"You are tempted by dark powers?"
"Aye."
"But why?"
He shook his head. "In here," he placed his hand over his heart, "I know that good is more powerful than evil, but still the darkness calls to me, tempting me to do that which can only be done through the power of darkness, to rise up and unleash the full power within me, the consequences to others be damned. I could destroy the village with the wave of my hand, enslave its people, cause famine and flood."
He dragged his hand over his face as if to block out the images his words had conjured. "I have ever used my powers for good, for healing. But there is another power, a dark power that tempts me. It calls to me in the lonely hours before the dawn, when goodness lies weak and vulnerable within me and evil rides the wings of the night."
"Virtue and vice," she said. "Truth and error. 'Tis a choice we all must make."
"Aye."
"You must not choose the darkness, my lord, you must not give in to it, else you be lost."
He thought of her words later that day as they left the valley behind and entered a stand of thick timber. She was wise beyond her years, he thought. Knowing but little of him or his past, she nevertheless sensed the danger that lay before him if he succumbed to the darkness that beckoned him, tempting him with powers beyond imagining. The darkness. More and more he was drawn to the night. The light of the sun made his skin tingle oddly; sometimes it burned his eyes. His taste in food was also changing; where once he had preferred his meat well done, he now liked it rare and dripping with blood.
The leafy branches overhead grew thick, so thick in some places that they shut out the light of the sun. The shade was a welcome break from the touch of the sun. The sounds of their horses' hooves were muted in the thick leaf mold and vegetation that covered the ground. Here and there he saw the glow of slanted yellow eyes observing their passing.
He watched Channa Leigh. Blessed with sight for this day, she looked at everything carefully, exclaiming softly when she saw a stag bound across their path. She remarked on the beauty of the trees, the eerie shadows beneath the branches.
Leaving the timber, they found themselves in a broad meadow.
"Oh, 'tis lovely!" Channa Leigh murmured.
And, indeed, it was. The grass was a thick blue-green. The trees wore gowns of green and gold, amber and ocher. Sweet-smelling flowers grew in clumps of bright pink and lavender, pale blue and purest white.
He heard the sound of a waterfall and turned his horse toward it, thinking to quench their thirst and refill their water flasks.
The falls were a beautiful sight—crystal clear water cascaded down the side of an onyx mountain, splashing over huge boulders to gather in a deep turquoise blue pool.
It wasn't until they were kneeling at the water's edge that he felt it, a ripple in the air, like the static before a storm.
He rose quickly to his feet, all his senses alert. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, heard nothing, and yet every instinct he possessed warned of danger. The horses stirred restlessly.
"What is it?" Channa Leigh asked. She came to stand beside him, her hand on his arm.
He shook his head. "There is something amiss. Can ye not feel it?"
She glanced around, her brow furrowed. "I feel… a stirring in the air."
"Aye, that's it." Gathering his power around him, he flung his senses out as a fisherman might cast a net.
There was a faint sizzle as his power came up against another force. There was a blinding flash and then a creature stood before them the likes of which Channa Leigh had never seen. It was as tall as the trees, covered with a slimy gray skin. Its eyes were close set. Its mouth was open, revealing jagged yellow teeth.
She took a step backward, repelled by the hideous creature. "What is it?"
Darkfest shook his head. He had no idea what kind of beast it was, only that it had been born of evil. He extended his arm toward the creature. "Begone!"
With a mighty roar, the beast shook its massive head.
Jerking free of their tethers, the animals bolted.
Darkfest straightened to his full height. "Begone, I say!"
The creature took a step forward, one hand reaching toward Channa Leigh. The air around it shimmered. The smell of brimstone filled the air. The grass beneath its feet withered and died.
Darkfest reacted instinctively. Thrusting Channa Leigh behind him, he lifted his hand. There was no time for words, no time to refine his magic. He gathered his power around him and hurled it at the creature.
Channa Leigh gasped and reeled backward as a ball of crimson fire flew from the wizard's fingers.
The creature screamed as its body burst into flame.
Channa Leigh covered her face with her hands, unable to watch as the leathery gray skin began to blister and melt.
There was an obscene popping sound, and then she felt Darkfest's hand on her shoulder. " 'Tis over, Channa Leigh."
Slowly, she lowered her hands and glanced around. Nothing remained of the creature but a small pile of gray ash.
She looked around, her eyes wide and scared. "Are there more of them?"
He closed his eyes a moment, then shook his head. "I think not."
"But what was it?"
"A minion of the dragon, perhaps, sent to frighten us away. No matter, 'tis over now. Come, let us go after the horses. They will not have gone far."
CHAPTER 11
Channa Leigh's gaze swept the land around them. She was all too conscious of time passing, all too aware that soon she would be trapped in darkness again. But for now, she delighted in everything she saw.
As Darkfest had predicted, their animals had not gone far. He lifted her onto the back of her mount, swung agilely onto the back of his own.
When they stopped to rest the horses later that day, she saw a spiderweb stretched between two bushes. She watched, fascinated, as a spotted spider slowly and carefully cocooned its unwitting prey in white silk.
They stopped again several hours later, this time near a river teeming with dozens of silver fish. Darkfest dropped down beside her. Stretching out on his stomach, he plunged his hands into the water up to his elbows and, to her delight, caught six fat fish with his bare hands.
Wrapping them in leaves, he put them in his saddlebags. "Dinner," he explained.
They rode until dusk, then made camp near a small blue pool surrounded by pale lavender ferns, flowering vines and tall slender trees with silver-blue leaves. It looked like a fairyland. She would not have been surprised to see unicorns peeking through the bushes.
She watched Darkfest unsaddle the horses and hobble them nearby and then, with a wave of his hand and a muttered incantation, a small fire sprang to life.