The Night Was Dark, Ch. 1-2

Ch.1- Crossing Over

The night was dark, the moon full and Kyle lay awake dreaming of a world with wizards, dragons, elves, trolls and other foul creatures, in a great war of the age, and there he was alongside the elves against monstrous forms. This was Kyle’s favorite escape from the world, it came to him one night in a dream and, using his imagination, he built it into an entire world with intricate details. It had come to him like a long lost memory, something forgotten and hanging just out of consciousness.

Kyle never forgot the original dream that had brought him to this world. He sat atop a feathered creature looking down from a tall hill onto a large, flat plain. Across this plain, coming from the horizon, with the sun rising behind them, were thousands upon thousands of the most grotesque looking creatures. They were divided into four columns, each column holding fifty-thousand. At the lead of this massive army was a black armored man atop a very large, hideous, four legged creature, and he led the army behind him onto the plain seeking war. Kyle looked to either side, to his left stood many
tall and graceful elves, male and female, adorned in the most beautifully forged armor which covered very little of there bodies, and the rest was covered by a silk like cloth which shone silver in the light from the rising sun. To his right he saw many men, dressed in heavy armor and carrying a large variety of weapons of all shapes and sizes.
The army of men and elves moved down the hill onto the plain, prepared for battle, with less than a mile between the two massive armies, both broke into a run. Before the two columns crashed into each other, Kyle jumped awake.

Kyle got dressed quickly, and as quietly as he could and took a moment to look in the mirror; there he stood nearly six feet tall, his brown hair falling thick and straight to his light blue eyes, he was rather pale and skinny, but healthy. This is how it was most mornings; he would awake from the same familiar dream, and leave as quickly and quietly as he could. Kyle opened the door to his room carefully and made his way down the short hall making as little noise as possible. At the end of the hall he found his father, passed out in a dirty, beaten up chair. His head lolled to one side, one hand dangling over the arm rest and a spilled beer can rest on the floor bellow it. The television was still on; a snowy picture appeared on the screen, the best reception their coat hanger antenna could pick up. Kyle knew his father would be up in a few hours to stumble off to find work, and he was glad this was a morning he could leave unnoticed. Once he was safely outside of the trailer he relaxed and began walking normally towards the exit to the trailer park, where he would get picked up by the bus.

Kyle stepped onto the bus and found an empty seat in the front, averting his eyes as he always did to avoid the stares and points. Kyle wasn’t very popular, or even liked for that matter, mainly due to his father and the fact that he was a trailer park kid. There had been a time when no one cared about those things, he had had friends then, but by the time he was fifteen Kyle’s friends began to fade away, till he was left alone.
That is until he had met Mrs. Creeley, an old widow who lives in a house near the trailer park. He had stumbled into her yard one day to escape one of his father’s rampages. The old woman had been kind from the beginning; she had invited him into her house and given him snacks and lemonade. They talked for a long while, and the woman shared some of her life stories. She had been a professor once at a university, and was quite a fan of medieval history. She had studied the wars, both great and small, throughout history and could retell them in great detail, which kept Kyle coming back to hear more. She had also been a fan of fantasy and mythology, and told all the legends and lore she knew to Kyle, and he absorbed every word that flowed from her mouth. The two made an odd couple, but they had become family to each other, or the closest thing that they could find.

Kyle made it to school, and tried to make it to class without running into anyone, but they always had a way of getting to him first. Some of the larger kids, they always made prey of him, because they knew that no one would do anything about it. Though Kyle was far from the best student, taking his home work seemed to appeal to them more than doing it themselves. Today was no different; he had gotten within ten feet of the class room when they found him. The first boy shoved him against the lockers while another took his book bag, all the while they made snide and childish comments and laughed about him, though Kyle had learned to just block them out. Once they had what they wanted, they dropped him and dumped his book bag on him laughing as they left. Most people just stared at him, others pointed and laughed, but no one came to help, he had stopped expecting them to long ago.

He picked up his bag and the things that had fallen out of it and shoved them back in clumsily and went into his class without a word. He took his seat and waited for the rest of the day to pass by. The days always felt like eternity to him, but it was only a transition place, where he went between sleep and Mrs. Creeley’s house. He had three tests, and he knew he would get A’s on all of them, he usually did, and they were the only thing that kept him from failing his classes without his home work. Some teachers had expressed concern before, but most assumed that he was just another lazy kid, headed into the same fate as his father. The day was finally over, and Kyle felt the relief of freedom like he did every school days end. After the bus ride home, he found his way to Mrs. Creeley’s and knocked on the door. He heard her foot steps come slowly, but they were close to the door; she had been waiting for him.
She opened the door with a pained smile, and stood aside to let him in. her appearance frightened Kyle, he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but she spoke first.

