A Darker Shade of Sorcery, - [top ten ebook reader txt] 📗

going to work, it was… the portal swallowed her whole.

Lancinations of brilliant light blinded her, she was caught in a terrible whirlpool, and then she was on her feet again. She looked down; no ground, no nothing. She was in the middle of a blank white space.

Whiteness stretched all around, there were no doorways, no exit. Panic burgeoned in her chest, she couldn’t stay in this whiteness for an hour.

The red sphere winked into existence. Brooke sighed with relief, but then something seized her hair, tugging her backwards. She collided into a muscled chest, hard as stone.

Arantay’s eyes blazed ghastly fires as he leered down at her, his fangs bared in hunger.

Brooke screamed when Arantay brought those teeth down, ripping into her neck, severing her jugular. Her hand shot up, trying to push his clamping jaws off as blood spurted between her fingers.

“Why?” she sobbed.

She kicked out wildly, her foot connecting with the red sphere. The world blinked.

She was transported to a labyrinth of dark, ominous trees. She realised she was in Veneseron forest, the three moons weakly warding off the entrapping darkness.

Melodic, mirthless laughter echoed from within the gloom.

A shadowy shape emerged behind her. The elf rose to his feet, green hair coiled about his shoulders like snakes and emerald eyes glinting wickedness. Falawn.

319

Chuckling maniacally, Falawn lurched forward, arms outstretched.

With a strangled cry she ran, twisting and turning through the dark maze of forest, Falawn on her heels.

The sphere appeared again. Brooke leapt towards it, but Falawn reached her first, seizing her round the middle and throwing her to the ground.

She screamed as he pinned her down, his eyes bleeding hate.

She weaved sorcery feverishly, making the sphere soar into her hand. The world blinked.

Brooke stood on a narrow platform, hewn out of stone.

The panorama before her was all rock, a ruined earth.

Figures burst into existence on the stony plain before her.

It was Evan and Jed, weapons raised. Brooke opened her mouth to speak, but then shuddered in horror as a horde of demons emerged.

Thousands swept across the plain like a tide of scuttling spiders. Slowly evolving into darker, more sinister shapes the closer they got.

She screamed at them to climb up the rocks towards her, but they were deaf to her warnings.

Brooke saw the sphere appear between the demon army and her friends. She climbed down the boulders towards them. She had to get them to the sphere too so they could all escape.

The demon tide reached them first.

Brooke sobbed as Evan and Jed tried desperately to beat them back, swinging wildly and cleaving limbs with their weapons. It was no use. In a matter of seconds, demons overwhelmed them. Hysterical with terror, Brooke saw a winged demon delve deep, picking Jed up by his head and chewing it off.

320

Evan roared, an inferno of flames shooting out of his hand, but there were too many. They leaped on him, smashing him to the ground, ripping his body to shreds.

Brooke seized the sphere. The world blinked.

She was in the Banquet chamber, Evan and Jed beside her, whole and alive. She reeled at the bizarre change of scenery. Then she realised what was happening and looked frantically for the sphere. This trial was like one long, horrific nightmare.

Suddenly she saw it, hovering above another table of feasting Venators. Brooke scrambled up and over her table and sprinted towards it.

Elijah materialised in front of her, holding a long, lethal halberd. His gold eyes were dribbling tears, his face screwed up in despair.

“Why won’t you love me,” he choked. Thrusting forwards with his halberd which ripped straight into her stomach. Brooke fell back, stunned, the halberd’s spike rending a gaping hole in her abdomen as blood bubbled around it.

Her fingertips managed to graze the sphere. The world blinked.

She was in the middle of the training courtyard. This was becoming too much. This time the sphere appeared as soon as she did, taunting her as it bobbed feet away.

Lok and Arantay rolled on the ground, punching each other savagely.

“Brooke’s mine,” Lok roared, smashing his head into Arantay’s own.

“NOOO,” Arantay bellowed back, “she’ll never love you,” he bit down on Lok’s arm.

“Stop!” Brooke tried to move between them, but Lok shoved her aside.

At the force of his push she fell into the sphere, banging the back of her head on the stone floor.

The world blinked.

She was in Veneseron city, clutching a long sword.

321

Even as she arrived, many of the city races ambushed her.

A Hobgoblin lunged at Brooke first, trying to scrape her face off with a metal claw.

Her training kicked in instinctively. Her blade bit into his neck and a gush of green goo frothed forth. She leaped over the fallen Hobgoblin and sprinted out of the city plaza and into an alley as a bloodthirsty mob followed.

The sphere was just round the next turn. The world blinked.

She was now in Ethanc’s, sitting at one of the glass tables as all her friends laughed at some joke Xavier had told.

Brooke rose, needing to leave before something bad happened, but everyone clamoured around her, clapping like she’d won an award.

“Don’t go Brooke, we love you,” Evan sang joyously as he hugged her.

The red sphere was floating in Ethanc’s huge aquarium.

The door to Ethanc’s burst open.

Lyella and Sintian stood on the threshold, knives in their hands.

