Heart of Darkness: Book One: Goddess of Dragons

Chapter Two: Plotting and Planning

O

ver four centuries come and go. The Former Goddesses have passed away, and their children’s children all inherited the wings they were promised. It came to be that those of the Earth had chosen to forget about the people of Noir Lune and Sole Luminoso, and they became a mere memory.

On the other hand, the people of Sole Luminoso wanted nothing more than to pay back the people of Noir Lune for the loss of their Gods. Their hate for the people of Noir Lune grew so great that they sought to destroy not only the people but the world itself. But Serena had her own problems to deal with. As time passed more of her people moved farther away from the Heart of Darkness as the population grew. To

keep order, she allowed two men to rule her kingdom while she handled her duties as Goddess.

Laden took over part of the ruling of Noir Lune. He ruled over the South, while a man named Rayon ruled the Northern part of Noir Lune. Because of his arrogance, Laden caused the kingdoms to become divided.

It had been four years since Laden and Rayon started to rule the kingdoms, and before Rayon ruled his grandfather ruled the Northern part of Noir Lune. Serena had been close to King Rayon’s father, and she was close to King Rayon who for a long time had desired her, this was nothing new to Serena for most of the men she met had at one time or another desired her.

With the war drawing near, falling in love was the last thing on Serena’s mind all her concentration and energy was being put towards the upcoming battle. She knew she had at least four years of Noir Lune's time before Sole Luminoso would figure out a decent strategy, so she knew she had some time to solve the issue of the kingdoms being divided. King Rayon had a son who was just about to turn sixteen, but because of the division Serena never met him.

Much time passed and Laden grew more and more fond of Serena. He fell in love with her, or so he thought he was. But Serena felt no more than a liking toward him. She knew he wasn’t worth her time, and she wanted someone she would be able to spend eternity, with not just a lifetime.

Time flew and Serena devised a plan that would strengthen her beyond the strength she had now. She knew that she needed to have as much darkness and hate in her as possible, for the more darkness she had in her soul the stronger she became. When she had absorbed the power of the Gods and Goddesses, their powers affected the amount of darkness she had in her soul. She knew that the only way

She turns to give her last orders to Laden and to say goodbye, sighing again as she sees Radin lying on the floor by the throne giving Laden a disgusted look.

They have never gotten along since day one and their relationship has gotten more and more hostile every year that Laden has been there. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if Radin couldn’t talk but since Serena had given him not only the gift of speech but the gift of immortality it was very difficult to get him to be quiet when he had an opinion about something.

Laden looks at Serena and asks, “What’s wrong Serena, you seem sad?”

Serena nods, “I am going to miss being home. I hate having to go, but this seems to be the only way for me to get stronger, so I am going to go through with it and deal with being homesick.”

Radin approaches Serena and nuzzles her leg in comfort. She kneels and puts her arms around Radin and hugs him tightly, “I’ll miss you the most Radin you know I love you.” Then she kisses the top of his head and stands up, “It’s time I got going.”

Laden watches Serena and says before she can walk away, “Do you have to go right now I was hoping you could stay a bit longer and help me get an army together.”

Serena glares, “That is your job Laden, and if I find out you didn’t do as I asked, I swear I will make you regret it for the rest of your life. Besides I need to go now the sooner I am back the better off we will be.” She turns to leave and as she walks out, she says, “You had better treat Radin well, I will know if you don’t. Goodbye Laden. Bye Radin I will see you in twenty weeks or so.”

As Serena walks out the door of the throne room and heads out of the Night Castle, Laden walks to the window and watches as she heads across the sands towards the portal to Earth, as he watches he says, “Radin?”

He looks at Laden and replies in irritation, “What do you want Laden?” Laden turns to him and tells him, “I don’t want you seeing her until she returns, am I clear?” Laden continues after a brief pause, “Go tell Vearso and Veadon what they need to do so Serena can get started on her plans and be quick about it. Make sure you tell them to keep a close eye on her. These people are not what they seem to be. She is not to remember anything until Vearso and Veadon go to her.”

