Alliance With Shadows

Chapter 3

“Bane” Halcyon yelled from his chambers. He smiled when he saw the double doors open immediately.

            “Yes, Lord?” Bane sat in front of the thrown, it was not often the Halcyon asked for you by name.

            “You are one of my honorable servants are you not?”

            “Yes my Lord.” Bane nodded.

            “Ah, how wonderful. I have a request for you.” Halcyon just loved how his powers had grown to the point all of the darklings followed him. It helped when you had help for dark spirits to create a demon to control them.

            “Yes?”

            “I would like you to send out two of your best rats to watch someone for me.”

            “Rats my Lord, do you mean changelings?”

            “No, they wreak a horrendous odor. I need people who can hide and not be seen.”

            “Of course my lord, who do we need to watch?”

            “My son.”

            “You wish us to watch Lieutenant Notté sir?”

            “Is that the name he chose for himself?” Halcyon laughed at such a human name. His son adopted more from the humans than he thought up the last name. Oh well, his plan was working better than he thought.

            “Yes, sir. Is there a reason we are watching him?”

            “Yes, but that is for only me to know. You are only to watch him and inform me of everything he does. Is that understood?”

            “Yes, sir!” Bane bowed his head before leaving the chambers.

            Halcyon smiled when the doors closed, “Son you will soon see that I was not the worst nightmare.” He laughed, “Being beaten by me will not be the worst wound you will have.” Looking beside him at the altar of blue flames, “I cannot wait for my son to meet you, Mercy DeAngél.”

***

            Walking down the pebble covered streets, Mercy was lost in thought. Why was her dad so secretive all of a sudden? And he looked so worried when she started talking about what she had sensed this morning. She had so many questions, but it seemed she would never have the answers. Looking around she found everyone waving at her as she passed. Smiling she waved back. You would think these people would freak every time she walked down the street. You would also think they would find it weird that a young woman would walk down the streets covered in blood. Although today she was just dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and not in her armor, so it seemed she didn’t look as intimidating as she did with her armor on. With or without blood.

            “Hey! Hey!” A young voice broke into her thoughts. Turning around she found a little boy no older than nine.          

            Smiling she kneeled down to greet him, “Yes little boy?”

            Laughing the little boy answered, “You’re that lady that kills those bad people right?”

            “Yes, yes I am. What's your name?”

            Smiling, “My name's Jacob!”

            “Well, it's very nice to meet you, Jacob. My name is Mercy.”

            “Mercy? That's a cool name.” Then the boy looked down. Smiling Mercy saw the little boy blushing.

            Tipping his chin upwards she asked, “Do you want to see a cool magic trick?”

            The boy’s face lit up, “Yes!!!” Smiling Mercy nodded, she backed up a little from the child. Then holding her hand out, she placed the other hand on top to make it cup-like. Placing the opening of her hands by her lips she gently blew then held it back out towards the boy. Uncovering her had, a little white, glowing ball appeared in the center. Looking at the boy she saw the utter amazement in them.

            “Go ahead, and touch it.” The boy looked at her with confusion. Laughing, “It's okay it won't burn you I promise.” Trusting her at the promise he slowly lifted his hand and poked at the little ball finding his finger went right through. Laughing the little boy did it again.

            “It's warm.” The little boy smiled.

            “Do you trust me?” Mercy asked. The little boy nodded. She gently grabbed his hand placing it palm up. “Every child has a pure heart, almost like an Angels' heart.” She slowly placed the ball into his palm. Finding the ball was still there, the boy smiled. “See you have a pure heart, so you can hold an Angels’ energy ball in your hand.” It wasn’t an actual Angel’s energy ball; she wasn’t an angel after all. It was just a little trick she picked up from a Faerie. But it wasn’t as cool to say it was just an energy ball, but it did take a pure heart of a human to be able to hold it, which was why only the people of the Light were able to use the power. Taking her gaze off the boy she found adults and children surrounding her. Looking back at the boy she asked, “You want to see another trick?”

            “Yes!” The boy didn't even hesitate.

            “Okay but I'm going to need your help. Can you do that for me?”

