Pocket Stories: The Dark One

Use the following items in a story: Six-pointed star, egg (opening action of some sort), Pendant/Necklace/Amulet, Crown (male version)

Sparklies glittered everywhere the Dark One looked. Each nook and cranny of the interior of the giant oak tree held a priceless treasure. Each treasure stolen from those who did not see the worth of what they had. The Dark One would give each piece the attention it deserved.

The golden, six-pointed star shown in the fading light from the entryway. “Sheriff” was printed on the front. The Dark One snatched it from the molding body of a fallen officer of the law, took it, in the dark of the night, hours before the body was found by the townspeople. It held a place of honor, the center of the stash. Stacked neatly on the tippy top of the teetering tower of tokens. 

The star was held up by a silver crown that once graced the head of nobility passing through the Dark One’s territory on their way to somewhere grand and glorious. The noble was much less grand after the Dark One grabbed the crown from his very head, laughing all the while. The rubies and emeralds that gleamed in the points of the crown were mirror-bright, showing the Dark One their own harsh face.

Nestled carefully in the middle of the crown was the pendant that was the Dark One’s pride and joy. The crown kept it hidden from wandering eyes that would pilfer the loot the Dark One had taken years to collect. The pendant was not an easy mark. It had taken months of careful planning before the Dark One felt the cold metal in its grasp. The maiden who owned it never seemed to take it off. The Dark One watched, day in and day out, as the maiden carried it around on her filthy neck, covering the gold chain in grime, making the metal lose its luster. Until one day, a miracle occurred. The maiden removed her necklace to bathe in the lake near the Dark One’s base. It was but the work of a moment to snatch the necklace and fly like the wind back into hiding. The pendant was a dull piece of glass when the Dark One obtained it, but after some skillful polishing it cast a beautiful rainbow upon the walls when the light hit it just right.

Yet, even with all the treasure the giant oak contained, there was one treasure that trumped them all. The Dark One took to the highest branches of the tree and stared down into the nest that contained a single, jet black egg. The future Dark One resided within, waiting for the right moment to burst forth from its confinement and unleash its will upon the town its people. 

The Dark One had waited weeks and weeks for the release of its progeny. As it stared down at the egg, a crack began to form. A crackling sound reached its ears. At last, the newest Dark One rose from its cage, hungry and angry.

It took weeks for the newest Dark One to be ready to join its forebear. At last, on wings of darkness, with murder in their black eyes, the ravens launched themselves from the tree and swooped around the town. The Sparklies were getting lonely, and the people had plenty of them left to spare.