The Man in Black

They never saw him coming. How could they? The little town of Saturnia was seated in the crease of a long valley. Everyone there knew each other. There hadn’t ever been a single visitor in its whole history, that was, until now. 

Esmeralda was following behind the few people collectively heading toward the main square. In that minuscule town, it was the equivalent of a crowd. 

As she and the others reached the main square, they found the whole town gathered around something Esmeralda could not quite see. Being only six years old, she was able to inch her way through the crowd, ducking through people’s legs and fitting through the spaces between others. 

What she saw, was not what she expected. It was a circle of crimson light, sparks flying in every direction. People cringed as the light hit them but it seemed to do no harm.

The circle was a few feet up in the air and tilted upwards so Esmeralda could see right through it. But what she saw on the other side wasn’t the other side of the square, it was a lush beautiful forest. 

If that wasn’t strange enough, out stepped a man. 

He was average size and thin, but even with all that, he was intimidating. He walked with obvious arrogance and carried himself like a royal. He was wearing a robe that swished when he walked. It was black, black as a night with no moonlight and no stars. 

As the town watched in awe, he swiftly turned around, swept his fingers and the light disappeared, plunging them into darkness. 

Just as fast though, he held up his hand in front of his chest and a sphere of light, about the size of an apple, appeared in his hand. Then he marched off onto Garden Street, opened the door to the inn, and stepped inside, taking the light with him. 

As the town continued to stare at the place where the portal had been, for what else could it be, young Esmeralda cautiously made her way to the Black Forest Inn on Garden Street.

Before she even reached the door, she could hear shouting. “That’s not good,” she whispered to herself, but even so, reached out and touched the doorknob. Just as quickly though she pulled her hand away as if she had touched a hot stove. 

Before she could back out, Esmeralda grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open. It was too forceful, and the door kept swinging, knocked into the innkeeper’s flowers, and made a loud thud as it hit the wall. 

The shouting inside immediately stopped. 

Esmeralda heard footsteps, quiet at first, but now getting louder, closer. She considered running but finally decided to stand her ground. The man in black wouldn’t answer it, the innkeeper would. 

But she was wrong. Standing no less than two feet in front of her was the man, the man half the town feared and the other half respected. 

She had no idea what to do, what if this man was expecting something from her? They had all seen the unnatural sparks flying from his fingers and Esmeralda was afraid of what they might do to her. 

The man didn’t do anything of the sort, he looked her up and down and said in satisfaction, “You’ll do.” Then with a swish of his hand, and a few scarlet sparks, the door slammed shut. Esmeralda watched in horror and fascination as one of those sparks changed from red to green and landed on her forehead. 

Esmeralda was hardly aware of the events after that. She remembered falling. She remembered flashes and glimpses of being carried home and then laid in bed while her mom and siblings peered at her. She remembered at one point hearing her mom whispering, “Please wake up, please.”

That night, Esmeralda finally woke up feeling dizzy. As she looked around she realized that she was not alone. Standing, back toward her looking out the window was a figure in a long black cloak. 

Shocked, she slowly sat up. “What did you do to me?” She asked, not intending him to hear, but he did. Quiet as a mouse he turned around and looking her straight in the eye and whispered, “It will make sense to you after time.” 

Then he put his hand up in front of his face and pulled down like he was ripping a hole in the air. Surprisingly, the air shimmered and a portal appeared directly in front of him, just like the one she had seen him come through. 

He stepped inside, one foot after the other, and disappeared from Esmeralda’s view. And just like that, he was gone. 

Esmeralda spent the next few days with her friends, all the while looking for the strange man. She saw him here and there, once at the fountain, once in front of the school, and once from her window. 

Every time she saw him though, he always seemed so out of place in the vibrant colors and smiles of the people of Saturnia, wearing his black midnight cloak and his arrogant scowl. Everywhere he went, people turned and stared. 

It wasn’t until three weeks later that Esmeralda figured out what the man in black meant, and it only made her feel worse. 

It started out just like any other Monday, she grudgingly climbing out of bed, got dressed, and stumbled sleepily to the carriage to take her to school. 

