Within Darkness

Within Darkness - Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: She saw Alexander, the disgraced Guardian, smiling with the same joy that she’d witnessed in him as a young fiancé.

The clock ticked. Soft murmurs of cloth could be heard as the watchers shifted gently. Mary was still, completely at peace as she summoned the force within herself…

“I can’t do it!” She screamed, sheer frustration layering every word, they seemed to linger afterwards in the sudden silence that had fallen. Mary flicked her hair behind her shoulder as she folded her arms and glared - glared, not pouted - at Kassandra. Kassandra sighed,

“It is a difficult art to master, you just need to focus.” However, even she sounded unsure. Controlling the elements was hard but most students had managed to at least make the fire flicker after 3 hours of intense lectures and practice. Mary straightened and grinned, determination lining her face as she leaned closer to the candle. The others bent towards her and even Dmitri lowered his book. Mary blew the candle out. Raphael slumped. Kassandra sighed again. Dmitri turned back to his book.

“Mary, you can’t-”

“Yes I can. Look, we all know what has happened here. I mean, I can accept the witches and wer- wolves and vampires, alright? But I’m not one of them. I’m completely human and I have no supernatural powers what so ever!” She took a deep breath. “I agreed to try and “harness my power”” She made air quotes around the words, “But it’s obvious that I do not have any power to harness. I have no idea how I didn’t die; maybe it was a fluke! I was just one of the lucky few.”

“You are-”

“No. I’m not.” Mary stated bluntly. “Or if I am I have so little power that it’s practically nothing.” Kassandra raised her hands and hesitated. She looked helplessly at Dmitri. “What exactly did you see me do?” Kassandra frowned. “I’m not kicking a fuss over the fact that you drugged my family, since I don‘t want them harmed by this, and I’ve spent 3 hours trying futilely to control the elements. The least you can do is explain why I can’t just leave.” Dmitri spoke softly, and turned a page.

“Tell her.”

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Kassandra waved farewell to Silvia, satisfaction in her eyes. Silvia was her prize pupil but she had truly made huge leaps that day by accomplishing the tricky ‘Burning Water’ move. She turned and picked up the book she’d being reading from. The book made a dull thud as it hit the ground. Kassandra did not pick it up; she did not even notice it had fallen. Her perception of reality had disappeared as the blue in her eyes faded, leaving them completely white.

Instead of the light filled training room, she now saw a dark, castle at night… with mist swirling… no, the vision changed. She was now inside the fortress watching a great battle taking place. There was no sound but she could imagine them as she watched the great claws and teeth of wolves ripping zombies apart, vampires moved gracefully, bringing true death to those that stood in their way with lightning fast swipes of sword and hand, the witches in the corner, chanting, were no doubt the cause of those zombies that erupted into flame without warning. She saw some that she was close to: there! Raphael was digging a hole into the chest of a corpse; Silvia herself was a part of the circle of witches. Kassandra followed Silvia’s line of sight in time to witness a zombie suffering the ‘Burning Water’ move. She blinked and smiled; Silvia really was very good at it. A sudden flash of light had her turning; she saw Alexander, the disgraced Guardian, smiling with the same joy that she’d witnessed in him as a young fiancé. Now he stood, clothed in black, with ruby red dripping down his face, in front of a throne. He was looking down at the fallen girl at his feet. The girl remained still, blood pooling in an ever spreading puddle around her, as he stepped casually over her. He turned back momentarily to say something to the child, Kassandra could not hear what. She lost sight of him as she focused on Dmitri and herself as they raced up to the steps to the throne.