DARKCHILD

by Donna Smith

Prologue: Dark Desires

She flinched from the light, staggering into the hidden cavern. She cursed the sun that pricked her skin like hot needles, forcing her underground. This body had lasted longer than the previous one, but in the end it was just as useless. She would have to leave it somewhere soon. These human bodies weren’t strong enough. But they had made it possible for her to walk in the sunlight—if only for a few days until each one weakened. Taking the blood of others had allowed her to hold onto her borrowed bodies longer, but even that had its limits.

She made her way through tunnels already old when mankind first built its crude villages above, tunnels too dark for normal humans to fathom. She had no trouble seeing.

A dark form stepped from the shadows, blocking her way. “Who are you, Woman? What are you doing here?”

She looked at him and laughed with scorn. Her light blue eyes swirled with darkness until they turned a polished black, smooth and cold like weathered stones. “Don’t you recognize me, Obsidian—you’re wife, you’re queen?”

“Stygia? But you’re body… You look…”

“Human? I suppose taking over a human body would do that. This is only the latest and it won’t be the last.”

“Our kind doesn’t have the ability to do that! Where did you get such power?”

“What does it matter? It serves my needs.” Stygia suddenly snapped her head back. A dark substance bubbled up from every pore of her body, oozing to the floor to form an inky pool at her feet. A dark shape grew up from the pool—female but not human. The human woman looked around, blinking in confusion. She saw the strange creatures in front of her and started to panic. Stygia grabbed her before she could run. “I need one more service from you, human.” She sunk her teeth into the young lady’s neck. The girl’s eyes rolled back as life energy drained from her body. Then she crumpled to the ground. Stygia licked her bloody lips. “I tire of these temporary measures, Obsidian. I need a body strong enough to hold my essence for as long as I desire.”

Obsidian bent down to examine the body his wife had just exited. The woman was still alive, but her eyes were blank, her face slack.

“Leave the human female! I have no further use for her.”

Obsidian followed Stygia, disgusted by the changes in her. “What have you done to yourself? You’re little better than a demon, a blood wraith!” He grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him.

She jerked away, an angry glint in her eyes. “At least I am not weak and pathetic like the rest of our people. After a century of living in the darkness and scurrying away from the sun like roaches, I have finally found a way to overcome our curse! I will be the first of the Darkling Sidhe to walk once more into the bright fairy realm and lead us to our former glory! I will let no one stand in my way. Not even you.” She slid into the shadows, leaving him behind. Her path led her to a round chamber aglow with red eyes.

A mocking voice from the darkness called to her. “Stygia. Do you enjoy the gifts we have given you?”

Stygia spat at them. “You gave me the power to move about in the sunlight, but it only lasts a few days at the most! You put a feast before me and let me see it and touch it and smell it, but I can’t devour it! What good does it do me to see the daylit world if I cannot fully embrace and enjoy it? You promised me power—the power to rule! I can’t rule from this prison of darkness.”

“You wanted the power to walk in the light unharmed, Darkling. We’ve given you that power. Are you not satisfied? What more do you want?”

“I want it all! Walking in the sunlight isn’t enough. I need a body strong enough to carry me all the way to the land of the Dayling Sidh. A body with enough power to take the fairy throne itself! Then I can destroy King Breon Lawgiver and his foolish court at last.”

“That kind of power has a price—a very steep price. Are you willing to pay it, Queen of the Night?”

He was mocking her! Her! But she would have the last laugh. Once she had the fairy throne, she wouldn’t need these condescending Nameless Ones. “What do you want in return?”

“In time, young one. We will collect in our own time. We know you would never think to cheat us. You will have your power, but there are certain things you must do on your own to get it. A normal human body will not be strong enough to hold your elven spirit and power. But one can be made with the right ingredients.”

An image began to take shape in front of her, swirls of color and light that coalesced into two faces: a young woman with long brown hair slightly tinged with auburn and wise blue eyes, a young man with wild black hair and bold blue eyes.

“They have power, little queen, although their bodies are still only human. But they have within them what you need. With certain…additions, we can create a body for you that will hold your essence forever. Take this. Extract what you need from the humans.” A clear round crystal floated to her hand.

Stygia’s smooth black eyes reflected the light of the images in front of her. She understood. She knew what she had to do. Soon, she would take the fairy throne itself. Then the world of man would fall before her, as well. She left the chamber quickly, eager to make plans.

Obsidian had followed her, watching from the shadows. “Stygia! What have you done?”

“I’ve found a way for us all to have our revenge.”

“By consorting with the Nameless Ones? By letting them turn you into a blood wraith? One of the Unclean who prowls the night like an animal, draining blood from humans?”

“One of the strong, Obsidian. They’ve made me strong. I refuse to cower in the darkness anymore, licking my wounds. It’s time to rise up and take back what we’ve lost. Once I am Queen of the Realm, I will find a way to bring all the Darklings back into the light. You and my followers will be as you were born to be.”

“The sunlit world isn’t our home anymore. We are Dark Sidhe now. The night is our domain.”

“Not by choice! Never by choice. We were defeated in battle and cursed by Queen Medb Lightspinner to wander through the darkness forever, never to feel the sun again. But I will have the last laugh on my dear, departed sister when I kill her son, Breon, and his heirs and become queen of all Sidhe! As the next in line to the throne and with the power of the Darklings behind me, most of the cowardly, soft Daylings will accept me as ruler. Those who dare rise up against me will be crushed!”

“This plan of yours is foolish! Your ancient obsession with the fairy throne has made you so insane that you’re willing to make deals with treacherous demon forces! Willing to let them turn you into something disgusting to our kind. Wraith! Blood-sucker! How much more of your fairy heart and spirit will you throw away to sooth your wounded pride?”

“ENOUGH! How dare you? You, who never did anything but hide in my shadow! I am ruler here. You are merely my consort! Do not mistake your position, Obsidian. I will do whatever I deem necessary and you will obey!” Stygia stalked off into the darkness until even Obsidian’s sharp eyes couldn’t see her.