A World Apart: The Chronicles of Delilah Faylinn

The End Is Nigh

  To his horror, he had almost forgotten what the Dark Empress looked like. She held onto the features of Delilah but she was so dark and empty in her appearance. Lovell imagined that if Delilah was a ghost this is probably what she would look like, he tried to shake the thought out of his head. The Dark Empress just watched him as he attempted to place the mirror in the middle of the room, she could not help but to tease him a little bit by asking him to move a little more to the left or right. In his frustration he slammed it in position where he felt he wanted it to be and then she began to speak to him. 

(Dark Empress) Did you miss me, lover boy? I have missed you it has been a while since our last encounter has it not? 

(Lovell) Enough with the games! You said you would only wake her up when she came back to you! She is here, so do what you said you would do, you evil wench! 

(Dark Empress) Now there is no need for name calling! I am still your queen! How dare you speak to me in that manner?! 

(Lovell) You are no queen of mine! You have no throne here! Your days of playing queen are over! 

(Dark Empress) Over! Tsk, tsk my boy they are just beginning! You have not seen the worst of me yet! 

(Lovell) Get over yourself and wake Delilah, now! 

(Dark Empress) You must do something for me first! For your repetitive insolence, you will bow before me and beg for my forgiveness! 

(Lovell) Absolutely not! 

(Dark Empress) Then no deal! I don’t need her to be awake for me to drain her! 

(Lovell) But you do need her awake for her to will you her power don’t you? 

(Dark Empress) What are you talking about boy?! You know nothing of the matters between Delilah and myself! 

    In that moment Lovell realized how he was going to bait the Elemental to come out of the mirror. He was going to have to play on her pride and self-esteem. She seems so sure of herself but there is that present sense of insecurity the Elemental seems to display when her position is being threatened. 

(Dark Empress) What do you think you know about me, boy? 

(Lovell) Oh nothing at all, just that maybe you are not as powerful as you claim to be or that you don’t have as much control as you think you have! 

(Dark Empress) I am powerful! Definitely more powerful than anyone on this plane! I can show you better than I can tell you! 

    The Elemental woke Delilah in one moment and in the very next brought Lovell writhing in pain to his knees in absolute agony. Delilah opened her eyes to witness Lovell howling in pain. 

(Delilah) Stop it! Let him go! He has no part in this! 

(Dark Empress) I want you to watch, he challenged my power and for that he will pay! Besides I will stop as soon as you walk yourself back into this mirror! With everything I have done for you and you have the audacity to treat me in the manner that you have! 

(Delilah) I am sorry! I will do as you ask, just let him go please! I beg of you! 

(Dark Empress) Are you saying that you are ready to will me your powers then?! 

(Lovell) Don’t give her anything Delilah! 

    Lovell said as he managed to let out somewhat of a snicker as the pain continued to shoot through his entire body. The Elemental shot a look in his direction that might have dropped him where he stood if looks could kill. 

(Lovell) She is weak without you Delilah, now that you have more control over yourself there is little she can do anymore! 

(Dark Empress) How dare you continue to speak, I should destroy you where you stand! 

(Lovell) But you can’t, now can you?! You never could, not unless Delilah allowed you to do it! 

(Dark Empress) What you speak is preposterous! Of course I can kill you!

(Lovell) Then why don’t you show us just how powerful you are! Come out here and show us what you can do! 

(Delilah) Lovell, what are you doing? You know she cannot come out of the mirror! She would have done it by now if she could! 

(Dark Empress) Stupid fools! I am more powerful than either of you can possibly know! This mirror is merely a tool that I use to do my bidding! If you want to see power I will be more than happy to show you!

    The Elemental released her hold over Lovell and as they both stood in front of the mirror it began to shake. The mirror began to shake even more violently as Lovell and Delilah backed away not knowing exactly what was happening. The mirror began to moan and groan as if to explode at any moment. Lovell and Delilah looked at each other and reached for one another’s hands as the mirror grew and towered over them as if it intended to swallow them whole. 

(Dark Empress) What is with the expressions on your faces? You asked to see my power, did you not? You know it is said that you should always be careful of what you wish for! What do you think of my power now?! 

    Delilah and Lovell continued to back away from an ever growing mirror, while looking at each other with nothing but fear in their eyes. 

(Lovell) She is just taunting us Delilah, be brave! This is all for show!

(Dark Empress) You still doubt my strength? I tire of your arrogance! 

