Authors: Philip Mcclennan
“Remember, he is not invincible. He has a weakness,” Professor Milton said to him quietly.
“The fate of us all is in your hands boy. Are you up to it?” said Sergeant Cooper.
James lifted his head up high. He no longer felt nervous at the task that was before him. He knew this was his moment. “I’ll take him down, sir. You have my word!” he said defiantly. He strapped the otherworldly blade onto his back and cleared his mind.
I am ready!
Chapter 16: A Past Long Forgotten
The Dark Archer and Kara ventured deep within the Dark Forest. The half-man, half-demon had not killed her, something the princess had thought to be a certainty after she had been discovered. Instead, the Archer had led her into a deeper part of the forest. This area was vast and somewhat different from the rest. The oaks of the trees were white rather than brown and the trees had no leaves upon them. They looked like a normal tree would be in the season of autumn, bare and lacking life. However, the trees were full of life here. This was their natural state, and it was here that the Dark Archer had come to call home.
Kara could now see the moon through the empty branches of the strange white trees. The moonlight lit up the area inside the forest. The princess would normally marvel in the beauty of such a thing, however, her current predicament dominated her train of thought.
Why hasn’t he killed me?
She had no idea where the creature was leading her, nor what he intended to do once they got there. The Dark Archer had killed the Hellhounds that pursued the girl in an instant, however, he had not harmed the princess…yet.
After dispatching the hellish beasts, the Dark Archer had spoken to Kara. Only a few words mind you. Very few people in these lands had ever heard the creature speak, and even fewer had lived to tell the tale.
“If you stay here you will perish. Come with me,” were the words he had uttered to the girl. Kara had thought about running for her life, and then she even thought of trying to fight the Dark Archer herself. However, she knew both of these options were futile. She had witnessed the explosive power and speed the demon possessed first-hand when he had torn the Hellhounds apart with his bare hands. Not to mention the fact that he also seemed deadly accurate with his arrows.
I have no choice. I have to do what he says
, she realised.
They had been walking for nearly four hours and the princess was beginning to tire. The rugged terrain wasn’t exactly the best to walk in and Kara had small blisters on her feet. Her pain in her ankle had begun to ease up though, she counted that as a blessing at least.
As the pair walked on further still through the mysterious white trees within the forest, the princess finally had enough. Tiredness now outweighed her fear and she wanted to know where she was being taken. “Where are we going?” Kara demanded. Her tone was no longer civil.
The Dark Archer paid no attention to the girl and continued to walk. The princess was not accustomed to being ignored, given her royal title, and the Archer’s ignorance did little to improve her mood.
The girl stopped in her tracks. “Tell me where we are going right now!” she said, slightly raising her voice.
The Dark Archer came to a halt and slowly turned around. Although much of his face was hidden, the long cold stare he gave Kara sent shudders through her body.
Have I angered him?
“Please,” said the girl in a much friendly way, not wishing to upset this strange and unpredictable creature.
The Dark Archer tilted his head to the right as he looked at her, enabling him to gaze upon her with his one human eye. It was well known that this strange creature was half man and half demon, the only such being known to exist. He could see much better out of his right eye, the eye of which an ordinary man would possess. The other eye was that of a demon, and that also had its uses.
Kara became increasingly nervous as the Dark Archer looked at her with his head tilted to one side. She really didn’t wish to upset him.
The Archer tilted his head upwards into a normal position once more. “We must keep moving,” he said finally after a long pause. His words were emotionless and cold.
The princess crossed her arms. “But why? We have been walking for hours. Can we not rest for a moment?”
“The danger is not over yet,” said the Dark Archer.
Kara looked around to see if there was any impending danger. The forest was calm and still, and not a single sound could be heard. “There doesn’t seem to be any danger lurking out here,” said Kara with a hint of sarcasm. Her fear of the Dark Archer began to fade a little.
“Yes…for now,” replied the demon. “Hellhounds are not so easily deterred.”
“You defeated them pretty easily before. It shouldn’t be a problem for you,” said Kara.
“Hellhounds hunt in packs. Rest assure they will be back, and this time in greater numbers.”
