In Times of Peace: Dance of Darkness & Light Episode 1

By The Loneliest Lone Wolf

Against the backdrop of an immortal War entering its final chapter...
A girl and a boy from a ravaged Realm start the first chapter of their new lives...
But none could see, what secrets and surprises lurk deep in the darkness of space...

THE SAGA BUILDING UP FOR A THOUSAND MILLENNIA... IS FINALLY READY TO BE TOLD.....

The story begins as an Empire that spreads across an entire star system starts preparing for an inevitable war against an unseen enemy from beyond the realm of the known, an enemy that is determined to destroy everything and at any cost. Leading the defenses of The Empire are The Imperium who have gathered a group youngsters from far and wide to begin their initiation into their ranks before the war begins... and within this group, there are two that stand out... a girl and a boy...

They stand out as they are the first of their people to be allowed a chance to enter the ranks of The Imperium in generations as it was generations ago that their people had lead rebellion against The Empire. This rebellion had failed and as a result their people were pushed into exile, an exile that only came to an abrupt end when this War came calling... but with them now being cautiously welcomed back into the mainstream fold opportunities such as having their representatives being allowed an opportunity to be a part of The Imperium have now become a reality. But even within The Empire there still whispers of discontentment amongst those who continue to feel they should be more careful in extending this welcome...

Against this backdrop, this fast-paced story will introduce you to a diverse cast of authentic characters that come together to bring this world alive!

This is their story. The story of how they try and find a place for themselves in a changing new world as their old world begins to collapse... two lost souls alone in the vast star system trying to help each other find their true paths... just as a great War charges ahead on its path to them!

DESTINIES WILL BE CHANGED... LIVES WILL BE LOST... WHEN THE PAST & PRESENT COLLIDE!

This is the story of an epic war between Darkness & Light... the story of how an immortal war finally died... this is the story of the Dance of Darkness & Light...

Witness the beginning of the end with... Episode 1...

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Loneliest Lone Wolf
• Release date: Jun 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005417925

Book preview

The Dance of Darkness And Light

DanceofDarknessAndLight.com

First Published, March 2021. 2022 Edition

© The Loneliest Lone Wolf™, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the copyright holder.

The names, characters, places and incidents presented in this book are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to any actual person alive or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

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Published by : The Loneliest Lone Wolf™

Cover illustrated by : Depaxi

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The Dance of Darkness And Light

Episode 1

In Times of Peace

By

The Loneliest Lone Wolf

The Prologue

Whether in Darkness or in Light, The End to this eternal conflict is now within sight!

Dear Reader…

Thank you for joining us at the beginning of the end of this epic adventure across space and time over a thousand millennia…

DESTINIES WILL BE CHANGED…

LIVES WILL BE LOST…

WHEN PAST & PRESENT COLLIDE!

Hope you’re ready for this!

-TLLW

Table of Contents

Chapter 1… You’re ready for this?

Chapter 2… Let’s go over some basics

Chapter 3… Red Skies in the morning

Chapter 4... The Proposal

Chapter 5.... The Gambit

Chapter 6... Welcome to The Academy

Chapter 7... Orientation for the Disoriented

Chapter 8.... Candidate Level: Tertian

Chapter 9.... Candidate Level: Bejan

Chapter 10... Off to The Games

Chapter 11… Rules of Engagement

Chapter 12… Let's Play Ball

Chapter 13… Standing out or Sticking out?

Chapter 14… All that Glitters

Chapter 15… Dean trumps Vice Dean

Chapter 16… Somewhere out there

Chapter 17… Field Assignment

Chapter 18… Team Alpha Gets Benched

Chapter 19… Team Leader Kesh

Chapter 20… Why can't we be friends?

Chapter 21… Risky Business

Chapter 22… Dean trumps Vice Dean, again

Chapter 23… Nowhere to run

Chapter 24… There and back again

Chapter 25… Last Leg

About The Author

vengeance /ˈven.dʒəns/

The act, or a series of acts, either actually carried out or planned to be carried out, to serve as a punishing of someone for harming oneself, one’s friends and / or family… or the desire for such punishment.

CHAPTER 1.0

YOU’RE READY FOR THIS?

CHAPTER 1.1

LOCATION:

PITCH BLACK,

LOCATION UNKNOWN

___

His eyes open but he can neither see anything around him nor feel any solid ground under his feet, leaving him feeling as if he is floating in the darkness that surrounds him with only the sounds of explosions going off at a distance, getting louder, there to give him company.

