A Toiling Darkness (15 page)

The woman was pale, really pale and I
couldn’t decide if it was because she feared me or if it was just
her skin tone. She wore black-framed glasses to hide her lovely
brown eyes and her hair was pulled back in a simple bun with some
curls escaping it. I only thought her eyes were lovely because of
what were in them. They were filled with secrets of what will be;
things she can’t even tell anyone. They made her look older.

There’s a debate between seers about how
much to tell someone. If they told a person too much, it could
change the future—and not always for the best. A classic example is
telling someone they are going to die, even how they are going to
die. So what does that person do? They try to prevent their death
and maybe they are successful. But at was price? The price of the
family that took their place? Was it worth it to save one life over
the life of an entire family, taking away the future of the little
kids and any potential they had. That’s what seers live with;
knowledge that they want to tell someone but can’t because it could
make the situation worse. That knowledge made up the secrets that
filled the seer’s eyes and made her lovely.

She shifted in her seat, looked up at me and
then back down. Her throat worked as she swallowed.

“I don’t do this a lot with others. Kay is
still helping me get a handle on it all.”

“You’re a seer-in-training?” I asked,
finding it a little funny. I couldn’t prevent the small smile from
forming.

She nodded, shook out her hands a couple of
times before settling them, palms up, on the table. Her movements
were jerky and unpracticed. “Hands.”

I cocked my eyebrows at her. She looked back
down at her hands, her small shoulders slumping a little.

“All I need are your hands. When you touch
me, focus on what you want to know.”

I nodded and put my hands in hers. Even
though she was a small woman, her hands were still bigger than my
own. She wrapped her clammy hands around mine, sighed, trying to
relax and then closed her eyes.

I thought about Kalen and who his master
was.

The seer started rocking, a small humming
coming from deep within her throat. After a couple of minutes, she
stiffened up before letting go so suddenly that my hands hit the
table. She opened her eyes and stared blankly for a minute. I was
tempted to wave my hands in front of her or throw something to see
if she would react. I managed to sit there quietly and wait
instead, sitting on my hands and rocking gently from side to
side.

After a few minutes ticked by, she blinked
rapidly a couple of times as if trying to blink away the images she
saw. She slumped back in her seat.

“Akhlys, you’re Akhlys?” she asked.

Akhlys was the name I went by when I was in
my original form. There was a whole lot of baggage that went with
that name, like El’s mentorship, Eithna’s death, and all the
suffering I caused. That name represented a me who couldn’t control
any of my rage and took it out on everyone.

“I haven’t used that name in nearly two
hundred years.” I readjusted myself in my seat, growing
uncomfortable.

“And yet that’s who Kalen searches for.
You.” She cocked her head in wonderment, no longer nervous or
uncomfortable. She even smiled a little, her body relaxing.

Whatever she saw in my future, she liked. I
frowned, already not liking the possibility she saw.

“What did you see?”

She smiled a little more, her eyes
brightening. “You. Who you become, what you are going to do.”

“Is there a key to go with your cryptic
message?”

“I can’t get specific. I just know that your
finally going to open yourself up and you can finally begin the
next phase of your life.”

“Next phase? Like what?” What was there
left? I’ve already lived so damn long, done everything there was to
do.

The seer shrugged. “That I do not know.” She
cocked her head, a small curl falling into her face. She quickly
wiped it away, never tearing her eyes away from mine. I tried not
to fidget, feeling like I was in a line-up for some crime. She
smiled again, bigger this time, showing off all her pretty pearly
whites.

“If you’re smiling, then you saw wrong.
Nothing I’m capable of doing would make you look like you want to
be my best friend.”

Her smiled faltered, slowly replaced with a
sad frown. “Akhlys—”

“Don’t call me that!” I snapped, unable to
stand the use of that name.

