The Fall of Light - Chapter 4 - YA Action Fantasy Novel

By the following midday, Alesson was desperate to get out of his father’s chambers, which he had come to know as his prison. He had been rudely awoken before breakfast time by Trengar, who had insisted that he help Alesson get up and dressed. Alesson had felt much better, but that had not stopped his father from mothering him constantly and complaining about everything. Alesson thought that if he heard Trengar say “You need more rest Alesson, but don’t worry you’ll be back on your feet soon” one more time, he might scream.

After being woken up and dressed, the maids arrived to change the beds and deliver the breakfast; it was at this point that Frostbite had been told to go back to the royal courtyard. The house cleaners were disgusted by the state of the bed, which was full of dried sticky webbing, the sweat of a young male body and the hair of a moulting wolf. Alesson had been helped by his father to the dining room, where they had eaten ham, eggs and toast under the disgruntled gazes of the maids.

After breakfast, Alesson felt almost back to normal. He had been moved to a nearby padded chair, even though Alesson was sure he could have walked to it by himself, his father had insisted on carrying him and propping him up with even more cushions. He was dressed in a basic brown tunic, his hair was ruffled and un-brushed, and even though his father had helped him wash, Alesson still felt very grubby.

Across from Alesson sat his sister, Linta, who was wearing a long flowing white dress, she looked clean and pristine in stark contrast to how Alesson felt. She had been there since early morning and had arrived with Deltain for their morning lecture. The lecture had not gone smoothly; the King who had invited himself along, to keep an eye on Alesson seemed to delight in going off topic and chatting to Deltain.

The lecture, which Deltain had introduced to them as “a list of do’s and don’ts regarding diplomacy” had started out well and Linta, as always, had become quite involved. The discussion had turned into a series of role-plays where each of the twins would take it in turns to try and diplomatically solve a problem. Linta loved this sort of thing, and normally she was an expert at it. However when practicing diplomacy with her father and Deltain, who could not be swayed by fluttering eyelashes and dimples, the game took a different, more difficult turn. Eventually when the twins started losing, the King and the sage decided to show the twins how it was done and the elders commenced their dealings, which went on forever. In the end, the pair declared the deliberations a draw and left the twins feeling even more confused than ever, they then took their leave and left the twins to await lunch.

“So, did any of that make any sense to you?” Alesson asked his sister.

“I understood it when we were doing it, but when they tried to demonstrate the `finer points of diplomacy` as they called it, it seemed like all they did was argue.” Linta replied.

“I don’t think I like this whole diplomacy thing.” Alesson grumbled.

“You’re not supposed to like it Alesson.” Linta replied, “Remember Deltain said, `As the King or Queen, everyone will want a piece of your power for themselves` which I think means that everyone will think that you owe them something and the trick is to get them to give you something back in return.”

“So why not just say ‘I’ll give you this, if you do this for me’?” Alesson asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s just what’s expected.” Linta shrugged.

At that point, the maids returned with the twin’s lunch which consisted of bread, cheese and fruit. Once the twins had finished, King Trengar returned and looked Alesson up and down. “Do you feel ready to get some fresh air?”

“Oh, I sure do.” Alesson said quickly, eager to escape the confines of the royal apartments.

“Good boy, I believe there’s someone down stairs who still needs your attention.” Trengar said.

“That’s right; I’ll go get Frostbite cleaned up.” Alesson said and jumped to his feet, he was still a little unsteady and almost fell forward.

“Be careful son.” Trengar said reaching out to steady him. “You still need to take it slow and easy.”

“It’s ok father, I will.” Alesson said and picked up a thick dark overcoat to keep the cold away and then he started to walk slowly towards the door. He proceeded out the door and down the cold stone corridor towards the stairs that led down to the royal courtyard.

Outside in the courtyard, the weather was very cold and Alesson could see his breath coming out in great puffs of smoke. The sky above was clear, there were no clouds at all and the ground in the courtyard was still covered in a layer of frost, because the sun was yet to cast its sunny rays upon it. Alesson walked slowly on the frosty cobbles to avoid slipping over and aggravate his injury.

At the far side of the courtyard were the creature barracks, a medium sized stone building with a wide opening, which could accommodate even the largest creatures. Alesson entered via a smaller, human sized door next to the larger gate. Inside the structure, were several stables where the creatures could rest, and at the far end of the building was an area for bathing and grooming.

