleased, as though they were in a classroom.

“Fine,” Aidan acknowledged, moving toward the fallen rocks, “then let’s get these out of the way as fast as we can.”

“I could not agree more. The thought of them being alone is making me rather nervous,” Malcolm admitted.

Without even attempting to contemplate what Aaron and Persephone could be up to alone in an isolated cave togethe
r―
because such thoughts would be enough to drive him out of his mind with jealous
y
― Aidan started to peg away at removing the countless stones obstructing their path.

After about a quarter of an hour of combined efforts, Malcolm and Aidan had managed to remove enough rocks to make a hole large enough for them to squeeze through into the cave.

After emerging on the other side on their hands and knees, they got to their feet and brushed off the accumulated rubble and dust from their clothing, coughing as they breathed in the fine particles that had been flung into the air in so doing.

Aidan looked over at his father in time to see a strange expression steal over his face. Before he could identify the look in Malcolm’s eyes, it changed to one he recognized without a doub
t―
fear.

Malcolm abruptly gripped the shoulder straps of his backpack, flung it off of his back, and placed it on the ground at his feet. Kneeling down, he ripped the zipper open so fast that Aidan thought the seams might tear open.

Plunging his hand into the backpack, Malcolm grabbed and extracted the sphere he’d had on his desk at the ancestral castle, holding it up in front of him. The fact that he was gripping it so tightly that the tendons on his hands and arms stood out, further added to Aidan’s growing alarm.

His usually calm and collected father did not normally behave in such a disturbed manner, no matter how dire the circumstances. At least, Aidan had never witnessed it before.

“What’s wrong?” Aidan asked quickly. But even as the words were leaving his mouth, and before Malcolm could answer, Aidan’s attention was drawn to the sphere in Malcolm’s grasp.

The appearance of the sphere, which had stood on his father’s desk and mirrored Earth’s essence in a soft, golden glow for as long as Aidan could remember, was beginning to change. Its golden brilliance was swiftly fading, a sickly grey color taking its place as dullness spread along its surface like a disease.

Abruptly, the sphere started to shake violently in Malcolm’s grip. His father seemed intent on holding onto it, his body shaking along with the sphere as he refused to let it go.

Yet a few moments later, it seemed he couldn’t bear to hold on any longer, letting out a cry of pain as his hands were slightly burned from the rising heat emanated by the sphere.

Having been released, it hovered in the air before Malcolm and Aidan, defying gravity. Along the outer surface, several cracks suddenly appeared, spreading further and cutting deeper into it with each passing second.

The sphere finally turned from grey to black, the cracks running blood-red where a liquid substance imitating magma, Earth’s lifeblood, poured out. When the cracks had reached a certain depth, sudden explosions from deep inside the sphere shot specks of a hot, lava-like substance through the air, burning Malcolm’s and Aidan’s arms as they held them up to protect their faces.

When Aidan chanced another glance at the sphere from behind his arm, it had become a ball of fire, burning so fiercely that, a few seconds later, it burned out by itself, dropped to the floor of the cave, and crumbled into a heap of ashes.

After a stunned silence, Aidan found his voice again:

“If
that
represented Earth’s essence, then how are we still here?”

“Because the sphere’s magic was constructed to precede Earth’s time by a smidgen in order to forewarn us,” Malcolm explained.

“And exactly how large is this ‘smidgen’?” Aidan asked anxiously. Somehow he had a feeling it wouldn’t be much.

“Not large enough for us to keep standing here like this,” Malcolm said before throwing his backpack back on and abruptly darting off toward the salt-water pond without further explanation.

Aidan hurried after him, running as fast as he could, hoping a ‘smidgen’ would be enough to stop Aaron and Persephone from doing something he couldn’t even bear to think about, let alone witness.

As he skidded to a halt behind Malcolm, who had stopped in his tracks right before the shimmering green pond, Aidan didn’t want to believe what he was seeing.

At the center of a vortex that seemed to have only just begun to develop, Persephone was sitting on Aaron’s lap, their bodies joined and moving in unison.

Around the oblivious lover
s―
who seemed unaffected in the ‘eye of the storm
’―
the salty, musty air of the cave was slowly being pulled toward the vortex, beginning to revolve above Persephone’s and Aaron’s heads, the speed of the spinning air as yet slow enough to allow Malcolm and Aidan to stand without being pulled toward the phenomenon.

But the pace was rapidly changing, gaining momentum with every second that went by.

Time was very nearly up…

E
vil felt the immediate change in the atmosphere instants before the visions started. Rooted deep inside the body of a young woman, a clairvoyant with considerable powers
,
it witnessed the very end of the human race shortly before it would actually occur:

Standing at the large bay window of the woman’s bedroom, Evil gazed out through her eyes at the neatly kept grounds surrounding the small mansion. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The grounds appeared silent and peaceful, no wind disrupting the still air in the crowns of the beautiful old oaks that had stood there proud and tall throughout many centuries.

As Evil watched, the trees slowly began to stir, their long, bare branches uniformly reaching toward one side of the sky as though in desperate prayer. But nature’s cry for help would go as unheard as that of man and creature.