The Black Tome

"Where am I?" Terry said to himself looking up at the faint light above him. "I fell quite a way down." He stood up slowly, his entire body felt stiff from the deep fall. Looking around in the darkness he was barely able to make out his surroundings. "Am I stuck down here?" He said to himself.

"Wish I chose air magic instead of fire."Terry thought.

Terry sighed as he walked into the darkness feeling around. Wherever he was the air was wet. the only sounds around him were his echoed footsteps and the sound of water dripping in the distance. When he reached a wall, it felt unfamiliar to him, it was cold and smooth unlike the dirt or rock that he expected to feel." What is this?" he quietly muttered as he continued to feel around keeping his hand on the wall.

He eventually reached a sharp edge, 'I must be at a corner,' Terry thought to himself. With nowhere else to go Terry continued to follow the wall.

"This doesn't feel likes rocks. Everything feels smooth. Man-made." Terry said to himself.

As Terry wandered the halls, he reached a room that was well lit with white light. In the middle of the room, a large book sat on top of a pedestal a black aura radiated out of it completely contradicting the white light that the room was bathed in from an unknown source.

"That can't be… is that a tome?" Terry said to himself wide-eyed. He walked forward cautiously and put his hand on the tome feeling overpowering magic coming from the book.

"So… I've been found," A deep voice said with an echo that resonated throughout the room.

"Who's there?" Terry yelled out quickly taking his hand off the book and looked around with worry. I need to be ready for whatever could be lurking. He began to chant, "Cleansing fire of purification appears to cleanse my enemies." A large fireball materialized in his hand causing his heart to race from the stress on his body from casting magic. He backed into a corner of the room waiting for the entity to reveal itself, but it never did. "Damn it. Show yourself!" Terry yelled out. 'I can't hold this much more.'

The fire in Terry's hand disappeared as his concentration waned. Terry looked over at the tome in the middle of the room the black energy radiating from the book seemed stronger than before. I never have seen black magic before… it's a tome though…. Master Blair found one and she became immortal. If I use it, I may be able to get out of here and defend myself. I could become famous.

Terry rushed at a dead sprint towards the book with his heart racing in fear that the owner of the voice would appear before he could absorb the powerful magics in the rare Tome. He put his hand back on the tome and closed his eyes and focused.

"You aren't alone here Terry."

Terry ignored the voice and continued to attempt to absorb the magic in the book.

"I think you and I will get together very well… You'll make a great partner." The voice said.

Terry yelled out without taking his hand off the book, "Leave me alone."

"Leave you alone? I guess you don't understand what you are doing right now." The voice responded.

"What do you mean?" Terry yelled out again refusing to let his hand leave the tome.

"I mean I am the spirit in the tome that your hand is resting on."

Terry tried to remove his hand from the tome but, he couldn't," Terry quickly opened his eyes and quickly noticed that he wasn't in the same place he was before. He was in a place that was nothing but darkness. An eye floated in front of him it was an eye that's pupil was entirely black and seemingly bottomless."

"I know you, Terry. The moment you put your hand on the cover of my book, I knew you. You are an orphan with no idea who or where your parents are with no idea if they are even alive. You are a runt Terry, someone who has failed at anything he has ever tried to do. Not because you didn't apply yourself, but because you are weak. I can change that Terry. I can make you strong."

"How do you know me… who are you?"

"I looked inside of you and read your memories… and to who I am? My name is Erebus."

"Erebus… what kind of name is that?"

"My own… there was a time when my name was only whispered in fear."

"Who were you?"

"I am born from the chaos of the world. I am in darkness."

This voice is coming from the eye. Its very existence is bone-chilling… Terry gathered his courage and looked directly in the eye, "What do you mean how will you help me?"

"You will gain all of my powers. I will no longer be trapped in this book. We will coexist as partners and will take over this world. You will be the dark lord."

"Dark Lord? That doesn't sound good."

"But it is. You would gain the powers of darkness. You will be incredibly strong. What your powers are and what magic you can cast does not make you good or evil."

"Will I lose who I am?"

"You will be possessed... but you will maintain control of your own body. Terry accepts my offer allow me to escape from these wretched pages and be my partner. Show the world our power."

Terry breathed in deeply, "I'm guessing that all of the people who have found tomes have been given the same offer by different spirits."

"Yes… that's exactly true."

"I've always dreamed of finding a tome and becoming powerful like the Phoenix or the Dragoncaller… I'm scared but I accept your offer Erebus." Terry said with a small smile.

"Good… Good." The eye in front of Terry disappeared into the darkness leaving Terry alone as the darkness faded away. Terry was back in the marble room that was lit with the sourceless white light. The black energy radiating off the tome was gone. Terry opened the tome quickly realizing that every page was blank in the tome.

Terry grabbed the book and left the room noticing that everything was well lit with the same sourceless white light the underground darkness was gone. "Now how am I going to get out of here."

"I can be of assistance in that regard," Erebus' voice said.

