Alison was on her knees, too tired to float. Her hair fell around her face as she panted to the ground. Shaking she looked up toward Vayne who was walking toward her. “Come on. Is that really the extent of your power? I thought you were stronger than this.”
She struggled to look up, both her hands clenched into fist. Gritting her teeth, she took a very slow breath and pushed herself off the ground slowly. Floating a few inches off the ground she picked up her legs and began to float to her feet.
Vayne stood with his arms folded and the skeleton hands floating on either side of his head. The ground was dotted with huge ice crystals all her doing. Her attempts at trying to hurt him but none of them landed. Vayne was in pristine condition. At least as pristine as Vayne did.
Vincent was sitting on the ground his sword and revolver across his lap. He’d been watching what he could call sparring for the past few hours. As strong as Alison had been, it looked extremely one sided as Vayne threw her around like a doll. He shouted encouragement but it didn’t help and just earned him glares from her.
Vayne said that he wanted to test her. To see just how far her magic would take her and the exercise was to push her to her limits and try to get the veins to show again. So far all he’d been able to do was frustrate and kick her ass. Even Vincent felt a little bad by it.
She stared at him through her glowing blue eyes and scowled. Her hands were engulfed in ice at the present. She shoved them together and unleashed her ice. Shards of ice flew out like tiny knives
Vayne swatted two of them out of the air with the arms and caught another. He stepped to the side avoiding the rest and stared at the crystal. “Hm. Icicles.“ He crushed it and chuckled as it exploded into his face. The ice burned his hand severely but the pain he shook off.
She started flying toward him though and punched the air sending a wave of ice at him. The hands jumped forward and blocked the brunt of the blow, ice crawling over them almost instantly. They were frozen in place and Alison slammed her fist into them. They shattered and she floated in front of Vayne with narrowed eyes.
Thrusting both hands forward ice exploded against his chest and sent him flying backwards. She sank slowly and narrowed her eyes panting heavily. “How’s that for power.”
He landed on the ground and stroked his lip lightly. No blood but his jaw did hurt. Turning to face her he nodded slowly. “Alright. There’s still some hope for you yet.”
He stood up and reached into a pouch at his hip. Taking out a few small bones he tossed them out and raised his hands. Green light from his palm attached to them and out fell six fully formed skeletons. Stumbling forward on wobbly legs their heads turned toward her their jaws slack.
Alison narrowed her eyes at them. He was a necromancer sure but she didn’t understand what was the point of this one. They stumbled forward obscuring her view of him and she ignited her hands again. She threw an icicle straight at one skeleton and it exploded into pieces.
The other five immediately grabbed pieces of it and they turned into weapons. Swords, spears, one even had a bow made from the bones of the fallen. Her eyes widened as suddenly they were not only armed but way more coordinated.
Two spearmen ran toward her, the former legs of the skeleton their weapon. She floated backwards out of range and threw up her hands creating a wall of ice. They jabbed at it with their spears but it didn’t crack, not easily at least.
She didn’t get a chance to breathe though because they started to climb. They scaled the spearmen and leaped the last few feet over the wall. They came down laughter echoing with their jaws flapping rapidly. She looked up shocked and thrust a hand forward blasting away the skeletons. The ice was harsh freezing the skeletons solid in giant blocks before they even got near her.
The downside was that she weakened her wall of ice and the skeletons shattered it with a good shove. She turned to face them and hissed through her teeth. Glaring she shot a block of ice at one of them hitting it square in the chest and breaking it apart.
The last one swung at her and she fell from the air and stumbled backwards. Raising her hand she covered it with ice and threw a weak punch but she missed and almost fell to the ground. The skeleton swung the sword down at her and she slammed her hand to the ground and pushed herself away with a block of ice.
Rolling away she jumped to her feet and let out a shout as something embedded itself in her shoulder. Looking over her should she saw the skeleton archer pulling from its ribcage and creating another arrow. It let loose another arrow and she felt the thing hit her in the hip. Gritting her teeth, she tore one out of her shoulder and stared at her hand.