Sintian rushed into the room, hacking at people like a madman.

Brooke struggled desperately to untangle herself from her friends.

They laughed as they died. Sintian, looking livid, waded into the group. He cut Elijah in half, slashed off Cera’s arm, stabbed Jed in the heart, and punctured Emi in the stomach.

Evan’s head bounced off his shoulders and came to land before her feet, still laughing joyously.

Lyella appeared behind her, knife raised, ready to plunge. Brooke wheeled round and dived over the bar. She ignited her fist with a spell she’d learned in Extended

322

sorcery and thrust it straight through the aquarium. Water exploded through the hole in a torrent, but she’d already touched the sphere.

The world blinked.

Arantay had returned. He smiled lovingly as he walked towards her across the Fortress fields. His arms outstretched whilst he laughed. “Brooke, my love.”

The sphere was here, waiting for her.

She raced towards it, refusing to look at Arantay. She didn’t want to witness what would happen next.

As she came to within two steps of the portal Falawn careened into her, knocking her to the ground before flying at Arantay. The insane elf pounced on his younger brother, ripping into him with his nails.

Brooke watched horrified as Falawn splintered the bones of Arantay’s chest, shoving his hands deep into the gore, trying to get at the heart and squeeze it until it exploded.

“You see,” Falawn shrieked, “his heart is as black as a demon’s!”

She punched the sphere furiously. The world blinked.

The sphere appeared again a second later. Brooke was once again in the forest, but this time it was daylight. It was beautiful, magnificent. She could see the tiny fairies fluttering past, hear the excited pixies chattering.

Despite the wonderful sights, she knew she must leave, quickly while the sphere remained.

“BROOKE, NO!”

Arantay came stumbling into the glade. Desperation was inked on his paper-white face. As their eyes met, Arantay crumpled to the ground.

She took another step towards the gateway.

323

“NO!” Arantay screamed, his voice ringing sorrow.

“I’ll die if you leave me, Brooke,” he wailed, “I'm dying without you.”

She had to keep telling herself it wasn’t real, because all she wanted to do was run to him.

“Brooke,” he begged, crawling towards her,

“PLEASE, Brooke.” Arantay wailed, tears oozing down his face.

“I need…to feed on you so much.”

No!

Her mind was starting to beat her, she couldn’t let it win.

“BROOKE,” Arantay sobbed over and over again.

“Let me drink you. Just a taste.”

His face contorted to a mask of rage. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you.”

He lunged at her, flitting across the clearing so fast she didn’t have time to move. His hand snatched Brooke’s hair and yanked her to the ground. She began to summon sorcery, but he was on top of her, his fangs savaging her neck.

Pain spiked throughout her body as her blood leaked into Arantay’s eager mouth.

He gnawed at her throat like a rabid dog, tearing off strips of skin. Brooke screamed in agony as Arantay spat out a gobbet of her flesh. He grinned in ecstasy as her blood spewed out, painting his face.

Her scream turned to a war cry and his ecstasy turned to torment when she filled her hands with electricity and clapped them either side of his head. He jolted back, convulsing. Brooke lurched to her feet and leaped at the sphere.

Abruptly the sphere spat her back out into the trial chamber. She fell to the floor, trembling.

Greller hurried to her side. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

324

Brooke knew she was shaking in anger as much as fear and shock. Why had the trial been like that? Showing her horrific things, horrific things happening to her friends, made Arantay…

“It…it was horrible,” she gasped.

Gettelung nodded emphatically. “We all see different things when we enter. The trial prays on the worst our imaginations can conjure, best not to think about it dear.”

“Good timing,” Greller said, “you made it with only three minutes left.”

“Well done,” said Gettelung. “You’re an Apprentice now. You'll be going on missions throughout the worlds in no time.”

Brooke nodded numbly, her fingers tracing where Arantay had bitten her. Part of her expected a gaping hole gushing blood, whilst the larger part of her knew none of it had been real.

But still, as her fingers touched the flesh, she felt two small punctures.

325

Chapter 22- Darkness Opened

“I knew you could do it,” Elijah yelled, giving her a high-five.

“Brilliant, Brooke.” Emillia grinned.

“Yeah man, not bad,” said Jed.

Brooke smiled back, dressed all in blue now she was an Apprentice.

Once she had time to get over the shock of her trial, relief had filled her. She’d done it. She was an Apprentice, one step closer to saving countless lives throughout the realms.

“You’ll probably be in loads of my lessons now,” Elijah said eagerly.

It seemed silly how much the trial had affected her, now it all felt like a bad dream.

Her last encounter with Arantay, however, had a lingering impact, though she tried to push this to the back of her mind.

The four of them were in a field outside Dragonrock Keep, lazing in the hot summer suns. Jed sprawled beside her, twiddling a blade of grass with his fingers, and staring off into the distance at the city beyond. Elijah and Emillia sat opposite, gossiping as usual.

“Where’s Evan?”

“Training I s’pect,” Jed yawned, “he’s got his own trial too soon.”

“I hope he does okay,” said Brooke.

326

“Course he will, acts well under