Darkness Risen: Conjured

By: MelodyMandi & ColdBowlofSoup

## Prologue

It was dawn in the wooded town of Acornridge. A teenager with dark honey hair, and sapphire blue eyes rode through Acornridge on her black horse, Midnight. They were going on a ride, smiling. Today seemed like every other day for the teenager, but today was not. Her name was Kelsey, and her life was about to change... For the worse.

## Chapter 1- The Adventure Begins

Kelsey finished her ride, and disembarked from Midnight. She then carefully walked Midnight into her stable. Next, she went into the nearby shed, and grabbed a bile of hay. She walked back to Midnight, and placed the bile of hay into Midnight's trough. She walked into her small cottage, and began unpacking her small brown satchel she was wearing. She also took off her black cloak. She was about to open her bag, when the ground beneath her began to tremble. A great evil had been unleashed.

## Chapter 2-Mysterys

The ground continued to tremble. Kelsey began to get worried. She glanced outside, and began running towards Midnight. Kelsey leaped onto Midnight and began riding as the sky began turning dark. It was very creepy. She began riding to the only person who may of know what this was... The local oracle.

## Chapter 3- Finding the History

Kelsey continued to ride Midnight closer to the town. The darkness had followed through. She stopped at a small, boarded up home.She knocked on the small wooden door at the front of the house and said.
"It's Kelsey!"
The door creaked open. A small, older woman stared back. She had long black curly hair. She had emerald green eyes.

"Hello, Kelsey. You seem troubled. What is the matter?" The woman asked, opening the door and motioning her in.
"Marisa, the sky looks really weird. It's all dark, and it's morning. Despite this, it doesn't look like a storm." Kelsey said.

Maria looked out the door to see this. Her eyes widened out of pure terror.

"Oh no... It is here." Marisa said.

"What is here?" Kelsey asked, puzzled.
"There is no time to explain. Come with me!" Marisa said, grabbing Kelsey's hand.

## Chapter 4- An Unknown Truth

Marisa and Kelsey hopped onto Midnight with Marisa holding the reins. Kelsey had never seen the older woman ride a horse, so she was slightly scared. Maria was going faster than Kelsey liked, so she grasped Maria's long dress tightly. Marisa didn't really mind, because she was internally panicking. She led them down a rocky road which lead them into a deep dark woods. The darkness was getting worse, making the morning sky look like a night without stars.
"We must hurry!" Marisa said, pulling a light from her dress pocket.

She kept riding Midnight until she came to large rock.

"Stay here." Marisa ordered leaping off Midnght.

She began pushing the large rock, which when moved, reveal a stone slab staircase.

Kelsey hopped off Midnight, and proceeded to very carefully walk towards the stairs. Kelsey wasn't worried about Midnight running away, as she trained her very well. Kelsey went down first, followed by Marisa, who recovered the entrance.

The duo made there way down to find an underground cave. A stone in the back was glowing.

"I always knew you were one of the three, but I had to test my theory." Marisa said.

"One of the the three what?" Kelsey asked,seeming very confused.

"One of those selected to protect the powers of good. According to this, you control the green stone, the ablity to control nature as a whole. You can make ice, water, fire or pretty much anything nature controls, and bend it to it's will." Marisa said.

"So.. Who are the others?" Kelsey asked yet another question.

"I don't know, but we can't even start to figure out what's happening until we know." Marisa said.

"So how do we find out?" Kelsey asked.

"We let he stones lead us. The stones can't be wield until all three wielded a are found, but we can use them to find thier wielders." Marisa said.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Kelsey asked.

## Chapter 5- Cathrine

"Your right." Marisa said, pulling out the silver stone and the gold stone.

Kelsey and Marisa began walking back up the slab stairs when she asked

"How did you know about all this?"

"I was assigned to protect these stones a long time ago." Marisa answered.

"Who assigned you to it?" Kelsey asked.

"The Nature Spirits." Marisa replied, pulling the rock.

The two girls leapt back onto Midnight. Marisa pulled out the silver stone, letting it lead them towards the next person. The silver stone began to glow. It was the only source of light near by. The sky was pitch black, and it was 9:00 A.M.

"Follow that light Midnight!" Kelsey ordered, now that she had the reins again.

