“This is crazy,” Temin shouted. “You keep trying to explain it, but it still doesn’t make any sense. How in the heck are we on top of a mountain; weren’t we just climbing down into Fellwater Valley?”
“Yes, we were, but that was back in The World of Light. Now we’re on the side of the bridge that exists within The Nightlands, and that bridge happens to end at the top of this very mountain.”
“That’s insane; how is that even possible and what was that crazy mist we passed through?”
“That mist was the bridge, and no one knows for certain how it was possible for our two worlds to connect in such a way, except for Anedae, perhaps.”
“At least that explains why it’s so cold. I would have packed warmer clothes if I’d have known that we'd end up on top of a mountain.”
“Relax, Temin,” Orlon said soothingly. “Such clothes are not necessary for a lightwielder. I was confident that by the time we had reached this point, you’d have developed the skills necessary to keep yourself warm, and I was right.”
Temin stared out from the shadowy path that they were following down the mountainside. The bitter cold and thin air were enough to tell him that they were incredibly high up on the mountain, but he couldn’t see much in the gray half-light. The sky directly over the tip of the mountain was entirely shrouded in mist, but everywhere else it was bleak, gray, and featureless.
This place looks like the sun’s just set or maybe is just about to rise, but I don’t see the bright colors in the sky. I can’t even find where the sun is.
“Okay, I’m just going to give up trying to understand what the bridge between the two worlds is or how we ended up on this mountain, but I’ve got some other questions about this place.”
“What is it that you wish to know?”
“Well, actually it's the sky; why does it seem so strange?”
“Do you mean, why is it gray?”
“Well, not so much that as the fact that there’s no sun. I can’t see any stars, or a moon; there are not even any clouds or birds. There’s still some light coming from the sky, but it doesn’t seem to have a source, it’s really odd. If there’s no sun, then where is the light coming from that allows us to see?”
“Us?”
“Oh, well, me then. You know what I mean.”
“Indeed I do,” Orlon said with a faint smile. “I remember what you describe vividly and I also remember wondering the same thing myself many times. I wish that I could give you an answer, but the truth is; I don’t know. It’s said that The Nightlands were created by a powerful god named Orzyrus, and if that’s true, then there are bound to be many fundamental differences between this world and our own that we may never understand.”
“So this world wasn’t made by The Goddess?”
“No, Anedae would never create such foul, evil creatures as demons to plague her children. This dark place is the work of another's hand; a god of both immeasurable power and unfathomable cruelty.”
“But if this world has its own god, then won't he be angry with us for invading his world and killing the demons?”
“Actually, no; it's said that the god that created this world, Orzyrus, died long ago.”
“How does a god die?”
“No one knows and, honestly, I don't really care. With or without a god, this world is foul and evil and its denizens reflect this.”
“I suppose that that makes sense,” Temin said with a shrug. “But it doesn’t change anything; we still need to stop the demons. I don’t care who made who, if people are being hurt, we need to help them.”
“Spoken like a true lightwielder,” Orlon replied.
Temin looked out again at the bleak gray sky and the dark, inky land that lay below it. In the distance, the horizon looked jagged rather than straight. Temin guessed that the jagged line was a range of mountains, but he couldn’t quite make them out.
I wonder if there are trees and fields out there like there are in The World of Light. This place is so strange that I don’t really know what to expect, I didn’t think it would be this different. It’s dark and creepy enough just looking out at it from up here; knowing that this world is full of bloodthirsty demons only makes it that much worse.
A shiver ran down his spine despite his efforts to keep himself warm. The chilly air pressed relentlessly against him as if trying to crush him with numbing cold.
If it wasn’t for the trick that Master Rin taught me, I’d definitely have frozen to death by now.
A sudden terrible thought occurred to him. His stomach plunged as he thought about all of the people that the demons had captured and brought back with them to The Nightlands.
“They couldn’t have survived,” he said in a quiet voice.
“I won’t lie to you, Temin,” Orlon said. “Many of those that were brought here perished in the very cold that you and I are walking through, but there are many that would've survived the cold and are being subjected to a worse fate.”
“We must help them, Master Rin. Nobody else should have to die.”
“Temin, listen to me,” Orlon ordered in a stern voice. “I need you to remain focused; don’t let your mind wander down painful paths.”