“Kyle, there is something I have been meaning to tell you, but I haven’t found the proper time, and my selfish heart didn’t want to spoil our good times. Kyle, please, come sit down.” She ushered him into the sitting room where they had shared most of their days.

“Kyle, I’m not meant for this world much longer, my time here is coming to an end, and soon I will be moving onto my next adventure.”
Kyle’s eyes began to fill with tears. “What do you mean, you look fine.”

“I know what I appear Kyle, but I haven’t got much longer, and I wanted to thank you for making these past couple of years some of the best times of my life. I wish we had a longer time to be together but it seems fate has dealt me a short hand. Kyle I wanted you to have this before it was too late,” the old woman pulled a small box from the table beside her and handed it to Kyle. “Open it.” She said gently.

Kyle lifted the hinged lid and looked inside; it was a small, silver ring with a wide band. Along the outside of the ring were strange markings engraved in black that seemed to form words and a beautifully intricate design at the same time. Tears began to pour from the corners of his eyes, he looked at her, she had been the closest thing to a mother he had had, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her.

“It was given to me many years ago, it says ‘trust in hope, it will be your strength’, these words have given me strength in my darkest moments, and now I give it to you, in the hopes that it will give you the same.” A single tear began to trickle down her cheek.

Kyle put the ring on the middle finger of his right hand. He stared at it, and for a moment thought it had its own inner glow. He looked back at the woman; her smile was brighter than ever. “What language is this, it’s so…beautiful.”

“I am afraid it’s a dead language, it has been passed down in my family for generations; too many, the secret of its making and its language have been lost. All that we have left is the phrase, but without the rest of the language or the means to read the actual words, no one has been able to make anything like it. It is something very precious, so take care of it, and it will take care of you.”

Kyle nodded, and sat in silence for a long while just studying the ring on his finger. The old woman broke the silence by starting off on one of her stories, and brought the atmosphere back to their regular visits.

They sat and talked as usual, though this time Kyle stayed until the late hours of the night, and when he got up to leave, he embraced the old woman again and left for his trailer. He walked slowly, wishing with all his heart that this day could have lasted forever. Though they had only spent a few short years together, Kyle couldn’t imagine his life without the old woman.

When he got home, Kyle snuck quietly inside and found his father in an identical position as the night before. With the thought of losing the one good thing in his life, Kyle was filled with more disgust for the man passed out in the chair. He shook off this feeling and found his way to his bed.

Kyle awoke to the same jump he usually did, but the dream had been stronger this night, it had felt more real, like his mind was drifting further into this other world. Kyle sat on his bed, just staring out his window at the still dark sky, feeling he was losing his grip on reality. He stayed there watching the sun rise, holding his hand up to the beams of light breaking through his window, waving his fingers and watching the light dance across his hand and the shadows he created. The deep engravings of the ring seemed to darken in the sun’s light while the rest of the ring reflected it, giving it a stronger inner glow than what Kyle had seen the night before. The alarm clock on the window sill went off, and Kyle came back to himself. He felt more alive, more awake than he could remember feeling. He felt as if he was seeing the world for the first time through opened eyes.

Kyle hopped off his bed and got dressed and got his things together. He opened the door and started down the hallway, not caring if he woke his father this morning. He arrived in the living room, and there he was, the same position as the night before, but this time he stirred in his sleep.

“Knock off that damn racket before I knock your head off.” His father said and chucked an empty beer can at his head, his eyes still closed and his face scrunched up in pain.
Kyle swatted the beer can away and it hit the floor, causing more noise, to which his father groaned and screwed up his face in pain. Kyle smiled to himself as he walked out the door, and let it slam behind him. When Kyle stepped onto the bus, he didn’t bother keeping his face down, he stared across the bus at all the people. They turned their faces as he looked but he didn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed, he simply didn’t care about the thoughts that went on in their heads any more. He continued looking at them as he walked to his seat until he caught the eye of one girl, one he didn’t recognize. When their eyes locked he couldn’t look away, the smug smile disappeared off his face and he expected her to look away, but she just stared straight into his eyes with her own which seemed to burn with intensity. When she didn’t look away he took his seat quickly and turned away so he couldn’t see her face, but he could still feel her sapphire blue eyes locked to the back of his head, so he slid down a little so he sat lower than the back of the bus seat.

When he made it to school, he got off the bus, went inside the building and went straight to class and took his seat as quickly as he could. He sat there, his heart racing, and a flustered feeling that he couldn’t explain. Kyle had been attracted to many girls before, but he couldn’t explain this feeling, it wasn’t her beauty that caught his mind, it was something else, something inside that he could feel more than see. After a few moments of clearing his head, he realized he had made it to the classroom without being assailed by the usual thugs.

