Chapter 98 Borrowed Bodies
KAEL
One moment I was in the vessel, fighting to keep Morvenna contained.
The next, I felt my body move without my permission. Felt someone else operating my limbs. Speaking with my voice.
Nyx? I called through our bond. What are you doing?
Saving you. Sorry for the invasion. Bit of an emergency.
I felt through her eyes. Saw Arcturus looming. Saw Mother bleeding. Saw Elena standing there looking conflicted.
You can't fight that thing. You don't know how to use my body. You'll—
Then help me. Guide me. You know Shadowborn power. I know time magic. Together we might survive this.
She was right. I hated it. Hated my daughter fighting my battles. But she was right.
Fine. But you follow my lead on physical combat. I've been fighting for three centuries.
Deal. Now tell me how to move without falling over. Your body is very tall and the center of gravity is weird.
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
Arcturus tilted its head. "Two consciousnesses in one body. How... inefficient. The child-walker thinks this will help?"
"Worth a shot." Nyx spoke with my mouth. Strange. Unsettling. "Now let's dance, First of the First. Show me what three thousand years of imprisonment teaches."
Nyx, don't antagonize the—
She moved. My body. Her control. Clumsy but fast. Time magic surged. Reality bent.
Arcturus swung. Its hand passed through where we'd been a microsecond ago. Because we weren't there anymore. We'd stepped sideways through time. Existed a heartbeat in the future.
"Clever." Arcturus turned. "But temporal tricks won't kill me. I exist outside linear time. Your magic is parlor tricks to beings like me."
He's right. I told Nyx. We need to actually hurt it. And I don't know how.
Then we experiment. She raised my hand. Void energy gathered. You've got all this dark power. Let's see what it does to something made of darkness.
She threw it. Black energy struck Arcturus. Passed through. Emerged on the other side.
"As I said. Useless." It moved closer. "You cannot harm me with void. I am void. I am the source from which all darkness flows."
Different approach. Nyx's thoughts raced. If it's made of darkness, what's the opposite?
Light? We don't have light magic. That's not—
Not light. Time. I felt her smile through our shared consciousness. Darkness is eternal. Unchanging. Time is flow. Change. Progression. What happens if we force time onto something that exists outside it?
Theory is nice. How do we—
She was already moving. Time magic woven through void magic woven through blood magic. Three powers that shouldn't mix. Three forces that violated each other's fundamental nature.
The combination was ugly. Unstable. Dangerous.
It was also brilliant.
She touched Arcturus. Just one finger. Just one point of contact.
Time flooded into the being. Forced progression onto something eternal. Made it experience seconds. Minutes. Hours.
Arcturus screamed. The sound shattered windows. Cracked stone. "What—what are you doing?"
"Teaching you about mortality. About change. About how it feels when infinity ends." Nyx's voice through my mouth was cold. Ancient. "You forgot what it means to be bound by time. Let me remind you."
She pushed harder. Decades poured into Arcturus. Centuries. The thing began to age. To degrade. To experience what it had avoided for millennia.
"Stop!" It pulled away. Part of its form crumbled. Actually crumbled. "This is—impossible—you can't—"
"I'm a time-walker possessing a Shadowborn king who learned to master void. I can do impossible before breakfast." Nyx prepared another strike. "Now leave. Go back to whatever hole you crawled from. Or I make you experience the heat death of the universe in real-time."
Can you actually do that? I asked.
No idea. But it doesn't know that.
Arcturus studied us. Calculating. Deciding.
Then it laughed. "You're strong. Stronger than expected. But you're one child in one body fighting battles on multiple fronts." It gestured. "While you fight me, Vesper hunts your real body. While you defend here, Serath slaughters the resistance. While you play hero, Malakor murders nobles by the dozen."
Horror crashed down. Nyx couldn't be in two places at once. She'd left her body undefended to protect mine.
"That's what I thought." Arcturus began fading. "Enjoy your victory. I'll return when you're more... distracted."
It vanished. Simply gone.
"Coward!" Nyx shouted. "Get back here and—"
Nyx. Your body. Where is it?
Silence. Then: Hidden. Warded. Isolde's protecting it.
And if Vesper finds it? If Isolde can't stop a First Shadowborn?
Then I die and you're stuck with a ghost in your head. Her mental voice tried for casual. Failed. But that's a problem for later. Right now we need to—
The floor collapsed. Not broke. Vanished. Like reality decided it didn't want to support us anymore.
We fell. Nyx scrambled for control. My body twisted. Landed hard but intact.
A new chamber. Deep. Ancient. Below even the old throne room.
