Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 14-6

Faïz

Sitting in an armchair in front of the bed, Faïz studied the face of the young woman who seemed to sleep serenely. Despite the magic of the past few hours, there was no inner peace, no feeling of fullness either; quite the contrary. This peaceful moment was in fact only bellicose, ruined by the presence that had already followed him for several days. Faïz knew he had no choice. He had to put an end to this ghost of darkness.

"I know you're here," he murmured without looking away from Zoe's face. "You're watching me, hiding in the shadows, like a scavenger watching its prey. Let's go talk outside before dawn breaks, before my beloved's eyes kiss the day."

From the beach, Faïz watched the house on stilts, which was off the lagoon. Seen from here, it looked much smaller. The mist was beginning to rise in certain places on this calm and silent ocean. The fog would soon cover the whole island. Suddenly, a noise coming from the hollow of the cliff behind him disturbed the tranquility of the place and forced Faïz to turn around. At the entrance to the cave, dug directly into the rock, a woman with ebony skin and long hair with golden reflections was waiting for him. Behind his black eyes, Faïz glimpsed a flash of panic. So far, the horrible truth has been nothing but words in the mouth of his interlocutors. Now it was becoming a reality. The Banshee standing before him was proof of this. The young man appeared to be drained of all his blood. With a ghostly pallor, he faced death.

"It's so cold," said the woman, who was gazing at the horizon, absent-minded, her eyes empty of emotion.

Her clear eyelids, hidden under the white of her opaque eyes, seemed to get lost in the vastness of the ocean before her.

"You...you must leave," declared Faïz, trying to take a confident tone.

"Leave? I would love to," replied the Banshee softly, who was advancing on the beach without paying attention to the young man. "But first, I have to—"

"No!"

The woman, until then unperturbed, finally turned her head in his direction. Unmoved, she stared at the young man, waiting for him to speak again. The breeze brought her long hair back and made her long white dress float in the air. Her threadlike silhouette blended perfectly with the misty decor.

"There are always alternatives," said Faïz, looking mad with despair. "We can still change things. We can change the future. Nothing has been decided yet!"

The woman walked over to him and looked almost sympathetically at him before answering,

"If there was the slightest hope, the slightest chance that things would change, I wouldn't be here in front of you now. You have already made your choice, the outcome of which will be death."

The words of the Banshee ended Faïz, who dropped to his knees.

"I beg you," implored the young man in a low voice, his head bowed and his eyes bright. "Let me save them."

"We used to be so strong. Today we are trapped here. Few remember that we existed before the creation of darkness, but we will die in the absence of faith."

She suddenly raised her head to the sky and began to convulse. She seemed to be struggling with the pain. Powerless, Faïz watched the scene, plunged into utter dismay. Hearing the shrill cry that escaped from the Banshee, he realized at that moment that there was no hope. Kneeling, he turned his head towards the house in the distance. The fog covered it almost entirely. The young man put his hands on his temples to protect himself from the noise of her powerful howl. His heart filled with rage and hurt, he began to scream too with all his might. At the same time, Zoe woke up with a shock, looking around the room for Faïz.