Terry's heart jumped, "Damn that scared me…. How can you help?"

"Giving you a quick spell. Imagine your bedside in the orphanage where you stay and say pathways."

With apprehension, Terry imagined the assigned bed that he had to sleep in. The room that had twenty other beds in it. "Pathways," Terry said as a black portal opened in front of him.

"Walkthrough it."

"Ok." Terry walked forward through the black portal. Terry felt like he was being dragged hard through time and space from a force growing stronger and stronger. When he felt like he was going to be torn apart he was standing next to his bed in the room he hated, "that worked quite well."

"When I give you advice, I would suggest you take it."

"So, that was a spell that I cast?"

"Yes."

"I'm confused usually when I cast a small spell, I grow winded and it feels like my heart would explode because I'm not magically gifted."

"Now you are. Your magic now is bottomless. The feeling of running out of magic energy is something that you should never feel again. We are partners now."

Terry smiled. "Awesome."

"Indeed… it is awesome… you've helped me as well Terry. For the longest time, I was trapped in the confines of the accursed tome that you are holding. I can finally breathe fresh air again it has been so long since I could smell nature."

"Nature? We are inside my bedroom let's at least go outside."

Terry yawned and began to head out of the room. "Wait," Erebus said.

"What?" Terry questioned stopping in his tracks.

"Leave the tome under your bed… I don't want to be anywhere near it."

"I don't need it anymore?"

"No, the tome's power is only to hold me we are partners now. I live within you, Terry. The tome is now just bad memories and paper."

"I see," Terry said in thought. Terry then obeyed Erebus and pushed the black tome under his bed.

"Now let's go outside."

"Alright." Terry then left his room and walked down the flight of stairs hoping that the matron didn't see him come down from his room. To Terry's dread, a shrill voice could be heard behind him as he was opening the front door.

"Terry! What are you doing inside it is nowhere close to inside time what are you doing in here?"

"Matron Maya I apologize please forgive me for my sin Matron."

Matron Maya sighed, "Just go outside and train. They need you to get stronger for the military since no one is adopting people your age anymore."

"Yes, Matron. Terry said leaving the orphanage. Terry walked around to the back of the orphanage which is where the training grounds are located. Terry sighed "So I don't need your book at all. I thought they were important or something.

"You saw the pages right Terry? They were blank and empty. The only text that is in the book is the text that holds my soul captive inside it when you came gave me your body the text disappeared for it had nothing to contain anymore."

"I see."

"Who are you talking to Candlelight?" A young boy said walking up to Terry from the training grounds. "How did you get out of that hole that I pushed you into?"

"So, he was the one who tried to kill you?"

"It's fine I don't think he knew how deep it was he wasn't trying to kill me."

"Did you lose your mind Candlelight?"

"Unfortunate isn't it? He still calls you candlelight with no idea about the powers you have gained." Erebus said with a chuckle in Terry's mind.

"It's just what he always called me I wouldn't expect him to call me any different," Terry said out loud.

"You must've hit your head on the way down. Candlelight…" The boy said smiling widely, "Well we are all sparring today… Mr. Thai was looking for you."

Terry gulped hard and said, "ok."

'You are forgetting you are different now.'

"Can anyone hear you?"

'No. That's why he thinks you are talking to no one.'

"I see."

'From now on just think about talking to me and I will hear you.'

'Ok' Terry thought to himself.

'Good,' Erebus said.

"Well, I'm going to talk to Mr. Thai, see you later Roger," Terry said walking past the boy known as Roger.

"I still want to know how you got out of that hole. That fall would have been enough to kill anyone." Roger yelled at Terry who was walking away. Terry stopped dead in his tracks with a rush of anger flowing through him.

Erebus laughed in Terry's mind, 'See I told you he was trying to kill you.'

Terry smiled to himself, 'So, I… err, we are a lot stronger now?'

'Yes, almost infinitely times stronger.' Erebus said with an amused tone in his voice, 'and before you ask yes, we could definitely take the boy on… effortlessly.' Erebus said emphasizing the last word.

'Good...' Terry smiled to himself

"Hey, Roger." Terry turned around with a large smile on his face, "You said we were sparring would you like to be my sparring partner?"

"Of course, I love easy days," Roger said with a laugh.

"Well follow me then," Terry said walking forward towards the training grounds. Terry scanned around the training grounds looking for Mr. Thai noticing the other orphans sparring with their selected magic schools. Terry noticed the large figure of Mr. Thai standing in the middle of all the fighting with a clipboard taking notes. Terry walked forward towards Mr. Thai with a grin on his face, "Mr. Thai." Terry yelled out as he approached him.

Mr. Thai looked up from his clipboard noticing Terry walking towards him. The sparring all around the training grounds instantly stopped as they watched Terry approached Mr. Thai. "Where were you, Terry?" Mr. Thai questioned.

Terry listened to whispers around them, "I thought Roger knocked him down the pit." One kid said. While another said, "Think he'll rat on Roger? If he does, I'll kick his ass too."