She saw it and gasped. The veins crawling along her hand and arm. They were moving fast all the way up her neck. The fear ran through her heart and she almost sank to the ground but the chattering skeleton came forward before she could think too much. Thrusting her hand forward she blasted it to pieces with a burst of cold wind and stumbled to her knees. Coughing she shut her eyes.
But she forced them open a crack and looked at the archer as it let loose another arrow at her. She opened her mouth and screamed at it, icing it over it as it approached her and let only soft crystal hit her forehead. Her eyes focused on the skeleton and it froze solid then shattered.
It sank to the ground in an icy mess and she gasped falling to the ground onto her stomach. The veins were pulsating under her skin down to her fingers and over her eyes. She was vaguely aware of Vincent at her side but she couldn’t hear him. Her gaze was in front of her as she watched Vayne approach her.
He was saying something and she couldn’t hear him but she felt his voice in her head. A sound like a siren that came and went. He held his hands together in front of him and she saw what looked like pair of eyes over his hands. Pale glowing white eyes. It was as if he was holding a head in his hands.
She didn’t understand it and the droning in her head made it worse. Hissing and pressing her forehead against the ground. Vincent looked up at Vayne and glared hold the gun out. “What did you do to her?” he hissed.
“Nothing. I just pushed her very close to her limit. And now it’s time to see if she’s really ready.” Vincent stared at his hands and he didn’t understand why he was holding them like that. There was nothing to see but he felt uneasy staring at it. It made him shudder and avert his gaze to Alison’s vein riddled face.
Vayne crouched in front of her face and chuckled softly. “I hope you’re committed to this, child. Because you will die if you can’t.” And then he thrust both his hands forward and Vincent felt Alison jerk underneath his hands. More than that she was convulsing and spasming on the ground but she was silent.
The moment Vayne touched her she blinked and suddenly she wasn’t on the ground. Looking around slowly she didn’t understand where she was. She took a step forward and her bare feet splashed on water. She looked straight down and stared at her feet. Watched as she wiggled her toes.
Gasping lightly, she took a hesitant step forward and then did a few more times. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d walked like this before. Shaking slightly, she smiled and bent down to touch her legs. It felt strange and great at the same time. She looked around quickly to get an eyeful of her surroundings while stepping back and forth ever few seconds and getting her feet wet.
There was water endlessly going in every direction. She couldn’t see an end. In fact, when she saw the edge of the water it just connected with the grey cloudy sky above. Tilting her head to the side slightly she frowned and turned around in a complete circle. There was just nothing in each direction.
“Where am I?” she mumbled but her words echoed all throughout the place. She felt it go in one direction and then looked back as she heard her own voice from behind her.
“Hm. You’re resourceful. To be able to move like that and not even be tired.”
She whirled around at the new voice. And she was greeted by something that she hadn’t expected. It was herself. At least something that looked like her but not look like her. Dressed the same, the same tattered pants and shirt. The same bruised and dirty face and split hair. But it’s skin was ghostly pale and covered in black veins. It’s eyes were pools of ink that somehow glowed.
It tilted its head to the side slightly and then nodded. “You’re confused. It seems you didn’t know what to expect here.” It said slowly in what was somewhat like her voice but also not. It was deeper, like the way her brother liked to tease his voice when he tried to make it more masculine.
“No, I didn’t. Vayne isn’t very forth coming. Where are we. What are you.”
The mirror of herself chuckled softly and motioned to the area around them. “This is a place for mages. Powerful ones. A place beyond the veil. A gate that you can’t cross over naturally. So, you were forced through it.”
She looked around herself slowly and then back at the thing in front of her and motioned toward her. “And what are you.”
“A demon.”
She blinked slowly. “A demon.”
“Indeed.”
“You look nothing like the ones I’ve met before.”
“We can take several shapes. In here this is the one I thought would be the most pleasant for you.”
“Why?”
“You really don’t know why you’re here.”
“I’m sorry but this is all very new.” She splashed against the water slightly. “As I said Vayne isn’t very forth coming.”
“What did you request from the Necromancer?”
“I came to him for control.”
