Alliance With Shadows

Chapter 2

            Why could he not have been born on earth? Why did he have to be raised as a darkling? Light blue eyes reflected in what little water he had in the realm. This part of the realm was a war zone it seemed, or even hell itself. Why did his father have to raise him? He never asked to be raised a darkling. He wanted to be on Earth with his mother.  His mother was a darkling that wanted to be human. His father found her beauty to be worthy of his love. He ended up raping the poor Wood Sprite leaving her with child only to go back nine months later and gather his reward, a son to take his throne one day. Then years later he made sure she was a dead sprite to never speak of his deed. Looking at his reflection he found he had his mother’s eyes, or at least that’s what his father always said. As for all of his other features, he looked like his father; the black as coal hair, which he kept short and spiky. He didn't like the long hair the other darkling’s seemed to sport, including his father. He turned to find a floor-length mirror, one of the female darkling’s left for him in his room; he never really paid much attention to them. They were all just darkling’s that had black as coal hearts and souls to match. They could care less about the Human Realm and its humanity. He was tall like his father, six-foot to be exact. As he looked over the scars that kissed his skin across his chest he found the brand that haunted his every dream. The brand that proved that he wasn't one of them, the demon he so dreaded to become.

            “Lucern, sir, his highness would like a word with you.” A screechy voice came from the other side of his bedroom door.

            Must be one of the nasty changeling’s, probably a rodent, they were his father’s favorite as far as servants go. An animal he could boss around.  “What does Halcyon want this time?” Lucern asked through the door.

            “His highness would like a word. He says it is of the highest importance.”

            Of course, it is. It always is with him. “Okay, tell him I will there in a few minutes.”

            “Yes, sir.” The darkling scuffled away, leaving behind the smell of rotting skin and death. Yep, it was defiantly a rodent, they always smelled of death. Grabbing his weapons and putting on his armor, he looked in the mirror one last time. He looked like death itself. With all the weapons, black armor, and black wings, he truly did. Walking out the door he prayed to the God that put his father in charge that he could forgive him for what he was born into and prayed that one day he could return to the one place he truly wanted to be; Earth.

***

            Walking through the portal, Mercy and the others were exhausted. What was only a few minutes in the realms were hours in the Human realm. She nodded at Morgan as she left the house, not realizing it was almost midnight. Wow, they went in there around three. Noticing Cadence slowly walking into her bedroom she heard a thump. Laughing when she realized it was just the impact of Cadence falling into her bed. Walking out into the living room she found Xander asleep on the couch with the TV still going. Walking around him, she turned off the TV and covered him with a blanket and placed a soft kiss on his cheek and whispered, “I love you. Sweet dreams big brother.” Then silently walked away hearing him mumble, “I wuv you, sis. Be careful.”

            Smiling, “I will. I promise.” This was a promise she could possibly break. She silently walked down the hallway towards her old room she decided to first check on her parents before she left. Slowly opening their door she found both her mother and father sleeping soundly, and the room smelling of roses and newly-fallen rain. It always smelled like that, her mother always smelled of roses and new-fallen rain, one of the many benefits of having a mother that was a Gnome. Slowly closing the door so as not to disturb them she turned facing her old door; thinking of her own place she opened the door to find she was entering the front door of her house. She smiled, having the ability to open portals was a must-have. It was the first thing she wanted to learn how to do. Closing the door behind her she hiked herself up the stairs to her bedroom; she smiled at the sight of her bed. She ran and jumped onto it with a loud thud as the bed frame hit the wall. SHE LOVED THIS BED!!! It felt as if she were lying on a soft cloud, she smiled. She could remember when she had just receiver her wings that she would tuck her wings around her and fall asleep like that, her parents never understood why. She loved the way her feathers were soft and silky and that it provided the right amount of fluff that she would fall asleep in seconds. She was now too big to sleep within the comfort of her wings, so she found a bed that would provide her with the same comfort. Snuggling closer into the bed she cuddled up into her blankets to quickly find sleep awaiting her.

