Waithe lifted his eyes to the sky. On nights such as this, there hardly seemed a care in the world. The daytime howling wind calmed to merely a whisper and the unusual autumn heatwave gave way to a pleasant coolness. Drifting between the countless points of light and a few wisps of clouds, a half-moon cast a silvery light. The darkness of this night was comforting, not at all like the desolate Darkness Ceres would face tomorrow.

Yorg tugged at his new clothes, a tan long sleeve tunic top, and brown pants. He seemed proud of them. Waithe was surprised that Alden was able to find some large enough for the giant on his foray into a village to replenish supplies.

As Eira played with her marbles, arranging them in some sort of social setting, Waithe quietly walked away from the campfire. It felt awkward spying on his daughter like this, but his duty as protector had not changed. Bathed in the faint moonlight, Alden leaned back against a smooth boulder while Ceres leaned back against him, one arm holding her tight and the other stroking her hair. They looked so content.

Their love for each other continued to grow, but Waithe still had mixed feelings about this. Alden was indeed a good man, he truly cared for her, and Ceres was more than worthy of being loved. But with the dangers still to come, their relationship may yet end in a wrenching heartbreak, something Waithe knew too well. 'Let them love, they deserve that chance', Jenn, Alden's mother, had said. And the Woman of Light that had appeared to him, she had stressed the power that love has against the Darkness.

With renewed acceptance, Waithe crept back to the campfire. He gazed up again to the night sky and said a silent prayer to the Creator God, one that he was not sure God would hear from someone like him, but just in case...

*****

Mt. Grimmur was the last place Waithe wanted to return to. Aside from the foul Darkness that infused it, the Shaman that attacked them would be missed and others surely would come to investigate. Waithe directed the approach to the volcano this time from the west, rather than from the east on their first visit. It took a day more of travel over rugged terrain, but the risk of discovery was much lessened.

Ceres seemed determined to face the Darkness again, but sometimes a shudder or a quiver of lip broke through her external resolve. The Shadow Spellbook told her how the Darkness may be manipulated and controlled. While the Magic she usually directed was benign, the Darkness was very much malevolent. It would just as well corrupt the user as it would submit, something the past Northlands Shaman Sorne failed to consider. What more tempting a conquest for the Darkness than a fair Lady of the Order?

She sat down cross-legged at the edge of the frozen lava field. Bright morning sunshine cast a bright light on the jagged rock in defiance of the Darkness they held. Her breathing quickened as her hands fumbled with the Shadow Spellbook open in her lap. She turned her head back to her companions, Waithe saw the anxiety on her face.

"Be you sure of this, Ceres?" Alden knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

She cast her eyes down as she placed a hand over his. "If we are ever to rid the world of it, I must learn to bend the Darkness to my will."

"I fear for you, my dear Ceres. The Shaman Sorne sought to control the Darkness, but it eventually consumed him."

Waithe felt more confident. "Sorne was alone, his heart already dark with grief and anger. Our Lady of the Order has one big advantage: us, we who she loves and who love her. The Darkness cannot stand against that."

As if sensing the need, Eira bound into Ceres' lap, sending them both falling back in a flurry of giggles. The Spirit Phy appeared, her green light dancing above them.

Ceres wrapped her arms around Eira. "My dear little girl, I love you too. But I will need you to stand back. You too, Phy. I need not call a Spirit for this task, not like I do to rid the Taint. I only call the Darkness itself."

With a deep breath, Ceres tossed aside the Shadow Spellbook. She steeled her expression. "Let the Darkness fear me."

Sitting upright on bare soil, she closed her eyes and extended her hands, palms open upward. Alden kissed her on the cheek and retreated back to the rest of the group. Where normally she would hum while calling on Magic through the Spirits, this time she remained silent as she utilized the mental methods outlined in the book.

Nearly immediately thin black wisps began to rise from the rocks, lifting higher in lazy laminar streams as if waking from a nap. The Darkness hardly seemed threatening at this point, but Waithe and the others unconsciously took two steps further back from Ceres.

The dark rising spread. More wisps appeared across the barren rock field as far as the eye could see, even from the slopes of the simmering volcano. They rose higher and higher, eventually turning down to swirl among themselves.

