Darkness by Jack Montgomery (the chimp paradox TXT) 📕

“Actually,” Lauren said as she got up and brushed dirt off of her armor, “you haven’t saved my life. I’ve actually saved yours, wizard.” “Wizard?” Jack said, raising one eyebrow, and looking quizzically at Lauren. “Oh, I see. You think that I’m a wizard because of the dirt incident. Well, let me ask you this; would any wizard be wandering around with as many weapons as I?” He was right. Wizards never carried around actual weapons, preferring to use only magic to protect themselves. “Well, then what are you? A necromancer?” At this, Jack uttered a low deep laugh, which reverberated through the cave. “A necromancer? Do you really think that if I was a necromancer, do you really think that you would still be alive?” Lauren thought that is was taking too long. She needed answers now, and she thought he was just toying with her. She decided to try and read his mind, to get some solid answers. Lauren reached out with her mind to learn anything from his mind. Suddenly, as she felt his consciousness, she met the strongest mental defenses she had ever seen. She was astonished because the defenses were even stronger than an elf’s. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head saying, “You know elf, it’s not nice to invade people’s minds.” Lauren suddenly realized that the voice was Jack’s. Lauren opened her eyes, and she saw Jack still standing there, looking at her with a frown on his face. Lauren then felt a presence in her mind, sifting through. Lauren tried to drive it out, but the presence only threw all her defenses back at her. Suddenly, the presence withdrew, and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground. Jack was kneeling over her, and she could see that his mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear anything. Then slowly, like she was coming up out of water, she heard what he was saying, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Lauren tried to get up but as soon as she moved her head, she felt very dizzy and sick. "No, you don't. You just need to lay back and rest." Jack reached over to his pack and brought out a small bottle of a greenish liquid. "Now don't speak, just drink this. It's juice from the bathesda plant, you'll feel better soon, trust me." Jack slowly raised the bottle to Lauren's mouth and she slowly drank. The juice was warm, and tasted of lemons and cherries. Lauren immediately felt warm and drowsy. Lauren looked over at Jack as he took out his cloak and laid it on her. "Now you just lay here and I'll be back before morning. Stay safe." And with that, Jack stood up, grabbed his pack and left the cave into the darkening night. Lauren had the dreadful feeling that this would be the last time that she saw him for awhile.

Chapter 4
Jack looked back into the cave as he left. Lauren was lying there peacefully, her chest slowly rising and falling with her calm breathes. For the second time in two days, he hesitated because of the elf. No doubt when she woke up, she would be furious and come after him. At least, he hoped she would. He couldn't force her to join in this adventure, but he could try to get her to understand. Jack new that Lauren wasn't just another elf, that she held one of the four powers. Right now though he had to get moving before it got dark. Lauren would no doubt wake up once the night fully came. He wondered what would happen once she woke up. He knew though that he needed to be far away by the time she woke up. Raising his hand towards the cave entrance, the entrance was sealed with tons of rock. That should keep her occupied for a bit. With that, Jack walked quickly into the night.

