A Short Story by Arsiei Rei Darksbane

    I was in a dark place... a field at night, following a stone path toward my home. I looked up and saw across the field, across the way, dozens of spirits... dark things... that would surely kill me if they saw me at all. None of them noticed me... they paid my quiet passage no mind and went about their business, ethereal and unknown as it was. Yet I knew... should I pass between them, through the center of their gathering that I must pass to reach my destination, they will see me... they will Know I'm there... And that would be the end of it.

    I glance down and suddenly, I notice, there against the tree upon which I am leaning, a tiny lighter nailed to the trunk. The thing is silvery gray and seems sturdy as if made for something more than burning lungs... It almost seems as if it waits there for someone lost in the dark... someone who needs its safety. Reaching down, I lift it from the nail and take it in my hand, my eyes rising to regard the path to safety once again. The field is flooded with their dark forms... pale white yet dark and terrible... I know they will have done with me if I run... but they will notice me eventually if I stay. To my right... a shrine... a small open place with a roof and several pillars, but inside: light... The place is flooded with glorious, warm and steady light. Should the spirits be able to follow me there? I think they can not... I might be safe... but there are no walls... no doors... no certain wood to bar the entry of the fiends... only my hope that the light will keep them at bay-- but what if I'm wrong?

    My mind sets still. The door beyond the field is the only destination. My safe place. My home... surely I can make it if I run with all my might. Surely... My heartbeat quickens, my legs growing ready to spring and start across that field like lightning... I ready myself, take a breath... then run. Fast as my legs will carry me... fast as my fading hope slips through my fingers as my eyes are assaulted with the sight they desired least and last... All those spirits turn as one, as if my flickering faith alerted them all and damned me to them. They turn at once, all furious and screaming out in rage and gleeful elation, some to the sides and behind me where I never saw them at all. They begin to come at me, faster than my legs, and in desperation and fear I throw myself toward the light. I dive into the shrine and roll myself to the center, finding my feet as fast as I can... but I was wrong. Terribly wrong.

    They begin in on all sides and I am trapped... trapped within the shining symbol of peace and light... trapped within the bounds of hope and faith. And all around they begin to close on me until my fumbling finger strikes the metal wheel and the pad beneath it and suddenly, the fire springs forth. They hiss and fly back from me, giving distance to the flickering flame in my hand and I glance around assuring all of them that it is there and real. Not like the light flooding the shrine, they stare at it with terror and anger and not one of them will approach me... safety... And I think that surely... surely they will give up and move away... each of them finding something better to take their interests and I will find safety for the night. Then he arrives.

    Taller, real in body and more certain in form, he steps from amid the torrent of lost souls, eyes gleaming a terrible shimmering light. He gazes out at me, grinning with his pointed teeth and begins to whisper to me my doom. You will never make it... The night is long and the dawn is far away... You can't stand there all night... We will never leave you... You can't hold that thing against us... Look at your hand... How long can you hold that little pad down? How long til your finger slips and the light goes out? How long til the fuel runs wane... The hour comes and we have only patience... The Dawn will not save you... the time is too great... you will surely perish here in the night... we will be feasting upon your flesh... we will be laughing upon your name... we will take everything... we will win... we will win... we will win...

    On and on he heckles me... harries and threatens my resolve. He is good at this. He is their leader for a reason... he is the one that will undo me. He Stalks me at the edge of the light, playing his casual way as if the flame can not hurt him alone and he only stays back out of some strange courtesy to the rest. I know in my heart of hearts he is lying... he is trying to frighten me... trying to cause me to make a deadly mistake... He will keep at it all night if he must until he wins... He is as vulnerable as the rest to my one precious flame... but-- how long until I grow tired of this game and simply allow myself to be burned in order to quench that tiny fire? He is good at this...

You can not make it until the dawn... He's right... I can't... The light will go out and you'll be finished... It can't last all night... It's just a lighter... It's small... the fuel will run out... You can not stand there forever... I could but the light... the light... We will win...

    I was terrified and swiftly sinking into despair. My mind sought about for an answer... something must surely be there. I gazed out, wantingly at my home... That beautiful building, simple and plain, full of safety and warmth these fiends could not touch. I could run... They would follow. I could hold my light above my head... it would go out... I could go slowly and carefully with my flame... they would all seize me from a side and drag me down into the darkness... but... one swift breeze would end it... He had gotten to me... He was still harrying me... Still speaking to me even as he grinned to me in silence. I had to get out of here. I had to make it. I would run.

    Without giving myself time to change my mind, I began to move toward him, holding the light with my hand cupped hard against it, cradling it like a precious jewel, and what a jewel it was to me that I should not want for anything else... I began my slow walk and he bowed, moving back and letting me pass, even as the flame's light forced his many companions to hiss and whisk away from me. His mocking grin never left my sight as I walked, step by step, slow and unsteady, fearful and hoping, begging in my heart and cringing at the thought of what would come if I failed-- when you fail... He was always with me.

    Agonizingly long and painfully slow was the journey, step by step by brutally careful step. The flame flickered in my hand and with each tiny change in that dim light, my heart flickered the worse for it. My heartbeat grew loud in my ears and my breath came dangerously quickly, adding to the flicker of the flames... So Close... My eyes gazed up at the door... Just a few more steps... My heart pounded with terror... He was being too quiet...

    The worst was to happen-- rain began. It poured suddenly from the sky and smote my light from my hand like an act of God. I reacted instantly, and my feet might as well have sounded like thunder, for my flight was like lightning. I ran with all my strength, my will, my courage, fleeting and flickering as the flame had been my hope was still with me... Suddenly, the door opened and the light from within my home poured out. A shadow stood in the doorway - he was waiting for me... I knew he'd be there... he was my love... my heart... my shelter. He was safety... he was warmth! He was THERE! He's THERE! He waits for me! I cried in my heart I am safe! and strangely he was silent in reply.

    And then they were upon me... All of them, hundreds where dozens had been... spirits tore at my body, flying by and through the edges of me. I shrilled in terror and pain... agony unknown to life... I cried out and tore at them in desperation and fear so deep... so horrible... They tore at me in a whirlwind- a fury of sweeping forms and hard winds like they were made of a foul and terrible breeze. He was there and laughing... I could not see him for all their forms, for all their fury, for all my tears and fears... but I could hear him laughing... He would be the last one to feast upon me. He would take me down into the darkness, his terrible grinning eyes reflecting in my eyes... He was patient. And he had been right.... No...

    I tore at them and ran, reaching my hand in front of me... It was only steps away... my home, the door... THE DOOR... I reached out and though I seared with agony as they bit and clawed and raked my flesh... taking with them more than blood and body... taking with them things that I needed... my courage waned... I reached out and the shadowed form in the door reached back to me. He clasped my hand! My heart screamed out triumph and victory! I was in! I was IN! His hand is shadow...and he reached up... his shadowy form moved, his hand rising surely to the wall... and turned off the light. Goodnight...

Disclaimer and Copyright: This short story is completely original. This is my work and my art. If there is any similarity to another work it is merely coincidence. Please do not distribute, copy, or otherwise steal this work. If you do, I curse Swedish Fish on you.

"Goodnight" Copyright (2007) Arsiei Rei Darksbane