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Droplets slipped from the stalactite. Deliberately splashing in the depths of the puddles, a rhythmic echo course through the cave. With its sound bouncing on rigid surfaces, nothing else arises to disturb such melody. Though the cave’s hollow holds beings within, Ellis kept both arms steady on his hilt, his broadsword being pressured by a thick, single edge dagger. Against the damp wall, the dagger corned his throat by mere centimeters. His bright, hazel eyes watched the weapon carefully before following it to a delicate arm.
Shifting his sight toward her elbow against his ear, her dark, fabric sleeve tickling his jaw. He then traces to the frame of the body. Only a head shorter than him, but her heels boost her to his nose. Jet black bangs slid to the side of her forehead, hair held in a tight bun, it revealed her slim face and sunken cheekbones. A slender body covered by a dark gown, warm ivory skin much lighter than his, and pitch-back eyes narrowing at him. That tranquility gaze watched him since they’d been there. Twisting Ellis’s nerves, poking at his anxiousness, he only hoped it would end soon.
“Ellis,” her voice alluring his name, her monotone took the luxury in pronouncing it. “I promise.”
Her voice felt outspoken in the absence of others. It didn’t stretch in the settings around them, neither did it reach anyone’s ears. Except for his and rattled Ellis uncomfortably. He slowly raises his brow from her sudden claim, but the dagger crept closer. Ellis carefully readjusts his hilt, letting the blade lean against her blade.
“I promise,” she repeats, “And I intend to keep that promise.”
She’s claiming insanity now.
The fact he couldn’t let his voice rumble in disbelief makes it harder for Ellis to release such emotions. He must be quiet. She must be quiet. They both need to know if they could leave the cave untouched. He convinced himself it was fate that he found her again. It was fate that he also found one of Lars’s spawns, it was fate the spawn attacked both of them, it was fate both took refuge in the cave, it was fate the spawn followed them, and it was fate she confronted him. Now, he wonders, if fate had better plans for him because, from what he recalled, she hadn't done anything deserving of claiming such things.
He motions to their blades crossing, “This is protecting me?”
“It kept you quiet.”
“It kept me pinned enough to doubt your word.”
She carelessly leaned her head to the side. Focusing on anything besides the ripples that are cited around them. Not a footstep disturb their moment and not the wind blew in their direction. To Ellis, it’s too quiet, even if they could rack up quite a commission, it felt too peaceful for anything to occur. His neck prickles, he leaned as well narrowing out the sounds too.
“I can’t see if you are in the way,” she whispers, her irritation flowing to his ear. He only shivers from how close they were.
Amaris, Conquer of Shadows that dwells in others' silhouettes, has been a task for Ellis. He has been chosen and trained to defeat the 7 rulers of Crepuscule. A journey to be constantly reminded of his goal. He needed to eliminate the rulers to prevent the lasting Lunar Eclipse, a state of eternal darkness for many years to come. And will last for centuries to generation after generation.
It has put far-out countries in panic and taking action was their top priority. So they seek out light to banish the darkness. They’ve chosen him to lead the sun to a better day. And as far as Ellis has gone, he only took care of 3 out of the 7 rulers. The first he convinced to trade side of the 7, while the other two took their lives in their moral dilemma. He has successfully eliminated 3 out of the 7 without a single drop of blood smeared on his hands.
Ellis chased after the 4th one. Mostly conflicted on where he should go from there. If he should still go after the 7 or decide to go home and try to improvise for another solution, but, at last , he ended up seeking the Speaker. She slipped from him somehow, but after he discovered her residence, it wasn’t too hard to track her down.
A castle rising from the forest's darkness, poke the sky of its exterior. Murky glass windows and rusting rooftops, it felt abandoned but occupied by the Speaker. Ellis finding the castle felt like mercy after months of seeking. If only he had known they’d been chased by a bigger problem.
Her fingertip shoved his head to the side, “I said I couldn’t see.”
