Page 83 of Demonic Affliction

Willow

“Cin!”

I watch in horror as my beautiful, strong mate slumps to the ground, his bones turning to water, limbs splaying and broken, unnatural angles. Nyx and Dravik rush forward to tend to him, but as soon as they crouch, Cin begins convulsing, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as a scream explodes from his mouth.

Nyx and Dravik freeze, their palms hovering inches away from him, their faces crumpling in helpless frustration.

“What’s happening?” I demand. My hands are shaking, my rising panic is making it difficult to think clearly, and all I want to do is run to my mate. “What’s wrong with him?”

Dravik shakes his head miserably. “I don’t…”

Suddenly, the Welwig pulses bright red. The light starts in the center, spreading through the tangles of root in quick, uneven surges—across the ceiling and down the walls until the entire chamber is cast in an ominous scarlet hue.

Then the air starts to move.

The eerie stillness gives way to a hurricane, and it whips around us violently, tearing at my loose strands of hair and slicing my skin with invisible icy claws. I raise an arm to shield my face, but it comes from every direction at once.

“I have you!” Rhune steps behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle while his wings curl around me like a shield—but even that does not do much to protect against the storm.

I peek through the slit between Rhune’s wings, staring straight up at the upside-down, glowing red tree from my dreams.

The beginning. The end.

The pit of dread in my stomach hardens, and my panic takes over completely. Why did I bring us here? What did I think I would be able to accomplish? What can I do in the face of that thing?

Vhalthor was right. This was a horrible idea. This was suicide.

My mind trails to the visions I’ve had of this room. I always assumed that they were an accident. That the serafyn didn’t mean to show them to me. But what if they weren’t? What if it showed me this place on purpose?

That low chuckle stirs in the back of my mind, and everything in me goes still and cold.

The beginning. The end.

The serafyn wanted me to come here. Of course it did. Where else would you go to end a world, other than the place it began?

It seems you are smarter than I thought.

The serafyn’s voice, having been silent for so long, startles me.

Just relax, it soothes. You did well, little human.

For one terrible moment, I realize that it sounds proud. My stomach turns over, and I taste bile at the back of my throat. I led everyone I love down into this place to be destroyed, and it's proud of me.

Of course I am proud. You proved we are a good match and that your vessel is stronger than it appears. You lived through the journey, the infected horde, and the vespers in the forest. You did well, Willow. You should be proud, too. We will assimilate, destroy this world swiftly, and move to the next. We will be unstoppable. We will be together—forever, like we should be.

Horror hardens like a stone in my stomach as I realize what it's been telling me all along. The serafyn doesn’t hate me, or resent me, despite all the things it has said and insults it has hurled. In its own strange way, the serafyn cares for me and perhaps even loves me, if an entity as powerful and old as Spoon can feel those emotions. That is why it saved me all those times. Why it has not outright taken control of my body, or killed me, even though it clearly could.

This realization is perhaps the most terrible of the day. All along, I never had a choice. All along, I was playing right into the serafyn’s hand.

And now it is going to kill my mates.

I shake my head, my body trembling all over. “No… No!”

Shh, it soothes. Just relax. Let me take care of the rest.

I feel its power rising in me, starting somewhere beneath my ribs and spreading outward. My fingers go numb, and my skin crawls with fire ants as a powerful ache starts at the base of my skull. The power pushes into my throat, squeezing the air from my lungs and filling my throat, and I can feel my consciousness slipping one piece at a time.

No! I snarl. You tricked me! You… You fucking tricked me!