Maybe they forgot about me today, or maybe they finally got tired of picking on me and found some one else. Kyle thought to himself. The announcements played over the intercom while everyone else in the room talked loudly. Someone knocked on the open classroom door, Kyle looked up and found the girl from the bus, and he quickly looked down again trying to avoid her eyes. Mrs. Jonas, the teacher, got up from her desk to talk to the girl.

“Ah, you must be our transfer student, why don’t you go ahead and take the empty seat in the third row.”

The girl nodded, and walked over and took the seat to Kyle’s left. He tried to act like he was busy writing something down, but he could feel her stare at him, and he looked over. There were the brilliant blue eyes again, but this time they were accompanied by an equally stunning smile that gave the girl an all together ethereal glow.

“You’re the boy from the bus aren’t you?” she asked, squinting a little as if trying to remember. “I’m Sharon.” She reached out her hand to shake his.

Kyle heard her speak, and only her. It was as if the entire room had stopped to listen to these words, but Kyle could see the others still moving and talking. He reached out his hand and took hers giving it a gentle squeeze. “Kyle.” He knew the words were his, but they didn’t sound like his voice. The words bore a confidence and grace he had never commanded before. It was then he realized that the eyes that stared back at him looked as though they had always known him, that an invisible bond was there, like it had been there all along but he had just forgotten it. He smiled back at her, knowing that he looked at her in the same way.

Kyle felt himself let his guard down, he felt relaxed for the first time in a very long time. As he looked into her eyes he got a feeling of home.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, Sharon had sat by Kyle in most of his classes and they had spent the whole time talking. They sat together on the bus until it reached the trailer park. Kyle stepped off the bus for the first time with a longing to get back on it.
By the time the bus had rounded the corner Kyle came back to himself, he remembered the old woman and turned and quickly walked towards her house. Kyle rounded the corner to her street and his heart almost stopped. Sitting in the old woman’s lawn was a
“for sale” sign. Kyle ran for the house and leapt up the stairs to her front door and began pounding furiously on it. A man in a blue jump suit came to the door.

“I-is Mrs. Creeley here?” Kyle asked, already knowing the answer

“Sorry son, she’s gone.” The man said, with a hint of annoyance.

Kyle turned away and began walking home; tears began to cascade down his face. He hadn’t made it half way before he collapsed to his knees and began shaking with sobs; he tilted his head skyward and let out a furious scream, rubbing his face with his hands. Whatever joy he had found that day was now completely extinguished.

Kyle turned into the woods, wherever he was going, he knew it wasn’t his trailer. He headed deeper into the woods until he reached the edge where it met a creek, there stood an unusually wide oak tree with low branches. Kyle climbed his way up a good thirty feet and stood out on a rather thick branch, with one hand still on the tree’s massive trunk; he looked down and felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. For a second he considered letting himself fall, he held his arms straight out to both sides, and a flash of light caught his right eye, he looked at his hand and found the ring, it seemed to be glowing even brighter, this time he was certain that some of the light came from inside the ring itself but dismissed it. Kyle sat down on the branch with his back to the trunk with his left leg pulled to his chest while the right rested flat along the branch. There he sat turning the ring on his finger, staring out to over the creek while the sun set behind the trees on the other side shooting oranges and pinks into the wispy clouds hanging high in the sky. Kyle felt a sense of peace, he knew that wherever Ms. Creeley was now, she was watching over him and thinking of him. He sat and watched the life that flowed around the creek through the few late autumn leaves left on the Oak. The ring’s glow faded with the sun light, but Kyle felt warmth flowing into him from the ring. As the sound of the night creatures came and last tendrils of sun light began to fade and give way to deep blue of the night sky, Kyle began to descend the tree and make his way back out of the woods.

Kyle made it home after dark and went straight to his room; he locked the door and sat on his bed facing the window with his back against the headboard and just stared. He sat like this for most of the weekend, only leaving his room for the bathroom, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat anything. He just sat and rubbed the ring that sat on his finger until he fell asleep with exhaustion.

Monday light began to shine through Kyle’s window, but he already sat wide awake, and he got up and got ready for school. When he walked passed his father, he didn’t bother swatting the beer can, he just let it hit him. He got on the bus and saw Sharon in the back, she waved for him to sit with her, but he took his regular seat at the front instead, he preferred the silence and the semi-solitude of the empty bus seat. As he walked off the bus, Sharon grabbed his arm at the elbow and pulled him around to look at her.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something?” she asked.
Kyle looked into her face, seeing only a dim glow of the beauty he had seen before.

“No,” Kyle tried to sound normal. “A friend of mine passed away yesterday.” His bottom jaw quivered slightly and he felt liquid pour slightly from his tear ducts.

“I am so sorry Kyle. Were you very close?”

“She was the closest thing to family that I have ever had.”

