DARKLIGHT

- 5 -

The next time I awoke, I was in a different room, lying on a poorly bedded metal cot that was only slightly more comfortable than the metal table I had been on previously. I sat up and rubbed my eyes blearily, taking a look at my surroundings. The room was nearly bare and had magic-proof metal walls and no obvious door. There were no lights, but a narrow window near the ceiling revealed the sun, high in the sky. It was either late morning or early afternoon. Across from my cot, a bowl was sitting on a short, poorly-constructed wooden table.

Curiosity and hunger overwhelmed me, and I activated my symbol to cast a spell to bring the bowl across the room, admittedly being a little lazy. I was greeted with stabbing pain and no magical glow. Looking down, I saw what had happened to my arm.

My griffin wasn't white anymore. The small metal disc was still attached to the middle of my forearm, and Dark lines under my skin stretched outwards from it to reach the far ends of my now Dark symbol. For someone who had grown used to seeing their symbol glow white day after day, the sight was disturbing. I tried to activate my magic again, but that only made the disc hurt more.

I wearily got to my feet and walked to the table. A relatively plain soup was in the bowl, and although it was unfamiliar, it tasted great after days of nothing. While I ate, I looked around outside my window. There was no way to see any of the nearby landscape, but I did notice that there were mountains nearby. The Order wasn't very close to any mountains, but on clear days you could sometimes make out a range to the south of Serkha City.

I heard a shimmer behind me and turned in surprise. Kaces had appeared, and he regarded me with the same haughty attitude that I had come to expect from him. Why am I here?" I spat at him.

Kaces thought for a while. Finally, he replied blankly, "It wouldn't matter to you. You probably don't know much about politics."

"I know enough."

He narrowed his eyes. "Hear this, then. The Kireveans have returned. Soon, the Order will submit and Hyterbia will welcome us back."

"That doesn't explain anything," I said in confusion.

"Like I said, you don't yet understand the ways of the world." Kaces kept on nearing me, and I backed up against the wall. It was cold and shadowy from the lack of natural light. He pulled up the left sleeve on his cloak, revealing a Dark dragon. "Maybe you'll learn."

Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder while activating his symbol. "Hareket," he said, and the room transformed around us, expanding and removing the furniture that had been there before. We were now in an open space, and daylight shone in from an open ceiling onto a dusty dirt floor. As soon as our surroundings had settled, Kaces shoved me away contemptuously and walked a few paces toward the opposite metal wall, saying, "Ortiyano." Both of these spells were fairly new to me. The first I'd heard once when Kaces had attacked the order, but the second was completely unfamiliar.

A small white circle appeared on the wall in front of us. Without turning back to me, Kaces instructed, "Take out that shifter disc. It's served its purpose." I assumed he meant the metal disc in my arm, but I was in no mood to cooperate with anything Kaces said. Hearing no movement, he glanced over his shoulder and said, "I'd suggest that you get that thing out before it does something unexpected. Shifting isn't a perfect science." He held up his right hand and made to activate his symbol again. "Would you rather that I do it for you?"

I glowered at him and looked down at my arm. The disc didn't seem to be very firmly attached, so I stuck one of my fingernails under it and tried to pry it up. With a whir, it disconnected and fell into my hand, leaving only a minuscule puncture in my skin where it had pricked me, though any sign of a needle connected to the disc was gone.