“I heard you for the first time,“ he griped, swatting her finger. “I was just ignoring you.”
A cold reminder bit his skin. The dagger urged him to leave a scar on him, but the pressure felt weightless. He could probably say it felt like a cold rag soothing his skin instead. His eyes focus on her again, seeing her analyze their surroundings. The dim lighting from the pools of water made it bearable to see, enough to catch something roaming.
“Is the coast clear?” He whispers.
“Something is wrong,” she said dully. He thought she was talking to him, but it seemed she was speaking freely to herself.
His arms were aching. The position they were in was enough to claim his insanity, but he couldn’t let go of his grip. He peers to his feet, unharmed and like his legs and free. His body stiffened from the contact, but it gave him an idea.
He let his left leg consciously slide behind him. Finding a footing to lean back a little more, a sudden shift with Amaris and him. Her chest against his. Altered, her eyes frantically searching what he was doing, but he bares an innocent smile. Focusing on his right foot to inch further from her limb against his.
“Amaris,” Ellis beguiled her name, saying it with such care that it indicated something more between them. “Do you like the dawn?”
Her brows narrow before his knee launches to her chin. It barely hits her when she dodges, but he uses that distraction to propel his foot. Knockback from impact, she stumbles for air. Giving him time to untwist his arms with a single motion. The broadsword aims for her neck only to clash with the dagger. And the sound that came from it flowed throughout the cave. Like a battle cry breaking the silence, it became too clear to know where it came from. And that sound only became threatening when it bounced back to them.
Then, heavy, rampant footsteps came afterward.
Ellis stares from where it came, seeing darkness beyond describing what was there. Amaris did the same, but she guided the sword away from her body.
“Look what you’ve done.”
He groans, “It doesn’t matter we were looking for it anyway. “
“I,” She indicated to the single letter like it had much importance. “Was looking for it. You did nothing since we got into this mess.”
“I’m sorry for being useless for being pinned the entire time!”
The steps picked up their pace.
“Scream at your heart’s content, then.”
He scratches his head in annoyance, but he dismisses the comment in mind. With his free hand a cylinder forms. Bright light formed into a ball, Ellis hovered it over his palm. Amaris glared at the object he obtained, her dark eyes sparkling in fascination. He let it glide to her, but she backed away defensively. Her new fascination turns into fear, glaring at Ellis as if he betrayed her trust.
“Relax,” He assures her.“Play with it if you like.”
She only backed away more. But he paid no mind to her scared nature, rather he looked where the sound was coming from. He created 7 more, letting them swirl around him before chucking one toward the rampant noise. Whipping through the air, the ball went far enough to see the light diminish in the darkness. Ellis stepped away with a safe distance, Amaris did the same but went a little farther.
A bright flash detonated and soon enough a blood-curdling cry followed suit. Ellis tried to distinguish the creature, only catching a massive, four-legged organism vanishing from sight. Then, the heavy footsteps were no more. Silence embraced the two, while both stayed where they were listening more closely.
“It shouldn’t have died that easily,” Amaris expressed, now beside Ellis. “Your light…isn’t enough to kill it.”
“For once, I agree with you,” he concentrated in the dark. The dim light they had before was slowly disappearing. Only Ellis's light kept them company.
Well, one of them, Amaris, let the darkness consume her. Her dress shifted into the torso reaching her toes, tightly fitted her bottom half. While she kept the sleeves, cloth slither to her face and hid her nose below. Her eyes gazed at him when her ‘transformation’ finished, but he decided to avoid asking anything else.
Water dripped from such a height, it wasn’t hard to focus on its tempo. Ellis kept count to unwind his nerves, to relax when time flowed without effort. Until the chant has stopped.
Ellis threw a sphere above. Levitating in the air, the soft light illuminated the area like a bright lamplight. And that’s when they saw it. Fur coated a four-legged beast, spots covering its body as it bent irrationally across the stalactites. Its long tail is entangled and huge claws hold itself from falling. Big, brown bitty eyes straining against the light.
