Nia - Bait (2)

“Why don’t you just run away?” Nia asked mockingly, though she was secretly curious about the answer.

“The Nightmares would tear us apart. They’re rabid beasts, emotions too primal to bargain with… Even though we carry darkness, they would still feed on us,” Enu said, looking at her in confusion.

“That’s why we thought you could get us out of here. With you nearby they wouldn’t attack us. And you could either use us as vessels or command us to go under the Shields. Surely we could find a way to destroy the Lighthouses…” Itch added.

“A tempting offer, but I have to tell you it’s more complicated. I want to go home, back to the Seed. The Exorcist will be overwhelmed by my brothers and sisters if she keeps going. She has no idea what she’s walking into. I have to teach them what I’ve learned here. Life in this young woman has changed me. I can finally think and plan clearly. You understand that, don’t you?” Nia smiled.

She certainly couldn’t rescue these men from their captivity, though it would be fascinating to strike at the Radiant Order and its Nightmare Hunters… after everything they had done to her…

What are you thinking? The Exorcists only hurt you because they believe you’re possessed. If you really were, they might even have a point… Nia thought, unsettled.

“Will you at least consider coming back afterward? Please. We’ll submit to you! You can bring Nightmares with you; we’ll yield to them. If you can find ones who can posess us. But please, let us walk among humans again and… I just want to feel blood on my hands once more, to see those terror-stricken faces when the waking bodies dissolve…” Rufus murmured feverishly.

A cold shiver ran down Nia’s spine. The man was completely insane and dangerous. The others probably were too… She had to tell Lera about this! She had to…

“Yes, I’ll come back,” she breathed as firmly as she could.

That seemed to satisfy the others, and they turned back to the wall. Nia also raised her knife again and began scraping the stones clean of lichen.

Soon her fingers ached, but she kept going and focused only on the faint burning around her neck. Still she went on. She couldn’t show weakness in front of these men; she had to behave as they expected a Possessed to behave. She had to keep control of the situation; she needed that small sense of power…

Little by little she grew warmer. It wasn’t an unpleasant heat, not like the burning circle that pressed into her thoughts when she looked inward. No, it felt more like what she felt when she was near Uda. A small flame that gave at least a little comfort. That feeling encouraged her and let rebellious thoughts flare up again. Thoughts she had believed Lera had completely erased.

If we reach the Seed… maybe then I’ll finally get an answer to why we were attacked back then. If someone is behind all this misery… I would love nothing more than to pierce every inch of their body and inflict pain I can’t even begin to imagine yet, she thought, pressing her knife down with growing anticipation.

Blaming someone else—wouldn’t that be wonderful?

You’re a worthless piece of shit…

Nia swallowed when she realized she was pathetically trying to justify herself, shifting away her guilt and responsibility. But hadn’t the false Locu said it himself? It had been her fault…

The warmth grew stronger.

The false Locu…

“SHIT!” Nia screamed and jumped back from the wall she had been working on.

“Get back, get back!” she ordered the three men, who froze and stared at her in shock.

The Hunters, not far away, turned toward her and lowered their spears, pointing them at her.

“You bitch, do you really think you can…?” a young woman snapped at her, but Nia cut her off in fury.

“A Nightmare! A Nightmare is coming! It’s almost here. We have to get behind the Shield, let us back in! It’ll attack those three over there! If I’m bound like this, I can’t stop it!” she shouted, pointing at her chain and taking a step toward the Hunters. 

But suddenly their spears lit up.

“Stay where you are, monster! We won’t…” one of the Hunters began, but got no further.

The warmth inside Nia had now turned to heat, and she felt as if she were floating, as if she were lying in a luxurious bed where she could finally relax… Then the house next to the one she had been pointlessly working on exploded. Screams echoed from the prisoners as they scrambled for cover. 

A stone landed only a hand’s breadth from Nia—if it had hit her, it would have crushed her head. Yet somehow she didn’t care. She stood tall and faced what was coming. She wasn’t afraid, just like last time. Just like when the false Locu had come toward her to punish her for her deeds as she deserved.