When he realizes that he doesn’t remember anything about where he was before he got there, or how he got there, he begins to panic when a flash of light that only lasts for a splitting moment, appears where he catches a blink of an image that calms him.

In that moment, he saw the image of a woman’s brown eyes with reddish-brown hair flying across… eyes that are unrecognizable to him, but there was still something about them that made him feel calm as the darkness surrounds him once again and as he finds himself landing softly on a solid ground but unable to see anything around him in the darkness that surrounds him once again, when he hears a woman’s voice whisper…

I think I got this…

As he stumbles around in the darkness trying to find out where the sound is coming from, he notices in front of him a faint fire with flames that keep getting bigger and brighter as the flames keeps coming closer to him.

He takes a step back when he notices that the flames are all around him and he is surrounded by a circle of fire that is coming closer and closer to him.

He stands still and notices that the explosions he heard before are back, and are getting louder, forcing him to cover his ears and close his eyes as he screams at the top of his voice in a desperate attempt to drown out the violent sounds all around him just as the flames are about to reach him…

…and when his scream is over, so are the sounds of explosions.

After spending a few more moments there with his eyes closed and ears covered, he slowly pulls his hands down and opens his eyes… only to realize that he is no longer in a unfamiliar place.

Alex, a tall young man, has just woken up from another one of his violent dreams. Dreams that he remembers nothing about when he wakes up. All he can do is sit there and breathe heavily as he tries to become aware of his surroundings once again as he looks at the early sunlight glowing around the corners of the curtains and continues looking at it till his breathing slows down.

He goes over to sit on the corner of his bed… but for some reason, stops and sits there thinking about something.

Alex (to himself) : Get a grip on yourself, Alex!

His attention is drawn to the knock on the door.

Girl outside the room : Everything okay?

Alex : Yeah… everything is fine.

Girl : In that case, just get ready! I’m waiting downstairs!

Alex : Yeah… I’ll be right there.

The young girl checking up on Alex is his younger sister Alexa, or Lexa as she is known to all.

She knows the kind of demons from his past that Alex has been running away from when they tried to get a clean break from everything and return to their otherwise unremarkable village from the always busy Capital City.

And had hoped that those days are now behind him, but there has always been a part of her that’s never been sure if her brother will be able to cope with the coming changes and thrive, or get lost in the darkness of his past when she was no longer there to keep him grounded.

Lexa, herself destined for greatness, knows if she has to leave before she can embrace her destiny, will have to accept that Alex will now have to learn to cope with everything that haunts him by himself. Just as Alex does himself.

Lexa’s path to greatness has been a source of great inspiration for the people of there.

Realm 9 is not the easiest place to live in… but outside of the unforgiving Wastelands, Koi Village and the entire Frontier Province are some of the harshest places to live in the entire Realm. So if it’s not one of the many sporadic Rebel attacks, some incidence of crime or a random act of violence, then something else ranging from a decommissioned mine exploding to an unexpected meteor shower… death had a way of suddenly sneaking up on the people who lived there. A place where death and loss of life are all too common, all those who remained, learn to value whatever little they’re left with.

With nothing of value to justify even trying to maintain any significant presence there, the people are largely left to fend for themselves as The Sovereign Authority prefers to forget this place even exists unless they are forced to acknowledge its existence, and the existence of the many problems of this region… all of this, in its own way made this just the kind of place that would draw someone like Alex, who wanted to get lost and live off the grid.

But for the people that didn’t choose to be there and were there by accident of birth and saw themselves be forgotten, found themselves at the center of unexpected attention with an undeniable chance to leave their current state of constant neglect and be a part of something bigger, all thanks to Lexa as it doesn’t get any bigger than The Empire. Not even anything that The Sovereign Authority could offer.

Based far away deep inside their star system now known as The Concord, the heart of The Empire is located in Realm 3 from where they have brought all the Realms under their central administrative rule while being allowed to maintain limited autonomy through their respective Sovereign Authorities.

This consolidation of power and the delicate balance of authority between The Empire and The Local Sovereign Authorities hasn’t always been the most peaceful of transitions, nor has it been easy to try and maintain all the Realms under one central rule. With Realm 9 itself being the site of the last significant attempt to secede from The Empire.

The scale and strength of that spirited, but ultimately futile, Rebellion was matched by the emphatic style in which it was ultimately crushed by The Empire.

