Chapter 12: At World's End

The end was near. All hope was lost. The storm continued to settle in the mountains, and the surpassing nightmare of being captured by the Shadow Goons quenched Brighton's peace. Brighton faded in and out as he could barely see dark figures surrounding him. It was nighttime. The dark beings had tied a rope around his hands and placed them behind his back, and they dragged him in the snow. The glowing eyes of his captors blinded his vision and caused an unsettling presence. The wolves howled from afar, and the sounds of the crunching snow made his hearing go eerily deaf, and he closed his eyes. With the haunting trees becoming vacant as he was taken uphill, the beings took Brighton into a dark tunnel with mystical wonders and caverns.

The cave glowed with white crystals and shining colors. It glowed with a mystical aura, with creepy creatures roaming at the base of the cave. Bats shrieked in the cave, and bugs chirped in the dark. The sounds of water dripping above their heads echoed in the darkness. Puddles were eerily scattered, and sharp rocks and stones were scattered at the tunnel's edges.

The glowing aura of the crystals appeared magical and mystical. The light emitting from the diamonds and rocks decorated the tunnel. From strange hisses and small sounds of chirps and chants, the strange winding tunnel became an ecosystem of curiosities. 

As soon as Brighton woke up, he attempted to break free from his captors. He soon realized Ronin was missing. 

"Let me go!" Brighton shouted. "Where are you taking me, I demand that you tell me!" Brighton shouted as he struggled to break free.

"None of this is your concern, consider this our act of mercy. We wanted you to die, but Ekoshade suggested we keep you alive. He sees great potential in you Brighton." One of them hissed.

The haunting realization that Ronin may have died from the wolves saddened his heart and caused great grief to pour out of his eyes. Soft sobs poured down his cheek, and a sense of hopelessness overtook him. Brighton was relieved to see they were leaving the tunnel as the trail winded down to a large opening. Eerily, the tunnel had taken them to the cliffs on the mountains that overlooked the entire land from all directions. In the distance, Brighton saw Candleberry glow in the night; in the other, he saw a soft glow behind him in the forest below.

"There is the candlemaker's home! Its right there!" Brighton whispered to himself.

The goons took Brighton to a forested mountain area near a cave and tied him to a large tree trunk. Brighton's whole world had come to an end.

As the sun rose, the snowy mountains glistened and shined, resembling Candleberry's glow. Memories of Candleberry danced in the king's mind despite the overwhelming darkness surrounding him. The sunlight began to pierce through the forest, allowing Brighton to vaguely see his captor's appearance. Their glowing golden eyes and worn-out black and greyish clothing created a foreboding presence as ashes surrounded them. Their faces were sinister, and their wickedness added a grin to their smiles. When Brighton looked around, he saw more dark beings than he initially realized. Groups of dark beings were faintly seen under the shadows.

The Shadow Goons then untied the king from the tree trunk and threw him on the ground near the cave, which cast a large shadow. In the dark cave, a mysterious individual glowed with an ominous grey. The glowing golden eyes shined through the cave like a candle-lit flame. The cold and dark presence of the Shadow Goon's leader echoed the horrors of the past and the darkness within Brighton.

From the depths of the mysterious cave arose dark shadows and whispers of the goon leader's name—Ekoshade. His very being, crafted with ash and dust, embodies the long-forgotten evils within him. A sinister atmosphere encases him, casting an eerily presence with every move. The synchronized movements of Ekoshade's goons appeared as though they were mere puppets to him, following his every move. It was as though he was shedding the remnants of the evil inside of him with a contagious touch. 

He wore three dark rings on his fingers that reflected his powers. Ekoshade's appearance was slightly transparent, making him look almost ghostly. He reflected the dimness of evil and the blurred lines of twisted morals. His entire body reflected the victims of those who looked into his eyes. His voice echoed and haunted Brighton. His apprentice watched and stood eerily quiet beside Ekoshade.

"Hello, your majesty." Ekoshade hissed in a deceptively calm voice. "I have longed to see you and I stand face to face. Have you enjoyed your journey so far?" 

"Who are you!" Brighton stuttered.

"So, you are the King of Candleberry? No wonder you do not recognize me; you still have some light inside of you." Ekoshade whispered with his eyes locked onto Brighton.

The king was caught off guard by Ekoshade's comment. Terrified, Brighton stared at the ground as Ekoshade walked up to him and sat down at his level. Mystically, Ekoshade left no footprints in the snow and Brighton came to the shocking realization that while they took on a person's appearance, they were not human.

