Chapter 4

As Damien approached the fire he noticed that the mud surrounding the creature began to slough off and fall back to the ground. With each step the creature became more human-like. Upon reaching the fire, where the creature of mud had been, now stood a man. He stood unflinching in the cold, his long shoulder length hair matted to his skin. Looking at Damien he smiled, his rotting teeth standing out against the almost porcelain skin that now coated his body. His once clawed hands now looked as smooth and humanlike as Damien’s own hands. Damien recoiled at the sight. There was no way this creature could be a kind one. Should he even be conversing with it? Upon seeing Damien’s reaction to him, the creature once again began to change. His hair cleaned itself and it took on a glowing white hue. His skin stayed porcelain in color, but took on a more natural look. His eyes changed from the mud brown it had been before to eyes of gold. When the mouth reformed, Damien shuddered. The smile that was on the creature's face was one of ill intent. He could sense that much. It was like no matter how hard this creature tried to change its form it couldn’t hide the true intent that it wanted to mask.

“Now, child, I am called Themesca. I have been here since long before your kind walked this land and I will be here long after. I once ruled this land. My people were a great race. We were one with the earth. All creatures, large and small, would come to us for guidance. We were the oracles, the truth seekers. After decades of helping all who walked the earth, one race began to take shape that was different from all the others. They were a race that, unlike those that came before them, thought they knew what was best for themselves. In that regard they grew. They tore through the other races with little regard for anyone other than themselves. They drained this planet of its lifeforce. They mined deep within the heart of the planet, searching for a way to increase their own influence over the earth. Each day we sang the lament of our people which fell on the deaf ears of the rising empire that this new creature had laid. They no longer wanted our advice. They wanted everything for themselves and everyone else was left to suffer in their wake. This race would come to be called the race of man. At the height of their power they enslaved all of those who had lived for millennia before them, stealing away their magic and strength for themselves. They came in the night, raining down shadow and fire. With each new dawn more and more creatures faded into myth. The last and oldest of the creatures, the oracles, stood against man. We fought with everything we had. During the last great battle between men and oracles the light came.” With a sweep of his arm Damien saw the flames shift to life. Changing shape into figures of men and creatures of all sorts.

Themesca, seeing that Damien had noticed the flames continued, “War raging all around, blood staining the ground as the life force of those ancient creatures of magic seeped away, a bright light engulfed the world. A sudden flash that left the world stunned. In the heart of the battlefield, what is now known as the Pacific, a great trench was formed in the earth. At the center of the trench lay a man. This was no human, as the oracles would come to find out. Upon regaining consciousness the man stood, light and shadow converging around him. He screamed, his light exploding throughout the world, decimating the shadow that the humans had used to control the ancients. There was a war raging inside this man. Being who we are, most of the oracles knew who this man was. He was foretold of in a prophecy long before. He was the being who would come from the High realm to release the hold of man.

“With his crystal sword, and his blinding light, he flashed among the race of man, slaying one after another until none stood against him. He alone was victorious over the race of man. Or so he thought. He thought he had ended their reign, freeing the ancient races, but unbeknownst to him there was one man who had come long before. He was known to the race of man as the High One. Out from the remaining shadow he came. From every corner of the earth, the depth of every shadow that remained, he called forth those that were willing to follow. With the combined strength of the shadow that each creature retained they shackled the being of light to the earth, their earth. Being weak from using so much light to break apart the shadow when he first arrived, he was unable to break free.” The flames shifted once again. Orange, white, and blue flames giving more definition to the picture that stood before Damien.

“The High One, now the one victorious after so much devastation, walked up to the man and smiled. ‘My poor son, how you have fallen. You will be chained here for the rest of eternity as the age of man takes a firm hold around you. You will see the rise and fall of many empires my son. And the greatest of all shall be mine. Nothing you do will stop me this time. This world will be mine, unlike the one you deprived me of.’

