Dark Soul Silenced - Part Two Read Online Free Page A

memories from Razgul played through his mind again, but with this new knowledge he understood them properly.  Razgul had been aware that the darkness was sentient, but he had welcomed it.  He had worked with the power, revelling in the dark acts it demanded.  Fed by such a willing accomplice the power had grown strong.  Willing or not it intended Daniel to be its new accomplice, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
     

Chapter Three
     
    The assault eased a little, though Daniel wasn’t fooled.  He could feel that the dark power was toying with him, watching to see how he would run before it chose to overwhelm him.  Daniel snatched his chance, rushing towards the stairs then mounting them two at a time.  He felt the darkness within laughing, taunting, mocking.  It knew there would be no escape.
    Daniel charged up the stairs, floor after floor.  This time there was no pull from the third floor, the darkness had submerged that part of him which responded to the call.  He reached the fourth floor, the fifth and finally the top floor.  Not stopping he charged across the huge room, seeking the safety of daylight.  Running so fast his feet barely touched the ground he flew towards the one open doorway, towards the daylight pouring through.  While the sun was now too high to shine into the room he hoped the daylight would be sufficient to weaken the darkness.
    He reached the doorway at full speed — then stopped dead.  Agony flared through his shoulders and arms which had shot out sideways and locked, preventing him making it into the room.  The darkness inside had returned with a vengeance, snatching control of his limbs.  All sense of play had left it.  Realising what Daniel had planned it had acted to foil him.
    Now Daniel stood before the doorway, with dim daylight washing over him.  It made the darkness uncomfortable, a reminder of the much greater power sunlight represented.  A power that could destroy it.  It was taking no chances now.  Every time Daniel tried to draw the daylight into him, to draw in its power, the darkness blocked his efforts.  With every passing second Daniel’s strength faded, as did his ability to fight.  Both Daniel and the darkness knew it would all be over in a few moments.
    Suddenly Daniel lurched backwards, managing to get enough control of his legs to rush away from the doorway then tumbling to the floor.  For a brief moment the darkness was caught out.  The last thing it had expected was for Daniel to run away from the daylight, to run away from his only faint hope.  That confusion gave Daniel his chance.  He threw out a probe, desperately focusing on keeping it free of any taint.  The darkness caught on almost immediately and managed to overwhelm the probe, corrupting it before Daniel could use it to draw any strength.  Daniel flopped onto the floor, completely spent.  The darkness exulted and prepared to complete the possession of its new vessel.
    A sliver of light flashed down into the room, striking the floor nearby.  The darkness paused, confused.  The sliver of light rapidly expanded, spreading across the room and washing over Daniel’s body.  Too late the darkness realised what Daniel had done.  His desperate last probe hadn’t been an attempt to draw power, it had been an attempt to flick the switch which controlled the roof.  An attempt that had worked.  Trapped in the bright sunlight, with no shelter close enough to reach, the darkness started to scream.  Daniel screamed too.  The darkness was twisted around his mind and soul now.  In the short time since it had infected him its power and experience had allowed it to soak deeply into Daniel’s very substance.  The taint was far deeper, far stronger, than when Rafael had tried to turn him.  Blinding agony flooded through him, heat and pressure growing both in his body and his mind.
    If it was the first time he’d suffered having the darkness scourged from his soul he would have