Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen (10 page)

“Yes, my master. A young son of the night came to see me, he wanted me to cast a spell with this stone
,” she gave it to him with trembling hands and with her head hung after having straightened up to speak to him. In the light the beauty of his face could be seen, as white as marble. There were a few locks of his fair hair coming out from under the hood he was wearing. His profound brown eyes looked at the dark and gleaming floor as though there was nothing else better in the world.

Phoenix, intrigued, took the stone delicately. He was much taller than the witch he had before him, his well-formed body did not fit with the typical vision you would have of a wizard. In this occasion he was dressed with a black Italian suit jacket, prime quality with exquisite cuts, it highlighted his white hair. He thoroughly examined the stone; it had belonged to him centuries ago. It was a gift from his first and only
love; he had lost it in a trip to Paris from the French Alps in 1502. The horses of his carriage were for some reasoned startled, causing them to overturn in the middle of a bridge in such a way that the stone he carried in his pocket had fallen into a wide river. He had not seen it again, until then. It brought back great memories.

“The boy wanted to contact you for some reason, but I distracted him
,” the nervous and indecisive witch proceeded, seeing that her master did not say anything.

“Do not worry
,” he assured her, “I don´t know how he found it, but it won´t be so easy for him to find me. Who was it?”

“He said that his name was Gabriel, yes, Gabriel Shepard
,” she said with a grain of confidence that little by little diminished.

“Thank you Niv, you may leave
.” The witch returned home, content that the moment had passed, she picked up her things and left. She did not want people to see her in that town.

Phoeni
x entered his office with the stone still in his hand. He did not want to meet Gabriel, but he was willing to find out who he was and what he wanted of him.

Chapter
7

We ran towards the house, fleeing from that blanket of black clouds that were above us. I thought that we had left behind those who were pursuing us, but as we arrived to the main door of the house a monster, more than two meters tall, with no face, the same as the one who had attacked me only two nights ago leapt on me squashing my chest against the hard ground, leaving me unable to breathe. I saw how Eric continued running until the fallen one bit my neck. I felt a great pain invade my whole body. I screamed with all my might to free myself from the monster. It instantly disappeared. I no longer felt its weight upon me, I could breath. I got up with Eric’s help and started to run after him again. We were heading towards the east side of house. I looked behind and saw how more beings ran after us. I turned again to look forward to see Gabriel fighting with against them; they became ashes instantly. They didn´t bleed, like me. At that moment I noticed how a liquid flowed abundantly from my throat. I stopped abruptly and put my hands to my neck. Looking at them, I saw that they were completely covered in blood. I felt faint as I put my hands on my knees with the palms up to be able to see them properly. I was in a state of shock as I watched how Gabriel and Eric fought. With every moment, more disgusting creatures without faces arrived and I felt like I could do nothing. At some point that I can´t quite remember, Eric stopped fighting and came for me. He lifted me up and when I regained consciousness we were entering in through a hidden door at the back of the house. They closed it with force while I looked at them perplexed. The pain had calmed and I noticed that my eyelids were heavy. A second later I collapsed.

When I opened my eyes I found two faces examining me in detail.

“How are you?” they both said at the same time. Their faces were the picture of concern.

“Fine” I declared. I tried to sit up but my arms failed and I landed on the ground again.

“We should wait here for a while. She has lost a lot of blood,” Gabriel said dryly. He tended to speak as though I wasn´t there and that annoyed me.

“Rest a little, then we will go to the kingdom
,” Eric said with worried eyes.

I tried to tell him that I was fine, not to worry but my eyelids closed again before I could speak.

<>

“Little sister, we will see each other soon
,” she said with a devilish smile on her face. “I will end you and be free at last. You don´t know how happy I feel,” she continued smiling and I was certain that what she was saying was true.

“Why do you want to kill me?” I asked her confused. And her answer froze my blood.