Terry smiled smugly, "It wasn't my fault Mr. Thai. Roger here threw me into that pit over there." Terry said pointing to the same hole that he fell into. "But I'm not angry about it. I'm kind of glad he did. Please don't punish him… although I would like to get even. Can Roger be my sparring partner?"

"You fell down the pit and survived?" Mr. Thai questioned wide-eyed… and you want to fight Roger? You know he is stronger than you, right? I may not be able to stop him from killing you."

"You don't have to worry about that." Terry said with a weak smile, "I'm a little different than how I was."

"He's going to fight Roger? That's a massacre I have to see." A voice said from the crowd.

"Do you mind sparring him, Roger?" Mr. Thai questioned.

"Not at all," Roger said cracking his knuckles, "I'll make him wish he stayed down in that hole."

Mr. Thai frowned at the remark, "We are going to have to talk about that later Roger. I'll allow the sparring match. Are you ready now Roger? Terry?"

"His name is Candlelight stop calling him by that name," Roger said with an annoyed tone in his voice that turned into a snicker, "But yeah I'm ready."

"Let's just get this over with," Terry said.

'We'll show him... Candlelight… on the first attack he throws at you I want you to imagine mist and say fade. It should get you out of the situation with ease. Then on your first attack, I want you to use the strongest fire spell you know and say maxima at the end of the incantation.'

'Got it.'

Mr. Thai looked at Terry, "Since you are the weakest spell caster you decide who goes first. Remember the rules are that each one of you will take turns casting spells at each other. If you are not on the offensive you can cast defensive spells to mitigate the damage. Who goes first, Terry?"

"He can go first," Terry said calmly.

"You sure?" Mr. Thai said wide-eyed.

Terry didn't respond and stared at Roger with a newfound resolve in his eyes.

Roger laughed and began to weave his spell, "Malefic shards of ice penetrate my enemies leave them bleeding Ice Needles!" Shards of ice shot from Roger's hand at a rapid speed.

Terry smiled, "Fade," the needles passed through Terry causing no damage. Terry put his hand out, "Flames of Hades burn, form, destroy, become my weapon cleansing my enemies in your strength, Fire Orb Maximus!" An Orb of fire blasted from Terry's hand that grew further it traveled until it became the size of the orphanage building itself. It made direct contact with Roger causing a large fire explosion. The explosion almost caught some of the spectators from the sheer size of the attack.

The fire quickly dissipated leaving Roger's body charred lying at the epicenter of the blast. Mr. Thai ran to Roger as quickly as he could. As he was running, he chanted a spell, "Mother Earth giver of boons grants your blessing. Heal your child. Restore them. Give him life. Restoration Ultim!" Mr. Tai said putting his hand on Roger's charred back.

With a bright green light, the charred body quickly mended and healed quickly leaving Roger the way he was before the attack. Terry took a deep breath and walked forward towards Mr. Tai and Roger. Terry reached them and squatted down with his face directly in front of Roger's terrified face. "Tell me was that something a candlelight could do?" Terry questioned with a smile on his face.

Mr. Thai was breathing deeply from the casting of Restoration: Ultim his magic energy in his body was low, "You need to back away Terry."

"Why is the sparing match already over you never announced the winner… was it me?"

"Of course, you won, now back off… Terry now." Mr. Thai said with his eyes intense.

Terry gazed into Roger's terrified eyes, "Do not mess with me anymore. You are... lucky." Terry said standing up and began to walk towards the orphanage. Terry as he walked towards the orphanage quickly noticed the faces of shock and disgust on his classmates' faces. "Is there a problem?" Terry asked turning around staring at his classmates. Silence responded. "Can none of you say what you really think?" Terry questioned scanning the faces around him.

'You almost killed the boy. Yet showed no sign of compassion or empathy at the young boys' pain. They are his friend and they will never forget the smirk you gave him in his suffering.' Erebus said in Terry's mind

'Then what I did was wrong?'

"I didn't say that Terry. It's human nature they are friends with him. They do not see from your perspective. They will not see your side. You defended yourself. You did what you had to do. No longer will you be picked on by anyone here at the orphanage. Now you will be feared… feared as a force to be reckoned with." Erebus explained.

'What do you mean…? You say I didn't do anything wrong and they won't see my side at all. That's human nature? Why?'

'People will always side with the closest person they were to. If someone's son for example burglarized a home and died in the home invasion. The parents would say that the son died a wrongful death. Anyone close to him would say that he didn't deserve to die. Even if that may be so the homeowner had the right to defend themselves and their property… people don't look at what's right they look at what they see as right.'

Terry entered the orphanage and walked past Matron Maya upstairs into the grand orphanage bedroom, his bedroom. Terry walked to his unkempt bed and lied down in it closing his eyes. 'I see. I'll be more careful next time not to anger everyone while defending myself.'

'That's all you can do,' Erebus said.

Terry quickly fell asleep in the comfort of his own bed.