***

            Walking down the hallway, Lucern dreaded each step. Halcyon was going to ask him to kill someone he just knew it. Looking around he found the hallways as eerie as they always were. The hallways smelled of blood and rotting flesh, the stench alone could kill a human. They were filled with darkling’s talking about their latest kill, what they planned to do next, and as always about a mysterious woman named Mercy. Everyone knew her as the Death Angel; the killer of all darkling’s who dared to violate the treaty between the realms. Although the Light didn’t seem to know that his father was planning a rebellion to fight the Light and to start another war, he found it hard that they didn’t notice the number of darklings rebelling. Finding the door to Halcyon’s chamber that was only a couple feet away, Lucern let his black wings appear at full length and changed his eye color to the color of blood. It was his father’s favorite color, not that he cared but he didn’t want to anger the Dark Lord for having his ‘to human’  eyes. Slowly opening the large double doors, he bowed his head, “Your highness.” Then slowly lifting his head, to find Halcyon grinning like a tiger would after his first kill. “You called for me your highness?”

            “Yes, my loyal servant I have.”

            “What do you wish me to do?” He asked hoping with his entire damned darkling heart that it wasn't to kill.

            “You are my most trusted servant, my only son, my most trustworthy Valkyrie.” There was a snake-like quality each time he said his S's.

            “Yes your highness, I am humbled.”

            “Then why are you not doing more to further my domination over the Light Kingdom so that I may kill and do what I want with these disgusting human souls?” Halcyon ground his teeth. His son was worthless when it came to his plans of domination; it was why he never told his son all the details of his plans. No use of telling important information to a worthless pawn.

            “It is my duty to make sure that no one violates the treaty My Lord unless you have different orders, My Lord.” Lucern slowly bowed his head, knowing that was the wrong answer.

            Halcyon’s eyes glowed red with rage, “You will do as I say. The treaty is void; I wish to rule without the petty rules of the light governing over me. I am the High Lord of the Dark, and you are my servant are you not?”

            “Yes, your highness. I did not mean to question your authority. What have you assigned to me?”

            Halcyon grinned with pleasure, now this was where his plans were going to begin. Give his son an assignment he would not complete and watch as his beautiful pawns danced to his tone, “I will have you kill a young woman, a species in itself that has the sweetest of souls.”

            “What is her name sir?”

            “The name is Morgan. Morgan Thompson. You must come up with a name in the Human Realm.”

            “That is not a human My Lord; she is one of the Lights very own. You wish me to kill a whiteling?”

            “She has aligned herself with humans for many years. She is human by my standards and therefore will be killed as one. Do you have a problem with that Lieutenant?” Halcyon asked as if challenging his own son on where he stood in this war.

“No My Lord only wanting to clarify.” Lucern’s head was beginning to hurt. Why did he have to have this mission? He didn’t even want to be aligned with the Dark and now he had to kill a member of the Light? He had to find a way to escape the Dark and join the Light without breaking the Treaty.

“You are dismissed.” Halcyon waved him out, and then remembering a small detail with the mission he quickly called his name, “Lucern.”

            Lucern had already begun to leave, halting he turned, “Yes?”

            “If you fail you will be banished from my side as well as the Dark Realm. Forever. This overtaking is important to my reign.”

            Nodding Lucern quickly left the chamber. Walking to the room of portals he muttered under his breath, “You just made it easier to decide to fail. Then I will never have to come back here again.” He walked through the portal to the Human realm, quickly changing his eye color to its natural color and made his cursed black wings disappeared.

***

            Feeling as if someone was watching her Mercy popped her eyes open and punched the first thing she saw, which was, unfortunately, Xander’s face. Then she saw a slightly scared Cadence beside the now doubled over Xander. “What the heck are you guys doing in here? I'm trying to sleep! Get out of my house!” As Xander got back on his feet she hit him with her pillow and pulled it over her head.

            Xander rubbed his face, “Why the hell did you punch me like that sis and then you hit me with your pillow; teaches me to never be a loving brother. Plus you need to be more careful I had Cadence on my back I was lucky enough to get her off my back before I fell.” 

            “Yeah, sis I was on his back.” Cadence echoed.

            “Well, you should let a woman get her beauty sleep you know. And you shouldn’t sneak up on a Valkyrie unless you want the consequences. And how did you get into my house anyway?” Mercy's words were muffled from under the pillow.

            Ignoring the question Cadence laughed and jumped onto the bed, “Sissy you are already beautiful. I don't think it is possible to get any more beautiful. Come on Mercy wake up!” Cadence began to jump up and down on the bed to try to rouse her sister.

