Chapter 17: The Light Within

A faint and subtle glow shined outwardly from Brighton's heart, and the darkness that was consuming him dissolved! The darkness taking over his body immediately vanished, and his inner light of repentance replaced it with a bright aura. The Shadow Goons shrieked in horror and attempted to hide from the glowing light. The light filled the entire throne room, removing all the darkness inside. Ronin and Emberlyn looked at Brighton, shocked and speechless over this magnificent transformation. His armor turned from shining silver to a pure white diamond, and the light shining through his heart overwhelmed Ekoshade. Brighton got up from the ground and stood before Ekoshade.

"Mr. Flint was right. I do have a choice in the matter. My whole life I have been living in two worlds only to be awakened by the darkness that threatened to consume me. You thought that if I saw my inner darkness I would think I was hopeless. But instead, you have only made me realize that I must conquer it. Your powers give you the ability to reflect your victim's darkness, but it has only made me realize the destruction darkness causes upon people. I don't want to be filled with darkness anymore. I have had enough serving the darkness and straddling between two worlds. I choose to walk in the light!" Brighton proclaimed.

"You fool!" Ekoshade responded with hate.

Emberlyn wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked away from the fragmented mirror. She then stood before Ekoshade and linked arms with Brighton. "I had enough of you, Ekoshade! I do not want to live in the darkness anymore. I choose to no longer be enslaved by my bitterness and hurt! Though I still miss my brother greatly, I refuse to allow the darkness to have a foothold in my life!" Emberlyn announced boldly.

"How dare you defy me, Emberlyn! You are hopeless and tainted by your hurt. You cannot change, you are just like me, embrace it! You will always struggle with the darkness inside of you; you all will!" Ekoshade yelled.

She cried as she attempted to resist Ekoshade. 

"Just because we choose to walk in the light does not mean we won't struggle with our own darkness, but it means that we have made a conscious choice to fight it! Only someone weak would submit to their darkness!" Brighton shouted daringly.

Ronin stood up from the ground and linked arms with Brighton: "When there is light, darkness flees. The gates of darkness will not prevail against the purity of light!"

Together, Brighton, Ronin, and Emberlyn's hearts began to glow. It was a radiant, pure, and magnificent light. It grew brighter when they all three stood their ground and linked arms together. The goons ran out of the kingdom, mortified and weakened by their bright inner light. The Shadow Goons that were too close to Brighton, Emberlyn, and Ronin immediately disintegrated into ashes by the light! Ekoshade was all alone as his goons fled the castle.

"No! There is no hope for any of you! As long as one of you are hindered by darkness, I will be able to destroy Candleberry!" Ekoshade shrieked.

He gasped as the light reflected on his body. He attempted to cover his eyes from the magnificent light. Ekoshade shrieked in horror as he saw parts of his body start to disintegrate into ashes and fall to the ground in panic.

Ekoshade fled the throne room as he hissed back with rage: "You may think that you have won the battle, but the war has only just begun! So long as you do not know where the dark kingdom resides, I will attack Candleberry relentlessly until the whole world is encompassed by the shadows of light!"

Ekoshade cried as his entire being glitched in the light. He fled the kingdom, weakened and defeated with his goons. The dark fog that rested over Candleberry miraculously vanished, and the rainstorms and thunder disappeared like magic. In the villages of Candleberry, the citizens saw the Shadow Goons flee the castle, and the bright light shone out of all the castle windows.

The people, with hope and joy in their hearts, ran outside their homes to see what was happening. They all cheered as they saw the Shadow Goons tremble in fear, fleeing Candleberry. The citizens all jumped for joy; the dark beings that once tormented them left fearfully. The tables had turned. Instead of the citizens being fearful of these dark beings, the beings had become afraid of the citizens. Back inside the castle, Brighton ran to see if Mr. Flint was still alive while Ronin chased and tried to stop Emberlyn from escaping the castle.

"Mr. Flint, are you alright!" Brighton gasped while he knelt down before him.

