A Darker Demise: A Compilation of Dark Shorts

By M.C. Ryder

A Unity of Balance - It all started with Immilla and the prophecy of the Dragon's Eye. A time when witches existed. A time when it was light magic versus dark magic. A time when a witch had to choose a side, for they could not represent both. Follow Immilla's journey through her eyes. Will balance be restored?

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• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E.C. Publishing
• Release date: Mar 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987074657

Book preview

A Unity of Balance

Immilla’s Journal

(A Dark short to The Darkest Side of the Moon)

Entry 1

Mutter often described how the sky was ignited with a vibrant orange glow from the setting sun on the blackest of nights when I was born. She felt that fiery energy within me. I was the last born to three sisters before me. There was no son for my Vater to carry on the family name.

I was the youngest, separated five years from my eldest, Ada. Greta followed a year later. There was a two-year gap before Serene and then I followed.

We shared gossip and fought like all sisters do, but my bond was strongest with Serene even though we were opposites. She was the calm, patient, and reason of voice, whereas I was bold, short-tempered, and daring. Even so, our strengths and weaknesses completed each other.

My Vater was a powerful sorcerer of dark magic, whereas my Mutter was a sorceress of light magic. In order to keep balance and peace, there was no in-between. No witch could represent both due to the treaty put into place after the Thirty Years’ War. Many witches were put on trial and burned in order to harvest their magic by one of their own. When a witch dies, their magic is released back into the universe.

After the fall of Maximilian, strict laws were put into place. Magic could only be wielded in what was considered a secure location by the council. It was forbidden for magic to be displayed in front of human eyes.

Magic is to be respected. It takes a great deal of discipline to master it. Everyone is born with the ability to harness it. Only the young and innocent are able to practice the feel of both light and dark magic until their twelfth birthday, where, during the witch’s Summoning Oath, they decide their pledge.

Magic is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. The more you practice, the better control you have. Light magic is reflective. An object must be in place for intuition to take control. Dark magic is cognitive. Words of commandment allow the mind’s desire to come to life. However, dark magic does not come without consequences, as a great deal more energy is required.

Until our twelfth year, our Mutter and Vater taught my sisters and I the elemental basics during sunset or sundown. Most of the games Mutter had us play was with water from the creek near our home. Serene was a natural. She loved water.

We would toss bubbles of water back and forth without touch, however, on more than one occasion, the bubble would burst upon my catch. I would absorb the water from my wet clothing and throw the bubble to whichever sister laughed the loudest.

Our Vater had us practice very small spells. Instructed us how to visualize, in our mind, what we wanted to portray, like lighting a candle. Our nights did not last long with him, as our energy would be depleted. A lot of times, my sisters were not successful and became frustrated easily. Absorbing the energy of a flame and moving to light another object is easier than creating a flame from within. You can tell a candle to light, as many times as you want, but if you do not speak the word with commanding energy, the candle will never light.

I was the first one to light a candle. The energy it takes is indescribable. There’s a great deal of focus. A pull and tug sensation that drains you. My sisters always slept for many hours after a session. However, I was always able to recover quicker.

When I wasn’t practicing magic, I loved watching my Vater woodturning on his lathe. I’d watch for hours as he shaped all different types of wood into beautiful detailed pieces. His primary work was furniture. Magic hadn’t crafted this beautiful art. Hard work did. A trade I was eager to learn.

On my seventh birthday, my Vater got me my own lathe. My Mutter had not been happy. She thought it was too dangerous for a girl of my youth. She feared I would harm myself, especially if I worked unsupervised. Only I thrived. The pieces I crafted were simple, rings and spoons first, before advancing to bowls.

The time for my Summoning Oath was nearly upon me. I found myself alone for the first time. My sisters had all pledged to light magic and traveled to the Academy of Light Magic where all young witches are taught how to stay in control of their power and the laws of magic.

My pledge should have been easy, but I was conflicted. Ada had returned home, but would soon marry and leave, starting a life of her own. I asked her how she knew which magic felt stronger as well as wrote Greta and Serene. Ada and Greta did not reveal too much. Simply told me to trust myself. However, Serene divulged further. She didn’t know what to expect either when she went into the Summoning Oath room, only she felt the light magic call to her. An experience she had never felt before or could ignore.

