The Darkest Hour

Well, that was embarrassing.

With shadow magic being the only thing in my arsenal that wouldn't indiscriminately hurt anyone. I had no choice but to release enough of the energy to compensate for the mana remaining in the well.

Despite the relatively small amount of mana needed to equalize the imbalance, the result of my cast was the largest cloud of shadow flatulence that had ever plagued Odissi, I was sure.

For inside the domain I'd created, I could see everything.

Almost in an omniobservational sense, I could see the entirety of the estate and beyond, wherever I looked. Everyone in it, from my father, sighing heavily at his desk, to Gerolt and Ebbet turning and fidgeting around in a panic. Turning, the surrounding woods warped to my line of sight like I'd been dragged forward through space at lightspeed.

Eager to find the edge, I continued on to see the docks and railways on the southern coast before turning tail and looking northbound past our complex, across the sea, and settling my gaze at the edge of the border. Lapping against the docks emplaced on the ice sheet surrounding the Twin Capitals. Looking east, I could even see the Emperor's castle, thousands of kilometers away. And a couple of hundred klicks beyond. Far past the eastern coast of the Ridge.

'W- where am I?" Toril's panicked voice rang out, summoning me back to the courtyard.

'I forgot you all don't have dark vision.' I turned with a sigh to see his unsaturated figure feverishly turning about in place. "We're still in the courtyard," I calmly said. "Just, expand your wells already."

Each of them threw hesitant, concerned, or reluctant expressions at wherever they thought I was standing before going through the process; some of them at a slower pace than others.

"Remember that my well was a tier above yours." I reminded them. "Mine was from a Youteran creature. Yours are from demons. So the process will be easier."

'Should be, at least.' I openly grinned. Then sprung forward just before Toril cursed under his breath.

"I- I dropped the bottle." Toril sheepishly mumbled.

"Hold our your hands." I quickly ordered.

Rather abruptly, he thrust his arms outwards like he pushed someone in front of him.

From that and his blatant discomfort, I couldn't help but silently laugh as my Umbral Hand placed his potion in his palms; and without further adieu, Toril knocked his head back spilled the liquid into his mouth.

By then, most of the others had already consumed their brews and were sending resonating cracks through the domain from their energies slamming against their external wells.

At which time, I began floating around the immediate environment to carefully watch the process unfold.

Naturally, Toril experienced the worst of it. Almost like me, he fell to his knees in exhaustion after the well within his palm had been filled. Focusing my eyes, I then saw the ambient mana begin to cascade into his entire body, falling from whatever space it'd been occupying, into Toril's well. Topping the container with vibrantly blue energy.

Then, thick snakes of the stuff began flowing back into Toril's arms, causing him to double over in pain, but not to as high of a degree as I was. And far more than the others.

From my perspective, the effect lasted for only a few seconds before Toril recovered. And within less than a minute, all four of them were standing tall before me with wells brimming with much denser energy than what they'd just contained.

Looking at them in my dual-sense, I could clearly see Ice Wells of varying sizes within the three of them and a crystalline cylinder sitting within Toril's chest.

Conversely, mine resembled the recondite substance I saw in my mother down to the T. The only difference was, mine was a bit smaller; nevertheless, it was filled to the brim with arcane energy. Another tool in my arsenal that I was more than eager to experiment with.

Only…

"Amun!" My father's voice came rolling through the darkness. "What did you do!?"

I turned to him at once, bowing apologetically. "I had a little accident. I'll begin cleaning it at once." I didn't even give him a moment to reply before stepping aside to begin swarming the shadows into a dense ball and directing it into the shadow realm.

"That's one way to do it." He frowned in approval. Then joined in on my efforts.

"How would you do it?"

He finished throwing a mass of darkness into the Fell before relaxing his posture with a heavy sigh, then he turned to me. Smirking as cryptically said. "It's your mana, Amun. Put it back where it came from."