Sharon looked around searchingly, then grabbed Kyle by the hand and dragged him off. The two left school and went into the park nearby where they sat side by side under an overgrown Weeping Willow. They sat for hours under the tree talking, mostly Kyle talked about his childhood and his father, and how Mrs. Creeley had become the close to him..
After talking about the old woman, Kyle felt hot tears begin to pour down his face, and Sharon leaned her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him and placing her hands on his opposite shoulder. Kyle felt her attempt at to comfort him and tilted his head to rest on hers. They sat like this for a few moments while Kyle’s sobs stopped. Kyle lifted his head, wiped his eyes with his sleeves and looked into her eyes and fell into their deep blue

“I’m so sorry Kyle; I know how hard it is to lose some one who meant so much to you.”

“I just don’t know what I am going to do now that she is gone, I can’t go home to my dad.”

“Stay out here with me then, we can stay here for a while and just get away from everything.” She smiled at him the way she had before, and Kyle felt a sense of calm wash over him.

“Come on,” she said, hopping to her feet and extending her hand to him. “Let’s explore a little."

Kyle took her hand and stood, walking beside her for a while as her pace quickened. When he noticed he was walking behind her some, he tried to match her pace, but she began walking faster and faster, till she was running and let go of his grip. Kyle tried to follow after her, deeper into the woods, but she was too fast, and the trees became denser. Soon she was nothing but laughter on the wind, but Kyle continued looking for her, calling out her name.

The woods became dark as the sun began to set, and Kyle continued deeper into them searching for Sharon. In the distance he could see light bouncing off the trees and could hear a sweet voice humming, he felt it pull him towards the light. He walked in a trance through the trees, the light crunch of dried leaves and pine needles under his feet as continued on. As he drew closer, the trees opened into a wide circle, a single fire sat in the middle, and next to it was a cloaked figure upon a tree stump prodding the fire. Looking up through the trees, the sky was black and full of stars, Kyle shook his head,

“I haven’t been walking all day…have I?” he thought to himself, but the sky still shimmered with the night stars. The humming became clear as Kyle entered the circle, the hooded figure looked up towards him, but all he could see was a pair of glowing blue eyes from the shadow of the hood. The humming stopped. Kyle’s heart began to pound heavily against his ribs; he could feel it in his ears.

“You come seeking one you have lost,” a deep voice came from the hooded figure. “But it is you that have been found.” The voice fell on his ears, but seemed to come from inside his own head.

“What are you talking about, where is Sharon? What have you done with her?” Kyle said, shaking a little feeling the fear rise up inside him.

“My boy, do not fear, she has crossed over, and you are soon to follow her. Relax; you are in good hands now.”

Kyle was shaken by these words and began backing out of the ring of trees shaking his head in disbelief. The hooded figure turned back to the fire and began muttering in an unintelligible tongue. Kyle turned to run but was blocked by fire following the tree line though it seemed not to burn the trees. Lights began to shine from the ground, forming strange, moving patterns, followed by a severe updraft. Kyle’s hair began to fly upward while his shirt ruffled with the air so much that he had to hold it down. Random segments of light began shooting towards the sky and fading into the dark at the tops of the trees.

The figure had stopped chanting and moved towards Kyle.

“Come child, it is time to go home.”
The figure reached for him and Kyle ran, he felt his feet resist as though the ground itself tried to hold him in place. The segments of light started to come up at increasing speeds and denser, soon Kyle’s vision became pure white and faded to black he felt his body floating; lights began appearing in the distance like stars, but then the lights streamed towards him as they had a moment ago followed by the same rush of wind, but this time it came from directly ahead of him; the lights came more rapidly and soon everything was bathed in white again…and then black once again.
         
Ch. 2 Awaken
Kyle felt his back lying against something cold and hard, his head throbbing. A man’s voice called to him from the distance

“Are you alright young man?”

“Wh-who’s there?” Kyle began to scramble on the ground, trying to open his eyes, but no light would enter them. He raised his hands to touch his face.

“I am sorry; I didn’t mean to startle you. Don’t worry, I mean you know harm.”

“Why can’t I see, what is going on?” Kyle began to panic.

“Calm down lad, you are alright, though I must say it’s a down right foolish thing to lie around in open fields without as much as a weapon, especially with the number of Kin about these days.”

“Kin, what are you talking about, where am I?”

“You are resting in the fields on the outskirts of Corila, in the realm of Nim and the Kin are a dangerous race, if you can call them that. My boy, where is it that you hail from, in all my travels I have not met a man, woman, or child who did not know the name Kin and fear it, nor can I recognize your outlandish garments.”

“I come from Springfield, if that’s what you mean.”

“I am afraid I have never heard of this ‘Springfield’ you speak of. You’d best come with me son, lest the Kin find you, and I will not give them a free meal.”
Kyle was apprehensive to go with this stranger after his last moments in the woods, but felt a strange bond to the man; his voice was old and comforting as the old woman’s voice had been for him.

