I cannot see. I cannot see. The reality hits home and suddenly i am wide awake.
For a moment, i think i am back on the Unsea. Lying in the darkness, on the grey sands where nothing grows, waiting for the tortured screams of monsters who were once men and their claws as they dig into my flesh.
But i am not on the fold. I am in bed. Swaddled in cool, soothing, silks, pillows prop up my head and shoulders. The soft touch of velvet brushes against my cheeks, the crisp scent of bare branches swaying in a winter breeze.
It is so comfortable and calming just to lie there, that for moment my eyes flicker down and i think i am going to fall asleep again. But then i remember that i don't know where i am and i am completely blind.
I don't know those bed chamber this is. I don't know how i got here. I don't know why i can't see. I can't breath. I feel as though i am drowning all over again; drowning in darkness. There is something cold coiled around my ring finger but i can't figure out what.
Another wave off nausea hits me. My head is swimming. I don't know which way is up or down. Saints it hurts. I trace the line of stitches again. I must of hit my head badly -really badly. I don't know how. There is so much that i do not know and the weight of it all crushes my ribcage. I know nothing. My heart speeds. The claustrophobic darkness crowds in on me. I have to get out of here.
I jump out of the bed. Staggering forward, arms out stretched, bare feet skimming over ice-cold tiles. I try to summon. I hear Baghra's rickety voice in my head. "Bring the light." If only i could, if only i could see it. I try but when I search for sun inside, i find a boot on my chest. I cannot move it. I cannot fight it. The light is no longer mine to summon.
My power is trapped and the more i try to use it, the more it feels like gagging. Sweat blossoms on my brow, the floor sways like the hull of an air ship beneath my feet. I reach out, hoping to find something -anything- to hold on to. My knee's tremble, any minute now i will collapse.
"Mal..." the name feels dry and rusty on my tongue. "Mal?"
"Alina."
I draw back, slamming into a table corner, something rocks and smashes to floor behind me -a vase or a water jug- it doesn't matter.
The voice isn't Mal's. It's him.
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The Darkness That Binds Us
FanfictionThis Fan-Fic follows Alina, blinded by the darkling and unable to access her powers. She must rise to be his balance. Darkling and Alina Fan-Fic. Alternate ending to Ruin and Rising for those who want to read more of that sweet, sweet Darklina dram...
