Nightblade (Darkest night)

Emily woke up in an unfamiliar place. Darkness spanned the land in every direction she looked.

She tried to move in the dark haze, but she couldn't see anything at all.

Then she saw him, and he looked exactly like he had the last time she'd seen him.

In the darkness, he looked like an otherworldly phantom.

He slowly walked towards her, taking calm, measured steps. The darkness writhed invitingly around him.

His lips were curled into a wicked smile.

His scarlet eyes gleamed eerily, zeroing in on her.

"Emily," he called softly.

" Come to me, Emily."

She shook her head, backing away.

" Emily!"

She screamed and woke up with a gasp.

Emily's green eyes frantically darted around, scanning her unfamiliar surroundings.

" It was a dream, it was all a dream."

She breathed in deeply, gulping lungfuls of air to calm herself.

A pair of familiar brown eyes stared back at her.

Morgan looked the same as when she'd last seen him.

He was clad in the black suits the aspirants had been wearing at the ritual ground.

His blades also peeked out from behind his back.

" Where are we?"

Morgan shook his head.

" I don't know, when I found you were unconscious. So I brought you here. You were struggling. It looked like you were having a nightmare. Right now we're in a cave on a mountain."

While it was winter on Earth, Tenebris did not indicate the time of year.

From what Morgan had been able to tell, it was quite a steep drop from the top of the mountain.

He had been wondering about, trying to get his bearings, when he'd found Emily lying unconscious on the ground.

Soon after, he'd found the cave they were in.

He'd checked it out for any creatures or animals within, but he had found nothing.

A few bushes and plants grew at this altitude, from which he'd been able to obtain some sticks for the fire, but that was it.

The other thing he'd experienced was the subtle feeling of power that lingered in the air.

" This must be umbralis."He thought.

" But how do I use it?"

He could feel it all around him, like water or air, for that matter, but that was it.

He decided to set that aside for later.

A fire crackled silently, warming both of them.

He furtively glanced at Emily, taking in her rugged appearance.

Emily was dressed in the academy's black uniform.

Her normally well-groomed long hair was dishevelled.

Her signature glasses were still in place, as well as her ever-present expression of aloofness.

She looked a little worse for wear, but overall, she looked fine.

" What happened? I can't seem to remember anything from after that man appeared."

Morgan sighed, staring into the fire.

The yellow flames danced in a mesmerizing pattern, reflected in his brown eyes.

" After that man appeared, the Council heads tried to fight him, but from the looks of things, he got the better of them.

Emily pierced him with a serious gaze.

" You mean they lost?"

Morgan slowly nodded.

" I honestly couldn't tell what was going on anymore once they started fighting. They moved so fast, it was unlike anything I've seen before."

He paused, staring at her.

" All I could hear were explosions and the occasional flash of light as the fight continued."

Morgan looked skeptical, not quite believing the truth himself.

" After a few seconds, we all began to move into the portal. It was like everyone was in a trance. Unable to do anything except follow along with his instructions."

Morgan paused, his eyes narrowing in contemplation.

The fire crackled gently, and a few embers floated into the air.

After a while, he continued.

" I stayed conscious for some reason, but that was about it. My body was still under that man's control. When we entered the rift, the people in front of me vanished."

Morgan's expression turned grim.

" The only reason I can think of for that happening is that it was his doing. He wanted to split us up."

Emily stared at him, frowning.

" What would he achieve by doing that?"

Just then, a creature howled in the distance.

" What is that?"

The howl was bestial, unlike anything Morgan had heard before.

Both of them froze, turning in the direction of the sound.

Morgan hurriedly put out the fire.

It'll just act as a beacon for whatever is out there," he explained.

" And right now, we don't even know what kind of monsters are lurking out there."

A few seconds passed in silence, then another creature roared back in challenge.

They sat silently in the darkness.

From the bestial roars that followed, a fierce fight had begun.

A strained wail cut through the night, then a savage snapping sound.

The night was shrouded in silence once more.

" That was fast," Morgan thought.

" We should get some sleep; we'll try to climb down the mountain tomorrow."