Alesson found Frostbite in his normal cubicle and sent him a friendly image of the two of them washing out all that grubby webbing and returning Frostbite’s grey coat back to a nice bright white. The wolf jumped up from its haunches and Alesson saw in his mind a picture of the white wolf splashing water all over the young man.

“Oh no you won’t,” Alesson said to the wolf in reply to the playful image. “Especially if I splash you first!”

The bathing area was a great pool of warm water that was fed from below by an underground hot spring; in fact, the entire city got its hot water from the massive spring deep below the ground. Alesson sometimes wondered just how big the spring was, and how did the city stay up above it without collapsing into the caves below.

As Alesson began to scrub the very dirty wolf, he couldn’t help but think about how the two of them had been joined. When most children in the city enter the tenth year of their lives, they are taken to the conjoining centre. The centre is a small building that is attached to the side of the castles throne room and is made from great plates of steel instead of the normal stone blocks. The inside of the centre was the cleanest place in the whole of the Kingdom, all the surfaces were white and there was not a single speck of dust anywhere. Each child was first made to lie on a strange padded bed that was on wheels. The bed was then pushed into a long thin tunnel, the attendees in the centre would then begin to chant, and the master of the centre in his long white coat would pull a lever to determine the crystal that was most suited to the child’s soul.

Alesson remembered his time in that tunnel, it started with a low humming sound, which got progressively louder and he could feel the hairs on his arms start to prickle. Then it was over, the hum faded and he was pulled out of the tunnel. The attendees were still chanting and the master of the centre helped Alesson to stand and directed him to another small glass chamber opposite the tunnel, where he was indicated to sit in another white padded chair. A strange helmet was placed on his head that had wires coming out of it and a cold steel plug was put into his ear. Above Alesson, were five different coloured crystals, one for each element of the planet, of all the crystals the pale blue white one was shining the brightest. The master then reached up and took down the glowing crystal, he then turned to Alesson and said, “Young prince, you have been chosen by the icy water crystals of northern Anectar, do you accept that choice?”

Alesson had just nodded to the master, dumbfounded by everything that was going on around him. Then the master said in a much louder voice “The choice has been accepted, let the joining begin.” The master had then touched the crystal to Alesson’s head and muttered a short blessing. He then took the pale blue crystal out of the small chamber and placed it on a pedestal in an identical glass chamber that was next to Alesson’s. The attendees chanting changed rhythm and began to get faster.

The master then returned to lever he had pulled earlier and pulled it down again, this time Alesson felt a sharp piercing pain in his ear from the steel plug that had been inserted there. The pain then spread to his head from the strange helmet, and he felt tears stream down his cheeks. He blinked for what seemed like an eternity to try to clear his vision, slowly he realised the pain was starting to dull and he could focus again.

Looking around he could see the attendees were still chanting, but their attention was not on him, instead it was directed to the crystal in the next chamber. Alesson followed their gaze and saw the most amazing thing. The crystal was growing, what had once been a small stone, had gone into a state of crystal genesis and it was expanding rapidly. The light shining from it had begun to pulse, and Alesson was sure that the pulsing was at the same rate as his own heartbeat.

The light got brighter and brighter until Alesson was forced to look away, and the attendees chanting then came to a sharp and abrupt stop as the light faded away. One attendee helped Alesson remove the helmet and get to his feet; he was then hurried into the other glass chamber to meet his companion. On the pedestal where the master had put the crystal, now sat a small white wolf cub. The cub looked up at Alesson and in the instant that their eyes met they were joined.

In that moment, the pair were bound together with feelings stronger than kinship and deeper than love. Even to the present day, Alesson knew he would do anything for Frostbite and he was sure the feeling was mutual. Alesson finished cleaning Frostbite and stepped back to admire his handiwork. The wolf was back to being a brilliant white again, he looked revitalised and ready to get back to work.

Therefore, the lad and the young wolf left the creature barracks, ran out into the cold empty courtyard, and started to play as they did when they were younger.

Far above the courtyard, Trengar stood watching his son through the window and a strong sense of pride filled the King’s heart. He turned to look at his daughter, who was sat sideways in one of the high backed chairs with her legs pulled up, reading a book and absently nibbling on a lock of her hair that had fallen down across her young face. If Alesson was Trengar’s son, then Linta was definitely Judentha daughter, as Trengar watched his little girl, he was reminded of his beloved wife, the way Linta chewed her hair, was almost identical to the way Judentha did when she was younger.