As a consequence of this failed Rebellion The Nexus, that was meant to act as an intermediatory balancing the interests of the local Sovereign Authority with the loyalty for The Empire, was disbanded when the entire Realm 9 itself was pushed into exile for generations.

The Nexus was made up from the pool of the rank and file of The Sovereign Forces, with each Realm having a select few who ascent to the ranks of The Nexus gaining access to unimagined abilities as they took on the responsibility of defending their Realms from threats and to serve The Empire but when the idea of Rebellion found a sympatric ear within The Nexus, The Empire had to had to devote its considerable resources to bring it to an end, which it did.

While the Rebellion itself was squashed and the last of the remaining Rebels naturalized, there are still those who find themselves drawn to this cause, not necessarily for the same reasons. Often unorganized and looking after various vested interests, the people who are claiming the legacy of this Rebellion, are looked down as fringe elements looking to further their own interests but are seen as nothing more than mild irritants rather than as threats, The Empire has stepped back allowing The Sovereign Authority to deal with them.

And with a new threat at the doors of The Empire gathering strength, it is time to bring Realm 9 into the mainstream fold but before they can have their own Nexus once again, for now they will have those identified for ascension go to Realm 8’s Nexus Academy. While Realm 8’s Academy expands its scope to also enroll the first set of candidates from Realm 9, The Empire braces itself to welcome Realm 9 into its mainstream fold from its exile.

Although there those within The Empire who continue to be suspicious of the loyalties of Realm 9 in general, and the candidates from Realm 9 in particular, but under the current circumstances they are reluctantly accepting the changing scenario.

Even within Realm 8, there are those who resent the idea that ‘their academy’ will serve as the testing ground for the experiment with the candidates from Realm 9 and while they don’t share the optimistic view of their Sovereign Authority, instead see this as a desperate attempt at reconciliation by The Empire that is already stretched for resources as they find it harder and harder to contain a threat that keeps growing stronger and stronger at The Veil, where the boundary of their solar system ends.

Against this backdrop of turmoil and distrust, from the scores of those to tried, only two aspirants emerged as candidates suitable for admission into The Combined Nexus Academy for Realms 8 & 9, and in doing that, they became the first from their Realm in generations who will eventually become a part of The Nexus.

Lexa being one of those, it has given the people from this forgotten part of an isolated Realm a reason to celebrate as the eyes of The Realm are on them. And with her departure for The Academy only a few hours away, the celebrations that began when Lexa first left for her Orientation, are set to come to a grand conclusion tonight.

While everyone is caught in this mood to celebrate, Alex quietly knows what this means to his sister. His memories of his past are sketchy at best, and he wouldn’t want to change that but he took whatever little he did remember and used that in helping his sister train as she prepared for The Trials, and in the process remembered in bits and pieces, parts of his past that he had tried so hard to forget, and in doing that, more pieces have started coming to him in his nightmares.

But instead of worrying about that, he tries to remain pleased with his part in helping his sister make history.

So pleased, that he isn’t even going to let his natural aversion to being surrounded by people be the reason he sits out tonight’s celebrations as in his heart of hearts, he is comforted knowing that he will not be at the center of the attention being made to answer questions that make him think about things that he doesn’t want to think about.

***

CHAPTER 1.2

LOCATION:

ALEX’S ROOM,

KOI VILLAGE,

FRONTIER PROVINCE,

REALM 9

(FORMERLY KAPABLANCE)

__

Alex, still sitting on the corner of his bed, rubs his eyes as gets up and moves over to the bathroom.

Once there, he splashes water on his face, and while he examines his stubble he starts looking into his eyes... and before he realizes it, he has started staring into his own eyes in mirror.

He keeps looking at the mirror, almost getting into a stare-down with himself, until the eyes he was staring into the mirror change from his own eyes, to the ones that he saw in his dream. Soon enough, the sights and sounds that he saw in his dream come back to haunt him as everything in the around him disappears into darkness as flames of fire are seen at a distance approaching him.

Only when he turns around to look at the fire, does he realize that everything there is as it was before and there is no sign of fire. He looks at his shaking hands before looking back at the mirror and catching another glimpse of himself.

He shakes his head, almost as if disappointed in himself, and then splashes more water over the eyes, and as he does, he takes a deep breath and sits down on the floor breathing heavily just the same way he did when he first got up.