            “Cadence is right you're already beautiful,” Xander said smiling, trying to pry the pillow off of Mercy's face.

            “What is this? You guys ganging up on me?” Mercy said throwing the pillow away from her face. “And seriously there was too much love going on in those last three seconds.” Then Mercy tackled Cadence and started tickling her.

            Trying to get some sort of coherent word in, “Stop, stop that tickles stop,” Cadence yelled.

            “Oh no that would be too easy; I think Xander wants to join.” Mercy quickly turned to grab his arm and tugged him over beside Cadence.

            “Holy crap sis, you got strong.” Xander smiled, “But you'll never be stronger than me!” Xander grabbed Mercy and pinned her on the bed. “Okay, Cadence it’s your turn.” Cadence rolled over and quickly started to tickle her big sister.

            “Hey not fair,” Mercy yelled. Laughing and wiggling trying to get free, she was finally saved when she heard a female voice yell, “Settle down kids.” It was her mother’s voice; it was always filled with warmth. Like sunshine on a summer day.

            “You guys opened a portal to my house! That’s not fair how am I supposed to get any privacy?”

            Xander laughed, “We didn’t open a portal. I don’t have strong enough powers to get through your spell and Cadence hasn’t matured enough into her powers to work a spell to open a portal let alone get through your spell.”

            Cadence smiled and nodded in agreement.

            “Then who opened the portal to my house?”

            “Breakfast is ready!” Came another heart-warming voice; their father.

            “Dad opened the portal didn’t he?” Mercy laughed. Her dad would do it if Cadence begged him enough to see her. He was respectful of privacy but when it came to his little girl he just couldn’t say no. “Well you heard them, get off of me.” Mercy said smiling, trying to get up.

            “They said nothing about letting you go, did they Cadence?” Xander smiled, looking down at his littlest sister. Cadence smiled and shook her head. “See, Cadence didn't hear them say anything about letting you go.” He jumped off the bed and quickly grabbed Mercy and threw her over his shoulder, and walked out her bedroom door down the hall to the portal located around Mercy’s front door.

            It was unfortunate that she had a two-story house, which meant her butt would be on display as her brother bounces her down the stairs to her front door. She really needed to put a locking spell on that door so they couldn’t just barge in like that anymore. Although it wasn’t like they were the Light Council intruding in her privacy. Dad knew when it wasn’t proper for him to open the portal, even if it was family. Forgetting her back-end was on display for everyone she yelled hitting Xander in the legs, “Put. Me. Down. I don't want my ass on display!” She heard her father and mother laughing. “Mom! Dad! Tell him to put me down.”

            “Xander put your sister down.” Elijah laughed. Xander finally put Mercy down by the dinner table, smiling like a goon as he did it. He knew she never liked being picked up, but he loved to pick on her though. He didn’t have much time playing with his little sister with both of their busy schedules’. He slowly sat down at the table, ready for the first home-cooked breakfast in years.

            “Hey, dad did you feel anything weird last night?” Mercy asked, not really understanding what she was trying to ask herself. Sitting at the table she waited for her father’s response.

            “Like what exactly?”

            “Like someone or something appeared in the Human realm from another one?”

            “Ah that feeling, yes I had it. Why?”

            Pinching the bridge of her nose, “I'm not sure. It didn't feel like the other ones I have had.”

            Knowing exactly who had come through the portal last night didn’t help; he was going to have to lie to his daughter. She didn’t need the burden of knowing who it was or why he was here. “Well, maybe the being was just a high-level official. They seem to be visiting the Human realm a lot to take a vacation from there duties.”

            Accepting the answer, Mercy smiled. “Yeah, I guess that could be true.” Feeling better she began to eat the breakfast her mother prepared. She hadn’t experienced all the warnings that she felt the minute a being from Light or Dark entered the Human realm. She just wasn’t experienced or old enough to know every being like her father was.

            Lilly gave a suspicious glance towards Elijah, knowing he was not saying what he wanted to say. Feeling her stare he looked at her then said, “Later my love.” Not accepting the answer she continued to stare. Then he smiled, “I promise.” He got up from the table and gently kissed her cheek and whispered, “I cannot speak in front of Mercy.” Nodding Lilly continued with cleaning the table.