Temin glanced at Orlon and saw that his jaw was clenched tight. Temin had learned how to read his master’s face well enough to know that there was something else that he wasn’t saying. The scowl on Orlon’s face told him that whatever his master was hiding was important.
I really wish he'd tell me more of what he's thinking, but even he treats me like a child, sometimes.
Turning away from Orlon’s scowl, Temin looked at the rugged path that they were following down the mountain. It wove back and forth between massive outcroppings of black rock that jutted out from the mountainside. As far as he could see, the path stretched down through the jagged rocks for a long ways before disappearing into the inky darkness below.
After a few long minutes of silence, Temin decided that he would demand to be told what Orlon Rin was keeping from him, but before he got the chance his foot struck something. He stumbled and nearly fell, but caught himself by bracing his hand against one of the rock outcroppings. The rock felt oddly damp and left his hand sticky as he pulled away from it. Looking down, he could see something lumpy lying in the road, but he wasn’t quite able to make it out in the shadowy half-light.
“I wish there was something that we could do about this darkness; can’t we make a light or something?”
“I don’t relish the idea of wasting power, but I suppose it’s preferable to you breaking an ankle.”
Orlon held out his left arm and formed a small orb of shining light in the palm of his hand. Though it was only about as bright as a torch, the small orb of soft, golden light forced the darkness to recoil for several feet in every direction.
As the pale, golden light illuminated the shadowy lumps on the ground, Temin felt bile rise in the back of his throat. A dead man’s face stared up at him with a single, glazed-over eye. The side of the man’s head was missing as if it had been chewed off. Bits and pieces of the man’s body lay all around them on the road. The dark, murky gore had blended into the rock of the path almost entirely in the eerie half-light, but once Orlon’s orb of light had forced back the darkness, the carnage around them was plain to see.
Swallowing hard to force the bile back down, Temin stared down at his hands. They were covered in dirt and blood from the rock that he’d grabbed to stop himself from falling. He nearly screamed in panic and quickly grabbed the skin of water off his waist and dowsed his hands in a frantic effort to wash away the gore. His breathing grew more rapid as he ripped off a small strip of his robe and used it to rub his hands clean.
“Temin, what is it?” Orlon asked in alarm. “What’s wrong?”
“Blood,” Temin replied in a panic-stricken voice. “It’s everywhere around us. There are parts of people all over the road; it looks like they were just... ripped apart.”
Instantly, the light in Orlon’s hand vanished. Dark
ness quickly flooded back in and reclaimed the grisly scene, shrouding it in shadowy half-light. Temin continued to stare at the spot where the dead man’s face was hidden in shadow. His panic had faded away as quickly as Orlon’s light, but a feeling of sickness persisted.
“I’m sorry, Temin, I didn’t want you to have to see something like this. I didn’t realize that there were bodies around or I wouldn’t have created that light in the first place.”
“Why would the demons do something like this?” Temin asked softly. “There wasn't anything like this back in Seteal.”
“These were likely the people that weren’t strong enough to survive the harsh cold of the mountain... so they were eaten and tossed aside. I know it’s not what you want to hear, Temin, but it’s the truth. The demons don’t care where you come from, how old you are, or whether you’re a man, woman, or child; to them humans are food. Whatever purpose the demons have for taking people, they only need the strong ones. Everyone else is just food.”
“That’s horrible; how could any of them survive this cold? There's no way that a normal person could last long in this.”
“A plant grows here in The Nightlands that has certain effects on the human body. In the past, I’ve seen demons use the plant as a drug to make their slaves both stronger and more docile. My guess is that they forced the slaves to eat some of that drug to make their bodies more resilient and better able to survive the harsh environment.”
“So, do you believe that there’s still a chance to save some of them?”
Orlon Rin was silent for a moment as if deep in thought. When he spoke his voice had the slightly clipped, hesitant sound of someone that was speaking in veiled half-truths.
“We’ll do all that we can to help them, Temin, but our mission is to slay the demon. You need to remember that.”
He’s never lied to me before, but I can tell that there’s something he’s not telling me. I wonder why he doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what's bothering him.
“Come on, Temin, we still need to hurry.”
For another hour, they followed the winding trail down through the jagged rock outcroppings. Once on the other side, the path straightened out and ran in a wide, broad curve down along the side of the mountain. Temin nervously watched the trail at his feet for any sign of strange, shadowy lumps, but he saw nothing. After a while, he'd convinced himself that the worst was behind them.
