Age of Darkness

Chapter 10: Is It Getting Dark, Or Is It Just Me?...

Like I said, that night was great! We talked and sung and told stories and laughed. I knew Zelda was a friend. We stayed up until... well... it was almost dawn... I found out that Zelda was going to take us to the village of Catlyspo, the home of the Oracle, a man who can predict the future. We packed up and set out. We had made it out of the forest and into a plains-like area. This was an adventure, and I loved it. I'd never been to many of these places.

We walked till it was about midday. Then we decided to have lunch. Yes, lunch! Zelda had a large quantity of food, which was great. We had a great lunch of meat, bread, juice, and a treat: Chocolate! It was a very rare thing where I came from. Usually, only people living in the Great City, Zaria, had such a treat. After eating, we cleaned our mess.

''Zelda, can Elizabeth and I go walk off what we ate. That meal was splendid!'' I asked.

''Of course! And thank-you! But don't wander too far... You don't know what you'll find in these parts.''

I nodded and Elizabeth and I left. We wandered around the area. It was grassland, and not beautiful, but a new sight for me.

''Did you enjoy last night?'' I asked Elizabeth.

''Indeed! Seeing Zelda brings back memories...'' I assumed she was speaking of her village's destruction.

''So, she defeated a Shadow?'' I asked. Elizabeth nodded. Shadows were terrible creatures, made of black fire, and with only one purpose: to destroy. It was said they came from the Dark Realm itself.

''I wonder how one managed to escape the Dark Realm...'' Said Elizabeth. Suddenly, we heard a noise, coming from the direction we were heading. We ran toward the noise. It was a terrible sound, like screams, and sandpaper. Then we saw what the sound was, and my heart stopped. I looked to Elizabeth, and her eyes were wide with fear.

''It's... a... a...''

''A Shadow...'' I said. It was truly made of black flame, with orange flames forming a mouth and eyes. It was huge, bigger than a large house, and being in its presence filled you with fear and hopelessness. Elizabeth was in shock, and looked like she wanted to scream, but couldn't. Unluckily, the Shadow saw us, and started heading toward us. Being brave little heroes, we screamed and ran.

''Oh Goddess... What do we do, Elizabeth?!'' I asked.

''I don't know!'' It began to catch up with us. I turned to it and drew my sword. Hitting it would do no good. I charged at it, swung my sword at it, and rolled out of it's way. I swung again. My sword went right through it, doing absolutely nothing! Then I ran again.

''Well, that didn't work...'' I told Elizabeth.

''I don't know what to do... We're too far away from Zelda...'' Then I had an idea.

''Zelda defeated it with magic, right?'' I asked.

''Well, yeah...''

I ran back at it.

''Are you crazy?!'' Screamed Elizabeth.

''A little!'' I replied. I threw all the power I had at the Shadow. The magic hit it in the face... did it have a face?... And it screamed... Can it scream?... I managed to push it back. I gave it my everything, but it didn't seem to kill it, just slow it down, weaken it perhaps. I was beginning to tire out. You see, someone who uses magic must have a power source. There's three power sources. The power of the world, which is what most, and I use. The power of the Divine Light, power given by the Goddess herself, very rare. And, of course, your life power, which is what I was about to use. Tampering with your life power is dangerous, and if you overload it, you'll burn up. That's it, you're dead.

I felt my power leaving me. I was getting hot. My clothes were starting to smoke. I had to stop. I gave the Shadow one last shot, then ran, following Elizabeth. We ran, but the Shadow got closer, and closer. Then I saw something that's surprised me. There was a flash of white light. I heard a voice scream.

''By the power of the Goddess, I command you to return from whence you came!'' A woman flew through the air and blasted the Shadow with white magic. The magic tore right through it and the darkness of the shadow dissipated, until it was gone altogether. The woman landed on the ground. It was Zelda! She'd saved us!

''How?...'' I began to say.

''I heard a commotion, and I figured that you two had gotten in some trouble...''

''How'd you stop it?''

''The Power of the Divine Light. I guess you attacked it? Thank-you, by the way. You weakened it enough, so that I was able to banish it back to... to where it belongs.''

''How'd it get here? I've never seen a Sha-...''

''Silence! Do not speak its name! It must have been you that summoned it. Do not speak of such things while the Sun is not at its brightest. Especially not in dark times such a these. It could have released him...'' I wanted to ask who ''he'' was, but decided against it.

''Now,'' spoke Zelda. ''We must get away from here as soon as possible. We have attracted too much attention to ourselves. Goddess knows what'll happen now...''

We ran as far away from the place as possible. In fact, we ran until dusk, and we made it to some tree cover.

''We can camp here for the night. Tomorrow I will have a lesson for you two.'' She smiled. I guessed it wouldn't be good. We set up camp, and then I did what every good hero does after a good fight and good run. I passed out.

Hello, friends! So, now you know Zelda. What did you think of the Shadow? And how long do you think Zelda will stay with the duo? And what will these lessons be? Good day, sir! Or ma'am...