Finally

Cain felt the terrible weight of the silence that swept over him. He realized that there was nothing left in the world to hear.

Then the grass creaked on his left. It was the only sound in the clearing since everything around him had stopped.

It caught him off guard, like someone had sat beside him with the ease of a friend claiming his place at a warm and gentle campfire.

He slowly turned his head toward it.

He couldn’t find the words to describe what he was looking at.

It was man-sized, like the shape a shadow makes on a wall. One thing he was certain of was that the darkness that it radiated had no true color.

Fear, amusement, and discomfort hit him all at once when its almost-face turned toward him.

It carried a terrifying fondness.

“Finally,” it said.

The voice rang in his ears with a deep, resonant tone and carried a profound relief, the opposite of how it looked.

“What…” He paused. “…are you?”

“You already know,” it said. “You have known since you saw me. In fact, the word is already going around your head now. You’re keeping it behind your teeth, because your father’s name is nailed to it. Well, you can say it or not. It changes nothing.”

He did not say it.

“Suit yourself,” it said.

“Did you do all of this?”

“Yes.”

“Are they dead?” His voice came out short and heavy. “The two of them… are they dead?”

“No, both of them are unconscious, but you…” It paused. “I stopped it because you and I have business, and there was almost no you left to have it with.”

“Looks like you picked a poor time for it.”

The entity chuckled. “It is old business, but it will keep another moment. I have waited eighteen years for this.”

It looked at him. “You are taking this well. I’m surprised you can still move and talk.”

“I’m dying. Can’t you see? I am at my limit,” he said.

It let out a short dry laugh that he felt more than heard.

The blood under him had gone still. His thoughts went straight to Mira. Whatever this entity wanted, it held power that he couldn’t imagine. No one waits that long for nothing.

“I know you better than anyone alive.” It tilted its head, examining the gaping wound in his torso without any hint of pity. “That is not a boast because everyone who knew you better is dead. You know that.”

“But I’ve never seen you before.”

“You’re not supposed to. I have sat at every fire you ever built. I was there when you learned to hold a sword badly, and I was there when you learned to hold it a little less badly. It was fun watching you progress.”

It reached out its hand, hovering its fingers inches above his body in a way that made him flinch.

“I was there when the woman with the clear stone asked your name on the north road, and you gave her the false one. I have heard every lie you have told the two of them.”

“There’s no point doubting you. I’m dying anyway. It doesn’t really matter.”

He coughed hard. “So… what is it that you want? Say it.”

“There’s one thing that comes first.” The entity leaned forward over its knees.

“Pleasure to meet you, Cain,” it said.

Nobody had said that name to him in three years.