When Mutter tucked me on the eve of my Summoning, she probed my apprehension. I was her fearless daughter. I wasn’t one to overthink things. In that moment, I voiced my greatest worry. What if I pledged wrong? She reassured me that there was no wrong choice. Magic was a gift, not a curse.

The Summoning room was majestic. A five-pointed star was shaped by unlit white candles surrounded by a scorched circle. A pentacle of mass proportion that I was instructed to stand in the center of.

I took my place standing before the council. Five members representing light magic and five members representing dark magic, my Vater among them. Witnesses gathered behind eager for my vow. I could hear their whispers. Most assumed I would pledge myself to light, like my sisters before me, but others hoped I would pledge dark. Dark sorceresses were few. Those who pledged to light magic far outnumbered those who pledged to dark magic.

A council member of light stepped forward with a lit candle and with a blink of an eye, the candles all had a flame. My Vater stepped forward next and with an utter the scorched circle ignited with witch-fire. Orange with a tinge of black.

Light and dark energy surrounded me completely as I listened to the crackles. Felt the heat and the tug of war within. The light did not drain me like the dark. Light magic was like walking a straight path, both safe and predictable. Dark magic was like walking up an inclined path, both rocky and attentive.

My Vater had expressed, one day, when we were in the workshop, that he didn’t think I was prepared for the toll dark magic would take on my body, mind, and soul. In the end, it was my decision, but if my Vater didn’t think I would flourish who was I to think I would master the magic?

The flames casted shadows in the room. The heat intense from the scorched circle. My eyes were drawn to the lick of flames that seemed to be reaching towards me from the circle, whereas the flames from the candles seemed to pull away.

I closed my eyes. Listened to the sizzling. Listened to the pops. Smelled the charred smoke. Felt the fiery heat. I closed off my active mind and focused on the chanting of my heart.

My eyes snapped back open.

I pledge myself, to dark magic.

Entry 2

After pledging my oath, my body quacked with shivers at the glint of anger in my Vater’s blackened eyes. Never had I ever disappointed my Vater. Out of all of my sisters, I had the most in common with my Vater. I knew deep down I was his favorite. I was the closest to a son he was never graced with.

Academy of Dark Magic was not what I expected. The main campus was a large stone farmhouse in the countryside outside of Sibiu with lots of land with rolling hills, a vast terrain to explore with the Cindrel Mountains far out in the distance. The atmosphere was open and light, with complete serenity. The complete opposite of the type of magic I pledged.

When I arrived, I meet five additional pledges my age; Heinrich, Aldric, Valens, Pedro, and Gisela. We came from different parts of the world. The rules of our counties did not apply to our traditions within the academy. We were all to treat one another as equals, as we all had the same gift. We were not to use our gifts against one another. Were to use our gift to make the world a better place, not to further destroy it.

Even though we were roommates, Gisela and I did not really click. She was a stricter. If we were to remain inside, she would stay without question in our room until summoned.

I was never one to fully follow the rules. My Mutter always told me my mind was wired differently. If I was to be home by sunset, I’d arrived at the very moment the last sunray was engulfed by darkness.

I loved to explore. The world was so big and full of wonders. I had to absorb and understand everything. I was not one who liked confinement.

Heinrich, Hein, was curious like me. Having a Freund makes your world a brighter place. To have someone to talk to that understands. However, I was also not afraid to see the sights on my own. The unknown tends to hold others back.

Hein and I walked around every inch of the place we had access to. There weren’t too many exciting places indoors. Dorms, classrooms, halls, kitchen, water closet.

We saw a barn adjacent outside. My mind worked that, in technicality, it was an inside area. Yes, we would have to dash outside for a brief moment, but then we would be back inside again.

Hein was concern at first. Didn’t want to get in trouble on the first day, but eventually I won and his curiosity got the best of him, so we went together.

I had been disappointed when we discovered there were no horses stalled up inside. Rather, the barn was a large open area. I figured a safe, concealed place to conduct magic. Aldric had intellectually informed us that Sibiu was known as The City with Eyes.

There was a pile of wood stacked on one side of the barn. I gathered several suitable pieces before stepping back and visualizing my desire. When I reopened them, I commanded the wood to come together and form into a shape of a horse. I breathed life into it before it came alive.

