The Warlock's Shadow

The Warlock

Lisa avoided me for about a week. Even in our mutual classes we didn’t speak to each other. I felt guilty and began to wonder if I had burned that bridge. She still talked to Sasha a bit during the week and in turn Sasha would relay me some information as to what was happening. I asked Sasha if they could give Lisa my apology only to be met with the reply of, “she neither accepted nor denied your apology”. After a while she started to hang around me again and slowly started talking to me as well. We all sat on the cold ground outside of the school waiting for classes to start.

“I accept,” she said after the week.

“Um, accept what?” I asked.

“Your apology obviously,” she said in her usual apathetic tone. A weight was lifted from my shoulders.

“Thank you,” I replied softly.

“Yay,” Sasha cheered. “The gang’s back together,” We both laughed at their ridiculousness and all seemed well again.

Later that day, Mr. Roland had announced a watch party at the school for the Celestial Shadow event coming up. A huge poster was put up near the gym depicting an ostentatious artistic rendering of the eclipse event. On it, in a corner was displayed “Save the Date,” He calculated that the event would be three months from now which was of course displayed on the poster.

For a while it was all anyone could talk about. I couldn’t blame them. It was the first Celestial Shadow in about a hundred years. There wasn’t anyone alive now that remembers seeing it. Well, Sasha mentioned that there were probably a couple fae that were around that still talked to people that might have seen it. And maybe some elves. Elves did live a lot longer than humans so, I guess it was possible a few people had seen the last one.

During the past week while Lisa and I made up, as the eclipse event creeped ever closer, I noticed the amulet was acting strangely. Well, more strange than usual. Rather than its normal greenish glow, it started to emit a violet glow. I started keeping it in my pocket as it was getting too bright and honestly kind of annoying. Eventually, I decided to ask Lisa if she had read anything in the other two books we got from the archives about the Celestial Shadow.

“Yeah, I did find something interesting,” she said. “It seems the Convergence and this eclipse thing are tied together somehow. But I can’t really understand how or why it’s significant.”

“Well, what’s it say?” I asked.

“It says something about a weakening in the Void, if the Void was opened during a convergence event, while the celestial shadow is cast over the land. But it doesn’t really go into much detail. It mentions something about a ritual that can be performed to keep the void closed or prevent it from being weakened. But I have no idea what it’s talking about. The ritual doesn’t even have a name, how strange.”

“A weakening void?” Sasha said. “Don’t they have medicine or potions for that?” Lisa slapped them in the back of the head.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Sasha giggled. We all thought about it for a moment and all started laughing together. I don’t know what it was about Sasha but they always knew how to put a smile on everyone’s face without ever trying.

“Wait, could it be the same Void that my Dad pushed that Warlock into?” I asked.

“It could be,” Lisa said. “But the book isn’t very clear when it mentions Voids.”

“Does it go into detail as far as what the ritual is and how to do it?”

“Yeah it has some instructions. It needs a few people, standing in a circle holding hands, and something about harmonizing with the cosmos. I’m not really sure what it means to “harmonize with the cosmos” like the book says. Though it seems simple it also seems just as equally complex. I can’t even find how long ago this book was written either to give us some clues on wording or historical context. Yet, it seems old enough to be handwritten.”

I thought about asking Mr. Roland about some of this, but I was afraid he would be worried I was getting into things that I wasn’t supposed to know or be into. He already seemed a tad suspicious of this book the last time he saw it even if he didn’t say anything out loud about its contents.

Before I could think on it more the bell rang for us to start getting to class. It was hard for me to concentrate during the day. I kept thinking about what kind of connection my amulet could have to me and really anything else, and what connection the amulet had with the upcoming eclipse. And what about the Void the book talked about? Was it the same Void-prison-thing that my Dad pushed that Warlock into? Furthermore, how did that Void have any connection with the Celestial Shadow?

The day moved on with my head in the clouds and getting called out by teachers and basically anyone who noticed. Even Sylas attempted some bullying but I turned down any satisfaction a reaction would have given him by completely ignoring Sylas and blowing him off. He didn’t like that very much. Instead he decided it would be best to slam me against a wall.