Midnight galloped towards the stone, which always stayed a few feet ahead of them. It led them out of the forest and into another open feild. The stone stopped in front of a larger cabin. The two girls almost trotted right into it, but Kelsey was able to stop Midnight in time. Kelsey disembarked from the horse, and knocked on the door. A browned haired girl with brown eyes answered the door.

"Hello? Who are you?" The girl asked.

"I'm Kelsey, and this is Marisa." Kelsey said, pointing to both of them.

"I'm Cathrine. Nice to meet you." Cathrine said.

The stone glowed and landed in Cathrine's hand. She didn't seem to notice it. She was to busy looking at the darkened sky.

"What's that about? It's pitch black, and it's 9:30!" Cathrine said.

"That's what need your help to figure out." Marisa said.

"Why me!" Cathrine retorted.

"Your the weilder of the mind stone." Marisa replied.

"What!" Cathrine said.

"I understand it is a lot to take in. I don't quite understand ethier." Kelsey said.

"There is not enough time to explain. Please come with me." Marisa begged.

"Alright." Cathrine said.

She packed a small satchel with some food and stuff. She then walked outside and hopped on her horse Cinnamon.

"All we need to do is find the weilder of the energy stone." Marisa said.

Marisa pulled out the stone. Kelsey and Maris rode Midnight, while Cathrine followed eagerly behind on Cinnamon.

## Chapter 6- Jacob

The three continued their journey. The horse rode quickly, guided only by the light of the jewel flickering in front of them. The jewel had lead them far away from the fields they had started in, and deep into the heart of a nearby village. They stopped at a quaint house, that looked very old. The jewel floated up tithe door while the three girls hopped off there horses. Kelsey knocked quietly on the door. A taller thin boy opened the door He had black hair and green eyes. The jewel landed in the palm of his hand.

"Hello? What is this?" The man asked.

"It's a jewel." Catherine replied.

"It's a magical jewel, and it's chosen you! "Kelsey added perkily.

"I beg your pardon?" The boy asked.

"The jewel is a magical jewel, one that can levitate anything it wants." Marisa said.

"I don't believe that." Jacob retorted.

"Niether did I, but I went with it." Cathrine said.

"All we need is you to activate these stones." Kelsey said.

"Alright fine, I'll go along with this for now." Jacob said with a sigh, before heading outside. The four hopped on Cinnamon and Midnight.

## Chapter 7- Finding the Answers

Quickly, the group rode forward, falling the lights of the three jewels. They stopped at an abandoned well. The jewels descended into the depths of the old, dark well. Nearly seconds later, the jewels flew out towards there said wielders. Surprisingly, the jewels broke open lke capsules. Inside, was a dust corresponding with the jewel's color. Stunned, everyone just stared at each other, all but Marisa. She seemed in shock by this.

"They have never done this before, even with previous wielders," Marisa said, shocked.

"What previous wielders?" Kelsey asked.

"Oh, they died a long time ago," Marisa died,

"How long ago?" Questioned Jacob.

"A hundred years give or take," Marisa said, not realizing she slipped in keeping her secret.

"How were you alive for that?" Cathrine asked.

Now Marisa was in trouble. Busted already, she decided to confess

"I-I'm immortal." Marisa said.

"I don't believe that!" Cathrine said, seemingly very annoyed by this revelation.

"A rock just shot down a well and cracked into dust, do you question any of this?" Kelsey asked, accidently grabbing a rock with her new powers.

She made a sudden hand motion, she threw it at Jacob. This caused to levitate a the rock, and it made a projectile towards Catherine. This wound up forcing her power to create a force feild.

"Let's just figure out what we are up against." Jacob said.

"I already know." Marisa said

"Well then, tell us!" Catherine snapped.

"We are against the dark lord, and if we don't stop her, we will be engulfed in permenant darkness." Marisa replied franticly.

Suddenly, an errie black fog emerged.

"That way!" Marisa said.

## Chapter 8- The Ravine

The black fog rippled through the wind towards the group, rolling over rocks and sliding around trees.

"Get to the horses!" Marisa yelled.

The four of them jumped on and rode away from the well into the forest, not caring which direction they were headed. Overhead, dark grey clouds began to form in the sky, making it the more difficult to see the space in front of them every minute that passed.