    With those words, the dark figure that was the Dark Empress stretched itself out of the mirror with what seemed to be quite a bit of strain. It twisted and pulled in every direction as if it was fighting with the force of the mirror to get out. Soon it became very apparent that the mirror had some power of its own and the struggle between the two became all the more obvious. It was almost as if the mirror was trying to protect it by not allowing it to separate itself. Lovell and Delilah just watched the tussle between the two as they looked on in utter astonishment. They began to wonder if it could actually pull off separating itself from the mirror, because it seemed not to want to let her go. After what seemed to be an eternity of waiting, Delilah began to prepare herself for the fight that she knew was coming. The Elemental appeared to be winning the fight against the mirror, with one hand finally free it struck the mirror and froze it in place. This allowed it to get the rest of its body out of the mirror with far less strain. As soon as the Dark Empress had completely released itself from the mirror, Lovell and Delilah realized a change in its appearance. It no longer looked like Delilah it was a tall, dark soulless looking creature with no face and a disfigured wayward looking shape that appeared to be its body. When Lovell looked closer at the figure he realized what it really was. 

(Lovell) Delilah, this creature is a shade! 

(Delilah) What is a shade? 

(Lovell) To best describe it, it is parasitic dark spirit. It feeds off of its host in order to survive! 

(Delilah) So what does that mean?

(Lovell) It totally explains why it needed you to will it your powers! It cannot exist in a true physical form without taking over the life of its host! It has no real body of its own! 

(Dark Empress) I may not have a physical form of my own but I still have enough power to get rid of you! 

    Before the Dark Empress was able to strike, Lovell took the moment as his opportunity to destroy the mirror that the being just came out of, especially with it being frozen. He did not want to give it the chance to put Delilah back into it, so he raised his hand and let out a horrendous flame that shot straight out to the mirror that shattered it into a million pieces. The Dark Empress turned around to see the mirror shatter onto the floor and let out a bellowing scream. 

(Dark Empress) Whaaaaaaaat have you done?! You wretched being! Do you know what you have done?! 

    The Dark Empress did not even give Lovell the chance to make a smart comeback. In its anger, it froze him in place and then immediately went for him wanting the satisfaction of strangling him with its own bare hands. It had never been without its mirror throughout the entirety of its existence. Although it had been only a mere a tool to protect it and store its power, the Dark Empress had become completely dependent on it. With the mirror being gone it felt completely vulnerable but there was no way that it was about to let on that it was. 

(Dark Empress) I will make you pay for this with your life, you imbecile! 

(Delilah) Leave him alone, this is between you and I! 

    To protect Lovell, Delilah jumped in front of him, she then unfroze him and shifted him out of the room and locked the door. She then transported herself and the Dark Empress outside of the compound to get them as far away from people as she could. 

(Delilah) This is between you and I, whatever you are! Your reign over this world is officially over! 

(Dark Empress) Oh look who grew a backbone! You think you have what it takes to face me! 

(Delilah) I know I do! You are nothing but a copy of an original! Any power you have is not your own! 

(Dark Empress) A copy! How dare you?! My power is as old as time itself, which means that it is pure and undiluted! Your power is only of Faylinn origin! What can you do to me, what plant me a garden?! Don’t make me laugh! 

(Delilah) For a spirit that has been around for so long haunting the Faylinn line, I would think you would know a lot more than what you think is just Faylinn magic or were you too busy possessing hosts to pay attention to just how much our magic has grown through many generations. Where do you think your power came from?!

(Dark Empress) You talk as if you know about it? You never exercised your Faylinn magic you were too obsessed with hatred for them to practice your magic at all! 

(Delilah) Oh, I know plenty about it. While you were out there so called being queen, I had plenty of time to practice while trapped in the mirror!

(Dark Empress) You are lying! You were too weak to do anything! I drained you of all the energy you had! 

(Delilah) You only thought you did. That was the image I painted for you so you could not see what I was really up to. Lovell and the house staff brought me books and food and with all the free time I had on my hands… I became a great student of my craft! 

(Dark Empress) That Lovell! The two of you have stalled my plans for the last time! I have decided I no longer need you to "will" me your power I am strong enough to just do away with you! 

