Ahhh, I still remember that place. So nostalgic. Then again, maybe you couldn't really call it a "Place"? There was nothing, yet it was overflowing. It was darkness itself, but shined infinitely. It's doubtful if there was even time; one could go on and on, yet never end; move forever, and never leave it's origin.

It was so complex and weird. It was the start and end of everything after all. But it was so enormously simple as well. You could either be one of the many who stayed, never to be anything else; or one of the few to go to the great shine in the distance.

I was in the latter group.

----------------------------------------

Darkness.

A great sea of darkness going on and on.

Among it were just white points, little sparks, beyond counting.

And black spheres, only noticiable from their blackness through which no light could go in, and their dark purple silhouettes.

Their size ranged from being little bigger than the sparks, to being truly gigantic. They moved ever so slowly, absorbing any spark in their way, but it seemed like a task that would never end.

In this infinite yet never changing sight, there was one more thing worth of note. A violet light that shined through thick clouds on the distant horizon.

On it's genesis, one of so many sparks appeared on this landscape. But instead of staying still like all the others, this one started moving.

As if attracted to it, it moved to that great light on the horizon. Soon, some others followed it, as if just that one action of it had started something in them.

And as they got closer, "they" started to change. Even if they hadn`t recognized it yet, they started to feel "warm".

With time, came recognition. Recognition that the darkness was "cold", the light was "warm", and the later was "good".

With this also came awareness of their environment. Many of them moved like comets to the great light beyond the cloud, that seemed ever distant, but they "knew" it was getting closer.

Eventually, they became aware not only of "what is around them" but also of something truly unique and precious; of "themselves". They learned "joy". But with this also came a darker discovery.

The dark spheres were following them, and a lot of them were on their way between them and the cloud. And the little comets were not as many as before. When a dark sphere came upon a spark, it absorbed it, never to be seen again.

They were being hunted. Predated upon. They learned "fear". So they raced ever more fractic to the light. To "Live".

With time, as the ever decreasing number of sparks entered the cloud, they lost sight of the spheres and of most of the others like them. With their sense of self developing even further, they became more acute of each other, and realised that those they lost sight upon were not to be seen again. So, they traveled together.

They didn't lose as many this way. Only the big spheres would come closer like this. They learned "security in numbers".

Later they became able to interact with each other. Using pulses of light, they could push each other, and in great enough numbers even make front to the spheres that hunted them.

But as with all new discoveries, this also had a bad side.

As they wanted to keep "living" above all, when some groups, by accident or relaxation became separated and came into danger, learned that they could "push others" to the dark spheres, so that they could live. They stopped for just a moment when they absorbed a spark.

They learned "egoism" and "treason". It would prove to be the doom of a great number of them.

Fear, not only of their predators, but of each other, disrupted their group. So some separated again, scared of being "sacrificed". A couple of the particularly shining sparks, the most depended upon for their strength when pushing against their dark enemies, started feeling indignation. And with that a realisation.

They were needed. But they didn't need others.

A great many went on their own with that knowledge, while some few formed their own groups and went their ways

This marked the stage for another great change.

----------------------------------------

They changed. To be precise, those that fought a great number of dark spheres, and managed to erase their foes instead of being absorbed, found their power growing and changing forms.

With time, as all were going to the same destination, they found each other again. Or what was left of them.

It wasn't until that time that they realized the deep of their changes.

The most noticiable were the most powerfull and outstanding ones.

First there was a white giant; his light was not one that blinded with is radiance, but more like a constant, pale shine. He was big and slow, but no black sphere would come near it. Those that did were only the bigger ones, and when they did the giant suddenly rushed them, impacting them directly with a violence that, would its opponents not be its greatest enemies, being able to evoke a feeling of pitty. Most of all because when it neared, the sphere would almost paralyse, unable to do much else.

Second was a bright crimson one, not as big as the white giant, but what it lacked in size it made up with attitude. It moved from here and there with great speed, and whenever it found a black sphere, no matter its size, it immedieatly raced in persuit. It seemed like just being near it caused damage, as it radiated a constant and fierce radiance all the time, with the ocasional bright flare being the most dangerous. Most of its enemies not only didn't attack, but tried to scape instead.

Third, a mysterious, saphire light. It gave off a tenue shine. It moved most strangely; when it moved to one place, it appeared in another, it could be stopped and at the next moment appear somewhere else. Most of the dark spheres didn't even seem to notice it, but they were not of great concern to it even if they did; it ejected a powerfull wave that could erease most of his enemies in one shot, though as it took a while to do it again, if it needed, it just "dissapeared" and appeared elsewhere.

