His head hurt. There was so much he needed to process. His whole world had just been flipped.

Aline took out the mirror and they were suddenly transported back to the North, to Nexus, and in front of Shainoah’s home. The mirror shattered and Aline let it fall to the ground.

“Shainoah!” Smith yelled as he stormed out. He was followed by Titus and Oz, two Duisteren that lived with Shainoah. They were practically brothers. “Get away from her!”

“I know,” Shainoah muttered.

“Hello, Rynoah,” Aline greeted.

“Shainoah, get away-”

“How long were you going to keep this from me?!” Shainoah yelled.

Smith looked angrily at Aline. “You told him?”

“I showed him everything you’ve been hiding, and broke the curse you made Delphine put on him.”

“You had no right.”

“She had every right!” Shainoah interrupted. “How can you hide this from me all of my life?! I’m a Duisteren and my mother is the fucking leader of the Cult of Tenebris!”

“I was trying to protect you,” Smith explained. “I didn’t think you were ready.”

“From the truth? I’ve lived a lie my entire life. No wonder you make us go to school with fake names. It was to hide from her! When did you think I would have been ready? When she decided to come looking for me and murder me in my sleep?!”

Smith sighed. “I was going to tell you eventually. I swear, it’s just…”

“A lot? Yeah, go fucking figure. How do you think I possibly feel figuring out I’m a Duisteren, the son of some woman named Devika who’s a Dark Ozen, leader of the Cult of Darkness, and that you erased my memory of it with your idiosyncrasy or whatever!”

“Smith had good intentions,” Oz said.

“You both knew too?!” Shainoah yelled. “What is wrong with all of you?!”

“We just wanted to keep you and Saga safe,” Titus tried to say.

Shainoah began to storm off into the house with them following, and that’s when he saw Saga run up the stairs. She had been listening.

“Did she hear that?” Smith asked.

“Better her hearing it now then later, right? Leave us alone,” Shainoah said as he went up the stairs.

That could’ve gone a lot better, but at least he knew now. Still, there was something bugging Aline.

“Saga? There’s two living in this house?” Aline asked.

Smith glared at her. “You had no right.”

“Smith, answer me. There’s two of them?!” Aline asked.

He slowly nodded. “And now they both know.”

“You know what Saga is, right?” Aline asked.

“Yes, and she can remain nothing of the sort so long as we keep her hidden and safe,” he growled.

She shook her head. “But not Shainoah. You need to prepare him. We need to prepare him. There’s been enough secrecy. I waited years to come back, and now is the time to start training him.”

“Why?”

“You’ve heard the prophecies from Delphine. He has to be the Ender.”

“He isn’t ready.”

Aline glared up at him. “He remembers, I’ve told him everything, and now his curse is broken. He’ll revert back to being a Duisteren, and there’s no going back.”

“He’s just a kid.”

“So was I. I understand if he’s scared now, or still has no clue what’s going on, but he needs to be ready. We have to make him ready.”

Shainoah didn’t go to school the next day for obvious reasons. He remained in his bedroom. Explaining everything to Saga last night, took its toll on her as well. She spent the night in his room, and they sat on their bed in silence. There was a knock.

“Go away,” he said.

“It’s Aline,” she called from the door. It opened and she walked inside. She immediately looked at Saga, and she seemed uncomfortable.

“What?” Saga snapped.

“The resemblance is… uncanny,” she said quietly. “Can I talk to your brother alone?”

“It’s fine,” Shainoah said to Saga.

She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. After, Aline turned to Shainoah.

“Have you ever heard the name ‘Nightflier’?”

“I’ve heard stories. They call her a Nightflier because of the black clothes she wears and the magenta wings she forms on her back. It’s like the ancient species of Dragons. Nightfliers.” He paused. “The stories say she has silver eyes.”

“Well, they’re very real, just not at all a Dragon. Looking at your face, you’ve guessed it by now. It’s my idiosyncrasy. I won’t show you, as I now only reveal them when absolutely necessary. I have the ability to sense Supernatural aura, and use my own. Control it as if it were another arm, or wings.”

“It’s all true,” Shainoah said shakily.

“You’ve should’ve learned by now that most of the stories you hear nowadays are actually the truth,” Aline said.

“I knew you were an Aboriginal. A nonhuman, a superhuman, but I didn’t think you were…”

Her eyes flickered silver. “The Nightflier.”

“It makes sense now. That woman next to Smith. You said her name was Divina? She was the Mother of the Nightflier, your mother, a Shri and-”

“Many things, like how I am not just a name, or an Aboriginal,” Aline finished. “After my parents died she found me and began to train me. I was around Saga’s age at the time. You might wonder why she would train me. What for?” Aline sighed. “I could’ve lived out my days with a normal life, or perhaps on the streets like I was before she found me, but the harsh reality is she saw what I was capable of, and knew with the things I could do I could learn to protect myself and others.”