"Don't you want to see who you are up against?" Ekoshade replied with a soft chuckle.

"No! I refuse to look at you! You are awful and wicked; I don't need to look at you to know who you are!" Brighton shouted fearfully.

Ekoshade laughed with a sinister tone. "You do not want to look at me because I am wicked and awful? Could it be that by looking at me you are convicted by your own darkness residing in you? Look into my eyes, you know you want to see who I am."

But Brighton was resistant, keeping his head from looking at him. Suddenly, Ekoshade grabbed his face, and Brighton looked into his eyes. His mortifying eyes and menacing face gradually shifted and morphed into a dark reflection of Brighton. It was as though Brighton was looking and talking to himself.

"No! It can't be!" Brighton shrieked. 

Ekoshade laughed quietly as he responded: "Do you see yourself in me? Isn't it marvelous that I am able to become someone else's shadow. My dear boy… you are at war with yourself."

"I am not! Leave me alone!" The king yelled back. 

Ekoshade sat in the distance as he stared deep into Brighton's eyes. Ekoshade grinned. "With my shadow-like qualities, I have entered the dark side of your mind. Deep down, you know that your intentions to bring back light into your kingdom are not true. You just want the praise of being a hero—you do not care about your people. You have all the light you need in your castle."

"No! You are just telling lies, all lies!" Brighton shouted angrily.

"You know that what I am saying is true. You are not a hero; you are a desperate king who wishes that his people would respect you and that your humiliation would cease. I know your thoughts; I know who you truly are. Join me and become part of the Shadow Goons. You will finally be free from the people's approval. You would get to decide your own fate and destiny. We both know your people don't care about you, they just care about themselves—some kingdom you are ruling." Ekoshade whispered.

The forested trees began to blow in the wind, and sunlight became menacingly blocked. Fog surrounded Brighton. Wolves that inhabited the forest surrounded the goons, and dark owls perched on the branches with their eyes locked onto Brighton. They all growled and shrieked and moved in synchronization.

Ekoshade stared into Brighton's eyes as he whispered: "You think you can run away from me, don't you? You are gravely mistaken if you think you can escape your own shadow. As long as I have infiltrated your thoughts, I can find you—I have become one with your shadow; I know your every move and intention in your mind—consider me your anti-hero. Even if you do escape, these creatures will find you."

"What did you do with Ronin?" Brighton said with his face boiling.

Ekoshade laughed, "So that's your soldier's name, Ronin. Well, he sure fits his name unlike yours. He is doing just fine without you; in fact, you are merely an afterthought to him."

"What are you talking about? I am the king, of course he would come back for me! You just want me to believe that I am hopeless, unable to be saved!" Brighton replied.

"My dear boy, there are those who do what it is necessary to survive even if it means betraying a friend. Which reminds me, as I examine your thoughts it appears you have never considered Ronin a friend, rather a means to an end. You are hoping that he would have rescued you so long as he dies on his way back so you can be seen as the hero." Ekoshade mocked.

Brighton was speechless and mortified. Anger boiled inside him as he drew a fist by his side. Then suddenly, Brighton felt a sting within his heart.

"Would you look at that, that the evil inside of you is pouring out. It is only a matter of time before you become one of us." Ekoshade murmured.

"What did you do to me, poison me? Infected me with some sort of disease?" Brighton barked.

"Why no, there is no sickness overtaking you. I did not cause you such great suffering; you allowed this to happen. But don't worry, once you have willfully chosen to embrace the darkness within you, all your pain will go away and you will be able to take it out on your enemies." Ekoshade cackled.

"Look at you Ekoshade, you have all these goons forced to serve you, you don't even give them a choice in the matter—you control all of them!" Brighton countered.

"No, I do not have power over anybody, I am merely a rank within our kingdom. The Deceiver has power over those who allow him to have it. They serve our ruler willfully, and soon, you will too." Ekoshade replied sinisterly. He then looked at the Shadows Goons and told them: "Take Brighton to the edge of the cliffs; it is time that he realizes he has chosen the wrong side."

The Shadow Goons did as Ekoshade requested. They grabbed Brighton from behind and dragged him to the edge of the rocky terrain. The cliffs overlooked the entire landscape.

The cold landscape near the edge of the cliffs reverberated the journey Brighton had failed to overcome. Ekoshade then took Brighton to one of the mountain's cliffs that overlooked the candlemaker's home. A large tree covered Ekoshade from the sunlight and beside the great cliffs at the edge of the mountains.