“Because I hate you and all that you represent, I am better than you and soon you will see that for yourself.”>>

I opened my eyes wide and sat upright at once. I noticed how my shirt stuck to my back from the sweat
and I had a strange sensation in my mouth, as though I had sucked iron.

“It is the blood
,” Eric told me, answering my question, “it got to your mouth.”

He gently helped me to get up.

“You have been sleeping for a couple of hours, you should feel better.” The coldness of Gabriel´s voice brought me round properly.

“I am fine, thank you
,” I abruptly replied, although I didn´t know where I was.

I was unable to see anything apart from a dim shimmer of light which appeared to be a tunnel. Eric who was in front of me clicked his fingers and suddenly the place was filled with smooth blue tones that filled the great tunnel whose end could not be seen.

“Follow us,” the two announced in unison.

We started walking without talking, the ambiance was a little tense and I still felt a little faint. After walking for a while I forgot about the fight that had happened and I started to surprise myself as to all the information that I had obtained in such a short time, giving my life that greater purpose it had lacked. Everything fitted. Despite that I was still somewhat confused about my dreams, I didn´t know if the times that I had seen her
were real or only a figment of my imagination. Either way, I was sure that I wanted to search for her, and it seemed that she wanted to find me too, but to kill me. After a few minutes of being consumed by my own curiosity, I did the best thing I could until then, ask!

“
Where are we going?”

“We are going to the Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Moon. Our world is divided into four districts, all representatives of the four elements, these are led by the principal city of the Kingdom of the Moon, called The Light” Gabriel told me, in his cold manner.

“Why don´t we disappear like you do normally? Can you not do that here?” There was a deathly silence until Eric started to speak with a friendly and caring voice.

“No, the security of the Kingdom forbids it, because the fallen ones can also do it and they cannot enter like we are doing.”

I thought it was a good reason to have to cross the tunnel walking.

“Will my mother be there?”

“Yes, but you cannot see her.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to have training first, the council will decide what to do.”

“And, how long will I train for?”

“It will be a few days if you do well. Your blood remembers who you are, it won´t take much for you to learn.”

After a few minutes in silence, I notice
d that the tunnel was getting wider and a little later we appeared before a large wood gate, about four meters high. It had hand engraved images, with a fine layer of gold dust on the border of the carvings. As I got closer I could observe that it was a story. Our story, as sons of the night we were created by Mother Earth to do Good and destroy Evil. Right in the center of the union of the two doors, the four elements could be found either side of the handles. I stayed there impressed, staring fixedly at every detail on the door, until Eric took me gently from behind by my belt and whispered in my ear that I should look at the upper right corner. When I lifted my eyes I saw myself, there, surrounded by light and peace, although I had the feeling that it wasn´t going to be like that. Quickly Eric distracted me from my thoughts and got even closer to me.

“I am sorry that I didn´t tell you the truth, it is a truth that consumes me inside and I am sorry to tell you that I won´t be able to be so close to you, this will become real and I will not be able to bear it.” I noticed how it was difficult for him to speak and felt the accelerated breathing of his chest against my back. “Tonight I will tell you everything.”

The next thing I knew he moved away leaving me with my mouth ajar as the door opened. At last he would tell me what was happening, happiness invaded me like it never had before. I was decided to tell him that night that I loved him and that nothing would stand in the way of our love.

When the door opened I didn´t really see anyone to begin with, until I looked down and saw a man who was only one meter twenty tall, he had glasses and looked old. What caught my attention most was the coat he was wearing, it was so long it touched the ground; it was a dark pistachio green color, embroidered with golden thread that highlighted his dark skin and grey hair.

I stood stunned, looking at him until Eric in a low voice that only I could hear and started to explain.

“He is a nuddle, they all look like that. They are our allies and they always help us when we need it, in return we give them protection and allow them to live in the kingdom. Do you see the pendant he is wearing?”

I looked closely and could see a clear violet stone that shone around about his neck.

             
That stone in particular is that of the third eye, it allows them to see further than the obstacles. They help the blacksmiths; they embed precious stones into our weapons that allow us to increase our powers in the battles and bring us energy balance. They also make the majority of the jewels for the families of the kingdom. The stones are their specialty, as well as them not affecting any of our powers.

