First, a little background on the Seven Spheres. Each sphere is a world all its own, connected by the Great Machines in the Center Sphere, Achromurcra. First is Cynon, the Sphere of the Skies, ruled by the dragons. Second is Deianyra, ruled by no one, but home to Kael, who has sheltered and trained Darken for his role in life. Third is Ananta, the Sphere of the Waters, ruled by Queen Aquatica. Fourth is Ladon, the Sphere of the Cursed Wastes, where the Fallen (an offshoot race of the Angels) rule. The Angels themselves reside in Nycheladra, the Sphere of Light. Then there is the Sphere of Darkness, Taruga, ruled by the Vampire Emperor. In the center of these sphere exists Achromurcra, where the machines reside, remaining neutral in all disputes.

Darken's father, Caladrius Dhuron, was a Wardragon in the service of King Atalan. His mother, Tabris, was a Seraphic Angel in the service of Lord Matariel. During a series of raids by Vampires, they met and fell in love. Despite the censure of both rulers, they continued their romance and were exiled to Deianyra. Due to the treachery of Traumiel, a rival Angel, Caladrius and Tabris were killed by an army of the Fallen, led by Macabro Darknova. Tabris was able to hide her Eagle clasp with Darken and hide her child in the Sphere of Deianyra.

The ancient master, Kael, has become a surrogate father to Darken , teaching him all that he must know to survive. Most of all, he has taught Darken Unity. It was his parents hope that Unity (all the spheres united as one world) could be achieved, and it was as much for this as their beliefs as their marriage were they slain.

Darken himself is a young man who is deeply confused. He has deep faith in Unity, because he sees it as a way to feel connected to the parents whom he barely remembers and the worlds that do not want him. While he can be impulsive, he is a gentle, romantic soul at heart who takes his lessons seriously and finds solace and peace of mind in them, even if he doubts that he can be the champion of the Unity that he is being molded to be. He also loves his fiancé, Phoenix Romanova with all his heart, though she confuses him terribly, and makes him feel incredibly awkward sometimes.

Despite his outsider status, Darken moves freely through most of the Seven Spheres, and had become smitten with a young Angel named Maryna Cyclade. Despite his affection, he was too nervous to say anything to her, fearful of being rejected for his mixed race. She was recently killed by Kirone Witchfire, his longtime rival, and Darken was shattered. He has recently become attached to Phoenix Romanova, though his ability to handle romance is severely limited.

Darken is humanoid, with more Angel characteristics than Dragon, at least on the surface. Like his mother, he has wings, but while hers were white, his are jet-black with red pinion feathers. Like most Angels, his skeleton is lighter than a normal human's is and his skin is chalk-white. In addition, Darken has sharp bones in his wings that he can use to attack his enemies.

In addition, his Angel heritage makes him an excellent singer. At present, Darken is learning to control his Angel's voice to use as a defense and offensive weapon. He has learned to pitch his voice at such a level that he can render his opponent unconscious or knock them off their feet. But for now, he is content to sing for pleasure, though Phoenix insists he can't carry a tune in a bucket.

His right eye is normal, but his left, hidden by his hair, is an Angel's eye, which radiates the light of his soul. Like the Angels, he can blast forth a "celestial light," but since he has only one Angel eye, he is much weaker than a normal Angel in this respect. However, the eye can also see through illusions, can see in darkness, and has hypnotic abilities, however, it is a strain for Darken to hold anyone under control for more than a few minutes.

His Dragon characteristics endow him with extremely tough skin, which allows him to withstand air friction and protects him from some forms of harm (though he supplements this with armor). His blood, primarily resembling a Dragon's, has combustible properties (once the Vampire Darknova tried to bite him, inadvertently killing himself when Darken's Dragon blood ignited his own, consuming him from the inside out.). He is also stronger than both the average Dragon and Angel, though since he is still young, he may grow stronger.

Darken also has the ability to breathe fire, but only does so in a moment of extreme danger. The experience is painful to him, to say nothing of embarrassing.

Kael has taught Darken some rudimentary magic's, to aid in his defense. Darken has a natural aptitude for magic, a by-product of his heritage, but finds concentration and control difficult, so he relies more on his natural abilities and fighting skill and uses his magic as a second-to-last resort.

Personality Traits:
Darken is a happy go lucky sort of person--most of the time. But he is depended on by so many people in the 7 Spheres to lead them against Kirone that the responsibility weighs him down sometimes. Also, while he loves Phoenix completely, and is not above making a fool out of himself to make her laugh, he is always striving to prove himself worthy of her, and so tends to be reckless.

However, Darken also sometimes trusts his instincts, even if they seem reckless, because they provide him with a perfect solution, such as when he was able to incapacitate Vertigo and send her to nether space, after an all-out assault failed to defeat her.

Fighting Capabilities:

Darken has learned the rudiments of aerial combat and uses a very fast-paced, rapid strike style of combat. He uses his wings bother as a defense and a method of attack (One of his favorite moves is to sweep an opponent's feet out from under them with his wing spurs)

Darken also uses a style of unarmed combat known to the Angels as Mirage Knuckle, which augments punches and kicks with forceful sound waves. Augmenting his already great strength with the soundwaves can give him the force needed to destroy a castle.

Darken is familiar with most of the common weapons of the Seven Spheres, swords, bows, and the like, but prefers to use his hands and/or the Dive Spear created for him by Phoenix Romanova. The spear is nearly indestructible, can be called to his hand in an instant. The Spear can also channel his soul powers through it, increasing the power of his Soul Caliber ten fold.

Special Abilities:
Darken draws his powers from 3 sources primarily. The Fire spells are from his Dragon blood, the Lightning powers, from his Angel heritage, and his soul powers are his own.