He lay down on the ground, wiggling about a bit to get comfortable.

Emily looked at him in the darkness, tracing his outline.

" Wouldn't we be heading towards that creature we heard just now?"

Morgan sighed in the darkness.

" That we would, but as far as I know, it's the only option we have at the moment."

Emily was still unconvinced.

" What about going further up? There would probably be fewer creatures, and we'd be safer."

Morgan shook his head.

" There's a flaw with your reasoning. I don't think going higher up the mountain means that we'll encounter fewer creatures. We don't know that for sure."

He turned, shifting into a more comfortable position.

The sleek suits were quite comfy, so the cold wasn't really a problem.

" But what I do know is that right now, we don't have food. And we need to find a way out of this place, back to Earth, or at least meet up with some of the others."

" I think I know why he split us up," Emily said quietly.

" Do tell."

" There's safety in numbers. I vaguely remember him saying things would be more interesting that way. I think I understand what he meant now."

Morgan closed his eyes.

" Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

In a different place, Lucian was staring at the unconscious forms of Cassius and Samantha.

One minute, he'd been watching the heads of Council fight the mysterious man, then in the next moment, he was standing in the middle of nowhere.

" What the hell?"

He spun around in place. The ground around him was barren and dry, but in the distance, he could hear the sound of running water.

"Strange, water, but no sign of life?"

He moved in the direction of the river and came across a body sprawled on the ground.

" Is he dead?"

Lucian instantly became wary.

He cautiously approached the body, his eyes darting around, scanning his surroundings for any sign of movement.

He unsheathed the knife holstered to his thigh, slowly creeping forward.

His eyes widened in recognition of the person on the ground.

" This, this is Cassius."

The dreadlocked talent was out cold, lying in the open.

Lucian carefully examined him, finding that he was still breathing and appeared to have no injuries.

He sighed in relief.

" Honestly, it's a miracle nothing has gotten to him at this point."

Lucian carefully picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder.

For all his shortcomings, Lucian was still an aspirant and a scion of a Great House.

He was also the son of the current head of House Ash.

Compared to the ordinary teenage boy, his strength was still far above average, so carrying the muscular Talented would only slow him down a bit.

" From the looks of things, something must have happened during the fight with the masked man, and we somehow ended up here."

A feeling of dread tightened his gut. The memory of Lucas flying through the rift hit him like a sucker punch.

Lucian stopped in his tracks, trying to remember what had happened after that.

" Did they lose? What about grandfather?!"

His eyes moved around, carefully observing his surroundings.

" From the looks of things, we're probably in Tenebris.

He observed his surroundings once more, noting the mountain range in the distance.

" The mountains should offer a good vantage point, but I can't make the journey with Cassius in such a short period of time."

The sun, obscured by the dark grey clouds, was slowly beginning its descent in Tenebris.

" I need to get us a place to spend the night, and I need to do it before nightfall."

He swiftly began to jog at a light pace.

Just then, he heard a howl in the distance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a large creature running towards him on all fours.

"Just my luck, shit."

He swiftly increased his pace.

His eyes widened when he saw a low embankment in the distance.

He ran towards it swiftly.

" Hopefully, whatever that thing is, it hasn't noticed me yet."

A sharp howl proved him wrong.

He ran, frantically pumping his legs for all he was worth.

The creature gave chase, swiftly devouring the distance between them.

" Don't turn back, don't turn back, just keep running."

He jumped down and then noticed a hole in the rocky embankment.

He desperately shoved Cassius into the hole, then climbed in himself.

His heart thumped wildly.

Just then, he noticed something lying on the ground a few metres from the hole.

" Wait, is that someone else?. Ah shit!"

He scrambled out of the burrow, then unceremoniously grabbed the person's hand and bolted towards the hole.

He roughly dragged them behind him, scrambling into the hole.

A split second later, the creature landed, its jaws snapping in the air and just barely missing the person's legs.

It peered into the burrow, trying to force its head through.

Lucian froze at the sight of it.

" What the hell is this thing?!"