Whispers (Book 3 of Wielder series)

Chapter 19 - Magic's Call

Evan's journal contained more than Alie had anticipated.

The entire book was filled with a scattering of random notes, as if Evan had used it merely to jot down passing thoughts that ran through his head. Sometimes he included the date of a revelation. Sometimes he included the reference of a book or manuscript he'd pulled information from. But mostly the notes had no semblance of order. Sometimes they weren't even attached to a page, but rather scribbled on a scrap of paper and tucked between the pages.

It was difficult to make sense of it all.

But as she slowly worked through it, a bigger picture began to form in her head. His disconnected thoughts began to make sense. The details he'd learned formed one startling, game-changing revelation: the Evil were parasites that clung to their hosts, changing how they thought and who they were. And once attached, they refused to let go.

She had certainly seen that evidenced in Michael. He'd acted like a completely different person once he'd turned. It wasn't just that his power had grown. The way he talked, the way he moved, the way he looked at her was different. Like it wasn't even really him.

It was almost as if the Evil hadn't just been influencing him, but controlling him.

Alie spent her days reading and re-reading Evan's notes. More and more of his scattered thoughts made sense. She took the journey of discovery with him through his words, beginning to understand why he pleaded so much for her help.

The last words he'd written clung to her mind. They were the few that held hope. In a sea of dark information, they grounded her, making her think about everything just a little bit differently.

The tether that binds them is breakable.

On her third read-through, she had a revelation. Evan had called the connection between Michael and the Evil a "bond." At first, Alie had thought that meant there was some sort of contractual agreement that Michael had made with the Evil, giving it permission to use him as a vessel in exchange for power. From Evan's notes, there was certainly some awareness that a bonded person had of that exchange before they accepted. But maybe that was only part of the story. Maybe the "bond" was actually bondage: a chain, a cage. What if the bond was a trap? What if it meant that it held its partner prisoner?

An entry earlier in the journal contained a first-person account from an unnamed source explaining what it felt like to fight the bond. Alie flipped back to it.

Control is an illusion. At times, I feel as if I am wrestling a sail in a storm, fighting to keep afloat. The longer I pull, trying to stay on course, the harder the sea pitches, and the more the wind pulls at the sail. The moment I let go, allowing the sea to swallow me, everything calms. As long as I do not fight it, the sea remains still. But if I try to steer in any other direction than the one the waves pull me, the storm returns. It is not a battle I can survive.

Alie set the book in her lap. Evan hadn't stated so directly, but to have an account of this nature meant that whoever gave it suffered an internal struggle. Perhaps the Evil had taken hold of them, but who they truly were was not forever lost. They were just trapped under the torment of the storm.

Was it like this for everyone who turned? Was every bonded suffering to regain control of themselves? Were they all trapped in the clutches of a power they couldn't control, one that no one had yet found a way to free them from?

If so, did that mean that Commander Sole was just a victim of his own bond?

No. He couldn't be. The choices he'd made had been conscious ones. He'd known exactly what he'd been doing when he tortured her. He'd delighted in her suffering. He'd wanted to continue.