“I don’t like being ignored, twerp,” he shouted in my face, completely interrupting my train of thought.

I shook my head coming back to reality once my brain realized that it wasn’t thinking anymore. “Huh?” I managed to say.

“And I don’t like repeating myself,” Sylas readied a punch which I brushed aside and slid around him and his goons and made my way into my next class. Who says you need violence to defeat a bully? Even during Dragon-riding I didn’t pay much attention. I was too focused on my amulet pulsing and glowing. I sat aside and held it in my hand and studied it. Master Elowyn took notice.

“Interesting trinket you got there, Alex,” he said. “I’ve seen you wear it everyday until recently. Is it because of the weird glow it’s doing?” I wasn’t sure if I should lie or just end up telling the truth about it.

“Yeah, kinda,” I said. “It was my Dad’s and lately it’s been bothering me and it seems to have had a weird past.”

“I see. Your Dad didn’t tell you what it was?” I gave him the short version of the story of my Dad. “Oh, right. Forgot that you’re Maximilian’s son. Well, I’m sure you will figure it out. You’re a smart kid.”

“Thanks, sorry I haven’t been all there today. Or most days really”

“No problem. You probably have a lot on your mind with that darkness element of yours. It’s super special, you know.”

“So I’ve heard,” I said dejectedly.

“You want to know a secret about darkness?” He said squatting down to meet me face to face. ‘A secret?’ I thought. ‘What secret could Master Elowyn know about darkness?’

“Um, okay,” I said. “What is it?”

“It’s a thing you don’t tell people,” he laughed. “No, but seriously. Darkness doesn’t just pull the light away. Sometimes darkness can lead you to the light.”

“That makes absolutely no sense,” I said deadpan.

He laughed more, “Like I said, you’re a smart kid, you’ll figure it out.” I smiled and patted my shoulder before walking off to help other students. Once class was over I made my way to Mr. Roland’s class as fast as I could. I needed to beat the crowd. I decided I wanted to talk to him more about my amulet and the connection between the Void and the Celestial Shadow.

“Oh the Void?” he asked. “Are we talking about a void like in deep space or something else?”

“Well, I’m honestly not sure. All I know is I read in a book that “the Void” and Celestial Shadow are connected but we can’t really find out how.”

“In that case, the Void is a sort of prison in a pocket dimension. The baddest of the bad go there,” he said. “It’s kind of a space between dimensions. It’s opened with a high level spell and the magic sealing that dimension can weaken with certain celestial and cosmic events.”

“Isn’t there something that can stop it from being weakened? Almost like barricading a door?”

“Hmm,” he thought. “I’ve heard of something like that but I can’t say for sure if it would work.”

“What about harmonizing with the universe?” I asked as quickly as I could hoping he wouldn’t get suspicious of where I came up with that idea. Students were starting to come in and I didn’t want to have our conversation overheard.

“Ah, well that is not as complicated as it sounds,” he said. “Basically it’s harmonizing with nature, taking in the earth and all the energies that surround you. And most of all, being calm.”

“So that’s it?” I asked. “Just meditating?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” he said casually. “I mean you have to put a decent amount of magic into it. And concentrate on the cosmological event that’s happening and harmonize with it.” There’s the fine print. “So where exactly did you find this information if I may ask?” The classroom was starting to fill up. The bell rang to start class. Being saved by the bell, I thanked him for the information and sat down.

I really didn’t want him getting more suspicious of me getting books from the archive when I shouldn’t be. But at least I finally had some information about it. During class he happened to talk about the eclipse since it was just a few months away and he just put up posters. Like most of the classes today I tuned a lot of it out. But rather than tuning out the lecture due to stress or boredom, this time I tuned it out because of the excitement to tell Lisa and Sasha.

