Darkness

A woman lay motionless on the floor as the forest lay still around her. The birds above chirped loudly, finding her all too intriguing. She scanned her eyes curiously around her surroundings and found herself on wet grassy terrain. The blades pricked her knees as she gasped trying to cover her skin as she realized she was naked.

Her body felt as though it weighed a ton as she tried to lift her hand to cover her chest. She cried out in pain as she felt a sharp stinging sensation in her back. When she reached out to touch it she felt giant feathered wings.

She tried standing up but struggled to stand on wobbly feet. She could hear the flap of the bees’ wings and the sound of the woodpecker against the hollow tree. It left her disoriented and sent a pounding straight to her head. She raised her hands to touch her head but was shocked as she quickly pulled her hand away when she felt horns.

She screamed in terror but it came out as a roar that only seemed to frighten her more. She watched as the birds flew away. She placed her hand on her neck as she felt it constrict.

She decided to search for some answers. She tried to remember why she was here or how she got there but her mind remained blank. She walked mindlessly through the forest as she came upon a lake. Her eyes lit up at the sight as she quickly moved forward and stepped into it. She sighed in relief as the cold water warmed her body. She scrubbed at her scalded skin enjoying how rejuvenated it made her feel.

She was so distracted in that blissful moment by her thoughts that she didn't hear footsteps approaching. She snapped her head backward as she heard the sound of a branch being snapped. She gasped, turning her head frantically towards the source. At first, she saw nothing until she spotted a pair of eyes hidden within the bushes.

She stood up in the water slowly as she looked at the being with curiosity she noticed the bushes tremble slightly. "Hello," she tried to ask hesitantly but it came out as a sound that resembled a lion's purr. The man did not respond as he tried to remain hidden.

She thought that he must have been stuck and cautiously stepped out of the water making her way toward him. He yelped out petrified. "Stay back! Don't come any closer!" He yelled out at her but she didn't understand what he was saying. He took in a deep breath as he mustered up his courage and stood up from the bush.

She took in the sight of the smooth and pale-skinned creature with brown hair and blue eyes. He looked at her with evident fear in his eyes as he lifted his weapon in his trembling hands. Samuel looked at the beast in front of him in fear as he let out a gulp. He had never seen anything like her. She had the body of a woman but the face of a monster with sharp cheekbones and accentuated features. Her eyes held a semblance of innocence but he knew better than to trust these feral creatures.

He lifted his long rifle to his shoulder and placed it at eye point trying to aim it at her but she didn't seem phased. "Take another step and I will shoot!" He warned her. She didn't understand his words as she took a look at his long stick. She wondered what it was but with the way he trembled, she hoped that it wasn't meant to hurt him.

She moved forward wanting to relieve him of his pain. She wanted to do it quickly so as not to hurt the creature. Samuel panicked at the sight of her advancing quickly towards him: he yelped in fright as he pulled back the barrel of his gun and closed his eyes, firing without hesitation.

The bullet whizzed through the air hitting her arm before embedding itself in a tree a few inches behind her. She widened her eyes at the action as a fear of the unknown came over her.

She winced as she reached her hand up to touch her shoulder where a slow stream of blood had run down her arm. She felt anger surge through her as well as confusion.

"Samuel we heard a gunshot. What was that boy?" A voice came from behind the trees. He gulped as men started coming out from the trees. She panicked at the sight of other creatures, cowering away so they wouldn't hurt her too.

The General looked at Samuel in confusion before he and the other men let their eyes drift to the giant creature in front of them. "By god what is that?" The general gasped as he stared at the creature. The other men stared in shock and the general took in the weakened beast.

The general grinned at the sight. "Sir I found it like this. It tried to attack me." Samuel cried out defensively. "I apologize for not informing you earlier." He said sadly. The general patted him on the shoulder smiling brightly. "No Samuel. You did well. You have done an excellent job." He said.

Samuel looked at him with great confusion on his face. "What do you mean? How so?" He asked. "You caught us an elusive woman, a witch." Samuel widened his eyes at his words. "A witch? What are we going to do with her?" He said breathlessly. The man smiled, turning towards the other men. "Round her up boys." He said.