Trengar turned back to the window and looked out over the kingdom and lands beyond. As it was late winter it got dark quick in the evenings, the light was already starting to dim, and the King could see mist starting to build up in the ravines, to the south of the city.

Looking into the mists, Trengar saw his wife in his mind, her soft round face and button nose, her pale green eyes that always seemed to sparkle with mischief, and her long dark copper hair that flowed down past her shapely waist and almost to the top of her thighs. She was smiling at first, but Trengar knew what would happen next, for he had relived this moment many times over, in his sleep or even while awake as he was now.

Judentha was at the table in their quarters with her husband and they were having afternoon tea, Judentha liked a special type of tea that was very sweet. The King saw in his mind his beautiful wife, reach out for her tea and every part of him screamed at her, not to pick it up, and not to drink it, but nothing could stop the events of the past. Judentha picked up the tea in the delicate porcelain cup and drank deeply. Trengar watched the colour drain from his partners face as the quick acting poison pulsed through her body, she let go of the cup, which felt onto the table and smashed into fragments. She began coughing and spluttering, so much so that the queen began to bring up blood. At this point the King had picked up his queen and moved her to the bedroom, all the time screaming for help. Eventually help arrived and the doctors came in.

“All we can do is give her something to make her sleep and feel more comfortable,” was what the doctor had said. Trengar nodded like a bemused child, he was so wrapped up in his feelings that Trengar was numb to everything around him and his dying wife.

“I love you, please stay with me!” Trengar whispered to Judentha as she strained to smile and her eyes closed. Trengar had then fallen to his knees and wept uncontrollably for hours, until Deltain and Garlent had come to the king to help him through his grief.

Back in the present Trengar came out of his daydream with a start, the mist had come in towards the city now and the wind had picked up. It looked like it was going to be a stormy night ahead. Looking back to Linta who had noticed her father jump, he asked “How long have I been stood here?”

“About half an hour, father. Are you ok?” Linta said, sounding concerned.

“Yes, yes, I was just...just...daydreaming.” Trengar stuttered.

Linta knew that something was bothering her father; she had seen him do this a lot over the past few years. He seemed to be fading in and out of reality, almost as if Trengar could not decide which world he wanted to live in. Linta had also caught him mumbling nonsense to himself whilst the tired monarch was off in his daydream world. Princess Linta had tried to talk to her father on various occasions about his lapses into the dream world, but he would just shrug off the conversation saying, “it’s nothing” which would leave his daughter feeling confused and even more worried.

“I think I’ll go find Garlent.” The King said, now fully roused from his daydreams and headed towards the door.

“Ok, father, but please be careful, you don’t seem like yourself.” Linta replied.

The King stopped and moved back to Linta, he bent down and kissed her on the forehead and said, “Don’t worry about me, my girl. I just have a lot on my mind now, but it’s nothing really. I’ll be back later”
Linta went back to reading her book, but she found that she couldn’t concentrate on it anymore; she was too worried about her family. So far, over the last two days, her brother had almost caved his own skull in and her father seemed to be slipping further away from the real world. The young princess was quite upset with the whole situation and sometimes felt like it would be for the best if she just ran away. She flung the book down onto the nearby table, hopped up onto her feet, walked into her room and sat down at her dressing table.

Looking in the mirror, she noticed that she still had a few strands of hair in her mouth, which she quickly removed; she reached instinctively for her hairbrush and began to pull it through her hair. In the mirror, Linta could see behind her was a satchel that she had packed several nights ago in preparation to run away and leave her family. She intended to make a break for freedom, out from the depressing shadows of Scorvain, to roam the countryside and to have a life without responsibility. The thin girl looked back at her reflection and decided that tonight was the night; she would pretend to go to sleep, wait until it was late and then she would make her escape.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, which made Linta jump. Nobody knew of her plan to leave, so there was no need to fear, that maybe on the other side of the door would be some guards, sent to keep her in her room for even daring to think about absconding. Opening the door, she saw it was Alesson, breathing heavily after playing and training with his wolf in the courtyard.

“Hey, Linta, are you ok?” Alesson asked.