The demon looked at her. “You crave control but you don’t have the foundation to properly gain power.” The demon’s hand raised almost immediately and stroked her cheek. She expected the touch to be cold but it was warm. It rubbed her cheek slowly and then down against her neck and she shuddered.
“How would you help me gain control?”
“You are like a lake trying to contain an ocean. There will be excess. I will absorb that excess allowing you to better handle the lake. And when you need access to that excess I will be able to give you that as well.”
Looking away she gasped because the demon was now in her gaze again. It’s eyes were dark obsidian orbs that she couldn’t look away from. Blinking slowly, she gasped. She twitched her fingers slightly but otherwise she couldn’t move. Not really. It wasn’t that she couldn’t but she didn’t want to.
The demon came closer taking her hands in its own as it squeezed them gently. “Your brother. You’re thinking of him. You two have been inseparable for quite some time.”
“For our whole lives.”
The demon nodded slowly. “That’s true. So close you might as well be the same person in some ways. Originally both girls but you started to become different. Your brother realizing a truth about himself.”
“It’s what he’s always said. That he didn’t feel right. And if he says he’s my brother than he’s my brother. That’s it.”
“But then you started this journey.” The demon whispered. “And you met some remarkable allies. Morrigan. You admired her. She’s beautiful. Powerful. Committed.”
“She is all of those things and more. We wouldn’t have made it this far without her,” she said softly and looked at the ground. The demon raised her head and forced their gaze back on one another.
“You wish to be like her.”
She was silent for a moment and glanced down. “Maybe.
“Your brother seems very fond of her now.”
“He is. They’re friends.”
“Friends. That’s how it starts isn’t it? You become friends and then you get closer. Learn and fight together. Find your feelings together and then things change.”
“Morrigan and my brother? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Merely suggesting what could be coming.”
Though her gaze was locked on the demon’s she frowned. “He’d still be my brother, wouldn’t he?” she whispered. “Even if he found someone else.”
“Who knows? It’s not like you would miss him.”
“That’s not true!”
“Isn’t it? You were quick to send him away.”
She was quiet and the demon got closer, its hands on her shoulders and pulling her down slowly to her knees and on the water. The demon crouched in front of her and keeping her gaze.
“I wasn’t. Morrigan couldn’t go alone.”
“Why not send Vincent with her?”
She didn’t have an answer there. Not one she was ready to admit or even openly consider.
“He’s the one that brought you this far. He found you and your brother. Brought you to the Free City.”
“He helped us so much when we were just strangers.”
“And has kept going. Protected you when you were recovering. Confided in you when the spirits attacked. Rescued you at the risk to himself in Verakruk. And even now he worries over your unconscious form. A true friend.”
She nodded slowly and felt herself smile. “He’s a good person.”
“Yes. And he could be yours if things continue down this path. Or you could lose him.”
“Lose him?”
“He’s only here because of his mission. Once you’re done he’ll be going back.”
“We’ll both be going back.”
“He’s a bandit. Do you really think that he’ll be in the Free City that long? Or do you think he’ll be alive? It’s a dangerous life.”
“He won’t die.”
“They’ll all die.”
“No.”
“Eventually they will,” She saw flashes of them each of her friends, dead and killed in some way. By the sword, by magic, by the Sanctum. “And you’ll be alone.”
“No…”
She sank to her knees then and the demon loomed over her as it spoke. She felt like cold spikes were going down her shoulders to her fingers and toes.
“Yes. You’ll be alone. With me. But I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep you strong. We’ll be strong.”
“Stronger together.”
“Stronger together.”
Alison took a slow breath and the demon extended a hand into her field of view. She looked at it, the dark mirror of her own hand and she scowled. Her hand clasped around it and on contact light leaped between them. The demon gasped as Alison met its gaze with her glowing blue eyes. Gripping its hand tightly she began to stand to an even height and glared.
“Yeah. Me, my friends and my brother. We’re all stronger together. And you can’t break us apart. Or break me down.”
The demon squeezed back on her hand breaking the ice but not the coolness between them. “And here I thought you would go down easy.”
“Not on your life. You’re going to be my power.”