As soon as class ended Mr. Roland attempted to stop me and ask more questions, but before he could I ran out onto the school lawn waiting for my friends. It was still cold so the dragons weren’t flying around after classes like they usually did. But, Nocturne must have sensed the time and poked his head out and still found me as easily as ever and gave me a welcoming chirp and chortle before hiding under my coat. I was vibrating with anticipation. As soon as Lisa and Sasha saw me, Topaz and Zero honed in on their companions and gracefully landed and tucked themselves into my friend’s coats.

“Ugh, that was a day,” Sasha complained as they came up.

“Same here. I think my brain is going to explode,” Lisa said as they rubbed their temples.

“Well I have some good news,” I said. “I found out information about that ritual you found, Lisa.”

“You did? What is it?”

I told them both the details that Mr. Roland gave me and how to do it.

“That seems oddly easy for an old ritual,” Sasha said. “But I’ll take something easy over insanely complicated.”

“The small problem is the amount of magic it takes. He says it can take a lot and didn’t really specify how to push magic into the ritual or what kind.”

“We can probably figure it out in time,” Sasha said.

“So, should we do it?” I asked them both.

“I don’t see why not, seems easy enough. But,” Lisa said. “Do you think we should talk to Kur about the Void and the Warlock? You know, get a better idea of what we’re getting into?” She had a point, it was a good idea to check out. He would know more about those events.

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed. “Should we meet up tonight? We only have a few months to figure stuff out.”

“Yeah,” Lisa said, excitedly. “Let’s do it,”

“Oh man,” Sasha complained. “Kur always makes me nervous. You heard what he said last time right?”

“Sasha, he was joking,” I said. “He wouldn’t really hurt you. If he wanted to he would have done so already. Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah, maybe,” they said. “He’s just so intimidating.”

“Oh stop being a baby,” Lisa said. “Meet here at midnight and we will figure stuff out.”

“Perfect,” I said. Once the free period was over we left to get ready for later tonight.

#

Midnight came and I left the house in secret. Mom had the day off so I had to sneak around. Times like this she slept on the couch. The TV was on, the news talking about the authorities closing in on a new leader in one of the up-and-coming warlock cults. Luckily she was always a really heavy sleeper, as well as Glace. As I snuck out I grabbed a satchel to hold the blank page book, as well as the amulet, and Dad’s journal and the flashlight. As usual it wasn’t too hard to get to the school as most people stayed inside around this hour. I got onto the school grounds and found Lisa and Sasha already at the boulder.

“Ok, are we ready?” I asked. I pulled out the amulet that was glowing brighter than it was earlier today. I placed it against the boulder and it didn’t work. “Uh oh.”

“What’s wrong?” Lisa whispered.

“I don’t know,” I said, starting to panic. “It’s supposed to work,” I tried again but nothing. The amulet kept glowing its weird glow. I wondered if that was stopping us from getting in.

“Oh no, I guess we should just go back home?” Sasha said robotically, failing to convince us to go.

“Shut up, Sasha,” Lisa said. “Is there something in the journal that says what to do, Alex?”

I pulled out the journal from my bag and flipped through it to the bookmark I made about getting into Kur’s lair. “No, nothing,” I said. “Damnit,” I pounded my fist on the rock that held the amulet. I saw it glow bright in the corner of my eye. As I was about to hit the boulder my hand fell through a portal, which brought my body along for the ride and I fell down a few stairs.

“Ow…,” I moaned. I got up and collected myself while rubbing the sore spots on my arms and ribs.

“Alex,” both Sasha and Lisa exclaimed as I fell through the portal.

“Are you alright?” Sasha ended up asking first.

“Yeah I’m ok,” I groaned and blushed in embarrassment, as I groped into the bag looking for my flashlight. “Let’s just get going.”

We eventually made it to the end of the stairs and into Kur’s lair. There seemed to be a new pile or two of filth that we really didn’t want to question. Eventually Nocturne, Topaz and Zero each flew off in front of us and chirped happily. Kur’s face made its way into the light with our three small dragons playing with each other.

Hhrrmm… Kur groaned as he adjusted to face us and accommodate our dragons. “Hello there, little hatchlings,” he said looking up at his forehead. “And good evening to my new friends.”