My curiosity had been peaked.

With naught but a raised brow, I turned my attention to the vast cloud of shadows surrounding them empire and did just as he said. I pulled it inward, indiscriminately collapsed it into the spiritual body where my well resided; and much like it behaved on the way out, my shadow mana swirled and pooled in condensed inside my flesh and spread to the edge of every appendage over the course of the next several minutes.

When the umbral cloud cleared, I found myself standing between my scattered vassals and my father. Staring dumbfounded at my grimoire, spawning a new page before my eyes.

[Semi-Permanent Wraith Form] - While saturated with darkness, your body retains the immaterial properties of the Wraith Form in both the shade and light. 719:59:59]

"I heard your mother spoke to you about your elven lineage," Father said, prompting my vassals to step out from the courtyard to give us some privacy. "I assumed that had something to do with it." He paused to gesture around us. "It's not my place to ask the specifics, so I won't. But. I will tell you that with your fifteenth birthday, comes freedoms that you must be aware of."

I turned to fully face and look at him to give him the entirety of my respect and attention before I nodded for him to continue.

"You are now considered an adult, Amun. On top of that, you are an Initiate Sorcerer. Even though you are royalty, you are now legally unbound to the Odissian Empire. You are hereby free to travel across Maru as you see fit.

"However." He paused, seemingly by the hand of a weary, yet heartwarming smile that forced him to grip his chest tightly. "We'll be accompanying you to the capital for the ceremony. after that, you never have to return to this place again."

I took an unconscious step forward. "It's not as if I'm unhappy here. I couldn't have asked for a better family."

"That warms my heart to hear." He smiled ever-wider. "But, I don't want you to forsake your dreams, Amun. You've devoted yourself to exploring the Mortal Plane in its entirety, haven't you? Worrying about our Empire or returning home after every adventure instead of finding new ones will do you no good."

"But-"

"No buts!" He snapped his finger towards me. "Your Great-Grandfather has lived for centuries. He's faced things we couldn't imagine. He, and the Emperor, have contingencies to protect us in the event of things turning for the worse. You don't have to worry about protecting us.

"Though." He turned. "I would appreciate a visit every few years or so. At least until you left Maru."

"I'll try my best." I smiled, stepping in for a hug. "That said." I pulled away to show him the devious grin plastered across my face. "I have been toying with the idea of integrating these lands into my own empire one day. But." I shrugged, turning towards the exit. "Perhaps that's a bit of a stretch."

Leaving the courtyard, I wandered around the service wing to check up on my vassals' progress and ensure they had their belongings packed away. As expected, each of their rooms were barren to the bones, though they themselves were huddled in the service with for a light meal and amiable conversation with Gerolt.

I hated to do it, but I interrupted their pleasantries to kindly remind my vassals that it was past midnight, and the ceremony was to take place in the afternoon. Meaning, they should get some sleep. Unless of course, they wanted to be groggy on the big day.

Somewhat begrudgingly, they all mumbled their agreements and trotted off to their rooms. Leaving me to take their places and join Gerolt for a meal.

"You know, you should lead by example, Your Grace." He teasingly chided.

"Need I remind you, that I'm a half-elf." I snickered. "Four hours of meditation is all I need."

His cheerful smirk curled a bit higher as his head rocked backward, and he chortled. "So you say." Before looking aside to the dishes strewn about before him for a few long moments.

"Say." He pointed his eyes back to me. Eyes that were without the exuberant fire that was synonymous with the name Gerolt Flay. "How about I cook you a final meal?"

"What about breakfast?" I lightheartedly snorted.

Thankfully, he seemed to lighten up a bit. "A custom meal!" He pointed after raising himself up on his toes. "What're you in the mood for?"

"Actually" I reached into my Pocket, beaming as wide as I could. "This is the perfect opportunity to give you your gift."

"My gift?" He shook his head and backed away, blinking madly.