Her lights flickered as my rage released a
wave of power. It rolled out of me and dispersed into the air. I
sat quietly, reigning the dark emotions back in. I forced the
tension out of my body and tried to remain in control of myself.
Not that I could calm down much, not here. Maybe I should go out to
the docks. Enjoy the storm as it crashed around me, the rain
pelting my face and wiping all the problems away. That would be
really nice.

“Okay….Okay.” She nodded frantically with
wide eyes. Her throat worked as she swallowed, trying to recollect
herself. “Darkness, you’re capable of more than just causing fear.
Your future shows that.”

“So what? In the future, I’m all sunshine
and rainbows?” I laughed. My night was ruined so easily with the
mention of my old name and I wasn’t above blaming her for it. The
little conversation at the beach didn’t help any with my emotions.
I felt like I was on a never-ending rollercoaster that just kept
plummeting down into a gorge.

The seer reached over and grabbed my hands.
“No, not sunshine and rainbows, that’s not you. But it will get
better.”

“Enough!” I growled and stood up, taking
back my hands and toppling the chair over. “I didn’t come here for
a self analysis. I just want to know who Kalen’s master is.” I
choked on the last couple of words. Emotions I haven’t allowed
myself to feel for nearly two centuries were trying to come back.
Useless emotions that wanted to chip away at my armor. I couldn’t,
no, wouldn’t let it out. Not now.

I took a deep breath and fixed the chair
before settling back down. The seer sighed with relief, and leaned
back, tucking some stray strands behind her ear. “I couldn’t figure
it out. Whoever it is was able to block me out. He’s shielded from
me and anyone else who tries to track him down in any way.”

“Can’t you give me anything useful?”

“Kay knows him. I got the impression he’s
hiding because he fears Kay.”

He also fears retribution by his own
master.
So Kay is the so-called master of the master. Kay had a
lot of minions working underneath him.

“Okay.” I nodded and stood up carefully, not
really wanting to take my anger out on the chair again. See? I can
prevent unnecessary casualties if I wanted to.

The little bit of information the seer gave
me was something at least, no matter how smalll. Unfortunately, Kay
knew a lot of people. And a lot of people wouldn’t want to piss him
off. And killing me was a sure fire way to piss him off.

Good thing I was patient. I didn’t mind
checking off Kay’s acquaintances one by one. In fact, I would get
pleasure from it. First, I needed to talk to Kay. Again. When I
turned to leave, she spoke again.

“Darkness…when that small part of you tells
you something, you should try listening to it. Even when it goes
against everything you know.”

“This is why I hate seers,” I mumbled. Even
someone as young as her could see and learn more about life than,
say, me, who has lived since the dawn of mankind. I must be
seriously fucked up if even a child was telling me to listen to the
little part of me I still can’t get rid of. What happens if I don’t
listen to little old me?

Do I even want to find out?

I made my way back to Kay’s place feeling
like all I’ve been doing lately was running around. From Baron’s
bar, to Kay, to a seer and now back Kay. What was next? A little
trip down to hell?

When I got to his business, it was packed
with fighters and their teams waiting to go down into the arena.
Groups of them stood outside, talking and joking around, and I
could only guess the inside was just as busy and crowded. The
showcase for the tournament was for tonight.

Damn, how could I forget? I was beginning to
feel dread in the pit of my stomach. Kay was going talk me into
something I wasn’t going to like. I just knew it.

Off in the distance, rumbling could be heard
as the storm approached. Some groups of beings huddled together,
talking in whispers. Others were enjoying the impending storm and
the rest kept looking towards the building, probably wondering why
they decided to hang outside.

It wasn’t even that bad. Since the early
morning, the humidity was increasing. My hairs were standing on end
with all the electrical charges in the heavy air. It was going to
be a big storm. Normally I would find someplace high up when the
weather got this bad and just enjoy it all. Too bad I was too busy
tonight. Maybe after this little visit, I’ll spare some time.