“Alright, but I need help, I can’t see anything, its all black.”
Kyle heard someone walking towards him, with an odd swishing sound, as though something dragged along the ground. The man grabbed him under the arm and helped him to his feet, then guided him forward with a gentle hand placed between his shoulder blades as he walked beside him.

Kyle was startled by the sound of a horse snorting, but the man urged him forward with reassuring words.

“Watch your step as you get in the wagon, it’s a little rocky.”
Kyle clambered clumsily onto what felt like a wooden platform under his bare hands and sat where the man guided him.

“Now, how is it that you wound up in this field… uh, what is your name son?”

“Kyle, Kyle Thatcher.”

“Pleased to meet you Kyle Thatcher of Springfield, I am Orin the blue of Corila. Now to my previous question, how is it that you came to this field?”

“I’m not really sure; the last thing I remember is being in a forest clearing with a strange person. They were hooded so I couldn’t tell who it was, or whether it was a man or a woman, but the voice was deep, almost inhuman. There was a fire, first in the middle of the clearing, then all around, I have never seen anything like it before. The thing was muttering something, then there were these incredible lights, then darkness. Then I awoke here, still darkness.”

“There is no doubt that magic had a hand in this, but what sorcery is beyond me, and whom it serves I wouldn’t know.”

“Magic, there is no such thing as magic. It only exists in little kids’ fairy tales and make-believe, who knows what that person was burning it that fire and they did to me.”

“I would beg to differ, magic is very much real. Though it is not an all together common trait, it exists and I am proud to say I am one of its keepers.”

“Are you saying you are some sort of wizard?”

“That is precisely what I am saying. I was trained under the wizard Senoc in the mastery of water magic, as well as a competent user of the other elements.”
What have I gotten myself into? This guy must be crazy, magic cant be real. Kyle thought to himself, but in the depth of himself he wished it was true.

“I believe the magic that brought you here may not have just transported you across the land; I think you may have crossed over worlds. In Aireth legends, there were beings that could use magic to transport themselves instantly across great distances; they were masters of the lost magic of reality, which makes it simply a legend in this time. But a branch of this lore tells of a very select few who actually found a way to do what they called ‘crossing over’ which is said to have taken them to other worlds.”

“So you are saying that thing took me to another world, why would it want to take me?”

“I can’t say; it was only a theory. Perhaps you should tell me of your ‘world’, perhaps then we could have a better understanding.”
Kyle began explaining what he knew about his world, answering the old man’s questions; he seemed confused about the concepts of technology. After a good deal of what Kyle thought meaningless questions, the old man seemed satisfied.

“Your world is strange to me, you say it is devoid of magic yet you say you perform impossible feats with a mere lift of your finger.”
Kyle laughed. “It might seem great, but real magic would be a sight to see.”

“Ah yes, I think I may be able to help you with your eyes, it may take time, but I believe I can help you.”

“I’ll do anything to see again, just name it.”

“Well, in my travels I have picked up a few lessons in alchemy, once we reach my home in Corila I’ll set you down and begin experimenting with a few potions.”

“You want me to drink it, and you don’t even know if it works? What if you kill me?”

“Calm down, there is nothing to worry about,” the old man laughed. “I don’t muddle with toadstools or anything, simple plants and minerals, it will be perfectly safe I promise.”

“Alright then…”
There was a moment of silence, which was finally broken by the old man.

“Now that I have heard some about your home, perhaps you should learn some about Aireth.”

“Sure, what should I know about?”

“Well, anything you would like.”

“I want to know everything if this land is full of magic and beasts.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t as full of magic as you would think, and not all the creatures are beasts. There are many creatures in Aireth; the most that you are likely to see are humans like you and I. Of the races found here, humans have the fewest magic users; we occupy the land in the south west part of Aireth, most of our towns focus along the coasts where trade is strong, especially with the islanders across the sea. Then there are the dwarves, they only hold the power to mold the earth, they never learned the other arts and now they are lost to them. You will only find them in the tunnels of the mountains near the temple of Briek. The mith have strong powers, they are the only race with the ability to summon ethereal spirits, but they left these lands long ago, and now they have become like their name, myths. The elves are the most magic abundant race; it is rare to find one of theirs who cannot perform even the slightest spell or cant. Alas they also disappeared with the mith, soon after the rise of the first Kin forces. Some believe the two races to be cowards, but I believe they hid to protect the rest of us from the strength Mirron would gain from their race.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt you, but who is this Mirron?”

“Oh, forgive me. It seems I have to give you a history lesson as well. Mirron was once a wizard, like me, he was young and eager for power as most are, so his whims were ignored at first, but soon he began to tamper with dark magic; forbidden magic. It isn’t certain how he obtained the knowledge, but he began to summon spirits. Unlike the spirits the mith summon, these spirits came from the underworld, like a fool he poured all his strength into that first summoning. Five spirits rose that fateful night, they were called the pentagora, foul beasts.

