Her Darkling

Chapter 7.

I was young again, hidden in the closet of my room and shivering as terror coursed through my body.

I had stayed hidden in the closet, whimpering with hands clamped over my mouth in muffled cries at the sound of wood splitting, growls sending vibrations around the house and my mother's cries increasing with every moment.

The air was filled with gloom and terror coursed through me as the feeling of impending grief engulfed my frail, thirteen-year-old body, bright flashes of lightning tore through the skies and filtered through the cracks and I shuddered at the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance, laced with the screeches of malevolent creatures.

"No!" Her scream came again. This time, it pierced through me like a dagger had been dug into my chest.

I knew I couldn't stay hiding so I pushed the door open and ran out of the door, towards the living room.

No.

Blood was everywhere. She was on the floor, bleeding and unable to move. Several splinters of wood were over her body and holding her from making any move.

Her eyes turned over to me, dead and lacking its usual color. She shook her head at me and her jaw trembled.

"No... Go.” She whimpered. "Run!"

But I stood there, catatonic and unable to move as I took in the gruesome sight before me. Not even her cries for me to leave touched me. I couldn't leave her here to die. I had to do something—

She was lifted into the air, wood clattering to the ground as she got pushed into the wall behind her. My knees buckled underneath me and I fell to my knees, crawling towards her with my outstretched hand. "Mother, Moth— Mother!"

A cloak of intense darkness hovered towards her body. I was unable to make out what it was. Saber-like claws drove into her guts, she gasped, her eyes still trained on me as she shook her head and willed me to run.

She finally dropped to the floor, her body mangled and her eyes wide and still holding terror.

Both of my hands planted on the wet ground behind me and I began to push backward, my eyes still trained on my mother's dead body, her skin paler with the moon pouring on her.

Blood dripped from the claws of the demon that had killed her and like it sensed my presence, it turned towards me, darkness swirling around its large frame as it drew close to me.

Only this time, the darkness began to slowly dissipate from around it, causing it to morph from a demon with black, scaly skin to a man with gold-colored eyes that drew me in like I was being pulled into a nebula.

I cowered, my arms covering my face in a fit to tear this image out of my memory but his voice plunged me out and I finally looked up at him.

He was a man now, hovering in the air with long, jet-black hair falling around his broad shoulders, gold eyes telling tales of evil. His body was wrapped in a scarlet cloak and he stood at almost seven feet tall.

Then he vanished after a few horrifying words.

I was still accosted by the screeches of demons around, tearing anything in their way apart. Pushing to my feet, I broke into a terrified run, away from the cottage. I couldn't even go back to see my mother for the last time. She wanted me to run for my safety and I did just that.

I hadn't gone meters away from the cottage when a wraith-like night creature with webbed wings crashed into the snow, right before me. Its eyes were red and its jagged canines bared as it made its way towards me.

In my quest to escape this evil creature, I missed a footing and crashed into the snow, tumbling before sharp claws held onto my jumper.

The night creature snarled at me before forcefully pushing my neck to its side. A wave of intense pain coursed through me as its canines sank into my flesh and I let out a blood-curdling scream as I struggled to be free.

One moment, there was a piercing in my skin, and the next, the night creature fell off me and rolled like it was fighting an invisible creature. Still holding onto my bleeding neck, I watched as it slowly began to burn, tiny orange embers moving through its body like lava from a volcano until it burned to ash and lay in a heap of black before me.

I didn't know what happened next but I was pulled off the floor and I turned, eyes wide as tears streamed down my cheeks. Aricen towered over me.

"We must go, Nariel!"

I tried to pull away from him, struggling as tears streamed down my cheeks. "No! We can't leave Mother here! We can't!"

"But she's gone, Nariel. She's dead!"

I looked back at our wrecked cottage as Aricen pulled me out through the already destroyed clan. I could still see her body, lifeless and unmoving, her eyes still wide open with fear. I let out a piercing scream, trying to pull away as Aricen pulled us through the snowy night.

He grabbed my arms roughly and stared into my eyes. "They are still here. We must leave, Nariel!"

He was the older one, seventeen years of age, and looked quite unhinged by the sight before me but I couldn't move for the sake of living. My body was weighed down by the thick Calico jumper I had on and cold blasts of wind brushed my cheeks harshly.

"No!"

He had me by the collar and began to pull me through the blood-soaked snow. Large bats circled the air, filling the air with shrieks as he kept pulling me towards the cliff at the other end of the woods, not even caring if I was weighed down by my clothing.

Aricen stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard a growl. We were already close to the cliff and his eyes widened and he broke into a run, pulling me faster than ever.

The sound of hooved feet digging into the snow closed in on us and Aricen grabbed my arm and immediately pushed me off the cliff.

The last thing I saw before I tumbled down the snow was him being snatched by the demon as Its claws dug into his guts.

I kept tumbling with muffled cries as I tried to hold onto something but I was met with just snow. I rolled downhill for a long time before my body thumped into something hard. I tumbled over for the last time and hit my head against a jagged rock—

I plunged out of my dream with a gasp, covers falling over my thigh as sweat poured down my body. My heart thumped against my ribcage, threatening to tear through my chest.

I leaned back against the headboard of the bed and pushed my fisted knuckles into my mouth as I tried to stop myself from sobbing.

Aricen had died all because of me. All because I had been unable to save him. I could have run faster. Maybe if I hadn't protested against us leaving, we would have been on time enough to escape. A tear left my eyes and rolled down my cheek and I covered my hand over my head.

But then, something felt off. The goosebumps that rose on my skin told tales of another presence in the room. It was oddly familiar but I was unable to put a finger on it.

Raising my head, I looked around my room to see that it was just me. But the feeling of another presence here with me meant that I wasn't alone. The temperature was lower than usual, but it was gone in no time and the temperature returned to normal. I sighed in relief and climbed out of my bed, padding my feet over to the bay window. I had closed the window panes. I was slightly afraid of another attack in my sleep so it was better to be safe than sorry.

Twisting the brazen handle, I pushed it open, tilting my head to the side as it let out a very loud creak.

I took a seat by the window sill and stared into the dark night.

Today had been a really—really long day and now that I sat here to recall the events of the day, I realized that we had actually gone through a lot of harrowing experiences.

I sighed. I hated to relive those memories.

Hell, I was thirteen then, lacking skills, save for the defense skills Aricen had taught me.

There was nothing else I knew.

I was overcome by a sense of great responsibility, the need to change so I walked away from the window, grabbed a coat, and walked out of my room, down the hallway toward Eldrion's room.

I knocked once on the door and it was immediately pulled open.

"You haven't been sleeping?" I asked, slipping into his room. Eldrion sighed and shut the door behind him.

"I woke up about ten minutes ago. I've been disturbed by what has been happening lately," He sighed and went to take a seat on one of the Chippendale seats in the room. "Same night mares?"

I heaved a sigh and nodded. "I came here to speak to you about Eamon's offer."

"I understand. It's fine if you don't want to join the ranks. I also don't want to. I saw the truth in your words—"

I looked down at my fingers, wondering how I was going to break this to him. Looking back up at him, I replied. "I actually want to join the ranks. I've been thinking about it."

Eldrion shot a brow up in surprise. "Are you being serious right now or are you sleepwalking?"

"I'm fully awake. I mean what I said."

Eldrion immediately stood to his feet, excitement creeping into his expression. "And when do we leave?"

"Tonight? I just want to be out of here. It's really been one nightmare from another. Pack up your stuff."