"It's a cookbook." I nodded.

"THAT'S A COOKBOOK!?!" He sprang forward at once to measure the thickness between his fingers before slicking through the pages at a furious pace. "I mean. Thank you! And, these are all recipes?"

"Each page." I nodded again.

"Where did you learn these dishes?" He airily gasped after a few moments. "They're so… exotic."

"Just some things I picked up in the mainlands." I meekly shrugged. "Mixed with a lot of ideas I came up with and experimented on over the years."

"Ooh! This looks good. Car- Carbon."

"Carbonara." I corrected.

He pried his face from the pages, gasping in disbelief. "How do you come up with these names."

"I have an extensive imagination," I said. Hastily taking the book from his hands to flip to my most desired entry at the moment. As frustrating as his questioning was, I couldn't exactly be surprised. I spent years transcribing each and every recipe I knew, after all. The result was thousands upon thousands of dishes that could be traced to all corners of the Sol System. Cuisines from every corner of the Earth made up the bulk of it, of course, but over half of the contents contained otherworldly dishes.

There was, of course, the infamous Saturnian dessert: Kraken Worms. A cold, yogurt pasta with freeze-dried, blueberry 'rocks' that broke apart into a crumbly powder. Tinting the dish the same dark hue as its namesake, Kraken Mare.

And then, there was the obligatory Martian Kibble. A sort of cereal made with freeze-dried bits of gravy pellets and vegetables mixed with bite-sized pieces of dried or smoked meat that could be eaten dry, or could be mixed with water or milk and heated to make a thick stew.

Plutonian Powder Cream, Neptunian Sea Jellies, Uranian Sky Candy, Lunar Lava Tubes. Absolutely nothing was spared. Making it my most prideful piece of literature to date.

Though, much like Ebbet's gift, I only wished I would've given him his copy before I released it to my inner circle.

'Should've, would've, could've, I suppose.' I internally shrugged, then returned the book to him.

"A… bur-rito." He slowly read.

"With as much meat as you can." I nodded. Then proceeded to revel at the sight of him toiling over a relatively simple dish. Though, much to his credit, he made everything from scratch.

Still, I had to continue deflecting whenever he inquired about the 'controversial' method of making refrying beans or when I had to assist in his utter disability to pronounce or even understand the concept of guacamole. Guacamole made from an avocado-like fruit that tasted much the same as its counterpart, albeit perfectly salted when ripe and with flesh a little… stiffer, than its counterpart.

Though he stayed silent while I ate, he let out a heavy sigh the moment I pushed my plate towards him. "You know, I'm going to miss you, Your Grace." Gerolt sighed claimed that he'll miss me.

"Don't get all sappy on me now." I laughed, turning towards my room. "Besides, I'll be back eventually."

Back in my room, I took Gerolt's advice and did as I ordered my vassals to do. My entire nursery was stripped of everything but a few pieces of furniture. Books, towels, clothes, chairs, busts, and even a few paintings were stored away in my Shadow Pocket. And after a short bout of meditation, my bed was stored away as well.

Everything in the wing was mine, after all. And for whatever reason, I still felt a particular connection with my bed.

Perhaps it was due to me having remembered the day of my birth, or maybe some type of magic or elven secret that I had no understanding of. Whatever the reason, I decided it was something that I'd keep for the rest of my days.

With that, I emerged at around five-thirty to see my forefathers talking outside the service wing.

"See Ebbet, put on your family clothes, then give out your hugs and kisses." Grandpa Lich coldly spat the moment he laid eyes on me. "We're to leave at 7 sharp.

'Still!?' I internally shook my head. Then went inside to find Gerolt whipping up a breakfast of hash browns, sausage, and beans to my eagerly awaiting vassals.

I hadn't even made halfway to the table by the time Ebbet rounded the corner, gripping me by the arm for another hair appointment.

Luckily, Gerolt was kind enough to bring my meal to me.

