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She did not doubt it.
“But first, I will unleash you.”
“Unleash me?”
“You will go forth,” the Dark hissed. “Go into the world and do my bidding.”
“What?”
At the point of orgasm, the apex of physical pleasure, Hail found herself cast out.
This time she was forever changed. She was no longer a wide-eyed seeker, searching for a purpose. She had something in her, a little seed which would inevitably grow into something great whether she liked it or not.
“And if I don’t want to be unleashed?”
“That is beyond your control. You are marked. You are corrupted. In the world beyond, your fate is sealed. You will be a monster roaming the world of men, unable to connect with anybody, least of all those who love you.”
Hail’s temper flared and she cursed the Dark. “I don’t think that’s your decision to make. You’re not anything. You’re a lonely asshole in a damp puddle. I have many friends.”
“You had friends. Now you are lost to them.”
“What? Because you say so?”
“Because three years have passed in the world above since you came down here.”
“I’ve barely been here a week by my reckoning.”
“Your reckoning means nothing. You’ve lost track of time. You’ve lost yourself.” The Dark loomed over her, claws clutching at her one last time. “You’ve lost everything.”
Nine
Old Friends
Hail was back in New Rahvin. Right in the middle of it. And looking into the face of an old friend.
“Elise!?”
Elise no longer looked as she had before. There was little carefree left about her. A snotty toddler clung to her over mended skirts, she had a baby in her arms, and judging by the swell of her stomach, a third well on the way.
Elise looked through her so completely that Hail was suddenly unsure if she truly existed at all.
“Elise?”
She tried to get Elise’s attention to no avail. It was as though her voice went completely unheard. The Dark stepped out swiftly and leered at the toddler, his true self flaring for a moment, long enough to make the child cry.
He laughed.
“Would you stop that?” Hail snapped testily.
The Dark cocked his monstrous head curiously. “Why would I stop when I enjoy this so very much?”
“Making babies cry? It’s not hard. Babies cry at everything. It’s basically all they do. It’s not special to make a baby cry.”
“You take all the fun out of everything,” he growled. “You truly are the most irritating of creatures, even for a human.”
It was Hail’s turn to laugh at the irony of a creature who made babies cry being annoyed at her for ruining his fun. She was the same thorn in his side as he tried to be in those he haunted. No wonder he found her so annoying. They were the same, in some way.
She ran after the woman who used to be her best friend and tried one last time to get her attention.
“ELISE!”
Elise looked directly at her. “Please leave me alone.”
Hail had assumed that she was somehow unseen, but she wasn’t unseen at all. Elise was ignoring her deliberately.
“Elise…”
Elise took on that blank stare again and walked on. Hail respected her wishes out of pure confusion.
The Dark laughed uproariously. Hail swung around, surprised to see him, and yet not surprised at all. “Not so easy, is it, to step back into the world you thought was yours?”
“She couldn’t see me. You did something to her.”
“I did nothing to her. She’s forgotten you. You are a stranger to her, a memory she cannot reach. You’re not part of her world anymore.”
“Maybe not, but she’s not going to forget me that quickly.”
“You underestimate your own irrelevance. The second you were gone, they began to forget. Three years is a very long time for a human.”
“Elise hasn't forgotten me. She just didn’t see me properly. That’s all. I probably look different. Or something.”
But she had seen her. She’d looked right at her. There had been less than no recognition in her gaze.
“Maybe it wasn’t actually Elise. Elise never wanted offspring. She wanted adventures,” Hail continued to rationalize.
“You wanted adventures. She wanted a family. She’s happy.”
“Didn't look very happy,” Hail muttered. “But I’m glad she’s happy.”
“You’ll never be happy,” the Dark said unhelpfully. “You’ll never join the others in their normal lives. You’ll never have any family. You’ll watch from the sides for all eternity. You’ll see the others grow and live and love and pass away, and you’ll be nothing to anybody.”
“Wait. I’m eternal?”
“Well. Yes.”
“As in, I cannot die?”
“Not exactly, no. Having taken my seed inside…”
“Okay, bye then.”
Hail strode off down the street away from New Rahvin. It had been a very long and roundabout way of doing it, but a stint with the dark had finally allowed her to follow her dreams—and as an immortal, no less. She had all the lifetimes she wanted to pursue magic while remaining forever young. What a bargain she had struck! It was sad about Elise, but she had always known that her lyrakin friends were not to be her long term companions. Her destiny had always been greater.
