Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen (29 page)

Fury and the anger started to sprout from the depths of my soul. I connected with all the power that I could find within me. And I saw him as my body and my mind had still not simulated what had just happened. I felt how every cell of my body lit up, emitting heat as though it was a stove. I lifted my hands to the sky and cried discharging my anger in the being that was in front of me. A second later I hear a shout that sounded satisfactory to me. I lowered my face to look at him, he was on his knees holding his head in his hands as though he were about to fall, I knew that my powers where really affecting him and if I continued I could make his head explode from the pain.

“Your evil consumes you. This is, in reality, what kills you
,” I spat out furious.

I stretched my arms towards him and a small thread of smoke started to come from his back. His cries made no sense to me.

“Do you know feel compassion?” he asked in hope.

“Not for you
,” my neutral voice surprised him. He had taken from me that which I loved most and I would do the same to him.

My inner heat grew and I expelled it outwards making the fallen one be covered in flames. His silver body became black when the fire touched it. He got up and ran towards me in search of forgiveness.

“You do not deserve it,” I said without looking at him. I took some steps and turned round again.

“Burn
,” I proclaimed as the flames grew around him as much as his cries. I felt no pity, nor compassion. I had no feelings for this being. The flames consumed him as I turned to see how the beings that he had created were converted into ashes transmitted by the flames of their master. If he dies, they would too.

I observed how a few black ashes were scattered on the ground where he had been. There were no longer any cries, no more fighting or death. The sons of the night lifted their weapons in a cry of victory still not knowing what had happened.

The fire inside of me was fading until the tears sprung forth substituting the flames. My knees weakened. My fingers touched the earth, still without knowing how, had they had let the love of my life escape. There were no thoughts in my mind. Simply there was nothing. It was as if a part of my soul had been uprooted. Winning the battle no longer mattered to me, I didn´t even notice the bodies of the sons of the night stretched out on the ground. I hung my head unable to stop the tears as I watched how my fingers sunk into the ground. I let the pain consume me. I had a wound in my chest that I couldn´t heal. That one thought make me get up and turn towards the cliff. Something took hold of my hand before I could jump. Without understanding what had happened, I turned around to see the man with the red hood. He uncovered his face to show his dark fair hair and very deep brown eyes.

“You are not going to die now that I have found you.”

Words didn´t leave my mouth. I wanted to tell him that I wasn´t going to die, I was going to look for my beloved. I had to find him; I had to find his body. An understanding expression came across his face when he saw mine.

“I will go…” and he left without more. He started to
go down one of the edges of the hill until I could no longer see him.

I sat there to wait, thanking the breeze that caressed my face and dried my last tears. A moment later someone sat by my side.

“My dear, I cannot understand how you feel,” it was my mother. “Thanks to you, our race is preserved. The world is saved. You have saved me.”

A silence embraced the moment until I heard, again, more words.

“Elizabeth is fine; she has recovered thanks to Phoenix and a friend of his. The Council wishes to thank you for what you have done, but I told them not to come. They did not see what happened,” I continued in silence without looking at her. “Kenneth and Francis are fine,” she said without knowing what to do to make me answer her.

Again silence took control of
my throat.

“Your father will bring him back, believe me, he will not rest until he finds him. He never did with you or with your sister.”

Hearing those words, I looked at her for the first time, she looked good.

“My father?” I asked with hardly a voice.

“Your father is the messenger, the one with the red hood.”

The now known salty tears returned to my face without me knowing why. My mother embraced me when she saw me that way, with the hope of comforting me.

“Why does love hurt so much?” I asked without detaching myself from her.

“It isn´t like that my daughter, what you feel is sadness and pain for the love that is no more, not for love itself. You have to understand that your souls are infinite. Our body is mortal the same as the humans; although we live more years or less, it is our essence that which is and transcends. Your souls are linked, for you to have found each other in this life means that the union was stronger. Do
not feel pity or pain,” she said looking me in the eyes. “For that which is still to come, without doubt, you will see him again, sooner or later.”

“So what should I do?”

“The best advice I can give you is to be patient and calm. The future is unpredictable.”

No more words left my mouth. My mother would not abandon me, so I would stay with her watching the sunrise.

Chapter
20

The Council was full of sons of the night, as it hadn´t been for centuries. Groups had been formed after the battle. The spoke enthusiastically without knowing what had happened. The families returned to happy reunions and the members of the Council debated about what should be done next.

“She should be the new empress. That is what the law dictates,” Elias repeated for a third time.

“And what happens with Elizabeth?” Francis started to get angry. “She is also the empress´s daughter and you all know why her existence was hidden.

“It is they who should decide.” Argi said speaking for the first time “They are the heirs, they are twins and they are the ones who have the power to decide if their want to reign or if they want to pass the government to someone else.

