Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen (19 page)

“Of course, of course you can, come with me.”

I followed him upstairs while the other two men continued to argue in the lounge. We went up two floors. On the top floor, there was one room, it was big and lovely.

“I feel really sorry that you didn´t know anything. Don´t worry, everything will turn out fine.”

He hugged me and left. I lay down on the bed, I was tired. I started to cry as I remembered Francis´s words. I knew that Eric would accompany me, he wasn´t a coward, he wouldn´t flee from his destiny, but I couldn´t bear to think of not seeing him again. I cried until I fell deeply asleep.

I noticed a gentle caress on my face. I opened my eyes but didn´t see anything, I was in complete darkness. Again my cheek was caressed. I didn´t move, I thought that it was Gabriel but didn’t understand why he would be there. If there was a third person I would surprise him. A few seconds later a hand glided through my hair. I caught it in a quick movement; it stayed paralyzed, not moving.

“Gabriel?”

There was no reply, I thought I was dreaming. The hand
moved my hand I sat up in bed trying to see something. Without expecting it, the light went on, to begin with I saw nothing, but when my eyes got used to the light I saw a young man in front of me. Eric!

“Eric
,” I cried.

“Shh, you will wake up the others.”

“Is it really you?” I said in a whisper.

He leaned over, hugged me and I could feel the heat of his body, his muscles under his clothes, how his chest rose and fell with every breath. I started to cry again.

“Hey, what´s wrong, don´t cry, it is me.”

“I thought I was never going to see you again.”

I held him so tightly that I thought for a moment that he might disappear under my hands like a balloon when it explodes.

“How did you get here? Are you alright? Why didn´t you come earlier?
”

“Calm down,
ask one question at a time.”

He took my head in his hands and kissed my hair. Then he kissed on the lips.

“I have missed you so much,” he embraced me with strength and started to answer all that I had said. “I have disappeared; I am fine; a wizard needs my help and I couldn´t come earlier because he thinks that it is better that I don´t see you before the battle, but I couldn´t bear it any longer and so I escaped. But,” he continued before I could ask him anything else, “I am going to return to him. I have to help him, so that he will help us. I am only going to stay tonight.”

I didn´t know what to say, I was so happy that he was well, that he was with me.

“Show me that you are really here.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“This morning I woke up and I saw you, well, more like I heard you speaking to me and then Gabriel told me that I was dreaming, that you hadn´t been here. I don´t want the same thing to happen, I don´t want to be disillusioned again.”

He was sitting in front of me, smiling like the first time I saw him, that mischievous smile that had made my heart melt. He lean
ed over and kissed me smoothly. He placed one hand on my head and another on my waist. He pulled me firmly against him and I let my hands glide through his hair and over his back. I felt alive until he separated his lips from mine.

“I can´t, I can´t do it.”

“Yes you can, we will die together if need be, but I don´t think in anything else that is not loving you.”

“What?” he looked surprised, his eyes were wide open.

“I know about the punishment that my mother put in place for the person who touched me or whatever it was. And I am telling you that if you die I am going with you, because I love you. I was so stupid not telling you the other day. I love you with all my soul and I cannot allow the future to destroy our present.”

He looked at me with his deep green eyes, and he smiled like a small boy with a caramel in his mouth.

“You love me?” he said flabbergasted.

“Of course I love you, did you think I didn´t?”

“Well, I didn´t know with certainty, I thought, I feared…”

“I love you
,” I said to him looking him straight in the eyes, “I love you and I will always love you.”

He kissed me with such impetus that I fell onto the bed with his body on top of mine. The bedside lamp made shadows on his face. I looked at him carefully, I didn´t want to forget any detail of his face. I started to kiss his face. Starting with his eyes, then I kissed his forehead and his cheeks; I kissed his nose and after a brief pause kissed his smooth lips. I bit them and I kissed them until his tongue seized control of my mouth.

I had never felt such passion. I felt happy, liberated, knowing that he would not be separated from me, that this night he would stay with me.

He took his shirt o
ff in a hurry, letting me see his sculpted body. He threw his shoes across the room, one hit of a wall and the other the bedside table lamp, which broke when it hit the floor. We laughed and embraced each other again, uniting ourselves as though we were one. There were no longer any secrets; no lies existed, in that moment there was only love.

I don´t remember how his able fingers removed my combat outfit, but I will never forget the way that he kissed my whole body. I felt euphoric. We passed the night loving each other and wanting each other without rest
ing, until sunrise.