“So, you were forced to become the Nightflier?”

“No. I wasn’t made the Nightflier. I wanted to train. I wanted to become stronger, faster, and able to fight. It’s because I wanted revenge. The name, ‘Nightflier’, just came years later with the tales of what I had done, working alongside the Grotto sometimes,” Aline explained. “Divina didn’t hide anything from me. She told me everything about the Cult of Tenebris, how that was her sister, and how she has been fighting for a thousand years on stopping her.”

“Wait, about Divina, my mother, and Delphine, how were they… Made?”

“An old, very old Shri named Agner had done the ritual I talked about, and split his soul in two, and that’s how Divina and Delphine were born.”

“What about my mother?”

Aline shook her head. “Divina told me that her father had loved a human woman before he split himself, and they tried having a child. Devika was born, but the woman did not survive. She became the first Duisteren.”

“That’s why she looked different from Divina and Delphine?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why I am also a Duisteren?”

“Yes,” Aline answered. “No one is sure why Devika waited a thousand years to split herself and make a child of her own, but then again that’s how most Shri were. That’s why they’re basically extinct now. I just wonder why she made you, then decided to fully get rid of her Shri side and be consumed by Darkness.”

“Maybe there was still some good left in her?” Shainoah said.

“Perhaps, but it’s long gone now,” she shut down. “Delphine, the Sorceress, predicted prophecies in which Devika would try and swallow this region, the Compass, in Darkness. A Darkness that would eventually spread to the rest of the world. The first prophecy was of the Maiden. It’s a curse upon a witch every 500 years. They call that witch the Rite Maiden, as they are born with catastrophic powers that could save or end the world. Devika was after her, but I found her first and kept her safe for a little while.” Aline seemed saddened.

“What happened to her?” Shainoah said.

Aline looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Divina and I protected her from Devika in a battle known as the Battle of the Damned. It was years ago. Devika’s idiosyncrasy is the ability to steal other’s idiosyncrasies. That’s why if she got her hands on the Maiden, she’d get her powers. At that battle, that’s where Divina died, and I was meant to die, but survived. The Rite Maiden escaped and I found her after. We were on the run for a while, but Devika was hot on our trail. We needed to get out of the Compass, because the Queen can’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“A curse put on her, courtesy of Delphine. However, it only made her angrier and that was when she vowed to destroy the Compass with Darkness.” Aline looked out the window. “Eventually, the Maiden came to the conclusion that there was no other choice…” Aline turned her chair to the wall, so she no longer looked at Shainoah. “We failed.”

Shainoah looked down. “I’m sorry.”

Aline seemed to ignore him. “The next prophecy known was the Blood Red Moon. It’s a sacred ritual to Vampires and a legend with the rumored first Vampire, Lilith. To be honest, even I don’t know much about it, and I don’t think Devika does either.”

“Vampires?”

“Let me guess. You thought they were a myth?”

“No. I know they’re around, but it just seems oddly specific.”

“Vampires are as ancient as the Elven races, and just as powerful, given their age. Alongside Dark Ozen, they were known as the first Demonic race.”

Shainoah nodded. “Any other prophecies?”

“The last one is the Ender. The one that can end Devika. Immortals or another of their immediate blood, can kill Immortals. That’s an unwritten rule known amongst most nonhumans. It’s why I couldn’t kill Devika. I would’ve succeeded had I been Immortal, but I’m not.”

“What are you saying? I’m an Immortal?”

“Half-Immortal. You’re a Half-Shri Half- Duisteren, but you’re Shri side hasn’t awoken yet. However, because you are of her blood…”

“I can stop my mother,” he finished. “I’m… the Ender?”

“Yes. I know it’s a lot to take in, but this is basically how Divina had explained it to me.”

He shook his head. “I just don’t understand how you expect me to suddenly turn into this Ender.”

“With time, patience, training, and a motive. I’ll be honest, you don’t have a choice in this. Especially when the lives of your loved ones are at risk. If Devika succeeds, no one will survive. This isn’t like movies where the hero can talk down the villain. It’s simple Dark versus Light. Good versus Evil. Devika doesn’t have any good reasoning for wanting to swallow the world in Darkness other than she wants to. She needs to be stopped.”

Aline got up and began walking to his door. “Tomorrow morning we shall start your training, even if you don’t like it. Like I said, you’re my last shot.”

“Aline,” Shainoah called. She looked back at him. “What are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You explained all of this with terms like ‘years ago’ and ‘a long time ago’, but you look like you’re my age. You say you’re not a Shri, but an Aboriginal. I… I don’t believe you.”

She began to open the door. “In due time.”