“Hello, Kur,” I said cheerfully. “We had a few questions for you tonight.”

“Hmm, always questions,” he said. “Never for pleasure?” He looked a bit hurt. We all looked at each other.

“Um, we didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Kur,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re such a fountain of knowledge that we can’t put a value on,” Sasha said, speaking up. Which honestly surprised the three of us.

“Well,” Kur said slowly. “If the young fae wishes to complement my wisdom, I don’t mind then.”

“Thank you, Kur,” Lisa said. “We will make sure to visit just to hang out soon.”

“I appreciate it. How can I help you younglings?”

“Well, we have a few things,” I said. “First off is my amulet. It’s been glowing strangely, see?” showed Kur the amulet glowing a brighter violet than it did this morning. “There’s a couple other things aside from this.”

Kur moved in slightly and watched the amulet glow and pulse. “I see,” he said slowly. “It appears the Celestial Shadow is to be upon us soon then?” We all looked at each other.

“Yeah, it is,” I said. “How did you know?”

“I’m quite familiar with that amulet,” he said. “It’s nearly as old as me. And I’m…actually I forget how old I am. Anyway, it always glows during such times as celestial events are tied directly to all the void portals which exist between all the different universes.”

“Hey, if you know that this amulet was more than just a key, why didn’t you say so before?” I asked slightly annoyed.

“You never asked,” he said simply.

“Hang on, different universes?” Lisa said.

“There’s more than one void?” I asked.

“You must be really old,” Sasha said.

Kur laughed a deep laugh and said, “Yes, there exists a vast multiverse, but that part isn’t important right now. What is important is the amulet’s reactions. It is a warning to tell when the void for this universe will be weak while the moon casts its celestial shadow upon the earth.”

“We read that there was a ritual we could do during it that would help strengthen the veil between this reality and the void. Is that true?” Lisa asked.

“Indeed it is,” Kur said. “Though I have quite forgotten the ritual.”

“Oh, I think I can solve that,” Lisa said, digging into her own bag and producing the book reading it out to Kur.

“Yes,” Kur said slowly. “Yes, I think that’s right. Though it leaves out a key piece of information. You have to have intent as well. You have to know why you’re doing what you’re doing.”

“Well what do we need to know?” Sasha asked. Kur smiled, I think, at Sasha’s participation in the discussion.

“For that we need to look into the past,” his claw, which was the size of a large truck, came out from the shadows and gave a gentle wave. A swirl of color came before us turning into a kind of window or movie screen. Images of my Dad and a dark figure appeared on the screen. “As you know, young Alex, this is your father Maximilian. The dark one on the right side is a Warlock known as Blight.”

“That was his name,” I said. “That was the name Dad said when we saw that memory a few months ago.” I turned to Kur and I wondered why I couldn’t remember that name. “My Dad never made any mention of Blight in his journal though. Who was he?”

“No, he wouldn’t have talked about him like that,” Kur said mournfully. “As you saw in the mirror, Blight was guilty of many crimes. He once was just a normal human who got too curious.”

“What did he do that was so bad?” Sasha asked.

“He practiced forbidden magic. Black magic,” Kur growled. “He was corrupted by his own affinity and his own greed. He was like you, young Alex, burdened with a rare affinity for the element of darkness.”

I swallowed hard and I felt the color disappear from my face. “He–,” I said. “He also could use darkness? Like me?”

“Indeed,” Kur said, nodding. “He saw only ways to use his dark affinity to further his own sick ideals. He began to corrupt dragons to his will, turning their scales black and their eyes crimson.” Nocturne spread his wings and began looking at himself and gave a worrying chortle. Kur chuckled. “No, not like you hatchling. These dragons became black as pitch, eyes that glowed like rubies in treasure hoards of ancient lore.” I was worried for a moment too, forgetting for a moment that Nocturne’s scales were a deep violet. I let out a small sigh with Kur’s explanation.

He moved his claw again and the image before us changed showing Blight. He was wrapped in black robes, his face hooded and featureless. His hands were claw-like, and fingers tipped black like he dipped them in paint. He was performing a spell that seemed complicated and very involved.

