Page 15 of Taming Darkness

Her Phoenixes are cawing loudly outside. Meanwhile, I can see the clouds threatening us with a fierce storm. The more her magic strengthened, the more she came into her power, the louder the chaos got outside roaring violently.

Kalen looks to the windows, light casting shadows through the room, when we hear a loud crack of thunder. And the power goes out. We are plunged into darkness, and at the same time, we feel Darius' pain carve through our hearts like a knife, splintering our souls into a million tiny facets.

The pain is so intense it makes us all stagger and drop to the ground. I gasp and drop to my knees. “He’s hurt!” Kalen grits out, stating the obvious. Meanwhile, Aleera sucks in a deep sharp breath, yet she isn’t awake, still stuck in that transient state between the waking world and a time already lived.

My eyes snap to her as she stirs. Her back arches off the bed, eyes opening slightly, and her hands claw at the sheets. She is fighting the memories, fighting to get back here, when suddenly the lights flicker brightly, too brightly, and the entire room starts shaking. My heart starts racing as I see the brickwork crack, the glass shatters and the entire castle begins to shake. I think the whole place is about to cave in as Aleera screams.

The moment she does, a shift in energy smashes us, and I feel it surging in my veins when it erupts out of her like a furious volcano. Like a slivering crack in the glass, I feel the seal Darius placed start to ripple, bend, and crack before it explodes along with the light bulbs. The sound is deafening, and I scream too, covering my ears when the seal shatters completely, and the room goes black.

Opening my eyes, I notice the room has changed. It’s cold and dark. My breath leaves smoke clouds in the air, fog fills the room, and goosebumps lace my skin. It is like ice in here; whatever awoke inside her wants out, fire and ice, light and darkness, both combative and just as lethal. Both fight a war inside her as she fights his memories, she could feel him, feel us.

As I rise to my feet, I see Aleera is covered in ice, yet her eyes burn brightly, her veins turn to gold, and she is still stuck. She is stuck in this limbo state she won’t be able to come out of until she explores every piece of him, bonds to the darkest parts of him, she needs to tame the darkness she now possesses.

Lycus moves to touch her, hissing as his fingers graze her skin. They turn black as if frostbitten, and he screams as his magic quickly works to heal him. “How do we wake her?” He looks at me frantically.

“We don’t,” I tell him, gasping for air as Darius’ pain ripples through the bond.

“But Darius,” Kalen chokes, clawing at his throat. I groan, forcing myself to my feet.

“I know.” I rasp. Tossing my fingers out, I open a portal to the city.

“Tobias!” Lycus heaves, finding his feet again.

“I won’t let him die,” I tell them as I stagger toward it, and Lycus growls, grabbing me when I stumble.

“We can’t leave her,” Kalen whimpers.

“Her Phoenixes will watch over her,” I tell him, and he hesitates before looking towards the windows and nodding. “God help them when she wakes up.”

“Let's just hope she does in time,” I tell him, knowing whatever Darius is facing has just absorbed half his power in one blow. He is the strongest out of us, and if he is struggling, we stand no chance. Not without her Phoenixes. Not without our keeper.

“And if she doesn’t?” Lycus asks.

I glance at Aleera. “She’ll forgive us for leaving her,” I whisper, knowing full well that if they kill us, Aleera will make it her mission to make them pay for it. “She is safe here, but Darius needs us. I won’t abandon him, not when everyone else has,” I tell them. Lycus and I step through the portal.

The moment we do, we step into carnage and chaos. We just escape the room to be sealed inside a dome placed over part of the city. “Kalen, wait!” Myself and Lycus shriek, but it is too late as Kalen steps through the portal directly behind us. “Too late,” Lycus tosses his hands up in the air and shakes his head.

Kalen glances around and then up at the sky, and so do I, and I can see the bubble we are in, the translucent-like film wrapping the city. “Now what?” Kalen huffs.

“We find Darius and try not to die,” I tell them, glancing around the empty city street. The flickering of lights between the buildings signals the direction of the fighting. The ferocious storm inside this dome is powered purely by magic, making it all the more threatening. We duck and weave our way through the city, constantly dodging flying debris.

I feel sick at the carnage around me. Dead bodies litter the street, and buildings are half blown apart. Power hunters had ripped through the place, destroying everything that got in their way. Power hunters I know sensed Darius the moment he entered and placed this dome to seal him inside it.

I place my fingers over my infinity mark, searching for Darius' location. I feel his anger and disbelief that we found him. Seconds later, I stop, hearing a growl behind us. Lycus shakes his head, Kalen pivots, and Lycus sighs, almost sounding bored.

“I just got these fucking pants too,” Lycus snarls, turning to face the threat as I do. Kalen pats Lycus’ shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, fuck me!” Lycus groans as I stare down the four gigantic wolves stepping out from between the buildings and rubble. They move closer, teeth-gnashing and growling as they prowl toward us from the end of the street.

They stalk closer as Lycus takes his damn time to remove his pants. I hold out my arm knowing he wasn’t losing these damn shorts, I could feel Darius fighting his way to us now, and he seems to have the upper hand for now.

“I swear if one of you bastards gives me rabies, I will be pissed,” Lycus huffs, passing me his shorts. I fold them, setting them on a broken sign board at my feet. “Oh, get on with it,” Kalen snaps at him.

“By all means feel free to take my place,” Lycus tells him, and I roll my eyes, not a damn serious bone in Lycus' body. It’s always the same shit whenever he used to come on missions with us while trying to find Aleera.

“Not my species, not my boarding kennel,” Kalen says, folding his arms, and I snicker. Lycus turns his head to glare at him, and Kalen shrugs. “What, I can revert the terminology if you want, but monkeys don’t seem appropriate, though the circus part still may be fitting,” he retorts before giving Lycus a nudge forward.

Lycus mutters something, then leisurely starts strolling toward them. “So which one wants to be my bitch?” Lycus growls as they charge at him in full sprint. “Even in the pits they sweep, fuck sake,” I hear him groan as he peers down at the litter on the ground, then he shifts at the last second just as Kalen nudges me, pointing to the sky.

Darius sends a flare into the sky, which hits the shield letting us know his location, fire engulfs the shield, licking and sliding down it showing us exactly how big it is.

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