The merchant kept his promise. That night, when he rode into town, amidst the usual gossip, he proudly spoke of the two adventures who had helped him, recounting the story in great detail to an audience of townspeople of all walks of life-

-including a young woman bearing the telltale white cloak and mask of a brotherhood scout.

***

About three years ago…

Nyx was still small and vulnerable, ironic for one of the nine Spirits, but they were all like this at some point. It just happens that he had stayed this way all 220 years of his life.

It wasn’t as though he wasn’t powerful, he was still the Spirit of Shadow. There was just the simple issue of the sun.

He tried to drift out of the shadows. Who knows, maybe something had changed since the last time he had tried. ‘Nope. Nope. Bad idea.’

It burned with the full fury of the sun. This always happened. A shadow cannot exist in the light, after all. Maybe it was his punishment for making Mom disappear. No wonder everyone hated him so much.

So he took his usual path, sticking to the shadows to avoid being burned again.

Same damn route, through the same damn forest, a forest that had been stuck in perpetual autumn. It was because of him, how could trees and grass possibly survive when exposed to death itself for over 200 years.

He would love to leave, Elder One knows he’s tried. He could slip out during nightfall, but there was no way to make it to cover before the sun came back up.

What’s more, the only way out of the woods was towards a village, and if a monster like him was ever seen by people, well, it didn’t go well.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard rustling in the leaf litter. He saw a figure, white hair, white skin. Different.

‘Shit, a human?’ He should run, he should stay hidden.

But then he saw what the human was doing.

He was tying a slip knot. Fastening it to a tree, climbing onto a tall rock, slipping the loop of the knot over his head.

Nyx didn’t really know what he was looking at, but it didn’t take much processing to figure it out.

Everything moved in slow motion.

He saw the human start to step off the rock.

His mind raced. What should he do? He had to do something.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, reaching out helplessly with an inky claw.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

The rope went taut just as he reached the human.

Just as his soul left him-

-and Nyx went through him.

Suddenly Nyx couldn’t breathe. Suddenly there was tight pressure on his neck.

A claw shot up to cut the rope and Nyx fell to the ground hard.

Air flooded through him in a rush but the tight, burning sensation remained. He immediately brought his hands to his throat.

Hands…Why did he have hands?

He looked down at himself and those hands clasped over his mouth.

Looking down he saw hands, arms, a torso, legs, Nyx was looking at a body from the eyes of the owner.

Looking around, he couldn’t find the human. ‘Of course you can’t, idiot! Don’t you see what’s happened.’

He fisted his hands in his new, fluffy hair and began to pace around. How could this happen? How could he fuck up this bad? This human, this person was *gone* and it was because he failed. Because he wasn’t fast enough.

He paced into the sun and immediately jumped back.

But then he realized. It didn’t burn. Cautiously, he reached his hand into the sun.

It felt…warm.

Maybe this happened for a reason. Maybe this was finally his chance to leave.

He took a step and his legs felt like jelly. ‘Right of-fucking-corse walking was harder now that I’m thinking about it.’

He took one awkward, wobbling step after the other out of the woods. Towards the rest of his life.

***

By the time Nyx finished his story, it was dark outside and Sunny had already finished preparing dinner. Two plates of a rice dish Nyx would later be able to identify as an approximation of mansaf, one with meat, one without.

And he was tearing up, cool black ink gathering under his eyes.

Sunny stared at him with a combination of shock and newfound understanding.

“So that’s why your eyes are so interesting.” he said.

Nyx stared back in disbelief. “I have pretty eyes. That’s your takeaway.”

“I said they were interesting, I was only thinking that they were pretty.” Sunny teased.

Nyx looked at him, dumbfounded, incredulous and perhaps a bit flustered.

Sunny’s face became serious. “Nyx, It wasn’t your fault”

“You could argue it’s my fault anyone dies” Nyx said flatly.

“But I’m not going to.” Sunny said earnestly, looking straight at him.

He continued “In the short time I’ve known you, you've been nothing but nice, polite and caring. Spirits, Nyx, you don’t even eat meat. You’re a good person and we’re going to get everyone to see that too and we’re going to get you that body, I promise you”

Nyx stared in astoundment at Sunny’s proclamation. He didn’t quite know what to say.

Sunny ruffled his hair, flustering him further and causing him to blush. “Eat your food before it gets cold and get some rest.”

They ate in silence before curling up on their bedrolls.

Nyx watched Sunny as he fell asleep with an air of caution, as if he still expected him to take it all back any second.

He could still feel Sunny’s claws in his hair when he finally pulled his cloak up to his chin and drifted off to sleep.