Dead?

With the amount of screaming, I'm not certain as to why I expected otherwise. I spy over my shoulder to see Pascal cover her mouth, looking away with the same forlorn expression I held. Her heavy lashes fall to her pale cheeks as she holds back the regret of losing a companion.

I'd grown to like the woman, much as she was coarse, she never held the malice that Penelope and all those after her had. I attracted volatile women, Pascal was an exception in most instances.

My heart clouds with the same feeling of failure. Fadri had been odd, but he hadn't deserved to die. Perhaps if we had chosen someone else, anyone else, but it didn't seem right any other way. He was experienced in this world as much as anyone, the forest had just claimed him. 

"You're ok. That's all that matters." I manage, pressing my cheek against his chest and squeezing him once more. 

His chest meets my cheek with a chill that catches me off guard. I press my hand to his chest to slip away yet I feel resistance. One arm wraps around me and I grunt at the firmness in which he squeezes my body. The arm feels much like a steel cable wrapped around my ribs and strains my back. 

I squirm uncomfortably, wrinkling my nose at the unfamiliar chill that threatens my tepid temperature.

 Prodding his back muscles through the thin shirt as I tilt my gaze up through my bangs, the light eyes meet me with curiosity at my lack of stillness. As the moon rises, there is no reflection, no indication of night vision in the pale iris. 

He winks down at me, an odd gesture that forces my attention. Had Verando ever winked?

Something was strange in the way he felt to my fingers, I had traced over this man enough to memorize every plane of flesh. The terrain under my fingers yielded too easily, the heartbeat too slow, he wasn't tense or concerned. It was as if he had returned from a stroll. 

"Rando?" I manage, inspecting the density of his body, or lack thereof. It was the name that Rhea called him, often enough to make his skin crawl.

"Hmm?" He responds half-heartedly as Gabriel tends to the fire. My body firmly in his grasp, I'm reluctant to act on my suspicions. But the retort to such an offensive nickname confirms my suspicions that this person, this being, was not Verando.

"Just nervous. We were chased here by Corina and undead wolves." 

Blankly he stares at me, glaring at Gabriel before frowning. "Your sister?"

I tighten my jaw, hoping to gain Pascal's attention with my volume. "Well, it is based on your fears, is it not? So tell me, where is Fadri's body?" 

His fingers trap the material of my coat, dragging his trailing touch over the canvas fabric as if drawing some sort of intel from its rough texture.

"Taken by the woods." He could not hide from me, as he turned his head to scan the tree line, I closed my hands into fists. I was not an idiot, much as some might like to think, I knew my soul mate from anyone and this imposter was not him. "I thought you would be happy to have me back. It's going to be a long night, surely you have better things to do than worry about a shapeshifter." 

A shapeshifter.

As quick as I can manage, I wrench out of his grasp and back towards Pascal who joins me at my side. My magic rushes to my fingertips, I grimace at the discomfort from overuse by calling on the dragon realm. My body trembles, threatening to go into overload if I push too much harder.

 "Too bad your contact high couldn't tell you that my husband isn't too fond of shifters. He'd be much more likely to call you vermin considering you wanted to abandon us in the first place."

The imposter flashes his teeth, catching me off guard with the feral nature of the gesture. It wasn't often that expression was turned on me. Pascal guards me with her arm, sensing my weakness, knowing that this form would be hard for me to dispatch not only in strength but in appearance. We couldn't kill him, either of them, we needed them to tell us where Verando was. 

"Have you lost your damned mind? I am your husband." His tone echoes off the trees, driving home my suspicions of his identity.

Quickly, Gabriel approaches to get in between us, the leaves slush under his feet as the trees begin to shiver and shudder without a breeze to encourage them. "Nicolas, we don't have time for this, you must still be under the influence of the woods." 

Pascal takes her cues from me, on the offensive as she pulls a knife from her belt. "I think you best drop the act if you know what's good for you, Gabriel. Tell us where Verando is." I praise the woman internally for her nature and intuition. 

With a strike of my hand, I shoot ice at their feet, the overreaction of an unpracticed body is a dead giveaway as the imposter crashes backward through a tree. Fadri was used to using Kestrel's skin, but being in the skin of a muscle-bound, war veteran had a different feel.

 The imposter curses as he climbs out of the wreckage of the tree, dusting off his tattered shirt as the black vines reach and grip his body. It's everything he can do to twist out of their grasp and cut them from his arms. So the forest was on nobody's side, it would consume whoever got close to it. 

"You must truly find me dense to think I would believe this sorry excuse. You must not have had long with him if you're this sloppy, is that why you had to touch my coat, Fadri?"

Shifters gained their knowledge from contact, the image before us was a carbon copy but missing minute details. Mistakes that only I would catch.

I'm alive so he must be alive. It's the only thought holding me together, I can only assume he escaped for if he was captured, surely they wouldn't be here talking with us? The low, rumbling snarl confirms my suspicion as Fadri shakes his head, blinking away the rage. "I hadn't anticipated just how angry this skin was. I'm going to enjoy shredding you."