    The Dark Empress lunged towards Delilah figuring that now they were separated that it could do what it wished with her. It sent curse after curse in Delilah’s direction which cut and bruised her as Delilah did the same. Delilah shot electric bolts from her hands in an effort to strike the elemental, but it dodged most of them. The ones that did hit it caused her little harm. The Dark Empress realized it no longer had a hold on Delilah’s body and had to continue to try to inflict bodily harm, so it grew a wave of water under her feet that whirled and grew around her until it was as if she became submerged in a ball of water. The Dark Empress was trying to drown her! Delilah tossed and turned as she could no longer breathe, and it held the water up until it thought that she had succeeded. Delilah thought to herself how she could escape being completely surrounded by water she could not simply swim out. She then thought to herself if she could turn the water solid she may have a chance. Surviving only with the air left in her lungs she froze the water solid and then exploded out in a surging force of light. Delilah then stretched her hands towards the moon and harnessed its light, then proceeded to reflect a concentrated beam at the Dark Empress, which blinded her. It gave Delilah enough time to also attempt to encase the Dark Empress into a body of stone by using the large rocks that she was then surrounded by. The Dark Empress reversed the impending impact of the large stones and sent them flying back at Delilah. Delilah’s blood began to boil in her frustration and steam seemed to rise off of her body with smoke escaping her nostrils. Before the Dark Empress could strike her with another rock Delilah had transformed herself into a dragon and threw a slew of fire at the Dark Empress, which burned her beyond repair, but instead of giving up she saw it as a challenge. 

(Dark Empress) Now you are finally starting to get it! 

(Delilah) I will not let you win! 

(Dark Empress) So this is how you want to play! Let’s play! 

    The Dark Empress now sensing that she had finally met her match began to get angry. As her anger grew the sunburnt sky filled with fire and smoke that previously existed had now changed into a violent storm. Clouds filled with rain blew in from what seemed to be out of nowhere and thunder and lightning began to strike. She began to spin in the very spot she was standing in and as she spun the earth and air surrounding her started to whirl around her turning her into a disastrous tornado. Once she formed completely she surrounded herself around Delilah. As she spun she deprived Delilah of air that she needed in order breathe fire and sent her crashing back down to the ground as she suffocated. The impact caused the ground to shake and split as Delilah attempted to catch her breath and recover. Now as a tornado, the Dark Empress spiraled into the ground, which opened the earth as if there was an earthquake by which she intended for Delilah to fall in. As a dragon, Delilah now had the gift of flight and went straight for the Dark Empress. She struck the Elemental with her tail which interrupted her concentration, forced her back to her original form and sent it falling into one of the giant trenches that she had thus created when she opened the earth. The Dark Empress was able to stop herself from crashing once she came to by levitating herself back above the ground to where she once stood. In the same instant, the Dark Empress sent down acid rain, which ravaged the wings of the dragon and prevented its ability to fly. It forced Delilah to return to her original form and with all the magic she had to use to transform it had weakened her resolve. 

    Delilah was beginning to doubt her ability to fend for herself against the Elemental, because she was indeed stronger. Sensing Delilah’s distress to her aid had come the most unexpected of guests. The spirits of the Faylinn  that resided in the secret library left through the walls of the compound and encircled around Delilah as a tight shield. The Dark Empress saw them and then yielded attack after attack at Delilah as it paraded around the circle in an effort to break the shield but to no avail. One of the spirits turned around and winked at Delilah and whispered to her that a spirit cannot harm another spirit, so the Elemental’s efforts were useless against them. In a last attempt, the Dark Empress conjured up a slew of dark spirits from the ground to distract the spirits protecting Delilah. The dark spirits charged the light spirits in an attempt to create an opening for the Dark Empress to strike Delilah. Another of the spirits turned to Delilah and whispered to that they would not be able to hold off the dark spirits and protect her at the same time and that it was time to show the Dark Empress just what she was made of. Delilah understood exactly what it meant and began to absorb the energy once again of every spirit that encircled her so much so that her eyes turned ghostly white in color just like the spirits own as she levitated above the ground. When the spirits felt she was ready, they opened a thorough way just large enough for her to strike the Dark Empress. When the Dark Empress saw the opening it decided to attempt to charge Delilah again, but much to its demise, it was too late; Delilah struck first with a force that was more than her own was. It was as if she had personally embodied all the revenge the Faylinn line had been waiting to take out on the Elemental after all of this time and after many generations of defeat. Delilah struck the Dark Empress with everything she had and with all that was within her. She emitted so much force of power that it had completely exhausted her although it was enough to weaken the evil spirit to the point of no return. The power that it took to weaken the Dark Empress in turn drained Delilah as she fell unconscious to the floor. 

    The spirits wanted to make sure that the evil spirit could not return but they knew that they themselves could not finish her off. The spirits then carried Delilah back to the secret library to rest and they informed Lovell where she was. Lovell and the rest of the staff rushed to the outside of the compound where Delilah had left the Dark Empress’s body. It writhed in pain and agony and screamed in defeat. 

