The Rift: Casting Shadows

By DeAnte BuckmanHarris

Nearly a year has passed from the battle of Dark and Light within the grounds of The Ascended Plain. Both Archlight and human have been living in a moment of peace and serenity in their worlds. However our champion and newly crowned hero of The Ascended Plane, Angel De’ Noctis, is struggling to find her own form of peace. Multiple nightmares and constant flashbacks from her battle against Rai, the revenant of Void, leave her desperate for peace. In her spites of anger, Angel begins to hear a voice in her head, promising freedom from her pain... but for a small price. Could this new entity provide relief from the nightmares or could it be a doorway to more pain ever known to Archlight or man?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796064124

DeAnte BuckmanHarris

My name is DeAnte "Arthur" BuckmanHarris. I was born May 18th, 1997. I am twenty-two years old and I am a first time writer from Rockmart, GA who thought it was time to shed some light in the dark area's of the mind. I've always thought the bigger questions as to why certain things do not make sense in the human subconscious. As such I have found many obstacles, but they have not stopped my goal in finding out the truth behind the things hidden behind age and repetition. The Rift is a tale that takes the drowned meanings of depression and forms it into a fiction tale that all can understand. A dear friend of mine, April J. Smith, passed away shortly after her and I overcame our depression together and sought out a real meaning to the world we saw in our minds. The world of depression has many view, but this one is how me and my friend saw it.

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Copyright © 2019 by DeAnte Arthur BuckmanHarris.

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

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/19/2021

Xlibris

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Epilogue

Have you ever wondered what it felt like? To float there… you are awake, but the darkness around you makes you feel like you are asleep. You think it’s a dream, but your eyes are wide open. So where are you? Where was I? I remember now… I was in the Void…

I open my eyes. The sun had just begun to make its approach along the horizon, it was sunrise. I slowly get out my bed and glare out the window. It was peaceful to watch the light begin to bring color back to the world. I put on my black gown and walk outside. I walk towards the top of the hill our home rested on and sat down on the cliffs edge. The sun never shined this color of dark orange before; it was truly a sight to behold. This is quite an early start for you isn’t it, Angel? I turn around; it was my father, Orion. I didn’t want to miss the sunrise. I say and grin. He sat next to me and we began to glare off in the distance. Time is a mysterious thing, isn’t it? The way it moves everything around us, and how it can make it look so elegant? He said. It is… I say softly and hold my arms. There was a cold wind out. Orion placed a blanket around me and smiled. Go see more of it Angel, but be back quick so your mother does not worry. I turned around to see Orion walking back to the house. I stand up and look at the house one more time before turning towards the sun and dropping the blanket around me. I close my eyes and clasp my hands together; small red symbols began forming on my right arm and my wings slowly began to form from fragments of light along my back. I stretch and flap my wings, the wind pushed from them can be seen running down the grass of the plains. I smile and leap high in the air letting the wind catch my wings and carry me towards the sun. The wind moved the clouds and hid the sun, so I flew higher to witness the spectacle that was daybreak. Flying higher and higher, far beyond the clouds, I was determined to see it. Moments later, I was free from the barrier of clouds that engulfed the sky and I now float in the air with only the sun in view and a sea of clouds below me. The sun had never looked more beautiful before. I close my eyes and embrace the warmth the rays gave off before letting my weight take me back down towards the earth, free falling back down over my village in the Eastern Plains. I spread my wings wide and catch the draft, gliding on the wind back down towards my home. My mother, Kaiya, was waiting by the front door with her arms crossed. I grinned and landed on top the hill from where I started. I pick up the blanket that Orion gave me, wrap it around me and start to walk back inside. Good morning, my little Angel. She said. Good morning. I replied. It’s not like you to start your morning so early, what’s the occasion? She asked. The sunrise just looked so beautiful today; I didn’t want to miss it. I said and looked back towards the sky. The sun formed a perfect half circle on the horizon line now. It is somewhat breathtaking this morning, isn’t it? Kaiya said and smiled. Orion had come back outside and wrapped his arm around Kaiya. Come now, a cold is not to be caught out here. He said and walked Kaiya back inside, I slowly followed behind. I glare back at the sun one last time, but when I looked, it appeared eclipsed. A dark veil started over taking the land, slowly making its approach towards me. I inhaled sharply, covered my face and closed my eyes. I grew colder. When I opened my eyes, I was standing on nothing. I couldn’t see anything, only the pitch black around me. Was I dreaming or was I awake? I know my eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything…

Angel… Angel… Angel! I awoke to voices and Orion looking into my eyes. He was holding my shoulders and lightly shaking me. I shake my head. Where am I? I said in confusion. You haven’t left this spot in almost ten minutes Angel. We both thought you were just enjoying the view, until Orion realized something wasn’t right. Kaiya said. I looked around, she was right. I hadn’t moved from the spot I was standing in before. What happened to me?

