‘What’s the first thing you need to know about Dark Wyzards? That’s simple… they lie…’

-Carven, teaching his Apprentice

Nell now felt comfortable enough to lower his rifle, though he kept it clutched firmly in one hand. ‘What am I expected to do?’

‘Like that? You are a brave one, aren’t you?’ Dauntilis smiled. ‘I can’t really remember ever being so…’ the Wyzard let it go, and appeared almost embarrassed, as if he’d been speaking out loud, and out of turn. ‘Excuse me,’ he said, ‘I get muddled, sometimes. Good, good,’ he went on, ‘your willingness to help is to be commended.’

‘Well, it’s not all that,’ Nell grumbled, a pain driving into his skull again, flashing shadowy images, helping him remember more of what he didn’t remember.

Running, fleeing, fear, destruction, a sliver of hope!

‘I suspect,’ Nell went on, shaking his head a little, to banish the images, ‘if my Father made a bargain, and part of it is me doing whatever it is I’m expected to do, there are consequences for us all if I don’t.’

‘Quite right, quite right,’ Dauntilis replied, gravely, ‘and so terrible I hesitate to even give you the snippets of what I know.’

‘So,’ Nell pressed, ‘in that case, what am I expected to do?’

‘I couldn’t tell you,’ Dauntilis replied, ‘for I don’t know… though what I do know is that evil will be hunting you, and the task ahead is dangerous… this key, though, will open a door, and secrets will be revealed. I imagine you know what door… yes?’

Nell didn’t respond, but he was sure.

‘Evil?’ Nell asked. ‘The Dark Spirits you spoke of?’

‘Indeed,’ the Wyzard replied, ‘dangerous, evil things… though I must admit, I don’t quite know their-’

A hauntingly evil screech sounded outside and Nell looked up quickly, just in time to see something black and smoky race past the living room window without a blind. ‘Did you see that?’ Fingold demanded with a quiver of fear in his voice.

Nell only nodded, and as he did, Dauntilis was up. He floated to Nell and pressed the golden key into his hand. His blue eyes were serious, and drew Nell’s attention quickly.

‘Get to the door,’ Dauntilis told Nell, his voice grim. ‘You will be safe there, and your questions will be answered… I’ll hold the beasts off… Run when I tell you.’

Nell stared at the Wyzard, a note of panic in his eyes.

‘Get to the door!’ Dauntils commanded, pushing Nell forward.

Feeling a great ugly pressing inside his chest, Nell did as he was told and moved to the door.

‘Keep the key safe. Don’t lose it!’ Dauntilis told the man.

Nell nodded.

Dauntilis held his hands up and they began to crackle with Mahgic. ‘I can only get you started. They will quickly learn you’re not in the house, and seek you out. Don’t let them find you… I will do what I can.’

Nell nodded.

Dauntilis’s face filled with hope and sadness. ‘Good luck,’ he said. He waved his hands and there was a brilliant flash of light and a loud crack.

The next thing Nell knew, he was stumbling to his knees in the thick of dim forest. He looked around and quickly got his bearings. This was the Bluewood!

‘My stars!’ Fingold cried. ‘I thought we were dead! We’re not dead are we? Beastly man, using Mahgic on-’ his last words were cut off with a yelp as Nell scrambled back to his feet and began to run, desperately trying to remember how he’d found the pool earlier – of course he’d been following the orb then.

Still, as he ran, he thought he saw familiar trees and-

A terrible screeching howl started in the sky. Nell stopped short and looked up through the trees. His blood chilled when he saw horrible-looking smoky trails - five of them - soaring above, swishing back and forth, like evil, smoky serpents.

‘Oh, drat this all!’ Fingold growled. ‘I’m bound to have a heart-attack of all of this trouble keeps up!’

Nell gripped tightly his rifle in one hand and gold key in the other, and broke, once more, into a run, hoping with all of his heart that the pool wasn’t much further. High above him one of the smoky trails spotted him, screamed toward the others, and shot down into the forest after him, the others quickly following.

Nell ran harder and faster than he’d ever run before, and didn’t look back – Fingold was doing that enough for the both of them, and his horrible cries of despair might have been distracting, if Nell wasn’t so focused on getting them to safety.

