Chapter One: The Returning Darkness

Daniel is awoken by his father in the middle of the night. The castle alarm has been raised and they must make their way towards his uncle's farm.

 

Chapter One

The Returning Darkness

 

"Get up," a scared voice cried out from somewhere in the dark.

"You have to get up now Danny."

A small, black haired boy slowly stirs in a bed near the corner of the candle lit room. "Papa," he whispers, "Papa what’s going on?"

"Most of the town has already left,” his fathers voice sounded tired and scared, “the castle alarm went of about fifteen minutes ago. Most of the town is heading for the castle grounds while the others are making their way towards relatives in neighboring towns."

John walked over to the closet adjacent to the bed his son was sleeping in and flung open the doors. He began rummaging through the clothes and throwing them into a bag that was now lying on top of the bed. 

Danny got out of be and began to through on a pair of worn jeans that was lying near the back of the closet. He turned to look at his father with large, blue eyes that seemed lost and scared, "What’s going on, where are we going?" he asked.

"I've called Uncle Roark and he said we could come and stay with him. We should be fine there," he paused and looked at his son sitting on the bed, "you should be fine there.

John slowly walked toward the window and stared out at the cool night just beyond, a light rain had begun and with every drop he could feel a darkness rising from deep within the moist ground. It seemed to rush in and fill the empty spaces around the room. It was as if the entire world was descending into chaos around them..

He turned and looked at his son sitting on the bed. John's time was growing short he could feel it more and more each day. Tonight would be the night he would die and his son would be left to fight whatever evil was rising in the darkness alone. He had seen it in his dreams, more and more clearly each night, he saw his son standing in an open field, the dark castle that loomed in front of him always sent shivers down his spine. Dark clouds swirling ominously above the towers and the dark brown land around the base of the castle was dry, and cracked. Life didn’t exist in its natural form, instead, it took on the shapes of creatures from the deepest depths of the earth and ancient beings not seen for centuries.

He continued to stare at his son, his black hair tangled from sleep, his deep blue eyes full of wonder and innocence. These eyes had only known love and peace but soon they would darken, as fear, death, and pain tried to empty his soul.  

John spoke softly, "Are you ready?" and a single tear rolled down his cheek leaving a dark trail that sparkled in the dimly lit room.