(Dark Empress) You think you can defeat darkness! Delilah is not as sweet and innocent as she looks, she will not survive without me! I will be seeing you soon, lover boy! 

(Lovell) What does that mean?! Tell me! 

    As they looked on they knew she was finished there was no way she could recover from the state she was left in and it was not long before she vanished into thin air leaving behind a stream of smoke rising from a pile of ashes. Finally, the evil spirit was no more. Lovell immediately ran to aid Delilah only to find that the spirits of the secret library where carrying her off. They assured Lovell that she was alive and would be fine that she was just a little weak and they were only hanging around to let her feed off of their energy. They bade him to let them watch over her for a while so that they could teach her everything they knew since she was the last Faylinn. Lovell agreed and let them go on their way. Lovell then issued a proclamation that the war was indeed over and had the guards deliver it far and wide. It stated….

“You have all been fooled into thinking that Delilah and who you have come to know as the Dark Empress was one in the same but the Dark Empress has indeed been defeated, she can t*****e you no more! Your families are safe! You may now return home and begin to rebuild your lives. Delilah is safe and once she is able, she will address you all in a formally in a manner of her choosing. We shall celebrate this new chapter in our lives by ending all previous traditions, and living our lives together as one world!" 

Your humble servant, Lovell Radagast 

    The news spread all over, and the people celebrated in the streets rejoicing that their days of torment were finally over. Everyone busied themselves in to bring their cities back from the devastation and loss that it had suffered and endured during the terrible reign of the Dark Empress. All of the people who lost their lives were buried in a large memorial. All of the monuments that was built for the Dark Empress’ vanity were torn down and burned. Lovell decided that it would be better for Delilah and himself to remain in the Faylinn compound and to keep it as their residence. He saw no need to return to his father’s home as it had never been much of a home to him. He allowed the house staff and guards to take up residence in the other homes of the compound if they chose or they could return to their own homes. Most of them had decided to stay as they realized that they had become a part of something much bigger than themselves and wanted to remain loyal to Lovell and Delilah to which they felt they owed their lives. 

    All the while Delilah’s body was unconscious in the library, unbeknownst to everyone a part of her had left and travelled to another plane of existence. This plane was unlike her home world of Idris it was more like a void filled with haziness, mountains and plateaus. She woke up there only to find herself standing in front of a gateway with someone or something standing over her with a piece of parchment and a quill resting on a podium. 

(Delilah) Where am I? 

(Figure) You are in the land of unfortunate souls, come forth and be judged. 

(Delilah) Am I dead?! 

(Figure) Silence! I must find your name and decide where you are to spend eternity. 

(Delilah) Oh no! I am dead! 

(Figure) What is your name? 

(Delilah) It’s Delilah, Delilah Faylinn. 

(Figure) I see no Delilah here! What is your real name? 

(Delilah) That is my name! 

(Figure) What are you playing at? I do not have time for games! Wait a minute; let me have a better look at you! 

(Delilah) What’s wrong? 

    The figure proceeded to look through and over Delilah finally understanding why her name was not on the parchment. 

(Figure) You do not belong here. You are incomplete. 

(Delilah) What do you mean incomplete? 

(Figure) You are not whole, a part of you is missing and that is possibly the reason you have come here. 

(Delilah) I do not understand! What is this place?! 

(Figure) As I said before this is the land of unfortunate souls. Spirits, shades, and souls alike that have had their lives abruptly ended or have not fulfilled their purpose end up here and I am the caretaker. 

(Delilah) Did you say shade?! 

    A bit intrigued the figure looked over Delilah again with an inquisitive look on its face. 

(Figure) Ah, yes! You had a shade attached to you didn’t you?! 

(Delilah) Yes, I did and now it is not, so what! 

(Figure) I have heard of the possibility but have never seen it actually happen!

(Delilah) It is not with me anymore, so why am I here? 

(Figure) You are here because you are not whole without it; it is a part of you and has been since birth. 

(Delilah) What? That cannot be possible! 

(Figure) It no longer exists on your plane and being that you are here it must be as well. You cannot survive without it. 

(Delilah) I do not understand! 

(Figure) Poor child! I cannot offer you any more information as this is beyond my understanding. All I can tell you is this… you must find it, and take it back with you. You must hurry! The longer you stay here the more you will truly die. The shade and you are one, you were never meant to be separated. 

(Delilah) It tried to kill me! 

(Figure) The fact of the matter still remains. Find it or remain here for eternity.