Lar’s spawns were strange manifestations of many animals. It was hard to predict what it would do or its instinct. But the fact a big feline could sneak past them and crawl on the ceiling of a cave without exposing its location is incredible on its own. Incredible enough to kill the two unlikely allies.
The beast pounced and both of them scattered to opposite sides. Its landing put shock waves to the earth as it created its crater. Amaris took the defensive while Ellis reclaimed the sphere he threw earlier, to charge forward. He let the spree roll under the beast releasing another flash before Ellis swung to its side. It shrieks, either from being blinded or how the blade pierces the fur, but the trail veered to Ellis defensively, only for him to swiftly use the broadsword to block.
He held his ground against the weight, the tail enclosed on the blade before yanking it with him. His feet lifted off the floor before he let go of the hilt and dunk to the floor. Crouching to a safe landing, claws reached for his face. But a sudden pull flew his body backward. Tumbling to another wall that his head hit against the hard surface.
“You should’ve waited,” Amaris scolded, holding onto a dark sheet. “Throw those things again.”
Ellis threw 2 other spheres, flashing at the beast as it backed away from the shock. Clawing at its surroundings, protecting its chances from getting attacked again. A fabric substance knitted in swirl patterns was wrapped around Amaris' skin. The sheet she pulled led to Ellis' shadow as his legs became numb. She pulls again, stringing him in the opposite direction. Dragging his body away from the scene.
Far enough to hear the creatures whaling simmer out in the cave. With a good distance between them and that thing, Amaris yanked the sheet to the side. The sheet in her hand zipped back to his shadow, forming a dark clone. Ellis took the time to feel his limbs throb.
His attention snapped to her, “Why did you drag me away?”
“I said I was going to protect you,” she peeked around to see any visible movement, “And I meant it. Also, if you continued swinging without a clear plan, you would’ve got both of us killed.”
“Not every battle needs a plan. At least with this thing, we need to try everything before deciding what to do.”
“Oh,” her eyebrows slightly raised. “You did try and nearly got your face mauled.”
“At least I wasn’t sitting in the back waiting.”
She chuckled, “You make it sound as if I should’ve helped you.”
“You said you wanted to protect me?” He said in disbelief, or rather much confusion stretched on his face.
“Right, not to execute whatever you had in mind. I’m not willing to save a headless corpse charging into a battlefield, I’m willing to watch a hero anticipate the enemy.”
She gagged at the word ‘hero’ but Ellis was convinced enough she would’ve let out all her bodily fluids right then and there. He squinted at her, not catching her dirt drift whatever she said. When she looked back at him, seeing how he couldn’t understand what she was getting at, she sat down.
“When I said I’ll protect you, I meant from afar. I won’t disclose anything with you, but the best chance I have with anything is holding that thing long enough for you to kill it.”
Ellis thought back to the sheet she had in her hand, it was his shadow. From the documents he obtained of the 7 of Crepuscule, Amaris has always been peculiar. She disappears and reappears behind other backs, wraps herself in negative spaces of homes, and transforms silhouettes into her designs. She seemed completely harmless before, for begging the keeper of shadows, he thought to deal with her last compared to the other 6. But after what had happened with the creature, he could see its merits. Controlling one’s body by its mere darkness is a frightening thought. It’s probably worse if the host is suddenly unconscious, he must be conscious around her.
Being unconscious around her…
His skin boils from the thought before mentally slapping himself. Just from earlier, he already felt eccentric with her. But it wasn’t the time to explore the idea, even if he was able to convince her as I did with the first ruler. Instead of wondering what she meant, he went for a different question, “Why do you want to protect me?”
Astonished, she let her features shift back to a calm demeanor.
“So we can survive.”
“And after we survive?”
Her eyes felt distant, “Then we are enemies. Either, I’ll get caught like a mouse under a cat’s eyes, or escape to a new day.”
Ellis crosses his arms, “What if I don’t want to be your enemy?”
