43 Darkness Descends (1/2)

The shadows of the enemy loomed over Will like an eclipse over the midnight sky and he knew he was out of time. He looked over at each of the formations they had formed. Roy had his axe slung on his shoulder as if he were going to chop his enemies down like trees.

Looking down at Leo where he levitated, he could see the calculating glance he was sending toward his fraction of enemy forces. Will could almost see the strategies that must be going through his self declared brothers head as he clutched thoughtfully at his gold embroidered sword.

Will didn't even have to look at Bianca to see that she was barking orders at her fifty men. Who knew she had such leadership qualities. Will thought as he sighed inward. He also noticed that her aura had changed. When he looked at her usual armour, he noticed dagger sized blades that had grown out of her knuckles. He had to make a note not to mess with her in the future.

Will glanced over at his newest leadership candidate. Jacob, the owner of the first aura he had unlocked in his tragic time within Crystallia was sporting two short swords. Will touched down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder while looking on into the darkness. ”Are you ready for this?” he asked silently.

Jacob nodded slowly, his glare never leaving the enemy ahead. ”I've been waiting for this quite some time.” he said with a barely discernable smirk. ”It's time we take back what has been stolen and avenge our families.”

Will only looked forward as he retracted his arm. ”Remember to keep moving forward Jacob, you have a team that is counting on you now.” he said as he took to the air once more.

Will flew straight back to his formation that mirrored Mayas. It seemed she didn't have any trouble getting them to trust her, even if she did he ensured his formation mirrored hers. He took his position beside her and felt a sense of rightness in the irony that once again he found his way back to her.

Even in her partially ruined midnight black dress and wild long brown hair, her authority leaked out into her dark aura in golden stars.

”Are you ready for this?” Will asked Maya with a half smile on his face. She smiled back at him only for an instance before returning her gaze to the soon to be battlefield.

”I doubt they would wait even if I wasn't.” Maya joked in a mocking tone. ”Let's get this over with so you can buy me this pizza you were praising earlier.”

Before Will could say anything witty in response, he heard laughter boom from the other side of the battlefield.

”This is what you could gather to face me?” Will heard a familiar voice call in the distance. ”I suppose I should be impressed given the time I gave you.” Jake spat. ”It doesn't matter anyway, do you not see the superiority before you? If you stab my men, cleave off an arm as you so brazenly stated earlier, they will continue to fight.” he boasted, clearly giving away that Mayas connection to him was not completely severed.

Will steeled himself, he knew that in only a few short moments everything would change. He would no longer be the travelling son of an author, no longer just an eighteen year old, no longer just one of a crowd. He would be a leader, just as he had been groomed to be his whole life.

Nodding to Maya, he took off to the center of the battlefield. His crimson and gold aura leaving a streak behind him as he left. For only a split second, he felt free as he soared through the sky, until he felt the weight of his pendant which lightly tapped against his chest.

Stopping a few hundred feet in front of his small army, he waited. He could barely make out the outline of a man soaring through the air to meet him. As the figure neared, Will couldn't help his eyes grow wide. What he was looking at in front of him was a man with an average build such as his. He had an ankle length black robe, black jeans and a black skin tight shirt. His black hair was drawn back into a ponytail much like his own was.

Will felt as if he were looking in a mirror when Jake finally met him. ”What's up little bro.” he said with a friendly tone as if they were just meeting up for lunch. He had a goofy grin on his face which somewhat lightened his dark complexion. ”It's been a while hasn't it? How's Maya?”

Will was taken aback by the friendliness that Jake was showing. If he wasn't on a battlefield, he would have thought he really was just visiting a brother. He shook his head slightly at the thought. This wasn't his brother, nor was he really a friend anymore. This was the man who had enslaved Maya and forced her to kill so many families, leaving orphans in her wake.

”Leave now Jake,” Will said with resolve. ”There doesn't have to be any bloodshed. I know there must still be a little good left in you. Reach out to it and end this.”

Jake laughed as if Will had told him the funniest joke he had ever heard. ”Come on little bro, you knew this was going to happen eventually I mean,” he said with a cocked eyebrow, ”I did steal your little girlfriend.”