Nell leaped through some thick brush and landed on a grassy ledge. He almost cried out for joy when he saw the crystal clear pool below him. Even if he’d wanted to cheer for joy though, he didn’t have a chance, because a dark force hit him in the back, spinning him in the air and sending him heavily to the ground, almost pitching over the ledge.

Nell heard Fingold cry out and land somewhere nearby.

Nell quickly sat up and saw, not a meter from him, five figures, smoky and dark, flowing and churning, but looking almost like hooded beings, glowing eyes glaring evilly. He raised his weapon and fired a blast off, toward the nearest of the monsters, but it just sliced through the smoke and impacted into a tree.

A smoky, snaky, arm lashed out, hitting Nell’s rifle and sending it flipping out of his grip, down, down to the pool below.

‘Give us the key, boy!’ a vile, hissing voice spat from the lead Dark Spirit.

Nell gripped the key tighter in response. He looked around for Fingold, but could see his little friend nowhere.

‘Either way, you die, boy!’ the horrible voice cackled.

Nell looked once at the lead monster, and then, ignoring any fears he might have, he rolled off the ledge and fell down, down to the water below. He splashed down heavily, and then untwisted his body under water. Muffled screeches sounded overhead, and Nell swam down ward, looking back only once, to see the monsters skimming the surface of the pool, but seemingly unable to follow him down. With renewed hope, Nell swam harder, down, down, down, toward the door in the bottom of the pool. He grabbed onto the doorknob to keep himself from floating back to the surface and then opened his other hand looking at the golden key in his palm. He hesitated, glancing once at the keyhole, before taking the key and inserting it. He twisted it, and there was a click.

Nell hesitated, but knew he couldn’t much longer. Dauntilis had said he’d be safe once through the door. With his lungs hurting from holding his breath too long, Nell could only hope.

So he drew the key out, turned the doorknob, and it gave. Heaving with his strength, Nell pulled the door up, opening it wide and looked down into a dark hole. All he saw was darkness. His lungs were hurting all the more and he thought darkness was encroaching on the edges of his vision.

Seeing little other choice, he swam to the dark hole.

In an instant it felt like he broke through the surface of water, and he gasped for air as he tumbled head over heels into darkness. He cried out as he fell, out of control, and down, down, down. Vaguely he realized that one deadly situation had just formed into another.

His thoughts were cut short when he slammed against something solid, and then he thought nothing, darkness wrapping him tightly in its unrelenting grip.

*

A vast fleet of evil-looking ships - the largest and most deadly surrounded by all the others - rolled through the black of space. The crimson and black vessels, as evil as they looked on the outside, were teeming with worse inside. Somewhere, deep in the heart of the biggest vessel, howls of agony rang out.

A dark figure, all churning smoke, red eyes glinting glared hatefully forward at a worm-like creature that was strapped to a blood-stained stone table. Regol torturers surrounded him, striking out with Mahgic and darkness, causing the prisoner to writhe in agony and scream blood-curdling screams that would make any person’s blood chill.

Fortunately, the Regol leader thought happily to himself, I don’t have blood.

There was a whisper of movement behind the Lord, and he turned to see another of his smoky people approaching, red eyes alight. The dark, smoky being seemed to stoop in a bow, and then looked directly at its master, who was somewhat larger.

‘Speak!’ the master snarled, all darkness and evil.

‘Word has arrived from the hunting party,’ the underling reported, ‘they regret that the man escaped.’

The master growled and turned back to the torturing. ‘Then we have failed in that part, and have no more time to waste. We must get the location of the three pieces from this creature.’

The underling floated up beside the master. ‘Why does he hold out, Lord… None of the others showed such strength… he is a fool.’

‘A fool he is, and in the end he will break, no question there… Though we must move quicker now that the boy is in their hands. They will turn him against us.’

A new, piercing scream sounded from the worm-man, drawing the attention of the master and the underling. The scream was vicious and the wretched being’s eyes bulged as he howled for help, and begged for the evil being done to him to stop.

‘Tell us what we need to know, and the pain will stop!’ the master snarled.

The worm-man bit his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut, putting on the bravest face on of his kind could.

The torturers lashed out against the being once more and his howls of agony echoed through the evil ship, and out into the pitiless cold of space.