The demon paused as it looked at her, trying to discern the attention within those glowing pupils but got nothing in return. So instead it focused on the face entirely, the fierceness and resolve there. If it tried to fight her, to overpower her it wasn’t sure that it would actually win.
Self-preservation won out so the demon’s grip loosened on her hand and it lowered its head. “Fine. I will aid you. My power will become yours. For now, I am your weapon.”
“Partners. We’re partners.” But she was satisfied with that. A gamble. She had no idea what this demon really was but something in her said it would help her.
Before she could open her mouth to ask what next the world disappeared around her. First the sky went white and then the water at her feet evaporated and finally the ground fell away and she and the demon were floating in space. Slowly the demon evaporated as well and her vision faded.
When she opened her eyes, she gasped and grunted against the grass. It was pricking at her legs through the holes in her pants. She’d been facedown and when she finally rolled over she could see a pair of faces. Vincent’s worry stricken one and Vayne’s of eager impatience.
But as she sat up she felt relaxed. Like for the first time in years she could breathe with clean sinuses. Shaking her head slowly she shuddered as a wave of dizziness took her. She felt free, freer than she had been before. No more heavy weights keeping her down. Holding her head for a moment she stared at her hand and blinked in shock.
The dizziness must have still been there cause, she could see two of her hands. One was a ghostly outline of the other but both looked the same. As she turned it she saw the black veins running along the other and realized what it really was.
“That’s my hand Alison. This is how my power works through you.”
“That so,” she whispered. “Is that why I feel so, for lack of a better word, in control?”
“That may be less my direct doing and more the power of our union.”
“I’ll have to see exactly what I can do now then. What we can do.”
“Uh Alison? Who are you talking to?”
She blinked in surprise at the question. She got to her feet slowly and touched Vincent’s face with both hands. As if she hadn’t seen it in a long time. Then again, the last time she saw his face it had been bloodied and lifeless thanks to her new roommate’s vision.
He looked dumbfounded and she smiled at him, one that was warmer than it had been before. He was caught off guard by it. “Glad you’re feeling better.” He said softly and took a hesitant step back but not out of fear just startled.
“Fascinating.” Vayne walked over and held a hand against his chin, “We’ve met others like ourselves but never one so fresh. You’re bright. Obnoxiously so.”
Alison looked at him and she saw him there but she saw another one there. Something floating with its limbs chained to its sides. The head hung low but it was pale like a skeleton its eyes hollow black pits with tiny pinpricks of green. There was no light coming from either of them.
She turned to face him and suddenly she didn’t feel so weak in his presence any more. “You look dark. Sickly.” Though his skin was young she felt repulsed by it in a way she couldn’t place.
“He’s barely alive. Through his magic alone. Powering him. The only thing keeping him alive-”
“Is this his demon?”
Vayne tilted his head to the slide slightly. “You’re conversing with it. So, you didn’t make it submit to you entirely.”
Alison and her demon looked at him together and folded their arms together. “We didn’t want a slave. We wanted a partner.” Speaking like that came second nature in that moment. “And we have that. We have control which is what we wanted. And much more.”
“Oh? Can you prove that?”
Vincent held his hand up, “Come on she just woke up. Give her a second or something.”
But she put her arm in front of him and chuckled. “It’s alright Vince. We got this.”
Vayne spread his arms and the demon behind him raised its head slowly as the green glow in both their eyes came to life suddenly. Four pairs of skeletal arms appeared around where its own arms should have been. But Vayne went a step further and threw more pieces of bone before his magic touched them and they morphed into skeletons again.
This time Alison wasn’t totally lost at what to do. “Do you need help?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Her eyes glowed and her magic came to life far stronger than she’d ever felt before. If she felt something like this before she would have been terrified of what might have happened to her or the consequences. That same fear was there but it didn’t stay. In its place was confidence. Confidence and eagerness to use her powers.
She pressed her hands together and took a slow breath. She shuddered and let out a grunt of shock as it appeared. A clone, spitting of herself. It slumped slightly and Alison almost fell to the ground before her instinct to float caught her.
The demon tilted its head back and forth slowly getting used to the body. “My range isn’t infinite. About ten meters away from you is as far as I can go.”