This day had one big difference though, and it changed everything. 

Today was Esmeralda’s birthday, she was turning seven. The weirdest thing was though, when she had woken up, the air seemed to have a green tinge to it. 

As she sat down at her desk in the only room in the school, she heard a very familiar voice, one she tried to forget. It was Ritz, the school bully. 

Her usual strategy of ignoring him was not seeming to work today. His taunts like, “Are you in love with that stranger? You seem to keep following him? Oh I forgot! Today’s your birthday. Are you seven? You look like you’re five,” didn’t seem to stop bothering her. 

Eventually, Esmeralda couldn’t keep all her anger inside her. She let it out in one burst, but she didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t move at all. Somewhere inside her, she could feel something, so she decided to let it go. 

The place where Ritz was a moment ago was now empty. Not only that, the whole room was empty except for Esmeralda. 

She sat there, shocked and in awe of what she did. But at the same time, she realized that she had no idea where they were. Annnnd no idea if she could get them back. She concentrated as hard as she could, but to her dismay, nothing happened. 

Esmeralda began to grow more urgent and agitated. What if they were trapped? What if she had killed them?! She only knew one person who would be able to fix this and no matter how badly she didn’t want to go, she knew she had to. 

She rushed through the streets, past the main square, and made her way into the Black Forest Inn. She rushed up to the Innkeeper, Tom. “Ineedtoseethenewguy,” she blurted out. “Um, what?” Tom replied. 

Esmeralda took a moment to catch her breath, “I really, really need to see the man in black.” Tom looked puzzled, “You’d the first but for sure. He’s up in room 4.” 

“Thanks!” Esmeralda rushed up the creaking stairs and counted the door until she came to number 4. She gasped. 

Number 4 was stunningly different than the rest of the rooms. Instead of the usual cedar, it was black as coal with crimson embellishments. And written on the door was a name; Raleigh. 

How was a personalized room in a public inn? You weren’t meant to stay for long? Pushing those questions aside, Esmeralda raised her hand and banged her fist on the door. 

She saw the doorknob twist and the door open to reveal. . . . . . 

No one. There was nobody there except a few red sparks floating down from the ceiling. Waaait a moment, red sparks? 

Esmeralda looked up and unsurprisingly saw a portal. This time she wasn’t backing down. She gathered all the furniture in the room and piled it on top of each other. Then she climbed up the top of it and pulled herself up, struggling all the way. 

As she reached the top, she let herself one moment of faith and jumped right up. As she passed through the portal she felt like she was flying, like she could do anything she pleased. 

That moment didn’t last long and she found herself sprawled on the ground of a grassy forest, the same one Esmeralda had seen in the portal the first time the man had come to Saturnia. The man in black was standing right next to her. 

“I see that you made it here. I can’t say that surprised,” Raleigh said, “After all, only the best will survive.” Puzzled, Esmeralda looked up, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that I understand what you’re talking about. Can you help me get my classmates back? Or at least tell me if they’re safe.”

Raleigh didn’t respond and just looked down at her skeptically. After a few moments, he said, “I gave the town of Saturnia a chance. My boss wanted to just go in and kill you all, but I... I gave you a chance to earn your redemption.” 

“Who are you?” Esmeralda shouted, “I really don’t understand, what kind of chance did you give anyone? What happened to the people who I vanished!? I figured out my powers! They’re just like yours, you need to help me!” 

The man in black wouldn’t even look at her, “You will stay here Esmeralda. Forever. You have powers but there is nothing you can do. You are here now. Here you will be safe from harm. The people you vanished have been brought back. They are safe, for now. Nothing can stop us. Don’t even try. Your world will be taken over by darkness.”

With that, he opened a portal and without looking back stepped in and disappeared. 

Esmeralda sat back, lost in thought. He might think that her town was doomed, but Esmeralda was not the type of person to give up easily. She was going to make it back and use these newfound powers. As she stood up, sparks danced off her fingertips. 

Esmeralda smiled, Saturnia was not going down without a fight.