He peeled his eyes away from the shadowy, rock path and looked up into the dreary, gray sky. There wasn’t the slightest difference to be seen from the last time that he’d looked up at it. There was still no sun, moon, or stars, nor was there a single wisp of cloud or a blemish of any kind. The amount of strange light that streamed down from the sky also remained unchanged; making it impossible to gauge how much time had actually passed.
“How are we supposed to tell the difference between night and day here? I can’t really tell how long we’ve been walking, but it feels like it's been hours.”
“There is no difference between night and day in The Nightlands; this world always exists in the current gray half-light. As for how long we’ve been walking, I’d guess that we’ve been at it for about two hours now.”
Temin almost said something in response, but thought better of it. They didn’t have the time for idle banter and he knew it.
We’ve been walking for two hours, but it feels more like twice that, and we still have so far to go.
He turned and looked back up at the misty top of the mountain. The mountain rose up out of the ground like a giant tooth and the tip of it pierced the strange cloud of mist far above. Somewhere up there in the mist was the way back to The World of Light; a world that made sense.
This place is outrageous. It's cold, dark, and full of vicious demons. How could anyone survive in this kind of world?
A part of him begged him to turn and run back up the mountain. It wanted nothing more than for him to return to the relative safety of his own world and to forget about fighting demons, but he knew that he couldn’t give in to the feeling. He clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles ached.
I can’t go back. If I don’t help Master Rin slay the demon here in this world, The World of Light will continue to be plagued by demons. Countless people will die if that happens.
“There are other lightwielders in The World of Light that can come to stop the demons of this world,” whispered a voice that he’d never heard before. “Even if you turn back, someone else will come to take your place. Why not flee and save yourself?”
Temin blinked in surprise at the strong, thickly accented voice that seemed to almost whisper in his ear. He cast his head side to side quickly, but saw no one to whom the voice could belong. Confused and uneasy, he turned to Orlon.
“Master Rin,” he asked anxiously. “Did you say something just now?”
“No, why, is something wrong?”
Temin opened his mouth to answer and then shut it quick. He was about to tell Orlon about the voice he’d heard, but decided it sounded crazy. Telling Orlon that he was hearing voices would only cause problems, so he simply shook his head and continued walking.
“No,” he said softly, talking over his shoulder, “it was nothing.”
That was definitely something. What was that creepy voice just now and why did it sound so... strange? Am I going crazy?
He frowned and stared blankly ahead; his attention completely focused on the voice that he knew he’d heard. In particular, he thought about what the voice had said to him.
The voice told me to run away and let others come to take care of the problem. Is this some kind of trick that the demons are using on me; trying to get me to run away? Why would they waste their time on me? Master Rin is more than capable of killing the demon without me, so why wouldn’t that strange voice try to get him to turn back?
“Temin,” Orlon suddenly stated in a serious tone. “Hold up a moment.”
“What is it?” Temin asked as he slowed to a stop.
“Don’t be alarmed, but it seems that a large number of demons are heading straight toward us.”
“How did they know we were here?”
“I don’t believe that they do. More than likely, this is another raiding party heading for our world to gather more captives.”
“What’re we going to do? We’re not just going to let them go are we?”
“No, I still don’t relish the idea of wasting any more power before I've dealt with their leader, but we can’t let them get past us. If they make it to the bridge and cross over into The World of Light, more lives will definitely be lost.”
“Alright, so we’re going to fight,” Temin said trying his best to sound brave. “I’ll do my best.”
“No, I’ll take care of this. You just stand back.”
“But I can help you; I’ve already killed a demon.”
Images of the demon that he’d slain flashed through his mind. He could still see the hideous, burgundy face glaring at him menacingly. His throat suddenly ached where the demon’s fingers had gripped him like iron. He remembered the look of pain and fear that had crossed the demon’s face as his blade had cut it in half, and he swallowed hard.
That was just luck: I almost died. Maybe I’m not ready yet.
“Temin, remember your promise to me; you told me that you wouldn’t fight. You’re strong, I won’t deny it, but you’re still untested in battle against a real enemy. The demon that you killed before probably thought that you were some random kid and lowered its guard. The demons coming towards us will know that you’re a lightwielder just by us being here in The Nightlands; they will show no mercy.”
