Blackness poured from the doors like ink spilled from its well. The two men were swallowed by it. Abigail saw their mouths open but their yells never reached her ears. Despite all her training, despite the spells and lessons her father taught her, Abigail reacted on instinct and instinct alone. If the trap could contain something as powerful as fae, maybe it could contain something bigger.
As hard as she could, she threw the spirit trap through the doors and into the Everdark.
The two magics collided and for a brief moment, time stood still. All around, rocks began to float and Abigail herself felt as though she were weightless. Then, an explosion of arcana and energy sent her flying backward. She landed with a heavy thud, striking her head and losing consciousness within seconds.
She came to surrounded by darkness. It was unclear how long she had been out or even where she was. At first, she thought she was hallucinating but the throbbing in her temple told her otherwise.
Abigail was no longer in the swamp. She could no longer see the portal or anything else for that matter, only the wide expanse of night.
“Tess? Tess! Where are you?!” she called. It was like the dark swallowed her voice as well. The sound left her lips through puffs of smoke and no response came back.
She started to panic. Terror set in and Abigail’s breathing came out in ragged gasps. She tried to run but with nothing but darkness in sight, it felt like she was locked in a nightmare, running without going anywhere.
“Hello?! ANYONE?!”
Nothing. More smoke. Louder silence. The only thing she heard was the rapid beating of her heart. And then—
“Who are you child and why have you disturbed me?”
The voice that reached her ears was soft and gentle, not what she would have expected in a place like…wherever she was.
“I am Abigail Herant, daughter of Charles Herant,” she said to no one. “And who are you?”
“I am the Everdark.” Through the darkness, a shape emerged shadowed in gray. She could see no features or face, only the figure of something vaguely humanoid. “I have been asleep for centuries and now I am awake. Why?”
“Someone wanted to set you loose on the mortal world,” Abigail said, her eyes tracking the figure now there was at least something to focus on. Yet, every time she did, the shape moved, and changed, always staying at just the edge of her peripheral vision. Like the shadow people that tended to disappear the second you focused on them. “I tried to stop her. I threw a trap.”
“So that’s where we are.”
Abigail’s stomach sank. “We?” Shit, the two powerful magics must have collided and she got caught in the pull. Her plan worked but it seemed she was trapped as well.
“Yes, we. Though, I don’t imagine this prison will hold for very long. Not with both of us here.”
“Just both? There should be three.”
“Is there?” After a beat of silence, the being responded. “Ah yes, there is. A powerful being at that. A fae with a very long list of demands.” The voice sounded amused.
Abigail wasn’t sure how she felt about the being in front of her. Their voice calmed her, made her feel like she did when she woke in the middle of the night, and the darkness lulled her back to sleep.
“Don’t listen to her,” she said. “That fae wants to use you to wipe out humanity. She wants to plunge the world into endless night.”
“And what about you? What you do want to use me for?”
“I don’t want to use you for anything.”
“But you want to contain me, don’t you? Put me back in my prison?”
Did she want to? A moment ago she would have said ‘hell yeah’ but now she wasn’t so sure. “Should I?” she asked.
Abigail couldn’t see a face or where the voice came from, yet she heard a soft sigh. “The dark is neither dangerous nor good. The dark is just the dark. It’s what one does with the dark that determines its intent.”
“Then who locked you away? And why?”
“Those who did not understand and were afraid. They fought to control me and when they could not, they banished me and threw away the key. What will you do, child? Will you follow in their footsteps?”
Abigail considered their words, her mind spinning. There was no precedent for this. Everything she had been taught and knew about magic couldn’t even begin to explain what, or who, the Everdark was.
“What will you do if you’re free?” she asked. “What will happen?”
“That entirely depends on you.”
“Me? Why me?”
Abigail felt her tattoo flare and she gasped but not out of pain. Out of surprise. Because it didn’t hurt or itch. It felt warm, comforting even. She lifted her shirt to look and saw it glowing white, so bright in contrast to the darkness that she had to look away.
“Because you wear their mark,” the Everdark said.
Realization dawned on Abigail. “Wait, you mean my family did this to you? My ancestors locked you away?” she asked.
“They called themselves protectors and I do not fault them for their fear. But our time in your trap is limited and the magic will be breaking any moment. Decide soon, Abigail Herant. What will you have me do?”
“What’ll happen when the trap breaks?”
“You, me, and your prisoner will be spat out into the mortal plane and you will lose your chance to seal me away again. For once I am free I cannot be contained.”
“And then?”
There was silence. Abigail got the sense that the being was considering her words just as she had considered their’s. “I do not know. It has been so long since I was free I cannot remember what I did before my slumber,” they said. “I suppose I will have to relearn the world. It has been some time since I’ve seen it.”
“If I were to contain you, how? It sounds like it took a number of Herants to do it and I’m just me.”
“You can command me to return. I am tied to the prison and you are tied to its creation. I will yield to you above others.”
“So then what? You just go back in your cage and stay there?”
“Unless I am disturbed once more.”
Abigail tried to process what she was hearing. How the hell was she supposed to decide? She sensed no malice or ill-intent from the Everdark and it was not lost on her that Belinda was apparently trying to control it and was finding no success. But could she do what her ancestors did? Could she seal this being away? It wasn’t endless darkness. It had a consciousness, it could think and speak.
It wasn’t a mindless entity.
What the hell should she do?
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