"Fadri?" Pascal exhales, exuding disappointment. I can't say I'm surprised, he was working with Caspian before he joined our ranks, I would wager he had never stopped. A waste of valuable sympathy, he was lucky he was useful to us for the time being. "How could you?"

It's my turn to glower at the silent Gabriel as he holds onto his temple, stooped with discomfort as he chants. I fire off a shot and feel my body begin to falter as he easily deflects the blast into the darkness. My chest heaves, blood seeps from my nose and I use the back of my hand to stifle it. 

"Don't flatter him, Pascal, he didn't come up with any of this. The true mastermind is right there, aren't you Gabriel? We should be asking you where Verando is."

Black eyes meet my own as the man bares his teeth at me, Gabriel almost appears to be no longer human as his body stoops over from the overcharge of black magic surrounding his feet. It feeds him just as it pleads to feed me. I can feel it tugging at the ends of my subconscious, offering a hit like the worst sort of drug. 

One taste and you're hooked for life. 

My body responds euphorically, it takes everything in me to hold back from even tasting the essence of the temptation surrounding me. At such a major draw on my energy, my options were limited. I cry out as the vision hits me all over again. 

Blood. Dark magic climbing up my arms. So much blood.

The fist hits my stomach and I'm flying across the small space, hitting the ice shelf of the lake with such force that it takes the wind out of my lungs. "I think I've found my new favorite skin." Fadri muses, flexing and unflexing his hand as Pascal swings her knife at him.

In a quick motion, he catches her wrist, twisting her arm and crashing his elbow down on the forearm to snap it. Pascal screams in agony as he shoves her away and delivers a kick to her abdomen, sending her sailing into a tree. Coughing and sputtering, she fights to climb back to her feet as he begins to walk across the ice. 

Her hand snaps up to grip her broken forearm, forming an icy cast over the break to attempt to stabilize it.

My vision blurs in and out, the woods swirl all around as the silver-haired man approaches. "All these memories...." His hand fists in my hair, dragging me to my knees as I grip his wrist. "You're one sick bastard. But, I think what disgusts me the most is the fact that you have tamed this creature down to the title of a pathetic house pet. It'd be a much different world without you in it."  

Slinging me across the space, I refuse to make a sound as I hit the ice once more. My body sparks internally, racing to light the flame that would bring me back to some form of power. 

Scrambling to my hands and knees, he puts his boot against my back, shoving me back into the ice. My cheek hits the cool shelf, the black water swirls beneath as if begging my permission to help. I just had to focus on anything but the metallic taste in my mouth, threatening to stir my stomach. 

"You're going to wish you never did this." I threaten him, spreading my hands across the ice as I begin to mutter, my vision was making more sense to me now.

Everything in me threatened to fail, my options were limited with my weakened body. I was running on empty, tapped out of any hope of rescue. The forest was playful at the edge of the water, teasing me with an extended root in a peace offering.

The imposter chuckles, and I hear him unsheath his blade. "I'll have to show him what he missed, killing you with his own hands wasn't part of the plan but Caspian seems quite obsessed with your head on a pike. I'm sure it should prove very entertaining. Do you know how fed up I was playing nice with people who want to side with disgusting humans? Do you understand what you're doing to us, forcing us to protect these weaklings?"

I peer up through my bangs to see Gabriel on his knees, carving something into the floor. Pascal crawls towards me, I shut my eyes tightly as I stretch my hand out for the root. "You're a traitor." I rumble as I call the dark magic into my fingers.

 The forest attacks my palm as if it were a haven, and the black travels up my arm with painful furiousity, I stand abruptly and send him staggering backward. "Tell me where Verando is and I might let you live."

A lie. He would not see another day, not for his crimes. Gabriel would be enough to find my husband, Fadri had overstayed his welcome.

Fadri swings his knife for me and it takes all my willpower to remind myself that this, too, was an illusion. This was not Verando, even if he were a replica. I had often wondered who'd win between us in a fight, with dark magic it seemed almost unfair. I blast him with the full force of the energy from my palm. My body feels powerful, and vibrant as my feet anchor to my element, and all my anger travels through the black spooling from my hand. 

The shifter's clothes shred as his body erupts into cuts. Blood splatters against the ice shelf and he roars against the assault as I blast him again, this time picking him up and calling him to me. My hand grips his throat, my eyes feel dark as I stare down at his face. I can't worry about Gabriel or anyone else, my focus must remain absolute. 

Dark magic was wild, it would do whatever it wished if I allowed my mind to stray. "Where is my husband?"

"Dead." He chuckles. "Or soon to be." With a bloody finger, he points to the rising moon. "6 more days, pet. You'll never find him and get to the unicorn. Mission accomplished."