            “Really? I want to help you please!” Realizing he still had the ball in his hand, he didn't put his hands together to beg.

            Smiling, “Yes this is something I really need your help on.” Holding the bottoms of his hands she whispered a spell. “Okay, I need you to softly blow on the ball okay?”

            Nodding the little boy did as she said and he blew on the ball, the ball began to disappear then it all came back as a powder in his hand. Looking confused the little boy asked, “What do I do now? The ball disappeared, now all I have is powder?”

            “This is no ordinary powder. This is stardust, throw the powder in the air, you'll see.” The little boy did as she said. The dust separated in the air, looking as if stars had fallen from the sky. Inching away, Mercy smiled, knowing she made someone happy with her powers. For once she created something with her powers, instead of always taking away something. Suddenly pain shoots through her chest, rubbing her chest she ran towards her home. The pain is becoming too much. Why is it hurting so much? She didn’t strain herself too much today; she remembered ‘Doctor’s Orders’ as her brother would say.

            “Mercy you okay?”

***

            Hearing the Death Angel’s name, Lucern turned and saw her talking to a young lady. Lucern quickly jumped on top of the buildings and watched the young lady called Mercy talk.

            “You know she doesn't look as horrible as the darklings say she looks,” not speaking to anyone, in particular, more to himself than to anyone. Staring at her, he began to have a clenching feeling in his stomach. “Truthfully she's very beautiful looking.”

            I want her!

            Jumping at the sudden voice, Lucern looked around quickly to find that he was all alone. Must be his imagination he shook his head turning back to the woman of interest. With a bit of magic, he was able to hear her voice. Wow her voice sounds so...so angelic. It sounds so smooth and sweet. Like chocolate... Sitting there and watching her as she began to walk away from the young lady, he began to follow her. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop he tried to keep up with her. Why in hells bells was he following her?! But unable to turn around he followed her till she came to a little ranch style house. “Wow, that’s a beautiful house.”

            Just like her.

            He jumped again at the voice; he could have sworn someone was right beside him talking. Shaking his head again, maybe he was just tired and was just saying his thoughts out loud without realizing it. He turned back to watch as Mercy disappeared into the house. Leave...leave Lucern. There's no need to stay. Pausing for a few seconds he sighed. “I can't, I don't know why but I have this weird feeling that I belong here. I don't understand why. I feel as if I know her. But how?” He sat on the roof for a while and then drifted to sleep.

***

            “Um....dude you forgot to feed me before you left. And also you're talking to yourself you should stop. People will think you’re crazy.” A deep voice interrupted Lucern's sleep. Lucern twisted and turned, finding each move uncomfortable. Where the hells bells’ was he? Slowly opening his eyes the bright light in front of him blinded him.

            “Hells bells where am I?”

            “You’re on a roof in front of that Mercy girl’s house. Back to the real problem, you didn't feed me! Do you know what those Darklings down there feed me when you’re gone?” Lucern swore he saw the hell hound shiver. “Come on. You’re my master you’re supposed to be nice to me.” The dog began licking Lucern's face.

            Laughing, “I'm sorry Teague. I'll try not to leave you with those nasty darklings again.” He scratched behind the dog's ears and knew he was back on Teague's good side. “So what do you think of her boy?” Teague plopped down beside Lucern looking at Mercy's house.

            “I think she's cool. She's really pretty too; she even gave me some of those dog treats humans give to their dogs. Those were really good!”

            “I hope you didn't go up to her like that.” Looking his hell hound over, he had a midnight black coat and eyes were their natural neon green color. He would scare any human that walked by with those eyes.

            “I'm not an i***t Lucern; I can change my eye color also.” Licking his master’s face, “I guess that’s why we get along so well. We were both born different than everyone else.”

            “I guess you’re right.” Lucern turned away from his favorite hell hound and stared back at the house. The house that held the woman that could be the death of him, or she would be the one that could save him from being a darkling forever.

***

            “Hey, sis!” Cadence yelled down the hall.

            Was that Cadence why was she down the hall. She was in her own house. Damn it her dad had opened a portal again through her front door. At least he didn’t open the portal to her bedroom door. “Yes, Cadence?” Mercy turned to find her sister by her side in seconds. “What the....”

