Darkness Isn't Black

• Joel Tripodi, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2015

The air was filled with warmth yet it was cold enough to send a shiver down your spin. Flames surrounded me burning on nothing but the dark red nether rock. I looked up towards the nether-lord that was sitting upon his black and red throne that rested upon the highest mountain in hell. My eyes that pierced through his far gaze were fit for my surroundings. My eyes filled with hatred and despair. Although I knew that I could be of no such opponent to one as powerful as the nether-lord, my eyes burned with the memories of his doings.
In the village of Noveil, the sight that was burned into my memories and with forever haunt me for how ever left I have to live. A true massacre beyond all imagination, with blood, brains, guts, and intestines splattered everywhere and hanging everywhere. Family, friends, cousins, other relatives, and strangers, all dead being laid before me like a red carpet. Although I was eighteen, I couldn’t have possibly been scared any more than that horror scene.
And in the middle of the carnage and bloodshed, a tall skinny man with a black coat and pale skin. Although you could hardly see his skin because he was covered in so much blood. You could hardly tell if he was human or not because of the demonic and unnatural grin that shone upon his face. And a head in his hand covered in blood. The only explanation I could come up with was that he had to be…
‘Well speak of the devil’, he had a demonic like voice but his evil grin provoked me ‘Oh wait, I am the devil’. And so he laughed like nothing was wrong knowing the purpose of my being. I grinded my teeth to the point that I could no longer. Without a word I consistently cursed him through my eyes as he hovered down from his throne.

‘Julian was it? Well to think that Malik’s son would follow in his footsteps. Aha ha ha ha’! His laugh made my spine shiver and my heart burn. But I had come prepared, and I had first retrieved the sword my father had left behind. Hidden it stayed on my back until I believed the time was right. But I wasn’t sure if my timing was perfect, or if I had just missed it.
‘Arggg’! I screamed in pained and struggled to break free from his grasp. I was only lucky, but after the Nether-lord had his laugh he only then realised that when he stabbed me, I stabbed him. I grinned as I saw his screech in pain. And then slowly fade away into the darkness.
I knew I wasn’t going to last very long but all I could do now was grin to my utmost desire. I had completed my task and defeated the Nether-lord. I had avenged all of my friends, family, relatives, and strangers. I was able to set myself free…