Forty – 05

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]

“You play a dangerous game.”

                I stood on a precipice overlooking a vast, yawning maw of darkness, staring down toward a figure hovering above the shadows, reveling in the darkness. Wind tore at my clothing, whipping my hair around my face.

But it’s still my game to play. No one hurts my family if I can stop it. No one.

                “Indeed, child.  Luck go with you where I cannot.”

                My lips thinned as the Morrigan’s voice faded from my mind.

On my own now.

                Fingers squeezed my shoulder. I looked back to catch a fleeting glimpse of a face, a mix of Thom’s and my own, a teenager with a faint scar along the side of his face and a grim resolve I recognized with a mix of love and regret.

                Then he was gone, though the whisper of a voice I wouldn’t actually hear for decades to come stayed with me.

                “I’m with you, Mom. You can do this.”

                It was painful reassurance, but reassurance nonetheless.

                Then I was alone, staring down at Thesan as she hovered above and amidst the darkness. She met my gaze, her eyes smoldering with a mix of malice and madness.

                I sucked in a breath and exhaled it slowly.

                You can do this.

                “Give me what I want and I’ll go away,” Thesan called to me from where she hovered below. “Just let it go, Seer! Let it go.”

                “I won’t,” I said, fighting to keep my voice from shaking. “I will never stop fighting you, Thesan—we will never stop fighting you. We’re not going down without a fight. Now give us back what you stole and leave us in peace.”

                She laughed. The sound rose and fell, raising my hackles. It was the laugh of someone who’d lost the very last of their marbles, who was beyond anyone’s ability to help.

                The laugh was very nearly madness incarnate and it shot shivers down my spine.

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