"Honestly, Your Grace." She scoffed. "How do you intend to protect yourself in Ulai if your is so long?"

"I planned to have it fall in my Shadow Pocket once it got long enough." I snickered through a mouthful of food.

"Well, we're cutting it down, this instant!"

Even if I wanted to, I had no time to protest before she began snipping away. Then, the agonizing pain followed.

"Now you look like the Grand Duke of Odissi."

Tender-headed and teary-eyed, I looked into the ice mirror to see a gilded hairpin holding a palm-tree fan of locks in place on the top of my head while the rest hung loosely to rest atop my shoulders.

After a quick study, I quickly grew disinterested and leaned down to pull out a far thinner book than the one I'd given Gerolt. "Thank you, Ebbet." I beamed. "This is for you."

Hesitantly, she took the book in both hands before looking up at me. Blinking madly as she asked. "What is it?"

"It's a book." I cheekily snickered. And I swear I the woman was going to slap me for a second. "It's a book that'll teach you how to use worms recycle rotten food and paper. Turning into food for plants."

"Oh." She craned her neck down and began thumbing through the page.

"Additionally, there are designs for self-contained systems that use water to grow plants and farm fish."

"Plants AND fish?" She gasped.

"Yes." I amiably nodded. "To put it simply, the plants feed off the waste, and in turn, they keep the water clean for the fish."

"Ingenious." I heard Gerolt mutter from across the room.

"I'm honored to receive this gift from you, Your Grace." Ebbet bowed. "But you must hurry. You have just over half an hour before we depart. Please!" She gently pushed me out. "Change at once."

Internally groaning, I did what was asked and was changed in less than five minutes. Deciding to follow my Grandfather's instructions, I drifted off to the only place I could think of to go.

To the library.

Upon my arrival, I waltzed right to the reception desk and hopped up onto the counter. "Good to see you again, Caia."

Her head shot up from the desk in an instant, followed by her body leaping from her seat. The trademark strands of hair framing her face flopped all over the place as she pulled me into an embrace to scream in my ear. "Amun!"

"Uh!" She quickly pulled me away to scan the library. "Your Grace!" She slowly hollered.

"It's been a month, Caia." I helplessly laughed.

"I know." She giggled, waving the matter aside. "But no one holds a conversation like my little cousin."

"Which is exactly why I'm here." I sighed.

"You're leaving soon."

There were hints of both pride and sorrow in her voice. A waiver, mixed in with a sharp intensity that demanded the acknowledgment of everyone standing in the vicinity. It was a sound that slowly snuffed out my amiable expression and replaced it with a placid stare. With a shield that betrayed the feelings smoldering inside me.

"I will return one day," I forced myself to say as I wheeled around on the desk to face her. "I'll be forming my own guild. My own society. You're welcome to join me when the time comes. But, before I go, I want to give you a few things."

She stayed silent and watched me pull a long, slim, and thin box from my Pocket.

"A gift?" She beamed. If only a little. Then tilted her head in both surprise and confusion after prying open the box. "A pen?"

"A fountain pen." I corrected. "Watch."

Taking the pen from her, I dipped the tip into her vat of ink and proceeded to twist the end-cap clockwise until I heard a soft click, then I began pulling.

"There's a reservoir inside," I explained as I reset the plunger and locked it in place. "This way, you won't have to keep dipping into your ink. And you can use this nub on the side to cap it off when it's not in use."

"Aww, Amun." She pulled me in for a hug, groaning all the while. "You shouldn't have."

Mere lies that I quickly denied. "I couldn't have made it this far if it weren't for your help." I shook my head. "Besides." I pushed her away to begin pulling mana from my well. "You're my only cousin."

"Well, not your ONLY cousin." She amiably frowned. "But definitely your favorite."

"You're the only one I know, so you may as well be the only one I have. It's because of that, that I want to make sure you're safe. So, I'll leave you with this."

