Midoria's Heart

Midoria's Heart 18 - Darkness Strikes

Now, just as a warning to you all. This is going to be the last chapter for a week or so, because I'm going on vacation (leaving tomorrow night). I could've waited to upload this, but I figured you guys would want it now. So here you go.

Oh, and please please please play the song on the right at the END of the chapter. After the bit about advice (you'll understand when you get there) PLEASE play the song!! It fits so well!

Enjoy guys!!

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Chapter 18 - Darkness Strikes

What is Darkness? Is it simply the absence of that energy which we call Light? Or, is it something more sinister?

Darkness is a twisted void of black nothingness that pulls everything good into its clutches and destroys it. Darkness is not the absence of Light... it is the Darkness that extinguishes the Light.

Of course, without the Light, there can be no Darkness. And, without Darkness there can be no light. For it is the fate of our world to hang in the delicate balance of these mighty powers two. Trapped within a perpetual battle for power, they struggle to hold whatever ground they can over each other in an endless war for dominance...

There will never be a winner of this war.

The casualties of both the forces of good and the forces of evil will mount ever higher as the war between the powers rages on, blind to the despair and chaos that it creates...

~♥~

"They're here."

Jay's statement of warning brought me out of my chilling thoughts. It was hard to imagine good outcomes when one is faced with the dire situation that our group now prepared for. Everywhere I cared to turn my head I was met with blinding Darkness. Shadows - barely visible against the black background of the forest - flashed by us, moving too fast for me to make out what they were. Luckily for me, the stench gave them away...

It was a smell I was not likely to forget anytime soon, and it brought back horrible memories of a night not so long ago... a night filled with terror and pain. Yes, I knew now what it was that we faced with a dreadful sense of certainty: a company of Heian surrounded us, preparing to attack just as we prepared to defend ourselves.

"Princess, have you ever used one of these?" Jay asked me, his voice - though he spoke quietly - sounding loud and seeming to carry in the stillness of the night. He held a sword out to me; it's sharpened and deadly edge gleaming despite the lack of light in our small clearing. I gulped.

"Yes, but only for practice. I don't know how to wield it properly," I replied.

"It'll have to do. Hopefully you won't need to use it, but I don't know how many of them there are. Here, put these in your ears," he added, handing me two small wads, "It will help to protect you from their paralyzing shriek." I nodded and stuffed them into my ears, noting how I could still hear just as well as before. Oh, the uses of magic.

Jay turned and handed another pair to Lisimi, who was readying her bow and making sure her quiver was filled with arrows. Daniel already had his in; he looked calm and in control, completely ready for battle. He had a wide array of weapons on him: two swords, a hatchet tucked into his belt, several knives and a bow strung across his back. Jay was similarly prepared.

Suddenly the Heian stopped moving around us. They stood still, appearing to wait for some kind of command. Everything around us was still; there was no breeze to stir the long grass or the leaves in the trees. The clouds high up in the sky still covered the moon, casting a shadow of Darkness on us all. I took a deep breath and held it, sending up silent prayers to the Gods above that they would lend us their courage and strength so that we might live through the night. For the briefest of moments, there was absolute silence in the clearing as the whole world appeared to hold its breath.