The edges of my vision blur, red pulses with my heartbeat and I feel the woods rejoicing in my darkness. I want to shove my hand through his body, I want to rip out his beating heart. My hand lifts, posing to strike. "Then it would seem you've become more a burden than a value."

"Nic, don't do this-" Pascal pleads from the edge of the lake. Littered with slices, she'd not been spared my wrath. Blood covered the slushy floor, her hands trembling with the cold as dark magic surrounded her, preying on the weak like a hungry viper, waiting for the animal to succumb to the poison. "We aren't them."

Fadri yanks out his knife, plunging it into my shoulder as I shove away from him to grip the handle. It was clear his intention had been my heart but I had moved too quickly for precision. The familiar sting numbs as the bleeding ceases and the blade forcefully removes itself from my chest. Haphazardly, the knife floats in the air, twiddling and swirling almost playfully as the hole heals itself with black ink. 

"Bad. Idea." I murmur, directing the knife at the startled shifter. I hadn't felt this powerful since my time with the celestial being. It was as if I had the whole forest at my disposal, the world, the universe. A slow grin spreads onto my face as I aim. "It would seem I don't need your help after all." 

The force in which the fist hits my back is immense, I sail forward onto the ice and struggle to protect my face. "Don't touch him." The low, heavy voice snarls as the ice threatens to crack with the impact of his footsteps. Each press of his boots causes a sizzle, the lake seems to threaten to boil as he storms towards the downed imposter. I sling a blade of magic at the man, intending to slice him in half, out of my mind with power; I can only think of his death.

The death of the one who had left his people in the pursuit of a man who'd never love him. Caspian had found us, and Caspian had come to claim his prize. With a harsh shove, I'm back on my feet and sailing towards him, I use the wind as leverage to plant my feet in his chest and send the dark-haired Spanish man soaring through the air. He kicks off a tree, a missile heading right back in my direction. 

I jut my fist upward, blocking out his attack with an ice shelf only to guard my face as the wall explodes from the impact.

"Enough!" He bellows, and the ice erupts around him with plumes of steam and shattered fragments. Golden eyes glow red, face wrought with black veins as the beast within consumes him. 

"I will be taking what's mine." Caspian thunders, taking a defensive posture over the downed Fadri. Widening my eyes, I see an opportunity and extend my hand. As I scan his body, I can only think of one solution, I find his voice box and crush it with a close of my fist. 

Fadri cries out but no sound comes out, blood slips from his lips and he rolls over as he begins to cough. "Take him." I seeth, cold as I grit my teeth. I begin to chant under my breath a binding spell that would force him to remain in this form for at least a little while. I'm blinded by fury, I want Fadri to suffer. "Take him and leave. He's dead to me."

Pascal was buried under a pile of rubble, Gabriel unconscious in the muck, it was just the three of us. Nobody could have seen my cruelty, nobody would know what a small bit of contact was doing to me. I will him to take my bait, accept the imposter, and leave us for good. The punishment wouldn't be enough to satisfy me but it would be a start for Fadri to atone for what he'd done.

Arrows whistle through the air and I rush to guard Pascal. Fadri clutches his throat, I can't bear to look at him and wonder in what state I might find Verando. Shoving the rubble from her body, I use it to form a wall to guard us from the arrow fire. Caspian bares his teeth, belting out a roar that shook the very ground. The lake splits in half, erupting into boiling chaos as he drags Fadri back to land. 

"Kill anyone with dark magic!" A sing-song voice hums, I try and place the tone as arrows pepper us down and I extend the barrier to protect Pascal and me. "The forest has them!"

Caspian raises his hands and the world around us shakes as if the earth is about to erupt. 

"Take cover!" Our assailants shout as the trees themselves morph into broken and twisted rabid wolves. Corina steps out of the darkness to stand beside him, grinning wickedly. Members of the dark hood in various states of disrepair and government officials, step out of the ink with black eyes and sharpened teeth ready to defend the consumers of the world. 

The earth cracks and I cough as the smoke, holding Pascal to my chest as she begins to come to. Trees crash all around us and the creatures of the darkness circle and swirl. Arrows fly once more and I hear the distant screams of real, living beings being shredded by figments of fear. 

"Stop!" I shout, seeing clearly for the first time since the root touched me. "Caspian, Stop!"

The red eyes fall on me, his skin marred with black veins as he clutches Fadri. "Not until every last human succumbs to my brilliance. Not until the world is consumed by darkness. I'd kill you myself but I have a reunion to enjoy." 

Dragging the unwilling shapeshifter with him, I look away as he goes. That wouldn't hold him off for long, he would see the same things I had.

As the dark beings surround us, I wonder how long I will last. How many could I hold off? Would they be just as powerful as they were in their past lives? I inhale sharply, eyes wide as I guard the barely conscious Pascal. A beam of light blows through his head and the black figures vanish like a whisp, Gabriel runs to me to extend his hand. "Get up. I have a plan."