The Other stays firmly rooted to the spot, but a shiver of repulsion travels down its host’s spine as the lesser creature expels his grating speak-sounds.
“Cin? Can you hear me?”
It pulls the vessel’s teeth back in a snarl, slowly turning to face the one they callDravik.This demon is hideous and massive, with a perpetual scowl and an air of superiority that makes The Other want to lunge forward and rip his throat out.
“Okay, that’s a no.” The orange one holds his hands up in a defensive posture, but he seems far too relaxed for a lesser creature in the presence of The Other.Does he not know?
Of course not. He has no clue what The Other is. Why else would he approach so boldly?
“Look, I don’t want to fight, Cin. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Safe? The only one in danger is him.
The Other forces out a threatening snarl, but this demon is either too brave or too stupid to heed the warning. Instead of fleeing in terror, Dravik steps closer, his thick brow raised in a question.
“Why did you come to the forest, Cin? What’s out here that’s so important?”
Stupid, stupid demon. If only you could understand.
“Do not come any closer,”The Other speaks, struggling to make its words clear with its vessel’s strange tongue. “Leave me if you wish to live.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m bringing you back to the others.”
“Leave me!” The Other snaps around, facing the tiresome creature fully. It rises to its full height, forcing the vessel’s transition so that it towers over the orange one. “I will not warn you again!”
“I know you’re in there, Cin,” he continues, undeterred. “I really need you to wake up. Willow is… Willow needs you.”
A searing pain splits The Other’s mind, too powerful to ignore. The mention of the female has made the vessel’s fight triple in strength, and it does not know how much longer it can remain in control.
Willow… Need me…
The vessel’s voice whispers from deep within the recesses of its mind, and it’s clear to The Other that its time is almost up. Cin is forcing his way to the surface.
The Other turns to face the mouth of the welwig forest, a wave of longing rushing through its bloodstream as it takes in the frozen, sturdy bodies of its brethren.
Soon,it whispers into the ether.Soon, we will feed. All will be right once more.
With the last word, it gives in to the pain, conceding to its battle with the vessel as it slips peacefully into the endless dark.
Waiting for the perfect opportunity.
24
Nyx
It is light again,but Dravik is not back with Cin. I keep checking the horizon for signs of either of my brothers flying this way, but so far, there’s been nothing. I try not to worry about them, but it’s hard to do that when things have gone so horribly wrong in the last cycle.
On a positive note, the storm has slowed considerably during the night. Now, I’m celebrating by sitting at the top of the cliffs, watching the waves crash against the shore. Every now and then, the tentacled arm of a skelpi slides out of the water, snapping up a scuttling frostpincer or one of the icepips fluttering along the shoreline.
All my life, I thought I was the skelpi. But now… now I fear I’m just like the icepips in this world. Vulnerable. Small. Naive.
Memories of the ice wyrm attack flash in my mind, and my grip tightens on the edge of the cliff. We were all so very near to death—one wrong move or a moment’s delay, and our souls would be traveling through the ether right now.
I’ve never seen anything like it. The wyrms… it’s like they werestarving.
The lair we called home—and the dozens of other underground caverns scattered around the northern part of The Far Place—were abandoned by the massive creatures centuries ago. They traveled deeper in search of more magic-infused ice-rock to consume, and haven’t come this close to the surface since.
The only reason they would is if, somehow, their food source was being depleted. But why? How?