“The High One laughed as he saw the pitiful scene before him. The once great and powerful being, now reduced to this lightless lump of a man. ‘You should have listened before Iciry. We could have ruled the skies.’ Shadow surrounded the man, and with a flash, he was gone, his laughter filling the air.

“With his remaining strength, Iciry broke off the tip of his sword, a small piece of crystal. With all the light he could gather he poured power into the crystal, sending it away. It went through a veil of light never to be seen again, until now.” Themesca looked at Damien, a hand eagerly reaching out, as he snatched the crystal from Damien’s pocket.

"My boy, you hold the crystal but you have no idea who you are." Themesca looked away from the crystal, searching the darkness. "It's almost sad." Placing a finger on Damien's forehead he said, "Let me show you." The black liquid that had dripped from the claws of Themesca when he first appeared poured across Damien's forehead. It seeped into his eyes, causing a black film to take hold.

The darkness in the area swirled in his vision, deepening the hold of the liquid. Damien felt as if he had been thrust into a raging storm. Everything swam as if he was being hit by waves of water during a tsunami. His breath once again escaped him as he struggled to regain his footing. He kicked with all he had at the surrounding water looking for any kind of footing or something to grab hold of. Slowly blackness began to overtake his vision as the lack of oxygen was beginning to take hold. Right when he knew he would pass out his foot struck something hard.

With a burst of adrenaline he reached both feet out, now pressing against stone. As quickly as it had come, the water washed away. Before him sat the room at the top of the tower of the High One. “Iciry, come here,” said the High One as he motioned at Damien. Damien looked around confused to see if he could spot anyone else. There was no way this man was talking to him.

Impatience now tinging his voice, “Come now child. Don’t make me wait. You have been excited for this day since you found out about it.”

Damien turned to look at the mirror that stood in front of him. In the mirror the reflection that looked back at him was no longer his own, but that of Iciry. He reached to touch his face in disbelief and the reflection did the same. How could this be?

Quickly he walked over to the table that the High One stood in front of. “Iciry, now that you have surpassed the level of the apprentice the order presents you with this sword. The sword of a master. With it, all the power and authority of the position is placed on you. You are the wielder of the magic of light. Use it well.” Damien picked up the sword, familiarity crossing his face. He had seen it before. Just a short time ago in the box that his grandfather had given him. The crystal sword with the ebony hilt.

As he looked at the sword the light within the crystal flared to life sending a blinding light coursing through the room causing him to close his eyes. Upon opening them he found himself standing in a chasm, deep under the earth, the sky barely visible far above him. The crystal sword lay broken at his side, his hands bound to the earth. The High One laughed as Damien saw him disappear into the shadow. Thoughts, memories not his own, flowed into him. He called to the light in the blade of the sword, bringing it to him. With the little strength he had remaining he grabbed hold of the blade snapping off the tip of the blade. Words flowed from his lips, “With the light of legends, the strength of my heart, I send this crystal through the ages to the one who will know my heart.” With a flash of light the crystal was gone. Once more exhaustion flooded through him as the shadow overtook him.

As he regained consciousness he realized that he was home. The smell of honeysuckle now filling the cool air. He heard shouting coming from downstairs. “Marcus! He’s coming! Get down here!,” yelled Lily as she sat in front of Gabrielle, who was lying on the floor of the kitchen, about to give birth to her son. Marcus, shaking with excitement, hurried to grab something from the safe in his bedroom. A small crystal. Quickly he ran downstairs and over to his wife, placing the crystal on her stomach. The crystal flared to life, golden light radiating from it. The light swirled like a nova in the room above the exhausted mother. Quickly it poured into the child that had just taken his first breath. His eyes, blue upon birth, flashed golden as the light hit his chest. Marcus looked at Gabrielle with fear in his eyes as he noticed his son's eyes change. That was not what was supposed to happen according to the legend of the crystal that had been passed through the ages. It was supposed to make Damien a force for the shadow. One that would help the High One regain his throne. The eyes of the child were supposed to change as dark as the shadow he was supposed to support, not golden. There was only one reason they would have turned golden. The legend that had become a whisper over time told of a boy who would rise with the light of Iciry in him. A child of light. If this boy were to come to know who he is the darkness would soon see its final day.

