The Obsidian Pillar

Chapter Nineteen

Shadow made flesh. Night personified. Tangible darkness.

I stared at him, breathless and hollow. The sight of him alone drew my very thoughts from me. In a strange way, it brought me peace. It stopped me from panicking, from worrying or reacting fatally. I couldn't feel the vibrations of my magic, which would undoubtedly have surfaced defensively by now. I couldn't question what to do next. I was held in that moment.

I knew that he was inside my mind, soothing my fears with his inky tendrils. I didn't want to run or scream or fight. I wasn't myself, and it was his fault.

Neither of us broke our stare. It was all that I could make out from the smoky darkness that surrounded him. He wore it like a cloak, but, I couldn't look away from his eyes. The irises were molten silver and held no warmth within them. I didn't know how that colour could make him appear to be sage, cruel and uncompromising with one look.

'I'm much worse than that,' he teased, the silver in his eyes swirling mischievously.

I flinched, stepping backwards to feel nothing beneath my feet. Unsurprisingly, I fell, hurtling down through shadow, wind and ice. I grasped at the dark around me, begging the Gods to spare me. I hadn't realised how much I wanted to live until then.

The familiar shroud of swirling night suddenly grasped me and carried me safely and gently upwards to the black podium that I had been standing on. As I grounded myself upon it, with the inky shroud's help, I noticed that the shiny obsidian floor reflected light from above. I looked up to find the source.

It is a common urge we all have, to find the light in the dark, to know that there is something glowing somewhere within the hungry shadows that can swamp and swallow everything so quickly.

Stars.

'No,' he corrected, his voice as smooth as honey, 'Not stars, Valla.'

'Then what are they?' I couldn't help myself.

'Perhaps I'll show you one day.'

I reluctantly drew my gaze down from the twinkling lights, to survey their effervescent reflections in the glossy floor.

'Don't enter my mind again,' I said quietly, unable to meet his gaze.

'One day you will come to me willingly.' His voice was husky with desire... but how was that possible? I wasn't even certain that he was human beneath all the darkness. He chuckled.

'Stop it,' I warned, despite being unsure of what I could do to actually stop him.

'We could think of something,' he teased.

I strode forward, heading for the inky tendrils that hid him from view. I could have sworn his eyes widened uncertainly.

'Aren't you frightened of me?' he asked calmly. I pulled at the icy smoke with my hands, wading through it aggressively. A hand leapt out and grasped my wrist gently. I froze when I felt its warmth.