The Light (On Hold...sorry! :( )

The Light- Prologue

In a fleeting moment of determination Äiti grabbed the tuar and carefully tucked it away in her bag of cleaning supplies. She swiftly left the room, silently thankful that Mörker was away today. She went straight to the kitchen and found her husband. 

“I think it is time we returned home for today.” Äiti said quietly to her beloved. Vaprus inclined his head to one side slightly, silently questioning his wife for the reason why. Äiti need only place a hand on her belly for him to understand. 

They walked out of the castle without trouble. They had after all completed today’s assigned works. Äiti thought about what the prophecy had said. Her daughter was to be born on the anniversary of the City of Ballaí, the capital of Asaran. The city where Äiti and Vaprus lived together and had planned raise their family. Äiti realized this would not be possible. She had stolen the tuar and Mörker would be after them as soon as he realized who and why the tuar was stolen.

On their walk home, Äiti quietly explained toVaprus what she had seen and read. 

“You carry The Light? My beautiful wife is carrying the legendary Light?” Vaprus exclaimed in amazement.

“Quiet love! Someone will hear you.” Äiti whispered sternly while glancing around at the few people who populated the cobbled street. 

The couple returned home and quietly went about their day. They knew that tomorrow was when their daughter would arrive at the latest. In fact it was that evening when the soon-to-be mother’s water broke and the contractions started. Vaprus quickly called a midwife.

Perhaps it was only coincidence but the baby was born just as the sun peeked over the horizon, streaming into the bedroom with warmth. 

Äiti looked down at her beautiful baby’s blue eyes. Moments after the baby had been born, Vaprus had dismissed the midwife to make sure she did not see the baby’s eyes. 

“What do we name her? Knowing who she will be, what she will do...a simple name certainly doesn’t seem suiting.” Vaprus said as he sat down on the bed beside Äiti and his tiny daughter.

“We shall name her Lys. It is who she is after all.” Äiti said quietly looking into her daughter’s eyes. They were such a deep, reflecting blue it seemed almost unnatural. Though it was true, there was nothing normal about this child.

“Do you realize we cannot stay? We will have to run. To keep her safe from Mörker.” Vaprus said sadly. He loved his city of Ballaí. Nothing would make him leave except the safety of his family.

Äiti nodded, still never looking away from her daughter. Finally she tore her eyes away from her babe and looked at her husband. 

“Let us begin packing.” She said.

“No, you rest in bed my love. I shall take care of it.” Vaprus said while planting a small kiss on his wife’s lips.

Vaprus went around the house, packing a bag for he and his wife and a separate bag according to the instructions of Äiti. Vaprus placed the tuar in infant Lys’s bag.

It was late afternoon when the family exited their little cottage for what would be the last time. To someone walking by, it would appear the threesome were off for a picnic outing.

On the way toward the exit of the city, Äiti and Vaprus stopped by their friend’s home. Frois and Duret had been friends with Äiti and Vaprus since late childhood. They had met and married because of Äiti and Vaprus.

When Äiti and Vaprus stopped and announced to their closest friends that they were leaving Ballaí to save their daughter, Frois and Duret protested. They spent over an hour arguing.

Little did they know during this time that Mörker had returned home to the castle early to refer to the tuar for a spell. He was shocked to find that the book was no longer there and quickly grew angry. He sent guards out to search the city after performing a locating spell, telling Mörker where the person who had stolen the tuar was, but not the actual tuar as it was so magically powerful.

Back at Duret and Frois’s cottage, Vaprus and Äiti were preparing to leave. Their friends had given up arguing with them as they could see their decision could not be changed.

Äiti sighed and stood up, about to reach for baby Lys when she sensed guards rushing towards the house. Äiti instantly understood what was happening and quickly set into action. She grabbed Lys’s bag and hid it under the stairs. This was why she had packed a separate bag. In case they were separated or captured. 

“Do not exit Vaprus! There are guards surrounding the house! They have come for us!” Äiti informed her husband. She then turned to her friends.

“Froid, Duret. I want you to take care of Lys like she is your own daughter in case we do not return. Hope and pray that Mörker will have pity, but do not count on it.” She told her friends as they stood shocked in one place. After kissing each on the cheek she gave her daughter a final hug. 

Vaprus grabbed their bag and took his beautiful wife’s hand. They shared one last kiss before Vaprus opened the door and walked out with Äiti protected behind him. Immediately they were surround by guards and thrown into large brown body bags before being dragged to the castle. 

The next thing Äiti was aware of was being pulled out of the body bag and placed into a kneeling position before Mörker’s throne. Several hours must have passed because it was night time outside the windows above the throne. Äiti looked over to her right to find in her horror the body of her husband. He was pale and pasty and was looking blankly into nowhere. 

“No!” Äiti screamed and she crawled over to the cold body of her soul mate. She pulled his head into her lap and let a few tears fall. On his clothes was dried blood, everywhere. Äiti heard the guards muttering how Vaprus had struggled and fought so much on the journey back to the castle that they had had to kill him so he would stop.

“Doesn’t matter anyway, Master only wanted to see the mother.” One guard whispered behind her.

That is when Mörker entered the room. The air turned chilly and Äiti could see her breath. Mörker did not even spare her a glance before he flicked his fingers and the guards moved her back into kneeling position before dragging off Vaprus’s body to be thrown to the fish. 

Mörker got straight down to business. 

“Yesterday afternoon, you discovered and stole the tuar from my personal library. How you were able to discover it confuses me as it was protected by several enchantments, but that is not the point. It also seems that you were pregnant yesterday with the fabled Light. Where is the child?”

“I killed her, Master. I snapped her neck and threw her body in the river.I do not anyone challenging the power of my Master.” Äiti lied smoothly to Mörker with a blank expression, revealing no emotion. Servants to the Master were supposed to be loyal, even if it meant killing your own child. She hoped that he would buy her story and let her free. Mörker frowned down at the woman before him. He didn’t know what to believe. Wouldn’t a mother lie for her child? However none of his guards had found the child. 

Äiti watched Mörker’s expression change from uncertainty to determination from where she was still kneeling before his throne. She knew he had decided her fate. A small smile appeared on her lips. She knew she had done all she could for her daughter and that Mörker was now reacting out of frustration. 

“I don’t believe you.” Mörker spat at Äiti, though she could see in his eyes that he did believe her. Mörker was very good at lying, but Äiti was even better. She knew he lied to her, that he believed every word. He wanted to believe that The Light was dead. 

Äiti knew the sword was coming before she saw it and so she gave Mörker a final smile and silently called to her daughter in her mind.

I love you Lys. I believe in you. Know there was no other way. I die for you knowing you will revenge my death by vanquishing him. Goodbye my dear. 

In a cottage on the other side of Ballaí Lys held a tiny palm against her heart as she heard the message her mother sent her.

Mörker plunged the sword into Äiti’s heart.