             
I looked at him amazed by the amount of things that such a small being could do.

             
“Come in dear children, the Council awaits you,” he said forcefully.

              We crossed the enormous door into an immense waiting area with great pillars and the same drawings of our creation were on the domed ceiling along with others I hadn´t seen. Within a second of being there a middle aged woman dressed in black like us, with a long coat the same as the small mans, but in grey-blue tones that matched her grey eyes.

“Good afternoon, I am Fairiel
,” she said to me and bowed, I was about to say that she shouldn´t but the instant look from the boys stopped me. “It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness; I am the person in charge of the Kingdom´s defense.” I nodded unable to articulate a single word. “The Council would like to see you. Please follow me.”

The three of us walked behind her until she stood in front of a door. I was terrified that I may have to enter alone, I didn´t want to separate from Eric. Looking at him he squeezed my hand in a way that showed comprehension and gave me strength. The doors opened and we were called one by one
; firstly Gabriel then Eric and finally me. My uncertainty was starting to grow as I waited in the hallway for Eric to come out, with Gabriel’s stare on my back. I had not spoken to him since I spoke sharply to him in the tunnel and I had no intention of doing so now. At last the door opened and Eric came out with a cautious expression. He made a silent gesture for me to enter. I started to walk slowly, with heaviness in my body that I could not describe. I felt scared, for not knowing what was going to happen or what they would ask me. I slowly entered into the hall; it was large with pretty dark wooden galleries. At the end there was a platform in which I could see a table with five people calmly discussing. They didn´t know that I had entered.

“We are not sure that it is her
,” a man in a white dress determined.

“And if it is, are you going to leave her outside? She knows where we are, even if it isn´t the real Samantha,” said a woman whose face reflected pure wisdom.

“Furthermore, I think we should hear her story first,” said a man with big eyes, he looked young and was dressed in green.

Seeing that they hadn´t counted with my presence in the room I cleared my throat to let them know that I was in the room.

The Council was interrupted and they remained speechless, looking at me, until the man dressed in green jumped towards me enthusiastically with a big smile on his face.

“You see, I knew it was her
,” he said shouting. “You are the living reflection of your mother,” he exclaimed coming closer to me to inspect me from top to tail. “Oh my dear, such a lapse, my name is Francis, Counsellor Representative of Earth, hence my favorite color, green” he said smiling. “Come my dear, don´t stay there standing, I am going to present you to the rest of the members.”

He lifted me up and presented me to all of them, each one dressed in a different color depending upon the element they represented.

“This is Peter Smith, Counsellor Representative of Air” he said signaling a man dressed with a white jacket and a tired reflection on his face. “This is Elias White, Counsellor Representative of Water. He is young for his post, but he is a great man,” he smiled reading my thoughts about the blue jewels that he was wearing. “This lady here,” he said pointing to a woman with a fitted red suit that defined every curve of her body. “She is Angelica Jones, Counsellor Representative of Fire.”

The woman gave me a friendly smile as Francis continued to present me to the rest.

“And Miss Fairiel Black, Head of Defense.”

I smiled again and sat at a big round table beside Francis. Last of all he presented me to Argi. I remember that he told me that his name meant light and he laughed at the irony that he always wore black the same as us. Argi was the Representative of the Moon and at the same time all of the elements, in case that one of the components of the Council was not available. Francis was very funny and
joyful; he made me relax little by little. They simply wanted to hear my story, to see if I remembered anything about my infancy or about any son of the night and how the boys had found me a few days ago.

I told them every detail that I could remember about my early years, without mentioning Eric’s
theory, that Anne could be a witch. As I spoke, they all listened carefully to me, however the lady dressed in red, representative of fire, whose name I didn´t remember, looked at me fixedly trying to find something familiar, I thought. She embed every centimeter of my face as though she were about to paint a portrait.