I opened my eyes with the mental image of Eric kissing my neck and behind my ear; a smile illuminated my face until I turned over and saw that there was nobody there. I remember having seen him leaving and closing the door behind him. I knew that he had to go and that I would see him soon, but even so I missed him. He was my soul mate, the true love that I had so often dreamt of and I didn´t want to be separated from him.

I got up with feeling different, I was content. I opened the window letting the daylight fill the room and I started to search for my clothes. Once I had dressed I decided to stick to thinking in the good and marvelous things that had happened during the night. I would not think that I wouldn´t see him until later, rather that every second that passed meant less time before seeing him again.

I went to the kitchen, almost floating with the lightness I felt. I sat down and observed how Kenneth made breakfast. There were cookies, juice, infusions, milk, cereal, toast… and now he was making some French omelets. He was in a good mood too. Shortly, Francis arrived followed by a sleepy Gabriel. Nobody
spoke, we were all submersed in our own thoughts as we ate.

“Hey Sam, do you want to keep practicing with your powers?”

“Of course,” I responded to a gleaming Kenneth. I imagined that he had sorted out the problems with Francis.

We will go to the forest. The morning was fresh and the sun shone brightly high in the sky. We started to walk through the path of the fallen trees that I had made a few days ago. The path was wide and very long; the end could not be seen. We walked for more than an hour until I started to see something very bright. I walked quicker until I got to the edge of the pathway. The trees had finished. I stood there surprised, seeing that the shine came from a lake. An immense still and peaceful lake that reflected the light of the sun, the blue color of the sky was captured on the surface as were the few clouds that moved slowly until disappearing at the lakeside. It was very beautiful. I thought that it was taken from a story; to make sure it was real I went to the edge
, the water didn´t move. I touched the surface carefully and noticed the freshness on my fingers. I got up and looked at Kenneth who had a big smile on his face.

“This is Lake Mao Long. Here you will learn to control water. This is the purest water that exists; it will be easy for you.”

We walked round the edge of the lake until we arrive to a great valley surrounded by trees in the distance and covered by the lake in is limits. Francis moved away from us with Gabriel. Kenneth turned round and looked at me.

“Now you should connect with your power, you are strong and able to do things you cannot even imagine. We need you, we need your strength. It is time that you lea
rn for yourself what you can do.”

I nodded convinced, I was ready.

“Close your eyes and feel how the water flows through your veins. Feel the force and its energy, feel how it accompanies you and complements you, how it forms part of you.”

I was very concentrated feeling how the power of the water flowed in me.

“Open your eyes.”

I opened them and discovered that my vision was different, I saw everything the same, the same colors and the same shapes, but at the same time a fine veil of transparent water in my eyes that got in the way of everything I saw.

“Don´t lose concentration, the power can cause different effects in your body, it is normal. Now speak to the water, make it flow with you.”

I looked at the great lake and started to speak with the water. I wanted it to help me to protect my loved ones. I told it through my mind everything that had happened and I asked it to please help me.

I was concentrated in the center of the lake. I stretched out an arm towards it with the palm of my hand upwards. In a few seconds a pillar of water started to rise, firm and transparent. It was turning round as it continued growing. I took control and closed my fist. The water stayed still, the column didn´t move. I moved the water and the water moved with it. I opened my hand and the water fell crashing like thunder. It surprised me to see how the water imitated my movements. It was startling; at that moment I assured myself that I would train a lot to be able to control the elements on the day of the battle.

Chapter 14

A nuddle with a great grey beard walked briskly through one of the subterranean tunnels where he lived. There was a whole city underneath the Kingdom. The nuddle, who was called Harri, ran with two daggers in his hand. They were sais; he was desperately looking for his wife, Doris, the stone mounter. She could encrust any type of stone in weapons or jewels. The blacksmith had given him the daggers only 15 minutes earlier. They had
passed inspection and he had added some engraving. Now it was necessary to put the precious stones on them. At last he arrived to his wife´s workshop, he was tired, he believed that this work was no longer for him, he felt old and worn out.

“Harri
my dear. Why have you taken so long?”

The man was gathering breath; he sat down on a chair beside the workbench and breathed calmly. He relaxed his body and looked at his beautiful wife. She had golden brown hair, almost orangey, a slim figure and a beautiful smile.

“I almost didn´t find you, I have searched for you everywhere.”

“I was at work, as always. You should have known that. If you arrive and I am not here just leave the weapons here, nobody will take them.”