“Yes I’m fine, what’s wrong?” Linta said. Could it be possible that her brother could hear her thoughts and knew she was planning to leave Scorvain?

“I bumped into father out in the courtyard and he said you were a bit out of sorts and could do with some company.” Alesson said, still struggling to get his breathing under control.

“No, I’m fine.” Linta replied, breathing an inward sign of relief that her brother was not a mind reader. “I just want to be alone right now, Alesson, but thank you for looking out for me.” She added the last bit quickly as she saw his smile fade and worry creep into his eyes. She stepped forward and hugged her brother, maybe for the last time, and said in his ear. “Don’t worry about me. It’s nothing.” Then she pulled back from the hug and put one hand on his cheek. “I’m just a bit tired, I think I’ll have an early night and get some rest.”

“Ok Linta, but if you need anything, just shout.” Alesson said, still looking concerned.

“Will you stop it, look, I’m fine,” she said putting her hands on her hips.

“Fine, do you want me to wake you for dinner?” Alesson asked.

“No, just let me sleep please,” and with that she closed the door on her brother.

Linta turned away from the door and went to the window. Outside the sun was setting and dusk was approaching, the sky was a dark purple and on the horizon pitch black clouds were forming. Ignoring the weather, Linta closed the curtains on the outside world. She changed out of her white dress and into some thick dull travelling clothes. Then she stalked over to the lamps and blew out the light, the young princess couldn’t help but think she was blowing out her claustrophobic royal life in favour of independence out under the stars.

Linta then climbed into her big bed still fully clothed, she hid under the covers feeling excited and scared all at the same time. She had planned to stay awake until late and then sneak out while the rest of the city slept. She did not want to fall asleep, Linta was a deep sleeper and it was possible that she might sleep right through until morning. Her brother had joked in the past that Linta could sleep through the end of the world and not notice.

The Princess managed to stay awake for a few hours, watching the shadows flash across the walls. However, it was not long before the shadows became distinctly longer and Linta jumped almost without noticing into the sleepy world of dreams.

In her dream, Linta saw herself falling down headfirst through those shadows; at first, the shadows were just misty shades that seemed to transmit feelings of fear and discomfort. The shadows became clearer and they started form strange menacing shapes. Linta fell towards a winged shadow, with sharp spikes and claws. Its head was almost as large as its body and its glowing red eyes sat high on its thick pointy head. The eyes seemed to simmer and Linta was sure she could feel heat emanating from the demons retinas. The creature moved its head under the falling girl and opened its mouth ready to devour the petite maiden. Linta screamed as she approached the beast’s mouth, but the sound from her vocal chords just seemed to fade away as she fell into demons mouth. Then the beast turned back into a thick oppressive shadow and she continued falling through the swirling shades. At this point Linta realised she was dreaming and just wanted to wake up, but the glooms kept coming and she could not raise herself from her dark slumber.

The shadows soon were so thick that Linta started to find it difficult to pass through them and she eventually found herself standing on top of one of the shadows that had taken the form of a misty, murky swamp. The princess pushed her way through the undergrowth of the marsh, heading towards a light that was glistening in the distance.

When she approached the light, she could see it was a perfect circle of bright almost blinding incandescence. Linta reached out towards the light and just as her fingertips touched it, the orb pulsed and buzzed. Then the light turned instantly from brightest white to darkest black and thick dark tentacles jumped out at Linta, wrapping themselves around her arms, her legs and her throat. The tentacles were cold and felt like ice against her skin, chilling her right to her core. The tentacles then started to pull the struggling girl into the dark sphere, and the vine like appendage around her throat began to tighten and Linta found it hard to breath. It felt like her windpipe was being crushed and just as everything started to go black, she woke up and sat upright in her bed. She was breathing hard and her hand had instantly gone to her throat to make sure there was no tentacle there. Her beating chest slowed as she realised it was all in her dream and there were no demons in her room.

She climbed out of bed and went over to the window for some fresh air, as the room had become very stuffy. She opened the curtains and gasped; outside in the skies above the city was a great swirling mass of shadows just like what Linta had seen in her dream. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, almost as if the tentacle had suddenly reappeared and held her tight again. Looking up at the mass of black swirling clouds, she could see more black armoured beasts and there were men riding them too.

Then the cool night exploded as the city of Scorvain fell under siege. There were not any demons in Linta’s room, but there were demons in the skies above Scorvain.