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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1879241" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 69: Tales of Dark and LightTwo Alraxians stood in the middle of the desert. One, slightly taller than the other, was looking off towards the west while running a hand through its hair. The other sat on the dune, looking the other direction. Akan was getting tired of this. Not the walking into no where. That actually wasn’t all that bad once you got to ignoring the sand...of which he was trying to ignore was coating his tail. No, the real problem was Sha-...Light. Whatever her name was this day. Suddenly, he was glad that he’d gotten a completely different life through his name change. At least then he hadn’t left people confused.    Truthfully, the name thing was just a small annoyance. It was her attitude that was really driving him crazy. The only reason they were standing...no, he was standing, she was sitting and sulking. But the only reason for this stop was her claim of being tired. He knew that wasn’t completely true. The link showed that, even if it was slightly strange. From what he’d managed to figure out in the past two hours, the link was still there. It was with Light as strongly as usual, but he could still feel Dark...distantly, but there. It was what he was following not very successfully. This, of course, was avoiding that very awkward feeling that he knew was his other self. That wasn’t the best thing to think about, as it brought far too many questions that just plain hurt.    So instead, Akan had decided that he was following the feeling from Dark. Which...he was. Technically. He sighed and looked back to Light. She was ignoring him...or trying. And failing. Badly. Every few moments she’d look over her shoulder covertly, but each time he saw. She wasn’t in any way good at this. Yet again, he wanted Shadow back. What was he supposed to do now? This wasn’t an equal to his wit anymore! This was just...just...some terrified little girl. If he’d known more, Akan would have found this an interesting look into who Shadow(and by default, Marix) really was. But he didn’t. Not now, at least.    “Break’s over,” he said sounding more annoyed than he really was. Light made a whimpering noise, but had figured out not to fight with this. Or maybe she just didn’t want to fight him. Probably both. Either way, it just plain didn’t feel right.    Light was soon on her feet, dusting herself off and following Akan down the dunes and across this endless desert. Behind them, the plateau was long gone from view. It had only been two hours, but Akan had managed to keep a very fast pace, and Light had been forced to keep up with him or be left behind. From what he could tell, the Darks were too far ahead to catch up with anytime soon, but they were going somewhere. Somewhere with a purpose. And despite everything, this just felt important. Part of that was likely the fact that Akan wanted to get the two of them...no, four of them, back to normal. How to do that, he didn’t know. But Light did. She was, however, refusing to speak of it at all. Every single time he brought it up, she started getting panicky and impossible to speak with. He thought about bringing it up again, but quickly decided that would have to wait.    His eyes soon caught sight of movement. In the distance...faint, but definitely movement. What it was, though, he could tell. Not yet. But he’d soon find out. And he wasn’t going to like it. How he knew this, Akan wasn’t sure...it was just the feeling. This feeling of impending annoyance. Whatever this was, he’d be kicking himself about it.    ...if only Akan knew the real irony in that thought.* * * *    “You will go and bring them to me.”    Dark looked at the hooded figure, examining the nothing within closely. So this was that nameless thing...interesting. Her curiosity was not satisfied, however. It was obvious that this figure was powerful. Immensely so. She would not be able to challenge him yet...it would take time, and it would take the assistance of her pet. Whether she liked it or not, this Akan was going to be necessary in this equation. Hopefully he wouldn’t get any ideas. So far, he’d been smart enough to listen to her, but it was likely he’d start pushing her limits soon.    Carefully, she looked over her shoulder to where her Akan stood. He looked annoyed. But he was keeping his mouth shut. Good. Dark turned her attention back to the hooded figure across the room from her and said simply, “You wish both of them?”    There was the slightest of movements to indicate a nod. A feeling raised in the air, and both Dark and her Akan recognized this as their dismissal. The two turned and left the chamber without a word. But once the door had closed, and they started down one of the long hallways, her Akan growled a curse and said, “Why are we doing what that freak says?”    At that, Dark couldn’t help a smile. He was too predictable. Though it was interesting that he did not seem to see anything wrong with doing what she said. Good. Waiting until after one of those strange guards passed by, she said, “It will serve us. Besides, it is time for you to prove yourself.”That got a smile out of him. He interpreted what she’d meant perfectly, though stated it anyway, “You will allow me to face him?”    “Yes,” Dark said with a simple nod, “Bring my Light back, as He wishes. As for your own. Do what you will. But do not fail. He will tolerate that less than I.”    Her Akan nodded as they finally started towards the outside, “Then you will find the human woman?”    Dark did not respond until they’d reached the desert again. Such an interesting planet. Her wings twitched slightly in anticipation, and she looked off across the sands. Feeling. Reaching out...finding. Not even looking to her Akan, Dark said simply, “It will not be hard to find her. It will be interesting to learn what he wishes with her, though.”    Without giving her Akan a chance to respond, Dark’s powerful wings took her into the air, and she shot off into the distance. For a long while, he just stood there watching. Thinking. But no, it was not his place to think of these things. He had a job to do. Perhaps once he’d killed his Light and returned with Dark’s then he would be awarded the respect he deserved. If not...well, if not it was likely he would not live very much longer.</blockquote>

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