“These daggers in particular I have to give them directly into the hand of their consignee and I cannot lose sight of them until their construction is complete.”

“Who are they for?”

“I cannot tell you, but they are very important.”

“It is alright. Rest while I do my job.”

The woman took the daggers and started to select some not too big stones to encrust them into the handle. The engravings were very pretty and if they were for someone important she must take great effort to do an even better job than normal. After a good while she finished, what she called, her work of art and showed it to her husband. When she went to give them back to him she observed the blades of the daggers and decided that they were missing a stone, right were the handle ended, between the two lateral prongs, where the daggers began, she encrusted a round ruby in each one. That way they were balanced.

Harri looked at them, satisfied by the good job that his wife had done and wrapped them up well to take them to the next workshop. He had never entered into this one before. It was the workshop where the magical elements were added to the weapons. It wasn´t normally done but this was a special occasion. He entered into the dark workshop; he thought that there wasn´t anybody until a voice directed him to the dim light at the end of what looked like a cave. There a fair haired boy with great big eyes extended his arms so as to receive the weapons. Harri doubted he had never seen a child in the workshops; he looked around and saw no-one else. Finally he gave them over with great care. The boy put them on the barely lit workshop table and opened them. He searched from with the shelves full of jars until he found what he needed. He powdered a fine layer of iridescent dust,
with blue reflections. He covered the daggers completely. He examined them and when he was satisfied gave them back without exchanging a single word.

Harri
left, flabbergasted. He had to leave to the Surface to hand them over as quickly as possible. There was little time before the battle.

Eric smiled from ear to ear as he looked out the window; he was distracted listening to the song of the birds, when a shout brought him out of his daydreaming.

“Eric, what is going on with you?”

“Nothing, I am fine.” He smiled at the wizard.

“It is the fifth time I call you and I am right beside you. Tell me. What happened last night?”

“Last night? Nothing? Why do you ask?”

“Because you have been h
alf an hour with a foolish face and you have bags under your eyes.”

“Hey, I am fine, okay
,” he recovered his composure, “what is the next step of the plan?”

“We have to go to the city and lay traps in the square.”

“But, it is day time, how to you expect us not to be seen?”

“Leave that to me
,” Elizabeth replied when she came in through the door. She had a combat outfit on and her hair was tied back, it seemed strange to see her this way.”

“What do you propose?” asked the wizard.

“I have stolen something from Ian that will help us. It was in his study, which is where he stores the most important things. One day I saw him use it and I believe it works.”

“What is it
?” Eric asked curiously.

“It is a liquid that makes you invisible
,” responded the magician triumphantly. He well knew what was in the bottle. “Many centuries ago I made the last bottle; he must have conserved it very well.”

“And, does it work? I mean, I have seen it but I don´t know how long it lasts or what effects it has
,” Elizabeth sat down and looked fixedly at the wizard, although she had noticed that Eric was different.

“Of course it works; it is one of my best inventions. Come on, we don´t have time to lose
, the sooner we do it, the better.”

The three left the stone caste and vanished to appear in the square, right in front of the Council.

“Drink,” ordered the wizard.

The bottle seemed to be empty but the liquid became yellow when it touched the girls lips. In an instant she disappeared, leaving Eric surprised. He took it too and then the wizard. They could see each other, but others couldn’t see them. The wizard explained that the effect would wear off in a few hours, so they would have to make the best use of the time they had.

The wizard sprinkled a few drops of elixir all over the city, that way the wanderers who passed by would die and the families would be protected.

Eric and Elizabeth placed
traps all over the square and then they went to the palace. Between the three of them they had managed to decipher that there was the connection between Ian and someone who worked within the palace, so they were decided to put traps all around and some elixir drops to be sure.

They finished just in time, the effect was starting to wear off and the hands and feet of the two youths could be seen, even though the wizard was still invisible.

“Why does the effect last longer with you?” Eric said almost angry.

“I am a wizard Eric, and it is my magic.”

That was the only answer he found. But it kept him happy, Samantha had declared her love and they had passed the most marvelous night that could be imagined. He felt like he was floating. He no longer feared rejection; both knew the feelings of the other. He loved her more than anything in the world and his mission was to protect her until the fight was over.