Radin glares at Laden and says, “You know your bossing me around is going to get old really quick. If it continues, I swear I will bite you and watch you bleed to death. Serena doesn’t need you and I am going to do everything I can to make sure she realises that. Besides I don’t understand why she must be taken to these people; from what I saw they are not the nicest people on earth. What if they hurt her or something, we both know she is going to be in a vulnerable state?”

Laden lets out an annoyed sigh, “That’s what the dragons are for. To watch out for her so they don’t do anything to her that she can’t handle, now I’m tired of explaining all this to you go do as you were told.”

“Laden go to hell. I'm sure Reaperiam would love a visit from you.” After seeing the fear come across Laden's face Radin gives him a wicked grin and leaves the room, heading towards the portal to earth where he sees Serena waiting for Vearso and Veadon.

As Serena hears him approach, she turns and gives him a big smile, “Did you decide to come with me Radin?” She asks, with hope.

Radin shakes his head, “No I just came to give Vearso and Veadon their instructions. Laden told me I am practically forbidden to come see you while you are on Earth, it's not fair. Vearso and Veadon get to go with you but I wish it were me. I’m just glad I got to see you before you left me for so long. I know that you won’t remember me for twenty years and it makes my heart sad to know that. We have always been together. I never thought we would be apart like this and now that the day is here, I don’t know how I will survive without you. The time we are going to be apart is going to be miserable for me. You have always been there to rescue me and now I'm going to be alone for the first time since I was a lost cub. What will I do without you, Serena?” He asks with tears streaming down his furry face.

She kneels down, hugs him gently, wipes away his tears, smiles and softly says, “You and I will always be together. There is a part of me in you as there is a part of you in me. I made a promise to you, Radin, and I never break my promises. So here is your order from not only your goddess but your best friend. On my eighteenth birthday, you are to come and see me. Just don’t tell me anything of my past. I know I won’t remember you, but I know that even if I don’t my heart will always hold a place for you in it. A place no one will ever take. Make sure that when you see me you tell me some of our history that way I can

understand that it’s not just a dream anymore. It will give me hope. I know that what I will have to go through will be unpleasant but if it helps our people then so be it. Do not feel sorrow in your heart for me my friend I will be back sooner than you think. I have one more job for you, dear one. I want you to keep an eye on Laden while I am gone. I have a deep suspicion about something, and I know you won’t lie to me. Other than that, try not to miss me too much my sweet kitty, you know I love you. When Vearso and

Veadon get here tell them the plan and send them to me on the other side. Goodbye, Radin.”

After smiling at him one last time, she turns and goes through the portal to wait for her dragons on the other side. It was in this moment that Radin realised how much he truly loved and cared for Serena. She was his best friend and there was no one else that was ever there for him as she always was. No one who could compare to what she had done for him. Serena had given him the gift of speech and immortality so they could always be together and yet he knew that now even with her love continuing to be with him he would truly be alone for the next twenty weeks of his life.

While he sat in thought Vearso and Veadon arrived, messing around as usual.

Radin growled quietly, “Took you two long enough to get here, Serena is waiting for you on the other side already you fools. Here’s what you have to do.” When Radin was done he ran back to the Night Castle.

Serena sits waiting at the entrance of Noir Lune when she finally sees Vearso and Veadon come through. “What took you two so long? I’ve been waiting here for you.” She asks her anger clearly showing on her face.

“Sorry master, but we were detained by Radin, I thought he’d never shut up and I was going to die from boredom.” Veadon says with a laugh.

She gives him an angry look, and retorts back, “Well how about you shut up and do your job, Veadon so we aren’t standing here all damn day. Time is precious it’s not something we can afford to waste right now you i***t. Now get to it.”