A small fight between two women broke out a
few feet from me. They were screaming in a foreign language,
cursing each other, and trying to stab each other with their wands.
Some other men, dressed similar to them rushed over and pulled them
apart, laughing. I recognized one of the men as a champion. He made
these tournaments a career and most of the time, didn’t leave his
opponents alive. He made the fight an art, making sure the other
being suffered in the worse possible way.

I should have left—should have and yet
didn’t. A place like this attracted all the wrong kind of attention
that I didn’t want to face. Not tonight at least.

Just getting into the building was a pain.
When I approached the front door, there wasn’t a line or anything,
just a large man with bulging muscles and a clipboard.

“Sorry, little miss, but this is no place
for you.” He glanced down at me, giving me the once over and then
writing me off as unimportant, or maybe he thought I was some lost
child.

“I’m not here for the showcase. I have
business with Lord Kay,” I said, a little peeved. Tonight was just
one big bad night and I didn’t need a dense grunt holding me
back.

“He ain’t told me about no appointment.” He
looked down at the clipboard as if having it in his hands made him
the most powerful being around. In a way, he was right. Everyone
had to get passed him to get inside.

I thought of just trying to squeeze past
him, but the man was a mountain. There was nowhere to squeeze
through, even for me. And I’ve slipped between legs a couple of
times. His were just too chunky, like massive tree trunks.

“Tell him Darkness is here,” I huffed,
trying to stay calm.

He glanced at his clipboard, back at me,
then the clipboard again. His caterpillar eyebrows scrunched up as
if the clipboard was lying to him and he didn’t like to be tricked
like that.

“You’re not Darkness,” he mumbled. “There is
no way.”

“What’s your name?”

“Mark,” he said slowly. The man said it like
he wasn’t too sure. I didn’t roll my eyes at him. I wanted to. I
really did, but I didn’t and just for that I should have been given
a damn metal.

“Well, Mark. Either let me in now or the
next time I see Lord Kay, I’ll tell him you refused me entrance.
Then after he pulls your spine out through your ass, maybe you
won’t challenge me again.”

He paled, his dark skin turning a weird dull
shade of his skin tone. His throat worked like he was trying to
swallow an entire rotten apple. Finally, he nodded and stepped to
the side.

The room was still dark, but unlike the last
time I was here, the place was filled with teams of fighters. The
tables and chairs were all removed and the walls were lined with
beings acting as guards, each one of them were capable of
destroying the fighters in a matter of seconds if anyone started
anything. Kay held the best security around.

I glanced around, looking for a familiar
face when I spotted the warlock standing by the ‘No Admittance’
door. As I weaved through the crowd, he spotted me and had to do a
double take, not believing I was coming to him. When I finally
reached him, he had backed up against the door, glancing around for
an exit that existed right behind him.

The plump warlock was someone to be hunted,
and tonight he was a weak little gazelle in a den of lions. Why
would Kay keep him around, especially tonight of all nights? He
screamed victim and the others were beginning to notice, switching
their attention to him, some sniffing the air and enjoying what
they were finding. There was a lot of lip licking going at the
moment. Maybe some stomach grumbles here and there too.

The loc was covered in sweat, his greasy
hair plastered to his face and a pimple stood out against his skin
as he continued to freak out even more. Now he was playing with his
hands in an obvious sign of panic. He looked just like a sickly
gazelle, the kind that gets chased down because they are the
slowest and weakest in their herd.

“Devon,” I said, unable to prevent myself
from flashing a predatory smile. He really did make it so easy.

“Darkness.” He flinched and looked away.
“How may I help you?”

“I need to see Lord Kay.”

“I’m sorry but as you can see, tonight’s a
busy night.”

“I’m willing to wait.” My irritation with
everyone was starting to reach a new high. If this continued any
longer I was going to explode and screw anyone who approached me. I
just wanted one simple answer to one simple question: Who created
Kalen?

He frowned, picking up on my irritation. “He
wasn’t expecting you tonight.”

“Kay is always expecting me,” I said,
letting the coldness seep into my voice.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back
tomorrow?” he asked. He really didn’t want me to be around
tonight.