And standing in the center, feeding on the corpses of a dozen nobles, was something worse than Arcturus.
Female. Beautiful. Terrible. Made from darkness that shimmered like oil. Eyes that held dying stars.
"Well, well. Arcturus said the king was unavailable. But here you are." Her voice was silk. "I'm Vesper. And I've been so looking forward to meeting the child who can walk through time."
That's not good. Nyx's thoughts were panicked. That's really, really not good.
Vesper smiled. "Oh, little walker. You thought possessing daddy would save you? How sweet. How naive." She moved closer. "I can smell you in there. Can see both consciousnesses fighting for control. Can feel your real body three floors up hiding behind wards that won't last."
"Stay away from her." Nyx tried to make my voice threatening. "I'll do to you what I did to Arcturus. I'll force time into you until you crumble."
"Will you? While maintaining possession? While keeping your real body alive? While defending against me?" Vesper laughed. "You're talented. I'll give you that. But you're not that talented."
She struck. Fast. Brutal. Her hand passed through my chest. Not physically. Metaphysically. Reaching for the consciousness inside.
Reaching for Nyx.
Get out! I screamed at my daughter. Abandon my body! Get back to yours before—
Too late. Vesper's hand closed around Nyx's presence. Started pulling.
"There you are. Such a bright little soul. So much power. So much potential." Vesper began extracting Nyx from my body. "I'm going to enjoy consuming this. Going to savor every memory. Every moment. Every—"
Elena drove a blade through Vesper's back.
The ancient vampire turned. More annoyed than hurt. "Really? You think steel can—"
"No. But I think this can." Elena twisted the blade. It was covered in symbols. Runes. The same fake binding runes she'd tried to give us. "You taught Morvenna these. Taught her how to amplify power. How to channel it. But you never taught her the secret."
"What secret?"
"That amplification works both ways." Elena pulled the blade out. "You wanted these runes used on Morvenna's summoning circle. Wanted them to strengthen the gateway. Bring you through faster. But runes don't care about intention. They just amplify whatever power touches them."
Understanding flashed across Vesper's face. "No. You didn't—"
"I did. I carved these runes into my own body. Amplified my own power. My own essence. And when I stabbed you, I channeled everything into you. Every drop of rage. Of pain. Of seventy years of death and darkness." Elena smiled. Blood streamed from her mouth. From her eyes. From wounds opening across her skin. "I'm dying. Right now. Burning myself out. But I'm taking you with me."
Vesper screamed. Her form destabilized. The amplified power tearing her apart from inside.
"You're insane!" Vesper tried to pull away. Couldn't. Elena's power had her locked. "You'll kill yourself! You'll—"
"I've been dead for seventy years. This is just making it official." Elena looked at me. At Nyx inside me. "Consider this my apology. For everything. For being too weak to see I was being used. Too angry to care." She closed her eyes. "Tell Kael I'm sorry. Tell him I loved him. Once. Before darkness twisted it into something else."
"Elena, no—" I tried to reach her. Tried to stop this.
But she was already gone. Already burning. Already dying to take Vesper with her.
The two beings ancient vampire and betrayed wife, dissolved together. Screaming. Fading. Gone.
Silence fell. Heavy. Devastating.
She saved us. Nyx's thoughts were numb. After everything, she saved us.
I know.
I don't understand.
Neither do I. I felt something wet on my face. Tears. Nyx was crying through my eyes. But we honor it. We survive. We make her sacrifice mean something.
Two siblings left. Serath and Malakor.
Plus Arcturus. He ran but he'll be back.
Three against one.
Three against fifty-one. I corrected. We have the collective. The resistance. Everyone Morvenna trapped. An idea formed. Terrible. Desperate. Possibly brilliant. Nyx. What if we reversed the possession?
What do you mean?
You're in my body. What if we put the others in theirs? What if we woke up the resistance fighters by possessing them from inside the vessel?
Silence. Then: That's insane. Possession from inside a mental construct into catatonic bodies three floors away. The metaphysical logistics alone—
Can you do it?
Maybe. If I had help. If Isolde anchored. If you coordinated. If we didn't all die trying. She paused. It's a terrible plan.
You have a better one?
No. But I feel obligated to point out this is incredibly stupid.
Noted. Now let's go save the resistance and kill three ancient vampires before they destroy everything we love.
Just another day in the Blood Throne.
Exactly.
We ran. Two consciousnesses in one body. Racing against time. Racing against death. Racing against the end of everything.
And somewhere in the palace, two more First Shadowborn were hunting.
The war was just beginning. Something that whispered in the void's voice and promised power I should never have.
And it was only just beginning to wake up.