The Light Meets the Dark

Chapter 11 - Don't Stop the Madness

When Keara and Raxxon returned, they were greeted by many excited Darkthings. "Mission accomplished?" Asked Zagor eagerly.

"Yes, " Keara answered. "Where is Lord Deorc? "

"Lord Deorc left not long after you did, taking Gorkel and Norkel with him. Didn't say why, but he put me in charge until you arrived. "

"He must be working on that 'slight change of plans' he mentioned," Keara said.

"Well, what should we do, Commander?" Raxxon asked.She blinked, momentarily unsure of herself. This was the first time she had actually been in charge, with more than a couple people looking to her for direction. But she would have to get used to that quickly. "Well, I guess we'll just wait. I'm sure it won't be much longer."However, quite a while passed, and none of the absent trio appeared. Most of the Darkthings wandered off to do other things, while Keara and Raxxon continued to stand at the entrance in anticipation.

Finally, a cry was heard. "Open the door, quick!" It was Norkel, and she sounded rather panicked.

Raxxon yanked the lever to open the door. The twins stumbled in, breathless, carrying a limp Deorc. "We came as fast as we could," Gorkel panted.

"What? What happened? What did you do?" Raxxon stormed.

They laid Deorc on the stone floor. "We don't know! We didn't do anything! That Allie girl and her friend were fighting us, and then something blew up, and next thing we knew, Master was like this!"

"And he hasn't moved since we picked him up!" Added Norkel."Okay, calm down," Keara said. "Now, you mentioned an explosion? What exploded?""Well, ma'am, it wasn't exactly an explosion, or at least not what you usually think of as one... The Allie girl has light powers, y'see-""I know, Norkel.""And her friend's got lightning, so they used their powers at the same time, and they somehow combined and there was this bright light, but it seemed like it was really powerful, and it hit Master... " The Darkthing girl started to choke up."Norkel, control yourself," Raxxon scolded."Hey, my sister's got a reason to cry!" Gorkel cut in. "You would too, if you had any feelings! As she said, ma'am, the light explosion, or whatever it was, hit Master and he fell to the ground. We ran to help him but he wouldn't get up, so we carried him-""They let you go?""Yeah, guess so.""Why were they even there?" Keara interrupted.Norkel picked the story back up. "I don't know, ma'am, but Deorc thought they would go there, so he pretended to be you so he could-"

They were interrupted by a groan. Deorc had at last awoken. Everyone gasped, and Keara dropped down beside him. "Master?"

He breathed heavily before responding, "Keara? Ah, did you do it then? Wait, where am I?""You're back at the lair. You were knocked out-""Ah, I remember. They managed to blow me away, quite literally, in fact, heh heh." A half smile creeped across his weary face."Well at least his sense of humor wasn't damaged," Raxxon muttered."Anyway, I don't know what happened exactly, but it wasn't good... I don't think I'll be here much longer.""What?!" Keara gasped. Raxxon's eyes widened."I'm not as young as I used to be, kid, I don't handle these things as well. Of course that... Energy... They created was enough to give anyone heart problems. But what's important right now... Did you do it?""Yes... Yes, Master, it is done." Keara fought back her shock to speak."Good, good. Funny, I get to did right after he does. Now... Will you continue what I've started?"" I... Don't know if I can. ""Of course you can! This is exactly what I chose you for. Not that I planned on me dying this soon, but this is your chance to take control! Be the master you were meant to be.""Yes, yes, I see... I will. I'll see to it that you had your vengeance, my lord.""Good... Good..." Deorc's smile faced into a cough as his life drained from him. A few moments later, he was gone."No..." Keara whispered. Norkel began crying, sobbing into her brother's shoulder.

In away almost moved by this display of emotions, Raxxon spoke up, in a more gentle tone than normal. "Well, I'll let you all shed your tears. Don't worry, I will take care of our Master." He picked up the body and walked out of the room.

When he had left, Gorkel, still holding his crying sister with tears in his own eyes, looked at Keara. "... It's okay if you want to cry, ma'am, we won't judge."

She was a little surprised by his statement, but simply shrugged slightly. "I've never really been one to cry. I'm sorry... For your loss. I know he must have meant a lot to you.""Thank you," Norkel looked up."Now, what you two need is some rest. That was quite the feat, carrying him back in such a short time." She smiled a little at them."Thank you ma'am, we will." They hugged her her before heading deeper into the lair.

Keara didn't care much for hugs, but she let them be. But it made her remember the last person who hugged her... The same girl who had just accidentally killed her Master.

Allie...