Jacob's voice rang over the constant beating of the hooves, "The fogs catching up!"

Cathrine glanced behind her and let out a small squeak of surprise. The fog was quickly advancing on the group, billowing over anything in its path. Marisa whipped the reins, urging the horse forward.

"Where are we g-" Kelsey was caught off by both horses slamming to a stop. Cathrine flew off of her horse, flying through the air a few feet in front of where they had stopped and disappeared. Her scream became distant.

Kelsey slid off of the horse, running towards Cathrine's shriek. She came across a deep ravine, and not being able to see the bottom, her heart dropped. The other two ran up to stand beside Kelsey.

"W-Where did she go?" stammered Jacob.

"There!" Marisa pointed a feet meters to the right of the group. Kelsey looked in the direction Marisa pointed. There, Cathrine lay in the ravine, tangled on a narrow overhang, passed out.

"Oh thank the gods she's okay!" Kelsey gasped, kneeling at the edge.

Marisa glance behind her shoulder, her breath hitching. Jacob turned to see what Marisa was seeing, "Oh please no," his voice barely a whisper.

Kelsey, still kneeling, whisked her head around. The fog was slowly approaching the group, encircling them around the edge of the ravine. Marisa stepped in front of the two, shoving them behind her, "Stay behind me no matter what."

## Chapter 9- A Confrontation

“Why must we stay back though?” Kelsey asked, genuinely worried about the fact Catherine was not with them standing behind Maria.
“Because…I think I finally figured out what we are actually up against...” Marisa said with a sigh.
“So we are NOT up against this dark lord?” Jacob asked.
“No, we are not. I forgot that the previous wielders defeated the man long ago.” Marisa replied, resurfacing some quite unpleasant memories.
“So then... Who are we up against?” Kelsey asked, her fear growing because of the sheer uncertainty in Marisa’s voice.
“It’s not really a who, but more of a what,” Marisa confessed.
“Well then, what are we up against?” Jacob asked, angered that Maria seemed to be stalling.
Marisa sighed. She took a deep breath. This was a part of past she wished she would never have to share with the likes of anyone. Slowly, Marisa opened her mouth to speak, but she could not bring herself to say what was on her mind. She sighed again before muttering her next words,
“An animal.”
“An Animal?” Kelsey exclaimed.
“Well, he was a human before. I was trying to heal him, but it backfired. I had to keep it a secret so that I would not get in trouble for breaking the rules. The shapeshifting spell is forbidden, so I had to get rid of him by setting him free.” Marisa said, another sigh emerging.
“Oh. I can see how that could make someone a little mad at you.” Jacob replied sarcastically.
“Come on Jacob, now is not the time to be hard on Marisa!” Kelsey said.
Out of the dark mist, a shadow emerged. It seemed like it was strange in shape. It was on all fours, and it had quite a muscular build. The group strained their eyes to get a better look at it. Whatever it was, it had bright yellow eyes. This sent a shiver down all their spines.

From behind the group, a shriek echoed from the ravine. The three spun their heads around to see Cathrine struggling to sit up and back away from the edge. Marisa's yelled from where they stood, "You're fine Cathrine! Just stay where you are!" Jacob and Kelsey exchanged worried glances from behind Marisa.
"I don't really have a choice!" Cathrine screamed up to them, "My foot is caught in a bramble!"
"Oh jeez," Jacob mumbled.
Marisa turned back towards the shape in the fog. Quietly, Jacob crept out from behind Marisa to go and free Cathrine. Kelsey’s eyes widened as she saw the figure lunge up into the air towards them. Kelsey let out a scream as a massive white cougar with piercing yellow eyes landed on top of Marisa. Jacob glanced over, but continued helping Cathrine from the entanglement of brambles as fast as he possibly could. Kelsey stood there, trembling in fear. She did not say a word and just stood there looking on with a terrified gaze. Violently, the cougar ripped its teeth into Maria’s shoulder, ripping off quite a bit of skin. Jacob finally got Cathrine out of the brambles and hauled her out of the ravine. The second he did, he leapt into action. Cunningly, he pushed himself, full force, onto the panther. The force of this made them both crash into a nearby redwood tree. Luckily for Jacob, he was on the other side of the cougar and did not make any contact with the tree. Jacob fell to the ground and seeing that the cougar had scrambled away from the group, he shouted,
“To the horses!”
“I can’t even see them it’s so dark!” Cathrine shouted back.
“Well then Kelsey and I will help Marisa, you find the horses,” Jacob ordered.
“Ok,” Cathrine said, running off in the direction she had last seen the horses.
Jacob and Kelsey gingerly got Marisa to her feet. They carefully followed Cathrine, who had luckily found the horses.
“Follow me!” Kelsey said, leading the way.
"W-Where are we going?" Cathrine asked as she gripped the reins.
Kelsey, a rein in one hand and Marisa's arm, which was wrapped around her, in the other, said "The secret room where the stones were first revealed! We will be safe there!"