He keeps looking at his hands until they’ve stopped shaking... and then he clinches them up into fists.

Alex : Keep it together, man!

He takes a deep and gets up, looking into the mirror once again… he examines his subtle, and then closes the door behind him.

Lexa is sitting on a stool downstairs waiting nervously for Alex. It’s a small but well-maintained two-stories dwelling unit where the stairway leads to an open space that is only slightly larger than the room in which Alex woke up earlier.

Moments later, her nervousness goes away as Alex emerges, now clean shaved and dressed in a slightly formal shirt. A smiles comes across her face as he walks down the stairs looking calm and relaxed, a far cry from what he looked like before, as he walks over to where Lexa is waits for him.

Lexa : Wow, so do you know how to put in that little extra effort!

Alex smiles as he continues walking down the stairs of their dwelling unit towards her.

It may not have been apparent when he walked down the stairs, but almost as if he tries to favor a back that may have been injured at some point, a slight forward lean in his walk has become more visible as he approaches her, as does a smile on his face.

Alex (Smiling) : Traveling the interspace, waging wars on behalf of The Empire at The Veil and beyond... you’re ready for this?

Lexa : Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Tell me about you?

Alex : What about me?

Lexa : You woke up shouting and screaming again today. Just random nightmares or is there something more you want to tell me?

Alex : Just nightmares, nothing more.

Lexa : So do I need to worry about how you’ll manage without me?

Alex : No... all good. Nothing to be worried about. Nothing at all.

Lexa : If say so... but if don’t hesitate to reach out if you need to before…

Alex : I’m a big boy, Lexa. I can look after myself. Look, I got all dressed up and everything by myself, right?

Lexa : I can see that… but somehow hearing you say that isn’t making me feel any more confident.

Alex : I meant that as a joke but let’s not go over this too much, I said I’m fine so let’s just leave it at that, okay?

Lexa : Okay, okay! No need to get feisty! And if you’re really proud of the way you’re dressed up, then let’s get going!

Alex : What about your friend? We’re not waiting for her now?

Lexa : Omphale? Since when did you stop having a problem with me hanging out with her?

Alex : Since you got through to The Academy...

Lexa : Really? Just like that?

Alex : It was nothing personal with her! It was this whole place and everything in it, I was afraid you’ll get too used to the stench of mediocrity! You have no idea how happy I am that you’re getting away from this toilet-shaped planet!

Lexa : Aww, don’t say that... I’m already starting to miss this place. And just to let you know, she’ll be joining us along the way... so be nice to her.

Alex : Noted. Anything else to add to my to-do list?

Lexa : How about you helping train her just the way you helped me?

Alex : I don’t think so! She has no business even appearing at The Trails, it’s just a waste of everyone’s time.

Lexa : It is if her trainer is going to have an attitude like that!

Alex : She is not you, never will be.

Lexa : I don’t know, she might surprise you!

She smiles as she walks out of there while Alex rolls his eyes before leaving also.

***

CHAPTER 1.3

LOCATION:

TOWN SQUARE,

KOI VILLAGE,

FRONTIER PROVINCE,

REALM 9

___

A little later in the day, Alex is walking slightly behind Lexa. In contrast to his slow walk which at times seems as if he is almost dragging himself forward, Lexa walks upright and every step she takes; lands with confidence.

Everyone there knows who she is and seeing her walk amongst them, a small crowd continues to gather around them while still maintaining a respectful distance.

Lexa and Alex have also been joined by Lexa’s friend  Omphale, as they walk their way through their village.

Omphale is doing a good job of not standing apart from the crowd as although she matches Lexa in her march, only without the same confidence that is there for all to see when Lexa is walking. Her nervous and hesitant personality is completely eclipsed by Lexa’s radiant confidence… but that could be true for most people there.

Lexa with her near-perfect complexion and sharp features complimenting her confidence stands out in stark contrast to the ordinary people there. Her dark long hair are tied up firmly out of the way and although she speaks in the same measured manner as her brother, she isn’t as economical with her words as he is.

And while most of the people there are either in awe or are intimidated by Alex’s presence, Lexa only grows in confidence with her brother around.

But for all of their dissimilarities in physical appearances, the one thing common to the siblings is how remarkably well the two stand out from the generally unremarkable and easily interchangeable mass of faceless people that constitute their sad village.

What’s different about today is that there is a spark of a twinkle in the usually listless eyes of the people there.

The proud brother that he is, Alex has more reason to