A Song of Snow and Ashes

But I think I can help, if you'd let me."

  "Help me at the point of a sword, no doubt."

  "I have no weapon drawn. Words and kindness are much more effective against the Darkness than a sword," she replied mildly, although she was having doubts. His soul was Darker than she expected.

  "Words and kindness have never worked for me. The Dark power, however, has worked great."

  "At the expense of your soul."

  "Honestly, I don't need to hear this again," he snapped.

  "Then I take it others are worried for you and have expressed the same concerns. Why do you not heed them?"

  "Hey, that's none of your business. You don't know me. Don't try to pretend you care what happens to me."

  "I don't know you, but it doesn't mean I don't care. I don't want to have to kill you. I want to help you. I want help free you from the Darkness. I want to save your soul. You're so young. I want you to have a full and happy life."

  "And I will. Once you're out of the way."

  "So you intend to fight me?"

  "I intend to get rid of anyone that stands in my way," he said. "You know, you could give up your power and that would end this without a fight."

  "My soul is in no danger of being destroyed."

  "Yeah, some compromise."

  "I wouldn't harm you, if that's what you're afraid of."

  "I'm not afraid of you or anything."

  "Well, I'm afraid you would harm me if I gave up my power," she said. "I know who you are and I imagine you don't want that news getting out."

  "I could just make you forget."

  She shook her head. "I just don't trust you, not with the state your soul is in."

  "Yeah, well, I don't trust you either. You may claim to be all goodness and Light, but do you know what the Order of Light is really like? Do you know what they've done in the name of the Light One?"

  "Yes. They do things for their own agenda, not to help anyone else."

  He was surprised she'd admit that. "Well, there you go. Why should I trust you then?"

  "I'm not the Order of Light. I am directly tied to the Light One. I want to help you."

  "You want to save your own life."

  "I can't deny that, but if I were solely focused on that, I would have already attacked you. I really do want to help you," she said sincerely. "But I can't help you unless you want to be helped. I can't free you from the Darkness until you want to give up the Dark power."

  He thought about it, and thought about Alain and Blake and their pleas for him to give up the Darkness. "Well, if anyone could help me, it would be the LightBearer," he thought. But the power moved within his soul. "No, I don't need her help. She's only trying to save her own life. She doesn't give a damn about me. No one does. The only person I can really count on is myself. And if I give up this power, then what do I have? I'll have no magic to keep my job at the Salt Guild. I'll have no magic to protect myself when those spells wear off. I'll have no money and no way to keep Aolani's attention. All her suitors will come back and she'll either ditch me for one of them or move away entirely." He narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, LightBearer. You seem like a nice woman, but I'm not giving up this power for anything.” His eyes turned black and the icy longsword appeared in his hand.

  She took a step back.

  Black clouds started to race across the sky. "If I thought I could just cast a spell on you I'd do that, but I don't think it would work. It's not personal. You do seem really nice and like you really want to help me. But this is business." He charged at her.

  Her clothes vanished revealing the shining white Armor of Obsidian and the fiery longsword appeared in her hand. "It doesn't have to be like this," she said, dodging easily but not following up with her own attack.

  "Yeah, you could surrender," he retorted, coming around with a strong blow.

  She parried it. "Please reconsider."

  "No."

  Eliora continued to only defend herself and try to convince the ShadowWalker to give up his power.

  Donnan was at first surprised she even knew how to fight, then he was surprised she was strong enough to take his attacks, and then he became annoyed when she wouldn't attack. "Fight me, damn it," he exclaimed. The sky was gray and heavy with rain.

  "I don't want to fight you," she said, quite sincere. "I want to help you, but you have to let me."

  "I don't need your help," he roared. A bolt of lightning ripped through the clouds followed by a crack of thunder that drowned out the LightBearer's pleas. "Just let me do what I need to do."

  "You're going to hurt people."

  "Not many, and no one that doesn't have it coming."

  "What about your family? What about your friends?"

  "They'll understand."

  "You'll make them understand?" she asked.

  "I hope it doesn't come to that," he replied. "Damn you, will you fight properly already?"