Recently, Darken has begun to develop his soul energies over the other powers. Darken has come to realize that his ability to withstand the weakening effect of the spells increases as he summons the power. Darken still has yet to reach his full potential, but it is believed that, while he will never approach Phoenix's power level, he will be, at his ultimate peak, able to stand toe-to-toe with Vertigo.

Spells: (from weakest to strongest):

Aurora: Disorienting light flash.

Whisper: Puts enemies to sleep.

Hotspark: Combination fire and lighting spell; does massive damage to one enemy.

Wildspark: A wider-range version of Hotspark; Darken must concentrate and allow nothing to disturb him, or this unperfected spell may backfire on him.

Shardra: A limited healing spell.

Soul Caliber: Darken's ultimate magic spell; by harnessing all of his inner power and the celestial light of his Angel side, Darken can focus an intense blast of power at an enemy. However, since the one time he used it left him near death, Darken is reluctant to use this spell.

Recently, however, Darken has learned to counteract the weakening effects of the spell, and, as such, can use it more readily. He has even begun to control the intensity of the beam and is presently refining his control to rapid-fire it.

It has also been suggested that Darken is moving beyond using his own soul energy to power the Soul Caliber, that he is in fact, tied to the soul energy of the Seven Spheres, and that is the energy he draws on.

Recently, he has begun training with Phoenix to harness the twin sources of his magic. She can be a harsh taskmistress, but Darken has learned to channel his abilities easier than he used to. He has begun to use the following spells:

Elite Spark: Darken blasts a burst of energy that dissipates the energy of whatever it strikes. The spell is most effective against mechanical targets, as it slowly drains their power off.

Scarlet Rain Tide: A mixture of a fire and lightning spell; bolts of lightning and pillars of flame are summoned and are spread to damage all enemies.

Dark Infusion: A numbing spell; causes the matter infusion of an enemy to weaken to the point of bio-warfare (lowers the enemy's strength).

Genocide Spark: A lightning anti-magic spell; an anti-magic shield of lightning causes an enemy's spells to backfire at them.

Illusion Mist: A fire attack spell; napalm that not only damages the enemies, it also confuses them (lowers their response).

Thunder Crane Flash: The most powerful of the lightning spells; a lightning crane is produced within Darken's soul and is projected among the enemies. This spell also paralyzes the enemies.

Soul Sword Arc: A modified version of the Soul Caliber--Darken extends his soul energy from his hands, creating either two blade-like columns of energy or one large beam. This energy is so powerful it can cut through a mountain at peak strength.

Valkyrie Fire Revolution: Combining Darken's Soul Caliber spell with Phoenix's Celestial Nova spell, this power blast can wipe out a legion of enemies or one powerful enemy. Because of its power and the mast amounts of energy that is needed to cast this spell, it is rarely used.

Though Darken is skilled with many weapons, including a sword, he prefers to fight hand-to-hand, or use his Dive Spear. As a last resort, he wears his mother's Eagle clasp. The Eagle clasp is a multipurpose device with a limited power source and seven special functions. The clasp has a symbiotic artificial intelligence that bonds with the wearer. The Angels created them thus, so that they would not be stolen by their enemies. However, due to his relation to Tabris, Darken can use the clasp, should he need it.

The seven special functions are:

Seraphim: A small energy shield appears around Darken.

Baradiel Wave: Torrents of lightning issue from the skies.

Cloak of Leiliel: A shroud of darkness envelops enemies.

Sword of Zeruel: A fire sword appears for Darken to use.

Armisael's Song: Heals Darken

Israfel's Song: Can resurrect the wearer from death, but will drain all of the clasp's remaining power.

Samshiel's Song: Teleports the wearer to Nycheladra, the Sphere of Light.
 
 

Recently, Phoenix, who imbued it with a permanent, undying fraction of her own power, has modified Darken's Eagle Clasp. While this means the Clasp will never run out of power, certain abilities the old clasp had, like Israfel's Song and Samshiel's Song, were lost. The Clasp also now has a fragment of Phoenix's essence inside it (his mother's essence having been lost when the previous Clasp was drained of power) However, the other powers survived, and in addition, the Phoenix Clasp possess the following abilities:

Valkyrie Force: Simular to the Genocide Spark; soul energies emerge as a shield that can absorb various attacks.

Artemis Force: Eight beams of light lock onto enemies and destroy them.

Syrene Force: Sonic burst of such intensity that very weak enemies are immediately pulverized.

Medusa Force: Energy wave paralyzes all enemies, turning them to stone.

Shooting Star: The Clasp shoots a bolt of fire into the sky, which returns as a destructive meteor.

Vulcan Phoenix: A summoned Phoenix guardian force that can absorb various attacks as health.

Astral Dream: Returns Darken to Phoenix's realm. Can be activated independently of the wearer (i.e., if Darken were knocked unconscious in a hostile world, the Clasp could use the spell to transport him back to the safety of Phoenix's realm)

In addition, Phoenix recently created the Dive Spear, a weapon designed especially for Darken's use. Bonded to him by her power, Darken can summon the Spear with a thought. The Spear can lock on an enemy if thrown, and return to his hand. It also is the only weapon that can withstand the intensity of his soul power.

But since even that isn't always enough, Phoenix also added the following abilities:

Dragon Thunder: A lightning dragon disperses lightning to damage enemies. The resulting thunder paralyzes them.

Galaxy Lancer: Soul energies surround the Dive Spear to increase its attack power.

Cross Hurricane: An accelerated double strike. When combined with the Galaxy Lancer, it does extreme damage.

Falcon Saber: Beams of soul power hit enemies with multiple attacks, knocking them senseless.

Darken Blackangel and all characters contained therein are © 2000 Lewis Smith.