Mother

Fesha and I wandered through the twisting paths of the outer walls, confused at every turn. The afternoon light of the sky barely peaked over the rooftops, leaving us in shadow throughout our entire escape. I thought about the sight we had left behind for the towns people; the man that had been leading them to salvation was now dead and twisted by a mysterious black mass. I didn't know what to feel about it. Should I feel victorious or remorseful, I could never truly know. Though Tenebris seemed to have been following something far greater than anything any of us could have compromised, in the end, he was still just a man longing for something he lost. He was just being human, and for that, I could hardly fault him for what he became. Still, I couldn't be sure of anything; all the knowledge I have gained about this world has been through Fesha alone. Tenebris spoke of many things too, but it seemed that only Fesha would be the one to truly understand what he had anguished for so long. Fesha has been kind enough to lend me aid, but I can't help but feel she's hiding something, but whether it's dangerous to my well being or not, I still couldn't tell. Either way, this trust goes both ways, especially since something dangerous is inside me as well, but I had no means of knowing what it is yet.

I was lost in thought for a while as Fesha and I walked through the vacant silence of a long forgotten town. After a while I had noticed that it was far too quiet. Breezes that would gently blow, animals in the distance, gently rushing water, all of it was gone. The silence was far too unsettling. From the look on Fesha's face, she seemed just as alert as I was. My eyes darted back and forth between the dark ends of each avenue. Every fork we reached, I would gaze into the path we could have taken, watching for something. Traversing this place reminded me of the eerie darkness that clouded each street when Tenebris had led us to his haven. The darkness that I had sworn took shape and moved. The more we walked in the darkness of the alleyways, the more I felt suppressed in some way. The silence had only been adding to the fear I felt, so I decided to ask Fesha about it.

"Do you feel like someone is watching us too?" I asked.

Fesha looked at me. "Must thou say it aloud, I was just beginning to forget my unease. Still we should be cautious. Perhaps one of the town residence followed us here to exact revenge." She said half jokingly.

I looked down every alley we past, each as dark as the last. With the distance we were from any sky light, it was hard to make out the ends of off-shooting streets. We continued until we hit a four way street, with the left road leading us back to the broken edge of the layer, near the rays of light. Fesha and I immediately turned toward the warmly lit road, until the sound of a soft exhale was present just behind us. We both turned quickly, staring at the darkness of the road opposite of us. We stared at the darkness for a some time, waiting for some shape to come out.

"Listen, I've run out of explosive powder from fighting Tenebris. Do what thee had done earlier, if we must fight." Fesha whispered.

I looked at her. "I told you, I don't even know how I did that." I whispered back.

Then an audible groan echoed through the avenue. I looked at the darkness once more and I saw a familiar shape staring back. The same shape that I had saw before we reached Tenebris's settlement. It was hard to make out its form with the alley's black backdrop, but it walked on all fours and had long limbs, longer than twice the size of a human adult. Its skin was pitch black and covered in spikes, boils, and thick threads that hung over its sides. The surface of it glistened in the faint light that emanated from behind us. The front of its torso and chest were completely torn open, exposing bone and blackened organs that had spilled out, now loosely hanging from any remaining tissue and was being dragged across the stone. It slowly and steadily made its way toward us, revealing more and more of its grotesque shape and its rotted scent. Soon, enough light had shown on it for us to make out its face. Its face was that of a beautiful older lady. Her hair was a shiny blonde, but had been stained by its own dark bodily fluids. Her face was slim and her chin was well defined. Parts of her skin were covered in the black growth, but the little skin that was left was light and smooth looking. Her lips were slender and as smooth as the rest of her skin. One of her eyes had been completely taken over by a twisting black branch that protruded from her spine shaped neck. Her other eye was full glazed over with white, her iris barely distinguishable.

As the being kept moving toward us, it began to speak in a crackly, yet sweet sounding feminine tone. "I-Is it th-thou, my love?" It spoke. Fesha and I stayed silent, seeing as how it may not be able to see.

"Lo-love, please. I-It has been tr-trying to talk t-to me, but I d-don't want to. Hast thou founde-eth a way to re-s-store my sight? It ke-keeps wat-ch-ching me from th-the dark." The being continued.

I signaled with my hand to Fesha and she immediately understood. She quietly shuffled in her bag and handed me her knife. I grabbed it and began closing in on the monster. My footsteps were soft but it still seemed to notice me approaching.

"Aah, there ar-rt th-thou." It spoke.

Eventually we were face to face, and unconsciously, I knew it needed to be comforted. I gently laid my free hand atop its head and it accepted it with a struggled smile.

"M-my love, tell m-me... is o-our son still ok-k-kay?" It asked.

With that, I said the only response I could. "Don't worry Dahlea, you'll be able to see your son soon." I took the knife in my other hand and lined it up right behind her chin.

She looked at me with her blurry eyes and spoke. "So th-the suffer-ering finally ends."

I plunged the knife swiftly into her head. Dark crimson covered the knife and my hand as she bled out. Her body crumbled then fell over, now still and lifeless on the ground. Fesha walked toward me.

"Thou seemed a lot less hesitant." She said. Her statement had made me realize yet again, that I had killed again without feeling shaken.

Fesha continued. "It seemeth Tenebris was trying to find his wife when we met him. No wonder he was so far out."

I interrupted her. "Hey, you know anything about what it was saying? About the thing watching her."

"I cannot be the one to answer. Perhaps the manipulations of their wicked god." She answered.

I looked down at the hideous corpse. Her body was mangled by the black growth, but whatever was left exposed of her face seemed happy that she had finally past on. Fesha closed her eyes and placed her palms together while murmuring in prayer. I listened to her mumbling as I stared at the remains of this family's ill-fate. I closed my eyes with Fesha and a silent flow of tears washed over my cheeks.