Another one was a spark whose shine was only secondary to the violet light. It shined in a bright golden colour, and it moved in a straight line, ever forward, not deviating from its destined path. It, like the crimson spark, also attacked any and all dark spheres it found on its way, but different from it, it gave off a more proud and righteous feeling, in comparison with the crimson spark's rampage. It always moved with conviction, even in the face of its enemy and any attack, without avoiding, stopping, or decelerating. It's form of combat was more subtle as well, but in a way more devastating. It emitted a shine that weakened its foes the closer it was, and when it came almost in contact with them, it shoot concentrated rays of golden light, leaving behind lethal damage.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

There were also four smaller, though still strong sparks.

-An ever slow brown one; It had a strenght not so different from the white giant, altough none of his atittude.

-A silver one that shoot through the cloud, never engaging in battle but sometimes playing tricks on its peers.

-A carefree deep blue that spread its light over a large area, its own essence not being concentrated on any one place.

-And a red spark whose energy moved freely around, but sometimes challenged bigger threads than it could manage alone.

The 4 smaller sparks where accompained by some others with their same characteristics and colour, though to a greater less degree of intensity.

But perhaps the most special was the one spark that didn't stand out much. A gentle emerald green that never so much as got close to the dark spheres, but it seemed to restore the energy of nearby sparks.

With their new strenght, powers, and consolidated numbers, it seemed like all was going well. Their journey seemed to be in its ending stages as they were ever closer to the violet light, and it seemed like nothing could stop their peregrination.

Then, they reached a particularly dense conglomeration of the cloud, beyond which nothing much could be seen. Their destination was without a doubt beyond it.

As they crossed it, they finally saw it. The violet light.

It was in the center of an empty space, sorrounded by the thick cloud on all directions. It was beautiful.

They felt an elation and happiness that they didn't even know they could. None knew why they were going there, or what was beyond. But they felt it. That their "future" was there. That nothing will truly start until they go beyond it. And that there was nothing for them staying here other than darkness and cold.

They all rushed to the light, eager to be the first to cross it. Everything seemed to be going right. None of them could notice it until it was too late.

Suddenly, a dark area, like a fog, appeard on the way between the violet light and the sparks, swallowing a great number of them. They stoped their rush before there was more damage, but it was already done. They wouldn't come back anymore.

The fog dissapeared, and in its place appeared something they hadn't seen before. It was like a spark, yet it wasn't so. It was pure black in its center, with occasional small lights of different colours appearing inside it, had a dark purple hue, and the whole area around it seemed to be a shade darker.

All could felt it now. That it was dangerous. Even though it was smaller and only one, it was worse than facing a dozen of the biggest black spheres. And it was not over yet.

From the clouds around them, in all directions, there started to appear countless dark spheres of all sizes, all heading for the sparks in a mad rush.

Despair could be felt. They were so close, yet was it all going to be in vain now? But there were those that were not going to give up now.

The green spark started shining. Its shine soon enveloped all, and it gave a feeling of reassurement; that all was going to be okay; that they had the one another, so they shouldn't fear the enemies number; And that they shouldn't fear the dark.

They moved quickly. The white giant rushed at the bigger dark spheres one after the other while the crimson one just rampaged all over. The saphire spark appeared and dissapeared around the place, shooting waves of energy at the thickest concentration of enemies. The blue sparks sorrounded their allies making a defensive field, while the brown ones took care of what managed to get close. The silver ones moved as if they were one and moved to any one spot were things seemed like they were becoming bad.

And finally the red sparks were going straight to the dark spark, making a pathway both to it and to the light. A pathway leaded by the golden spark.

They were surpased in numbers with no sign of the enemy rush stopping, but their organization managed to avoid the worst. For now. The green spark was making them stronger and braver, but it wouldn't last forever. They had to eliminate the dark spark. It was the most dangerous one, it was blocking their way; and somehow, they felt that if they got rid of it, they could win.

But it wouldn't stay still and wait to be eliminated. It moved with frightening speed, absorbing an alarming amout of red sparks in a short time, The golden spark couldn't reach it. But then again, it wasn't the only one.

Suddenly, the crimson spark intercepted it. It flared with a fury and fierceness without match and caused great damage to it, but in retaliation, tendrils seemed to form out of the dark spark and pierced it. The red spark shaked furiously, but it couldn't get free. Soon, it started to lose energy, and in turn the dark one gained in strenght. But it forgot about an important thing. There was one that roamed the whole battlefied looking for keyspot where to cause the most damage, and that it couldn't shoot recklessly less it miss.