            “I'm coming into my powers sis!” Cadence yelled as Mercy winced from just being inches away. “Sorry, sis...but it’s so cool! I'm super fast like Xander. Hey, can you sit in a chair for me!?”

            It was too early in the morning to argue with her obviously excited and hyper sister, she forced herself out of bed to sit on the chair by her desk. “Alright, I’m sitting what now?”

             “Ok watch this!” Cadence picked up the chair that Mercy was sitting in. “I'm super strong like dad!”

            Whispering silent prayers as she was held in the air, Mercy smiled down at her little sister. “Yeah, you are super strong. Congrats, little sis, I’m happy for you.” She found relief when Cadence sat her gently back down on the ground.

            “Can you tell me all of your powers now since I'm getting mine?” Cadence quickly sat down on the floor beside Mercy's chair.

            “Um...I guess. I don't really have many powers hun. I have wings and keen sight but every Valkyrie has those. During battle I have my weapons appear from my skin, and I can hear the metal. Each metal has its own sort of humming sound, and somehow I understand the humming it makes. I'm not super strong like dad...” Mercy laughed, “...or super fast like Xander is. Each whiteling has his or her own power that makes them unique. Mine is understanding metal, you will soon be able to see the future.”

            “How do you know that?” She asked confused.

            Smiling, “You have always had the ability, it just hasn't matured enough. When you were little you actually saved me from getting killed because you made me stay home. You will probably be one on the Oracles among the Light counsel once you swear in if you would like.”

            “Oh, that’s cool! Hey, can you tell me daddy and Xander's special power?”

            “Xander’s is the speed; he also has an unbelievable knack for combat. You only got a taste of the speed thing; Xander's is very high level. His fighting skills are high level too, he's the one who taught me how to fight, but he's way better than I am. But he’s a Medic Warrior so he has to be fast and be able to fight.” Mercy smiled at the practices they had together when they were little. “Anyways, dad's special ability is emotion. He can make a room raging with anger and hate turn into a room that's calm and loving. It’s one of the things that make him so loving and caring. That is why he is a Guardian of the Light.” She smiled whenever she talked about her father’s power. “Oh, I bet you didn't know mom had a special power did you?”

            “No! She does?” Cadence seemed confused yet intrigued by the new information.

            “Mom is Gnome, which in most cases they don’t have much power. But in mom’s case, she has the ability to sing to the earth and it grows whatever she wishes in thanks. There is a ranking system and she's at the top so they consider her the mother of earth and then there are Elementals below her. Each element has a mother or father that is in charge, and then the elementals are below them. A ranking system is how the Light and the Dark are organized.”

            “I always wondered why she had such an angelic voice.” Then Cadence's eyes glazed over leaving a pure gold cloud over her pupils and irises. Mercy sat there quiet, she knew this was going to happen sooner or later. A couple of minutes passed before the cloud of gold disappeared from her eyes.

            “So what did you see?”

            “Well...I'm not exactly sure. But you are not going to like it one bit.” Cadence then stared into her big sisters' eyes. “There was this man and when he turned around it was like he was looking right at me. His eyes were like a very light blue color, almost a steel blue when he looked at me at first. Then he smiled and his eyes turned to just a normal light blue color. You should have seen his eyes there was so much love yet so much pain at the same time. Then...” Cadence looked away, not wanting to finish.

            “What? What happened?” Mercy was a little worried. Her sister was never so hesitant to say anything.

            “Then he said 'My heart, my loving little Angel. My Mercy...my Mercy are you going to save me or kill me. Save me from this Demon that lives inside of me, or kill me to spare me the pain of living with this curse? I do not wish to be Dark.” Cadence had tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh, sis you should have seen the pain in his eyes! There was so much pain and sorrow. I think he thought you would kill him Mercy. He loves you, yet he's willing to die. He doesn't want to live...he doesn't want to turn into the monster.” Tears fell from those gold eyes. Silent tears fell from Mercy’s; she knew exactly who her little sister was talking about; the only man who wished so badly to be aligned with the Light but was cursed to be the son of the Dark Lord. You do not get to choose whether you’re Light or Dark your body will cling to what it knows best, and he knew only darkness. His souls choose darkness, but his heart chooses light. “Sis you can't kill him. You have to save him.” Mercy looked up into the eyes of a girl who was no longer a girl; she became a woman in just seconds. So much wisdom and knowledge this little woman before her held. Cadence was no longer the little girl that was hyper and didn't have a care in the world; she was a woman whose power was knowledge and the burden of knowing everything that would happen in the future.