Mr. Flint's voice was faint. He coughed and gasped for air as he responded, "I knew you could do it; you finally realized where true light is found. It is found not by a physical source but inside of you if you choose to turn from evil. You have realized that darkness is just an empty void that never satiates and blinds you from reality. I am proud of you, your majesty."

Brighton quickly helped Mr. Flint up. 

"Don't worry, I am alright, I have a pulse, so I still have a purpose in this world." Mr. Flint said with tears in his eyes.

"And what is that?" Brighton asked.

"To seek and save those who are lost and to share the light of hope." Mr. Flint said as he sat up from the ground. "I wish I could have saved my son, but I cannot force him. Sometimes, I wish I could just choose it for him." Mr. Flint cried.

From behind, Mr. Flint and Brighton looked and saw Ronin run into the throne room, interrupting their conversation. "Brighton, we got her. We stopped Emberlyn from escaping. But apparently, she was not the only culprit. Some of the royal court members were helping her escape; they are corrupt."

The guards put Emberlyn in shackles and brought her before King Brighton. Emberlyn sobbed before Brighton, worried and remorseful for the havoc she had caused. The corrupt royal court also cried hopelessly when they were brought before Brighton.

"Based on all the crimes you have committed against me Emberlyn; you deserve to die for treason. You have turned my people against me and spread rumors and lies claiming that I was the traitor when it was you the whole time. You are in no way justified for the wickedness that you have caused. What do you say for yourself?" Brighton proclaimed sternly.

"You are right." She cried. "I deserve to die. I have turned against you and have stirred up nothing but conflict. I have broken your trust and I have broken our friendship. I have no excuse. I hope one day you would forgive me." She whimpered with tears flowing down her cheeks.

When the guards were about to take her away, Brighton ordered them to set her free. Emberlyn looked up to Brighton in shock. He proclaimed: "Emberlyn, what you did disturbed me greatly. But after hearing that you genuinely want to change, I order that you not die. However, because I am just, you will still face repercussions. I order that you be removed as my Royal Advisor and exiled from Candleberry to reflect on your actions. But mark my words, you will never become a part of my royal court ever again. Guards, escort her out of Candleberry."

Emberlyn was speechless, and the guards took her away. The corrupt royal court members were shocked and angry that she had been forgiven. Then Brighton turned over and sentenced them. The court members had a blank stare and showed no change of heart. They immediately tried to come up with excuses for their actions and took no responsibility.

"Now as for you, royal court members, I am deeply saddened that you had willfully supported her regime knowing that she was destroying Candleberry. You willfully followed Emberlyn so long as you stayed in power and self-served your ambitions. None of you did anything to stop her. My father made this court so we could prevent problems like this. You are all to be removed and revoked of your powers and you will be sentenced to the dungeon for the rest of your life. I see that you are not remorseful over your actions but are only weeping because you got caught. Take them away." Brighton stated sternly.

The royal court members shouted back bitterly at Brighton as the guards escorted them away. They were immediately thrown into the dungeon and were trapped in darkness forever. When the guard left the throne room, Ronin went up to Brighton and asked to meet with him in private.

"Brighton, you realize that Ekoshade is still out there, he will try to attack us again. We are at war. How will you address the people about this; months ago, we did not even know about our unknown enemy. We only saw glimpses of them. If what Mr. Flint told us is true, that there is an evil magical ruler of the darkness named The Deceiver, then we must be ready. Ekoshade is just a small reflection of who is truly behind this. Whoever is ruling Obsidian Province obviously likes to keep themselves hidden. Who could The Deceiver possibly be?" Ronin whispered.

"Let's not worry about that right now Ronin, I still need to fix things around here before we go to war. I will address the people but right now I need to fix one more thing before I make an announcement." Brighton responded.

After talking to Ronin, Brighton went to the dungeon to see if Maya and Mr. Sumore were there, but they were gone. Just as Brighton was about to leave the dungeon and speak before the people, he looked back and saw the burning candle in the center of the prison, bright with its small flickering flame. Its peaceful flickers calmed the room, and its glow warmed his heart.