The saphire spark suddenly appeared a small distance away to the side and shoot its most powerfull wave yet. It leaved him weaker and vulnerable, but the effect was immediate.

The dark spark suffered a mighty blow while it was distracted and was blow away. The crimson one also took damage, but to a lesser extend; the green one tentatively got closer, so that it could recover its strenght.

And the dark spark had another surprise. The saphire one had excelent spatial awareness and cunning, so it shoot it to the welcome embrace of the currently rampaging white giant.

Even though it didn't expect it, the white giant took to this enemy all the same; it ignored the smaller threads that couldn't do that much damage to it and focused completely on it. Not only it retained it in place while causing damage, but the special characteristic of his light's shine limited its movements and it was resilent enough to endure the dark one's desperate attacks.

And finally, the almost forgotten and frustrated golden light had its turn. It made use of his enemy immovilization and shined with a strenght not seen before while closing in on its target. While it finally got in front of it, it shoot a small, short, but highly concentrated ray of golden light with a terrible power.

And for the first time they became aware of a new sensation. They could feel their enemy's pain as it was writhing from the damage. And as it changed shapes violently while having a big hole, it suddenly exploded, its agony stunning all the sparks and the energy, which curiously was a mix of a myrad sparks and dark spheres, made quite some damage, erasing half of the smaller sparks and pushing away the rest.

The flow of dark spheres started to decrease, until it suddenly stopped. The sparks, recovering from the shock, reunited, thinking their battle won. But then something strange happened.

The dark spheres retreated. They all returned to the cloud with fasts speeds. This confused the sparks. Their confusion made them stop; something they shouldn't have done.

Suddenly, the space itself trembled. The violet light itself titilated a bit, as if whatever was coming was incompatible with it.

The clouds started getting darker. Then, from a great region of it, it suddenly started changing forms. No; it was more like they were trying to resist something, and they were being pushed, clawed at,  and when it could hold no more, as if the clouds, the space itself was ripped appart "it" appeared.

It was immense. Incomparable to anything else. And it inspired dread on all.

A black thing, between a mass and a cloud, darker than anything else, was coming out of the cloud, and it keep getting bigger, as if it what was being observed was just a portion of it. Then, a comparatively small, but still massive tendril extended from it. And it opened.

It emitted a dark fog from it, and inside it, there were a myrad different colours, all dim and mixing, and all emited a feeling of pain and despair as they moved further in, were no light ever came back.

It immedeately started sucking on the space itself. A great number of sparks were immediately being sucked into it, powerless to do anything, while the bigger ones could do near to nothing to resist, just delaying the innevitable.

But then, the green spark alineated itself between the violet light, the sparks, and the great dark. It shone with a great light, giving the sparks strenght to resist just a little more. But most of it was directed to the violet light.

As if in answer, a ray of pure light more intense than anything witnessed before shoot towards the green spark. Momentarily, it grew in size and emanated energy explosively, as if it could barely contain it. Then, it gave it all to the the saphire spark.

Charged with an inmensurable power, it moved on front of the sparks and the great dark. And it shoot its greatest lightwave at it.

It was immensively powerfull. Just this might have wiped the previous army of dark spheres from before, or at least caused great damage. But even this could only momentarily shock the dark tendril and make it close its "mouth".

But just that was enough. With the remaining power, saphire moved the remaining sparks to the violet light. Their destiny. Their salvation.

None of them came out unscathed. And they lost a great many of them. But they finally were here. They didn't know what would come next, but whatever it was, they were going to face it. They didn't come this far just to dissapear.

In a last attempt, the great dark created a greater ripp in space, and tried to move closer, moving more tendrils to the violet light. But before it could make contact, this shined greatly, and then wisked away.

----------------------------------------

*¡¡¡..........!!!!*

The very space cracked and waved from its tantrum. It had lost its prey. Now they were going with "her". And those despicable guys who defied him and hid out of his reach. But it will find them. It will make them pay. They will all become nothingness. And "she" will finally return to him.

And it had just the means for that.

A small, formless black thing writhed while it floated in space. It was basically done for. Yes. That is, if it was leaved as is.

Maybe he couldn't find them. But "she" wouldn't leave behind one of her "childs".

The black thing suddenly grew in size and started to move more agresively. A dark sphere came close to it. When it came close enough, it shoot towards it, and got inside it. Then, the sphere got smaller, until only a small, small, black spark remained. This process continued.