The Endless Night

     Despite the fact it was already 6 AM, the altadorian skies were completely black. In fact, the sky was not only utterly dark, but it had lots of greyish and stormy clouds on it. King Altador also noticed that, even though it seemed like a nighttime sky, there wasn’t a single star showing up. The King immediately figured that something was wrong, since Altador, his beloved and homonym city, was best known for its infinite lights and contagious brightness.

     The city people hadn’t woken up yet, but they would at any time now. However, it didn’t take long until King Altador heard a loud feminine voice.

     “Wake up, citizens of Altador!” The voice announced.

     A few citizens started to show up on their doorsteps, with sleepy faces on and still wearing pyjamas. As time passed, more and more people showed up and everybody had the same question on their minds: why wouldn’t the night turn back into day.

     “You can’t even tell what is going on right now, can you?” The voice slowly said. “Let me give you all a little help then.”

     The black sky immediately started twitching and thunder echoes could be heard right after. The center of the endless dark layer languidly opened up, which led to briefly revealing a few rays of light. After, a greyish cloud passed through the opening and it started descending towards the center of the city. The hole quickly closed and the weak light was once again gone.

     There was someone on top of the cloud. “Who that could be?” King Altador questioned aloud.

     The cloud was getting closer to the ground and so was the sound coming from it. A non-stop cackling. The figure on top of the cloud was wickedly enjoying the situation. No more than twenty seconds went by until the cloud completely reached the ground. The mysterious figure came down from the cloud.

     “The great King Altador,” The figure said sarcastically. “Long time no see!”

     King Altador looked sceptically at the figure for a moment. He could recognize that violet and green long hair from miles away. Her purplish skin tone was impossible to be mistaken for. “Jhu… Jhudora?!? Is that you?”, the King stuttered.

     “Where are your manners, Altador?” Jhudora said, flashing a crooked smile. “Maybe your citizens could use some more sleep with this little gift…” Jhudora pointed up. “I brought over.”

     Greatly frightened by Jhudora’s presence, the altadorian citizens immediately went back into their houses, shutting down all windows and doors. There was only King Altaodor and Jhudora left.

     “I do not understand what you have done, but I command you to undo whatever spell you have cast upon my city.” King Altador declared firmly, yet calmly.

     “I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that.” Jhudora responded with a neutral tone.

     King Altador examined Jhudora for a few seconds, after what he said.

     “Why exactly have you done this? What has Altador ever done to you?”

     “Altador has never done anything against me. I do like the place, actually. It’s just that…” Jhudora pondered for a while, looking for the right words. “…I have some unfinished business back home that could be resolved with a few actions here and there.”

     “What are you talking about? What is happening in Faerieland?” King Altador frowned.

     “Oh, Altador…” Jhudora looked deep into the King’s eyes. “There are rumours lately that a powerful group of Light Faeries is reuniting to…” Jhudora paused for a moment. “…request my expulsion from Faerieland.” She said it like the idea was preposterous.

     King Altador was about to respond, but Jhudora talked over him.

     “I do understand that the Light Faeries and I have… hmmmmmm… sort of a natural disagreement with the whole “dark” and “light” dispute, but things have dangerously escalated in the last few days. Fyora has been constantly pressured to make a decision in this matter recently.”

     King Altador definitely wasn’t liking the direction that this conversation was heading.

     “What does Altador have to do with Faerieland’s political issues, Jhudora?” King Altador raised his tone.

     “Everything!” Jhudora said calmly. “After all, Altador is the city of light, right?” Jhudora hesitated for some instants. “The Light Faeries take their mystical powers from the magical energy that flows in the city of Altador.”

     King Altador examined Jhudora for a moment but ended up not saying anything else. Jhudora, on the other hand, kept going.

     “If I have to be honest, I’m here to display power. If I’m powerful enough to take Altador’s lights away, I’m sure a lot of opinions in Faerieland will suddenly change.” Jhudora leisurely pronounced the last words, almost as she was spelling them. “You, as a great warrior, must understand the message I’m trying to convey, right?” Jhudora explained.

     King Altador couldn’t believe the situation he was in. The only thing he knew for sure was that something must be done.

     “I have an even better idea.” King Altador said with a neutral tone.

     “You do?” Jhudora seemed interested. “What would that be?”

     “You know the only thing that’s more impressive than taking Altador’s light away?” King Altador paused for a few seconds. “Beating Altador’s King in a duel. I bet no faerie would dare to say a word against you after it.”

     Jhudora briefly glared at King Altador, subsequently looking away to properly consider the proposal. “It might not be a bad idea.”

     King Altador was trying to regain Jhudora’s attention. “I would even let you defeat me.” And he managed to do it. Jhudora instantly looked back and started listening carefully.

     “Please, don’t get me wrong.” The King said with an artificially defensive tone. “Not that you wouldn’t be able to defeat me in a duel, but why can’t we just make things faster, right? You want your reputation back. I want my city order reestablished. It’s a win-win situation.”

     “Indeed, it does seem like it...” Jhudora said doubtfully.

     “Let’s do it then!” King Altador stood still and looked at Jhudora. He was expecting her to take the first step. And so she did.

     Jhudora grabbed her wand, made a circular movement with it in the air, and the weapon fired a stream of greenish light at King Altador. As promised, King Altador didn’t try to avoid it. The ray was able to easily hit the King in his chest, leading the King to severely grunt. Jhudora walked carefully towards the King and fired the ray a second time. Again, no reaction, but this time the king fell on his knees.

     King Altador was for sure a strong and tough warrior, but being directly hit by two battle spells in a row gravely injured him. He didn’t know how much longer he could resist.

     “The end is close, Altador.” Jhudora said with a neutral tone.

     The dark faerie took a few more steps towards the kneeling king. She could now easily hear King Altador panting. She then raised her wand and pointed it towards the King. The tip of the wand had an intensely bright glow.

     “Since you were so helpful to me today, I guess I must return the favour, right?” Jhudora said it like she was talking to a child. “I’ll even let you say your last words.”

     “I….” King Altador looked Jhudora deep in the eyes. “I never said I was trying to help you.”

     Immediately after completing his sentence, King Altador quickly drew his sword and struck Jhudora’s glowing wand. The energetic impact caused the wand to shatter into two irregular pieces. Even though King Altador hit harshly, Jhudora was still holding the bottom half of the wand. The upper part, however, didn’t have the same fate. It fell right on the floor, causing King Altador to mightily step on the once glowing wand’s tip.

     After the destruction of the wand, the extremely black sky slowly began to dissolve. Dense clouds started to vanish, leaving giant holes where bright rays of light gently passed through.

     Jhudora’s facial expression showed uncertainty and perplexity. The dark faerie looked around and all she could see was the enraged face of King Altador. Jhudora knew she had to leave as soon as possible. She snapped her fingers and just faded in the air.

     The End.