“Then I’ll ask this: what happened to the first Crepuscules you’ve met.”
Not skipping a beat, “I do nothing to them.”
Not a sound came between the two, the orbs gently whirling around. Ellis could only describe Amaris’s face as….some kind of content. Probably understanding, even though Ellis couldn’t figure out if he felt shame or some sort of comfort. Even if he fulfilled some destiny, the guilt he held from eliminating the Crepuscules won’t vanish. He let one of them survive, knowing they've changed. But the other two he drove them to death’s door without purpose. Now, he is here with the fourth one he thought he could try to convince like the first. Instead of quitting, he changed his plans. Want to at least to know more than what he was led onto. Because clearly from the past 4 rulers he met they were all…strange. And Amaris was no exception.
Even when he holds little faith in her in the beginning, she’s all he got for now.
“Alright,” she sighs, interrupting him from his thoughts. “I have a plan. But this plan will only work if you will follow.”
He nodded. And she explained an idea that’ll soon become an action executed from both of them.
"Ashes!” Amaris' voice carried throughout the cave. “Ashes! Ashes!”
Ellis will question her word choice later, as the earth rumbles below him. He watched closely behind, grabbing one of the orbs he scattered through the cave. It was hard to see either the Crepuscule or the beast, but he could hear them from either side of him. The footsteps were becoming more apparent and Ellis could see the shape of the thing approaching. His palms got sweaty, but he waited. Eyes straining from the dark, his sense dulling with every thump he could feel under him. Seeing the spotted beast was like discovering a critter on the nape of his neck, it only took one a flick of a finger to get rid of it, and Ellis threw the orb.
The light combusted on impact as the beast backed away from the bright light. Ellis dashed to the next station, throwing another to blind the predator. It soon followed Ellis, but he threw another to distract it. Quickly hid behind a rock, looking to see the creature clawing at the air.
He then spotted Amaris, her steps with such speed and fluidity that they were absent of noise. But the creature noticed her. Ellis rose from where he was in an attempt to warn her, but instead, she dodge the beast. Sliding under its belly and disappearing in its shadow. He then sat back down in embarrassment, observing the beast's visible confusion when it frantically looked around.
“Don’t move till I capture its shadow.”
“How long will that take?”
“As long as I can get it.”
The beast then focused on the last place Ellis was, but he was already at the next position with a different orb he possessed. His eyes focus on the beast’s shadow, trying to see if it transforms into a strange shape. But even from the relatively low light, its shadow stayed like a replica of its predecessor. Doubt Crept in him. He knew he shouldn’t be impatient, but when time stretched longer than he had anticipated, he wondered what was going on.
A small glimmer glinted in his eyes. Past the beast, it caught his attention. Wrap in the beast’s tail was his broadsword. He only raised an eyebrow from seeing the beast carrying it around, until he focused on the blade. Blood staining his weapon, the sword is stuck into the fur. It ends up sticking through the skin.
Grabbing it wouldn’t be an easy task for Ellis, and even if he gets it he’ll be far from where he is supposed to be. He rationalizes the risk, willing to at least try to obtain something to kill the creature. Ellis looks down at the orb he held. The last one he has and the one he’ll use for Amaris to safely come back. The rest has done its job, he only needs to wait for her to arrive. But for how long?
His eyes trail back to the sword, a much more tempting idea to do instead. Then, he bagged the orb and snuck where he came from. Ellis was able to get close enough to the back of the creature. Its tail trembling from the blade, he took a slow step forward. Crouching low enough not to be heard, he remembered how gentle, but how precise Amaris came and halted. She was also noticed at the time.
His judgment couldn’t be swayed enough to back away, so he instead took a bigger risk. Ellis’s steps quickened before he reached his sword, but the beast was already altered. He leaped for the hilt and hung on to it, while the creature swung its tail in all directions for him to let go. But his grip tightened. Tight enough for Ellis to rotate the blade in freeing it from its grasp. Landing to the floor with a sword in hand and a chunk of its tail right beside him.
