Forces of the dark | Teen Ink

Forces of the dark

January 17, 2018
By Mayaswartz SILVER, Berkeley, California
Mayaswartz SILVER, Berkeley, California
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I looked up to the glittering stars in the sky. The moon shone bright and lit the way through the forest. My wings fluttered and I glided silently back to our flower loom. I opened the door. It smelled like honeydew and lilac petals. Starlet was sleeping soundly and mom was snoring so I crawled into bed and shut my eyes. Dreaming of only the moon and stars.
I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and crickets humming. Mom was making tea. The tea kettle rested on a hook above the fireplace. She poured the water into three mugs and plopped a tea bag into each one. Her eyes were drowsy but I could tell she had been up for a while. I yawned. “Star, your tea’s ready, wake up!” Mom said. My little sister's eyes fluttered open and she hopped out of bed. “Ok Mommy” she answered and slurped down some tea. She may be only five, but she’s a good listener.
I got out of bed and my wings flickered. They needed more time to wake up, so did I. I peered behind my shoulder. My silver wing glistened in the morning sun. My charcoal wing seemed to cloud the air with darkness. Me and my sister are the only ones of our kind. A light wing and a dark wing holding us together as one. Light and dark fairies don’t get along as well as my parents had. But It did not last. My father's Dark magic was too strong and he went back to the dark forest. We now live in the light forest with our mom who has taught us to be good and listen to our hearts. My father left when I was 8 and I have not seen him since. “Luna! Luna! Guess what I dreamed about last night!” My sister's voice broke my concentration.
“What star, what did you dream about?” I pulled her up on my lap and snuggled into the couch. The soft fibers smooth against my skin. “There was a deer and I went to pet it and it turned into a forest dove!” “Wow!” I said. We had never seen a forest dove before. It was said that the deer would jump off of a cliff and grow beautiful dove like wings. It would soar through the sky and at the end of the day, return from its journey and become a deer again. Resting in a brush by a stream until the next adventure.
“And then we went to a stream and ate fish and played in a tree and… and… Luna are  you listening?” Oops I had dozed off into my own dream.”Huh? Oh yes of course I'm liste-” and then I stopped. A strange screeching sound was coming from outside. As though someone was scraping their hideous nails across the front door. It stopped. “BAM!” the door was kicked open. I gasped and held my sister tight.
An ooze drifted into the loom. It smelled like mold and dead wood. The air was full of coughing and screaming that died out the moment it left your mouth. My vision went hazy. I felt as if someone had sucked the color out of the room. I tried to see, I tried to hear. A blurry man was standing by our door his dark wings outstretched. Mom was yelling at him. He looked vaguely familiar.
Other men came in with dark wings and then It happened. The one who I recognized, he lifted his hand and blasted dark magic at my mom. She fell to the ground. Breathless. Lifeless. “Mom!” I screeched. “Mom!” I gasped for air and held on to Star as tight as I could. Everything went black.
Chapter 2
I opened my eyes. Blurry figures filled the room. Where was I? What happened? The dark fairies, mom. Mom! Memories flooded my brain. No I thought no, It can’t be real.  I shut my eyes. I felt If I squeezed them so tight the memories would go away. I would be back in our flower loom. Mom would be there making tea, and I would be getting up. But no I couldn’t forget. I could never forget. My eyes parted and I looked around. The room seemed to take shape as if my mind was putting together a puzzle.
The room was dark, it looked like a flower loom but much bigger than ours. There was a fire place and in the middle of the room stood 10 chairs forming a circle. The chairs seemed bonded together somehow and I wondered what they were for. But I shook off my questions and continued looking around. The room gave me a gloomy feeling that I had never felt before. The darkness around me seemed to shake off any last bit of hope or bravery I had. Was this the dark forest? I shuddered and stood up. I was so hungry. I eyed a fruit bowl in the corner of the room and gobbled up almost the whole bowl. That covered most of my thirst to at least.
I began to feel lonely and scared. I wish I had someone here like mom or Star. Star! I had forgotten about Star! Where had they taken her? What had they done with her? I raced towards the door. Locked, I thought so. I ran to the fire place and grabbed the Iron tool with the sharp end. At the door I jammed the tool in the handle. I jammed and jammed and jammed. Pop. It opened! I didn’t know what to do. Tiptoe? Run? I tried both. I ran slowly, silently across the dark plain into a forest, and poked my head out from behind a dead oak.
It was hard to tell the time because I had a feeling it was dark here all hours. But I guessed It was night. Maybe 8:00? When I was little my dad taught me how to tell time so I had gotten pretty good at it. I looked around. There was another loom next to the one I had just escaped from. That must be where star was. I raced towards it iron tool in hand and jammed it into the door handle. It popped open, I stepped inside.
“Star!” “Star!” I whispered. “Luna is that you?” A soft voice quivered in the dark. I raced towards the voice and hugged my sister. “I’m so glad your okay” I spoke softly in her ear in case someone else was watching. “Me too” she whispered a tear rolling down her face.” I wiped the glittering tear off her cheek and kissed her forehead. “You're safe with me” I just hoped that was true. I grabbed her hand and we tiptoed to the door. “Let’s go back to the light forest” I said “It’s not safe here. We'll fly are you ready?” “Yes” she answered. I closed my eyes and took off. Grasping each other's hands we flew into the darkness. Not sure where to go only hoping to find home.