"I brought you here Brighton because evil is welling up inside of you and taking over you. But there is still just enough light left to where the candlemaker would be deceived into thinking you are still light. When he sees you coming, he is going to think you are still light, but the darkness is still rising under. By the time the candlemaker welcomes you inside of his home, evil will have overtaken you, giving you the opportunity to kill the candlemaker for me." Ekoshade said.

Brighton stuttered hesitantly, "No, well, I could—but I don't want to, yet I feel like I am going to have to. What is going on with me, and why am I struggling with this?"

"At this point Brighton, you may as well accept the fact that you are already a lost cause and there is no hope for you." Ekoshade replied as he morphed into Brighton's dark reflection.

Brighton looked back at Ekoshade blankly.

"You agree with me, don't you Brighton? Join us, and you will be the hero for the darkness. That is what you have always longed to be, a hero. Help us, and it will be granted to you." Ekoshade chuckled. 

He then snapped his fingers, and the Shadow Goons unhandcuffed Brighton.

"I suggest you leave now and get ahead start. After all, I only need you as alive as your hardened heart." Ekoshade said wickedly. 

"Why are you sending me in to do your dirty business?" Brighton asked.

"That is for me to know and nobody else." Ekoshade responded.

The storm clouds above Brighton and the Shadow Goons' heads boomed with roaring thunder. The rain started to quickly pour, and the trees began to blow violently. Without warning, the Shadow Goons pushed Brighton down the slopes, and he tumbled down! As Ekoshade looked down below, he turned his head and signaled the shadow animals to follow Brighton. 

With a snap of Ekoshade's fingers, he had all the creature's attention. He petted one of the wolves and owls by his side and whispered: "Follow them to the edge of the candlemaker's property." 

The wolves howled, and the owls hooted with aggression as they unknowingly left the forest to stalk Brighton. Brighton's face planted on the ground after tumbling down the slopes into the forest. As he quickly looked up, he saw Chaboo, the raccoon laughing at him. Brighton screamed as he looked up.

"What-cha doing?" Chaboo giggled.

"Chaboo, you again?" Brighton said, irritated. "When I saw you in the cave, you gave me some dumb statement, and you didn't even finish it. What is the rest!

"Dark and light will always fight to win over the other…" Chaboo smirked.

Exasperated, Brighton interrupted: "Get out of my way, I need to find Ronin." 

"Oh, I saw Ronin looking for you. This is strange because I don't know why he would look for you, considering you're not bright, Brighton. Chaboo cackled.

"Well, at least I am not a flakey raccoon with nothing else to do with their spare time. I am the King of Candleberry, you know." Brighton said, irritated.

"Oh, right that makes total sense." Chaboo says while rolling his eyes. "Okay dim lit, I will help you, but before I help you, I would like to remind one last time of the riddle I have for you: Dark and light will always fight to win over the other…"

"That isn't even a riddle—it's useless! If you have something to say to me, just say it in plain words! I think I have been a little too busy fighting for my life, so I haven't had time to figure out a dumb raccoon's riddle that isn't even a riddle." Brighton said, frustrated.

"Ooh, touchy, touchy. A little irritable are we today?" Chaboo giggled. "When you figure it out, Brighton, you will finally understand what I have been trying to tell you. Follow me; he is right over here…"

As soon as Brighton saw Ronin, Chaboo disappeared once again.

"Ronin!" Brighton shouted while waving his hands in the air. "Over here!"

Relieved, Ronin ran up to meet Brighton to ensure he was okay. "Are you alright your majesty? How did you escape the Shadow Goons, I saw them capture you?" Ronin questioned.

"I am alright; I managed to escape," Brighton lied. How did you escape the Shadow Goons?" Brighton said as he stood, catching his breath.

"Well, when I fell from the cliffs, I noticed that you blacked out. I tried to wake you up, but the wolves were coming. I knew that one of us had to escape cause if we were both captured, we would have both died. Ekoshade said that he had no intention of killing you when we encountered him with the wolves so I knew you would be alright. But I wanted to make sure that I survived too!" Ronin explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Brighton shouted, stunned. "Just because the dark beings said they did not want to destroy me does not mean that they are telling the truth. Out of all the people you trust, you would rather believe the Shadow Goons than me the King of Candleberry?"

"Well, I mean, it was either that one of us escapes and rescues another, or that we both fall in the hands of the enemy and lose all hope. Let's just be happy that we are both alive." Ronin stated.