“You see when one summons, he calls the spirit to earth, but the spirit is useless unless the call of summoning is combined with a cant of shaping, Mirron had to sing bodies for the spirits to inhabit. He gave them the bodies of giant, monstrous beasts: Adge the spider, Karr the snake, Noss the bird, Hren the tiger, and Grahg the bear. But Mirron was unskilled in the art of summoning, so the results were mutilated and gruesome. When it was found out what he had done, a battle broke out between him and the great wizards: Shin the blue, Kur the white, and Cain the red. In the end Mirron was driven off to the North from the Temple of Briek into the dessert of Sin. It was believed that he would die out there, and his monsters would return to the hellish realm they came from… but he survived and he continued his dark works in the abandoned land of deadwood. And when he reveled himself, he held his ground at deadwood and too late did the great wizards see what treachery he had found in the castle there. He had bound the pentagora to himself, and when they killed, the life they took would rise as a new slave to him, they would rise as Kin. The attack was halted after the loss of Kur and for a while it remained peaceful in the rest of Aireth, but Mirron began sending out his Kin into the night, they would attack in the dark and bring him more strength. This has been going on for centuries, over a millennium, and he has been hiding in his castle biding his time.”

“Biding his time for what?”

“What else does a man who lusts for power strive for; more power. He is waiting in that dark castle until he can amass an army large enough to conquer all of Aireth. Mirron is no fool; he knows if he strikes too soon he could bring the full force of the elves and mith crashing against him, destroying all he has built up.”

“But if they have the strength to defeat him, why do they hide instead of destroying him before it is too late?”

“That battle has already been fought at deadwood. Mirron proved that he already had superior defenses as long as he remains in deadwood; on that unholy ground he is strong enough to repel them. But in open field the Kin can be scattered and conquered. So the elves and mith bide their time as well, they cling to their prophecies and await their age of peace.”

“Their prophecies?”

“Yes, back in ancient days, long before the rise of Mirron, the elves and the mith were one race known as the Gren, and from amongst them came many prophets and seers, the most famous was a male named Grome, amongst his many predictions he foretold the split of their race, the rise of a dark terror, and an age of suffering for all of Aireth. But he also predicted a light that would come to the world; it would be born a true Gren, a perfect blend of the races who would come to battle the darkness.”

“How did he say the battle would end?”

“He didn’t. He feared that to say they would be victorious would make them over confident in themselves and they would not prepare as they would need to win, and to tell them that they would fall would make them lose all hope. Either way, he knew the prophecy had to be fulfilled, and the only way for that to happen is for the people to prepare. Two parts of his prediction have already come true, the Gren are no longer one race, Mirron has risen and an age of darkness has been upon us for many a year.”

“So did he say when this new Gren was going to appear and who it was?”

“No, I am afraid he couldn’t see that much.”

“So they are just going to sit in hiding until somebody else comes to clean up the mess. That sounds pretty cowardly to me.”

“You don’t understand, they aren’t waiting for the Gren to come and destroy Mirron itself, they wait to fight alongside it, they know to try any other way would only unleash peril on the rest of the world.”

“What if this Gren never shows up? What if he was already killed or something trying to take on Mirron himself? Then they are just going to continue to sit around until Mirron comes crashing through their front door?”

“I am sure they are doing more than sitting around. The elves and mith have extraordinarily long lives; in fact it is not certain that they die of natural causes as humans do. So you can be certain that they have found ways to improve themselves over the millennia.”

“If they are so great, why did they split apart in the first place?”

“Well that is an interesting story; in the ancient Gren rule, the first son of the king would become ruler. During the rule of Oman, his wife Aeril gave birth to twin sons: Ogden and Ogar. At this point in time, the Gren had not gained the longevity of their offspring, but even so they lived hundreds of years, and births were not a common thing and twins were almost unheard of. So the question rose of who would gain the thrown; when the boys were still in their first hundred year, Oman was slain in battle and the question needed an answer. Ogden was a powerful warrior and strong in battle magic; though Ogar was an equal in battle, he chose the more spiritual and peaceful side of magic. Both gained followers, and neither was willing to give up the thrown, and for a time the Gren simply became two kingdoms of the same race, but as the millennia went on they grew even more different and soon began to even change physically until it was impossible to tell that they had come from the same race.

“They never forgot they were brethren though; in many battles throughout our history they came together in battle against their foes. And together they left Aireth and neither has been seen since.”

“So why didn’t they ever become one race again? Then they could force the prophecy to come true and create their own Gren.”

“When your rulers live for hundreds of years there are a lot of things that can change in a single lifetime. The two simply became different, and now they are two separate creatures all together. When your race is as rich in magic as the elves and mith are, how you use it changes you physically.”

