Cederick was back in the darkness. The indecision of whether or not Ozzy was being sincere, and the distraction of his mentor arriving had lost him a significant edge in the internal conflict. He hadn’t let go this time though. Continuing to fight through the darkness with the unseen enemy. He could still feel and hear the outside world clearly and something seemed to be changing. While he could hear clearly enough to tell who was speaking he couldn’t quite catch the words. He had briefly felt a tug in his mind before Benjamin had coldly admonished Ozzy. There was a pause before Ozzy responded, but when he did the invader suddenly surged forward and he felt his face twist and move on its own. Along with it he felt a brush of an alien awareness and then heard his own voice respond unprompted by him.
The perception of this awareness didn’t line up with the weakness of the probing invasion of his mind. The impression he felt was of an enormous eye on the other side of a door peeking in at him. The eye alone was larger not just than the door but than even the building in which he hid. Shrinking back he then froze and evaluated the entity he was feeling. Likewise he felt the awareness turn only partially toward him directly, with another portion still focused on invading his mind, and another watching through his own eyes. The awareness relayed a message to him. To his consciousness not any portion of his mind as when it had moved his lips.
The message was difficult to translate exactly. It didn’t contain any words or pictures, just pure thought. While he didn’t know specifically what words this message would equate to, he did know the meaning. “Stay out of my way” was the gist of it. Though there was more to it. He felt the impression of a person annoyed at a kitten hopping in front of them right as they were stepping. An admonishment to a child saying “sit in the corner while the adults talk”. A homeowner trapping a spider in a cup and shooing it outside. That this entity had no reason for direct confrontation with Cederick, unless he made that the case.
While Cederick had been unsure of trusting Ozzy, and been riled up besides, he had no doubts here. This entity had no quarrel with him, yet it also had no qualms squashing him like the bug it felt he was. If it broke through the barrier it was absolutely beyond his ability to handle. Yet it was, for some reason, still on the other side. Whether it was trapped, or in some other way blocked from coming through he did get the feeling it couldn’t. As he knew he had pushed the invader back a few times now, he also knew the amount of strength it could bring to bear varied and could overwhelm him. With that in mind he did ease up slightly on his confrontation with it, but maintained his own connection to his senses, and body to conserve his strength for when it mattered most.
The awareness apparently satisfied turned this portion of the whole back to the external and Cederick followed suit. For the quick exchange with the invader those in front of him had remained essentially motionless staring one another down. That changed with the sudden arrival of a few rats and imps popping out of nowhere. Cederick would have frowned if he still had control of his face. He’d never once seen more than one invader of a haven at a time and especially not multiples. He was distracted from the oddity by the commotion it caused. At first Ernest and Heston were the only ones to turn and engage, though he could tell Vonder and Benjamin were aware, they simply kept focus on Ozzy.
The invaders of the haven fought with half his rescuers and eventually overwhelmed them. Vonder aided them, followed by Benjamin which is when Cederick found himself facing open sky before him, and Ozzy grabbed his hand pulling him onto the same square. Then again he found himself somewhere else. This time surrounded by a small grove of trees.
————————
Ozzy pulled Cederick, not into the rat haven offspring, but onto the same square with him. Pushing some domain through into the haven before him he sent it off to connect to as many random havens as it could. With the portion of his domain already connected to the square below him he swapped it with one of the path tiles between his lines of trees on the other side of the haven. The hope being that if Benjamin did chase he might detect the exit from the haven and then follow the convoluted line of connections he’d instructed his domain to leave.
He had no time to dwell on that dream though, instead he dove his domain back into Cederick’s mind and grappled with the invader still struggling against Cederick’s own resistance. There was much more work to do than the last time. Cederick hadn’t collected it all and nearly trapped it back in the barricade he’d constructed. Instead Ozzy had to surround the boy’s mind and gently tease the invader out without damaging anything. He could feel additional pressure helping the process from Cederick’s own efforts. In fact he found he could focus on specific areas and the help from Cederick would hold the progress of others while he did so. Allowing him to be more aggressive, yet still have fine control in a narrow area. He shoved a large portion from the frontal lobe and then from the spine upward, as he found it encroaching there as well.
As he was pushing from the sides he found his view shift to the sky. Only afterward did pain blossom from the entire front half of his body, and he realized he was flying backward horizontally at a rate that would make most cars jealous. Using his domain he found himself more than halfway to the opposite edge of the haven and with not much time to act. Touching a square near the edge he timed a swap just as he was shooting over it to flip it over. The result being that he was now back on the topside of the haven moving in the opposite direction toward the lines of trees on this side. Apparently moving the tiles didn’t alter the motion of objects in their domain, simply repositioning them.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
He had to again reach out to a square but this time he needed to do something he hadn’t ever tried. Upon reaching the square he didn’t think about exactly what he wanted or how to accomplish it and simply sent it to the square. The result had the square flipped halfway over with the edge he was headed toward now facing up in relation to the topside. Only after he wasn’t screaming along the ground and growing ever closer to it could he think clearly enough to remember other tricks he had in his playbook. Grabbing himself with his domain he slowed his body to a stop just before touching the edge of his haven.