They looked at him hesitantly and he clenched his jaw. "Well, what are you waiting for." They shook their heads before pulling out a large fishing net. The woman looked at them fearfully as she stepped back. They threw the net over her body as she continued to struggle. She let out a roar as she charged toward one of the soldiers. Samuel panicked thinking she was about to kill him and without thinking he lifted his weapon and fired it.

She felt fire run through her back and her wings as a surge of electricity ran through her. She let out a venomous roar as her vision became black. Her eyes darkened and the men watched in horror as her wings unfolded cutting through the rope as she rose several feet into the air.

With a single beat of her wings, she leveled them to the ground before she came back to her senses.

"Amara." A voice in her whispered.

***

Everything had a beginning, an itching purpose, and a thrust that would propel it into existence. Essentially the chain of events that would lead to its occurrence. I didn't know mine. There was no reason or cause for my existence. I wasn't a set of molecules that collided and fused to form a being. I just came to be. There was no universe then, simply me and the endless nothingness. It gave me comfort and reason to be present.

I roamed the vast nothingness for eons long being acquainted with it. From there I formed the darkness, a vessel for my intuition, molding it in my image. It became the first of my creations followed by my other children which I blessed with wings for flight and horns on their heads.

Everything was going well until one moment a shattering beam of brightness emerged through our hollow existence and stretched on for lightyears. When the light finally diminished. A being similar to me in form with long white hair, prominent cheekbones, and a strong aura appeared.

He was the one who I would call brother and the one you would call Yahweh. I wasn't open to the idea of having him in my realm and avoided him at all costs. He was naïve and adventurous but he always found reason to complain. He wasn't a fan of the darkness but I had made it clear that it was here to stay as were my other children.

He wanted to be the center of everyone else's love and affection and wasn't happy that he wasn't the center of mine. He was a being of light and wanted to fill the realm with creatures in his image. He didn't see nothingness as the right way to live. I had turned down his idea instantly and pushed him away.

He finally realized that my mind wouldn't be changed and I wasn't one to be shaken. He set off to find his purpose. I continued to thrive in nothingness as my children built homes and started to make children of their own. They were forever loyal to me and understood my stand as their ruler. Aside from the darkness, the generals I created were the witch Aila who had been blessed with magic, and the demon queen Iron Mouse who I had made queen of my demon creations.

Life was thriving and my people were jubilant until one day everything changed when Yahweh returned. He wasn't the same naive being I had known. There was something off about him. His eyes held a thirst for power in them. It was then he brought forward the idea of creating the universe.

I laughed in his face. It had made no sense to me the concept of it all and I had immediately turned it down. But he didn't back down. He knew that light couldn't exist without dark and he knew that even though his powers were strong he needed mine to carry out his plan.

It had burgled my mind and confused me for the longest time as to why he was so desperate to create it. He had confessed eventually that he was lonely and even at times envious of the connection I had with my children. He wanted the same and when he had gone off into nothingness, he had attempted to replicate my people but they didn't last. They were creatures of light and they weren't built to roam the emptiness. Eventually, they died and he was left alone. He had come to realize that nothingness wasn't the place for them and that he needed to create a place of light.

I had to confess that it had been one of my weaker moments. I had wanted to turn him down and refuse him immediately but I couldn't find it in me to do so. He was my brother after all. I consulted my generals and we had come up with the same question. Where would my people fit into everything?

It was Iron Mouse who had suggested that the universe be separated into three factions. The realm of light, the one of dark and an in-between where both creations could roam. God had agreed to the idea and was simply delighted that I was willing to help him.

He called the kingdom of light heaven and I named that of Dark, Hades after my companion the darkness. Our connection had become so strong that he was able to be absorbed into my form and create large bursts of energy.

God and I combined our powers to create what was called the Earth realm. It was a utopia for all creatures that had an overlap of light and good. God named his creations angels and they commuted regularly between Earth to heaven. My demons commuted regularly as well while the darkness ruled hell. I watched the universe from a distance. The creatures got along so well that some of them even began to interbreed with one another.

But I should have known that it wouldn't be enough for god. He was never satisfied. His angels worshipped him endlessly without question but for some reason that wasn't enough for him. He began to coerce the demons to join his crusade and accept his light into their lives. I had scuffed when he suggested the idea but I was shocked when my top general accepted his offer.