Brighton scoffed as they hugged and started walking in the snow. However, the darkness within him continued to grow, taking on his outward appearance.

Brighton and Ronin ran joyfully, still celebrating that they were both alive. It was almost nighttime, and the sun was setting over the land. Unknowingly, one of the shadow owls from above watched them from below, spying for Ekoshade.

Brighton and Ronin heard the sounds of feathers flapping above them. The owls were a mixture of white and brown with dark streaks on their feathers. They had giant eyes and a golden greyish beak that magnified their mystical beauty. When Brighton saw the owls perched overhead, a trickle of fear went down his spine.

Through his helmet and armor, the darkness inside him continued to grow and infect his body. His feet and torso were utterly full of darkness, leaving the other half of his face as the last thing that had not been affected. The darkness stung his body as he ached internally. It was as though he was slowly becoming transparent, like a ghost made of greyish and black matter. Brighton had used his helmet to guard his face to ensure that Ronin did not know what was happening to him. When Ronin asked Brighton why he closed his helmet, the king said he wanted to shield himself from surprise attacks. Unaware of what was happening, Ronin continued to walk in the snow.

"What if..." Brighton thought to himself. "What if I can't change, what Ekoshade is right? Then what am I doing, restoring the light in the world only so that I cannot walk in it? I would have never known I was dark if I stayed in the shadows."

Ronin stopped walking in the snow as he called for Brighton to keep up, but Brighton refused. "Ronin, -I can't do this."

"Can't do what? Come on, we are so close to reaching the candlemaker's home. You will finally have become the hero you have always wanted the people to believe that you are," Ronin said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't understand Ronin, if we restore the light in the world then there will be a fine line between light and darkness, but if there is no light at all who is there to say what is right and wrong?" Brighton stated.

Ronin's face immediately started to boil with confusion, and he angrily responded: "Brighton, if the whole world was in darkness we would all be blind from our true condition. The light is what makes us aware of our own darkness forcing us to make a choice on who we serve. Choosing to be blinded by our own darkness is choosing to reject the light. Light exists whether you walk in it or not, but at some point, everything in the dark will be brought to the light. You cannot deny the presence of light by hiding in the dark."

A dark aura surrounded Brighton, and rain clouds came over them. The rain started to pour, and the snow was slowly chipping away. Brighton and Ronin had been traveling for so long that it was officially spring. The rain trickled down the forest's branches and leaves, and a rush of wind filled the atmosphere. Brighton's once beautiful blue eyes eerily flickered to a golden glow in the thunder and rain. His eyes gradually fixated on a golden glow as lightning struck the sky. 

The creatures above them and around them watched as the weather shifted. The animals all chirped and squealed as they heard the thundering storm.

"Ronin, I am sorry, but you can't come with me to the candlemaker." Brighton glared with a fist by his side.

"What has gotten into you? No offense, but this whole trip, you have been a two-faced psychological maniac! Come on, Brighton. What is wrong with you? Just tell me!" Ronin shouted, confused.

Brighton walked back and forth, his eyes locked onto Ronin, as he hissed: "Ekoshade was right. There is no hope for me. I need to kill the candlemaker! You will just stop me!"

"Brighton, I am doing this for Candleberry. You were the one who sent me on this mission alongside you! I do not know what Ekoshade told you, but you must not listen to the darkness! Where is this coming from? We need the candlemaker! I will not let you kill him; we need the light!" Ronin replied, shocked.

Immediately, Brighton stole the sword from Ronin's sheath and attempted to swing it at him! Ronin dodged the sword and hastily used his shield to protect himself from Brighton. The snow on the ground began to melt, and the rain poured violently. Brighton used the sword and slammed Ronin's shield. Ronin used his shield and pushed Brighton to the ground! Brighton's sword fell out of his hands! Upon hitting the ground, Brighton's helmet slid off his face, and Ronin was mortified to see Brighton taking on the Shadow Goon's appearance. Half of his face had been consumed by the darkness, as one of his eyes infected by wickedness shined a golden glow while the other half uninfected did not with his light blue eye.

"W-What happened to you?" Ronin gasped.

Brighton got up from the ground, his glowing eye shining as he murmured, his voice echoing, "This is what Candleberry has made me."

"Impossible!" Ronin shouted.

Brighton and Ronin continued to fight in the forest, and the sounds of the sword clashing against the shield bounced around the atmosphere. Just as Brighton and Ronin were fighting amongst themselves over light and darkness, a similar event was happening amid the chaos in the Kingdom of Candleberry.