Chapter 3
Flying through the air we flapped our wings and traveled onwards. Soaring through the sky we needed to get as far away as we could. Crows cawed in the distance and wolves howled to no moon. Our only source of light from the fireflies all around. We had only been flying for about 10 minutes when I heard voices behind us. The swoosh of wings and the voices getting closer. “I think they found us.” I said in between breaths.
I took off faster Stars hand in mine. But she couldn’t keep up. Her five year old wings were to tired. I, being thirteen, could handle much more but I couldn’t leave her. We slowed down. I picked her up and she shut her eyes. It was harder to fly but I could manage. After a couple minutes, she stirred and her wings fluttered. “Do you think you can fly?” I asked? Hearing more voices behind us. She nodded her head.
We flew silently along. I was so scared but I needed to stay calm. Act brave for Star. For Star I told myself. For Star. Suddenly the voices became louder. I looked behind me. Five dark winged men  were headed towards us. “Go!” I cried. Our wings fluttered and we took off as fast as we could. “Hey! Come back!” An angry voice startled me and I flapped my wings harder. They were almost caught up. Holding tightly on to Stars hand I flew upwards so It would be harder to catch us.
But they were behind us. One of them grabbed on to Stars leg. “Star!” I shouted trying to pull her out of the man's grasp. Sweat filled my forehead and fear filled my heart. So tired, I pulled and pulled. Her hand grew sweaty and it began to slip. I held on as tight as I could. Her hand slipped out of mine. “Luna!” her voice crowded my brain. Luna! Luna! Luna! The man holding her by the leg grabbed onto her and started towards me.
“Leave her” A voice boomed. “We only need one” my father! The man was my father. “How could you!” I shrieked until I couldn’t hear my own voice. They zoomed away with star in their grasp. I got one last look from my sister. Afraid and unsure. “Star! Star!” My breathing grew heavy my face hot.
My wings were tired they stopped flapping. “Star” I whispered into the wind. Then I was falling. Down, down, down. Towards the dark earth. Pines and thorns pricked and scraped me until the pain was blinding. Down, down, down. I opened my eyes ever so slightly. Wind was pushing against my wounds. I saw a blurry image of the ground below me. I flapped my wings as hard as I could. It hurt but I didn’t care. Boom. I landed. Everything ached. Blood surrounded me oozing out of every place on my body. My eyes shut and the world fell to the ground. My vision dissolved into darkness.
Chapter 4
I woke up not wanting to move. To scared to face more pain. After a few hours I was ready. I could face my fears. How much more could I lose? I shut my eyes and started with very little. I lifted my arm. The other arm. Bruises were formed up both my arms and dry blood covered most of my body. I sat up and wiggled my left leg. Then my right. “Ow!” pain shot up my right leg. A big bump had formed overnight. Brusis and dry blood covered my legs too. I touched my wings. They were torn and I could barely move them without feeling pain. My wings would take days to heal. Maybe weeks.
I scooted myself to a nearby river where I first drank and then soaked myself until all of the dry blood washed off. I could see the red drift down the river. After I got out I wrapped my leg in a rough leaf and tied it with the stem. I collected some nuts and berries taking care of my hunger. Feeling hopeless and lost I looked around. It was dark. Not as dark as before though so it must be morning. Shadows creeped along the trees. Creatures hissed. It smelled like mold and dead flesh.
I grabbed a long branch and stood up. Using the branch as a walking stick I made my way through the forest. The trees were so tall I couldn’t see there tops. I walked along as the darkness sank in. I hated them, all of them. The dark winged fairies had to barge into my life, kill my mother, take my sister, and leave me here. In this dark dump that spooked me to my grave. They had no right, especially my father. He left his own family. Me being just a kid and Star only a tiny baby to go off into a creepy forest and return five years later only to kill his former wife, caputure his children and leave the oldest to rot. It made me so mad.
I was steaming at that point. I would kill any living creature that came my way. But then I realized my dark wing was glowing like never before. Shreds and all. Was I embracing my inner darkness? As mom had said to always be careful of. Was this what she meant? I took a deep and my dark wing went back down. Now I told myself focus on the most important: Starlet. I've got to save me and my sister. I headed onwards until I was too tired to stand. I made myself a leaf bed and made myself comfortable in my flower pillow. I tried to ignore the fact that all the plants were dead. I thought about home. Me, Star, and mom playing a game drinking tea by the fire. It relaxed me and soon I was fast asleep.
Chapter 5
A growl jolted me awake. My breath was heavy and a voice inside my brain told me it was just a dream. Another growl, louder this time. My eyes burst open. Not a dream! Not a dream! Standing before me was a huge bloodthirsty wolf. I gave a faint scream, and grabbed my branch breaking a piece off on a rock so it was chipped and pointed. It lunged, I ducked. Fear ran through my veins. Sweat trickled down my forehead. I could barely walk but I had to try. I turned around and jammed my branch into its side. Splinters pricked the wolf and it howled. Blood pouring out of its side. It lunged again and I dodged only half successful. It scraped my forehead with its claws. Blood ran down my face like a stream but I didn’t give up. Coughing the blood out of my mouth I grabbed a huge rock and threw it at the wolf's head. It fell to the ground, knocked out. A breath of relief left my mouth as I was glad I didn’t kill it. I collapsed to the ground and tried to steady my breath. I stood up and started my journey once more.
