Iridian

14. DUALITY

.memory (fragment #13)

"We never anticipated this..." Anxiety.

"How could we? We didn't even know such a thing existed—until now." Calm. Controlled.

"What was that thing?"

"I wish I knew. I'm hoping the Archives will shed some light." A hint of frustration.

"Paige is beside herself with guilt."

"Your wife is too hard on herself. Neither of you could have known. We'd never actually seen the creature, we only found the remnants of its—work."

"She said that Arden sensed its presence and told her. But she ignored it."

"It might have been hiding from Paige. It was hunting. Its focus was Arden, perhaps that's why only Arden felt it."

"It can do that?"

"Probably. Evidence suggests that it—he—is like us, but of a darker element. In fact, from what I've seen, quite the polar opposite of us in some ways."

"That doesn't make sense. Like us but not like us?" Confusion.

"Two sides of the same coin, Llewellyn. I have no clear answer. This is the first time any of us have had direct contact with it."

"And it had to be Arden—"

There was a pause.

"Will she recover?"

"She will, though I can't gauge how fast that will be. The Nexus is very strong in her. She's her father's daughter true enough."

"You're absolutely certain?"

"About her lineage? No doubt about that. They don't look much alike but the similarities are there." Another pause.

"And him?"

"He'll be fine."

"The bond?"

A sigh. "Unavoidable now. It was the only thing he could do to save her, and he was the only one who could."

"He's going to be very annoyed. With himself."

A wry chuckle. "That might be refreshing. He's usually annoyed with other people. And I suspect, she will be very annoyed too. With him. "

"Most likely. You seem to know much about her." Amusement.

"He tells me things. The rest I can guess." Nonchalance.

"We have no clue to what the repercussions may be. There are no records of it ever happening here, only vague hints."

"Too many of the records are missing. You'd think the Decem would have had a better way to store information. But I digress. The mayor's daughter—is she—?"

"Alive. They managed to revive her at the hospital. She doesn't remember anything though and that is for the best."

"Then Arden interrupted just in time."

"Yes. Norman has the local police up in arms looking for her attacker. We know they won't find him."

"They can't. This is our hunt, not theirs."

"How many victims to date?"

"Fifteen that we know of. It's not good. I thought he was one of us but everyone's accounted for, so my guess is an unaided alterer. Something must have gone wrong to become so twisted... it's almost unheard of. You felt it."