And Dissonance Shatters the Mirror

With that blackness came an icy chill that stole the warmth from his soul, clutching at his being with a force he couldn’t escape.

Eyes he couldn’t see, the eyes of an infinite void, clutched his skull, baring him from the inside-out with a searing agony that strangled in his throat, unable to escape. Seih stared into Darkness himself's gaze, and felt it purr a rolling laugh that shuddered across his skin, an electric prickle tilting his chin up.

“It’s you.”

He gasped in ragged breaths, but couldn’t seem to drag any of it into his lungs, dimly aware of the shadow seizing other souls around him. Brei— where was Brei?

A cry that never choked past his lips wracked him as he tried to wrench his gaze away and a ripping pain dragged at his soul, pinning him down with a burning stare. He clenched his teeth, trying to lash out, trying to thrash away, his limbs wrapped in iron threads, no amount of strength able to loosen the grip of a spider that stretched from horizon to horizon.

“Hear my voice, listen to me.” It wrapped around him, seeking entrance through his lips, clawing at his ribs. “I can make you powerful. I can make them heed you. You will never be weak again, never be unheard.”

The image of Hafest flashed behind his eyes—of the Hand and their disapproval, pressing in close like fetid breath washing over him. Every frustration, every time they’d stood in his way; every insult.

“Boy.” Hafest’s voice hissing, a smirking satisfaction on his face that Seih’s fist itched to wipe off.

No—

The Hand throwing him out, banning him from the Ripple, only Firalk’s stubborn push changing their minds. Bringing him back in presence only, his mouth gagged by their blindness.

No I—

They had never listened, had they? They never listened to you.

Darkness sang at his fingertips, promising satisfaction to his anger, promising to fill the hungry void in his heart. The pain, the fear, the powerlessness.

“This isn’t what I want—”

Don’t you? Don’t you want power? Don’t you want to save your people?

His spine seized as he struggled. He could see the dark threads pulling at his skin, curling like vine hooks, claws prising at his bloodless, tightly-pressed lips. “No!”

But it could make all the difference, couldn’t it? If he let it in— He wouldn’t have to give in for long. Just long enough. Just long enough to turn against Darkness himself, and strike the blow that could save them from the fate of his nightmares.

A flicker of light flashed behind his eyes. A memory of a white wrulf turning to look at him, an impossible sadness in its glowing blue gaze, its whisper twining past his ears.

"Seih...."

If he took it, he could save them all. Could be their saviour, never again reviled or looked down upon by people like Hafest.

Yes, you hate him, don’t you? You hate everything he stands for. Why not? Why not bring him down?

His soul shrieked, his hands reaching desperately for that Light, lunging even as dark threads twined around his ankles, pulling him to his knees.

It could give him everything.

“I— I don't—”

Without it, he could be left with nothing but the ashes of his home. Without it, you will puff away as smoke, forgotten.

His fingers stretched out, crying out, clawing at the ground.

Darkness pulsed up his throat like a sweet song, like honey tickling at his tongue, thick and cloying, ready to fill him with a strength he’d never known. Just one taste, just a moment of weakness, and....

Silky white brushed his fingertips, a breath of air gasping into drowning, sticking lungs with glittering memories of Brei’s smile, Damor tending faithfully to his plants; the laughter of joyful voices— beautiful lips pressed against his own, black locks of hair tickling his skin, and grey eyes dancing with almost purple hints meeting his, her laugh ringing with a music that brought the soft wisps of dawn sweeping across the valley. A quiet, golden light filled with the hush of a new day bringing life to an expectant world, birdsong stirring on a soft, sweet-scented breeze, the warmth of her face cupped in his hands.

“—Li- Light. Please. I just want this.”

...

You are a fool.

In a rush, the clinging void ripped free, leaving him collapsing to his knees, gasping for breath, shivering violently. A slimy nausea twisted at his stomach. Brei— where was she—?