            Mercy watched the scene and looked at Xander with questioning eyes. He simply shrugged, not knowing what it was about. Staring at her eggs, she gently pushed the plate aside suddenly losing her appetite. Something is going on here, and it involved her. What is it that had her dad on the edge and her mother so worried? Pushing away from the table she decided to go for a walk. A walk always cleared the mind.

***

            As he entered the Human Realm for the first time in 20 years, the first thing he felt was the gentle wind kissing his skin most erotically. Closing his eyes he savored every element this realm offered. The sun's rays were gentle as they warmed him from the inside out. He loved this feeling; he had missed it so much being trapped in the Dark Realm. Being human was and is such a blessing, a blessing he was never offered. A blessing many humans here did not understand and often took advantage of. Opening his eyes he found Earth hadn't changed too much since the last time he was allowed to visit. A plea to see his mother one last time, it was the only fatherly thing his father ever allowed him to do. He had always snuck to the Human Realm to see his mother when he was younger. He remembered that day because it was a surprise to him that his father allowed him the gift, although it was short-lived. After all, his father ordered him to take a human soul as payment for allowing him to visit the Human Realm. His father allowed him to see his mother the first time in so long but only saddened at the fact that she was dead. His father forgot to share that fact. Shivering he shrugged off the depressing memory; he was old enough now that he would make his father pay for what he did. He would never fall in love; it would only give his father something to kill to make his son unfeeling and dead to the world. To torture him to the point he would do anything his father said. He would NEVER love a woman. He would not give his father the power. Looking at the surroundings finding the trees were still the brilliant green and the sky was still beautiful like a sapphire. He would make his life here, he would make sure the Dark would never win and would never destroy this beautiful world with their hatred. They would not win this war. For the first time in years, he truly smiled. He decided to explore the surroundings and see what he hoped to have and hoped to save. 

***

            “Elijah DeAngél, tell me what’s going on!” Lilly grabbed Elijah's face hoping to get his attention. They were in the Light Realm, and they were finally alone. Why was he not telling her what was wrong? “Please tell me. What are you not telling me? Why are you so scared?”

            Holding her hands closer to his face, “It's not that I'm scared, my love. I don't know how to tell you, to lessen the impact.” Closing his eyes, how was he going to tell her? That their daughter was going to save the world but to do that she had to produce a child of Light and Dark. This child would fuse the realms, forcing the two realms to work as one. The child would be the treaty between the Light and Dark instead of a simple piece of paper.  He slowly opened his eyes finding Lilly's eyes searching his for answers. Sighing, “Our daughter will have a child, a child born of forbidden love.”

            “Forbidden love? What's that supposed to mean? No, you couldn’t mean that…love between the Dark and Light is forbidden. She’s not part of that prophecy. How do you know it’s a child? The prophecy only says that a member of the Light and Dark will align and bring forever peace.” Lilly now looked even more confused.

            “The Oracles have had other visions they have said that it is now a child that will bring forever peace. The only reason I know is because I am a Guardian. They told me who it was that would bring peace because they knew it was my child. The child will be aligned with the Light and the Dark, which is why it will bring forever peace.” Lifting his hand, he gently caressed her cheek. “Higher-level darklings will come. I’m sure the Dark oracle has told Halcyon and he has told everyone else in the Dark Realm. They will no longer be interested in killing humans...” closing his eyes, “...they will come for Mercy.”

            A mixture of emotions covered Lilly's face. All she could do was stare at her husband, not knowing if words would even come out of her mouth. Taking a deep breath she took that chance, “Mercy...she's going to...she might...” She couldn't even finish the sentence.

            Engulfing Lilly with his arms, “I will not allow her to die. I will not allow it.”

            Lilly whimpered, “Even if she survives the darkling attacks, she would be breaking the laws. The other whitelings will not stand for this; there were many reasons why this type of union was forbidden. ”

            Releasing her to look into her eyes, “You are forgetting this is Mercy we are talking about. She will fight through anything. You must think positive love. Just think we will have a blessed grand-child.”

            Smiling, “Your right she's strong. Just like her father.” Grabbing his hand she led him back to the portal to go back to the Human realm.  Everything will be okay. Looking back to find Elijah smiling; she smiled back. She hoped…