            “I will try. I promise.” Mercy whispered, and she meant every word she said.

***

            Jumping off the roof, Lucern pondered the ways he could get Mercy's attention. He didn't want to involve the whiteling he was supposed to kill. He would not get close to a whiteling let alone one that Mercy loved. He couldn't just go up to the door. Hello my name is Lucern Notté and I'm a darkling, but I don't want to kill humans or whitelings so don't worry. Yeah, that wouldn’t be a good introduction. Although she couldn’t kill him unless he violated the treaty like the others, he didn’t want to chance it with such a high ranking Light Valkyrie. Suddenly dragged out of his thoughts by a sudden bark beside him, he looked down finding Teague barking at something in the distance. Looking around Lucern didn't find anything the dog would bark at. “What is it, boy?” Then Teague gave him a look that said, he was a dog and was not supposed to talk. “I didn't mean talk to me; show me what you’re barking at.” Teague nodded and turned his head, then began to bark again. Following where Teague's eyes lead he found a little ball looking thing on some stairs. Then suddenly a little head popped out, realizing what the object was he laughed. “It's just a cat, Teague. You don't have to bark your head off.”

            “I'm a dog. I'm doing what dogs do here.” Teague whispered, careful to make sure no humans were around.

            “Well stop barking so much. Act as if I trained you some manners here.” Lucern said laughing. Teague stopped barking and gave him a look that said you ruined my fun. Lucern began thinking of how to get Mercy's attention again. Hum...no that wouldn't work. He thought hard and found there was no way of getting her attention without involving the whitelings soul. He sighed with a bit of anger realizing that that was his only choice. He went off to find the whiteling called Morgan knowing that if he found her, Mercy would show up soon after. He had to put some faith in this woman because Mercy was the only one that hated uprising darklings as much as he did. He wouldn’t let his father cause a war even if it meant doing something he hated doing. Why did he even become a Valkyrie anyways? He hated killing, no matter who it was.

***

            Walking Cadence to the portal opening, “Could you please at least call me from now on when you plan on opening a portal to my house? I do not like all of the surprise visits.” Once Cadence was through the portal she stuck her head through and yelled, “Hey mom! Hey dad! I'm going to go over to Morgan's house for a little while. If you need me or if something happens you know how to contact me!”

            “Okay sweetheart, be careful. The wind is whispering of anger and worry.” Lilly yelled from the kitchen.

             “Will do mom! Love you!” Mercy laughed, that was probably how her mother knew everything the dang wind told her everything. No wonder she couldn’t get away with anything as a child.

            “Love you too sweetheart. Oh, your father says I love you too.”

            “Love you too dad!” Mercy yelled as she closed the door, and then opened it again to find that the portal was gone and she now just saw her front yard. Walking to the sidewalk she felt the wind gently kiss her skin and surround her as if protecting her. Thanks, mom, Mercy laughed. Following the sidewalk that led towards Morgan's street, the walk allowed her time to think. All she could think about was the vision Cadence had. Why was he here? Why did he want to be saved? Why did he want to die? These were the questions that continuously buzzed through her mind. Turning down Morgan's street it was suddenly cold, and she stopped in her tracks. Darkling? It wasn't as cold as it usually was when a darkling was near. Yet that thought did not register. The only thing that registered was a darkling and it was on Morgan's street. Without realizing it armor appeared on her body and a sword in her had. Then she took off running, not knowing what to expect. A darkling in the Human Realm always meant trouble; they were not a bright and lively bunch. The only reason they came to the Human Realm was either to guide dark souls to the Dark Realm or to kill humans for their souls. Either way, she was going to find out, she was not going to allow another darkling to come here and kill the people she loved or to harm the mortals in this realm.