A Light In The Heart Of Darkness. Amy Blankenship

      Only then two souls it will revive.

      Bringing them into the light…

      Fated to battle the dark magic of the night…

      With this promise we immortals will take up arms…

      Protecting those reborn from further harm…

      Into the hands of stone and marble our enemy will we give…

      The only wish he desires… within the light to live.”

      As the vortex circled Kamui, one glowing feather from each illuminated wing loosened and sprang forward within the cyclone… turning like two small daggers to shoot straight down, landing on the grave. The glistening feathers stayed stuck in the soft soil for a few brief moments before sinking into the ground to merge with the souls of his friends.

      Kamui’s knees hit the ground as the spell dispersed, sending a shockwave out in all directions. “Until we meet again, Kyoko… Toya,” Kamui whispered as he felt the loneliness close in on him. “Maybe the next life will be in a better and far brighter time.”

      Shinbe remained silent next to him, wanting nothing more than to shed tears himself... but he couldn’t afford the luxury. Hyakuhei was still out there and he knew the black-hearted vampire would eventually come for him. The enemy would know what they had done. He would erase all the traces he could for now.

      Reaching into his pocket, Shinbe pulled out a small amethyst bottle filled with ageless magical powder. Lightly sprinkling the ground, he walked a circle around the grave to protect it from all prying eyes. The ground instantly turned solid to hide the location of the new grave.

      Shinbe’s eyes lit up with the same amethyst color as he whispered words only he could understand.

      He felt an age-old bond of brothers who had fought an eternal battle with darkness sear through his soul to become a symbol of protection upon the grave. Above the resting place of his friends blossomed flowers without any seeds being planted. Blooms of five colors appeared on thorny vines… silver… gold… ice blue… amethyst… and shimmering rainbow dust.

      â€œI am taking my leave,” Shinbe said after a long silence. He didn’t want his presence giving away the location of the others and knew it was time to move on. His gaze darted back to the bush of strangely colored flowers. Toya and Kyoko were now protected from Hyakuhei and the spell would not be disturbed.

      For now… it was all he could offer them besides sorrow.

      Kamui looked up at the wizard, shocked at this new development. “What? But… why?” his eyes widened in a moment of panic… would everyone leave him now? Wasn’t losing Toya and Kyoko bad enough?

      Feeling Kamui’s fear rise, Shinbe placed a steady hand on his friend’s shoulder and tried to explain, “You know as well as I that Hyakuhei will eventually learn what we have done here.” He looked over Kamui’s shoulder at Kotaro knowing the Lycan would understand his abandonment.

      â€œYou will be able to escape his ever-watchful eyes… but I do not have that kind of power. I will however be able to hide, but I am unsure as to how long.” Shinbe released a long sigh and looked up at the moon hanging low in the sky. “My days have a number on them now…” a soft smile tilted the corners of his lips as if he knew a secret. “…So be it.”

      â€œI will board the next vessel going west, over the ocean. There, I will have a better chance of keeping my identity safe from Hyakuhei and perhaps even find a way for my own soul to reincarnate at the same time as our dear friends.” He hoped what he was saying was the truth. They would need him when the time came.

      Kamui glanced down at the grave below him then back up at his friend with more calmness then he had felt since this nightmare evening had started. He did not want Shinbe to be the next victim so, yes, he understood. He gently plucked a rainbow feather from his right wing and pressed it to Shinbe’s neck.

      Shinbe gasped as it started to glow brightly before absorbing into his skin. He looked down and saw the briefest outline of the feather just below the collar of his robe.

      â€œThat’ll help you when the time comes,” Kamui said with a smile and gave Shinbe a tight hug in understanding. He wouldn’t lose Shinbe for long… no matter what.

      â€œWe will see each other again my friend,” Shinbe whispered before pulling away from Kamui’s embrace. He nodded to Kotaro knowing the Lycan would look after Kamui for all of them. Shinbe gazed back at the grave then jerked his eyes away letting his bangs fall down to hide the sadness. “So be it,” he whispered again as he disappeared into the surrounding darkness.

      â€œYou ready kid?” Kotaro asked quietly as he kept his back to the grave. He knew he could not stay. Shinbe was right… the farther away they were, the better protected the spell would be.

      Kamui wanted to scowl at the nickname Kotaro had just given him but didn’t have the heart. His heart was buried in the dirt at his feet and, if it took ‘til the end of time, he would see Hyakuhei pay for his crimes.

      â€œYeah,” Kamui said, wiping an arm across his eyes. “I’m ready.”

      Kotaro placed an arm around his shoulders and led him away. The Lycan found that he could shed no more tears for the woman he had loved with his entire being. His soul felt as if someone had yanked it from his body, ripped it to shreds and only returned half of it.

      If the spell Kamui and Shinbe had come up with worked, he would see his beloved Kyoko again. He couldn’t help but smile at all the antics he and Toya’s reincarnation were bound to come up with to win her affections. He would gladly fight over her once again if only Toya would come back. After all… he loved them both.

      He fought the urge to look back at the grave. “A thousand years is a long time to wait but I’ll be there for you… Kyoko.”

      *****

      Over a thousand years into the future… Present Day.

      A lone figure stood on a rooftop of the tallest building, overlooking the crowded city below. His features never betraying the heart-wrenching memory of his only brother’s body lying alone and lifeless on the cold, hard ground, centuries ago. His once warm, beating heart gripped in the claws of the sadistic monster that had created them both.

      He had done everything within his power to separate himself from the evil that silently surrounded him. Just like the humans of this world, he only fed off the animals that nature provided. Even though the darkness was all he was allowed, as is the curse of a vampire, he would never become the demon his uncle had intended.

      Within the last several years something within him stirred… a longing that he couldn’t understand and hadn’t felt in over a thousand long years.

      Memories never forgotten replayed in Kyou’s mind of a once innocent young man that had filled his life with happiness, even within a world of darkness. Toya… He had been so full of life… with laughing gold eyes and the ignorance of a child. Once again it brought pangs of guilt to his heart for not being able to protect his younger brother.

      Sun gold eyes that had grown hard from hundreds of years of loneliness, bled red at the remembrance of a promise that he had yet to fulfill. Every decade that passed by, Kyou had grown that much stronger. Many times he had come close, but the object of his hatred and wrath eluded him at every turn.

      He would not rest until the vile creature he sought writhed in agony at his feet and his soul cast into hell where it belonged.

      Kyou’s gaze was drawn to the only serene place in the whole city… the quiet park in the center. “Such places should not be near so much evil,” he murmured into the night. Leaping from the building, Kyou continued his search as he had