The Afterworld Saga — Chapter 14

Chapter 14: A Poison Within

Nicolaus shook his head, fighting away the dizziness of his transportation. He could hardly believe it had worked. Here, in this realm, it was luck as much as anything that had made the spell go right. With no way of knowing how his magic would be affected, he had made gamble — and won.

Or had he? He wasn’t so sure now, staring over at the two he had seen disappear into the earth during the ceremony. It felt like that had been a lifetime ago, and yet also just a moment or two. Things were happening so quickly.

He grasped his left arm tightly, feeling his nerves tingle around the area where his elbow had struck the ground. The pain had been intense, but was quickly fading. More worrying was the fact that the dead body he had been carrying no longer seemed dead at all.

The two black holes that served for eyes were trained fiercely on the girl opposite them, who looked half confused and half terrified. For a moment the tableau held; then, with jerky movements that made it all seem even less real, the corpse started walking towards the girl.

Leida and Tamra stared as one, both of their minds racing. It wasn’t helpful to be able to hear one another’s thoughts when you didn’t know what to think.

When the body started to move towards them, Leida wanted to leap back, to cower and hide behind Roy. Dead bodies didn’t move. Especially not when the soul that should have inhabited them was inside someone else.

Tamra, on the other hand, was transfixed. She stood her ground, watching as if hypnotised as her own body covered the ground between them. It was almost upon them, close enough that she could have reached out and touched it, when someone broke in between them.

“I don’t think you should come any further,” Roy said firmly, one hand stretched to the side to keep Tamra behind him.

The body stopped moving. Behind Roy’s broad back Tamra could no longer see what was happening, and went onto her tiptoes to see. Or rather, Leida’s tiptoes. With her own body so close to her, it was getting harder and harder to deny that she was in someone else’s.

Don’t let her touch us! Leida thought, and Tamra suddenly realised that Leida had been doing the equivalent of screaming at her for a long time.

“Leida doesn’t think I should touch… it,” Tamra said out loud, not willing to complete the sentence with the more accurate myself.

“That would be most wise,” Nicolaus said, getting to his feet at last. “In fact, I’m not sure anyone should touch you until we know what we’re doing.”

Roy jerked his hand away as if he had been stung, even though there had been a few inches of air between them. “What are you talking about?” he demanded. He sounded angry, but it was more confusion and fear that motivated him.

“Well,” Nicolaus said, nodding to the ground, “I think that might have some bearing on things.”

As one, all of them except the body turned to look. Stretching over the spirit stones away from Leida’s body was a shadow, cast on the ground in perfect definition.

But it wasn’t her shadow.

Roy was pacing, sharp and frustrated steps over the stones. Tamra-in-Leida’s-form was sitting a short distance from his path, while Tamra’s body sat opposite her, still fixing her with the same dead stare. Sitting off a short distance from them all, Nicolaus was rifling through a knapsack, pulling out various charms and throwing them back in with disappointment.

“Here,” he said at last, clutching a necklace on a fine gilt chain. The pendant was a blood-red stone, housed in a gold setting with runes carved into every facet. “Put this on, right away.”

Tamra stared at him with sullen reluctance. “How do we know this will help?” she spat, not moving a muscle. “I’m not putting that on. It could be a trap.”

Roy stared at her, surprised enough for his pacing to be interrupted. “Tamra, I think-” he began.

“No,” Tamra snapped, cutting him off. “I’m not doing it.”

Aren’t you being a little testy? Leida chided.

“This could all be the next part of whatever test we have to pass here. I’m telling you now, I’m not trusting a word he says,” Tamra replied out loud, casting a dirty look in Nicolaus’ direction.

“I thought this might be a problem,” Nicolaus muttered, but no one was listening to him fully.

Don’t be so rude, Leida argued. Just take a look at it, at least. We know this guy is the sorcerer, we saw him.

I’m not listening to you either. You’re just trying to get me out and get your body back.

Roy stepped towards her, his fists clenched all of a sudden. “Tamra,” he began, before pausing a moment. “Why are you acting like a spoilt rich teenager all of a sudden?”

Tamra’s head snapped up, giving him a look of utter contempt. “You don’t know me. Stop trying to judge me,” she said. “I don’t even need you along for the ride anymore. You’re just the key to get us in.”

I think I know what’s happening, Leida started, but Tamra shot to her feet suddenly and put her hands over her ears.

“I’m not listening to any of you anymore,” she declared, stomping away. She started to sing nonsense noises as loudly as she could, so loudly that even Leida’s thoughts weren’t enough to break through.

Suddenly, she felt a pull on her arms. Leaving her no time to react, Roy pulled her hands down from her ears and quickly dropped the pendant over her head. As it fell into place around her neck she faltered, then stopped moving altogether.

“Oh,” Tamra said out loud, turning to look at Roy and Nicolaus with a somewhat sheepish expression.

“Oh is right,” Roy said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“S… sorry about that,” Tamra said, feeling very foolish.

What did you take inside us? Leida asked, her thoughts full of despair. Why would your own shadow make you act that way?

“If I may,” Nicolaus interrupted, clearing his throat. He had followed them, dragging Tamra’s body behind now that it could walk on its own two feet. “I think I’ve read about this in my texts. We need to get the Dark Heart, and fast. If we don’t… not only will the Host be stuck with an extra soul to carry for all eternity, but they will both be broken down by the Shadow until nothing is left of either of them.”

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Rhiannon D'Averc for writing this latest chapter! The next chapters are assigned to the following writers:

Raine D. — June 30 ; ch15

Tobi Amos-July 7 ; ch16

Ashley Khue Pham July 14 ; ch17

Leo Charles M. — July 21 Ch18