“He was branded a Warlock after he used his darkness magic to tap into the depths and summoned horrors beyond imagination. But it didn’t stop him, he kept at it, becoming more and more corrupted with every action. He corrupted his own dragon first, then others, including wild dragons. He started killing then. Using other forms of black magic involving blood rituals, until it became personal for Maximilian. Blight killed his closest friend.

“Maximilian, having been charged by The Council to apprehend and banish Blight, rallied his team of other Knights and did just that.” Kur waved his claw again and we saw the same images from the mirror. His companions restraining Blight and Dad using the amulet to force Blight into the Void.

“Kur, will I become corrupted as well?” I asked.

“I think not,” he said. “Being attuned to darkness, corruption is indeed one outcome. But if you can make it your own, you will see the light within.”

“Someone else told me that too,” I said.

“They are indeed wise,” Kur said. “You should heed their words. But back to the matter at hand; when the moon eclipses the sun, it will begin to weaken the boundaries between this reality and the void. You must perform the ritual to keep the void sealed and prevent the Warlock Blight from seizing the opportunity to break out from his prison.”

“Can we though?” Lisa asked. “Do we even have the ability?”

“Yeah, it seems simple but a lot of complex stuff looks simple on the outside,” Sasha said.

“I believe you can do it,” Kur said. “It will be a good test.” Kur looked over at me. After Kur’s vote of confidence we promised him we would visit him another day, “bring some jerky when you visit next. Maximilian would bring me some when he visited and I rather miss it.” We agreed, turned and walked out back to the surface.

“Can we really do this?” Sasha asked.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Lisa said.

“Am I the only one worried that I could potentially become evil?”

“Alex,” Sasha said. “I’ve known you for…ever. You don’t have an evil bone in your body.”

“But what if–,”

“Alex,” Lisa said as she grabbed my hands and looked me in the eye. My heart skipped as I got a bit lost in her fire opal eyes. “It will be ok. You’re not going to get corrupted.”

#

Over the next couple weeks classes and training resumed as normal. It was new years eve and everyone was ready for a party. School ended early but Mr. Roland wanted me to stay behind for a while for a test regarding my darkness magic and to come to the courtyard in ten minutes alone. Sasha and Lisa were a bit suspicious but decided to go home and get ready for the celebration later tonight.

I walked into the courtyard with Nocturne on my shoulder, wrapped around me to see Mr. Roland sitting on the ground with his own dragon. Blue as sapphire, and golden eyes, the dragon sat on his lap and looked up at him. Evidently they were talking with each other and were deep in conversation. The small blue dragon looked at me and trilled, alerting Mr. Roland to my presence.

“Alex, glad you came,”

“Yeah,” I said uneasily. “You said you had some kind of test?”

“Indeed I do,” he said and stood up, his dragon finding home around his shoulders. “You’re going to help me draw out a large magic circle and we’re going to channel your darkness magic into it.”

“Oh, alright,” I said. Didn’t think it was going to be something so simple. With Nocturne magic, not to mention darkness magic, came pretty easily to me and much stronger than without. I’d never drawn one before, I didn’t know much about making them, only that it was something that could be simple to complex. He handed me a wand.

“We use these wands purely for drawing circles onto the ground in cases where the ground itself does not allow us to draw upon it naturally. Such as in dirt or sand.” I took the wand, I looked it over. It was very similar to the special pen he used to write me the pass to the archives; only this was about a foot or so long.

“Now, stand fifty feet away from me, point the wand beside you in your right hand to the ground. Both of us will walk forward circling each other, but always being directly across the circle from me, in step, and channel your darkness magic into it” he said sternly. He was a bit frightening. I nodded in agreement and we drew the circle. I channeled my darkness magic as he instructed and saw the line appear under the wand. The line was violet and it glowed as it was drawn. Once we ended up in each other’s initial place and the circle was closed, I saw the whole thing glow the same violet color as the text in that blank page book as well as my amulet. We met in the middle and Mr. Roland pulled out a piece of paper with a line pattern and runes.