“Samantha will not want to govern, I know
,” sighed Francis as he sat on a chair after what felt like centuries.

“Is Elizabeth well?” Fairiel asked out of interest.

“Yes,” Angelica responded distracted. “The witch Niv cured her.”

“What can we do?” Peter asked now tired.

“Wait until she gets back, we don´t know why she hasn´t come.”

“It must be something very grave,” whispered Francis worriedly.

Gabriel
walked impatiently from one end of the room to the other. They had been able to set up the room to cure Elizabeth in a way that she was separated from the noise. He had spent hours watching her as she slept. He didn´t know if she was unconscious or if she would take long in waking up. But his patience surfaced allowing him to wait calmly. He remembered her sweet kisses in the darkness of his room with every step he took. At first he had feared for his life, but at that moment he feared her rejection. How could he explain his feelings to her? How he had felt that morning when he woke up and didn´t see her. That he had done the impossible to find her and despite everything he didn´t mind her trick. He loved her; loved her virtues, her defects… and he couldn´t imagine another day separated from her. He passed his hands through his black hair when the doors opened again. They came to examine her every 15 minutes more or less. One of the girls had volunteered to look after her; she looked at him and left a small tray with a mug on one of the tables that were scattered about the room. He hadn´t lifted his head any of the times that she had entered. The girl missed having such pure love seeing Gabriel´s desperation.  Seeing the mug he looked at her and thanked her before she left the room leaving him alone again. He moved closer to the improvised bed where Elizabeth slept and kneed on the floor. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. His tiredness took control of his body noting the hard floor. He slid down, still with his beloved´s hand in his and closed his eyes. He jumped out of surprise when he noted that something brushed against his face.

“Don´t be afraid
,” he heard a loving voice.

He turned around quickly and saw his beloved´s blue eyes glued on him.

“Are you alright?” he asked rushed, “how long have you been awake? Do you need something?”

“Calm down
,” Elizabeth whispered putting one of her fingers on Gabriel´s lips.

“I feared so much for you
,” he let out.

“Don´t worry, I am fine. My sister is worse than I am, I can feel it.”

“I know that something important has happened, but I didn´t want to leave you to find out.”

Elizabeth smiled at him as he caressed his face.

“Can you forgive me? I had to distance myself to protect you. I cursed myself every day for having left you there and I only hope that you don´t hate me for doing it. Every time I closed my eyes I saw that live purple of yours. If you let me I will never leave you alone again.”

Gabriel, joyful that she was well, hugged her without saying anything.

“I just love you. I don´t care about what has passed or what will happen. I love you, here in this very place and this instant,” he whispered in her ear before kissing her.

He savored the smooth lips of his beloved as if it were the elixir of life itself. He didn´t take his lips from hers even hearing how the door opened.

“Excuse me,” the girl who had left tea for him, cleared her throat, “I need to examine her.”

Gabriel looked at her with a glimmer in his eyes that he could not hide. He moved away from her to leave space for the girl and when she left he returned to embrace her. He la
y on the wooden table, by her side and rested beside his love.

Kenneth
looked distracted from the door of the Council. The people began to go home. But he could not move from there. He could not imagine the pain that Samantha was going through. Venice had quickly told him what had happened before going to be with her daughter. He thought of how he would feel if the same had happened to Francis and he shook his head strongly trying to dispel that image from his mind. Soon he noticed a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you going to stay here?”

He turned round and saw Francis´s sweet and joyful eyes. He embraced him tightly without saying anything. After a few seconds he spoke without security in his voice.

“I didn´t see it Francis, I didn´t see it.”

“You cannot torture yourself for that. You better than anyone knows that the future is unpredictable. You couldn´t have let her know about something that you didn´t know was going to happen.”

“I know.”

“Then don´t give it any more thought. Go home and rest.”

“Come with me
,” he said almost pleading.

“You know I cannot, the Council needs me here.”

His metallic green outfit shone under the sunshine. It seemed beautiful to Kenneth.

The
y hugged again and Kenneth closed his eyes and disappeared. Francis looked towards the hill that was far away. He saw two dots that had not moved from there since that night. He left the building and walked towards the small mountain that had appeared from nowhere. He had to get Samantha away from that place.

Phoenix
spoke calmly with Niv and Gaia. They were sitting on a not very wide bench. His black outfit had become grey with all the ash. His face was tired and his eyes were heavy.

“You have done a great job. I am very proud. You should now teach new wizards. My days as a teacher are over.”

“What do you mean?” Gaia asked without understanding what the wizard wanted to say.

“My dear, it is time that I do something that I didn´t have the opportunity to do before. I made a promise to myself that I would do it and I will do it. They still have much life before them.”