With my words, I stopped pulling mana from my well and contained the concentration of shadow mana in my hand while I thought long and hard of the result I intended for my spell.

For all intents and purposes, I was only preparing a summoning spell to spawn Caia's doppelganger. That said, the single spell I was preparing to cast contained roughly half of the arcane energy within my well.

In all honesty, I had no idea if such a high concentration of energy would even make any changes to her umbral clone, but there was only one way of finding out.

So I imagined the most overpowered, violent, and ruthless form of her doppelganger that I could before throwing the mass of energy at her feet.

The result was a process that I'd seen hundreds of times by now. The dark silhouette plastered onto the floor filled with a dense mass of energy that quickly aggregated into a solid dark mass. A disappointing outcome, I assumed, up until I placed my hands on the clone's shoulders and did something I'd never done to a doppelganger before.

"Listen." I gently shook the clone. "I order you to help Caia. You're to use every drop of your power to aid her whenever time she needs assistance. Any time she's in danger, you're to protect her with all of your might. Nothing is to hurt her. Understood?"

While the clone's flesh was a bit denser than any doppelganger I touched thus far, the rigidity of its skin seemed to harden or condense as I gave it orders. Once it gave a solemn nod and voiced an ethereal affirmation, the flesh seemed to fully realize into a material like vulcanized rubber. Evidently closing off the subtle leakage of darkness that once rose from the clone's flesh.

"Our very own bodyguard." Caia ecstatically exclaimed.

"Our?" I rose my brow in confusion.

As if in celebration, she pushed away from her desk and slowly stood. Revealing a melon-sized bulge in her dress. "I'm having a baby boy!" She screamed, eliciting many disgruntled stares to come our way.

'How do you-' I shook my head, brushing my thoughts aside. "Congratulations!" I beamed, coming in for another hug.

***

After a few more words with Caia, I returned to the service wing to find my forefathers waiting alongside my vassals. After having a few final words with Gerolt and the others, My grandfather guided us into the main courtyard and turned at the entrance to push open a seamless steel door.

Descending a rather long flight of steps brought us to a platform much like the one found in Corvus Tower. Complete with a train similar in appearance to the one stored in my shadow settled above a thick rail that undulated toward the mouth of the cave and bent around the corner like a snake peering outside its hole.

With my vassals settled in the caboose, I joined my forefathers around the table in the locomotive and sat idly until we began moving.

"I am aware that your need for sleep is lessened due to your nature as a half-elf." Grandpa Lich said as he took his seat. "But, you'll have to change your sleeping routine so that you're awake during the day. Fear not, however." He raised a bear paw of a hand. "Even in the brightest light, the shadows remain by your side."

"Okay." I internally cringed. "Any more advice?"

"Yeah." He grunted. "Epethia is nothing like here, So don't act brashly, regardless of what you may or may not see over there. You are royalty, Amun. Your actions carry far more weight than a commoner's. That said." He sighed. "Never let another bully you, not even the Emperor."

"I wouldn't dream of it." I snickered.

"Good." Grandpa nodded. "Now then, are your ambitions still the same?"

"They are," I said. "I'll form a guild to fight against the monster hordes in Ulai before creating my own empire."

"Then, I shall see you at the academy." He proudly harrumphed.

"You're a teacher?" I squinted.

"I run a boarding academy." He dejectedly scoffed. "But, I only teach part-time at the academy. Specifically, the assassination and summoning classes."

"Ah. Of course." I nodded in understanding. "Necromancer. So, does that mean I'll learn it there as well?"

"Unless you fail to learn it yourself first." He snorted. "But I'll let the headmaster explain everything after you, come time. I'd hate to ruin the surprise." He cackled.

With not much being said after, I retreated to my cabin and immediately pounced on the bed to recline atop the covers and watch the coast pass by.

'Mmm.' I tossed and turned in place with a groan. 'I should have Ed reinvent memory foam.'