“Now, in the next part of the test, I need you to do the same procedure, but draw this within the circle.” He handed me the paper. “And make sure it is done exactly as written.” I recognized the inner workings of the circle that he handed me. It was the same one in the book that Crowley had given me and Sasha at the beginning of the year. He walked off to the side and left me to my devices as I drew out the pattern he had written.

It has taken me nearly an hour to write it out runes and all but it was done. As soon as the last rune was etched on the ground the inner portion glowed the same as the perimeter did. “Mr. Roland, I’m done.”

“Excellent,” he said. “Now, I need you to carefully step outside the circle, careful not to smudge the outside, or it will break the circle and it will be useless.” I did so and came to stand next to him. “Part three, place your hands just above the circle and pour the darkness magic into it.”

“What exactly does this circle do?” I asked.

“Now is not the time for questions, so if you please, Alex?” He snapped. Which put me off but I reluctantly agreed. I placed my hands over the circle and started to summon darkness and let it be absorbed by the circle. Nocturne gently nibbled at my ear to get my attention and chirped and trilled in my ear quietly. I couldn’t understand exactly what he said, but I understood the intent.

“I know it’s weird but,” I whispered. “He’s a teacher and he wouldn’t have us do anything that was unsafe.” I tried to convince myself but was still worried.

“Good, now concentrate on the darkness within you, let yourself be lost in it and pour that energy into the circle too.” Now I was worried. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I concentrated hard. I felt the darkness start to fill me up. It almost felt good, it felt powerful. I could feel the energy leave my hands and be absorbed within the circle. Mr. Roland mumbled something but I couldn’t hear what exactly. All I cared about now was this feeling growing inside. This was good, I wanted more. More. More.

Then something I couldn’t explain happened. I felt something inside me that wasn’t like the darkness. I didn’t know what was happening but it suddenly felt wrong. The darkness felt wrong. I opened my eyes to see black tendrils trying to pull themselves out of the ground within the circle. They dripped with blackness like tar and surged with the energy I had given it. I saw something darker than black begin to open under the tendrils.

My conscience took over and I shouted, “No,” I slammed my hands down and smudged the edge of the circle. There was a dead silence then a roar like thunder that caused me to cover my ears and Nocturne to shiver and cry out as the magic circle was broken and released all the energy. I looked over at Mr. Roland who stood still as stone, unmoved by anything that just happened. His face looked like what I imagined a disappointed father to look like. He stared at the space where the circle used to be with cold and calculating eyes; an inky spot in what was the center quickly evaporated to nothing. Just as quickly his features returned to his normal self.

“You did excellent, Alex,” he said, stilted with a smile but didn’t look at me. “You passed the test, yes.” He turned, and walked out of the courtyard with his dragon on his shoulder without saying another word.

Nocturne and I shared a look with each other and he nuzzled the top of his head under my chin to help calm himself as well as me. I gathered my things, threw on my coat to cover Nocturne as well and walked out.

That night, I met Sasha and Lisa at the town center for the New Years eve event. I was late and nearly missed it. “Alex there you are,” Lisa said. “Did you pass that test?” There was a tower of lights setup in the very center and a large ball of light silently floated above it. Any moment it would start to descend to meet the tower in some age old tradition of dropping a ball of light at the final count.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I sure did, flying colors.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell them what the test entailed. I couldn’t even really celebrate. The crowd, as well as us, started to chant the final countdown. Slowly the giant ball of light dropped.

5…4…3…2…1. Happy New Year. The tower of light exploded into color and launched fantastic fireworks high up into the air. Music played from some unseen band or PA system. Lisa gave Sasha and I each a kiss on the cheek at the end of the countdown. It was almost a relief seeing my friends happy, seeing Lisa show some genuine happiness. We all sang with the bands that played, partied, danced awkwardly and laughed. I fingered the gift I bought for Lisa back during the Draconis Festival in my pocket. Wondering if I should give it to her now. But, although I put on the face of joy and happiness, deep down what I had almost done gnawed at me. How could I tell my friends everything that had just happened.