Chapter 1

I began to have flashbacks… It had been almost a year since the destruction and rebirth of the Ascended Plain, but it still haunted me. All I heard was the non-stop, twisted and sadistic laughter every night I tried to sleep. Rai, the revenant of darkness who threatened not just the world of the Archlight, but earth as well, had been destroyed by some force. Bits and pieces of my memory come back and I barely remember how. Nivo, Orion’s father, said that the half of me that is pure darkness formed into an uncontrollable rage and took control to defeat Rai. There was no mistaking Nivo’s words; ‘You are half watcher, Angel. The entire dark wing clan is a descendant of Eon, who was a watcher.’ Am I just a watcher? Am I just… a monster?

Angel, what did you see? You saw the sun over the horizon right? I wanted to tell Orion what I saw, but for now I want to keep everything carefree. Yes… all I saw was the sun. I guess I may have gotten lost in it. After all the reason we chose to stay on earth, versus in the palace in the Ascended Plain, was to live out our days appearing to be human and to have normal lives. We hide our wings using magic, and we perform our day to day lives without the use of it. Of course the occasional use is needed, whether I’m training with Orion, traveling in what Kaiya calls my mind’s garden, or going out for a flight early in the morning, or late at night. The mind’s garden is a meditation practice to journey inside the positive zone inside your mind, and how to achieve a high level of control over ones own magic. She is showing me how anything is possible here. All the training I receive is no easy task either; Orion hardly shows mercy when we spar against each other, whether it’s wooden sword to sword or hand to hand combat. I get a good laugh out whenever I can actually get one up on him, you know… once in every ten times.

Maybe I should tell Orion the truth… I sat down at the table trying to ignore what just happened. There was a moderate silence in the room other than the wind blowing against the house. Kaiya was reading one of the many books from her collection. I knew it was a book she had from the Ascended Plain, for the cover of the book appeared to be made of glass, but reflected light differently. Orion however, seemed worried about me and my state of mind. I knew he was going to confront me later. Orion began to speak. Angel… what did you…? There was a knock at the door. Kaiya gets up from her chair and opens the door, it was Vera. She had brought a basket full of vegetables grown from the fields behind her home. After taking the basket, Kaiya and Vera began talking amongst themselves just outside the door. Orion sat down next to me. What has been bothering you daughter? Orion asked me. You haven’t been sleeping, you’ve been having moments where your mind stops and you go into a stasis for minutes at a time. There is no saying ‘you are okay’, so what has been bothering you? Guess there was no hiding it. Father… the nightmares haven’t stopped like you said they would. I either stay up all night or stare out the window out to the moon, or going out to walk in order to clear my thoughts. I just keep hearing the same screams from before, the same ones from that day almost a year ago. I began to feel heavy. Orion reached in and held me close towards him. The nightmares have not left me either, daughter. I too am haunted by that monster. He has left a scar on not just our minds, but your mother and everyone who fell to him in the Ascended Plain. All we can do is keep trying our best to forget about the past and… I cut him off and push away from him. And do what?! Pretend it never happened? I can’t un-see and forget what happened that day! I stood up. You may only remember bits and pieces of the madness, but I saw it all. From the countless amounts of fire burning the trees, to bodies strung against walls like bad contemporary art. Not to mention watching my mother and grandfather, Nivo, have the life squeezed out of them. And then… having to fight you in order to free you from that, that thing! I refuse to forget… I sobbed and quickly walked up to my room. It was no surprise to me or Orion that I snapped. This wasn’t my first outburst at him, since we had been trying to find a real treatment for me after the first nightmare came to life.

I slam the door to my room shut and lie down in my bed. My head was buried in my pillows. Why… why does this keep happening? I say silently to myself. I raise my head so my eye can look out the window, it was cloudy outside. I look around my room; the desk sat high with many books on it, the closet door cracked with items I had received as thanks from the Ascended Plain pouring out, the window slightly to the right of the closet. Then, leaned up against the corner of the room was the blade of dark and light. It was slightly raised out of its casing, as if someone had wanted to look at it. Through the cracks of the case the blade was barely exposed, but instead of its normal white glimmer, it gave off a black haze that faded when it touched the floor. You… This is your fault! I screamed at the sword. If it weren’t for you, everyone wouldn’t have had to die! I walk over and pick up the blade and unsheathe it completely. The once steady black haze that peered out became a black cloud that slowly began to expand and engulf my room. I drop the case and blade on the ground and watch the smoke continuously scream out the end of the case. The darkness was taking over; my room had been voided in seconds. There was nothing at this point but darkness.

I sat down and stayed quiet. This isn’t real, this isn’t real. I told myself in hopes to keep myself sane and calm. "This isn’t real…