Dusk and Ash (In Progress)

Chapter 4

Why am I not like them? Durmhain asked Kunuum as he walked alongside a train of men and women he guessed to be Husks, given the neutrality of their expression and posture. They all marched forward with the same vacant expression which Durmhain tried to mimic without studying them to obviously. Though Durmhain's approach to the looming mountain stoked his anxiety, he was grateful that the proximity of other bodies provided some warmth and protection from the harsh wind. I don't even understand how I survived.

Omnox left some of you alive so that you could tell Jeroth what he wanted to hear. If he had simply killed or enslaved you, it would have taken a great deal longer to sift through the contents of your mind, given that it would have become mostly vacant. They didn't have that kind of time. They left the rest to me.

Which is why he carved the glyph onto my chest. Your glyph, I imagine.

Looks rather fetching on you. Gives you a little color.

Are you controlling the others, too? Durmhain asked, lowering his eyes to avoid the soldiers that inspected the silent mob he was a part of. There were few of them stationed throughout the fortress than there had been when Durmhain first arrived. He guessed it was because most had been sent after Qulkest.

Yes and no. These are all Husks. I planted a seed in their minds to make them compliant, but Omnox has control of them.

But not me.

Kunuum did not respond, and was silent for so long Durmhain wondered if the demon had left completely. Without anything to distract him, he began to feel the nausea return to him with a vengeance, the world shifting beneath his feet as exhaustion began to distort his senses. The cold wind sifting through the cracks of the crowd erratically sobered his fatigue with misery.

Everyone else here was broken, Kunuum finally replied. Their souls remain, but their life energies are now being manipulated by Omnox. You, however, did not break. Not completely.

Durmhain almost laughed in response. What he had thought of himself, what he felt as himself, was cleaved in two and ripped open from the inside out. What remained was as much a husk as the living cadavers that slowly marched beside him.

I said not completely, Kunuum continued. I'm sure if Omnox had used my power on you, he would have owned you as much as these other wretches, but-

What do you mean? He can use your power?

Kunuum hesitated again. Remember how I said Omnox had eaten me?

Yes.

When he did that, my powers became grounded in his being. He does not have the nuance to infect a soul by himself, but once I do it, he is the one who retains control.

So you're a prisoner?

Yes. Not much to be done about it, I'm afraid. Omnox is fed daily, glutted on spirits, demons, and humans. He's too powerful for me to resist him. Which makes you a rather troublesome splinter. If you refuse to serve-

Durmhain snarled despite himself, but immediately composed himself. His breath stuck in his chest as he waited for one of the guards to seize him, but after several moments, no one did. Durmhain let his breath flow evenly again. I'm not going to serve Nithia. As soon as I get the chance, I'm out of here.

Good luck with that. I doubt much will be left of you once you feed Omnox a second time.

I'll find a wa- Durmhain had been so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't notice he had outpaced the rest of the group and now was near the front of the crowd, where a perimeter of soldiers were guarding one husk in particular. The woman's short gray hair was matted with grime and blood, and the only eye Durmhain could see from the side was missing, no longer covered by a leather eyepatch.