Fire Within

Chapter 1: Darkness

Aralia

It's been a week since Shade's death, the riders and people who had grown to like Shade searched the rubble of the castle, but neither Shade nor his dragon were found. It's like they never existed and it made me frustrated.

How can the largest dragon to be known and his rider just disappear like that? It left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

What's even worse is that there hasn't been any attack in my lands from the ractons, it's like they dropped off the face of the planet.

I'm not sure whether to take this peace as a gift or to fear it.

Grea and I have been taking the time to train the villagers in the ways of combat and teaching them not to fear the dragons. We have even been lucky enough to have some of the villages to find their dragon.

Tomorrow a crowning ceremony is taking place where Grea will be crowned to rule over the people in this colony. Originally it was going to be me, but I stepped down: I knew nothing of being a good leader and already Grea has proven to be more then a great ruler of her people. I trust her with the power to take fair and just rule over mine.

I step out of the haven into the chilling weather. The rain was cold and pelting down on me, but did I care?

No.

I didn't care about much anymore, all I wanted to do was get rid of the vermin that was the racton, destroy them like they had destroyed every part of my life.

They don't deserve mercy, they deserve nothing but my sword deep in their chests. I gripped my hands into fists feeling the magic inside of me starting to spark.

Ever since the explosion of magic at the castle I have been steadily getting more and more powerful, but I have also been losing more control over my magic.

The angrier I've been getting the darker and deadlier my spells have become. My dreams have been clouded with nothing but death and other unpleasant things. And my normal rituals with fire and water have become anything but normal and peaceful.

Whatever is happening inside of me I know I can't control it and I need help, but what can anyone do? Nothing.

This is my issue and if I'm meant to turn as dark as the creations the racton king created then so be it, as long as I can take them down with me I don't give a shit what I become.

Grea

Ever since Aralia and I escaped the collapsing structure of the castle Aralia has not been the same. She seems more enraged at the world, she shuts herself in her room for hours on end and she may not think people notice, but her magic is growing dark.

Being highly skilled in magic and have met with death myself I am able to see the auras of those around me if I choose. It is how I am able to judge a person.

I have seen Aralia's and her normal red and blue hews are being shrouded in darkness. The loss of her loved ones is taking it toll on her and not being able to locate Shade has made it worse.

She may not admit this to anyone, maybe not even herself, but she is broken. She is like a scared child that will lash out at anyone who dares to get close enough.

I understand more then anyone how that feels, seeing my mother die and village destroyed broke me inside. I see the once young and frightened and angry girl that I was, in her and I knew she was the only one that would be able to save her own humanity.

Shade

Darkness...

There was darkness everywhere.

My arms were wrapped tightly around myself as if they could protect me from the darkness that was my mind.

I couldn't think, it was like I was nothing at all. Sometimes I could see images of things, Belladonna, my dragon.

I felt my body beginning to move. It seemed to be a regular occurrence. I could not see not control anything that I was doing, the monster inside of me served Belladonna and I am bound in my own mind with no free will or thoughts of my own.

The glimpses of images I see I don't even know if they are real or not. Only when powerful emotions are displayed can I really focus on what I'm really seeing.

It was like I was in a constant state of unawareness. I knew exactly what I was doing and what I was meant for, but it never really clued into exactly why I was doing that and what the real outcome was.

My hands started to tremble as I grasped my sword in my hand, the old man that stood before me whimpered and shook begging for his life to be spared.

The will inside of me trembled with the sword, I didn't want to kill this man and I was almost so close to disobeying my orders.

But I knew what had to be done, it had to be done. My sword sliced through his neck cutting off his head. His body slumped over splashing some mud onto my boot. His red blood seeped out onto the muddy ground mixing with the rain.

Red.

It was a colour I was too familiar with, more of those red cracks had been forming on my skin lately releasing more and more magic.

More and more darkness into my mind.

The red and the powerful emotion of killing another person allowed my mind out of it's dark pit, but as I turn from the body all sense of will and all sense of anything human left inside began falling back into the recesses of my dark mind.