Looking down he surveyed the still ongoing fight with Vonder, Benjamin’s lackeys and the mini monster hoard he had unleashed. They were struggling but not losing. Though if they’d improved from needing Benjamin’s interference it meant they could improve again. It appeared part of the improvement in their struggle was simply that the stronger monsters had become bored and held back letting the little ones engage instead. A few quick square swaps had them repositioned, confused, and reengaged in the fight. With that handled he examined the pain still growing on his front half. The suit still around him had protected him from most of the significant force he’d been subject to, but not entirely. There was a great deal of bruising and possibly fractures in his ribs from all the pain he was feeling. Suffusing his body with energy he felt it restore a semblance of normalcy although he still had some minor pains, but wouldn’t waste any more energy to address them.
Having addressed his immediate concerns he was able to take stock and realized he was still holding the portion of Cederick’s invader he had been when he was thrown. It was writhing and screeching in his grasp. Surrounding it with the entirety of the void portion of his domain he watched as it slowed, calmed, and then felt the intent change as it looked around itself cautiously. From it he could only feel a shadow of the intellect he could when looking at the whole inside of Cederick. Even as he noticed this it made a decision and melted into the void around it. A small smile found its way to Ozzy’s lips as he observed the tiny victory. The more he could pull from the boy’s mind the more likely Cederick could simply fight off the invader himself.
Moving his focus from himself and the top side entirely he looked through the domain still surrounding Cederick and was dismayed. He was convulsing on the ground. The internal struggle was roiling and errant signals from the two conflicting consciousnesses inside were being interpreted as an external conflict. Benjamin for his part had stepped back to give him some room and was focusing on what membrane was left around him. The suit was still dutifully converting itself to domain and had already reduced itself to a third on the lower half. Benjamin was pulling at it to release Cederick, and Ozzy decided that wouldn’t be such a bad thing at the moment. While Benjamin continued to tug and jerk at it Ozzy slowly loosened its grip and let him slide it off.
“Cederick,” Benjamin said “We need to get you out…” He was cut off by a swipe at his face that appeared to come from nowhere. At least it would have to anyone but Ozzy. He had seen the internal roiling evolve the moment the boy’s name had been said. Likely Cederick being distracted momentarily which the invader took full advantage of. Firstly it rooted itself back into all the nooks and crannies it had been in previously. Which slowed the convulsions and likely made Benjamin think he had succeeded in freeing Cederick from his clutches. Then what was left of Cedericks resistance was shoved into the very confines he’d created for the invader, and the boy’s eyes opened.
With the first sight being an unknown person the thing reacted with an attack. Benjamin barely appeared to dodge. It seemed more like he had only frowned and tilted his head in confusion but the motion was exactly enough to move his head out of the way.
Apparently having decided the movement wasn’t far enough away the puppeteer of the boy’s body had him swipe again and again. Each time Benjamin watched as someone utterly in control of their body avoided each and every one with the barest of movements. Then as it became clear no mere swipe or jab was going to do anything the entity utilized the membrane surrounding Cederick as the voidling before had. Along with a swipe a spike grew from his hand morphing a bladed edge. Though before Ozzy could shout a warning Benjamin moved to evade, adding a wall of energy that also shoved the blade past his neck with just enough room to spare.
It was Ozzy’s turn to frown, although he saw Benjamin was still frowning as well. He was under the impression that neither Vonder or Benjamin could see energy or the Voidlings. Though as he watched the next few attacks Benjamin never once looked at the blades, spikes, or other implements that were brandished at him. His eyes were always on the hand and only when the altered appendage got close to him did he adjust his movements and project any energy if needed. The awareness appeared to be feeling or intuition not sight. “Ozzy stop this!” Benjamin pleaded while still seamlessly avoiding attacks. The ease with which he moved and was even able to communicate spoke to his skill and growth. Ozzy was mesmerized by his movements which felt fluid even as they changed moment to moment as the attacks themselves were altered.
Cederick stopped abruptly after another few attempts at Benjamin's life failed miserably. He went from movements Ozzy was barely able to follow to absolutely motionless in the space between two instants. Without another move from the boy’s body the void membrane warped blindingly fast into a sheet of membrane in front of him about the size of a door. Which had Benjamin step back confused and looking about for an attack that didn’t come. Instead Cederick stepped forward into the pane, yet as his leg slid through it didn't come out the other side. The rest of his body followed and the pane of void membrane winked out as his body had. When it was gone Benjamin turned to look directly at Ozzy ignoring the squares and anything else in between with a look that had Ozzy’s heart freeze in his chest.