## Chapter 10- The Light Burns

Quickly yet cautiously, the group headed for the secret room, trotting through the dense forest. Cathrine was getting tired. Slowly, she sunk back into both the saddle and the arms of an unsuspecting Jacob. Jacob jumped slightly at her touch and caught her by the shoulders, careful not to let her fall off. Once Cathrine realized what she was doing, she jolted upward. Blushing uncomfortably, she gripped the reins again.

The four continued onward. The thick mist made it almost impossible for the bunch to see anything in a three-foot radius in front of them. Kelsey, who was leading the way, came to an abrupt halt when she could barely see the ground in front of her. The others stopped too, alarmed by the fact Kelsey had stopped so suddenly. Everyone had soon realized it was too dark to see, so they carefully disembarked from their horses.
“What are we going to do now?” Cathrine squeaked, obviously annoyed by the fact that she felt as blind as a bat.
“I-I don’t know,” Kelsey replied.
“We can’t just stand out here though!” Marisa chimed in.
“We need a plan,” Jacob said.
“Like what?” Cathrine retorted, freaking out in her usual way.
“Maybe one of the powers can help,” Jacob suggested.

The four exchanged glances but the fog was so dark and dense, the only clear thing they could see was the slight reflection in each other’s eyes, and missed the worried looks on each other’s faces.They all seemed to be wondering the same thing... Which power could help them? They didn’t have a clue of what they could do! All except for Marisa.
She had a smug look on her face as if she was hoping for the three of them to figure this out for themselves.
“There is only one way out of here. LET’S BURN THIS PLACE DOWN!” Jacob said snarkily.
“Burn...Wait! Can’t Kelsey control fire?” Cathrine asked, turning to her.
“It is a part of nature. I see it as a possibility.” Kelsey said.
“Give it a try!” Jacob said encouragingly.
Kelsey flashed a wary glance at the three, and slowly raised her hands, palms up, towards the sky. Out of nowhere, she clenched her hands into fists and her hands burst into flames. Screaming, Cathrine jumped back, falling over a log into the dirt.
“I-It doesn’t even hurt,” Kelsey whispered, her voice shaking, “It’s just a little warm.”
“Goodness gracious Kelsey, that is amazing!” Marisa exclaimed, “How did you do that?”
“I-I don’t know!” she replied, staring at her hands, she slowly unclenched her hands, turning them to face her. The flames died down to a small flicker in the middle of her palms.
Behind them, Cathrine got to her feet with the help of Jacob, and she ran over to look over Kelsey’s shoulder.
“It’s beautiful,” Cathrine sighed.

## Chapter 11- Time Lock Away

With Kelsey in front lighting the way, the others slowly made their way down the stone staircase into the underground room. Once at the bottom, Kelsey ran from lantern to lantern, trying to light up the room as best as she could. It was a medium-sized circular room, with no windows, and a passageway to the right of the staircase they just came from. The group hesitantly made their way through the end of the passage, and Kelsey again started looking for more lanterns.

As the room lit up, they could see it was a large rectangular stone room with a couple lanterns on each wall, that seemed like it was supposed to be a kitchen and living area. In the farthest corner to their right was a fireplace with a cauldron, along with some cabinets and a table, almost like a kitchen island. There were two doors on the wall to their left.