The demon that I killed before did seem to change once it discovered that I was a lightwielder, had it known from the start it probably would’ve killed me.
“Okay, Master Rin, I’ll leave this to you.”
“Good, now go find somewhere to hide and try to stay out of sight. I’ll show you how a lightwielder fights against an enemy that
possesses superior numbers.”
Temin dashed from the road and quickly climbed up to a small cluster of rocks that stood on the sloping mountainside only 20 feet away. He’d no sooner ducked behind them and turned around, than the first of the demons came into sight. In the shadowy half-light, Temin couldn’t make out any details about the creature but he could see its silhouette moving against the dark solid shapes around it. The demon ran using both its legs and the knuckles of its large, powerful hands. Watching it made Temin think of a cross between the way a man and a gorilla run.
The first demon was quickly joined by dozens of others rushing up the road straight toward Orlon. From his position in the rocks, he knew that he was able to see the demons before they'd rounded the corner enough to see Orlon, and that knowledge made him feel somewhat exposed. A sudden fear gripped him tighter than he'd expected. He pressed himself down deeper into the rock cluster, hoping that the demons didn’t see him.
Peering out hesitantly, he watched as the demons first noticed Orlon standing in the road. A howl rent the air and quickly increased in volume as, one after another, the demons all joined in. Snarling, they charged Orlon as one, expecting to crush him with sheer numbers.
Temin guessed that there were as many as 50 demons, and he nearly called out to Orlon in distress, but then he remembered that he was supposed to stay hidden. All he could do was watch as the demons closed in on his motionless master. The first demon moved to within three feet of Orlon before the lightwielder made even the slightest movement.
Despite the risks, Temin drew in a huge breath intending to shout at Orlon to move when the lightwielder suddenly came to life. In a blur of motion, he flung his right arm out, forming a 20-foot-long chain of light in his hand as it moved, and cut down the closest demon in an instant. Turning side to side, as if dancing, Orlon flailed the chain back and forth horizontally decimating demons with every movement. The slightest flick of Orlon's wrist seemed lethal and Temin couldn’t tear his eyes away from the gruesome spectacle.
Blood and limbs, illuminated by the light of Orlon’s chain, flew through the air in every direction and the ground around his master’s feet was quickly littered with the dissolving bodies of more than a dozen demons. Roaring louder than before the demons branched off and tried to circle around Orlon to attack him from every side, but still the chain of light cut them down. One of the demons tried to catch the chain of light, but the shining weapon sliced through both of its hands as well as its face, and the demon crumpled to the ground to join the growing pile of slaughtered demons.
When over half of the demons lay dead and dissolving, the survivors made a desperate last attempt to reach Orlon. From every side, they attacked him in unison, some running along the ground furiously while others leapt into the air to attack him from above. The chain of light vanished from Orlon’s hand and he once again stood motionless for a brief moment. Then, a burst of light flashed out from him and Temin had to look away.
When he looked back a moment later all of the demons had stopped dead in their tracks. Even those that had tried to attack him from above were frozen; stuck in mid-air. Each of the demons was pierced by a long spear of light through the heart and they all hung helpless on shimmering spikes of light as they died. Over two dozen spears lanced out from Orlon’s body making him look like a shining porcupine made of light.
With a flash, the spears vanished and the demons all dropped to the ground and begun to dissolve. Temin stood up slowly and stared down at his master in awe. The ground around Orlon’s feet was too dark to see, but Temin knew without a doubt that it was completely covered in blood.
How did he do that; he didn’t even hesitate? He just killed 50 demons like it was nothing. That thing he did with the spears was amazing; how did he even know where to attack? He hit about twenty of them at the same time with perfect aim; I’m not even sure that I could hit one of them and I can use both of my eyes!
“Alright, Temin, we need to get going; there are plenty more demons where these came from. We need to reach the source and put an end to this.”
Orlon set off again down the trail at a brisk pace, leaving Temin standing at the rock cluster beside the trail. Once he realized that he would be left behind, Temin scrambled back to the trail and hurried to catch up. As he ran after Orlon, he realized that his earlier attempts to comfort himself had all been in vain.
There's going to be far worse up ahead, but next time, I’ll be of help. I’m not going to freeze up like that ever again!