DARBY Rowles, a Wangaratta West Primary School student, won first place in the 2022 Wangaratta Young Writers Award year five/six stories category with this piece.

The competition was jointly run by the Rotary Club of Wangaratta, and the Rotary Club of Wangaratta Appin Park.

oooo

NIGHT, the purest source of death and decay. The one thing all creatures fear, except this time it's a hero, born from shadow.

His entire body felt like it was on fire, his very atoms burned, until after what felt like an eternity in agony, his pain finally ceased. Blinking back tears, he scouted his situation. Jagged cliffs merged into flourishing valleys, but one thing stood out, the creeping darkness that whispered to you. Its tone sent shivers down your spine. In front of him lay a strange light that shone down from the empty void above. It stood out from the darkening landscape. A disfigured creature crawled out of the beam, took one look at the youth, and lunged. Darkness poured from the startled youth like water from a dam, protecting him from the creature. The blackness roared over the creature like a tidal wave, and the creature burned not with fire, but shadow.

He found himself breathing heavily after the fight. He looked at himself in shock; he was scared, scared at himself, at the power within. He fled, searching for an answer, he could only remember one thing about his past, his name. Desryu.

Darkness was everywhere, but he was not worried by it; in fact, it comforted him if anything. Suddenly he felt a disturbance as he tore across the landscape. His senses became heightened, but a sudden burst of coldness cut his concentration. Freezing water webbed its way up his legs. His body stiffened and his vision went black.

Desryu awoke in a strange, tiny room, the crumbling walls pushed against his ribs, making it near impossible to breathe. The room was filled with a beautiful light, yet it was so depressing, he just wanted to leave, but to no avail. Not sure what to do with the rest of his time in this desolate place, he slept. If you had been looking at him while he slept, you would've thought he was just another corpse of a long, lost Shadow Demon.

Desryu dreamt as he slept, except you never really dream when you're a hero, do you? So, he had a vision...

That voice, that mocking voice that had hid at the back of his mind, had finally come out. It whispered to him, discouraging him. "You will die here, everything ends in death eventually." Another voice came from inside him, or so he thought at the time, it spoke gently but firm. "Desryu, you must save us, save your father, save our realm," spoke his mother.

Desryu awoke with a new purpose – to save the realm of Darkness. He felt the same rush of power as when he fought that strange creature. Darkness rushed through his battered body, but he focused it into his hand. He felt strength rush into his fist, and he struck at stone. The crumbling walls trembled as he launched punch after punch at them. They held firm until he had built up so much rage they simply exploded.

A guard created from light stood before him, but Desryu flicked him away effortlessly. He felt as though he was unparalleled in power until his encounter with Hrothgar, King of Light. Hrothgar stood as tall as a mountain; he evoked pure fear. Desryu braced himself for a mighty battle, but Hrothgar just stared at him. "Help me, please," he whimpered, as he fell to his knees. A blade speared Hrothgar's ribcage; spurting out liquid flame, it sliced up in an arc of death passing inches from Desryu's head. Hrothgar's body shuddered, pieces of him fell away, embers once burning with might passed into the coldness of ash. His body, no longer a powerful and deadly weapon, had finally been defeated as easily as you snap a twig. Behind his sunken husk stood Desryu's father, blade in hand, a deranged look masking his face. He took in a sharp, ragged breath and let out an awful piercing wail: the type of noise that could terrify even the greatest of warriors.

Confused at this turn of events, Desryu cautiously inched towards his father. But instead of greeting him, his father lashed out with his blade. A speckle of blood fell to the ground from Desryu's cheek. Realising what this meant, Desryu leapt at his once father, now animal, and the fight began. Desryu launched every ounce of his strength at the madman, slashing at him with a razor–sharp shard of stone that had fallen from the wall during the commotion. He tore at every piece of flesh and fire that burned on his father's body. Desryu brought hell upon his father, ripping his very form apart. Flame trickled across the moss–covered stones, bringing an unwanted light to the room. His father was wounded but still fought on, gnashing teeth were centimetres from Desryu's face, as his father collapsed on top of him, sending them both crashing into the cobbled floor. Desryu screamed, not because of fear, but from his power and rage. He threw aside his makeshift blade and pounded his father's face with his bloodied fists. His father's head snapped back and Desryu's rush of power immediately vanished, like water flooding down a drain.

Desryu hadn't even realised his was crying, all his memories had come flooding back during the fight. He leant over his father, light peeling away from his body revealing a handsome young face, the true form of his father. A gargling noise came from his father, then: "I am sorry, my son," before he melted away into the earth. Desryu turned away, his face devoid of any emotion. He whispered in an unsettling tone: "I will avenge my father, no matter what it takes."