Damien heard a screech as his consciousness was forced back into the present. Themesca reeled back as he removed his hand from Damien’s forehead. The mud from the surrounding area slid across the ground back toward him. They coalesced once again around the man into a beast of enormous ferocity. “It can’t be!” A loud growl escaped from the creature. “The child of light! How did you come here? You must not be allowed to live, the High One would never forgive me.” Without warning a clawed hand lashed out, raking across Damien’s arm, sending him spinning to the ground. Damien, shocked at the sudden change, quickly stood and faced the creature. With each breath the rotten smell entered him, making him feel woozy. The world began to spin. Once again the arm lashed out, knocking him back to the ground. Damien thought about what had just happened. He wished he had that sword, even though he wouldn’t have even begun to know how to use it. Quickly he stood, preparing for the next attack from whatever this monster was.

As the hand descended once more, he was prepared this time. He dodged to the side, the ground coming at him quick, but he rolled landing back on his feet. He noticed something sparkle off to the side. Looking at it he felt sick to his stomach. The crystal! Themseca must have dropped it in his shock at what he discovered.

He reached for the crystal only to have it be pulled away by the undulating mud. “Oh no you don’t,” he heard the beast screech as it moved forward, “I don’t know how you got your hands on that stone, but you will not hold it anymore. It is mine. The crystal disappeared beneath the surface of the mud. Damien not knowing what to do prepared for the next attack. But this time he was too slow. The clawed hand wrapped around him, pulling him toward the mass that was still making its way across the ground, slowly. He watched as his feet were placed against the mass of the creature and he slowly began to sink in. “You will be delicious. I will consume your light.” Damien struggled with all his might, but no matter how hard he fought he couldn’t move.

Something caught his attention as a sliver of moonlight broke through the clouds, reflecting off a small piece of the crystal now embedded in the body of the creature. With all his might he broke a hand free from the grasp of the creature. Thrusting his hand into the mud, he grabbed the crystal. He wrenched it free and instinctively held it up into the moonlight. The thought of the scroll came to him, though he had only seen it once he knew the words. He looked at the light of the moon, and with everything he had, yelled the words, “Fire and light, darkness and cold, to each we hold the light of the moon’s deepest plight!” With that the crystal flared to life, sending tendrils of moonlight throughout the area. The ones that shot in the direction of the beast pierced the mud, carving giant holes through the creature that now screamed in pain. Now weakened the beast released Damien as he fell to the ground. Quickly he got himself away from the writhing mass. He looked at the original beam of moonlight and held the crystal in a way that the light would reflect only in one direction, as it had inside the box, directly at the beast. As the light hit the creature, blue flames erupted from within it, engulfing it. With one final guttural scream, the creature dropped to the ground. Melting back into the puddle it had been before.

Damien, out of breath, watched as the darkness around him began to dissipate, bringing moonlight and warmth with it. Covered in mud, he stood, shaking, and started walking. He had to get away from here. As he walked, the moonlight seeped into the crystal in his hand, bringing with it a white glow. Damien stopped, noticing the crystal and looked deep into it. The light held inside exploded out, very much in the way that Iciry’s amulet had when he crushed it, blinding him. He closed his eyes tightly against the light. Without moving Damien heard the chirping of birds around him, which is something that he realized he had not heard the whole time. Slowly he opened his eyes, noticing the light of the sun penetrating the air around him, which smelled of a freshly cut lawn and the forest that once again stood in front of him, the putrid smell now gone. He looked down at his hand which still held the crystal, noticing that the once clear crystal had taken on a bluish hue.

Where had he just been? What happened with the crystal? What was that thing? He stared at the crystal, the blue light seeming to begin to draw him in. Quickly he shoved the crystal in his pocket, “No way, not again.” He turned away from the woods and ran as fast as he could past all his family to the table where the presents still laid, opened the box, put the crystal in, and with a firm thud, shut the lid.