Kyle nearly fell backwards as the cart shifted to an upward angle, but he managed to throw his hands behind him in time, but not before he let out a short, loud gasp.

“Sorry about that, I forgot to warn you that we would be going up hill. Now it’s just the long spiraling road till we reach the top.” Orin said, reaching out a hand to help steady Kyle.

Kyle just noticed the sound of other voices and commotion, they were low and seemed distant, but he was certain he could hear them.

"Orin, are there other people around?”

“Yes, can you hear them? This hill overlooks the town Corila.”

“It was faint at first, but its getting louder.”

“We are making our way around the hill, the side we are on now faces the village; it will come and go as we make our way up.”

Kyle sat, straining to hear any sound coming from Corila, it was the first sign in a while that there was still civilization.
The cart finally came to a stop and Kyle realized he was vertical again.

“Well, we are here.” the old man said as he clambered down to the ground. “Here, take my hand.” Kyle reached out his hand and the old man helped him down.

“Now then, let me get you situated in the house so I can put the horse away.”
The old man led Kyle through a creaky door and into a room filled with odd smells, at times it was sweet and fragrant like incense, and at others it was musky and old.

“Here you are, just have a seat here and I will be back in just a moment.”
Kyle sat down, and found that he was in some sort of cushioned armchair; it was firm but at the same time soft and comfortable. Next he heard the old man walking out of the room and the door closing behind him. There was silence for a few moments; a few soft scuttling sounds that startled Kyle until he realized they were too small to be any kind of threat, probably just insects.
The door swung open abruptly which startled Kyle worse than the scuttling, and the old man came in muttering to himself under his breath. Kyle heard him walking back and forth, pausing at times, and moving through different rooms. Clinking could be heard as the old man gathered items from around the house.

“Uh…what are you doing?” Kyle finally asked.

“Oh, sorry lad, I am just trying to gather my things to try and find you a cure for your blindness.” The man finally stopped moving and seemed to settle somewhere near Kyle.
Sloshing liquids, grinding, and escaping gas could be heard as the old man began to fiddle with whatever he had gathered. Kyle sat for what felt so long in the dark when the noises finally stopped.

“Ah hah, I think I have found something, I just need you to drink this.”
Kyle reached out his hand and found what felt like smooth glass under his fingers, he lifted it towards his face and smelled the concoction and hesitated at the pungent aroma.

“Don’t worry, it is completely safe.”

Still feeling uneasy, Kyle tilted his head back and downed the whole thing in one gulp. The taste was horrible; he started to gag as he reached his hands to his stomach and mouth trying to keep it in. Kyle doubled over onto the floor and lay for a moment while his stomach stopped convulsing; he felt an odd warmth begin to spread all through his body, slowly moving through his blood stream. As he felt it move into his head and face he reached up to touch his eyes, remembering why he had taken in that repugnant potion in the first place. When he put his fingertips to his eyelids he felt a burning behind them and winced; already he started to feel a coolness spread up his body from his toes; but in his head the burning stayed behind his eyes. He pulled his trembling hands away from his face and opened his eyes; instead of pitch black he saw smoky gray and let out a sigh of disappointment.

“It didn’t work; I still can’t see a thing. It’s all gray now instead of black.”

“Ah, yes, but do you still feel the potion inside you?”

Kyle stopped for a moment to think. “Yeah, I can still feel it behind my eyes.”

“Good, good. The potion will just take some time to have its full effects. For now let’s find you a bed to rest in, I would imagine you would be tired after the events you have been through these past couple of days.”

“Sleep sounds really good right now.” Kyle said, half yawning.
The old man appeared at his side, lifted him from the ground, with startling ease, and guided him down a hallway; Kyle heard another door creak as he was ushered into another room. This one didn’t bear the smells of the rest of the house, it seemed untouched. Kyle kept walking placing his hands low in front of him until he felt a bed, and then he sat down on it.

“There we are. You will stay in here tonight, I will be in my room across the hall, and I should be up for a while so just call if you need anything, but try and get some sleep, your eyes should heal more quickly with rest.”

Kyle heard the old man shut the door behind him as he walked out of the room and Kyle found his way under the covers; the bed was firm but soft at the same time, like the chair had been, and he soon found himself drifting off to sleep.

Kyle’s mind was drifting; it hung at the meeting point of sleep and consciousness. He felt a rush of emotions: fear, panic, and this intense feeling of someone desperately seeking for something. Images began to spring forth in his mind’s eye: screaming faces, fire, broken buildings; they all came so quickly and were gone just as fast. Then there was one final image of a giant creature, terribly gruesome and mutilated with tearing claws and giant fangs, its eyes were blacker than night and its skin was covered in greens and blues like a skin of fungus; it stood as tall as a two story building. It opened its mouth and contorted its face into a fierce expression.