Veadon shrugged and blew fire into her face, then Vearso blows into her face and they watch as she turns from full grown adult goddess to a small infant. As she transforms the

two dragons, she has ingrained into her back become small blemishes.

After turning themselves invisible, they take Serena to the foster home they were directed to. They set her on the doorstep in a small basket with a letter gently laid on her chest and then ring the bell. After ringing the bell, they hide far enough away to where no one can sense their presence.

After a few moments the door opens and a woman around the age of twenty-four looks out. Upon seeing Serena in the basket, she yells out to her husband, “Harold come quick you have to see this!”

Her husband Harold yells back, “What is it Jane?!”

“There is a baby on our doorstep.” Jane says as he gets to the door. She picks up the note and reads it to herself.

Harold and Jane had been married around five years and had not had a child of their own. Jane had desired a child for so long and yet Harold wanted nothing to do with children. The children they did foster for short periods of times were always a burden to him, but to Jane they were the one thing she always wanted herself, so when Jane saw Serena on her doorstep, she took her in and took care of her, For a while. On the other hand, Harold hated Serena because he was jealous of the affection and attention his wife was giving to her and not to him.

When his wife left Serena with him, he would beat her, a few times he nearly thought he had killed her but somehow, she would always keep breathing.

Jane had a son a few years after adopting Serena and when she had her own child Serena ended up being a burden to them so inevitably, they both ended up treating her with hate. They treated her as if she was nothing more than a mere annoyance. When their youngest son Joseph was born,

he was also treated with hate because he had been an accident, they hadn’t meant to have another child.

They treated him as they treated Serena. They treated them like outcasts.

Meanwhile in Sole Luminoso the Counsel of Light was in great distress. After having seen the slaughter of their Gods they knew it was only a matter of time before the Goddess of Darkness came for them. After the gods had been destroyed the people of Sole Luminoso needed a leader.

However, there were some who did not want just one person to lead them, so there was a Counsel of Light made, a group of men who could give advice to the king.

The King of Light Vladamir was worried but not as much as all the others. Vladamir had been in love with Serena since he was a small child. When he had grown older, he had hoped that she would go with him to Sole Luminoso, but Serena felt that he was merely trying to use his love as a trap to have her killed.

But that was not Vladimir’s intention at all. He truly did love her with all his heart and was willing to give up almost everything for her.

After many months of well thought planning he has reached an interesting conclusion. “Allen,” he says to his assistant, “I know what I must do. I must have Brillando make me into a child of the Earth and become stronger. If the people, there treat me with true kindness and love then I will become more powerful and stronger in a sense that I will be able to bring more people over from Noir Lune. Once they see how kind I am then they will want to turn their hearts against the darkness and turn toward the light. This will help us have more men and hopefully defeat Serena.”

At least that is what he told his assistant his reason was. In Vladimir’s mind he had a completely different thought than the one he spoke aloud.

He hoped that by becoming nicer and kinder that he could turn Serena to the light and claim her as his own.

The Light counsel had wanted to rid themselves of Vladamir for some time and they saw this as their opportunity to do so, they knew he had feelings for Serena, and they wanted to use this against him to get rid of him. They hated having a man from Noir Lune rule them. For the Light Counsel it was almost as bad as having a woman rule them.

So, they would allow him to carry out his plan that way when they proved it was for a selfish motive then they could kill him or banish him from Sole Luminoso. They hated Vladamir because they wanted all the power to themselves.

Vladimir’s kindness and care for the people won him their hearts, respect, and loyalty and they followed him willingly. When the Light Counsel came to be, things changed, and they felt that they would be better off getting rid of the king.

Vladamir left Solo Luminoso with no special powers only with the love he had for Serena and the light in his heart. After he crossed the barrier Brillando the god of Light

changed him into a baby and took him to where he knew Vladamir would be loved and cared for.

As Brillando walked away from Vladamir and his new family, he hoped that Vladamir would get what he wanted from all he was doing.