My sorceress Aila wanted to no longer serve me. She had eaten up the tale that god had spun and went over to his side. I didn't stop her, as I wasn't one to force my people to serve me. More and more of my demons fled and those that didn't spend most of their time on Earth.

One day God made a peculiar call summoning me to heaven. He had something he wished to say and he thought it was urgent. I was wary of his words and doubted I could believe anything that came out of his mouth but I chose to go anyway.

I made it to his lavish palace in the center of the seven gardens and found him draped on his throne. He welcomed me eagerly and my eyes widened at the sight of my people. "What are they doing here?" I had asked him through clenched teeth. "They are here for the show." He spoke. I had ignored his words.

"Well get on with it," I said as I materialized my throne made of intertwined thorns and situated it on the opposite side of his. I watched as he scoffed before he turned to one of the angels and gave them a slight head nod. We all watched as the angel vanished before returning with something that resembled a log that was covered by a blanket. I raised an eyebrow at god as I waited for him to explain what was going on further.

He nodded at the angel once more who sent me a smirk before lifting off the rag. The room gasped as we took in the slender form, he resembled god the most but lacked the light that surrounded him. "What is this?" I asked in an irritated tone. "This is my latest and best creation,'' he announced. I call it man." He said.

"So why am I here?" I asked. "Well, dear sister. Man is to take over and occupy the Earth's realm. Angels will be able to come and go just to ensure that things are going well but unfortunately I am creating a barrier between earth and hell." He spoke and I felt my body vibrate as my jaw clenched.

"And what about my demons? What are they supposed to do?" I asked. He grinned at my words before saying, "I am glad you asked that. I am making an offer. They can join me as dark angels or they can stay in hell and not be allowed anywhere else. Their choice." He said with a shrug.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked through a clenched jaw. "Because I can sister. Who has the bigger army is in charge and I guess I win." He said with a grin. "My people will never turn on me." I spat. He grinned as they both watched half of the demons move over to God's side. "It's nothing personal sister. Just the order of existence. The strongest wins. And I just did. Man is soon going to cover the Earth and serve me. You should get used to it." He said.

I felt disgust crawl over me at his words. "Mark my words. You will regret this. This isn't over yet." I said. I felt a tug on my body as it burned. "Oh but I think it is. You see your little witch cast a spell on you and your people so you have to stay in hell or you will burn." He spoke.

I felt like my body was on fire and as I turned the other demons were crying out in pain. One had to know when they had been defeated. "I will be back and you will be sorry," I said with determination. He rolled his eyes, turning his back on me.

Myself, the darkness, and my demons were forced out of heaven and blazed across the sky in the form of shooting stars. We were forced to watch the world from a distance. Trapped in hell and unable to go anywhere else. Yahweh retreated to his kingdom not making another appearance for centuries and I was glad. The queen of demons was diminished to a leader of a small handful of them and the goddess of darkness was turned into a woman without purpose.

The man was a predictable creation and soon enough they took over the world creating chaos and destruction in his wake. Yahweh still hadn’t made another appearance and the angels willingly carried out man’s bidding. My people and I continued to plot and scheme determined to take back what was ours.

We were willing to sacrifice our skin to get it back. Despite the warnings when the time was right, we had come to the world like a plague, ravishing the humans in a volcanic pool and sending them to their deaths. Those that remained, whispered greed and sorrow in their ears until they turned on each other.

Finally, God summoned us saying that enough was enough. We thought we were ready but we could never anticipate his large army. I was older and stronger but my heart was one of love and concern for my people. They were massacred like animals in the field and I watched as they had torn off Iron mouse's head. I had let out a venomous roar of rage and God had used my moment of distraction to pierce his sword through my heart.

With the help of Aila’s magic, he turned me into a scaled beast that resembled my demons with horrendous wings. To save me, my darkness merged with my form and we were fused permanently.

In my weakened state, the witch stripped apart my mind as I struggled to keep myself together. And if it wasn't just to spite me, god used his strength to send me plummeting down toward the world I had sought to ruin.

The devil wasn't god’s most beautiful angel. But the sister he had stolen everything from in his twisted game. But there was no checkmate on this black-and-white board until the queen reclaimed her throne.