He swallowed down his rebellious insides, dragging his head up to catch her pressed back against the rail, a hand clapped across her mouth, eyes wide and horrified, but hers. Standing shakily, he reached out to her, relief shuddering out in a shaky breath. “Brei—”

A choking sound caught him, his gaze twitching to the others. Just in time to see something dark slip into Dais’s mouth, the teenager crumpling to the ground, clutching at his throat.

“Reyahn—” Seih froze, stomach twisting.

“Dais!” Brei lurched forward as the boy hacked out a gurgling cough, black droplets spattering the ground. And twitched back at his ragged, agonising scream.

“Foolish boy!” A glint of metal caught the corner of his vision, disbelief widening his eyes as Ged moved on the convulsing teenager. Faedihn and the other man stared in shock, the hand grabbing at Dais’s gurgling shoulder freezing as their leader snapped, “Get away from him!”

Seih grabbed his wrist. “What are you doing? He needs help, he’s been infected—”

Every hair on his body rose on end as another scream caught and tore into a shrieking howl, a dark blur slashing out in the corner of his eye, a wet slash spraying across the balcony.

He saw but didn’t register the sight of Faed’s torn throat and the set of twisted, beast-like claws painted with red. Saw but couldn’t reconcile the burning fiery-yellow eyes of the monster growing in front of him with Dais.

Ged swore, an abrupt shove sending Seih almost stumbling into Brei. “Go!”

The monster from his nightmares snarled, whirling on them, howling screams that juddered down his spine beginning to ring out through the black night. He couldn’t breathe past the thudding lodged in his throat.

Grabbing Brei, he pulled her frozen frame by the hand and ran.

The doors slammed behind them as they raced in, Voice’s eyes glowing a bright, alert silver just inside, holding the dagger pulled out of him as Seih gasped out, “We need to—”

A dull thud cracked into the door, and he snapped around to see black claws stab through the wood with a stomach-lurching crunch, red pattering off their ends onto the floor. In a moment, they tore through the slats like flimsy sheets, rending a jagged hole, a snarling muzzle shoving through splintered ends like a feral canid clawing to get in.

“Oh Light oh Light oh Reya— Dais—” Brei’s voice choked on the edge of hysteria as he pulled her behind him, backing for the main room and the inner door, his gaze locked on burning yellow eyes.

Voice stepped in front, directing them back. |Find a secure place and wait for Winds. He will come.|

There was no room to argue. Brei only resisted briefly as he moved, clenching his jaw, a flicker of flames catching the corner of his vision.

They’d barely made it across the threshold into the main room when a blur flew past them into the wall.

On gut-clenching instinct, Seih shoved Brei to the side, rolling out of the way of a roiling shadow. It turned on him with burning yellow eyes, lunging with a snap of jaws he barely avoided, long fangs flashing past his cheek.

He scrabbled to put distance between them, distantly noting it was targeting him and not Brei. Some part of Dais? They’d been closer—

“Hf!” He dove to the side again, trying to lead it further from her, its claws catching the edge of his sleeve with a ripping jolt. Just needed to survive. A dagger. If he could find the knife—

He caught a flicker of movement from the side of the room, something slamming into the Shadow's side, its teeth snapping a hair away from his ear. Voice?

The Divination and the monster twisted in a mad dance, its snarl nearly drowning out the crackle of flames as Voice drove the dagger in deeper, yanking free when the beast stumbled, the stench of burning filling the air. It seemed to falter, the yellow in its eyes flickering.

And then oozing black flesh knit together before his eyes, its head whipping around, teeth crunching into Voice's middle.

Seih's breath choked in his throat, blood rushing in his ears. No—

He lunged as the Divination's eyes sputtered, desperation pounding through his veins, throwing his full weight against it, forcing it to let go, and they thudded into the rug. Choking for breath, he threw his stunned body into motion as the Shadow snapped around far faster than he could, shoving himself up and bracing—

It broke past like it was nothing, teeth snapping like vices over his shoulder.

Biting down.