Although the words of the demon were cold and seemingly uncaring, they sounded very wise, like they were coming from a being much older than his younger appearance would suggest. Indeed this much was true. The Dark Archer, although resembling the appearance of a man in his twenties (at least the part of him that had human features), was over fifty years old. However, age did not affect his body like it would a normal man. The Dark Archer was ageless and immortal. His body did not become weaker as the years passed due to the fearsome demon that dwelled within him. It is not known how the creature had come to have such a form to be a half-breed human-demon, it is only known that the creature was once a man and that the apparent immortality the Dark Archer had been gifted with, may not have been a reward, but more likely a curse. Very little of the creatures past was known beyond that, and Kara thought it wise not to question him with such things. Besides she had more pressing concerns.
“Thank you for your help sir, but I have to go,” said Kara. It was more of a plea from the girl rather than a statement.
The Dark Archer seemed puzzled by her words. “And what do you seek out here princess?”
The girl gasped a little with the demon’s last word, ‘princess.’
He knows who I am. How does he know?
The princess knew that if her identity were to become known to any in this realm, her life would be in grave danger. Many of those in Underworld were enemies to the people of Alexandria, and the discovery of her royal highness, the Princess of Alexandria, would have resulted in a terrible end to the girl. She might have been taken hostage, or taken to the Underworld king. Or worse still, someone from this world might take it upon themselves to rape her, and then deliver her back to her father with child. Giving birth to a bastard child from another realm would have been a fate worse than death Kara had thought.
Kara tried her best to hide the fact she was of royal descent during her journey. She obviously hadn’t done a good enough job! “What do you mean?” asked the girl.
“You are Princess Kara Alexandria, are you not?” asked the Dark Archer.
Another shudder flowed through the girl’s body.
How does he know that?
“That’s ridiculous,” said Kara who followed her words with very unconvincing laughter.
“Then why do you carry the royal pendant around her neck?”
Kara put her hand onto her chest and touched the pendant that was hidden underneath her hooded robe. The robe was incredibly baggy and there was no way anyone could have made out the girl was wearing such an item just by looking at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about sir, I think you have me mistaken for someone else.” The girl took a few discreet backward steps.
“Mistake? So you are not of the royal bloodline of Alexandria?” said the Dark Archer.
“No!” said Kara defiantly, shaking her head as she spoke.
“Well then, if you are not her then I guess it is ok for me to kill you.” He took a few steps towards the girl.
“No Wait!” shouted Kara, holding out her hands.
The Dark Archer stopped only a few yards away from her. The princess took a few deep breaths and composed herself. “I am indeed Princess Kara Alexandria,” the girl said hesitantly. She knew revealing her identity left her exposed, however. she had no other choice. Besides, it seemed this strange creature knew exactly who she was anyway.
“That’s what I thought,” said the Dark Archer. He didn’t seem to care about the girl’s revelation. With those pleasantries out of the way, Kara wanted to get back to her quest, the uncovering of a great Alexandrian secret, and the identity of the strange boy from her dreams. This was the reason she had left Alexandria in the first place after all.
Since the Archer seemed uninterested in killing her now, the princess thought it might be ample time for her to ask the demon for guidance on her quest. Fargrim, the now sadly deceased dwarf had told her to head here, into the Dark Forest. Here, the princess was meant to find the one person who knew of the great tertiary that had occurred in the past of both realms. A deep, dark secret, something that no-one ever dared speak of. This secret was connected to the Valentine boy in Kara’s dreams. However, if the princess was to gain the knowledge this person possessed, she first had to find them.
Maybe he can help me
? This much was true, for no one knew the forest like the Dark Archer. He had lived in these parts for many decades after all. Kara began to speak once more “So, I was wondering…”
The demon interrupted her mid sentence. “I know why you are here Kara, daughter of Zeris.”
“You know my father?”
The Archer gave a short cold laugh. “Yes…you could say that.”
“How? Have you been to Alexandria?” said Kara.