”Maya is no longer under the control of darkness Jake,” Will said, trying to get through to his old friend. ”All I have to do is figure out how I did it and I can do the same for you.” he felt himself almost pleading. No matter how far gone Jake was, he was still Will's responsibility.

”Your girlfriend is dead Will.” Jake said, all the humor left his eyes. ”The moment the light left her eyes, I replaced it with infinite darkness. The girl you once knew is gone.”

”You couldn't have Jake,” Will realized with a start. ”She died before you came to Crystallia. I know it must be confusing for you, but I think the one controlling you is messing with your memories.”

Will had met Maya long before he had found Jake on a street corner in New York. She was the first person he had met in the new land he now hovered above, she was also the first person he lost. He didn't even have to think back to her lifeless smile when the wraiths stabbed her, he had dreamed of it since that day.

Jake laughed and floated on his back. He was in a fit of laughter for only moments before he righted himself. Will could have sworn he saw a tear in his old friends eye as the laughter subsided into giggles. ”You think she died after that tiny stab in the chest?” Jake's posture fixed in seconds, his dark eyes bore holes into Will's. ”No brother, we kept her alive for a while.”

”W-what are you saying?” Will could barely choke the words out through clenched teeth.

”Well,” Jake started in an annoyed tone, as if he were growing tired of the conversation. ”There are certain steps we have to take in order to allow chaos to take over ones soul.” he folded his hands behind his back as he glided in circles around Will.

”The fist is to have a pure dark aura of course,” he said as he stopped in front of Will and gave him a mocking formal bow.

”The sacrifice must be pure of course, it can't have any form of taint.” he raised a finger. ”The pure dark aura must taint the sacrifice if you know what I mean.” he said with a wink. ”Though, you can't be too careful with the pure of heart, so I allowed the men loyal to me have their turns as well.” he chuckled to himself.

Will couldn't speak, all he could do is stare in front of him while Jake resumed his course, pacing around him. ”And then when the spirit is broken, the sacrifice must kill another pure of heart, tainting what remains pure inside of itself.” he said as if he were talking about a dog instead of a human being. ”And then, as the spirit finally turns to chaos, the pure dark aura must make the sacrifice.” he said with a wicked smile, his eyes seemed to radiate joy at the thought of what he did. ”So as I said before little bro,” Jake said with a sincere tone. ”Your girlfriend is already dead.”

Will stared in horror at what he had just learned. He couldn't speak. Any reasoning he had over Jake had vanished the moment he started with his explanation. What replaced reason was a void inside of himself. Maya was alive. The thought played over and over in his head as images of what she must have endured passed through his head.

Within the silence of his thoughts, something snapped. Tendrils of darkness shot from Will's pendant as he reached for it. Hate filled his eyes as the familiar snap of the chain filled the air between them.

Instead of the usual red and gold aura, tendrils of darkness from the pendant latched onto Will's arm. It was as if the darkness was slithering up his body as his breathing became ragged and short.

”I-I,” he stuttered under his heaving. ”I AM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!” Will yelled. As the words left his mouth, his voice made the ground below tremble.

”Yes!” Jake yelled against the gale of wind that seemed to be coming from Will's body. ”This might be fun after all!” He said as he snapped something off his neck, suddenly he was holding a pure black blade in his hand. He flew back a few paces and waited patiently with a grin plastered on his face.

More tendrils of darkness poured from Will's pendant and caught in the wind. The darkness surrounding his arm took a solid form as the rest formed a pure dark aura.

As the wind died down, Jake's eyes went wide in excitement. What was in front of him was a monstrosity.

His arm bulged with pure black veins, as if darkness itself had lodged itself within Will's body. Following the veins to his hand, a huge hideous formation of black metal protruded from him like a staff connected to his arm. At the end was a scythe that almost didn't seem to be completely there. The blade itself shimmered in and out of existence within the darkness the aura emitted.

Will raised his arm slowly, lifting his head, his eyes seemed lifeless. It was as if those eyes had never seen light before.

In the distance, Maya levitated over both her formation and Will's. From the moment he left, she felt something was off.