“Don’t worry me and my brother used-”
“Used to do this all the time. I know. We are linked together. I know and feel what you know and feel.”
She felt embarrassed at the notion of what that meant in terms of privacy. But she scrubbed that away to worry about later. Right now, she had to focus on proving this was a good idea. The skeletons were already encroaching on them charging forward with femurs in hand like swords.
The skeleton hands of his demon clasped together and the skeletons jumped at them. Her demon came alive punching one immediately to pieces. Once it hit the ground it began to reassemble itself back together. The demon took down another skeleton when one of the blades sank into its hip. Hissing the demon whirled around and with a backhanded fist shattered it as well.
Alison raised her hands looking past the demon and the skeletons sparring. She thrust her hand at Vayne and he exploded. When the flames and smoke subsided, he was surrounded by the skeleton in a box of pale arms and green glow. Vayne’s face was remained curious.
Alison smirked and began thrusting her hands as explosions rained down on him. The shield was holding but the brunt of the assault was taking much of his attention which meant the skeletons weren’t coming back as fast.
The demon shattered the final one and spat black ichor into the grass. It had taken some wounds and they showed as softly glowing cuts. It turned to look at Alison where the strain was showing in her eyes. Her face remained serene and she wasn’t even sweating but she saw how her pupils were losing focus.
It glared and spoke, “You’re not going to get anywhere like that. Change your strategy.”
Alison scowled in acknowledgement and her eyes flicked downwards. She aimed her next explosion at the ground and Vayne jumped immediately. Once he was airborne she thrust her hand forward and the explosion wasn’t fire it was ice. When the dust cleared he was frozen in the air hanging in a cube of ice.
Letting out a sound beyond human brought it crashing into the ground. Vayne was still standing but his face was a dark scowl. The hands were chipped and cracked here and there. The green glow of them was somewhat faded, not weaker but not as bright.
“Hm. impressive.” He said softly. “We think this might be very interesting. For us both.”
The skeletons faded into dust on the ground and the demon retreated instantly. It wrapped its arm around her waist and she leaned against it. As she leaned she sank into its body yet it was her body that was the solid. She stood and held her knees breathing deeply. It was like putting on a favorite blanket and not realizing you were cold.
She shook her head and looked toward Vincent who was staring at her. But the look in his gaze was a mix of fear and awe. And that hurt her in a way she didn’t expect. She walked over to him quickly and reached toward him but hesitated. “You’re afraid of us.” She shook her head. “Of me.”
“Yeah. Kinda. You. Your brother. Morrigan. You’re all insanely powerful. I’m just a guy with a sword, a gun, and a horse.” She let her hand fall and let her gaze fall to the ground but he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders shocking her. “But you’re also my friend. A friend who is now I guess half demon. So it’s weird but I’ll get used to it. I’m here for you. Also, as freaky as that was it was still kinda awesome. Also you can walk now. That’s a plus.”
She started shaking in his arms and felt the tears in her eyes. Sniffling she glared at his chest and punched his side slightly. “You’re a jerk.” She mumble wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. “And yeah. It is kinda awesome.”
“So, are you gonna start talking like him now?”
“I… don’t know,” she sighed softly. “It’s difficult because it’s in here with me. It talks sometimes but mostly it’s just like knowing it’s there. I feel like I need to address it. Or at least acknowledge that it’s here with me.”
She shook her head and sighed. “It’s new. I get it.”
“Yes. It will be very new for you for some time.” Vayne said and motioned his hand toward the cabin. “You’re going to need to consume this to sustain your demon.”
He didn’t wait for them which they were realizing was the norm with him. Alison watched the door close for a moment and then looked back toward Vincent. He was scowling toward the old necromancer and she could hear him starting to say some sort of complaint.
But she laughed covering her mouth for a moment. She leaned up and kissed his cheek which made him stop in his tracks. He looked at her and her smile was equally as stunning. “What was that for.”
“Just something I’ve been wanting to do. Now come on.”
She pushed him from behind making him take one step and then the next as they walked into the cabin.
The Harlequin Library 