“I’m disappointed. You have not heard the myth of how I came to be here?” asked the Archer. The girl looked puzzled by the demons words. The Archer didn’t seem surprised. “I don’t suppose that is a tale the Alexandrian’s would tell you. Anyway, I believe you are on a quest?”
Yet again, the creature seemed to know a lot more about Kara’s journey that he was letting on.
“How do you know that?” asked the princess, who was becoming more suspicious of the creature by the minute.
“I am the one who you seek Alexandrian princess.”
Kara looked him up and down. “You? I don’t think so. The person I seek is someone wise and all knowing, someone who resides within this forest,” replied Kara.
“Are you saying I am not wise?” asked the Archer, who seemed a little annoyed by the girl’s assumption.
The princess immediately took her comment back, again not wishing to offend the demon. “I’m sorry sir, it’s just, I met a dwarf and he was to bring me to this place to speak with this person.”
“Ah yes, the dwarf. Where is Fargrim may I ask?”
“You know the dwarf who came to Alexandria?” asked Kara, who was no longer surprised at the demon’s knowledge of events that had transpired. He seemed to know everything.
“Yes, after all, it is I who sent him to you.”
“You sent him?”
“Yes, and I asked him to bring you here himself. He should never have left your side,” said the Dark Archer.
He left my side protecting me.
It seemed the demon didn’t know everything after all. He appeared to have no knowledge of the dwarfs untimely passing only a short time ago. Kara felt she had better give him the bad news. “I am sorry to have to tell you this but Fargrim is dead.” A deep sense of regret filled her heart. The dwarf had died protecting her and she would forever be indebted to him.
“Really? Pity, I liked that Dwarf,” replied the Dark Archer. There was no such regret in his voice, only the same cold and emotionless tone he had shown throughout the entirety of the pair’s conversation.
“So it was you who sent the dwarf?”
“Yes,” replied the Dark Archer bluntly.
“But why? How do you know what it is I seek?”
“There are many myths and legends in this realm little one, however, I have seen what troubles you. A secret, a truth long buried and hidden by those who are the true rotten souls of Alexandria,” A hint of anger filled the demons voice for a moment and then he was calm and cold once more.
“What are you talking about?” asked the princess.
“I cannot utter a word of those events for to do so would result in the end of my own life. However, I can show you…”
The Dark Archer proceeded onward in the direction he was originally heading before the pair had come to a standstill. Kara’s curiosity now far outweighed her fear and she willingly followed on after him. The two walked for another hour before reaching a small cave in the western region of the forest. The entrance was sealed by a large rock, which had Alexandrian markings upon it. Kara had seen these markings before. They were part of an old Alexandrian sealing enchantment, which was cast to keep trespassers from entering. Much to the princess’ surprise, the Dark Archer spoke in an ancient Alexandrian tongue, which caused the entrance to unseal itself. The girl was surprised because no one from Underworld was supposed to be able to read such markings.
Kara decided to speak out “How do you know those words, they are only spoken by the Alexandrian elders from many years ago. No one in Underworld knows that tongue, unless…”
“You are smart for one so young. I was once of Alexandria,” said the Dark Archer. Without saying another word he walked inside the cave and the girl followed on after him.
The pair walked downwards through a narrow tunnel that led deep underground into a large cavern. A waterfall and strange rock formations lay beneath the forest and the creature led the princess to the very bottom. Here, lay the Pool Of Enlightenment, a place that was once in the heart of the Alexandrian realm. A great power lay within the pool, a power that enabled any Alexandrian who looked into the water to see whatever it was that lay deep within their hearts.
The Creator, Trenkenth, had taken the gift of foresight that the Pool Of Enlightenment possessed from the Alexandrian realm for their sins during the Great War and placed it here, deep within the heart of the Underworld realm. Little knew of its existence and it had little worth to the natives of Underworld anyhow. To them, it would appear as nothing more than a normal pool of water, however to an Alexandrian, it was knowledge and power. The ability for one to see what dwelled within the heart simply by looking into the Pool Of Enlightenment enabled them to take control of their own destiny. The fact this was taken away from them had greatly hurt the people and this was Trenkenth’s intention.