The Assassin watched the man named Jack walk away from the cave. His power was already increasing dramatically as time went on. He would have to be dealt with if this job was too work. His orders were too retrieve the elf and deliver her to the wizard as soon as possible. The Assassin looked down towards what was the cave entrance. The elf should be able to get out of that cave rather easily. Now, it was just a waiting game. Settling back against one of few trees around, the Assassin pulled out his favorite knife and twirled it in his fingers. Once he had the elf, he would wait for Nick, or whatever his name was, too come and try to rescue her. Then he would kill him. The Assassin smiled: he finally would be able to finish what he had started ten years ago. The dream was different this time. In this dream, Lauren saw herself when she was younger, in her elfin town. She could see herself when she had found the armor and the dark power. From where the older Lauren was standing, she could see herself playing with her toys on the floor, in almost pitch blackness, as she always had. Suddenly, the orb flew into the room, breaking her window. She saw herself hesitantly move towards the orb, the pale glow casting an erie glow around the room. Lauren wondered who had thrown the orb, or even if it was someone who had. Lauren walked outside to where she thought the the thrower would have to stand. She did not see anybody in the immediate vicinity, but a little ways away there stood a man, cloaked in shadows, under a tree. The man was so still that he seemed to ban extension of the tree. Lauren walked over to the man and stared at him. Something about him seemed very familiar. Suddenly, the man turned towards Lauren. Lauren stared open mouthed at the man's face: it was Jack. Suddenly a voice came from behind her saying, "You know it's a big risk coming here, especially since the Festival of Lights is near and everybody is more alert." Lauren turned around, and she became more surprised. The speaker was none other than her own father. Jack turned from staring at her window, towards her father and said, as he smiled, "Ah come now Rathbourne. You know I always take risks. Besides, aren't you supposed to be speaking to the council about all of this?" Lauren looked back at her father and for the first time she could remember, her father looked angry. "Well, about that. I did talk to the council about your plan, and they decided that it would be better for your powers to be shared among the populace and not just by one man." And with that, five elfin guards seemed to appear out of the trees. Lauren quickly took them in: they carried shields and long curved swords. They quickly surrounded Jack and readied themselves for a fight. "Now Jack, if you would be so kind as to let me take your powers, we can all leave her unhurt." At this, Rathbourne drew his own sword and stood there looking at Jack. Jack slowly looked around at the elfs. "Rathbourne, it's such a shame that you have to die like this. I would have preferred that you could have lived a long life. But, I'm not going to go quietly." As Jack said this, he was slowly pulling on black, leather gloves. At this, Jack lifted his hands to chest height, and opened his gloved hands. Suddenly, all the elfin guards surrounding him fell into dark holes that had suddenly appeared under them. Her father looked utterly surprised at this, but as he looked up back at Jack, Jack stepped up and stabbed him with one of his knives. Lauren couldn't move. All she could do was stand and stare at the dark blood dripping down Jacks knife, down his hand, and onto that ground. Jack jerked the knife out of Lauren's father, and slowly guided him to lay on the ground. Jack stood up and gazed at her father. Lauren felt such hatred towards Jack that she tried to punch him. As her hand contacted his face, her hand went straight through his face. It was then that Lauren remembered that this was only a dream. Jack reached into his cloak and pulled out a cloth, and with it he wiped his knife free of the blood. Looking back at Lauren's window, he slowly walked back into the shadows of the trees.

Chapter 5
Lauren jolted awake, soaked in sweat. She quickly closed her eyes again, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. So, Jack had thrown that orb into her room, he had been trying to negotiate something with the Council, and he had killed her father! It was almost too much to take in at once. The man that she had saved had murdered her father like this! Lauren opened her eyes and noticed that was pitch black, though Lauren could see almost perfectly in the darkness. She looked over at the cave entrance, or what was once the entrance. Now,it was sealed with tons of rock. Jack had done this, Lauren thought as she stood up. As she strode towards the wall of rock, she could feel the power rise through her, into her hands. When she was only a few feet from the wall, she lifted her hand, palm towards the wall. The wall suddenly exploded outwards, hurling the rocks everywhere. Stepping out, she breathed in the cool night air. Suddenly she felt a presence to her right, someone hiding among the tree's. The Assassin was jolted awake by a loud crash. Looking towards the cave entrance, he saw the tons of rock Jack had placed there flying off in many different directions. Looking back at the cave entrance, The Assassin saw the elf step out of the entrance. The Assassin stared at the elf, for she was different than before. Now, a helmet covered her head and face, leaving her hair to fall down to the middle of her back. Along with the helmet, she wore a full suit of black armor, inlaid with silver veins. Perhaps the most striking feature was her sword: the sword was about as long as a small pine tree is tall and it seemed to glow in the moonlight. Suddenly, the elf looked directly at him, and The Assassin knew he was doomed. Lauren looked right, directly at the man hiding among the trees. Raising her hand towards him, the man flew towards her coming to a stop directly in front of her and a few feet above the ground. Brining her sword up, her sword arm up, her sword slowly went through the mans chest. The blade was so sharp that the man felt no pain, though he was looking directly at the sword and his wound. Once the sword had penetrated the mans back, Lauren quickly twisted her sword. The Assassin fell limp in the air, blood slowly pooling on the dark ground. Flinging the man aside, Lauren smiled: it was time to hunt again.

1 month later
Jack walked through the city streets, finding peace in the chaos of the crowded streets. as the many people shoved and shouldered their way to wherever they felt they needed to go, Jack enjoyed looking into each of their minds, snatching