The warmth now felt different than what she had experienced with the false Locu, not as intense. But maybe that was only because the collar around her neck dulled her. She trembled, not from fear, but from excitement.

I can finally awaken. This terrible time will soon be over. I just have to move forward and accept what comes next…

She spread her arms wide with joy. The stones that still tormented her now burned hotter, and behind her she heard the Hunters shouting warnings, but she didn’t care. Nia was used to pain—she deserved it. It no longer had power over her.

A slimy, massive black body slithered over the ruins of the house beside them. The Nightmare was enormous, with only a few small, tentacle-like outgrowths, a long, slit-shaped mouth, and breathing holes along its slick back that oozed foul slime. At its front jutted four long stalks, twitching among flickering, tentacle-like structures that quivered in agitation.

Nia looked at the creature, and a tear ran down her cheek: This was her salvation! The Nightmare that would finally set her free. She laughed aloud and stepped forward. The warmth surged.

“Stay back, you filthy bitch! Do not try to control it, the stones won’t allow that!” one of the Hunters snarled, but she ignored him.

The monster slid toward her, slowly. In Nia’s mind she was suddenly standing in front of a door again, pounding on it while someone she needed waited on the other side. Someone who belonged to her. Tears ran down her cheeks; this Nightmare was a door for her too, a gateway to a second chance. Waking up. Lera had said that one day you return to the Dream, and even if that was just a superstition, the thought comforted her.

Maybe I’ll see the real Locu again… 

Suddenly Rufus barreled past her, laughing. “I’m here, great master! Take me and redeem me! Show me your darkness!” he cried.

Nia barely registered the long tongue that shot from the creature’s wide maw and tore a huge hole in Rufus’s chest. Before he hit the ground he dissolved into the glowing shapes she had seen too often. Now they felt strangely familiar though and inside her, memories of the abyss she once had felt so beautifully joined into her thoughts. It was still alien and familiar at the same time and she hesitated. 

A burning spear flashed past Nia and drove into the slimy mass in front of her. The abomination gave a loud roar and reared up over her. Its underside was covered in small, stinking feelers.

Nia pushed the emptiness aside that Rufus' waking had summoned. She took another step forward.

To Locu… she thought, then abruptly paused once more, a strange calm and disconnect enveloping her.

Who is responsible for these Nightmares? 

The question rose up in her mind and pushed to the front, casting a shadow over everything else.

Then she smiled, because she understood something: one day she would be delivered from this terrible situation, but not today. First she had to find out whether someone else was responsible for Locu’s awakening. 

What if there really is someone to blame? Wouldn’t it then be my duty to avenge Locu?

“STOP!” she shouted at the Nightmare, and suddenly the chain around her neck flared and cut so deep into her flesh that she almost lost her balance.

But the pain only drove her onward. It was as if she drew new strength from it, and finally, after all the days under Lera’s boot, she felt a little bit of the darkness that had always stayed just out of reach. And she realized something else, too: the darkness was the pain, and the pain was good.

The creature froze when her command echoed through the houses. Only for a moment.

But that was enough.

More glowing spears struck the massive body, pierced its tough hide, and burst into tiny sparks. Then a white beam with a hint of scarlet hissed past her and sliced the Nightmare into pieces. The creature fell back, smoking and twitching.

Slowly the pressure around her neck eased, and Nia sank to her knees, gasping. The world spun around her, but she forced herself to stay upright.

“You saved us. You really protected us and stopped it, despite the bonds, despite the stones…” Itch murmured behind her, pure awe in his voice.

“We owe you our lives… you kept more than your word. We will follow you when you return, if that is what you want. Wherever you desire,” Enu whispered.

Then the Hunters were on them, tearing her away. Nia barely registered it, not even when Lera stormed toward her. Her eyes were glowing blood red, the whip still smoldering.