Kyle jumped awake, sat straight up and felt a cold sweat covering his entire body; his breathing was heavy and outside he could hear a horrible sound. The noise was like nothing he had ever heard, it simultaneously sounded like a lions roar and the shrieking of a bird as it reached a peek that made him cover his ears the pitch was so high. The glass behind him shattered, and the door to the room burst open; there stood an old man draped in a robe that hung down past his feet, he boar a sword on his left hip while holding a carved staff only slightly shorter than himself. The man had short, white hair and a small round beard to match, his eyes were a piercing green and nearly overshadowed by bushy white brows, and in the center of his face sat a nose that was thin and crooked along the bridge but came to a round, bulbous end. Kyle realized he had regained his sight completely, and that this man, though much sprier and younger looking than he had imagined from his voice, was Orin.

“Quickly Kyle, the village is under attack, we have to flee.” Said the old man sternly as he cleared the room in a few steps and placed his hand under Kyle’s arm to guide him.

“It’s alright, I can see now.” Kyle said standing up and looking into the old man’s eyes. Seeing him for the first time, Kyle was reminded even more of Mrs. Creeley by those eyes.

“You heal quickly; I expected it to take at least the full night. No matter, we must make haste, the horses are ready outside, follow me.” And without looking back, the old man moved through the bedroom door and down the hall so swiftly that Kyle had trouble keeping up with him without breaking into a jog.

Orin burst through the front door, which startled the horses standing out front, and continuing at the same pace sprang effortlessly onto the back of a black steed. Kyle took a look at the brown one standing next to Orin’s and then looked to the old man himself.

“What are you waiting for, we must leave.”

“I’ve never ridden a horse before.”

The old man sighed heavily “Well there is always a first time for everything.” He muttered something under his breath and extended his right had while gripping the reins and his staff in his left. Kyle felt a jerk at his midsection as he was lifted off the ground and onto the horse by invisible strings.

Just hold tight to the reins and grip with your knees. YA!” and the black horse gave a small jump as it forced itself forward into a run.

Kyle squeezed his legs tight to the horse’s ribs and gave the reins a little jerk as Orin had done, and his brown horse forced itself forward after the old man. As the horse moved down the path began to go down hill, Kyle realized that Orin had abandoned the path all together and rode straight down the steep hill, and Kyle’s horse followed suite. After only a moment they had reached the bottom of the hill and found another path leading to a patch of woods. To his right, Kyle saw the giant monster from his dream and called out to Orin.

The old man came to a quick stop and whipped around. “What’s the matter?”

“We can’t just leave all those people to die; we have to do something to stop that monster.”

“Kyle, as long as I have lived here I have kept protective spells around this village; I put every type guard I could think of over the years into those barriers and that Kin tore through them in a single night. His power is beyond mine, there is nothing we can do here."

“But we have to try something.” Kyle couldn’t make the old man understand the pain and fear he felt in his dream, but he knew he still had to do something.

The old man leapt clear from his horse with unnatural ease and drew his staff out in front of him. From its top, the staff began to emit a soft blue glow while Orin began to mutter words that fell to incoherent whispers and Kyle’s ears.

Kyle stared in amazement as the fires died away, but the villagers continued to run around in panic. The Kin turned this way and that in confusion, and its eyes fell upon the glow from Orin’s staff.

The monster opened its mouth and a hideous voice sprang forth. “Your power is no match for the strength my father gives me wizard, surrender your life willingly and I will promise to make your ending quick.”

“On my life demon, my soul will never serve your dark king.” Orin called back.
The creature let out another roar like the one from Kyle’s dream and began to charge towards the wizard dropping to all fours like a gorilla. Orin lifted his staff high above his head in both hands and brought its end crashing to the ground; the crack that resounded made Kyle think the staff had been broken, but another look showed him that it was the ground that had broken. A crack appeared at the base of Orin’s staff and shot out towards the monster, but the Kin continued on blindly towards its prey; Orin flung his arms out wide with his staff held firmly in his right hand and the ground along the crack began to crumble and separate. Too late did the monster realize what was happening and it gave a loud roar as it fell into the darkness that opened up beneath it.

The old man leaned hard on his staff unable to walk, he made a whistling sound and his horse came to him and lay down to let him on. As Orin mounted his horse, Kyle let out a shout of excitement and joy.

“You did it Orin, you killed it!”

“No… I have only delayed it. That creature will make its way out of that hole, and when it does it will be enraged and it will hunt us down. Now, let us get out of here, I have little strength left for this journey, and we have a long ride ahead of us before we are out of harm’s way.”

Kyle sunk his head a little, feeling ashamed for forcing the old man to waste his strength like he had. He was beginning to feel how ignorant he was of this world, even after all he had learned from Orin.