  "What if it does? Will you use power to control people who disagree with you for the rest of your life? Even if you have to extend that control to your family and friends?" she replied, again neatly parrying his attack. "Is that just business too?"

  "You shut up," he yelled, now furious. "What in blazes do you know? Who in Darkness are you to tell me what to do?"

  "You have to see what you're thinking of doing is wrong."

  Rain started to pour from the sky in heavy gray curtains.

  "I don't care if it's wrong as long as I get what I want," he snapped, bringing the blade over his head at her.

  She blocked it and held her blade against his.

  "At the expense of others?" she asked, meeting his black eyes.

  "They'd do the same to me."

  "Even your family and friends?"

  "I can deal with them."

  "What if they decide they can't deal with you?"

  For just a moment, there was some uncertainty in those black eyes, but then they turned cold. "I'll make sure they make the right decision," he said, straining to push her sword down with his.

  "What happened to people making their own decisions?"

  "They can, as long as they agree with me."

  "So you won't give up the power?" she asked, feeling him push against her blade but standing her ground and searching those black eyes and the soul behind it.

  "No. With this power, I can do anything I want. I could rule Renfrew. I could rule the world if I wanted. Without this power, I’m nothing, I’m not going back to being nothing."

  She broke the hold and leaped backwards. "I'm sorry," she said with tears stinging her eyes.

  "What? Why are you sorry?"

  "Because I can't help you. You won't let go of the Darkness. There's too much anger and fear."

  "And you're feeling sorry for me. That's real nice of you, LightBearer."

  "I'm sorry for you, and for your family and friends. I'm sorry because now there's only one way I can save you from falling into Darkness."

  He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, really? What's that?"

  Eliora just shook her head, so he attacked her again, and this time she returned the attack. Over and over she parried or blocked and returned the blow, trying to finish the fight the only way that was left to her. Tears streamed down her face. The rain obscured everything and turned the ground into slick mud. Unseen in the downpour, headstones and grave markers near the fight cracked or shattered completely.

  Donnan was surprised at this sudden change of tactics and quickly realized what she had meant. "Help me she says? Save me she says? I knew I was right not to trust her," he thought angrily.

  Lightning tore the sky and fire scorched the ground. The grass curled up, blackened and burnt. The cascading rain turned to hail and sizzled on the hot headstones.

  Both were tired but neither could stop. They found out that the Armor was not impervious to the magical blades and both were bleeding in a few places. Furious and desperate, Donnan finally made a mista
ke. Eliora's sword slid in neatly between his ribcage on the left side.

  He stumbled to his knees and dropped his longsword. It vanished. Rain mixed with blood and ran onto the ground in a red river.

  Eliora lowered her sword but did not approach him. She called to an iridescent. "Tell his brother and Dark acolyte friend to come quickly," she ordered it. It vanished. "I'm sorry," she said, her tears mixing with rain. "I couldn't save your life. I tried. I wanted to."

  He just stared at the blood on his hands. "I can't have lost. I trained so hard. I worked so hard." He felt curiously cold. Thunder rolled. "I didn't really do anythin' wrong. I just wanted a chance at a good life. I just wanted the girl of my dreams. Is that so wrong?" he yelled at her.

  Her sword disappeared. "Of course not, but you can't force people to do that. I wanted to help you. I could have helped you."

  "Well help me now," he demanded.

  "I can't. I can't. You won't give up the Darkness."

  He tried to stand but fell again. He cursed himself for not learning any healing magic.

  Two people ran past Eliora and knelt down at Donnan's side.

  "Blake. Alain. What are you two doin' here?" he asked, astounded. "How'd you get here so fast?"

  She cast a shield spell on both of them. These were the people closest to him, but she didn't trust him with that much Darkness in his soul.

  "You didn't have to do that," he snapped. "I won't hurt them."

  "She sent an iridescent to find your family and friends," Blake said quickly.

  "Blake, we tell him the truth," Alain said. Both of them were crying.

  He sighed. "We were waiting outside the cemetery gate."

  "Both of you? I know Alain was, but why were you there?" Realization dawned. "You-you set me up." He coughed miserably.