Ian knew that Elizabeth had left; he knew her plans but did not fear them. He also kept that ace up his sleeve. He made sure that no one saw him as he opened the door of the small room where the battle clothes of the wanderers w
ere stored. He didn´t need any armor. He smiled happily when he thought about it. He separated the clothes that were on a clothes hook in two and a door appeared before his eyes. It had been a few days since he had last gone down; his house was full of people because of the war. He closed the door of the closet so that nobody could see him and opened the new door with a smooth turn of his wrist. He turned to see the worn staircase before him; he closed the door and moved down stealthily and with precaution. He touched the firm floor of the basement with his bare feet and lit an ancient torch laid into the wall. The house was very old but the basement was even older. The small room lit up, it was cold and humid and appeared to be empty. Nobody knew, except for him, that there was a woman captive behind those rough walls in a much bigger room. Ian arrived to the final wall and touched it with his surly hands until he found what he was looking for. He placed his finger in a hole until pressing a button that was like a spring. The wall started to slide to one side until it disappeared completely, leaving in sight a small bed, lighten by an almost spent candle and a simple desk upon which a pen and a blank piece of paper could be seen.

“Gaia, how are you on this splendid day?” Ian mocked.

The woman looked at him without saying anything. She was sitting on the floor beside the bed. Her clothes were dirty and her stare was dark. She had lost all trace of hope of salvation, she knew that she would die here and she didn´t care. She was young, or so it seemed. Ian sat on the desk chair and stared at her.

“Are you not going to plead for your life?” when he didn´t get any reply he continued, “I see you haven´t written anything that I asked of you, you have had all your time, you know.
I have given you that and you haven´t valued it. How can you be so wretched?”

The expression of the girl shone upon hearing these words.

“Wretched?” she shouted at him “You kidnap me, you bring me here without compassion, you force me to cast spells for you, you want me to defeat my teacher and formulate your immortality and you call me wretched. You are sick,” she said without even looking at him.

“Oh, Gaia, my dear witch, you didn´t really think that I was going to make any deals with Phoenix. That is an insult for me to hear that. It is too easy, don´t you think? Elizabeth believed him without thinking about it and now she conspires against me thanks to him.
”

“Why me? I am not the most powerful witch.”

“But, I know that you are the most astute one. I have seen how you cheat others and you won´t do that with me. I am a fallen one and you cannot deny me the help I need.”

“Yes I can
.”

“But you won´t
.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Ian smiled from ear to ear, he had what he wanted, her attention; to trick her from there would be like sewing and singing. He got up and moved closer to the broken girl to speak to her in a low voice.

“I know who your messenger is, dear Gaia. And I am not going to threaten you with his death, that would be horrible, but I can cause him great harm, snatch everything from him and I know how much that would make you suffer. You love him, even though he doesn´t know it. It would be a tragedy if something bad happened to him
,” he determined with a cold and calculating expression. “So don´t try to escape or deny me my request, because I will harm him until he cannot bear it and when he gets better I will torture him again, and I will keep going this way for the rest of his life if you do not obey me.”

The eyes of the girl started to fill up with salty tears. She felt impotent, he knew her weaknesses. She couldn´t say no to him.

Ian started to leave without looking behind.

“I will return soon to know your answer
,” he said without turning round, just before the stone wall returned to its original place. “All fall for love,” he told himself, “and that is why I will win.”

He left the basement happy to find his stressed wanderers walking from one side to another, trying to prepare the weapons for the battle. He felt like he couldn´t leave them alone for a second, they would convert his house into a disaster zone.

Her blue eyes looked at her from the mirror. She found herself tired and alone, and fed up of looking in the mir
ror. Her eyes had lost their life and her chestnut brown hair had lost its shine. The sons of the night didn´t age, but she did. That is why she didn´t allow anyone to see her, the people couldn´t see how their empress was consumed. She got up and moved away from the table that supported the great mirror; she went out to her room´s balcony and breathed in the fresh forest air. She heard a knock on the door and turned around to see her counsellor enter. She missed Kenneth, but he never understood that she distanced herself for his own good, to maintain him safe.

“My lady
,” inclined Morgan.

“Oh, forget the show, will you, I can no longer bear it.”

“Are you alright?”

“What do you think, my dear friend? This face no longer maintains itself
. I can barely walk without being pained in my soul. The pain consumes me every day. I should have died years ago you know. But this curse only desires to make me suffer. I grow old but do not die.”

Morgan knew perfectly what she was talking about. Venice had made a deal with a wizard a long time ago. She wanted to be alive when they found her daughter, so she asked him for immortality. But she paid a high price to be able to see her daughter, a price that consumed her slowly every day. Morgan didn´t know what it was, he couldn´t even imagine. But the empress repented it every day.