As Brighton stared into the flame beside him, he saw a small creature and heard a familiar voice: "What-cha doing?"

"Chaboo!" Brighton chuckled.

"Dim-lit! Have you finally figured out the rest of the statement? Cause I am getting tired of repeating the same thing." Chaboo giggled.

"I think so." Brighton sighed.

"Go on." Chaboo smirked.

"Okay." Brighton smiled. "Dark and light always fight to win one over the other, so choose your fight and make it right for it determines the course of your life."

"You got it! Whew! Now I can finally leave you alone until I hear about your next journey! Otherwise, I was going to just keep repeating that statement until I drove you crazy!" Chaboo said, giggling with glee.

"You already drove me crazy!" Brighton laughed.

"Oops! I guess I really did." Chaboo chuckled.

"This whole time, I thought you were telling me a worthless statement. But it's clear now that you were trying to teach me that I can choose to walk in the light and turn from my evil ways." Brighton scoffed, amazed.

"I am proud of you dim-lit. It looks like you really are bright, Brighton." Chaboo laughed.

Together, Brighton and Chaboo watched the burning candle flicker in the dungeon. Its flickers and light eased the king's heart, and once Brighton left the dungeon, Chaboo disappeared. When Maya and Mr. Sumore heard that Brighton had returned and taken back the kingdom, they went out of hiding to meet Brighton.

Brighton stood before the people on one of the castle balconies beside Ronin and the new Royal Advisor, Maya. The people, joyful yet saddened by the imminent darkness that seeks to destroy Candleberry, tuned their ears to the king's very words. Brighton took a deep breath and looked at everyone from below. As he looked out towards the distant dark forest and the giant mountains, he reflected on the journey he had endured and realized that Mr. Flint had disappeared.

Then he announced to the people: "Citizens of Candleberry! I know that you have all hoped for my return and that I would bring candles back at this kingdom. However, throughout my journey, I discovered that true light does not come from a physical source but rather it is found within us if we choose to be filled with it. You must all realize that wax and string do not save us. All of you must individually decide whether you want to live in the light or hide in the shadows. Who do you choose to serve? You cannot walk and live in the light while embracing and inhabiting the shadows of darkness. No one can straddle between two worlds. Let the battle begin for darkness is the absence of light!"

Then a servant ran to Brighton and whispered to him from behind: "I cannot believe it! I was standing in an empty warehouse but when I turned around suddenly there are candles everywhere! The entire storage is filled to the brim!"

Brighton then looked out into the dark forest and whispered aloud, "Thank you, Mr. Flint, for everything. I will keep my promise to you."

The citizens cheered for the light in the kingdom had been restored. Back in the forest at the candlemaker's home, Mr. Flint stood in the doorway looking out into the darkness when something caught his eye. It was a tiny flicker of light coming towards him. He tried to make out what it was when he suddenly gasped and began to sob and realized it was his grandson. The candlemaker immediately ran out to meet him. Whenever Mr. Flint went into the forest, his grandson saw how different it was to walk in the light. He began to question and then finally rejected the darkness within him. As the grandson embraced Mr. Flint, the darkness within him was dispelled by the light. Though Mr. Flint's son was still lost, his grandson had come home.

"Don't worry, Grandpa Flint. There is still hope for my dad," the grandson told Mr. Flint as he embraced him.

"I know." Mr. Flint cried. "I know. And when he does come home, we will throw a grand party and celebrate. You know, I have a question for you. Were you the apprentice that usually stood beside Ekoshade?"

"Yes. That was me." The grandson said quietly. 

Mr. Flint placed his son's picture safely on the bookshelf, lit the candle beside the photograph, and let out a hopeful sigh.

"One day my son. One day…" Mr. Flint whispered to himself. 

"Yes, one day." The grandson sighed.

This was the hope Mr. Flint bore. An eternal light that can never be snuffed out. This was the undying love a father has for his son. This was the burning candle.