Realizing I was extremely hungry I picked some blueberries off a branch and gobbled them up. Not to long after I drank some water from a nearby pond. It was about seven in the morning. I was making my way back to where I had escaped with Star. I knew that's where they'd be. I had under twenty miles to go so I knew I'd make it by before sun down. I hobbled away traveling as fast as I could with a new branch I had found.
Continuing to stay positive despite all the darkness around me. It was around 6:00 at night when I began to recognize things. Tree stumps, paths, certain plants, It all looked familiar. Suddenly there was a clearing. The end of the forest! The two looms stood where they had days ago. My breath was heavy my face hot. What would happen? Will I find star? Will everything turn out alright? I sure hoped so. I walked into the clearing. Luckily It was to dark to see me unless you were really close. I tiptoed across the plain and went beyond the looms. There was a crowd of people standing staring at a sort of stage.
My father was talking and Star was in a chair next to him tied up. Star! I almost cried out. She looked so scared and helpless. I hid behind a wide tree and tried to listen. “This girl right here is the key!” He said. “He was pointing to Star and then a piece of claaers standing upright with a carving of wings so someone could fit their wings in. Claaers is a white colored plant that when you pour a mixture of hot water, honeydew, and fresh oil over it the plant hardens into a clear wall. I shook of my thoughts and continued listening. “She will place her wings in here.” he pointed to the claaer. “As you can see she has a light and dark wing.
This contraption will use her wings to bond together the light and dark forest. Just like her wings, a dark wing and a light wing holding her together as one.” That didn’t sound so bad to me. Had I gotten it wrong? Was my father doing the right thing? He continued. “Then as our forests become one we will rip off her light wing and darkness will be everywhere!” Everyone cheered. I was in shock. Rip off his daughters wing? I was horrified! Star began to cry softly. I had to step in, I had to save Star and my whole forest. All I needed now was courage.
Chapter 6
Just as star was about to be put into the claaer, I rushed in. It hurt my leg but I had to do this. I took a heavy rock and pelted It at my father's head. He was knocked out. I rushed to my sister and grabbed her. Dark fairies started rushing in. I hit hem with my branch and ran. I ran as fast as I can until I couldn't. My leg hurt so badly It was oozing puss. My sister was sobbing into my shoulder. I needed to get out of there fast I heard voices behind me. I started to cry. I couldn’t run, I just couldn’t. I had failed. I had failed my sister, my forest, and most of all my mom.
She had always taught me to take care of my sister as much as myself. But I had failed I had failed her and everyone else. Suddenly there was a flash of light and a crackling sound.
What happened? “Don’t worry you're safe” a woman's voice said. I opened my eyes and looked around. We were in a regular loom in the light forest. Dirty pots and pans filled the sink and the air smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.
The women speaking had long silver hair and looked the age my mom had been. She was very beautiful and was wearing a long white dress with a light blue amulet around her neck that matched the color of her eyes. Deep like the ocean. “Where are we? What Happened?” I asked. Was this really happening? “I transported you here” she said. Her voice was soft and clear like the wind. “Like magic?” Star asked becoming intrigued.
“You could say that she said.” She answered with a soft laugh. “All you need to know is the darkness is coming and we need to protect our forest.” She pointed to a white cauldron. It was surrounded by different potions and substances like bird feathers or plants fibers. “So what do we need to do?” I asked. “You need to conjure up a spell that will create a barrier between lands. Only one though” she continued. “We don't want anyone trapped just separated. I need to leave here before the spell. Unfortunately It's not safe for me anymore. But I wish you the best of luck and I know you can succeed.”
Her Beautiful silver wings fluttered and she was off flying of into the sky until she became the wind. “Me and star got to work. Looking at potions and substances. We had no experience with anything like this but her words seemed to give us hope and courage. We knew what to do we just had to follow our hearts as mom always said.

Chapter 7
We poured all of the ingredients into the cauldron. A mist came out like wind. It went out the door and as we stepped outside we saw It was creating a barrier. The barrier was white and almost clear but you could still see it. I could almost her the woman's voice in the wind. I knew you could do it I heard the wind saying. “We did it!” Star said and she hugged me tight. “Let's go home” I said and I meant it I was ready for home.
We walked the short ways home and when we got there seemed to dance with joy. I breathed in the familiar smell of honeydew and lilac petals. I hung up a picture of me, mom, and star, and started some tea. The tea kettle rested on a hook above the fireplace. I poured the water into two mugs and plopped a tea bag into each one. Me and star sat by the fireplace drinking tea. Mom may not be here exactly but she will always stay in our hearts. Guiding us and helping us make the right choice. Me and Star had been through a lot. But at least now we were together.



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