Dark Divine

Chapter 1

Alina ran as fast as her feet could carry her until she collapsed from exhaustion. Her damp hair stuck to her face in clumps and blurred her vision. Trailing behind her was a path of dead grass and weeds. Even with her shoes on, the death emanating from her body wilted and killed everything her feet touched. Just minutes before, she had woken in the forest, with a squirrel sniffing at her outstretched hand. She opened her eyes just in time for it to squeal in pain and writhe in agony before dying. There was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.

Tears streamed down her face as she got up on her feet and desperately tried to run away from everything. Run away from herself. Run away from death. There was no escaping it, she could not escape from herself. She dropped to the soft ground and submitted to her misery. Her cries of pain almost sounding like sad music as it blended in with the sounds of the wind in the trees, and the birds, chirping. Life was all around her, but she could take no part in it without killing it. The grass beneath her was rapidly drying up and dying in a radiating circle around her. There she kneeled, on the ground, in her circle of death.

Magnus easily followed the trail of the dark fae he was ordered to find. The creature was certainly dangerous, judging by the destruction in its wake, but he would be able to handle it. It was his job as a realm executer. Whenever he received reports of dark fae that represented a threat to the human realm, he was the one who took care of the problem. Balance had to be maintained, and he was very efficient at his job.

As he deftly trekked along the path of destruction, he heard a sound that didn’t belong there. It was musical, and pitiful at the same time. He crouched low as he walked the rest of the way towards his target. As he cleared a few more bushes, he saw her. She was kneeling in a circle of dead grass, her ink black hair whipping wildly around her body. A plain, white dress was stained and dirty, and it clung to her tiny frame as if trying to hang on for dear life. Her pale skin almost glowed in the rays of light that had made it to the forest floor.

She was crying into her hands.

As he crept closer to her, she jerked her head up. Black eyes peered at him in alarm from behind impossibly long lashes. She looked quite shocking with her pale face and blood red lips, black eyes, and jet black hair. She looked like an ethereal angel of death.

“Get back, please!” she yelled with her arms outstretched in a motion to stop him.

“Why, are you afraid I’m going to hurt you, little one?” he asked in an emotionless voice.

“N-no. I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you. You shouldn’t get any closer.” She sniffed softly.

“It’s very hard to hurt me.” He said as he stepped closer to her. She stood up and started slowly backing away, with panic showing in her beautiful eyes.

“At this moment, you should be more worried about yourself, dark fae." He practically spit out. “I have been sent to locate you and eliminate your black presence from this realm. You should make peace with your dark gods now, because soon it will all be over for your existence.”

Her arms fell to her sides. “Oh,” she said softly. “You must be an executer. I have heard of your kind.” She bowed her head down, and closed her eyes, but she remained standing. As he approached her, she lifted her face to gaze up to his eyes. Her expression never wavered and it spoke of acceptance to her fate. Well, he thought. This was going to be easier than expected. Unless it was a trick of some kind. He had to be very careful with this target. In all the years he had led as an executer, he knew nothing was as easy as it might seem.

He lifted his hand toward her, and a strange purple light pulsed from his palm as he slowly walked forward. She started to feel weak and dizzy. By the time he was standing in front of her, her whole body was vibrating. She felt his hand wrap around her arm, and she saw the glint of a razer sharp dagger appear in his other hand.

“No! she screamed and opened her eyes. “You mustn’t touch me! You will die!” She desperately tried to back away from his hold on her.

His grip remained tight as she struggled to get away from him. “How can you be so worried about me, when you are the one who is about to die?” He sounded puzzled.

She looked up into his face. Her eyes had lost their black tint, and now they were an icy blue. They widened in shock. His hand slackened slightly, but it remained around her arm. She started looking around her.

“The darkness, it is gone! What have you done to me?”