The ground trembled, at first gently, and then with more force. The sensation from the vibrations produced a queasy feeling in Waithe's gut. Yorg's face expressed a degree of fear but calmed as Eira reached up to hold one of his fingers. Phy's green light settled just before her. A pair of ravens took to the air from atop a nearby towering pine tree, cawing loudly a warning to all who would listen.

Waithe muttered, "So, the dragon awakens."

Grimmur spat a puff of ash and steam, billowing up to the sky in rolling turbulent eddies. A low rumble, like deep thunder, spread out from the base of the volcano as it released another puff, this time larger. Waithe watched as the rising dirty cloud swirled in on itself.

Dark wisps combined into opaque tendrils, churning as they probed the space around them. The Darkness seemed angry at being awaken from its slumber. Ceres grimaced, her eyes still closed, as she lifted her hands. The Darkness' anger turned to rage as the tendrils swirled above the rock in a turbulent maelstrom. The whole of the barren rock field that surrounded the volcano boiled of the Darkness on a scale far larger than the diminutive young woman who called it forth.

The violent display invoked an icy primal fear within Waithe. More so, he feared for his daughter. Though nearby, she faced this evil alone. 

The ground shook with a violent force, nearly toppling Waithe and those who stood with him. Their horses reared and bolted, but seemed not sure where to run. Particles of sand and grit danced on the ground as the quake persisted. Red glowing rock blasted out from the volcano top, leaving streaks of smoke as they rained down on the slopes. Trails of shimmering yellow-orange leaked from the mountain top as huge grey clouds swirled above.

Tendrils of Darkness merged and rose into a huge menacing mass, casting a dark shadow over the one who called it forth. Ceres' arms quivered and she let out a muffled cry. From the mass, swirling black claws reached out, slashing the air around her.

She pulled her eyebrows together and let out a breathy mumble. "Nay. You shall obey me!"

The Darkness recoiled as Ceres thrust her hands higher, but then resumed its spiritual assault. Churning ever closer, the dark mass mounted a counter-attack, flanking its foe above and on all sides. A dark talon raked her. A tremor wracked her body and she let out a mournful moan as if her very soul bore injury. She wavered, nearly toppling over.

Alden tightened his eyes and sprinted to her, ignoring the swirling blackness. He put a hand on her shoulder and bent down to kiss the top of her head. Three words whispered into her ear calmed her. He turned his head to implore the others to join him, but they were already at his side. Each placed a hand on her, offering unyielding affirmation. Phy hovered at her side.

Alden spoke. "We are here for you, Ceres. Now be done with this Darkness!"

Ceres stiffened her posture, smiling. Then her expression hardened as her eyes shot out to glare at the Darkness. The violent swirling stilled and it hung nearly motionless like a huge black cloud covering most of the rock field.

She spoke to it in a measured voice. "Now, be gone. Leave this Realm."

The Darkness began to fade as if dissolving away. The black cloud dissipated into separate tendrils, then to wisps, and finally into nothingness. Grimmur's furious eruption subsided, replaced again by lazy clouds of steam. The dragon resumed its slumber, but this time without the Darkness.

Ceres' face paled as she lowered her head. "Eira, sit beside me. The Darkness be gone, but we are not done yet. Let us restore life to this place."

After Eira plopped down and grasped Ceres' hand, they both closed their eyes. The Life Spirits Anu, Myr, and Dal appeared, their lights shining along with Phy as they danced in a circle. A sparkling shimmer of Magic spread out over the rocks, the very antithesis of the Darkness that once ruled over them. Tufts of grass and shrubs rose from long-dormant seeds between the rocks. A thin smattering of green and bright color softened the appearance of the rough rock.

Past visions came to Waithe again, but this time as sort of a medley. Scenes flashed in his mind, of Aala as a baby through Ceres as a woman and all times between. He treasured them.

The task completed, the Magic shimmer faded and the Spirits disappeared. Ceres opened her eyes and smiled. Her eyes glazed and what was left of the color in her face drained away. Alden caught her as she slumped back, cradling her in his arms.