“W-Where do those go to?” Cathrin asked, gesturing to the doors.
Jacob and Marisa walked over to the doors, and cracked them open, peering inside. They were medium sized rooms, again with no windows and just a few lanterns on the walls. In both rooms, there were many crates filled with unknown items, and a few rugs propped up against the walls.
Jacob picked up one of the rugs, “Here, help me with these.”
The four grabbed all of the rugs and placed them in the middle of the room, rolling them out. The four collapsed into the rugs, sighing in relief.
“I could sleep for the next month,” Kelsey mumbled.
Jacob chuckled, “Tell me about it...”
“What are you guys talking about?” Cathrine bolted up, “I feel like I could jump to the moon!”
She got to her feet, “I’m going to look through some of those crates to see if there’s anything to eat,” and walked off.

“Someone’s got ants in their pants,” Jacob commented. Marisa flicked his ear, “It’s probably just the adrenaline, we all get it.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get it again,” Kelsey groaned, “I’ve never been so tired.”
Marisa sat up, “That’s because you’ve never had to use your powers to that extent. You’ll need to rest for a while.”
“Sounds good to me,” Kelsey stated, and rolled over, pulling one of the rugs over her.
“Well, might as well do something productive,” Marisa said and she got up, “Does anyone know where the broom is at around here?”
“In here!” A muffled Cathrine yelled from one of the rooms.
Marisa took the broom and disappeared into the first room they came from.

Jacob walked into the room where Cathrine was at. She was sitting in the middle of the room with her back to the door, with crates, jars, and other items littered around her.
“Uh, want some help?” Jacob asked, leaning against the door frame.
Cathrine jumped and spun her head around, “W-Wha- oh! y-yeah,” her face turning slightly pink.
“S-Sorry, you scared me to death” Cathrine whipped around again with her back to the door.
“Alright,” Jacob said as he stepped over multiple items to get deeper into the room. He settled down a couple feet away from Cathrine,
“Oh wow!” He exclaimed, “There’s so much food here!”
Cathrine nodded, turning her attention back to the crates.
Jacob glanced at her, “I love to cook actually.”
Cathrine’s eyes widened and she turned away from him, her shoulders trembling.
“W-What’s wrong?” Jacob asked, reaching out to grab her shoulder.
“Pfff-ff, ha!” Cathrine erupted into laughter.
Jacob pulled back his hand and narrowed his eyes at her, “What? You think that’s funny?”
Cathrine continued to laugh, mustering a few words in between, “Y-Yes! It’s just so- so unexpected!” and continued to laugh again.
Jacob slammed his hand down, “Here! I’ll prove it!”
He gathered a few jars here and there and some spice containers and stormed off. Cathrine quickly placed everything back into the crates and ran after him.

Jacob put everything on the island and started rummaging through the cabinets and drawers. Cathrine leaped up and sat on one side of the counter, out of his way. Once he found everything he was looking for, he set to work, chopping some of the vegetables from the jars and stirring some things in a pot.
“Well, what are you making?” Cathrine asked, swinging her feet.
“Well it's supposed to be soup, but without a heat source, we’ll just have some cold bowls of it,” Jacob stated, mincing garlic.
Cathrine chuckled, hopping off the counter and grabbing one of the lanterns off the wall. She crouched at the fireplace and started to get to work on making a fire.
“Oh yeah, I didn’t even think of that! Jacob said, crouching next to her.
They were inches apart, both blowing on the kindling, trying to get it to start. Cathrine was becoming pinker by the second and was trying not to let it show by letting her hair fall into her face. Jacob glanced at her,

“H-Hey, you okay?” and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Cathrine’s face turned an even darker shade of pink. Jacob’s eyes widened, “I-
“UUUUUUHHHHRRRRRRG,” a groan echoed through the room.
The two sat up quickly, their heads smacking against the top of the fireplace. They both fell back, grasping their heads and groaning too.
“W-What was that?” Jacob shouted.
“My head…” Cathrine hissed.
“What are you guys doing?” Kelsey was standing by the island with a rug draped over her shoulders, looking half asleep.
“That was you?” Jacob exclaimed, looking up at her.
Kelsey rubbed her eyes, “Yeah-,” a yawn interrupting her, “Sorry, I woke up with a stomach ache.”
The other two sighed, Jacob got to his feet and helped Cathrine up.
“I-I better check on Marisa!” Cathrine yelped and scurried off.