I’m vaguely aware that Kae is breathing heavily, but I’m so close to my target. So close to observing this phenomenon, to being able to fully understand it?—
Suddenly, the entity violently repels my presence, as if I’ve crossed an invisible line I didn’t realize existed. It takes me into a chokehold, furiously, defensively strangling my entire soul. The opposition is so powerful, so forceful, that its effects echo into my physical body, causing it to react as if I’m truly suffocating.
I try to pull away, but the entity resists. Punishing me. Attempting to clamp down even harder with a crushing,crushingpressure?—
Narrowly, I yank myself out of its grasp.
A cough wracks through me, as if I have just surfaced from a furious water that sought to drown me. It is an effort to catch my breath through manual methods, but for reasons I cannot understand, I welcome the human-like sensation of physical pain.
I do not know how I got to my knees, or how long I stay there. I forget Kae is still with me on this cliff until her light hand touches myshoulders, causing me to shiver imperceptibly.
My eyes jerk open, finding her on her knees beside me.
She, too, is breathing heavily. Sweat beads on her forehead, soaking her clothes. Even her beautiful copper-brown hair is dulled and matted with it. “What… just happened?”
Suddenly aware of the vulnerability I’ve put upon myself, I jump to my feet, forcing the air in my lungs to burn no longer. “You wanted answers for what dwells inside you. It appears the entity does not wish to be understood.”
Her eyes flash with surprise, but she quickly tucks it away. Slowly, she rises to her feet, her joints popping in the process. “You could have warned me first.”
“I did.” Keeping my face indifferent, I watch her every movement.
“You did not say it would be so painful.”
Painful—for me, or for her? Was she in as much pain as I was? I should have been paying closer attention. “I did not know it would be.”
“Well, what the hell was it? What do you mean by ‘entity’?”
I hate that I do not have all the answers she seeks. I shake my head, mostly to myself, and drop the volume of my voice. “I wish I knew. It did not seem of this world or the next. Neither living nor dead. It was… incomplete.”
Listlessly, she drops her eyes, turns away, and walks back over to the cliffside to gaze at the Abyss.
I’ve heard that humans sometimes have delayed reactions to shocking information. Their emotions get in the way of logical thought, and it takes them some time to work through it, so I helplessly watch her as she looks upon my city.
The air is temporarily stilled, and her dark hair falls flat, hugging her body’s perspiration in a trail down her back. I could marvel all day at how magnificently human it is, flawed and unique and so very fascinating.
But then she turns back to me, her eyes seeming to reignite with determination. “What do I need to do? How do I access it?”
“Sit,” I instruct, waving a hand in the direction of a waist-highboulder. And for what might be the first time since I’ve met the girl, she obeys my command without objection. It brings me some sort of… quiet satisfaction.
It would certainly help our training proceed more expeditiously if I understood what drives her reactions. What makes this girl more obedient to me? More compliant?
Delicately, I stroke an invisible hand along the tether between our souls. Gauging her emotions, tasting the fear...Fear.It’s so complex, I cannot untangle the cause without her notice. I can only assume she’s worried this will be painful.
That is counterproductive to the training.
“There is no need to be afraid. Nothing will hurt you.” Emotional projection is a harmless, small skill when used in benevolence, so I take the liberty of projecting some of my spirit’s calm to hers. “Close your eyes.”
Again, she obeys my command without hesitation.
Again, the strange satisfaction inside me grows, and I realize what it is when my body heats in all the wrong places. I ignore it the best I can, listening to every breath and steady heartbeat of hers. I refuse to let go of her soul until I feel it settle into peace.
“I need you to look inward, Kae. If this… entity…”
“Biblical parasite,” she corrects me under her breath.
“…will not allow me close enough to observe its nature, then perhaps you will have a better chance at gleaning information about it.”
“I don’t know what I’m even supposed to look for.”