The creature’s whale pierces Ellis’s ears, rumbling the area of its foundation. It thrashed around blindingly, hitting anything around it to cause damage. But, its big brown eyes landed on him, with its tail right beside. He kept his ground, sword in front of him and eyes determined. Nothing else could bother him when he looked the creature straight in the eye. The creature catapulted to him, mouth wide and claws bare, things felt slower to Ellis. Even if he can’t make it, or he couldn’t have slain the thing, he at least chipped it down. He at least gave Amaris time. He at least attempted to achieve something. He, at least, tried.
He swung, but nothing came afterward. Only his blade cracks the ground and the action sends him thrills up his arms. Feeling pressure above him, but it didn’t lay any on his body. His eyes slowly look up, seeing the beast in midair. Blinking a couple of times, he saw its shadow trailing to Amaris, struggling to keep the sheet in her hand.
“What are you doing?” She gritted out. “Kill it!”
Without much thought, his body did as a command. The sword spun around with such speed and pressure, it sliced right through the neck. And let the head fumble to the ground. He backs away before Amaris lets go of the sheet, the shadow coming back to the corpse, and the body lifelessly on the ground. Both stared at the beast, Ellis decided to pick up its head. The blood soaking his clothes, he headed out into the open. Amaris f is lowing not so close behind.
When they arrive on wet grass and nightly breeze, the sun peaks above the horizon. Through the tree old oak and beckoning the flowers to bloom. It didn’t take Ellis much convincing when he dug on a dirt patch. Pulling grass, then dirt, then creating a hole big enough for the head. Ellis felt Amaris behind him, probably watching him struggle with his fingernails. He didn’t mind, he only had one thing he wished to do. Finished, he stared at the head one last time before pushing it in the hole. Letting the dirt pile up into a small makeshift hill.
The sun’s beams welcome him. Its warm presence made Ellis release much stress. His shoulders slump with his pants wet from the dew surface. It didn’t feel like hours they were in there, but he realized it as soon as fatigued and hunger invaded his body. But he just sat there and watched the sunrise.
“So,” he prompts, not looking back at her. “Will you see the next day?”
“We haven’t survived yet.”
This time he looked up at her, “But we did?”
“No, we did not. We only killed one thing that has threatened us for a short period. We haven’t gotten to the thing that can produce more.”
She shifted back into her dress, Ellis becoming more bewildered, “You were implying that we killed Lars?”
“If you are willing to follow.”
Ellis did intend to deal with Lars too. But with Crepuscule a looming objective, it’ll be hard to keep both in check, but what Amaris had said is true. As long as Lars is around, more creatures like the one they’ve fought willow in numbers. If they don’t destroy the source, who knows what else is lurking in the shadows. Besides the Speaker.
“I promised to protect you,” she reclaims, her dark eyes focusing on him. “And I meant it. If I help you with Lars, then you must promise to let me live. I’ll even leave the Crepuscule.”
“Are you the others behind? Is Lars that much of a threat that you are willing to turn your back on them?”
“Yes.”
His belief is wavering. Everything she had done in the cave has swayed him. But how she easily let go of Crepuscule, made him suspect that there might be a dark future for him. He admits that he struggled with killing the creature, and his past accomplices were easily given to him. And even if he did it with his bare hands, what he learned would make him feel like dirt on the bottom of someone’s boot. Ellis wasn’t fit for the role but was willing to do it, because that’s all he felt he was good at.
Putting a pause on his pursuit for the Crepuscules and then to defeat Lars, what will happen? Will the Crepuscule drench the world in darkness with only 3 of them? If he decided to take care of them instead, will Lars’s creations drench the world in human blood instead?
He looks at the grave he created and then shifts to Amaris waiting patiently.
In the end, he stood up. “Alright.”
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Author's Note:
Ah yes. The beginning. Hope you enjoyed this because it only goes downhill from here folks.🚶🏾♀️✨