Hein and I hopped onto the back of my wood horse and cantered around the open arena in delight. I tilted my head and threw out my arms, embracing freedom.

That was until my Vater stormed in and disassembled the horse beneath us, snuffing out the life. Magic is only to be used for a purpose, he had scolded.

I didn’t understand. He had never scolded me like that before. Had always been supportive and jubilant with all my achievements when using dark magic. Now he looked at me differently. Treated me differently. Acted differently.

My Mutter warned me that change was inevitable. My time of innocence in the world had come to an end. A new dawn had risen where I would learn my place. Where I would have to find my way down a path of my choosing that I was unable to turn back from. The journey would not be easy. There would be many obstacles to overcome. I would not always agree with the outcome, but I had to accept it. Just like I had to never lose faith. Belief is the strongest medicine for the soul. Without it, you forget who you are and why you matter.

The next morning, the new pledges gathered in the basement of the stone farmhouse. A restricted place. It was cold and dirt covered. Nothing special about it. Every member of the council of The Eye was present. They informed that we were to be officiated as affiliates of dark magic.

One by one, they took us into a secluded area and performed a ritual. They used wood-turned carved sticks, I later learned, made from ginkgo wood. My Vater’s carved stick was the most detailed, with many notches. They all had sharp tips.

I could not see what they intertwined onto the back of my neck, below my hairline. I could only feel the gyre as they each took a turn carving a mark. My Vater was the last one to step forward. He simply touched the end of his stick at the center. I felt a tingling sensation pass through my skin and travel up my spine to my head and then a tiredness.

There was little explanation. When we were all officiated, we returned to our rooms to rest. We were too tired to care at the time. Later, we all marveled at the brand placed upon the back of our necks. An eye. A black spiral eye with a point in the center. One spiral arched to the right. One spiral arched to the left before outlining the shape of an eye.

We were all official now.

Entry 3

When classes began, much to my disappointment, it was as if we were attending a different school. It was culturally enriched, but there wasn’t much magic involved. Regardless, I practiced every day when I had time for myself. Lighting a candle with my mind came as naturally to me as breathing.

We grew in a structured environment. There were certain times for everything. When to sleep, when to eat, when to learn, when to do assignments, when we were allowed some fresh air only to travel between the farmhouse and barn, and what we were tasked to work. The new pledges got tasked with the grimy job of cleaning with our hands and not our minds.

Day by day and night by night I grew restless. My expectations of Academy of Dark Magic were not met. I longed to explore the mountains in the distance. An oasis. An escape.

I never had the desire to try to create my own portal. Only a member from the council is authorized to open a portal. All others are restricted. I never questioned why because that was the law. Laws are not to be questioned. They are to be obeyed.

I spoke with Hein, in private, if he would be interested in joining me. Our friendship shifted after that. Fear had a grip on him I could not understand. Enough for him to distance himself from me. No one so much as wanted to be associated with me. I was trouble.

The longer I was at the academy, the unhappier I became. I longed to just run like the wind, wild and free. There was so much energy built up inside of me that wanted to be released. These stone walls were a prison. Crushing my wellbeing.

I missed my sisters. I wrote to Serene often. It was apparent she had a much different experience than I. She was happy and thriving. Had a crush on a Spanish boy named Andreo. Described Academy of Light Magic as majestic and full of life. Complained about not having enough scheduled time to explore the grounds. I noted there were some similarities, however they were tucked away in cottages south of France, far away from any cities or communities. They had more freedom to roam. I envied that.

We got a history lesson on Maximilian. How the darkness in him manifested in which he lost sight of himself. How he attacked his own with that darkness. The rise of witch-hunts escalated out of control. A time when no one was safe. Just an accusation had a person burned at the stake, witch or no witch. Even today, one had to use extreme caution. People still lived in fear. Wanted to destroy what they refused to understand. Power was influence. The mind could be both strong and weak. A battle always looming between right and wrong. Too far down the wrong path blinded reason.

We were encouraged to close our eyes and think about everything, no matter how small, that brought us absolute happiness. When my eyes closed, I thought about the sun kissing my face. The warmth it provided. The energy it filled me with.