Chapter 42 Beacon

Black lightning erupted from Anira’s scepter, tearing the air with a shriek like metal on glass. Behind me, the void that had delivered me here collapsed in on itself. Instinct guided me as I summoned a familiar weight into my hand. An umbrella. The same battered thing I used before I died. I flicked it open, its canopy snapping wide just as the lightning struck.

The surge coursed through me, crawling across my limbs. My body should have been ash, yet instead, I felt… more alive than I had in years. The current resonated with something buried deep in my being. I rested the umbrella on my shoulder, feigning casualness, though confusion gnawed at me. How did this mundane relic from my old life translate here?

Anira tilted her head, her lips curling into something between intrigue and irritation. “Huh? Interesting… Normally, anyone struck by such magic would turn to ash. But not you…”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to hold on to the sensation. The memory of the surge lingered, and before I knew it, I unfurled a black bolt of lightning of my own. It screamed across the chamber toward her. She raised a shimmering barrier, and my strike ricocheted away harmlessly.

“I see,” she purred, “so that’s your affinity…” With a flourish, she conjured a sphere of blue fire and hurled it. I didn’t think. I simply raised the umbrella in front of me. The fireball slammed into the fabric and bounced off, careening into the wall with a deafening explosion. Dust rained from the ceiling.

I let out a short breath. “Okay. So, I can absorb lightning and bounce magic. That’s… something.”

“This is boring me already.” Anira’s tone shifted, low and dangerous. She reached out with one hand, and Lydia jerked forward as if yanked by invisible chains. Anira gripped her throat, lifting her slightly. Lydia clawed at the unseen force, her feet scraping against the clay floor.

“How about we try again?” Anira’s scepter pulsed as she summoned another void, swirling and unstable, to my left. “Just go home, will you? I am even willing to sign a magical contract with you, promising this woman’s safety.”

I kept walking forward, slow, deliberate. “I don’t care. Kill her.” My voice was flat, but my chest tightened with each word.

Anira’s smile widened, her teeth glinting. “Oh, you care about her. I saw it in little Nira’s memories, after all. In fact, you owe a great deal to her, just as much as you owe your life to little Nira. Don’t test my patience. Just go home, little specter. If you force me further, I won’t stop with killing this woman. I will thoroughly torture her soul, the same way I’m going to torment you. Or…” She leaned forward, her eyes glimmering cruelly. “If you stand still, I can make your demise merciful.”

Her words dug into me deeper than I wanted to admit. I realized then what Maria had told me had always been true… I was terrified of death. I didn’t want to go just yet, and I want Nira to grow safe in a world where it wouldn’t hurt anymore.

The void beside me split open, and a monstrous tentacle-like hand lunged out. Its fingers closed around me with crushing force, only to shriek as powerlines burst from my shadow, snapping into existence. They coiled and whipped around the hand, sparking, frying it with electricity until it convulsed. The hand retreated, dragging the void with it in a hiss of smoke.

I glanced at my left arm. It was thinning, wisps of fog unraveling from it like smoke from a dying ember. The cost of my magic was catching up. My body wasn’t built to sustain this power for long. Yet as I lifted my gaze, seeing Anira’s face twist from fury into disappointment, I felt only emboldened.

“For someone who talks too much,” I said, my tone mocking, “why are you suddenly so quiet?”

The words hung in the air, daring her. Then, without warning, the ceiling above groaned. Cold droplets struck my skin, one by one, before cascading into a downpour. Rain. Inside the dungeon. The enclosed stone chamber had no sky, and no storm to draw from. Yet here it was… falling, soaking the earth, and drowning the silence in an impossible storm.

“What are you doing?” Anira’s voice sharpened, her grip on Lydia’s throat tightening as if she thought I would flinch.

I steadied my breath, each step echoing through the drenched stone chamber. “I am going to flood this area, zap you, and then hopefully die while I do it.” The words rolled from my tongue with a bitter calm. Maybe it was bravado, maybe resignation… but I meant it.

Her eyes widened, her expression a storm of disbelief and mockery. “Don’t you care about this woman?!” She jerked Lydia upward, forcing her to gasp as her legs kicked helplessly.

I stopped pretending then. My chest felt heavy, but the truth pressed itself free. “The truth is… I care about that woman, so much. I realize now it would be a shame to see her go. She offered me advice when I needed it, comfort when I felt lost. She was my beacon in this world as much as Nira.”

Lydia struggled, eking out a reply. “You b-bastard… S-stick with your story… You d-don’t care… at all…”

The words tasted raw. I hadn’t wanted to admit it, not even to myself, but they clawed their way out anyway. Lydia had been more than a companion. Instead, she had been a tether, an anchor keeping me from drifting completely into the void I had become.

Anira’s lips curled, as if she thought she had found my weakness. “How about your little Nira?”

I took another step, closing the gap between us, the umbrella in my hand dripping with conjured rain. My voice hardened. “Shouldn’t it be you asking that to yourself? What happens if little Nira dies? Would you lose your chance at resurrection forever? Or maybe you’ll have another chance? Do you really know?”

For the first time, her confident smile faltered. Doubt crept into her features, like cracks spreading across glass. The certainty she had carried and the arrogance in her words wavered.

Finally, I stood at arm’s reach. I lifted my hand slowly, deliberately, watching her eyes flicker between fury and hesitation. My voice dropped low, almost gentle, but sharp enough to cut. “I care for Nira like she was my own daughter.”

My hand pressed against her, and in that instant, I let my essence surge forward. Possession.